This is my first time, so I may not be as good as you expected. All reviews are appreciated. If you notice a glaringly obvious mistake, please point it out, I'll try to get it fixed. If I get good reviews, I'll post more chapters.

Chapter 1: Fading Heart

She stood in the middle of the meadow. Her curly bronze hair was nearly flat with the weight of the water and the rain continued to empty from the blackened sky. Despite the downpour, her skin was hot, so hot she felt like she would explode from the pain of it. She screamed as the heat turned to literal flames and quickly blazed down to the grass at her feet. The fire spread rapidly to the edge of the clearing, lighting the forest. She turned, desperately trying to escape the inferno of her own body. Her eyes caught sight of a moving form in the forest. It was big, she could tell, its heavy footfall snapping little saplings as it ran from the forest into the scorching field. The yell died in her throat as she recognized the horse-sized, russet wolf. "Jake." She sighed, her voice rough and shaking with the burning pain. "You scared me." The wolf looks at her, the flames reflecting in his wet, brown eyes. He lunges. She doesn't have time to scream or fight. She is pushed back into the flames and she gasps with a pain entirely separate from the fire…

"Nessie? Nessie c'mon baby open your eyes." Jacob begs. He sits in a chair beside Nessie's bed, his head lying over her heart. Edward stands tensely near the window, one hand rubbing his temples. Bella's head is pressed into his chest, her hands tightly wound around his arm.

Carlisle steps quietly into the room. Edward's hand falls instantly from his face, Bella rotates to face the doctor, her hand still clutching Edward's arm.

"Because human blood flows through Renesmee's veins" he begins "she is susceptible the viruses and infections of a normal human being. Her increased heart rate, however, is capable of spreading the infection through her body at a much quicker speed than most people can handle." His eyes move slowly from the worried parents to the huge boy who is now facing him. Their eyes are pleading.

"How do we fix it doc?" Jacob asks. His voice is dry but thick with the emotion.

"I-I don't know." Carlisle falters. His eyes shift to the innocent face behind Jacob's shoulder. Her cheeks are bright red with fever, her hair matted with sweat and the water they've been pouring over her, desperate for any way to keep her temperature down.

They stand there silently, all of their gazes locked on the unconscious little girl in the center of the room.

She shrieks. Her face contorts in pain, her body writhing around in the small bed. Jacob winces. Bella drops to her knees in front of her husband. Edward kneels beside her, leaning her head against his chest.

"Jake" she mumbles, her eyes still closed. Jacob looks at her. "Nessie" he says hopefully. "Ness, I'm right here. We're all here for you, just wake up now."

"You scared me." She continues, her head rolls to the side involuntarily, the muscles in her jaw twitching. Suddenly she gasps, her mouth hanging open and her features creasing in an expression of shock.

Jacob looks up to Carlisle, his face full of worry. "Nightmares?"

He wakes up still in the chair beside Renesmee. Bella is on the other side of the bed with her daughter curled into her side. Her eyes are closed but her hand is gently stroking Nessie's hair.

"Bells?" he rasps. He clears his throat and flattens his tangled mess of long black hair. When is the last time he showered?

"Yeah Jake?" she whispers, propping herself on her elbow. Her other hand slides from Nessie's hair, now caressing her scarlet cheek.

He thinks hard, searching for the words. He doesn't even know what he had meant to say, he just needed to say something.

"So where's your vampire?" He asks. That was lame, why the hell would he ask that? Was he trying to start a fight?

"I convinced him to go hunting with the others." She murmurs. Her words draw his attention to the dark circles under her black eyes. Of course, none of them have left Renesmee's side for the entire week; it's only natural that they would be thirsty. This doesn't stop his anger, though.

"Oh that's just wonderful." He growls "His daughter is laying here in agony, probably burning to death with her own fever and the bloodsucker gets to go out and chase mountain lions."

"Jacob" Bella soothes "It wouldn't do her any good for him to stay here and weaken. You know you're not really mad at Edward. What you are mad at, well there's nothing you can do about that."

"Well there should be something!" He bellows "You're a vampire and I'm a werewolf for God's sake. How the hell do we get torn down by the common cold?"

"Jake" he can hear the tears in her voice even if they can't fill her eyes. She's just as desperate as he is.

She could hear them now. She heard her Jacob shift in the chair right next to her. She heard him call her mother's name and felt Bella move beside her. She could hear and feel every bit of it, but she did not move. She was tired and weak, she wanted to bury herself further in her mother's embrace, she did not want to move. She learned her father was hunting; good, he didn't need to waste away by her side. She could feel the anger from Jacob's body, she could hear his words. She wanted to reach for him, to calm him, but she couldn't. Her brain was cut off from the rest of her body, floating and unable to control her actions. She listened to Bella soothe, and Jacob shout in response. Then she heard the pain, the tears in her mother's tone. "No mama, angels shouldn't cry." She thought, begging her detached mind to get the message to the hand on her cheek.

"What?" Jasper asks, halting abruptly. He looks back at Alice and Edward, sensing their panic as if it were his own. They are facing each other now, eyes locked in silent conversation.

Edward rotates in a flash, he runs back the way the group just came. Five concerned pairs of eyes follow his path, and then turn to Alice. Her chest shudders and her hands come up to cover her contorted face. Alice is sobbing.

"Nessie?" Bella looks to her daughter. "Renesmee, was that you?"

"What's happening?" Jacob's eyes frantically search Nessie's face for signs of distress.

"She-she told me something. I saw her thoughts, without her touching me."

"What did she tell you?" Jacob asks breathlessly.

"Angels shouldn't cry." Bella chokes on the last word, but her gaze focuses adoringly on her little girl.

"She's right, you know. Maybe you oughta work on that" Jacob whispers, reaching for her hand.

Edward gets there first. He burst through the door to the glass house and races up the stairs as if his life depended on getting there now. It does.

He reaches the room on the second floor and tears open the door. The pair turns to him, but his gaze falls on the sleeping girl. She takes a breath and his eyes rise to meet his wife's.

Bella rises immediately. She stands before him; her hands find his and she intertwines their fingers. "What happened?" she breathes.

"I-Alice saw…" he breaks off and tries hopelessly to calm himself, he doesn't want to frighten her more than necessary. "Alice has had a vision."

"And what did she see?" Bella queries coolly. She reaches up, pulls a twig from Edward's tangled auburn hair, and crushes it in her grasp.

He looks down into her blackened eyes and takes back her hand, pressing it to his silent heart. "A funeral"

They surrounded Renesmee now. Bella is on her knees, her head resting on the side of the bed, her hand still locked with Edward's. Alice leans on Jasper's chest, her eyes riveted to the tiny figure in the bed. Rosalie robotically smoothes the sheets at the foot of the bed. Emmett stands against the wall, his arms folded across his torso. Carlisle stares blankly at pad in his hand; he gave up searching for the answers here long ago, but can't seem to pull his eyes away. Esme strokes Nessie's leg, her expression distracted. Jacob paces anxiously, his hands pulling at his hair, and then dropping back to his waist.

Nessie stirs in her sleep. Jacob's head snaps up, the vampires freeze, all eyes glued to her. Suddenly, her chocolate eyes are open; her mouth gaping, letting out an unbroken scream. Her back arches, her body thrashing over the small bed. Her hands come to her chest, nails ripping through her skin. She bleeds.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my first fanfic! I hope you enjoyed it.