Dawn of the Phoenix: Cedric goes to Forks

Story and Characters owned by

Stephenie Meyer and JK Rowling

Story Adaptation by Erica K. Bailey

Chapter 60: Good-byes

"You're worried about leaving your new vehicle abandoned on the east coast, right?" Jacob asked, "And there is the lesser worry of a police officer running your tags… though I don't think that's likely unless you drive like the Cullens." He smirked.

I shook my head. No, I didn't drive anywhere near as fast as they did.

"And if they did run your tags and then found the abandoned vehicle – it would raise suspicions, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, but by the time the vehicle was found, Cedric would be long gone." Jasper pointed out.

"True – but if they know he's been visiting the Cullens and they find the vehicle – it points them in the right direction… so I have two suggestions. One – he takes the Rabbit."

"But you rebuilt that from the ground up." Bella objected, "Jacob, how could you give it up."

"Hey, I expect to get it back." He chuckled, "but it's less likely to be stolen… and he won't have to worry about the tags… it's in my name. If something happens, I can easily report it stolen."

"That's actually not a bad idea." Jasper commented.

"What's your other suggestion?" Edward prodded. He already knew.

"Take Leah."

The words were like a balm to my worry, a salve to the pain in my heart at leaving her. It would only delay the inevitable, but…

"How will that work," Jasper asked, "she can't go to Ireland."

"True, but she can drive across country with Cedric – make it look like a social trip… then she returns with the car – placing him back here… or…"

Edward grinned madly.

"They leave the car here."

"But how? Like Jasper pointed out – hitch hiking will take too long." I asked.

"I'm not suggesting you hitch." Jacob grinned, "At least not on a motorized vehicle."

I was confused. How was that going to work? We were going to run across country? It might work if I could fly, but Dumbledore said no magic. Then how… then it came to me… "You want me to ride Leah?" It was crazy.

Emmett let out a low suggestive whistle…

"She's as large as a horse when she's in wolf form… it would be nothing to her." Jacob glanced over at Leah.

"It's true, I could easily carry you through the woods… we'd avoid any human interaction. Your car would be here – so no one would even suspect you'd left."

I could see she liked this option… It meant we'd be together longer. And I liked that part of the plan, but riding her back all the way across country – plus all my supplies.

"You know you wanna…" Emmett leaned over and whispered in my ear.

I fought control of the blush that threatened to take over my face while, out of the corner of my eye, I could see Dumbledore watching me – trying to read my reaction. At the same Edward already knew – I wanted to go with Leah, either by car or with just her – I wanted her companionship on at least part of this long lonely journey.

Dumbledore nodded, "As far as the east coast," he agreed, "that would be helpful…"

I was suddenly anxious to be off. The past weeks delays, questions, hesitations, were all gone. I wanted to be on the road.

"You can't not take the Rav-4, after all the work I put into it." Rosalie scowled.

"Rose, think of it," Edward countered, "that is exactly why he should leave it. No one would think he'd just leave it behind. Besides, he'll have another opportunity to use it… He'll likely have to go to South America after all."

"True," she said, "Maybe we should have the registration changed, though… so we don't run into this again."

"Good idea." Jasper mused.

"Wait, wait, wait…" I turned to Leah, "I know you're strong, but really – carrying me all the way across the country… It's a little much."

"Come on, I'll show you." She said, running out of the house into the woods. A few moments later she returned in wolf form. I felt a little ridiculous climbing on her back as she crouched down. I bent over and hung on for dear life as she bounded into forest.

It was almost as exhilarating as flying my broom. It was hard to get over the thought that I was riding on Leah's back. It felt wrong to create an additional burden for her, but she seemed to move effortlessly through the trees regardless.

After several minutes we returned to the house.

"Nice ride?" Emmett asked, his eyes twinkling. Rosalie slapped the back of his head.

Leah disappeared into the bushes and came back out in human form. "See, no problem." She smiled.

"Are you sure, Leah? This is a long trip." I asked her. "We could take the car… we could take Jacob's car and you could return it…"

"Actually," Dumbledore interrupted, "As long as it isn't too much trouble, going through the forest would be better…"

I looked around at the rest of them. It seemed they were in agreement. I looked back at Leah to see if there was any hesitation. There was none… "Alright, I guess Leah and I will leave tomorrow on foot."

