Chapter 10 - For Witches, Magical Is Natural
I do not own Twilight or its characters. They belong to Stephanie Meyer. Ruby is from my imagination. I make no money from this.
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“Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.” – Kahlil Gibran
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The Cullen house was just as Ruby remembered; still modern looking without somehow losing its classic feel.
Ruby was last to arrive at the Cullen house because she was very uncomfortable with the speeds that Emmett, Edward and Carlisle drove. She pulled into the driveway and parked behind Emmett’s Jeep. As she got out of her SUV she saw the Cullen family and Bella waiting and she thought how different her life was from a year ago. She went from shunned introvert with a secret to happy, accepted witch with a werewolf boyfriend and was about to hang out in a house full of vampires, all of who she held in high regard and who cared for her.
She briefly wondered when her life turned into a fairytale, granted it was more The Brothers Grimm than Disney but she was happy nonetheless.
She let out a small contented sigh before following said vampires through their garage crowded with cars and into the house.
They sat around the bright and airy living room talking. Ruby sat on the arm of the sofa next to Edward only after seeing Alice sit on the arm of the chair that Jasper was occupying.
“We are going to have to find a way to get the newborns and Victoria where we want them but first, we have to hunt. We will need the strength it gives us if we are to go up against newborns,” Carlisle said from his seat next to Esme.
Edward glanced at Bella, who was leaning her head on his shoulder trying in vain to stay awake, before speaking. “We will have to go in separate groups. We can’t leave Bella unprotected. It’s too dangerous for her.”
“Umm...,” Ruby spoke up and everyone looked at her. “You don’t have to do that. She can hang out with me while you go…hunt. Only if that’s ok with you, Bella.”
Edward looked down at Bella as she blinked slowly then nodded her head. “Fine with me,” she mumbled.
Ruby spoke with them about the details as Bella fell asleep on Edward’s shoulder.
“Will Jacob and Sam mind that Bella will be at La Push?” Edward asked.
“Jacob won’t mind,” Ruby answered “and even though I’m not exactly on speaking terms with Sam, I’m sure he would want to make sure Bella is protected.”
They decided Ruby would pick Bella up at her and Charlie’s house around ten in the morning. Bella was going to suggest to her father that he visit Billy in the hospital, that way he would not be home unprotected. Edward thanked Ruby before excusing himself and carrying Bella’s sleeping form upstairs.
After a few more minutes, Esme and Carlisle walked off looking very much in love and Emmett somehow talked Jasper into helping him honor his bet and wash Ruby’s Explorer, leaving Ruby with Rosalie and Alice.
The girls talked about the upcoming battle, about Bella, and about vampires, witches and werewolves which led to the topic of imprinting.
“I just don’t know how the imprinting works. Does it inform you of your love or is it the love? Does it make love up? I’m just…,” Ruby sighed, looking very much at her wits end. She purposely did not mention how she felt that Jacob might really love Bella or Bella’s feelings towards Jacob now. She didn’t think that was an appropriate topic to discuss with Bella’s boyfriend’s sisters.
“So what you’re saying,” Alice summed up, “is that you’re afraid.” Ruby looked sad as she nodded her head. “Do you really think he doesn’t love you? That it’s just some sort of,” she paused to think of the best way to phrase it, “supernatural pull?”
“I - I don’t know what to think,” Ruby replied honestly. “Some days I just know it’s true love, that we really are soul mates and I should be happy that we found each other so early. Some days I just don’t care. I’m just happy to be with him and it doesn’t matter how or why that came about. But… some days it really eats at me and I just need to know if he loves me for me or because of the stupid imprinting. I mean it’s no secret that he was in love with Bella.” She felt it was ok to talk about past feelings but not the present ones. Those she kept mum about. “He was in love with her probably up to the second he laid eyes on me, then bam, I have all of his love all of a sudden. I just want to know for sure if what we have is real or magical.” Ruby’s shoulders noticeably slumped down when she finished.
The room was quiet for a moment before Rosalie spoke. “I will admit that I don’t know much about witches, you’re the first one I met, but can’t you do something about that. A spell or some hocus pocus maybe?”
Ruby stared at Rosalie for a full minute too stunned to speak. “Rosie. You’re a genius. Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Sometimes people are so involved that they miss the obvious,” Rosalie replied. This time both Ruby and Alice stared, causing Rosalie to roll her eyes as if to say ‘What? I’m not an idiot’.
