Shooting Star

It was just kind of one of those uneasy feelings. The kind that you get when you know something bad is coming, but you have no idea what it is. Something was going to happen, I just didn't know what. It made every single day I just acted like everything was all right horrible, like I was hiding something from my parents and my family when actually, I was trying to protect them. Not from this danger, no, but from themselves. They had a large way of overreacting when it came to me and my safety, especially my mother. I had to keep this feeling a secret; my power didn't help that at all.

Chapter One

I ran up to my mother, medium-length blond curls bouncing around my head. I smiled back at Jacob and he sort of froze. I had heard that my smile was award-winning, but it was always funny to see Jacob lose breath that fast. Fully grown as I was now, I had only reached to about Jacob's chest and was a little shorter than my mom. The color of my skin matched my parents: a grayish-marble color, but my cheeks still flushed red whenever I became embarrassed. Nobody had bothered me since they found out I wasn't the only half-breed. It became . . . sort of normal.

Jacob followed closely behind me with Camille in his arms, smiling ruefully. He hadn't grown much since the days when I was younger, staying a good seven feet tall. His hair was grown out again, because both my mother and I complained about it short. The rest of his gang, the shapeshifters as we now understand they are, are still in La Push, patrolling the area every night. His own pack, Quil, Embry, Leah, and Seth, all went about their own way. They only helped if the need came around. But everybody was growing older, and the time when they would no longer change was coming rapidly.

It was more than ten years after my mom and dad had gone up against the Volturi with all the other vampires. I had grown up in only six years and couldn't keep away from Jacob. Imprinting really did its job, I guess. I was human enough to be able to carry and deliver a baby, although Camille was part vampire, part werewolf, and part human all in one. Nobody had ever been that before, and I wasn't the only one worried.

My mother smiled happily and said, "Renesmee, it's been too long. Why haven't you visited more often?" She still looked exactly the same: dark, black hair with now milky, amber colored eyes.

I rushed and wrapped my arms around her hard, cold body. "I'm sorry, Mom. We've been a bit busy raising our own child, here." I chuckled.

Mother looked so happy when I said that and looked toward Jacob and Camille. "Oh, she's beautiful." Jacob offered Camille over, and Camille smiled.

She had inherited my curls, but in Jacob's russet brown color. Her eyes were my father's beautiful bright green color, and her attitude was most definitely my mother's. She was as stubborn as anything and hated getting gifts; it made her feel awkward. Her skin tone was a pale tan and her vampire side didn't take enough to make her have no heartbeat. Hers was perfectly normal, beating as regularly as anyone else's.

"She has your attitude, Bella." Jacob grinned. "Stubborn as anything."

Bella scowled at Jacob, and then asked, "How old is she now?"

I smiled. "She's almost three now."

"She's growing rapidly." My father had walked out beside my mother and put his arm around her waist. He looked exactly the same, also. His bronze hair still a little messy, but perfect anyway, and his eyes still a golden topaz.

I nodded. "Yes, I think it's the mix of vampire and werewolf blood. Each has a massive growing rate, if you think about it."

"True," my father replied. "She's quite a unique child."

"Even more unique than me," I replied, smiling. "It's nice, for once."

My mother sighed uneasily. I looked at her questioningly and then looked at my father. They were both wearing the same uncomfortable expression. Neither one of them looked me in the eyes.

"What is it?" I asked, slightly annoyed.

My mother sighed again. "Nessie, honey, it's just that she's so unique. I don't think, well, we both think that she's probably not . . . safe."

My look of exasperation killed the mood. "If the Volturi even dare to touch Camille, you know we have so much backup! There are the other vampires, and all the other werewolves! How can you think that they'll even have a chance? Not to mention I'm fully grown now . . ."

"And no one can resist Renesmee." Jacob laughed and winked at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Why are you so worried?"

"Because." My father was struggling to find the right words. "Because, Nessie, you have to remember what we're dealing with. We're not just talking about a half vampire half human. Your baby has werewolf blood in it, too. You know that quite a few of the vampires that are Carlisle's friends aren't as comfortable with that as we are."