Her face lit up. I hadn't seen her happy for the past week. It thrilled me to see her honest, bright smile again. I hadn't realized just how much I missed it until now. I wished I could see her smile everyday for the rest of her days…

"Why not leave tonight?" Dumbledore suggested, "Under the cover of darkness… It would be less obvious."

I glanced over at Leah and she shrugged back at me, "I guess so." I agreed, "Leah, you need to pack."

"That won't take long," she smiled. "I don't need nearly as much stuff as you do."

"Well, it looks like my work here is done." Dumbledore smiled, "I'll accompany you back to the cabin. Then Sirius and I have to leave."

Leah went straight to the extra room as soon as we arrived. It wasn't long before she was back with a much smaller pack. Dumbledore and Sirius were waiting to say good bye.

"My dear," Dumbledore said, taking Leah face in his hands, "I am most grateful to you for your assistance."

"You know I have no other choice. It is easier for me to go then to stay."

"I know, but still I am thankful." He pulled her into a hug before turning to me. "Cedric, I know you can do this. You are very skilled – likely more skilled then many of the Order now… what you do next could determine the outcome of the coming war."

His words weighed heavily in my stomach. It was a heavy burden. I felt Leah's hand on my own and a gentle squeeze. It made me feel infinitely better to have her there, sharing the load with me… even if it would only be to the east coast.

"See you later, kid." Sirius grinned, though the smiled did not reach his eyes.

"See you in England." I replied.

"Ya." He turned and slowly walked up to the loft.

"I'll be in contact. Until then, don't send any owls. Nothing is safe right now." Dumbledore said seriously. I nodded my understanding. "Safe journey." He hugged me as well and then he was off. I heard the familiar sound of the Port Key and they were both gone.

"So, you're leaving right away," I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"I'll wait out side." Leah whispered as she squeezed my hand again and left.

I turned to face Edward. "Yes, seems to make sense… I've stalled long enough."

"I know." He smiled, "I didn't know what to say to you. I knew you'd reject it… but I could hear your struggle… You wouldn't go until you could take Leah with you."

He knew me too well. I simply nodded. "I'm not sure how I'll say good-bye when we get to the coast."

"It won't be any easier, but you'll have fewer excuses to stay." Edward said, "Besides, you'll be back soon enough, right?" he searched my eyes, "You will take care of yourself."

"Yes." I replied. "As long as your friends don't bite me."

He smiled, "Just be honest and you'll be fine. Carlisle told you where to begin your search. You know what to look for now…"

"Sure," I replied.

"I'll miss you, my friend."

"I'll miss you too."

We embraced quickly and I walked out of the cabin, my pack on my back and clamored up on to Leah's furry back before we bounded into the forest.

I felt the exhilaration as we passed through the trees, the muscles of her back moving beneath me as we raced through the forest. I had no idea how fast we were going, but it felt faster then flying… almost faster then when the Cullens were driving.

We weren't far along when another wolf bounded up to us. Leah slowed for a moment. I slid off. "Seth," I said as he pushed his nose against me. "I'll take care of her, I promise."

He let out a menacing growl and then a laughing bark before turning to Leah. They didn't say anything. After a moment he loped off and I crawled back on so we could continue on our way.

It had been quite late in the afternoon when we left. After several hours, Leah slowed to a stop and crouched down. I tried to slide off her back gracefully again, but this time succeeded only in falling on the soft moss covered forest floor. My legs were stiff. My arms were sore. I could barely move from staying in the same position for such a long time. She glanced back at me and barked out a laugh before bounding into a thicket of trees. She returned in human form with a pair of pull on shorts and a t-shirt.

"I needed a break and I figured you'd be hungry."

"Yes, but what?" I started to look around for berries or other edible plant life.

"Here," she said, tossing a couple large rabbits, "I smelled them just after you fell off my back." She laughed.

I looked down at the two dead bodies before me. I wasn't sure I could do this, but I had to sometime… It's what I'd been trained to do. I took a deep breath, pulled out my knife and began to clean the rabbits.

Leah kneeled beside me and built a fire while I worked. I threw the entrails and skin in the fire. I poured water to clean each before spicing and salting before I spit them over the fire.

"I'm glad you can cook," she smiled. "I really hate eating raw."

