Disclaimer: I do not — nor have I ever — owned Twilight or the wonderful characters whom I have borrowed from Stephenie Meyer. If I did, Jasper would get much more time devoted to him!

The Cullen household was quiet. Rosalie and Emmet had recently left on a trip to South America to, in Emmet's words, "tackle some more exciting animals." Edward was out hunting. Alice was dragging Bella through the local mall in the hopes that yet another shopping trip might improve the younger vampire's fashion sense. Jacob had taken Renesmee out to play on the Quileute reservation for the day. Carlisle was working at the hospital while Esme stayed at home redecorating the living room again.

Jasper was taking advantage of the peace and absence of emotions to sit down and read a book. His current list of books comprised Russian literature, which he, having learned Russian the summer before, was reading in the original language. He sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed with his book in his lap.

There was a swift heartbeat from just behind his bedroom door, which he had left cracked while he read. Jasper smiled. No matter how she tried, his young niece would never be able to sneak up on him with that little hummingbird-fast heart of hers. It didn't seem to deter her, as she kept trying, anyway.

"Nessie, I know that you're there," he teased, expecting her to come through the door giggling as she jumped on him — losing her element of surprise usually meant a last-ditch effort at her playful "attack."

So, naturally, he was taken aback when she slowly pushed the door open, all the while emitting a strong aura of nervousness. He had never known Renesmee to be nervous in his presence. In fact, Renesmee was one of two — his wife being the other — who had never felt any sort of fear or apprehension toward him. It was part of why he loved his niece so dearly and spoiled eagerly.

He said nothing as he watched the extraordinary child, now three years old but looking all of seven, shuffle into the bedroom with her eyes on the floor. He then realized that she was not only nervous but upset.

"Uncle Jasper?" her beautifully soft voice said as she came to a stop near his bed.

Jasper set his book on the night stand and moved so that he was sitting on the side of his bed. "What's wrong?"

Renesmee shrugged and looked around the room.

"You're upset, darling. Please tell me so that I can help."

"Can I ask you a question?" she said. "And you won't be mad?"

"Of course I won't be. How could I possibly be mad at my favorite niece?"

Renesmee bit her lip and finally looked at him unsurely. He gave an encouraging nod and she sighed. She spoke quickly, jumbling her sentences together the way she did when she thought that she was going to get in trouble for something she had done.

"Jacob took me to the reservation to visit Billy and Grandpa Charlie and I played wanted to play with Claire so Jacob and Seth took me but Paul and Rachel were hanging out with Quil and Paul was all grumpy. He kept complaining about vampires even though Rachel said that he was just mad about losing a bet about whether he was as strong as Uncle Emmet and it had nothing to do with vampires and that he ought to stop. But he was being really nasty and said mean stuff about not trusting my daddy because he's a mindreader but Jacob pointed out that they can all read each other's minds and that Daddy doesn't use it against them anyway. And Paul said that Uncle Emmet was all muscles and no brains and that he could take him if he wanted to, even though we all know he really couldn't and Uncle Emmet is really smart in his own way. And he said that you were evil and dangerous with all your scars. I got mad so I told him that you weren't bad or dangerous and he said that your scars mean that you must've done something really bad because you have battle scars and that no one could trust you. Jacob got really mad at Paul, too, and he told him that he better not say things to upset me and I wanted to come here to see you."

She stopped and took a deep breath, her nervousness growing as she looked down at the ground.

Jasper had a feeling that he knew where this was going and he dreaded having this discussion with his niece. "What was your question, darling?"

"Jacob said it might hurt your feelings if I asked . . ." She turned her large brown eyes up to him. They were full of worry. "I don't want to hurt your feelings, Uncle Jasper. I just want to know so I can tell Paul that he's wrong."

"I promise not to let it hurt my feelings," he lied.

She nodded and took another deep breath. "How did you get all your scars?"

"Your parents won't like me telling you this story."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not like the nice stories that I normally tell you."

"I want to know."

He sighed. "And so, you deserve to." He gestured for her to come to him and pulled her into his lap. "Your Aunt Alice has told you stories about me fighting in the Civil War, has she not?"

"Auntie said that back then you were considered a war hero," Renesmee said brightly. "She said that you were Major Jasper Whitlock in the Confederate Army. That was when you were turned into a vampire, right? You're even older than Grandma Esme!"

He laughed softly but it was half-hearted. "That's true," he said. "I was turned before the war ended."

"By who?" she asked. She had been told before that Jasper and Alice had not been turned by Carlisle.

Jasper's face darkened a bit as he looked down from his niece's eyes. "A vampire named Maria. She brought me out of one war into another." He looked back at her and tried to soften a bit. "In the south, vampires fought for densely-populated territories to feed on humans. Do you remember how strong your mother was when she became a vampire?"

Renesmee nodded.

"All newborn vampires are like that, so some vampires came up with the idea to use them to fight. Make small armies, keep the newborns as long as they are strong and useful, and destroy them when they no longer. Maria was a vampire who created one of these armies."

"And you were one of her soldiers?"

"I was. But I had some things that other vampires did not. First, I had experience leading an army. Second, I had my special talents. You remember exactly how my talent works?"

"You can feel other people's feelings and make them feel things, too."

"Well, that made me useful to Maria after I lost the strength of being a newborn. You see, Renesmee, not all newborn vampires have the self control that your mother had, and they can be very difficult to control in armies. But Maria had me to make that job easier. I calmed them and controlled them. And I trained them for her. That's how I got my scars." Jasper rolled up the sleeve of his jacket, one of the many long-sleeved things that he wore daily to conceal his disfiguring marks. He didn't want to draw attention to the fact that most of the scars were actually on his neck for risk of frightening her. "Every one of these came from newborn vampires biting me when I trained them . . . and when I fought them."

