A/N: Yes, yes, I know I said I wasn't going to add to this story...What can I say? I have a fickle muse and inspiration hit me again;-) Aren't you glad? I can't promise when I will update again because my life is pretty hectic at the moment and my muse, as I have mentioned, is very fickle. But we will see;-) By the way, thank- you so much for your lovely reviews on the last chapter - honestly, it is your support and encouragement that kept me going and pushed me into writing another chapter for this story in the end. That said, I would simply love to hear your thoughts on this new chapter - reviews are my bread and butter;-)

To the Rhythm of the Ocean's Tides

Defining Moment No. 2

Jacob Black stood on the cliff looking down towards the tumbling waters. From this height the waves looked like soft white ruffles on a rippling blue background, but he knew that, once on their level, they would be rather more menacing. Quil and Embry, his two best friends, called up at him from below, their words muffled but the mocking tone in their voices evident nonetheless. Taking a deep breath, he tensed his muscles and leapt from the rocks, letting the air out with a whoosh as he hit the water below, toes first. He allowed himself to sink for two to three metres, and then with a powerful kick, started to swim for the surface. Shaking his hair out of his eyes, he laughed with exhilaration, feeling the after effects of his adrenaline rush warming him from head to toe. Quil and Embry joined in the laughter, adding a few jibes here and there:

"See Jake, that wasn't so bad, was it? For a moment there I thought you would bale."

Jacob sent a wave of his own making in Quil's direction, snorting and replying airily,

"Nah. I just had to make sure I didn't land on you two idiots. The way you were swimming, I was convinced I would have to dive in just to rescue your scrawny necks."

Embry and Quil exchanged an identical look of mischief across the waves and simultaneously dived for Jacob who, suddenly realising his predicament, flipped on to his stomach and began to swim as fast as he could for the shore. Needless to say he didn't make it, and the boys' laughter and splashing echoed off the towering cliffs nearby.

~ O ~ O ~ O ~

The sun was high in the sky when the three boys finally decided that the water was getting a bit too cold and made their way towards the shore with lazy strokes. Whilst towelling off, Jacob noticed a bonfire in the distance and the tantalizing smell of cooking meat drifted their way. Nudging the other two, he nodded in the direction of the fire and suggested that they go and check it out.

It appeared that the bonfire (and the food) belonged to some students from Forks who had come down to La Push for some hiking. They were more than willing to share however, and Jacob noticed that he, Quil and Embry weren't the only ones from the rez who had been drawn in by the smell of cooking. Sam Uley was also there with a couple of his friends. Jacob noticed with a twinge of envy that Sam seemed to have bulked out a bit since he last saw him, as well as gaining a couple of inches in height. Glancing down at his own rather slender frame, he wondered ruefully whether he would ever fill out like that, or if he was doomed to beanpoledom for life.

He was soon distracted from this train of thought however by the arrival of a few more Forks students, one of whom seemed strangely familiar, although he could not place where he had seen her before. She was small and pale, with long brown hair and brown eyes, pretty in an unassuming sort of way. He saw her shift uncomfortably, probably aware of his gaze, and not wanting to be caught staring he quickly glanced away again and returned his attention to the hotdog in his hands. He kept his ears open however, to see if he could catch the girl's name, and his patience was rewarded, for shortly one of the other newcomers introduced them all. Bella. Her name was Bella. Wait. Bella? Half-forgotten memories from ten years ago flooded back in an instant, and Jacob remembered a little girl with small, soft hands who had kissed him on his cheek and whispered that she would always be his friend. At the time it had meant so much to him, but then she had left and gone back to wherever it was she had come from and he had forgotten about her and life had gone on. Until now.

He glanced back up at her with renewed interest, searching her pretty face to see if he could find any traces of that little girl in its structure or expression. There was indeed a faint resemblance in the curve of her lips and the dreamy expression in her eyes, an expression that disappeared abruptly when she looked up and met his own. A faint blush tinged her cheeks and she quickly looked down again, twisting her hands reflexively in her lap. Jacob smiled to himself and looked away again. He continued to watch her however out of the corner of his eye, and when lunch was over and some of the party had left to go and hike, he made his way over to her to introduce himself. Again.

