First Warning: the chapter will not please fans of the Cullens, Bella and all the rest of the Disney gang… sorry Twilight. I read the saga and saw the movies only for Leah and Charlie Bewley. I love the Volturi. But the rest of the gang no, even if I like the pairings (besides LEAH/DEMETRI), Leah Alistair, Leah Nahuel, Leah Embry… and a little, depending on the story, Leah Felix, Leah Vladimir and Leah/OC. I'm not a big fan of Leah/Jacob.
Chapter 12: Homecoming
Carlisle returned home and settled Evan, Mike, Leah and Seth in a secluded area of their home. They were still asleep. From Didyme's information he knew they would wake up within a day or two. He hoped sooner with the right treatment. The doctor tested the blood of all the hybrids. He had never seen anything like it. They didn't have 25 pairs of chromosomes like vampires, or even 24 like shifters. They had 28 pairs of chromosomes. The tests done on Leah and Seth also showed the same result.
Dr. Cullen was surprised to see that the skin of the hybrids (except for the young Quileutes, Jake, and the little girl found in the sawmill), even though identical to that of common vampires, could be torn. The doctor realized that their skin was solid only to the touch. As for the last hybrid, he hypothesized that the dominant gene must be that of vampires. He could not do any experiments on her because her skin was granite and the venom was inside the bloodstream. Her bone structure, however, could be damaged in some way. He thought back to the girl's dislocated shoulder. He was surprised when the girl said that her complexion reflected both sunlight and moonlight.
Carlisle found the molecular regeneration of all the hybrids extraordinary. Not even the smallest scar remained on their skin. Even the shapeshifters' had increased exponentially. He hypothesized that the vampire venom had not killed the two Quileutes because it was mixed with werewolf blood and their genes. He guessed that this mixture had increased their regenerative capacity enough to assimilate the venom without problems. Aside from the initial epileptic seizure.
He also tried to understand where their powers could come from, so different from those known and different even from those of their parents, or at least those who had faculties. He thought about the theory of Dr. Frankenstein: werewolves with latent powers. He tried to feel a drop of their blood. The taste was identical to their smell. He poured other drops on an intolerant plant and immediately regained strength. He was shocked. Their blood was poisonous and yet it had just regenerated a plant that was dying. He hypothesized that their creator thought it was poisonous because it smelled. He wondered how much that discovery could help modern medicine.
Carlisle came out of his study. He watched his daughter Sabrina next to her mother Esme. Jake playing their version of chess with Jenna. Bree hugging Didyme. Irina next to her sisters. Annie looking at the picture the Cullens had made of their children's graded hoods. Bella was in the yard with the new hybrid, Renesmee, and Jacob. The wolf boy had recently returned from the reservation. They hadn't said anything about the hybrids. Nessy was very worried about Leah and how the Quileutes would react. But she wasn't worried about Seth. She knew he wouldn't have a problem.
Carlisle called his daughter over to ask her some questions. Edward laughed and told his father what Jenna was thinking: -Dr. Cullen's guinea pigs, coming soon to these screens-. The doctor rolled his eyes.
"Jenna doesn't like my family very much," Edward told Sabrina.
"My sister was the first one created. The first one to see and suffer the evil of our creator. She was alone in the beginning. She's cynical."
Carlisle smiled softly. He invited her into his office.
"I only know about you and them through that monster's diary."
"There's not much to say. Our life with him is described in the great detail in the notebooks…"
"Notebooks, are there any more?" Carlisle asked.
"Yes. We only took that one. We don't know if after Experiment 5010, or even before, there were other things like us."
"You just can't help but see yourselves as monsters or objects," Carlisle said bitterly.
"No, we're not people after all Doctor Cullen. We're the children of an experiment, that vampire's toys. Creatures that shouldn't even exist in your world," Sabrina said.
"You can't even call me Dad."
"A daughter who's three years younger than her father is pretty absurd."
"You'll always be my little girl."
"Doesn't even know me Doctor."