"But Dad," I argued, "you know as well as I that they're not real werewolves! That should make a huge deal of differences to the vampires that we're talking about. Just because they each happened to shapeshift into an overgrown wolf, that doesn't mean that they're the same thing."

"Renesmee, honey," my mother coaxed. "To some vampires, a werewolf is a werewolf. They have that distinct smell, that distinct way of acting. They are even very uncomfortable around us."

I started to shake my head. "No, no. We could explain the situation to them, just like last time! If they're Carlisle's friends, then we don't have to worry! All of those vampires know better than to distrust Carlisle."

"Nessie, remember who we're dealing with! You can't forget that half of those vampires came over here knowing nothing of what was going on before, and not to mention the fact that more than half really didn't want a fight." My father sighed. "They wouldn't come unless we gave them a full explanation. Except for the Denali crew, of course. But, even if they did, the Volturi would be more ready than ever. They would know what to expect. They know all the powers of our friends; they know Bella has a defensive power. The Volturi wouldn't come unless they were totally prepared."

I looked up at him, excitement now in my eyes. "Then they won't ever come!"

"What?" both my parents asked, confused.

"They won't ever come because they'll never be ready. Isn't it obvious?" My excitement was getting to me. "They know they can't use Jane or Alec because of Mom's defense. All they can use are physical attacks. They'll never get past Benjamin or Zafina. They'd have to be crazy to even try!"

The happiness I had leaked to Jacob, and he bounced Camille up and down as he held her. "It's okay, Camille!" he exclaimed. "You're gonna be just fine."

Both my parents still looked exactly the same, their worry only increasing.

"You don't know the Volturi like we do, Nessie," my mother whispered. "They have ways of getting what they want. They'll find a way to get someone more powerful than any of us if they really wanted to get to Camille."

Jacob stopped bouncing Camille up and down and looked seriously at Bella. "What do you mean?"

My father stood still and stared at Camille for a minute before he said, "They just have ways."

We were all quiet for a while, each trying to see the other person's point of view. We all knew that what was coming was inevitable - that wasn't the problem. The problem was when and how and dealing with it once it was here. It was like locus season; all farmers knew about it, they just couldn't stop it.

Camille noticed our discomfort and whispered, "Mommy, what's wrong?" Her voice was still babyish, but her speaking was fluent. Neither I nor Jacob had to teach her anything, she just picked it up all by herself. We both figured it was a vampire thing, seeing as that's what I had done when I was younger.

I snapped out of my daze quickly and walked over to my daughter. "Nothing, honey, nothing. We're just thinking about something."

"How about you come inside," my father suggested, gesturing toward the inside of their house. I nodded and followed my parents inside, Jacob close behind me.

The cottage that Alice and Esme had given my parents for my mother's birthday was still perfectly intact. Everything had stayed the same inside, except that they had added more personal belongings to it. They had kept the decorations that Esme had laid out at the beginning. The garden in the back of their room was now completely overgrown with flowers and flourishing better than ever.

Jacob was still a bit uncomfortable in this household, probably because it smelled like vampire, but he didn't say anything. He had become accustomed to the smell since it was now half of his family. Billy didn't like that too much, but he didn't say anything.

There was a small dining room near the kitchen in their house that they led us to. Jacob set Camille down on the highchair they had already placed out and sat down next to her. I walked into the kitchen with my mother, helping as best as I could with cooking. My father sat down next to Jacob, now as uncomfortable as Jacob was. My father had never grown out of the hatred in Jacob for imprinting on me, no matter how hard I tried to tell him it was okay. And to think he was just getting used to Jacob before I was born . . .

"Ahem," my father cleared his throat and began talking quietly while my mother and I started cooking. We both could hear every word clearly, but we tried our hardest to pretend that we didn't.

After dinner, Jacob and my father did the dishes while my mother and I played with Camille on the living room floor. It was carpeted, and, even though she never fell as she walked, we always felt safer that if she ever did fall, it would be onto carpet. Not that we would ever let her fall, either. Both of us would be quick enough to catch her.

