After Bella accepted Damon and Bonnie's help transporting the car to Washington for her, she finally went home.

She looked out the windows over the Midwest and watched the circles and squares of cropland, then small areas of rural towns and rolling cities as they soared. After a layover in Denver, she was on the last stretch. Excited yet exhausted, she leaned her head in the window with a small pillow to cushion herself and slept.

The ding of the overhead and the announcement to buckle up for the landing woke her later. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Bella sat up and tried to get her bearings. She was almost home.

Part of her was ecstatic to be going back and finally seeing her dad. To see Jake and the pack of boys–men, now–that had become her family after the Cullens left her.

Another part of her was full of anxiety. Unsure how to fuse her new reality with the life she had grown accustomed to, even though it wasn't a real life at all. She had stayed nowhere long enough to make friends, to have an actual home, or to find love and build a family. Nowhere longer than three months with Klaus, anyway.

Bella had never wanted children when she was younger, thinking she would never have the patience for them and afraid she would be just like Renee. But as she'd grown, she discovered she enjoyed watching kids with their parents. Unlike Renee, Bella paid her bills. She was acutely aware of her responsibilities and would never rely on her child to manage them. She wasn't anything like Renee.

No, she was much more like her dad. Charlie always worked hard to ensure everyone he loved received his support, never waiting for them to ask for or admit if they needed help, always ready with a willing hand. He was steady and dependable. And while she hadn't been stable or reliable for anyone besides herself in years, she was eager to return to a life that allowed her to be all those things.

As she exited the plane, Bella took deep breaths as she tried to remind herself that this was what she wanted. She had dreamed of returning home for years. And this was finally it.

When she collected her luggage and exited the security checkpoint, she spotted the group waiting for her. A tall, muscular native man in a skin-tight t-shirt stood beside her dad, though her dad looked quite different from her memory of him. Another native man sat in a wheelchair, his long hair now streaked with gray.

She wheeled her suitcase over to them and immediately fell into her dad's arms, thankful to see him. Tears fell unchecked down her cheeks. "Dad, I missed you so much!"

As Bella pulled back to look at her dad, she noted the deep bags under his eyes, the sunken cheeks, and the sallow pallor of his skin. While he'd never been a large man, he probably weighed little more than her own one hundred twenty pounds. He was wasting away.

She held her questions, knowing it wasn't the time to ask them. Turning to Billy, she leaned down to hug him, greeting him warmly. Then she glanced at the man beside them. She'd been expecting Jake, but her surprise was evident as she took in one of his best friends instead.

"Embry? Holy crow! You aged well!"

His laugh was deep yet booming as he hugged her. "Jake wanted to come but was afraid to be away from Angela for too long. She's due to pop any day now."

"Jake and Angela? Angela Weber?" She smiled as she contemplated the match, picturing them together. It was surprisingly easy to do. "That's amazing! I'm so glad they found each other!"

"Yeah, she's great for him. The first two pregnancies were easy for her, but they're having twins this time, and it has been much harder. I'll let her tell you about it later."

"How's the rest of the pack? I've missed you all."

"We've missed you, too, Bells. It's been fifteen years since we've seen you, so there's much to catch up on. But I think this news will surprise you. Quil and I adopted a little girl two years ago. She was abandoned in an empty cabin on the reservation, only found by chance. We don't know who her birth parents are, but she's ours now."

Wide-eyed, she asked, "You and Quil are together?"

At his nod, she pumped the air with her fist and said, "I knew it!"

Embry laughed at her enthusiasm but noticed when she stopped talking to look around, checking over her shoulder, not wanting to draw too much attention to herself. He eyed her curiously as she scanned their surroundings several times while following Charlie and Billy back to the car. Once they loaded her luggage into the trunk, he put his hand on her shoulder, and she was startled at the unexpected touch.

Frowning, he reassured her. "Bells. It's okay. You are safe now."

Shoulders sagging beneath his hand, she whispered, knowing he would still hear her, "Some habits are hard to break."

Immediately changing the subject, Bella perked up as she asked, "Will you tell me more about your daughter, Em?"

He couldn't help but grin. "Nina is five, has long blonde hair, and bright blue eyes. She is adorable. But damn, is she sassy. I think she spends too much time with Auntie Leah." Embry laughed. "I'm glad that Nina has her to look up to, though. Leah is fierce and doesn't take crap from anyone, but she has a big heart."

"She does. I know. I could see it all those years ago. She just kept it covered up to hide her broken heart and keep from hurting like that again."

As they settled into the car, Embry behind the wheel, Billy in the passenger seat, and Bella beside her dad in the back, she fought back the urge again to question her dad about his health. She knew something was wrong, but he hadn't brought it up yet, so she figured she would wait.

"So, Bells, tell us about all the places you've been. Seems like you've seen the entire country just about."

"Well, I've been to every state- some more than once, and I even went to the UK and did a tour there. It was beautiful. My favorite part of that was the old castles that we could tour. So much history is seeped into those walls that I wished they could talk."

"That sounds fun. But, Bells, if ya don't mind me asking, if you enjoyed your time traveling and used it like vacation, why, in hell, do you look so tired? I know that sounds like I'm being an ass, but you look plumb worn out."

"I am worn out." Bella nodded as she looked away, hating how old she felt. She knew how haggard she looked, how hopelessly depleted of life and health. "It wasn't a vacation, Dad. I can't go into details about everything because it involves secrets that aren't mine to tell. Please understand that I couldn't stay or return until recently."

"Well, seeing as how I know the Cullens are vampires and the boys are all wolves, I thought maybe you might tell me more than that."

She side-eyed Charlie, studying the firm set of his jaw and the stiff way he held himself, wondering if he was getting angry or simply using his long-developed interrogation face. Then the foundation cracked as she saw the twinkle in his eye, and he chuckled.

She gushed a sigh of relief. "Thank God you know! It was torture trying to keep it from you, Dad. But if you know the truth about that, you know why I had to leave, too."

"Yeah, for some self-sacrificing suicidal mission. Isabella, I know why you couldn't, but I wish you'd have told me more than you did. I'd have figured out a way to help you."

Tears immediately fell as her heart swelled with love for her father and grief for the last fifteen years spent without him. She had missed Charlie so much.

Bella laid on the seat to rest her head in her dad's lap the way she used to when she was sick as a child. Renee never mollycoddled her, but Charlie was always there–ready and willing to cuddle, hug, kiss boo-boos, and wipe away tears and snot. Bella had gotten robbed of years with a wonderful father, more due to her own decisions than not. She knew that now.

They rode home in silence, each mulling over their thoughts. There was much to be said, much to be learned and done. Bella didn't know where her life was heading, but 'back to the beginning' seemed a good place to start.