(A/N) This is for Miss Ginny Weasley who requested a fic about Jasper meeting Alice in Philadelphia for the first time. So, without further ado...

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Pennsylvania is a state made up of many small towns.

Or at least, that is what I have come to think of it. Scale a mountain, cross a river, wherever you go, you will find a small town. Even when I finally found a large city, Philadelphia, it was soaked with history and small mom and pop shops could be found at nearly every corner. It is a strange mix of new and old, but it has its own charm. In fact, I believe that if I were still human, this would be a good place to settle down and start a family.

But, of course, I am no longer human, and raising a family is something beyond me now. Maria stole that future from me, so now I must seek other possibilities.

I glanced up at the sky, the unusually murky day was changing it's tone. The clouds looked like they were about ready to clear and the last thing I wanted to do was frighten the city with my little problem. Sparkling skin isn't naturally occuring. I tipped my hat down in the front and crossed the nearly empty street to enter a red and black decorated diner. I barely glanced at the waitress before I took a seat in a corner booth, the last thing I wanted was someone to bother me. I don't know how long I sat there, but eventually those clouds did disperse and the sun began to shine once more. I resolved to remain in the diner until the last possible moment.

The moment she walked into the diner, I knew my life was forever changed.

She was dressed in the height of style. Her short sleeved jacket was a charcoal grey that tapered at the waist and flared at the hips, while her skirt was black and clung to her legs like a second skin with just a slight flare at the base of her knees. A white blouse could be seen at the front of her jacket with ruffles down the middle, while the entire outfit was contained by a slim black belt with a silver buckle. Black wavy hair toppled down her back artfully, held back by a broad, black satin hat. White gloves encased her arms to the elbow.

For a moment, I was too awed by her to move. I stopped blinking, twitching, everything that signaled human stopped. Because she was different too. She turned to look at me and her amber eyes caught my red ones from across the room. Time stopped as a sweet smile curved her lips. I knew right then and there that I would need to know more than just her name. I would need to know everything about her. Especially why a creature of the night such as her, could have amber eyes instead of red.

She walked towards me and took off her hat. Seeing that she was going to join me at the booth, I rose and waited for her to be easily slipped into the seat across from me and I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was so beautiful, she made my heart want to cry. I sat down as well and tried to swallow my nervousness.

"Hello Jasper Whitlock, I'm Alice." Alice, what a sweet name for a dark haired angel. I froze. She gave no last name, how would I address her? "Well aren't you going to say something?"

"How do you know my name?" Trained curiosity rose in me automatically. The war taught me to be cautious, Maria taught me to guard my words. Even if this woman screamed safety, I could not become vulnerable again. I would die first. At least, if I knew how.

"I know many things about you Jasper, and I know that worries you even more. Let's just say that I have a gift like you, that enlightens me to more than normal." I let my face remain blank while thoughts flew through my mind. Gift? She must be referring to my empathy. Across from me, she was a delightful blur of curiosity, eagerness and joy. I got the feeling that she had enormous amounts of energy stored up in her. I could feel distant emotions from the other patrons in the diner; worry, misery, happiness, anxiety. Humans are queer creatures, so many emotions in such frail bodies.

"You sought me out." I chose to be cryptic because I feared that my unnatural comfort in her presence would make me open up too much.

"I saw you in my mind, a soldier with too many burdens. I saw the war eat away at your body and then a woman eat away at your soul. She spoke love, but only offered violence. You look for peace and to be absolved." She paused because I was frightened. How could someone I've never met in my entire life know so much about me? I surely would have remembered her had I met her at a battlefield hospital, or even if I met her when with Maria. She was too bright to be smeared with my dark memories and go unnoticed. I glanced outside and saw the sky was beginning to darken, I saw my moment to run and was willing to embrace it. Her gloved hand on mine made me stop.

"Please, let me finish." Her gaze caught mine and I relaxed into my seat again. I could at least let her finish her story, even if it did frighten me. "Everything about you is dark before Philadelphia. But I saw something new, something fresh, and I want it more than anything else. For you and for me." She glanced out the window and her eyes filled with fire as she turned back to me.

"Tell me." She smiled again and she rocked my world.

"I saw five people. A doctor who sought to heal more than just physical wounds. A mother who wanted to love us like her children. A pianist who can make us cry with the melodies he dreams. A woman that needs love and support to recover and burn like a star. And a brother who would love us no matter what we've done and what we've gone through." Her voice choked up and she looked so earnest in that moment, that I would have given her the moon if it was in my abilities. "I saw a home for us Jasper. That's where we need to go."

I continued to sit in silence as she recovered her poise. It looked very important to her to have control over silly things like that, things that make a woman a woman. I loved how despite her small form, she could contain so much strength of mind and body. She swiped her hand across her face and I had a moment of clarity. I had known this woman for no more than ten minutes, but she had already changed my world. I could never go back to my dark life of reflected pain from the outside world every again. She had brought light and life into my world and I wanted to keep it.

"I know this is sudden for you Jasper, but I've had years to build up to this moment. I was only waiting for the right time. I'll understand if you don't want to go." She said the words, but I knew they were a lie. She wouldn't understand because the world that she offered us was so much brighter than the world I had been living in. Her light would burn out if I said no. How could I, a simple soldier, cause the end of her light?

"Let's go." Maybe I'm a man of few words, but those two words seemed to alter her reality. Her grin filled my heart with unexpected joy.

"Let's go home." She whispered before slipping her hand into mine.

And so the journey began.

To be continued....