DISCLAIMER: All books and characters in the Twilight Saga are property of Stephenie Meyer.

AN: Thanks to my beta not done baking for all your help.

When Faded Memories Regain their Color

Bella's POV

After we checked out of the hotel Edward insisted on taking me out to eat. When I questioned him about the shooting he told me that Alice saw it happen at exactly seven o'clock tomorrow - meaning he still had plenty of time to make sure I was fed.

I was sitting behind a booth in an overpriced Italian restaurant called Trattoria Gianni. For the life of me I couldn't understand his obsession with spending money on me. On the way here we got into an argument…I insisted that I could pay for my own food. His counter argument won in the end – he had pointed out that since we were now married and shared our expenses that I was in fact paying for my own meal.

It didn't take long before an overly eager waitress came over to take my order, or a better term would be to flirt with my husband. I had to admit, she was very pretty. I estimated that she stood about five feet three with an athletic build. Her long chestnut hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her lips were painted with a light pink shade of lipstick. Her lashes were caked with black mascara which she batted so many times someone might think that she had something in her eye.

I rolled my eyes at her shameless trifling. Didn't she notice the ring on his finger? Of course not, she was mesmerized by his face. Fortunately for me, Edward was looking at me the whole time.

After she pulled herself out of trance that was induced by my husband's inhuman beauty she asked him for his order using the most seductive voice she could come up with. He cringed slightly at the sound of her voice. I didn't even want to know what she was thinking.

He predictably told her that he wasn't hungry, causing her to let out a sigh of disappointment. Just when I was about to speak up she turned around to leave, she completely ignored me.

I sat there with my mouth gaping open full of shock. Never before have I been treated so rudely in a public place.

"Waitress," Edward called out darkly.

Surprise. Surprise. She turned around at the sound of his voice. "Yes," she asked in an overly saturated, sweet voice.

"I think you forgot someone," Edward responded in his velvety voice that sounded sweet on the outside but anyone could tell it was dripping with venom.

"What was that?" She asked, still completely oblivious to me.

His hand motioned towards me. Shame spread across her face when she saw me.

"I'm sorry miss. Can I please take your order?" she asked in a voice filled with defeat. She must have noticed the ring on my finger.

"I'll have the Tortellini Baronessa for my main course."

She wrote it down. "And to drink?"

"Water will be fine."

She took our menus and apologized once again for her rude behavior.

Edward shook his head in disgust. "That was completely unacceptable. Trust me I have every intention of making a complaint to the manager before we leave here."

I frowned slightly. Sure I was annoyed that she shamelessly flirted with my husband in front of me and was completely aloof to my presence, but that didn't mean I wanted to ruin her life.

"I wish you wouldn't do anything," I begged as I placed my hand over his.

He gave me a hard look. "You can't be serious?"

I returned his hard look and threw in a harsh tone in my voice. "Very serious."

He opened his mouth slightly to speak only to automatically close it a few seconds later. His body became rigid and pain distorted his face. His eyes held a distant look in them. If I didn't know better I would have thought he was seeing one of Alice's visions.

Concern and anxiety over took me - I moved into his booth and placed a hand on his shoulder. His face softened and he gently squeezed the hand that I placed on his shoulder.

"It's not possible," he whispered.

Something was amiss. Did he dive into the mind of someone dangerous? Someone fatal? Was fate once again creeping up on me? Was I bound to die no matter where I was located?

"What's not possible?"

I cupped his chin hoping that it would give him the message that I wanted him to look at me. He acted as if he didn't even notice me.

"Edward, you're scaring me. Tell me what's wrong. Please," I demanded.

Edward's POV

I couldn't tell her what was wrong, because I was hardly aware of what was happening to me. All I knew was that the color was coming back in my faded human memories. They were now bright and vivid in color, fresh as the day that they happened. It felt like I experienced them yesterday.

"Edward go wash your hands; it's time to eat," my mother ordered.

I hit the last key, and headed towards the bathroom to wash my hands. I took a glance at myself in the mirror. Mother taught me to always look presentable when we were hosting company. I ran the brush through my usually tousled hair.

When I got downstairs I found my mother mingling with the wives of our guests from my father's prestige law firm. My mother wasn't a person to be fond of gossip like the wives of the other lawyers, but regardless she was always courteous towards them.

My father was in the den entertaining his coworkers. I made rounds back and forth between both rooms. Both of my parents wanted to show me off and boast about my accomplishments in school and with the piano.

I heard my mother speaking about me finding a respectable young lady to settle down with it. Even though I was sixteen, commitment of that variety was the furthest thing from my mind.

Bella was practically in hysterics now; her beautiful face covered in tears.

"Please don't cry, my love," I pleaded wrapping my arm around her and pulling her close.

"I was so worried about you. I've never seen you act that way," she burst out through broken sobs.

"I didn't mean to frighten you. I had…" I paused in order to collect myself from the initial shock, "… a memory."

