Tides Changing

Chapter 1

She sat alone on the cliffs, listening to the roar of the ocean as it crashed onto the rocks below. It was the eve of her wedding rehearsal and she was having second thoughts. She worried she was rushing into this marriage for fear of him leaving her again. His leaving had changed her in ways which were irreparable. Now she wondered if she was with him because she loved him or because she had to be.

As she stared out at the blue ocean, she thought back on all the changes from the last six months. When he walked away from her that day in the woods, she was unprepared for the amount of pain and despair she would suffer through. When Jacob brought her out of the darkness, she was so grateful. He brought her to the pack, to the people she considered her family. Now they were all gone from her. Their absence hurt her more than Edward's leaving ever did.

She missed Emily and her cheery disposition, as well as Kim's laughter and smile. She missed the bear hugs from her pseudo big brothers Sam and Jared. She missed the joyful antics of Jacob, Quil and Embry, or the three stooges as she had dubbed them. She missed Seth's innocence and Leah's no hold's barred attitude. She even missed Paul's anger, which always seemed to be directed at her.

She knew when she ran off with Alice to save Edward from himself she would likely lose the family she had grown to love. She expected them to stop speaking to her, but she never expected the outright hatred which poured from all of them every time she saw them. Even her 'Uncle' Billy was shunning her. It got worse when they found out she was going to marry him and become a vampire, the pack's mortal enemy. She also knew, even though it was her choice, there would be a war. She desperately wanted to avoid that.

As the wedding planning progressed, so did her despondency. Any choice she made was quickly shot down by Alice and soon, Lily just stopped fighting her. Suddenly, the simple wedding Lily envisioned had become a flashy affair. Edward was no help when it came to controlling his sister, so Lily was barely speaking to either of them. Trying to get some time away from them started a large fight, shocking her vampire family.

"You've completely taken over everything. This isn't even the wedding I wanted anymore!" She had shouted at Alice.

"Lily, love—" Edward started.

Lily cut him off. "Don't, Edward. You've done absolutely nothing to help stop her. If you truly want to marry me, maybe you should think about my opinions and not the all knowing seer."

"Lily!" Esme shouted in shock.

"All I want is a day, one full day, on my own away from it all. That is not too much to ask!"

"Lily, the wedding is in two days." Alice reminded her.

"Yes, and if any of you expect me to be there, you will ALL stay away from me! Including you, Edward!"

She had stormed out of the Cullen home and driven to her father's. She'd locked her window and drawn the curtains. After a fitful night's sleep, she found herself out on the cliffs, trying to figure out how her life had spiraled so out of control.

"Lily?"

She jumped when she heard the voice behind her. Without turning around, "Sorry, I just needed some space. I'll leave."

"You don't have to go. Is everything okay?"

She sighed. "No, Sam, it's not. I don't know what happened, but nothing I'm doing seems right anymore." She sniffed and couldn't stop the tears from running down her face. For once, she didn't want to. "How did it get to this point? I'm not happy, Sam. Is this what I've signed myself up for? An eternity of misery?"

Sam sat down beside her. He had been waiting for this moment ever since the Cullens had come back. "What if you could change it all?"

"What do you mean?"

Sam sighed and looked at the young woman who had come to mean so much to him and his pack. He knew if he followed through, everything would change. He had been told he would remember, but he wasn't sure if that was true. He pulled a vial of green liquid out of his pocket and rolled it around in his hand.

"Old Quil sent me on a vision quest recently. The pain and discord running through the pack is overwhelming. Losing you has been very hard on all of us, Lily. All for different reasons, but the loss is there." He looked down at her with sad eyes. "My quest showed me our true destinies. They're so beautiful, Lily. My quest told me this isn't the path we were meant to be on."

He held the vial out to her. "Old Quil made an old shaman's potion. The three of us will be the only ones to remember the paths we could have gone down. If you choose to drink this, everything will be wiped away from the time I found you after Edward left."

"Sam...what if it doesn't work?"

"From what I've been told, the only way it will fail is if the same decisions are made."

Lily choked back a sob as she took the vial from his outstretched hand. "No one can know can they? Not even Emily?"

"No, this affects her as well. But I'll be there with you every step of the way." Sam kept his eyes on her. "What do you say, sister, ready to change all of our lives?"

Lily stayed silent, but reached out to the man who had been her brother. This could be the thing she needed to be happy again. Looking at Sam, she already knew her decision. Gripping his hand in hers, she swallowed the green liquid, grimacing at the taste.