"You're Isabella Swan, aren't you?" A little abrupt, yes, but he wasn't quite sure how else to start. And he didn't want to call her Bella when he hadn't seen her in ten years. It would seem a little too familiar.

Bella however didn't seem to think so and sighed dramatically. "Bella", she corrected with a hint of impatience.

Jacob wouldn't be deterred however, and held out his hand in a friendly gesture. "I'm Jacob Black. You bought my dad's truck." And comforted me when my mom died and no one else could understand. But he didn't add that.

"Oh." She seemed relieved for some reason. "You're Billy's son. I probably should remember you."

Jacob felt a small, quickly suppressed, twinge that she didn't remember him after all, and then reminded himself that what for him had been quite a big event in his young life, for her had probably been nothing more than simply playing with some random little boy. He swallowed down his disappointment, and made an excuse for her.

"No, I'm the youngest of my family – you would remember my older sisters."

It turned out that she did remember his older sisters (which made the twinge return), and they chatted about them for a while, and about the truck. He had been immensely relieved when his dad had gotten rid of that old tank. Bella was surprisingly easy to talk to and he quickly felt himself relaxing into an easy banter with her. It felt as though the ten years since they had seen each other had evaporated and they had been friends all their lives.

One of the other girls from the party, (Lauren was it?), seemed to notice this too, and asked Jacob if he knew Bella. She sounded surprised and a little put out for some reason. Jacob laughed, responding that they'd known each other since he was born. Which was true really, even if Bella didn't remember it. The girl then said something random about the Cullens and whether anyone had thought to invite them. Jacob glanced up at Sam, knowing that he was a firm believer in the old stories about the Cullens. Sure enough, a closed-off look had come over his face as he responded coldly that the Cullens don't come to La Push. Way to make people feel welcome, Sam, Jacob thought irritably, and then turned his attention back to Bella, who appeared to be trying to flirt with him; Jacob would have thought her rather awkward attempts funny if he hadn't been so flattered and eager to reciprocate.

After a moment or so, she asked him if he wanted to go for a walk with her, and he eagerly agreed, his heart racing a little faster as he wondered why she wanted to get him on his own. As it turned out however, all she wanted was to hear the old stories about the Cullens. Stupid Sam and his big mouth. Jacob knew that technically he shouldn't really tell Bella as it was supposed to be a tribe secret and all, but really, they were just silly stories. He couldn't help it if people like Sam and his dad actually believed them. And Bella was pretty and she was looking at him with big eager eyes and she wanted him to tell her and how could he resist? So he told her. And she listened with great interest, making all the appropriate sounds and comments. In fact, she seemed a little too interested, and Jacob started to worry that she would think that he really believed this stuff and laugh at him.

He decided a playful tone was the best way to go, finishing off his story with "So do you think we're a bunch of superstitious natives or what?" But he watched her carefully in order to gauge her response. She looked at him and smiled, replying that she simply thought he was very good at telling scary stories and he felt relief in his chest, and a twinge of pride.

One of the guys from the Forks party came over just then in order to alert Bella that they were leaving and the moment passed. From the jealous tone in the guy's voice, he obviously liked Bella and Jacob wondered briefly and regretfully if he was her boyfriend, but Bella quickly cleared up that misunderstanding; amusingly quickly in fact. It was clear that whatever this guy might feel for her, she did not reciprocate. She told him that she would come soon and then turned back to Jacob with a smile. Jacob smiled back. "It was nice to see you again." he said, both to taunt the other guy a bit, and to see if he could remind Bella of their childhood friendship. Bella nodded and left, and Jacob sat back down on the rocks where he had regaled Bella with the secret stories of his tribe, and looked out towards the ocean. The sun was starting to set and clouds were rolling in from the horizon. It looked like it might rain later. Jacob grinned as he realised that this was almost the exact same spot that he and Bella had played together as kids. Maybe there was something of fate in their meeting again like this, here. Maybe, like the waves and the shore, they were irrevocably being drawn back together. Maybe. He would like to think so.

A/N: Feedback is always appreciated;-)