CHAPTER 20

Bitch – Meredith Brooks

When Seth was a kid and Leah was his babysitter, Spiderman was his favorite comic book character. It was also code for 'let's go out and have fun'. Truthfully, Leah was surprised that he remembered and that he went along with her. She wondered if he just thought it was easier, or if she made him so desperate for any time with her.

They walked along the Piazza dei Priori and all around the small hillside town, taking in the sights under the bright sun while eating gelato. Renesmee wanted to come along, but her family was concerned and wouldn't allow her even with Jacob offering to serve as her bodyguard. It seems the fact that they are on enemy territory was finally dawning on the Cullens.

They ended up at a quiet eatery with an outdoor seating area. A pair played a duet nearby with a violin and a jazz accordion. They talked about everything non-supernatural related. They were brother and sister on vacation, it felt like. At least for a while.

"It's nice here isn't it?" Seth asked.

"Yes, very," Leah agreed. "Minus the wide variety of lice."

"Why do you have to be so mean to them?"

"I'm mean?" Leah said incredulously. "They have literally turned our tribe into a kennel of guard dogs, and I'm mean? Why, because I say rude things to them? One isn't like the other. A pinprick is not the same as an amputation."

"You don't even know them. They do good things for the tribe, too."

"Like what?"

"They donated a lot of money to move the school to higher ground, for one."

"Did they claim they made that donation?", Leah asked, a bit outraged, because she knew the truth.

"No, it was an anonymous donation. The doc tried to make the donation, but the council turned it down. But who else could have donated that amount though? Not a lot of people care about the rez."

Yeah, and the Cullens certainly don't, Leah thought, but didn't say anything.

"I don't want to fight over this," Leah said. "But you are wrong about the Cullens."

Seth opened his mouth to protest, the closed it. "OK, Lee. Let's just enjoy this night."

After a long silence, Seth asks, "Have you ever traveled here before?"

Leah paused before answering, "No, I avoided Italy." She didn't elaborate.

"But you went to other places, right?"

There was a part of Leah that wanted to share everything that she learned. Someone to talk to about so many things. But she knew that there is a cost to knowing that she didn't want Seth to pay like she did.

"Yeah," she answered after hesitating.

"Like those places in your note? What's there?"

Leah didn't, couldn't, answer immediately, and when she didn't Seth became insistent.

"What did you find? Did you find other shapeshifters?"

"Everything you need to know are in our legends. But the legends serve as a path to the truth, not the whole truth themselves. The truth had to be concealed, even from us." Leah replied, cryptically.

The musician duo began Armando's Rhumba by Chick Corea.

"Oh, I love this song!" Leah exclaimed, ending the conversation but she knew her brother would take it up again.

No sooner were the words out of her mouth than a kindly older gentleman appeared asking her to dance, beating out multiple younger men who were waiting for a chance.

Leah made a teasing face at Seth, as she got up. He almost protested, wanting to talk more.

Leah had always loved to dance. It brought back the happiest memories of her childhood, before everything fell apart. She can lose herself to the music, and she knows that her body won't let her down. As shallow as it may seem, she enjoyed being thought of as beautiful by men and women alike. She remembered the dreadful days, her first year with the pack, when she could barely recognize herself. When she wondered if there was something wrong with her, if she were less of a woman and that's why she phased. She was mocked and degraded by her pack brothers. She never wanted to ever sink so low again. Now that she was free, she took advantage with dresses, makeup, heels, frilly underwear. She was a woman again, and she felt beautiful.

Afar and downwind, from underneath an awning, she was being observed.

"Well, what do you know, she does know how to smile and have fun," Emmett joked. The vampires were finally freed by the setting sun.

Demetri had been observing for a while, long before the others joined him. He listened to the siblings' conversation. A large monetary donation that was not from the Cullens. By the way Miss Clearwater asked 'Did they claim they made that donation?', it seemed she knew the true source of the funds. Breadcrumbs that Demetri can follow.

The comment about the Quileute legends was also telling. He had read the few books written on the topic. Aro filled him in on what he gleaned from their thoughts. The legends serve as a path to the truth, not the whole truth themselves, the she-wolf said.

He was distracted by the sound of Miss Clearwater's laughter, and was amused when she began to dance with an old man almost a foot shorter than her. She was a fine dancer. She had multitudes to her personality, it seemed.

He struggled to concentrate on his job, but managed to tear his attention away to observe the Cullens. There was a myriad of expressions as they watched the scene in front of them.

A mixture of amusement and awe, except for one.

"Did they really not practice beforehand?" Renesmee asked of Leah's dancing. Demetri thought there might be something cognitively wrong with the child. She was a full grown adult in appearance and yet somehow so childlike in her comments and deductions. Despite having a vampire's perfect memory, she seemed to also be limited within the nine years of her life. It's all rather odd.

Bella ground her teeth at her daughter's question, choosing to ignore it while Esme kindly replied, "Why no, dear. People spontaneously dance often."

"Wow," Renesmee said, in wonderment, thoroughly impressed. Her family of vampires were very still most of the time, despite being excellent dancers themselves, and Jacob didn't like to dance.

But it wasn't Renesmee's reaction that stood out to Demetri.

Bella ground her teeth even more. Demetri thought he heard a growl, and Edward touched her arm to calm her.

Even before Renesmee's comment, Bella had watched Leah Clearwater dancing with a glint of envy in her eye. Anger.

Now that observation was truly interesting. It would seem that people have misjudged the mutual animosity. A passing observer would point to Miss Clearwater as the aggressor with her rude insults and scowls. And yet she seemed capable of joy and lightness when away from the vampires and her pack. There is Leah Clearwater, dancing and laughing in the company of perfect strangers. Here is Bella Cullen, jealous and angry at something that doesn't concern her. Why?

Perhaps this was a weakness that can be exploited.

Breadcrumbs. Breadcrumbs…