milliways_bar | (no subject)

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The lake behind Milliways is clear, cold and still, with only the wind rippling across its surface now and then.

Until, suddenly, a hand breaks the surface, followed by the rest of a girl.

She is as still as if she were dead, and floats limp and pale in the only barely disturbed water.

[plotlocked and tiny!tag for Jacob Black, pls!]

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He has been learning the joys of Milliways. The woods. The forest were he doesn't have to be a wolf, he can just be Jacob Black, picking his way through the scents and the greenery. It's kind of peaceful, away from the stress of Sam and his Pack...his Pack - they are bound to each other forever now, no changing that.

He exits the trees with a confident stride, the walk of a man who has nothing to fear.

There is something in the water. Jacob's throat closes up on him and suddenly he can't breathe.

He pants. Forces air into his lungs because it could be anyone and she clearly needs help.

He almost knows before he reaches her, can't be certain, can't be sure. Swimming is easy for him even with the dead weight of the girl, the cold doesn't permeate his skin, only the icy certainty of grief. When he drags the body onto the shore he flips it to get a good look. It's wearing her clothes. It's wearing Bella's face.

Some things are impossible to describe. The pain of a mother who has lost her child. The agony of a man tortured in a desolate cell. At that exact moment Jacob cannot describe how he feels,

but he thinks it comes close to

He pulls her into a half upright position and slams his hand against her back, trying to rub the life into her, trying to beat out the cruel water. If only he could hear a sliver of breath, his own lungs could release in turn.

"Breathe, dammit."

"Please."

She's jolted back to a sort of consciousness, in which everything's suddenly too bright and cold and alarming. She can't seem to catch a breath - the water feels like it's everywhere, burning its way out of her lungs.

This isn't so peaceful any more. She can't get a full breath without choking on more water and it's so cold--

Whatever it is that's got her is warm, though, and a dull part of her mind recognizes it as Jacob's arm before she can piece together anything else about her surroundings. She tries to focus her eyes, but the black spots around her vision get worse every time she coughs without being able to get more than a tiny breath in between.

she manages to croak out his name hoarsely in between coughing fits, making it a question. What is he even doing here? (Why did he disturb her peace?)

For too short a time he buries his face in her neck, losing himself, because it's okay, she's breathing.

She speaks his name, draws his face upwards with her voice and Jacob pulls her close to him. She is still icy as death, so close to the corpse she almost became.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Disbelief, mingled with relief coats his words.

Bella forces the word out through chattering teeth. It's still too hard to get a deep breath without setting off another coughing fit, but her vision's starting to clear and the guilt is starting to set in.

She doesn't have a good explanation. There isn't even a true explanation that doesn't at least hint at temporary insanity, at best.

He wraps his arms around her, burning warmth to keep out the chill. He wants to breathe the life back into her, wants to take her home and wrap her up in a million blankets so she can never have an accident {Was it an accident?} again.

He looks up at the lake and his throat seizes.

"How did you get here?" Did she jump in that lake? Did she try to...

... This is Milliways.

That's why things aren't making as much sense as they should, Bella thinks. Or one of the reasons. There were a lot of things that lacked sense and Bella didn't think she had the mental resources to deal with all of them at once just yet.

She takes a minute to just cling to Jacob and let some of his warmth sink in. She's kind of ridiculously grateful for the supernatural warmth thing right now.

"Cliff diving. You were supposed to take me, but you weren't there and I just..."

She lets the sentence trail off, because her throat still hurts and there isn't a good explanation.

"Don't know how I ended up here."

"You were stupid." Almost a question, it's impossible to berate her when he hears the shivering exhalation of her breath. He doesn't dare entertain the thought of a world without her, of what would happen if she hadn't surfaced here.

He silently thanks Bar and whatever stroke of fate brought her to the one place he could save her.

"We need to get you inside, warm. Do you have a room here?"

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