Now, the Beach!

The resort was a private island two miles off the coast of Hawaii that Ian's old friend, a vampire, owned. It was a business for itself, but whenever Ian called; his friend would clear out the island and let us have it to ourselves however long we wanted. Ian would always pay graciously, so his friend would not lose any business.

I had teleported us and our luggage there at about eight o' clock this morning and since then we were doing nothing but surfing, swimming and having fun. While Luke and Beau were surfing I was diving in the nearby coral reef. The fish were always scared of us but that did not stop me from enjoying the view. At least I did not have to worry about shark attacks.

The coral reefs were always my favorite part of being here. Nicknamed "The Rainforests of the Sea" there were so many different colors all in one place that you would never see anywhere else. The water around this island is always crystal clear, even though we have perfect eye sight.

I found a plate-like coral structure and seated myself on it, looking around. I finally found what I was looking for. There was a large oyster bed just next to my feet, I reached down and grabbed one out of the mucky sea floor. I began to pry open oyster after oyster looking for pearls.

Pearls are formed inside the shell of oysters. The oysters secrete acalcium carbonate and conchiolin. Pearls are created accidentally in the wild. A parasite unknown to humans somehow enters through the oyster, and the oyster then starts to excrete these chemicals as a defense mechanism, thus forming a pearl. It takes years to form a pearl, making natural ones found in the wild very rare.

With my enhanced sight, I could pick out which oysters where infected and which aren't, reducing time and having to kill too many oysters to find my goal. After two hours of searching I found over thirty pearls. Great, I could make a bracelet. Luke knew what I was doing so he might have helped me out with his gift. I put all the pearls I collected in a waterproof bag I carried and was getting ready to head to the surface, when I noticed Luke in my peripheral vision.

He had dived in the water and was waving his arms around signaling me to come with him.

When my head broke the surface he swam over to me and said in a dark voice, "They're here."

"Now? But they weren't supposed to be here until tomorrow."

"Guess they decided to crash our party early." He said, still looking pissed.

We swam back to shore to Beau and Ian on the beach. Beau was at our side immediately.

"Where are they?" I asked, confused.

Ian pointed out to the sea horizon, "They appear to have brought a boat."

I looked toward where he was pointing. There was a big luxury speed boat heading toward the beach fast. Luke pulled me against his side while Beau stood on the other while we waited for them to land.

Once they got close enough, Emmett jumped into the water and began to drag the boat on to the beach. Once there, Carlisle and Jasper began unloading their luggage.

"Bella, show them where to put their things, please." Ian said. Of course he would ask me to do it.

"I'll go with you," Luke added.

I nodded, conceding. We walked over to the boat, and began directing them.

"The path on the left leads to your house. Just go up the stairs, you can't miss it." I said, not looking at any of them. Beau decided to be nice and lead the way to our guest's house.

Emmett was the last to leave and he was closest to me. He turned around and grabbed me from Luke and engulfed me in a bear-hug. It would have broken my back if I wasn't as strong as I was, "Let me go!" I managed to get out before he laughed and set me down.

Luke had crouched, prepared to spring, teeth bared, snarls ripping from his throat.

Emmett looked at him, laughing, "Do you really want to do this now?" He asked.

"Yes." Was all he said before he sprung.

Emmett grabbed him right out of the air, and slammed him down to the sand, to which Luke answered by knocking his legs out from beneath him, and reaching around for a choke-hold around his neck. Emmett just laughed as he moved to throw a heavy punch at Luke's side, which he blocked and slammed Emmett's head into the sand.

None of the others had come to help so that meant that Emmett was not serious about this fight, but Luke was. "Lucky, stop, don't fight. Let's go." I said, laughing, myself. I knew that Emmett wouldn't hurt him but I was afraid that Luke would take this too far.

Luke pulled one last move, which Emmett never saw coming. He was on the ground, eyes wide. Luke got up, wrapped his arm around my waist and walked back to our father, who was looking down the beach towards where we were and talking with Carlisle and Esme.

