Author's Note: FINAL CHAPTER!!!! YAY!!! Now that this little story is over (okay, it's been a long story, and I'm glad to have it finished), I'm going to start publishing my next stories. I have a total of six storylines in my head, none of them as intense as this little saga I have written. I'm not sure which I'll do first, but I can assure you my one-shots will be published right after I publish this very chapter. So when you finish this chapter, press that button, review it, and then go read my one-shots. And review them as well!

Disclaimer: After two stories with me, you would think everyone would know that I don't own Twilight. Still, I have to put this. Oh, well.

Disclaimer II: I can't promise this ending will satisfy everybody, but I hope it satisfies most. Let me know what you think…with a REVIEW!!!

Epilogue: Jacob's POV

"Jake!" Billy greeted me as I walked into his house. I smiled and bent to give my father a big hug. "It's been too long," he said, tears rolling down his face.

I nodded. "I know, Dad. I'm sorry. It hasn't been fair to leave you for five years, especially in your condition."

He laughed. "What condition? I've been doing fine! Charlie Swan and Sue Clearwater got married, so they've been making a joint effort to help me out."

"They're married?" I asked, surprised.

He nodded. "Yup. It's been good for Charlie. It keeps his mind off Bella." He pursed his thick lips. "How is she, son?"

Billy was the only person in Washington--besides me--who knew Bella's real fate. Everyone believed that Bella had finally lost her battle with leukemia, that her heart had finally given out after a year in a coma. But my father and I knew that she was alive and well--joyfully married to her soul mate and traveling the world with her coven. I hadn't talked to her in a few months, but I knew she was happy. And I was happy for her.

"She's good," I answered Billy's question. "Very good."

His eyes slanted. "And how are you?"

"I'm excellent."

"You look older."

I laughed. "I am. I haven't phased in about four and a half years."

He raised his eyebrows, and I noticed the deep signs of his aging. "Why not?"

I shrugged. "It's time for some normalcy. I've been hoping to find a good human girl who wouldn't be affected by our little horror story. I don't even consider myself to be part-wolf anymore."

He nodded. "Don't turn your back on who you are, son."

"I'm not. I still have our awesome tattoo, don't I?"

Billy laughed. "Good. Tonight Sam and Emily are having a celebration dinner."

"Celebrating what?"

"Emily's pregnant again," he replied. "Sophie is so excited to be a big sister."

I smiled. "I bet. I wonder if the rug-rat even remembers me."

He shrugged. "Who knows? She's a sweet kid, though. Do you want to go to the dinner?"

"Of course. Let me get settled in first, though."

"How long are you staying, Jacob?" Billy asked me.

I shrugged as I went to my room. "Not sure," I called. "We'll see."

"Take your time," Billy called as he wheeled to the living room. His words made me feel bad; I knew I hadn't been fair to him.

But in my journey, I had finally made sense of my life. I lived in Alaska, working at an auto-repair shop. Like I had told Billy, I had turned away from the werewolf life; now I was completely human. It made life easier. Bella and the rest of the Cullens didn't even stink anymore.

The thought made me laugh quietly, and I picked up the phone to dial the familiar number.

"Hello?" the sweet, pretty voice answered.

"Bells," I said. "It's Jake."

"Oh, hey, Jake! Long time, no see! Where are you?"

"I'm at Billy's house in La Push."

"Awesome. I didn't recognize the number. What are you doing there?"

"I'm just hanging out with Billy," I replied. "I felt like I needed to come home and see him. See the rest of the gang."

"Yeah. I would love to see people in Forks and La Push." She sighed wistfully.

"Anyways, what are you doing?"

"We're in Brazil," she said.

"The whole family?" And that was true; I really did consider the Cullens to be a family rather than a coven.

"No, just me and Edward. We're taking another honeymoon."

"I see. Tell him I said hello."

"Will do."

"Since you're on a honeymoon and it's nighttime in Brazil," I teased, "I'll let you go. But call me back when you get back to Alaska. I want to hang out."

"Oh, shut up," she chuckled at my first statement. "And I will. It was nice to hear your voice, Jake."

"You, too. Love you, Bells."

"Love you, too, Jake."

I hung up smiling.

Sam and Emily's party was great. Everyone treated me as if I had been there the whole time. I really loved this crowd. Of course, they all phased and started a wrestling match. Quil and Paul tried to convince me to join them in werewolf wrestling, but I just shook my head. I wanted to just watch and remain a human.

But around nine PM, my world was turned upside down when a certain guest walked into the trimmed yard.

Brown hair blew in the wind, and blue eyes stared at me, wide. My mouth fell open when I saw her. She was older, and she was beautiful.

Emily quickly stood up to go hug Sarah. Sarah put her tray of food on the table, still watching me. Billy elbowed me in the side. "Be cordial," he whispered.

"Um, hello, Sarah," I said, standing to hug her.

She hugged me loosely. "Hi, Jacob."

"How are you?" I asked her.

"I'm well," she said. I snuck a glance at her left hand. No wedding ring.

We were interrupted by Old Quil Ateara's booming voice. "Gather around," he instructed everyone. "It's time for our histories."

