Chapter 4: Nolan's Decision

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Karlana PoV-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Come on, Jake, let's go check on Bella."

Jake went in before me. I knew Bella would want to see him. Bella was just opening her eyes as we walked in. Jake went and knelt beside her.

"Jake?" Bella asked in her low innocent voice.

"Right here. I'm sorry, Bella!" Jake said as he held her hand.

After that I didn't hear anything since I was having a vision. Nolan was walking in a small village then it skipped to him standing in front of Edward.

They were talking and laughing then Nolan finally got to telling Edward about Victoria. Next I saw Nolan flying Edward across water, mountains, and trees. Nolan had decided to find Edward.

Once I snapped out of my vision Jake, Bella, and Billy were huddled around me. I sat on the couch, "Oh, Nolan!"

"What? What's wrong?" Bella asked.

"I don't know, Bella," I simply said.

It wasn't a lie, I didn't know several things. I didn't want to give her false hope. The future can change and giving her false hope would have been worse than lying to her.

I remembered Nolan's eyes as I wished he was here with me. They were grey. Sometimes they were bright blue; and his hair, brown with a natural shade of red when the light hit it just right. He always wore it down.

Nolan actually is my fiancé but we've never had a chance to get married. A normal life is never a choice for an angel. But we love our lives.

I hope he knows what he's doing; bringing Edward back!

Bella PoV--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wish everyone would stop keeping things from me! Its bad enough I don't know if I'll ever see Edward…

"You'll see them all again, Bella!" Karlana said as she went into another visions. Wow, her visions were a lot more frequent than Alice's.

"What did you see?" I asked curiously.

"Something that will make everyone happy! Well, the ones I saw anyway. We need to get back to Charlie he's getting anxious," Karlana replied.

"Alright, bye, Jake! Bye, Billy."

"Good-bye, Bella! Karlana, I hope this isn't the last we see of you!" Billy said.

"Not by a long shot, Billy! Good-bye, Jacob, please remember what I said," Karlana said heading towards the door.

"I'll keep it in mind. Good-bye, Bella; bye, Karlana," Jake said.

We were out the door and in the car. Karlana drove faster on the way home then on the way to La Push. We were in the driveway in five minutes.

"Did you want to be alone?" Karlana asked as she watched the forest by my house.

"Um…do you mind staying? I don't feel safe," I said hoping she would say ok.

I wasn't to happy about the fact that Victoria was coming for me but I guess I knew something like that was going to happen.

"I don't need sleep, just so you know. I can sleep but angels always have energy built up. You do need to talk to Charlie first. If he says no I'll still stay. Victoria may not be here for another month but she is not the only vampire that can hunt," Karlana said as she got out of the car.

We walked to the porch and I opened the door. We heard voices. Karlana had me go in first. I rounded the corner to find the Cullen family sitting with Charlie…all…except one.

"BELLA!" they all yelled at once.

I saw the faces that I thought I would never see again and I fainted.

I woke up while Karlana was introducing herself to the Cullens. She didn't mention anything about her being an angel, although they probably already knew because of Nolan.

I opened my eyes as Carlisle checked my pulse.

"There you are! How are you feeling?" Carlisle asked me.

"Uh, confused and light-headed," I answered.

"Well, we'll leave you to get some sleep. She'll be fine, Charlie," Carlisle added as he headed out the door.

"Thank you, Carlisle. And I'm glad you're back," Charlie added.

"It's good to be back. Come on, kids," and with that all the Cullens were out the door faster than they should have been.

"Dad?" I asked in my most innocent voice.

"Yes, Bells?" Charlie asked as he turned to look at me.

"Can Karlana stay the night? Don't worry I'll get sleep," I said hoping the last comment would push him towards saying yes.

"I guess, but she needs to ask her parents first," Charlie said as he looked at Karlana.

I looked at Karlana and she had her cell phone out and was dialing a number.

"Hi, Mom? It's Karlana; can I stay the night with my friend Bella?" Karlana asked, "Her dad already said that it was fine…ok, love you! Bye," Karlana said as she closed her phone and placed it back in the pocket of her skirt, "Mom said it was fine."

"Ok, now let's get you upstairs," Charlie said as he bent down to pick me up.

"Dad, I can walk!" I said as my face heated.

I stood up and walked to my room with Karlana following close behind me. Once we were in my room I sat down on my bed and she sat in the chair. I asked her by thought how old she and Nolan were. I'm sure if I didn't direct it to her she would have told me anyway.

"I am 235 years old and Nolan is 247 years old," Karlana answered my thought.

"It's amazing how much older most of my friends are than me!" I said as I looked at a picture of Alice and me.

I hoped they wouldn't leave again.

"They'll never leave you like they did again. Apparently, there is more to you than you know. Know, try to get some sleep. I'll still be here when you wake up."

I went to my desk and grabbed my pajamas then went to the bathroom, took a shower, and put on my sleepwear. When I opened the door to my room I found Karlana sitting in front of my window, looking towards the stars, and a single tear running down her face.

I figured she missed Nolan…

"That's part of it," Karlana interrupted my thoughts.

"What's the other part?" I asked.

"Bella, Drake…was my…brother!" Karlana said as another tear made its mark on her face.

I quickly went up to her and hugged her as tight as I could. I was glad, however, that she wasn't going after Victoria just because of me. This made me wonder how being an angle worked.

"Certain families are angels. There are five families: Silverton, Thorpe, Kandon, Elden, and Delacy. Each family has a different eye color: Thorpe's have gray, Kandan's have brown, Elden's have green, Delacy's have blue, and Silverton's have tri-colored eyes," Karlana explained as tears still fell one by one down her face.

"Why the different eye colors? What makes that important?" I asked out loud.

"The eye color shoes a rank. Edward Silverton," I winced at the name, "was an angel in heaven; he was the first to volunteer to become an Earth-bound angel…so he was given the tri-colored eyes to show his rank. Next to volunteer was Markus Thorpe; Edward Silverton's best friend. He was able to pick his color for his eyes; he chose grey for its simplicity. Then the last three were chosen out of a group of volunteers for their skills, loyalty, and courage."

"If it goes by family then are your ancestors still alive?"

"Only the ones that decided that they will never turn their backs on the human race. We get a choice, Bella, we can live as Earth-bound angels or we can live as angels in heaven. Neither is considered normal…" Karlana stopped in mid-sentence and smiled.

She then turned and got up as she grabbed my arm and put me on the bed. She stood at the edge of my bed as she looked out the window and smiled.

"What…"

"Wait and watch," was all Karlana said as she pointed to the window.

Ten minutes later there was a thud and Nolan walked through my window. As soon as Karlana saw his face she ran towards him and hugged him as tightly she could. I could see, even from where I was sitting, that both Nolan and Karlana were happy to be in each other's arms.

"Bella, I have a surprise for you!" Nolan said as he and Karlana looked at the window and smiled.

I didn't see anything but the next thing I knew I was off the floor and being hugged by something cold and…perfect. Edward.