Ruby jumped up. “Thanks. Thank you so much. I got to go,” she said and started to quickly make her way to her newly washed car.
She drove as fast as she dared, for it was still dark out and her biggest fear was to be involved in a car accident, like her parents. She took the quickest route to her grandmother’s house and as she drove she thought how strange it was that she referred to it her grandmother’s house now and not her house also anymore. She still considered it her house, she hadn’t moved out, she was merely staying at Jacob’s house for a while… a long while. Had she unofficially moved out, she wondered. She pulled into the driveway and jumped out, searching through the many keys on her keychain for the one to the front door.
Once inside, she closed the door gently and tip-toed past the living room, through the kitchen and into her grandmother’s room. The last thing she wanted to do was make a lot of noise and have her grandmother think it was a burglar or murderer and make her use her powers to protect herself, especially when she was so dead set on aging so she can die and finally be with Thomas again. Ruby briefly wondered if Margaret had enough strength to construct one of her force fields.
“Grandma. Grandma, wake up.” Ruby prodded her until she was awake.
“Moon Star?” Margaret pushed herself into a sitting position. “It must be the middle of the night. What are you doing here? What time is it?”
“It’s…,” Ruby leaned back to look at the alarm clock on the nightstand, “four thirty-one.”
“Child, you know I need my beauty rest. I am going to look a fright in the morning.” Margaret turned and began to cover herself with her comforter.
“I need your help.” Those four simple words had Margaret jumping out of her bed with a speed that did not suit any of her two ages – the age she was and the age she pretended to be.
“What happened? What do you need?” she asked as she threw on her jade robe.
“I need help with a spell.” Margaret’s interest was piqued. “A disenchantment spell.” She didn’t need to explain any further. Her grandmother already knew what she was talking about.
“Moon Star, are you sure about this?”
Ruby told her grandmother about the day she had. She told her about saving the young girls life, about the upcoming war and about her fear about her and Jacob’s love.
“You see, grandma, Gods do forbid but if anything happens during this war I want to know our love is real, something we made and decided on instead of forced and handed to us.” Margaret looked unsure so Ruby continued. “It’s not like I want it to be permanent. I just have to know. I need to know. Please.”
“Do you honestly think you can die from this battle?” Margaret stared at Ruby, her heart pounding.
“I don’t know. If not me, it could be easily be Jacob or Embry or Bella or Eddie or any of the Cullens or the wolves. They are part of my family now, and I’m worried about them and my mind keeps going to this imprinting business and I just want to stop worrying about it before we all risk our lives. I shouldn’t be fighting when my mind is somewhere else. That’s stupid and dangerous.”
Margaret looked deep in thought, like she was thinking something over for a minute, then nodded her head as if she decided. Ruby wondered what that was about but before she could ask, she saw her grandmother’s expression do a one-eighty before she spoke.
“You understand that if we do this spell, you could be potentially screwing with nature, the natural order of things. Just because it might have a magical or supernatural level to it, does not mean that it isn’t natural, that it isn’t a love that you and Jacob developed on your own.” Ruby nodded. “Do you still want to go through with this?”
“Yes.”
Margaret sighed heavily before answering. “Ok, child. Ok. We will do the spell.”
Margaret led the way up the stairs to the room before Ruby’s (Margaret would always see it as her room even if she didn’t spend any time in there). The room was the one they used whenever they performed a spell. It was mostly sparsely decorated; a table in the middle of the room that sat low to the ground, a few trunks and shelves that held potions, candles, herbs and a bookcase full of books that were centuries old.
Ruby went around the room collecting the ingredients they would need as her grandmother called them out. She placed them in their correct positions on the table and kneeled across the table from her grandmother.
Margaret looked at Ruby seriously. “This may be painful for you, emotionally. It last approximately until sundown. Later, I want you to check today’s paper and get the time of today’s sunset. It’s summer so it’ll be around nine o’clock. ”
Ruby nodded and took notice of the time. She snapped her fingers and used the flame that was dancing on the tip of her finger to light the candles. Margaret’s hands worked on its own accord, working from memory, throwing bits of herbs into the small pewter cauldron. Once she was done she took Ruby’s hands into her own and recited the words that were needed, over and over again. When Ruby memorized what her grandmother was chanting, she joined in.