Bella wiped her hands with her sleeve and straightened her posture. "What do you mean? I thought your memory was impeccable."

"My vampire memory is," I whispered only loud enough for her to hear and no one else, "but my human memory isn't."

She parted her oversize lips in the form of an "o." "How is that possible?"

I wrapped my arm around her and she rested her head on my shoulder. "I wish I knew."

The unpleasant aroma of Bella' meal pulled me back into reality. What happened in the past wasn't of any concern right now the only one that mattered was the person sitting right next to me, Bella. I had to stay strong for her.

Alice's POV

I had a one track mind at that moment and nothing else mattered. I would take the steps necessary to save my family. As selfish as it might sound, I couldn't imagine losing even one of them. Without them neither Jasper nor I could survive. Our family was like a body. Each one of us was a vital organ needed in order for the body to survive. If we lost even one of them the body would shut down.

In order for this to work I needed allies on my side, but I needed to steer clear of the one that would foil my plan, Edward. Edward being a mind reader would make this harder than I planned. We would constantly have to be blocking our thoughts from him. I couldn't afford to have a vision around him. I was grateful that Jasper would leave with me if I so requested it. I knew it would hurt Esme, but if she knew my reasoning behind it she would understand.

In the end I knew it was futile to keep this from any members of my family. After all I would have to tell Edward once he came back home. I had seen in a vision that Bella and him were planning on cutting the honey moon short and would be flying back tonight.

My only option was to put all of my trust into my family. Perhaps I could talk to both Edward and Rosalie, and tell them no matter how appealing it looked it wasn't worth destroying our family over.

I knocked on Carlisle's office door.

"Come in," he called from behind.

I gracefully glided into his office.

"Ah Alice, what can I do for you?" he asked.

I sat down in the leather chair. I thought I could do this, but now I wasn't so sure. It was hard enough having to see it in a vision, but having to actually say it out loud only confirmed the reality of the grave situation even more.

"Alice," Carlisle called out to me taking me out of deep thought.

"I had a vision," I broke out in dry sobs.

I should have known that Jasper, my one true love, would have immediately picked up on my emotions and come racing over. He has been asking me all day what had gotten me so melancholy, but I kept on telling him it was nothing. Even though he knew I was lying he wasn't the type to press. He would wait for me to tell him.

Jasper scooped me up in his lap and took my place in the chair. As I dry sobbed into his chest he sent me waves of calmness and love to reduce the emotional turmoil I was in.

"What did you see?" Carlisle questioned with compassion in his voice.

"The destruction of our family is coming."

Carlisle's POV

There wasn't much in this world that could scare me, but those words that came out of my daughter's mouth did. I loved my family. Having an existence without them would truly be hell.

Once I collected myself with the aid of Jasper's calming waves I asked, "What do you mean?"

Alice was no longer dry sobbing. Her composure was completely calm all thanks to her loving husband and my son.

"Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, and Edward will be in the ground or ashes in an urn."

I frowned. "Are they going to be destroyed?"

"Not exactly; let's just say everything will go according to the original plan for them."

Jasper and I both gasped in union at this new piece of information. The rest of the family was now standing outside my door. My precious and loving wife had her right hand placed on her chest. Emmett's face showed that he was in pain.

"What about you, Jasper, and Carlisle?" Rosalie asked Alice.

"We'll still be around…just not together…except for Jasper and I," she confessed. Jasper tightened his grip around her.

"How is that possible?" Emmett spoke up.

Alice assured us that she wouldn't edit anything out before sharing her vision with us. After she stopped speaking we all remained in silence for a few minutes. Most of us were in too much shock to speak – my past was truly coming back to haunt me. Some of us were already planning on how to stop them from dying; while the rest of us were preparing our goodbyes in our heads.

Depending on how old he was, our family wasn't the only thing at stake here. This could lead to disastrous results for the whole world. We needed to come together as one in order to stop this from happening, perhaps even require some help from the Denali clan.

Would Alice, Jasper, and I remember our loved ones? Like my son, says a vampire memory doesn't fade, but what happens when the course that is already behind us changes?

It was now five-thirty p.m. According to Alice, Edward and Bella would arrive from their flight by midnight.

Third Person POV

Edward's human memories never ceased, they only became stronger and more frequent. He knew that he needed to speak to Carlisle as soon as he got back. Right now the only thing that mattered was getting to the airport and leaving the state of Illinois.

He was completely oblivious to the cause of his newly discovered memories. He didn't realize that the cause stood only twenty feet behind him.

Where are my parents? Why is everyone dressed so strangely? What happened to me?

Edward panicked. He was losing control of his mind. It was slipping away at a rapid pace.

Bella picked up on the change in his demeanor.

"You have that look again," she pointed out. "What's wrong?"

"It feels like my mind is being split in two," he replied.

AN: Depending on how perceptive some of you are you might have already figured out what was going on. Let me know your theories in a review. Next chapter I'll get in a POV from either Rosalie, Esme, or Emmett.