It had been far too long since I had done this. We all sat around the fire, Old Quil at the head of the circle, and he began the familiar legends. I felt utterly at home, at rest, at ease as I settled into this still-familiar routine. I relished the great stories, still feeling quite acquainted with the characters. It was as if I knew them. As if they were old friends.

However, Old Quil took an unexpected turn when he made an announcement. Embry had apparently imprinted. I glanced at his face and saw him beaming--he was literally the picture of happiness.

"Where's the unlucky girl?" I asked him.

He sighed. "She had to miss this shindig and study for a test. She's working on her Master's degree in Biology."

Jeez, a smart girl. Embry did well.

But Old Quil took this piece of news as an invitation to tell even more legends--all about imprinting. As I stared at Sam and Emily, Quil and Claire, Jared and Kim, and Seth and his imprint-ee Chloe, I felt quite alone. All of these imprint stories were really wearing on my nerves.

One story I had never heard of, though, was Old Quil's last story, and I found myself identifying with it deeply. It involved a werewolf named Q'wati who abandoned his life as a wolf for a few years. He lived a lonely life in which he didn't find a wife. Finally, after a few years of living only as a human, he phased again, and when he returned back to his human form, he imprinted on his neighbor that he had seen a million times. They were married and had many children. Old Quil chalked this phenomenon up to he was a new werewolf when he returned to his wolf self.

I found myself musing over this. Though I did not want to go back to living as a wolf-human mutant, I did want the imprinting experience. I was an extremely lonely man who hadn't even kissed anybody since Sarah. I did want to find a wife, and eventually, I did want to be a father. Those seemed like unattainable dreams.

After the legends were over, normal conversation picked up again, along with the snacking of Emily's delicious food. I gathered from conversation that Sarah was now living in Seattle, working as a nurse at a hospital. She was single, and she joked with Emily and Leah about finding a man. I found myself watching her quite a lot until she left around midnight.

"Someone's interested," Quil said lowly.

I glared at him. "Oh, come on. That's ancient history."

"Uh huh," he said, sounding completely unconvinced.

The wrestling started up again, and then racing through the woods became a popular competition. I sat with Billy and Emily, who had little Sophie in her lap, asleep. We were talking about Alaska and my job and my plans for the future. Neither seemed surprised when I admitted I hadn't really thought about my future much.

Emily stood up to go put Sophie to bed, and Billy looked at me as soon as she left. "Jake, I can tell you're bored. Why not phase and go hang out with your brothers and sister?"

I shook my head. "I'm not sure I even know how to anymore."

"Oh, we'll see about that!" said a human voice, and I turned around to see Embry standing there with a brown wolf I recognized as Quil. Suddenly, Quil pounced on me, careful not to scratch my skin, but scaring the Jesus out of me.

Instinctively, I exploded. My clothes ripped to shreds as I became a wolf, and I was, needless to say, very angry. Embry phased as well, and soon, I was trying to sink my teeth into them for revenge.

What I had meant to be a very short fight turned into a fierce all-night competition between me and the other wolves. It felt good, almost wild, to be an animal again, and I found myself wondering why the hell I had abstained from this. I was still a good fighter; I found myself winning a lot of my battles.

Finally, sometime around three AM, I called it a night, phased back into a human, and went home to Billy. Exhausted, I collapsed onto my bed and fell into a deep sleep that was full of dreams of…Sarah.

The next morning, I woke up and went to the kitchen, where Billy was eating a bowl of cereal. "'Morning, son," he greeted me.

"'Morning," I said groggily.

He laughed. "Tired?"

I nodded. "I'm not used to using that much energy. I forgot how much energy it takes to simply phase."

He smiled. "I bet. I left a plate at Sam and Emily's last night. Would you go pick it up for me?"

"After a shower," I replied.

The shower did make me feel better, and I arrived at Sam and Emily's feeling happy. I waited as Emily searched for the plate and then washed it.

Just as she was washing it, the door opened, and familiar footsteps walked in. My senses, heightened again after phasing that one time, could smell the drops of her perfume on her skin. Such familiar perfume…such sweet perfume. The hair on the back of my neck raised as I realized who was behind me.

"Sarah!" Emily exclaimed. "Thanks for coming over, sweetie. I have your shirt for you that you wanted me to fix. Let me go get it." She dashed out of the room, leaving quite an awkward silence between me and Sarah. I kept my eyes fixed on the cabinets, not wanting to look at Sarah. Way too awkward.

"Are you going to speak to me?" she asked quietly. Her voice was sad, and she had to clear her throat, which told me she wanted to cry.

I spun around to face her, and my world stopped.

Suddenly, everything paused, and I could only focus on her face. Every ounce of tension I had felt melted, along with everything else in my world. Bella was gone, Billy was gone, my brothers were gone, Jacob Black was gone.

Everything revolved around this one little point in the universe. Suddenly, Sarah Elizabeth Miller was the only thing in the world that mattered. My world revolved around her. My being longed for her, and I knew that if I went one more minute without her, I would surely die.

She stared into my eyes, the beautiful blue about to spill over with tears. I slowly walked to her and took her face in my hands. We stared at each other for an immeasurable amount of time before I leaned down and softly pressed my lips to hers.

When I pulled away and looked at her, she smiled and the tears ran down her cheeks. "Jake," she whispered. "I've missed you."