Anyone else would have been surprised by the sudden sizzling coming from the cauldron or jumped at the small bang that came from it but Ruby had grown up around spells her whole life and once she hit puberty she was able to perform them on her own, so none of this was new to her, but once the spell was complete she felt ill, wrong.
She felt as if something had been cut. Something that had been anchoring her, something that she grew to depend on, to survive on, had been torn away and she shivered suddenly cold. She used her power to make the air around her a few degrees warmer.
She knew it was the spell, she knew it had worked. She wasn’t sure if she could last twelve hours like this but she had to know, she needed to know the truth, it was the only thing that stopped her from begging her grandmother to reverse the spell somehow.
She helped her grandmother clean up almost in a daze, putting things back in the wrong places and her tired grandmother had to walk behind her and put them in their rightful spots. She felt unsure and unexpectedly her emotional distress turned physical. Her stomach clenched and she ran from the room and reached the bathroom just in time to empty her stomach’s content into the toilet.
“Moon Star. Why don’t you go to him? I’ll clean up,” Margaret told her gently from the doorway.
“I don’t feel right.” Ruby turned the faucet on. Placing her cupped hand under the stream of water she washed out her mouth.
“I warned this could happen. I’m sorry but there is no reversal spell. In twelve hours it will go back to normal.”
“What was I thinking?”
“You were thinking that you needed to know. The Gods above all know how strong willed you can be. Now,” she said putting some rarely used force in her voice, “Stand up straight, take a deep breath and try not to throw up again. I can’t imagine how you are feeling right now but I can guess it’s pretty unpleasant. Go to him and find your answer, so all of this won’t be in vain.”
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Over in La Push at about the same time, Jacob was with his pack just about finishing the discussion about the upcoming battle with the pack.
“We can’t leave the women unprotected. Collin and Brady, you will stay near my house; Emily will be there with Kim and Claire. In the case a leech shows up, you protect them.” Both of the boys nodded in agreement. “Jacob, after what we saw from Ruby earlier, I think she would be a great asset in this war. Will she be joining us?”
Jacob looked at Sam for a moment before answering. “I haven’t talked to her about that yet but knowing her, she’ll be there.”
“Ok then. We’re having a bonfire later at First Beach, if she plans on fighting have her find me.” Sam’s tone was all business and Jacob nodded. “Ok guys, that’s all. Go home and get some rest before the bonfire.” The pack walked away towards their homes in twos and threes. “Jacob, a quick word.”
“Sure.”
“How are you feeling about Ruby joining the fight?”
“Honestly, I’m trying not to have a heart attack about it. I know she’s going to want to be there, and I know she can take care of herself so I’m trying to be calm about it but if she gets hurt...” he trailed off, not wanting to think about it.
“I think she would be careful but if you want, I can forbid her from participating.” Jacob actually laughed at that.
“Yeah? You and what army? She’s not part of the pack. She doesn’t have to do what you say. You, of all people, know firsthand how dedicated she can be. Anyway, can you honestly see her taking an order from anyone?” Now it was Sam’s turn to laugh.
“Not our Ruby.” They turned and started to make their way back home. Halfway there Jacob suddenly felt as if someone had ripped something from him. It caused him to miss a step and stumble. “Jacob. Are you ok?”
“I- I don’t know.” He felt a little off, unsure of himself. He tried to shake it off and it worked to some degree. There was still a faint ache in his chest, like a longing, but for what he couldn’t tell you. He felt the sudden urge to be with Ruby. To tell her he loved her and to get her reassurance that she loved him back. “I have to get home.” Jacob set off at a run and before he knew it, he was clearing the trees across from his house.
He saw the outline of Ruby sitting on the porch. She was leaning against the railing looking pale and sad. He ran faster, pushing himself, wanting – no, needing to be near her and envelope her in his arms. She looked up at him and his heart broke as he saw uncertainty in her eyes.
“Hey, Jacob,” she said cautiously.
“Are you ok?”
“I’m… fine. Feeling better now that you’re home. Are you ok?” He sat on the porch next to her.
“Yeah. I just had the sudden urge to see you and do this.” He leaned towards her and kissed her. Ruby tensed for a second, afraid that they would feel nothing from the kiss and the imprint was some form of rose colored glasses. She soon relaxed when she felt the same intensity in the kiss she had always felt when Jacob pressed his lips to hers, the same butterflies in her stomach when she felt his tongue press against her mouth seeking permission that she always has and always will grant, the same lightheadedness she experienced when she forgot to come up for air.