"It's true, I know the nurse, but not the person, not the daughter. I'd like to get to know you, just like I want to get to know Jake and Corinne."
"Corinne, that's a nice name. I think she'll like it. We've actually changed our names a lot."
"How did you escape that crazy vampire?" Carlisle asked.
"How did we escape," Sabrina replied.
Dr. Cullen raised his eyebrows. He realized that if he wanted to have his children and granddaughter by his side, he would have to accept all the other hybrids. After all, they had grown up together. He rephrased the question.
"How did you manage to escape?"
"He thought none of us had the strength or will to escape. We were his. Our survival depended on him. We knew nothing of the world. We had no contact, except with our victims," Sabrina winced: "But I had the power to read his mind and everything I saw I mentally transmitted to others. Our mother's love… Didyme's, and the love we felt for each other, especially for the little ones was the only beautiful thing in our existence."
Dr. Cullen smiled softly.
"He never knew what you were up to?" Carlisle asked.
"No, he can't read people's minds, he can only command them. He never used his power on us. He was so cocky, he expected total devotion to him because he created us. But that was our salvation. I used my power of manipulation. I wanted to erase every single memory of our creation. I only succeeded in making him harmless. Apparently it doesn't work on someone who has the same gift as you, or I wasn't good enough."
Sabrina took a deep breath.
"We lived by our wits the first years of our liberation. We didn't know the world even though I had seen it through the eyes of Dr. Frankenstein. Our mother didn't know anything either. We were afraid. We are not proud of what we did. We cheated, we stole..."
Sabrina burst into tears. Her father wrapped her in a tight hug.
"It's okay my darling, no one will judge your actions. It's not your fault. My life hasn't been easy after the transformation either," Carlisle said.
"Did he do what we did?" Sabrina asked.
"Yes, I did it too. And like you, I'm not proud of it. No one in my family knows. Not even Edward."
Sabrina looked at her father in amazement.
"But that doesn't make us bad people. Like you, I was scared and didn't know how to move forward. That's one of the reasons I became the person I am today. That's one of the reasons you became the people you are today."
Sabrina wiped her tears with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. Carlisle hugged her again and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead.
"I know you have a home, but this is your home too," the doctor said.
"Thank you… Leah? Can this be a home for her too in case she doesn't feel like staying with us?"
"Leah has a home," Carlisle said.
"No, Doctor, Seth has a home, but not her. Especially now. To all of you, she is an invisible girl."
"Invisible? No, I wouldn't say so. It's hard not to notice her," Dr. Cullen said jokingly.
"No, Doctor, you only see what she shows you, and only what is convenient for you. You don't see beyond that. You don't see her pain, her more than justified anger, her beautiful soul. Leah is a beautiful creature and I am truly sorry that you are so blind."
Carlise looked at his daughter in surprise.
"Tell me about Leah," the vampire said softly.
Sabrina looked at the man in surprise. This made him smile.
"Do you know Emily?"
"Yes."
"Do you like her as a person?"
"I don't know her very well, but Bella thinks highly of her."
"Leah's character was similar to her cousin's, but with a bigger heart and a much deeper capacity for love than Emily's."
"She and Sam were deeply in love. It was pure, true, and sincere love. A feeling that not even Chelsea would have break."
"Do you know Chelsea?"
"No, I saw her for the first time during your meeting with them. I read each of your minds."
Sabrina was silent for a few seconds.
"Edward, Emmett, and Jasper were the cause of Sam's transformation. They decided to have a contest. A dare contest, to be exact. They snuck into the reservation. They wanted to see if there were any wolf boys. Edward saw Sam and Leah, together. His son envied the love between them. He had never looked for a mate, not even someone to transform, but when he saw them together he wanted to love and be loved in the same way. I saw it all in his mind. Now Edward thinks that only he and Bella are the perfect couple on par with those who have been imprinted. Stupid boy."
A few tears rolled down the girl's cheeks.