Renesmee was quiet as she ran her finger over a particularly raised scar. "Did they hurt?"

He swallowed and considered lying, but Renesmee, despite her age and appearance, was intelligent and mature enough to deserve his honesty. "Our venom stings a great deal. And that's how I got my scars."

"How did you get to be with Grandpa Carlisle and our family?"

"You're full of curiosity today."

"I want to know the rest of the story."

"Of course you do." He looked back down at the floor as he continued. "My talent made it very hard for me to feed on humans, because I felt their pain, just like I did all the newborns'. I didn't want to be a killer."

"What did you do?"

"I was sad for a very long time. Do you remember my old friends Peter and Charlotte? They came to the Volturi trial for you."

Renesmee nodded silently.

"Peter was one of the newborns in Maria's army, and he was like a brother to me. Maria wanted me to kill him, but I let him go. Years later, he came back for me, though, and told me about civilized vampires in the north who didn't fight for territory. So I went with Peter and his new mate Charlotte and left Maria behind."

"What happened when you left?"

"I though that leaving the south would ease the sadness that I felt, but it did not. So I left Peter and Charlotte to be alone. Then, your Aunt Alice saw me in her visions and found me. And I stopped feeling sad when I was with her."

"Then you found Grandpa Carlisle?" she guessed.

He nodded. "We learned to spare human life and I became part of a family which I love very much. A family which I don't deserve after all of the terrible things that I did." He sighed. "You see . . . Paul was right about me, Nessie. I am a monster. I killed a lot of people and vampires."

Renesmee frowned and shook her head. "You didn't like doing those things, Uncle Jasper."

"No, I didn't, but I still did them."

"It doesn't matter."

Jasper looked down, feeling guilty. He could feel the fear coming from his niece, yet she was trying to lie about it and make him feel better.

"Uncle Jasper?"

He looked up and saw that she was looking at him expectantly. She set the palms of her hands on his scarred cheeks and showed him how she saw her Uncle Jasper: Reading stories to her and tucking her in at bed time. Hugging her and carrying her about on his shoulders. Letting her sit on his lap as they watched television. Allowing her to play with his hair when Daddy wouldn't. Standing protectively over her as she hunted. Smiling and kissing her cheek whenever they said hello. Quiet and reserved, but always willing to do anything to make Renesmee smile.

Her Uncle Jasper was kind and sweet and tender. And he was very loved by his niece whose only fear at the moment was that he didn't believe that he was worth it.

"Those were beautiful memories," he whispered, stunned.

The little girl threw her arms around him and buried her face against his neck, where he could feel her warm breath tickling him. "You're the kindest and gentlest person I know, Uncle Jasper," she said so eloquently for a child. "I don't care what Paul says or about any of those bad things that happened to you."

Jasper relaxed and hugged her back. How had he been so incredibly blessed to have a young niece with so much compassion for him even after finding out all that he'd done? "Thank you, Renesmee."

In return for her shared memories, he shared with her his love and gratitude.

"I'm sorry that people hurt you before," she said. "I wish none of it ever happened to you."

He pulled her away from him just enough to look at her face and smile. "I don't."

Renesmee looked confused. "Why not?"

"Well, I wouldn't be here if it hadn't, would I?"

"But you said that you were sad for a long time."

He nodded. "Yes, I was. But all of that led me to Aunt Alice and Grandpa Carlisle and the rest of my family. And eventually to a wonderful niece who also makes me unbelievably happy."

Renesmee hugged him again. "I love you, Uncle Jasper," she said so beautifully it might have made him cry if he could.

Jasper shut his eyes and leaned his head against hers. "I love you, too, darling."

She pulled away after a minute and smiled. "I knew that Paul was wrong about you. I'm going to go find Jacob. I'm hungry and he promised me that we could go hunting. Would you like to come?"

Jasper laughed. "No, thank you. I'm not very hungry. Besides, I still have a good book to finish."

"Okay." The little girl hopped down and skipped out the door. "See you later!"

"Have fun, Nessie." Jasper watched her go. It always surprised him how she was able to warm his unbeating heart so easily.

He was shocked but unalarmed as two petite arms hugged his neck from behind.

"Oh , Jazz, I'll never get over how wonderful you are with her."

Jasper looked up at his beautiful wife, kneeling behind him on their bed. "I nearly forget that you are the one person who can sneak up on me."

Alice laughed her song-like laugh. "Perhaps that's why I'm so able!"

He grinned as she kissed the tip of his nose and then the scar above his left eyebrow. "Perhaps it's those light footsteps you take. Decades with you and even when I strain I can't hear you walking about. You're too quiet for even vampires."

She pouted. "Should I walk heavier? Would that be more acceptable for you?"

"I wouldn't dream of it. I don't care how, ma'am, but you may sneak up on me any time you like."

She laughed again and lowered herself so that her chin rested on her husband's shoulder. "You say that because you like being snuck up on by pretty women."

Jasper shut his eyes and sighed. "I say that because I don't mind being snuck up on by the best thing that ever happened to me." He turned his head so that their noses were brushing. He opened his eyes with a very serious look and sent her a wave of all the loving that he knew how. "You really did save my life."

Alice's look was just as serious as his and he could sense the same strong love coming from her. "And you, my good southern gentleman, you are my life."