She pulled away from him and he tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Thank you,” she whispered. He frowned because in all the time he was with Ruby, she had never, not once said thank you for a kiss. She was usually too flustered to say much after he kissed her or just smiled wide at him.
“You sure, you’re ok?” he asked concerned.
“I guess I had a long night. Esme invited me back to their house and I stood there for a while, then I went to my grandma’s house. I’m just tired.” He knew her well enough to know that she wasn’t lying but she wasn’t exactly telling the whole truth either. Just then she yawned and he decided not to push it. They were both tired and they could deal with it later. “I almost forgot, I kind of said that Bella could hang with us today. The Cullens need to go out to… eat and they wanted to make sure she was protected. I have to get her from Charlie’s at ten.”
“Ok. Sam’s having a bonfire at First Beach, she’ll have fun there. Come on, let’s try to get some sleep before then.” He got up and gave her his hand to help her up. She swayed on her feet, her head foggy with sleep and doubt and a little bit of guilt. She had performed a spell that affected him and she didn’t inform him of it or get his permission. He kissed her cheek before quickly scooping her up in his arms and carrying her inside to - what he has affectionately been referring to as – ‘their’ bed.
Jacob enjoyed sharing his life with Ruby, and he couldn’t wait for this fight with Victoria to be over so he can focus all his attention on her once again. He loved her beyond a shadow of a doubt and although he was sure she knew it, today he felt the need to reassure her.
He place her in bed and she scooted over as much as she could, her face practically pressed against the wall, as she made space for him on the small bed. He suddenly felt bad for her. She had a queen sized bed in her room back in Forks and now she was sharing a twin when it was barely big enough for him.
“Ruby, why don’t you sleep on the outside? I’ll sleep on the inside.” She nodded and turned around scooting over to the very edge of the bed. He climbed over her and squeezed himself into the space, his back against the wall. Wrapping an arm around her, he pulled her tighter to his chest as he wrapped the blanket around them. “Maybe,” he whispered, “Once this fight is over and done with, we can buy ourselves a bigger bed? I got some money saved up.”
Ruby yawned. “Umm, ok, but nothing too big. I like sleeping close to you.” Jacob didn’t know why, but that statement made his day, put his mind at ease. He kissed the top of her head, draped a leg over hers and they both went to sleep.
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“Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.” – Kahlil Gibran
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The Cullen house was just as Ruby remembered; still modern looking without somehow losing its classic feel.
Ruby was last to arrive at the Cullen house because she was very uncomfortable with the speeds that Emmett, Edward and Carlisle drove. She pulled into the driveway and parked behind Emmett’s Jeep. As she got out of her SUV she saw the Cullen family and Bella waiting and she thought how different her life was from a year ago. She went from shunned introvert with a secret to happy, accepted witch with a werewolf boyfriend and was about to hang out in a house full of vampires, all of who she held in high regard and who cared for her.
She briefly wondered when her life turned into a fairytale, granted it was more The Brothers Grimm than Disney but she was happy nonetheless.
She let out a small contented sigh before following said vampires through their garage crowded with cars and into the house.
They sat around the bright and airy living room talking. Ruby sat on the arm of the sofa next to Edward only after seeing Alice sit on the arm of the chair that Jasper was occupying.
“We are going to have to find a way to get the newborns and Victoria where we want them but first, we have to hunt. We will need the strength it gives us if we are to go up against newborns,” Carlisle said from his seat next to Esme.
Edward glanced at Bella, who was leaning her head on his shoulder trying in vain to stay awake, before speaking. “We will have to go in separate groups. We can’t leave Bella unprotected. It’s too dangerous for her.”
“Umm...,” Ruby spoke up and everyone looked at her. “You don’t have to do that. She can hang out with me while you go…hunt. Only if that’s ok with you, Bella.”
Edward looked down at Bella as she blinked slowly then nodded her head. “Fine with me,” she mumbled.
Ruby spoke with them about the details as Bella fell asleep on Edward’s shoulder.
“Will Jacob and Sam mind that Bella will be at La Push?” Edward asked.
“Jacob won’t mind,” Ruby answered “and even though I’m not exactly on speaking terms with Sam, I’m sure he would want to make sure Bella is protected.”
They decided Ruby would pick Bella up at her and Charlie’s house around ten in the morning. Bella was going to suggest to her father that he visit Billy in the hospital, that way he would not be home unprotected. Edward thanked Ruby before excusing himself and carrying Bella’s sleeping form upstairs.