"It was the love he felt for her that helped the boy return to being human after his first transformation. It was her voice that called his name, when she would sneak out and go into the forest to look for him. It was her eyes when he would look at her hidden behind the trees still in wolf form."
Sabrina sighed again.
"Imprinting, contrary to what you might think, did not erase Sam's love for Leah. It was still there, with the same strength, the same intensity, the same purity. When he went to talk to the elders about what was happening to him, they were happy. They told him all their theories about shapeshifting magic, including that of the gift. The soulmate chosen by the spirits as a reward for their sacrifice for the tribe. What those stupid old men did not know and will never know is that Sam, despite his attraction to Emily, he had gone for Leah, not for the girl's cousin, but for Leah. He simply gave up in the end."
Carlisle frowned.
"Sam's imprint, as well as Jacob's, is stronger than the other wolf boys', because it had to overpower the other feeling. Sometimes I think Emily is Leah's replacement and Rensmee is Bella's. Leah has always found Jacob's imprint obscene, and she's right. The wolf chose the daughter of the girl Jacob loved. And still loves. It's really absurd."
Sabrina was silent for a few seconds.
"As time went by, Sam began to love Emily sincerely, but even that didn't destroy his love for Leah. It just put him to sleep. He thought there were only a few crumbs left and that gave his heart relief. A kind of absolution. But his love for her reawakened when she transformed and came back into the boy's life. True love can't be destroyed. Only that fool didn't recognize it this time. He just thought that feeling was compassion, pity for Leah."
Sabrina burst into tears.
"Darling," her father said softly.
"The worst thing is that even if that love isn't defeated, it will return to oblivion and perhaps be broken into pieces like a puzzle to be put together again. Because human love must be cultivated like a fragile and vulnerable plant. While Jacob's will remain intact because he will always be next to Bella. Unknowingly, he will cultivate it. And that's not fair to Leah. Sam was taken away from Leah in a really sneaky way. I apologize, I can't continue. Keep this in mind, Leah isn't how everyone, including Edward, has described her. That idiot should wash his mouth out with soap."
Sabrina left the office in tears. Esme saw her and ran to her, but the girl refused her hug and went straight to the attic.
"Edward, Jasper, Emmett, in my office. Now," Dr. Cullen said firmly.
Knowing Emmett, he is capable of proposing that kind of challenge to his brothers. In Eclipse (or in the last book) no one sees Leah beautiful anymore, because no one looks at her with love… except Sam. But I don't know to what extent the boy realized this. Then he was surrounded by Emily, pro-Emily morons, even more idiotic and pro-Emily elders…
As for her, if I remember correctly Jacob explains to Bella that Leah was in despair while looking for Sam after the boy disappeared. And despite everything Jake never understood anything about Leah. Instead I don't understand how Jacob can believe that he and Renesmee had chosen each other (or were destined to be together) when she was still in the womb. Nessy only wanted people who made her mother feel good and in this list there wasn't only Jacob, but also Carlisle, Esme, Edward (and Edward himself says something similar in Breakin Dawn if I remember correctly)... and all those who always kissed Bella's ass and then Renesmee's. Not to mention that Leah was alone to face that whole new world. She had surrounded herself with wolf boys and there were the elders, but ultimately, she was alone in the midst of their distrust and not only because of her transformation. I'm Mormon and I shouldn't say or write bad words, but here I really can't help but put them.
When I read the Twilight saga I saw hypocrisy, pettiness, half-truths, insinuations, contradictions…
As for the scene of Sam who returns human thanks to Leah's love... I was inspired by the scene in the movie New Moon when Jacob in wolf form looks at Bella (and at some fanfiction). The same scene can be seen when he looks at Renesmee (during the visual explanation of the wolf's magic). And returning to the attraction of the girls chosen by the wolf immediately after the imprinting (or even before in the case of Nessy), in my opinion it does not exist. Renesmee wanted to be surrounded by pro-Bella people and Emily wanted Sam even before the imprinting (word of Meyer). Sorry for the confusion and the outburst.