"So, do you ever go down to La Push?" my mother asked casually. Werewolves would always been her best friends, just like vampires would always be her family.

I nodded, playing with Camille's little toes. "Yes. In fact, we're going there tomorrow while we're still in town. We figured Billy would be pretty upset if we didn't show up, and Jacob really needs to see his dad. Obviously I know Billy doesn't really like me all that much, but he'll deal for a couple of hours."

"When are you leaving?" she asked.

"Two days from now." I fell down onto my elbows and watched as Camille made her way back to my mother.

She looked astonished. "So soon?"

"Yes," I replied, nodding. "We have to. I know we don't come down here very often, but staying away from home is difficult. Especially coming here, knowing everything we do and everything that went on here. It's a hard place to come to after all that."

"You grew up here for six years," my mother said skeptically.

"I know, I know," I said hastily. "Hear me out, Mom. I know I lived here for half of my life and it was amazing. But this place has such haunting reminders of the past. Not to mention the humility Jacob has when seeing you guys. You have to remember what he used to think and the fact that imprinting isn't his fault."

My mother chuckled. "I know I've completely gotten over that. I'm just happy that he ended up in my immediate family. A brother would have been more appropriate, probably, but that's okay. Charlie didn't take it too well, though. Ah well, I kept it on the need-to-know basis. He definitely needed to know that he and you were getting married, and I now had a son-in-law who was two years younger than me. He kinda flipped, but that's okay."

I laughed. "Yeah, Billy didn't take it too well, either. He probably took it better than Charlie did in some aspects, but that's only because he knows that you can't ignore an imprinting. Other than that, he was a little scary. Even if he's not a werewolf, or shape-shifter, he really does not like vampires one bit."

"At least he knows about everything," my mother replied. "Charlie's still in the dark about everything and Renée hasn't spoken to me in years. I e-mail her occasionally, but I haven't called her since before Edward's and my wedding. I would sound too strange to her, no doubt. And I would look way different."

I nodded. "I understand. And she's good with just a few e-mails, anyway, right?"

My mother smiled and nodded. "It was a bit hard getting Charlie to believe that it was actually you when I told him you were getting married. Normally people don't marry at the age of seven, but you aren't very normal."

"Oh yes," I sighed. "Well, I hope that he understood our circumstance. I know Jacob told him about the imprinting, but it must've been a little weird to hear that his seven year old daughter was getting married."

Now my mother laughed. "You should have seen his face when I told him. It went from confusion to rage to I don't even know what in seconds. When he saw the picture of you now, he thought I was playing a trick on him. He actually checked the calendar to make sure it wasn't April Fool's Day or his birthday."

"Did he end up believing you?" I asked.

"Oh, he had to after Jacob came down," she replied. "He knew not to question Jacob or Billy. And Sue calmed him down of his rage. She has a way of doing that really easily with Charlie . . . It was like they were meant for each other. As sad as Harry dying was, Sue has been a real helper toward Charlie."

I looked up from Camille. "Did Charlie ever end up marrying her?"

"Of course. I don't know where you two were, but you were invited. There was no way to get a hold of you. You move around too much!"

"Sorry, sorry," I mumbled. "It's just that we don't like staying in one place too long. It makes us a little nervous."

"Nervous? About what?" My mother gave me a quizzical look.

I cleared my throat and shuffled uncomfortably. "Maybe you're not the only one who's afraid the Volturi will come one day. We don't want them to know exactly where we are, so we move around a lot."

"That's pointless. You know the Volturi will find you no matter what." Her voice was stern. "I really think that you should come and live with us for a while. If nothing happens for a year, then go back to wherever you're living now. But Nessie, honey, really. I don't want anything happening to Camille, especially nothing like what almost happened to you."

"Yes," I agreed. "But we can't intrude on your home like that, mom. And we most definitely do not want to put this place in danger again. It's been so peaceful for so long now."

"We can deal," she coaxed. "Please, Nessie, stay with us. Only for a year. After a year, if everything's fine, then we'll send you back. Just so Camille can go to school for a while."

I shook my head. "I can't intrude on you like that. We can't intrude on you like that."