After a few more minutes, Esme and Carlisle walked off looking very much in love and Emmett somehow talked Jasper into helping him honor his bet and wash Ruby’s Explorer, leaving Ruby with Rosalie and Alice.
The girls talked about the upcoming battle, about Bella, and about vampires, witches and werewolves which led to the topic of imprinting.
“I just don’t know how the imprinting works. Does it inform you of your love or is it the love? Does it make love up? I’m just…,” Ruby sighed, looking very much at her wits end. She purposely did not mention how she felt that Jacob might really love Bella or Bella’s feelings towards Jacob now. She didn’t think that was an appropriate topic to discuss with Bella’s boyfriend’s sisters.
“So what you’re saying,” Alice summed up, “is that you’re afraid.” Ruby looked sad as she nodded her head. “Do you really think he doesn’t love you? That it’s just some sort of,” she paused to think of the best way to phrase it, “supernatural pull?”
“I - I don’t know what to think,” Ruby replied honestly. “Some days I just know it’s true love, that we really are soul mates and I should be happy that we found each other so early. Some days I just don’t care. I’m just happy to be with him and it doesn’t matter how or why that came about. But… some days it really eats at me and I just need to know if he loves me for me or because of the stupid imprinting. I mean it’s no secret that he was in love with Bella.” She felt it was ok to talk about past feelings but not the present ones. Those she kept mum about. “He was in love with her probably up to the second he laid eyes on me, then bam, I have all of his love all of a sudden. I just want to know for sure if what we have is real or magical.” Ruby’s shoulders noticeably slumped down when she finished.
The room was quiet for a moment before Rosalie spoke. “I will admit that I don’t know much about witches, you’re the first one I met, but can’t you do something about that. A spell or some hocus pocus maybe?”
Ruby stared at Rosalie for a full minute too stunned to speak. “Rosie. You’re a genius. Why didn’t I think of that?”
“Sometimes people are so involved that they miss the obvious,” Rosalie replied. This time both Ruby and Alice stared, causing Rosalie to roll her eyes as if to say ‘What? I’m not an idiot’.
Ruby jumped up. “Thanks. Thank you so much. I got to go,” she said and started to quickly make her way to her newly washed car.
She drove as fast as she dared, for it was still dark out and her biggest fear was to be involved in a car accident, like her parents. She took the quickest route to her grandmother’s house and as she drove she thought how strange it was that she referred to it her grandmother’s house now and not her house also anymore. She still considered it her house, she hadn’t moved out, she was merely staying at Jacob’s house for a while… a long while. Had she unofficially moved out, she wondered. She pulled into the driveway and jumped out, searching through the many keys on her keychain for the one to the front door.
Once inside, she closed the door gently and tip-toed past the living room, through the kitchen and into her grandmother’s room. The last thing she wanted to do was make a lot of noise and have her grandmother think it was a burglar or murderer and make her use her powers to protect herself, especially when she was so dead set on aging so she can die and finally be with Thomas again. Ruby briefly wondered if Margaret had enough strength to construct one of her force fields.
“Grandma. Grandma, wake up.” Ruby prodded her until she was awake.
“Moon Star?” Margaret pushed herself into a sitting position. “It must be the middle of the night. What are you doing here? What time is it?”
“It’s…,” Ruby leaned back to look at the alarm clock on the nightstand, “four thirty-one.”
“Child, you know I need my beauty rest. I am going to look a fright in the morning.” Margaret turned and began to cover herself with her comforter.
“I need your help.” Those four simple words had Margaret jumping out of her bed with a speed that did not suit any of her two ages – the age she was and the age she pretended to be.
“What happened? What do you need?” she asked as she threw on her jade robe.
“I need help with a spell.” Margaret’s interest was piqued. “A disenchantment spell.” She didn’t need to explain any further. Her grandmother already knew what she was talking about.
“Moon Star, are you sure about this?”
Ruby told her grandmother about the day she had. She told her about saving the young girls life, about the upcoming war and about her fear about her and Jacob’s love.
“You see, grandma, Gods do forbid but if anything happens during this war I want to know our love is real, something we made and decided on instead of forced and handed to us.” Margaret looked unsure so Ruby continued. “It’s not like I want it to be permanent. I just have to know. I need to know. Please.”
“Do you honestly think you can die from this battle?” Margaret stared at Ruby, her heart pounding.
