Bella had just been happening to walk by the office when the printer sounded. Almost immediately, at a speed that still surprised her, she halted and listened to see if anyone was moving to get whatever they were printing. But no one was.
A shrug was all it took for her to move towards the printer, pulling the paper off of the rack. Vintage Civil War Roster. She knew that Jasper often collected snippets of the war, bits of history that were so long ago, he couldn't remember. And so, the price, an astounding four thousand dollars, wasn't too hard to look at. (Edward had, afterall, insisted on buying her a new car nearly every other year, and Alice often bought Jasper something expensive just because she felt like it.)
"If you could take that to Carlisle for me, Bella, I'd appreciate it." Rose. Bella glanced up above her, to where the woman was occupied. The new house was still a strange one to get used to living in. She missed Forks more than she really expected. She missed the little home in the woods. She missed the pack. And she missed Renesmee, who had opted to live on the Reservation for a while.
"Sure," Bella called back, and she went towards Carlisle's room, where she could hear him rustling papers. Either reading or putting away the last of the boxes of fake documents that the Cullens kept on them, for all occasions.
Lightly knocking, the rustling did not cease as Carlisle said quietly, "Come in, Bella." He was putting away forged documents. Her eyes caught her new name on the top of a particular pile. Bella Masen. They were going by Masen for this round. They had already declared that Swan would be used for the next round, when Renesmee joined them. Bella had spent hours perfecting her name, and being calmed down from stressing about the scent of people around her.
They had prepared her for this moment well.
"Rose wanted me to give this to you," Bella said with a shrug, and handed him the paper. Carlisle quirked an eyebrow, setting down the pile in his hands, before taking it from her. His eyes barely read what the item was before he gave a small nod.
"She's been looking for this one for months. Finally someone's decided to rid themselves of it."
The way Carlisle spoke of the roster made her hesitate. "She has? I thought Jasper would..." Unsure how to finish that, and not wanting to upset the blonde that had been cold to her in the beginning, but warm to her for the last few years, she stopped.
"Rosalie likes to help us remember our past," Carlisle said with an understanding smile. He set the paper on top of the bed, reaching for the pile of documentation he had discarded. "She scrapbooks. You'll see a few of them every once in a while, in the living room. She pieces together what we've forgotten."
Bella wondered if there was anything she had forgotten. The taste of chocolate cake. What her first word was. Was her first memory really what her first memory had been five years ago?
It wasn't until four weeks later when a package from Arlington, Texas arrived that Bella saw the scrapbook of Jasper's civil war days. Rosalie had filled it to the brim with photos and documents, maps and articles. And it wasn't until Rosalie caught her spying that the blonde gave a careless look to her new sister. "Well, are you going to come closer to actually look or not?" And Bella hesitantly scooted forward, seeing the careful handwriting of Rosalie's between pressed letters and wax seals.
"Letters he would send to his parents," Rosalie said quietly. "A few sketches he kept while he was with Maria." It turned into Rosalie giving her a private tour into Jasper's human life. A part of him that had been lost when he had become a newborn. A part of him he had back. All because of a few photographs, documents, and pieces of history.