"Woah! How'd you do that?" Emmett shouted, getting up from the ground.

"Just lucky I guess." Luke said.

"That reminds me. Bella, why do you keep calling him Lucky? I thought that his name was Luke." He asked to my retreating form.

I knew Lucky wouldn't tell him, and I guess it couldn't do too much harm for me to tell him. "Because, that's his gift. He can give good luck to others." I said over my shoulder.

"Wow! That's cool! Hey Lucky, do you think you can use some of that gift on Rose? She's been ignoring me for a while now if you know what I mean." I figured that Emmett would already adopt the nickname, but that wasn't what bothered Luke. He just didn't like that he used such a personal name for him.

Luke snorted at him while we were still walking away.

Right before we got to Ian, Edward was suddenly there to take Esme's bags up to the house.

He looked at me with an emotion I couldn't describe, was it amazement? His eyes gazed over my body, starting with my face, over my torso which was clad with the top of a dark blue bikini, over my bikini bottoms, back to my face. For some reason, I was suddenly embarrassed for my perfect form. Edward had never seen me in a suit before when I was human. Luke started growling, looking at Edward with a face full of hate. I tapped his stomach.

"Lucky…" I murmured. He stopped growling, but didn't lift his glare. Edward just looked at me sadly.

"He has the right. I'm sorry." Edward started. It was the first time I had heard his voice in fifty years. It was still perfect, velvety, and musical. It broke my heart. I closed my eyes, and Luke pulled me closer against his chest, kissing the top of my head. Edward's eyes widened. I didn't need to 'borrow' Edward's gift to know what he was thinking. I'm sure he thought that Lucky and I were a couple.

Edward recovered himself to say, "Uh… It's nice to see you again Bella." He said with utmost sincerity. Then to Luke, "I think we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Edward." He said extending his hand. Luke didn't take it but introduced himself nonetheless.

"Luke." He said then started to pull me toward the water to go swimming.

I had decided to be an adult here, there was no reason I should ignore our guests while we're here. "It's nice to see you again too Edward." I said over my back while I got into the water.

Luke splashed me with the cold water to get my attention and I splashed him back. He then grabbed me around the waist and launched me ten feet into the air about thirty feet away.

We continued like that until the sun had gone down and it was time for the main event.

We got out of the water and went to the house to dry off. Ian had told us that they came early because Alice was bugging them about going.

"Is she psychic or something? She knew that Lucky was going to fight with the big one and told us that it was nothing to worry about. She also said that Ian would invite them to the fire and that they would be there. She didn't know what it was about though." Beau asked.

"Yeah, she is." Was all I said.

All three of us got dressed and headed down to a secluded spot on the beach, Ian with his large bag on his shoulder.

The Cullens were already there, seated around the logs that made up almost a perfect circle.

Me and Luke were the last ones into the circle, his hand never letting mine go. I could feel Edward's eyes on me as we entered. Ian started gathering wood from the side to start the fire. Beau had jumped in to help and together they got it done in half the time.

Once all of the wood was gathered in the middle, Ian lit his lighter and started the blaze. The fire quickly licked up the dried wood. I sat down between Luke and Beau on a log, the closest to the water, as far away from Edward as possible, same as the night before.

"So, what's the fire for? We gonna roast marshmallows?" I heard Emmett ask jokingly.

Ian chuckled, "No. Just watch."

Ian went to his bag he had set aside and pulled everything out. There were about fifty pounds of fireworks in there. The kind of rockets that go on for a long time. We had calculated for the Cullens being here so we adjusted how many fireworks we'd need. He began to set them out in an organized manner and when he was done he pulled out a small rocket.

Being a computer programmer he had an advanced degree in calculus. He calculated the exact spot where he needed to set the rocket. Ian put it down and began setting the fuse. The rocket was about five feet away from the pile of fireworks and the fireworks were about ten feet away from the fire. Once the fuse was set he led the fuse toward the fire and threw the end of it into the fire, igniting it immediately.