I was barely managing with the idea of eating something I'd cleaned myself. I couldn't imagine doing it if it wasn't at least cooked.

"Set up the tent while I go find something to go with the rabbits." She smiled as she wandered off into the forest. I unpacked the tent from my traveling pack and set it up. At least Sirius had left me this. It would look sparse from the outside, but in, we'd be plenty comfortable during the journey.

I looked for the signs and found my way to a near by stream. It was swift running, not stagnant, so I filled our water bottles and a pan for washing, carrying it all back to camp. When I returned I saw that Leah had also returned. She was tossing a few roots into the coals at the edge of the fire and had a bowl of some sort of berry.

"There's not much this time of year… but I found some wild carrots, cat tail roots and a few low bush cranberries."

"Here, I have some sugar and water. I can make a light sauce."

I worked over the fire with the light weight pot from my travel pack. Soon I had a thin cranberry sauce. When the meat was cooked, we pulled the roots from the coals. The skin was burned, but the flesh inside was tender. The sauce was a nice topping for the seasoned meat.

"For your first meal in the wild, this is really good." Leah appraised.

"Thanks – but you found all the food."

"And you cooked it." She smiled taking a large bite from the meat and a swig of water.

We ate a few more moments in silence.

"So where do you figure we are?" I asked.

"Half way across the state. We didn't really get far, but it's a good start… We should get up early tomorrow. We won't have as much luck as we did today finding some place to duck under the interstate."

"Oh, that's what we were doing." I exclaimed as I recalled the moment of darkness when it felt like we'd passed through a cave for a second and a half before diving back into the forest.

"Jake told me about it." she said. "well, showed me once, when he was recalling his trip up into Canada…" she got a lost far away look in her eyes, as if it was her own memories she was trying to recall. "It would be safer to follow his route – up through the Rockies, in to the Precambrian and across. It's sparsely populated and provides better coverage then trying to make it across the prairies."

"Maybe that's the way we should go." I suggested.

She shrugged, "It would take longer."

"It might not if we can take advantage of the coverage of the forest. Otherwise we'll have to be more careful – and travel at night…"

"Good point," she said, and then she smiled, "Since Jake came back, I've wanted to see what he saw – through my own eyes."

"Well, I guess that's exactly what you're going to get." I replied, "Dumbledore said to take the back roads…"

"So, we're doing this then." She smiled back and I nodded.

I doused the fire and headed into the tent. Leah followed. "You know you're way around…" I commented, "we have the dining area… and the living room… and, I'm sorry, but there's just one sleeping area. It was Sirius' tent. I don't think he entertained much – and he didn't get a chance to show me how to change it." I continued, "So I'll stay out here and you can have the room."

"Sure," she smiled, not moving toward the sleeping area.

"Did you want me to make some tea?" I offered. "I did bring along some teabags."

She shrugged. "I'm fine." She still didn't move.

She was waiting for something. I wasn't sure what… but I could feel the tension building with every passing second. "It's, ah, early… did you just want to sit and talk for a bit? I thought you might be tired, but…"

"Sure." She said, sitting cross-legged on one of the cushions. I joined her. "I am tired, but not really sleepy."

I nodded.

She said nothing.

I didn't know what to say.

I just watched her in the lamp light as she looked around the tent, taking it all in. It made me see it anew – the wonder of the magic. I'd grown up with it. It had been a long time since I'd seen something magical that made me wonder, but seeing her reaction to everything, made me feel the wonder… and I loved watching her. She was beautiful. I loved how her eyes opened wide, then her lids slowly lowered recapturing her eyes as she looked from top to bottom, taking it all in. I adored the graceful curve of her neck as she craned to see some unexamined corner. I loved the way the light flickered against her raven hair.

I reached out to touch it, to feel its silken strands between my fingers. She turned back just as my hand reached its destination and I instead cupped her face, running my thumb along her cheek bone.

"I wish I could go with you the entire way." She said softly.

"I know. Me too." I replied and realized just how much I meant it.

"I should get to bed… we have a long day tomorrow." She said getting to her feet.

I nodded and rose with her. I reached for her then, kissing her gently, caressing her cheeks and hair. She was precious… a treasure… a rare jewel refined by the fire of her life and at that point I knew I would never find anything so lovely as Leah.