“I don’t know. If not me, it could be easily be Jacob or Embry or Bella or Eddie or any of the Cullens or the wolves. They are part of my family now, and I’m worried about them and my mind keeps going to this imprinting business and I just want to stop worrying about it before we all risk our lives. I shouldn’t be fighting when my mind is somewhere else. That’s stupid and dangerous.”
Margaret looked deep in thought, like she was thinking something over for a minute, then nodded her head as if she decided. Ruby wondered what that was about but before she could ask, she saw her grandmother’s expression do a one-eighty before she spoke.
“You understand that if we do this spell, you could be potentially screwing with nature, the natural order of things. Just because it might have a magical or supernatural level to it, does not mean that it isn’t natural, that it isn’t a love that you and Jacob developed on your own.” Ruby nodded. “Do you still want to go through with this?”
“Yes.”
Margaret sighed heavily before answering. “Ok, child. Ok. We will do the spell.”
Margaret led the way up the stairs to the room before Ruby’s (Margaret would always see it as her room even if she didn’t spend any time in there). The room was the one they used whenever they performed a spell. It was mostly sparsely decorated; a table in the middle of the room that sat low to the ground, a few trunks and shelves that held potions, candles, herbs and a bookcase full of books that were centuries old.
Ruby went around the room collecting the ingredients they would need as her grandmother called them out. She placed them in their correct positions on the table and kneeled across the table from her grandmother.
Margaret looked at Ruby seriously. “This may be painful for you, emotionally. It last approximately until sundown. Later, I want you to check today’s paper and get the time of today’s sunset. It’s summer so it’ll be around nine o’clock. ”
Ruby nodded and took notice of the time. She snapped her fingers and used the flame that was dancing on the tip of her finger to light the candles. Margaret’s hands worked on its own accord, working from memory, throwing bits of herbs into the small pewter cauldron. Once she was done she took Ruby’s hands into her own and recited the words that were needed, over and over again. When Ruby memorized what her grandmother was chanting, she joined in.
Anyone else would have been surprised by the sudden sizzling coming from the cauldron or jumped at the small bang that came from it but Ruby had grown up around spells her whole life and once she hit puberty she was able to perform them on her own, so none of this was new to her, but once the spell was complete she felt ill, wrong.
She felt as if something had been cut. Something that had been anchoring her, something that she grew to depend on, to survive on, had been torn away and she shivered suddenly cold. She used her power to make the air around her a few degrees warmer.
She knew it was the spell, she knew it had worked. She wasn’t sure if she could last twelve hours like this but she had to know, she needed to know the truth, it was the only thing that stopped her from begging her grandmother to reverse the spell somehow.
She helped her grandmother clean up almost in a daze, putting things back in the wrong places and her tired grandmother had to walk behind her and put them in their rightful spots. She felt unsure and unexpectedly her emotional distress turned physical. Her stomach clenched and she ran from the room and reached the bathroom just in time to empty her stomach’s content into the toilet.
“Moon Star. Why don’t you go to him? I’ll clean up,” Margaret told her gently from the doorway.
“I don’t feel right.” Ruby turned the faucet on. Placing her cupped hand under the stream of water she washed out her mouth.
“I warned this could happen. I’m sorry but there is no reversal spell. In twelve hours it will go back to normal.”
“What was I thinking?”
“You were thinking that you needed to know. The Gods above all know how strong willed you can be. Now,” she said putting some rarely used force in her voice, “Stand up straight, take a deep breath and try not to throw up again. I can’t imagine how you are feeling right now but I can guess it’s pretty unpleasant. Go to him and find your answer, so all of this won’t be in vain.”
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Over in La Push at about the same time, Jacob was with his pack just about finishing the discussion about the upcoming battle with the pack.
“We can’t leave the women unprotected. Collin and Brady, you will stay near my house; Emily will be there with Kim and Claire. In the case a leech shows up, you protect them.” Both of the boys nodded in agreement. “Jacob, after what we saw from Ruby earlier, I think she would be a great asset in this war. Will she be joining us?”
Jacob looked at Sam for a moment before answering. “I haven’t talked to her about that yet but knowing her, she’ll be there.”
“Ok then. We’re having a bonfire later at First Beach, if she plans on fighting have her find me.” Sam’s tone was all business and Jacob nodded. “Ok guys, that’s all. Go home and get some rest before the bonfire.” The pack walked away towards their homes in twos and threes. “Jacob, a quick word.”