The lit fuse traveled down to where the rocket was and lit it. With a loud boom, the rocket launched into the air and did three loops before settling onto the firework pile.

Then the fun began.

"Whoa!" Emmett yelled jumping up from his seat. I guess he's never seen fireworks with his vampire eyes. I smiled, and resumed watching the show.

The group of rockets were scattered into different directions. Once they were all lit they began to explode into the air.

Just like back at the coral reef, there were colors everywhere. But unlike them, these were manmade. Half of them going into the air immediately and exploding into a dazzling array of color.

You never truly understand color until you see fireworks with vampire eyes. Just like seeing a rainbow with all the different colors, it's like watching a painting being done with the night sky as the canvas.

And the sound! Sure, you hear the whistles and the ear deafening booms and crackles. But what humans don't hear are the sound waves echoing off the nearby rocks, the water, even the sand. The sound waves can create a chorus of noises that sound like music. Since Ian had set them up just so, they would go off at just the right time to create real music. It sounded like a low symphony like no one has ever heard before. It was truly almost magical to watch and hear.

After about twenty minutes they were finally over. My family and I turned to the Cullens to see their reaction.

"That was…was…wow." Emmett didn't have words.

"Beautiful." I heard Edward say. I turned to see him staring intently at me. There was no emotion on his face but I could tell that his comment was directed at me. I felt Luke tense around me but I ignored him.

"Yeah. We do this every year. The fire was just for show." Ian said.

Ian and the Cullens chatted for another hour. Even Beau talked with Emmett, they would get along well, I was sure. Luke and I never joined in on the conversations that were going on around us. We just turned around to face the water and ignored the world around us. Every once and a while Luke would lean over and kiss me on the top of my head or on my forehead when I looked at him. I could still feel Edward's eyes on me the whole hour we sat there. I still know what he was thinking, and he couldn't be more wrong. Luke and I just got along so well, even everyone else back home thought we were dating. But I felt no need to correct him. Even Ian and Beau were wondering why Luke and I never became an item. I guess it just wasn't meant to be with us. We loved each other like brother and sister and that was that.

With no one really tending to the fire it burned down to embers quickly, and the time came to say 'good night'. We broke off to go to our houses. Luke and I were again the last ones to leave after he doused the fire with a bucket of water. About half way to the house I heard someone come up behind us. Edward.

We turned to look at him, clad in a light spring jacket and black swim trunks. He still looked at me with sadness in his eyes. Then, finally, he spoke.

"Uh…Bella, do you think I can talk to you for a moment?" he asked looking embarrassed.

I felt Luke growl next to me in the darkness, but I silenced him with a tap of my finger to his chest. "Lucky…" I said. I looked at Edward. How much I would love to have a moment alone with him, to find out why he left, but I wasn't in the mood tonight.

"Um, maybe tomorrow Edward, okay? We're all going to the other side of the island. There's a huge coral reef just off the shore, with an underwater cave. A real must see." We were actually standing almost on top of the cave now. It traveled into the land to stop underneath us. The only entrance was on the other side though.

"Okay…" was all he said, still looking very embarrassed.

Luke started pulling me toward the house and I called over my shoulder, "Good night Edward."

I could still see him standing there when we entered the house. I know he could see me watching him and I looked away quickly and entered the house.

I spent the rest of the night making my bracelet out of the pearls I had gathered earlier today. I used a thin stretchable cord to make the bracelet. I had to force a needle into the pearls to make a hole to put the cord through. Once it was done I put it on. It fit perfectly. And it could stretch, displacing the pearls, but still fit anyone who would wear it.

By the time I had finished, the sun was beginning to rise over the sea.

I wanted to be a marine biologist when I got older but never got the math scores, so this chapter was perfect for me.

I think I did a good job with the water and the fireworks.

Maybe you could give me some suggestions about what they will talk about or do in the cave, I'm at a loss.

Reviews and suggestions please, they make me write faster! :)