"But you can intrude on us!" The door to my mother's cottage burst open and Alice danced in with Jasper right behind her. They also both still looked exactly the same. Alice's black hair was in spikes and her eyes, like Edward's, were a golden topaz. Jasper was still as solemn as ever, with his honey colored hair and golden eyes.

"Alice!" I exclaimed, jumping up to give her a hug. "Oh, I've missed you!"

Alice giggled. "I knew you were coming, so I decided to drop by to say hi."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course, Alice."

"We overheard your conversation with Bella, Renesmee," Jasper said, looking at me a bit warily. "And we would like to offer you to stay with us."

My mother got up off the floor and joined our group. "You were listening at the door that entire time and we didn't hear you?" she asked skeptically.

Jasper cleared his throat and shrugged. "Well, no, not really. Alice saw it . . . in a vision."

"We saw that you were staying with us! You and Jacob and Camille." She looked so excited; it was hard not to be with her. "So, what do you say? Then you won't have to live with your parents."

I laughed. "I wasn't worried about living with my parents. I was more worried about intruding because Camille and Jacob both need to eat regular food, and Jacob doesn't eat lightly."

Alice chuckled. "That's no problem. You know we always have food, even though we don't eat. Just in case." She winked.

"But still—"

"What is this, a party?" Jacob asked, cutting me off and walking out of the kitchen. My father followed closely behind. "What were we talking about here?"

"You're going to stay with us for a while, Jacob." Alice smiled. "It'll be fun!"

Jacob wrinkled his nose. "Why?" He looked over at me.

"Mother thinks that we'll be safer from danger here." I looked extremely doubtful.

Alice grabbed my hand and started pulling me out the door. "You will be safer here! It's determined, then. You guys will be staying in Edward's old room. It'll be like a slumber party!" And with that, she pulled me the rest of the way to her house.

Jasper and Jacob were close behind, and Jacob was carrying Camille in his arms. His nose was still wrinkled, and a look of deep thought was clouding his face. He always pouted his lip a little when he was frustrated or thinking too hard; it was really quite adorable.

When we reached the house, Alice stopped in front of Carlisle and Esme.

"They've come to join us for a while," Alice said happily.

"Wonderful," Carlisle replied. "How long?"

Alice looked over at me with a slight questioning look and then said, "Ah, okay. It'll be sometime near a year." She smiled again.

I shook my head. Having Alice able to see into the future was a little annoying sometimes.

"Are they staying in Edward's room?" Esme asked in her cute, singing voice.

Alice nodded. "Do you still have Nessie's old crib?"

"Of course," Esme replied. "I'll go get it and set it up. I'll be back momentarily."

I sighed, exasperated. "Alice, seriously?"

"It's for your own safety, Nessie! How can you deny your own safety? And the safety of Camille." Alice looked smug.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, yes, whatever. But you know how uncomfortable Jacob is sleeping in a house full of vampires!"

"No, Renesmee, it's okay," Jacob said, shifting Camille to his other arm. "If it's for the safety of our family, I'm sure my nose will be able to put up with it."

"For a year, Jacob?" I walked over to him and looked straight into his eyes. They always gave him away when he was lying.

Jacob looked back at me, eyes unmoving. "It's fine. I've been able to live with you, haven't I?" He grinned.

I exhaled. "Thanks," I said sarcastically.

Esme walked down the stairs and joined us again. I hadn't even heard her come back, let alone up the stairs.

"It's all ready up there," she said, smiling. "I hope you guys are comfortable here. I know we don't sleep, but I'm sure we'll be quiet enough for you to."

"Don't worry," I muttered. "Jacob sleeps like a log. He won't wake to anything."

"Not even an atomic bomb?" Alice asked, amazed.

Jacob shook his head. "Nope." He laughed as she inhaled deeply.

Alice looked me over thoroughly before deciding that I had to go upstairs to her closet and get a makeover. I wasn't as against this as my mother was, but it was a tedious thing to have to do right now. Not to mention the fact that all Alice's clothes would never look good on me. She pulled me up the stairs and into her room before I could object.