“Sure.”
“How are you feeling about Ruby joining the fight?”
“Honestly, I’m trying not to have a heart attack about it. I know she’s going to want to be there, and I know she can take care of herself so I’m trying to be calm about it but if she gets hurt...” he trailed off, not wanting to think about it.
“I think she would be careful but if you want, I can forbid her from participating.” Jacob actually laughed at that.
“Yeah? You and what army? She’s not part of the pack. She doesn’t have to do what you say. You, of all people, know firsthand how dedicated she can be. Anyway, can you honestly see her taking an order from anyone?” Now it was Sam’s turn to laugh.
“Not our Ruby.” They turned and started to make their way back home. Halfway there Jacob suddenly felt as if someone had ripped something from him. It caused him to miss a step and stumble. “Jacob. Are you ok?”
“I- I don’t know.” He felt a little off, unsure of himself. He tried to shake it off and it worked to some degree. There was still a faint ache in his chest, like a longing, but for what he couldn’t tell you. He felt the sudden urge to be with Ruby. To tell her he loved her and to get her reassurance that she loved him back. “I have to get home.” Jacob set off at a run and before he knew it, he was clearing the trees across from his house.
He saw the outline of Ruby sitting on the porch. She was leaning against the railing looking pale and sad. He ran faster, pushing himself, wanting – no, needing to be near her and envelope her in his arms. She looked up at him and his heart broke as he saw uncertainty in her eyes.
“Hey, Jacob,” she said cautiously.
“Are you ok?”
“I’m… fine. Feeling better now that you’re home. Are you ok?” He sat on the porch next to her.
“Yeah. I just had the sudden urge to see you and do this.” He leaned towards her and kissed her. Ruby tensed for a second, afraid that they would feel nothing from the kiss and the imprint was some form of rose colored glasses. She soon relaxed when she felt the same intensity in the kiss she had always felt when Jacob pressed his lips to hers, the same butterflies in her stomach when she felt his tongue press against her mouth seeking permission that she always has and always will grant, the same lightheadedness she experienced when she forgot to come up for air.
She pulled away from him and he tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Thank you,” she whispered. He frowned because in all the time he was with Ruby, she had never, not once said thank you for a kiss. She was usually too flustered to say much after he kissed her or just smiled wide at him.
“You sure, you’re ok?” he asked concerned.
“I guess I had a long night. Esme invited me back to their house and I stood there for a while, then I went to my grandma’s house. I’m just tired.” He knew her well enough to know that she wasn’t lying but she wasn’t exactly telling the whole truth either. Just then she yawned and he decided not to push it. They were both tired and they could deal with it later. “I almost forgot, I kind of said that Bella could hang with us today. The Cullens need to go out to… eat and they wanted to make sure she was protected. I have to get her from Charlie’s at ten.”
“Ok. Sam’s having a bonfire at First Beach, she’ll have fun there. Come on, let’s try to get some sleep before then.” He got up and gave her his hand to help her up. She swayed on her feet, her head foggy with sleep and doubt and a little bit of guilt. She had performed a spell that affected him and she didn’t inform him of it or get his permission. He kissed her cheek before quickly scooping her up in his arms and carrying her inside to - what he has affectionately been referring to as – ‘their’ bed.
Jacob enjoyed sharing his life with Ruby, and he couldn’t wait for this fight with Victoria to be over so he can focus all his attention on her once again. He loved her beyond a shadow of a doubt and although he was sure she knew it, today he felt the need to reassure her.
He place her in bed and she scooted over as much as she could, her face practically pressed against the wall, as she made space for him on the small bed. He suddenly felt bad for her. She had a queen sized bed in her room back in Forks and now she was sharing a twin when it was barely big enough for him.
“Ruby, why don’t you sleep on the outside? I’ll sleep on the inside.” She nodded and turned around scooting over to the very edge of the bed. He climbed over her and squeezed himself into the space, his back against the wall. Wrapping an arm around her, he pulled her tighter to his chest as he wrapped the blanket around them. “Maybe,” he whispered, “Once this fight is over and done with, we can buy ourselves a bigger bed? I got some money saved up.”
Ruby yawned. “Umm, ok, but nothing too big. I like sleeping close to you.” Jacob didn’t know why, but that statement made his day, put his mind at ease. He kissed the top of her head, draped a leg over hers and they both went to sleep.
