KATE

A few weeks later

'I barely felt a thing!' Edward made a sign of approval to his mate and relaxed his muscles. He had absolutely felt a thing, much of that thing, but he didn't want to discourage her. 'This isn't working.' I proclaimed. He shot me an irritated look. 'Bella is doing very well, Kate, you…'

'Bella, we only have a few weeks left and then we are all going to die, unless you manage to push your gift out. If you think you can't do it, that's fine. But I think you are capable of expanding, and if you want it to work the way it should work, you have to try harder!'

God, I loved shouting at people. Edward was frowning. Oh goodness, I might be offending his beloved wife, how awful. I rolled my eyes sarcastically. 'Bella has just started and she really is…'

'…doing extremely well. Yes, but it's not enough, Edward.'

Then an idea slipped into my mind. 'No, Kate, absolutely not!'

In the end, I'd gotten what I wanted. And Bella was, as I had expected, perfectly capable of creating a widely expanding field. I knew that threatening her child was a bit of a harsh way to get her to do it, but it worked. Now she stared at me with rage in her eyes every time I got close, while she was probably thinking of creative ways to quarter me. Nothing to worry about, though, even without my gift, I could easily handle her. I had decided to left the excited ambiance that seemed to be present in the house non-stop, and now I was wandering through the woods with no existent purpose. I had to get my head straight.

I was a strong fighter, had always been, I still had vague memories of street fights with boys from my neighbourhood. They would never let me play with them, and I broke their noses in revenge. I had some scars left on my body that even vampire venom had not been able to fix anymore. A mutilated left breast was among those. 'Doesn't' that bother you?' Irina had asked once. 'Without it, I would have been dead.' I had responded. Simple as that. Bodily appearances had never been much of a deal for me. Who wants to be liked for their looks anyway? I wasn't ugly, of course, I looked fine. But I preferred to prove myself with my intelligence, my strength or lethal fighting techniques instead of my face. And I had never been insecure about any part of myself. I wasn't a likeable person in general, but I didn't really care about what others thought of me (except from my sisters, of course).

Until now.

I was angry because of how I felt. I was even angrier with myself feeling that way at this time. I should be worrying about the Volturi coming over to rip me and my family and friends apart. About my sister who had decided to make a radical decision without informing us in any way, something she had never done before. But here I was; worrying about what a random man thought of me. I, a woman who had been announcing that men were unnecessary creatures who turned you soft since she was nine, was pondering over a bloody guy right before the battle of all battles. I growled at myself in frustration.

'Are you all right?'

Oh that's just great.

The guy in question came up from behind me, hands in his pockets, his long, sandy hair loose this time. He smiled a crooked smile, whereas his eyes had a worried expression in them.

'Sure. Doing perfectly fine. ' I mumbled, looking at the stars.

'Would you prefer if I left you alone?'

I shrugged. Yes. No. Maybe.

'Well, then I'll stay.'

'Why would you want to stay with me? I'm really not the most convivial person to be around at this moment. Or at any other time.'

'I had no choice. You and all your mystery lured me here.' He grinned at me in a way I could not quite define.

I remembered the first time when a boy had told me he liked me. I was fourteen and I had kicked him hard against his shins in discomfort. I hadn't had a clue what the proper reaction to something like that was. Apparently I still hadn't figured it out a thousand years later.

'Oh.' Tanya would fall of her chair with laughter if I were to tell her about this conversation. She would have responded with something exceptionally seductive, I was sure. Not 'oh'.

'You feel uncomfortable around me.' He stated. I desperately wanted to change subjects.

'No, I don't.' I turned towards him. 'May I ask, why did you want to try my gift?' I asked, and I studied his reaction. He smiled. 'Because it was a fun challenge.'

'Is that why you're after me? Because I'm a fun challenge?' He chuckled at my blunt question. 'Are you always this direct?' His ruby eyes twinkled.

'I suppose I am. Are you always replying to questions with other questions to avoid clear answers? Because that's a very annoying American trait.'

'Hey, hey, nothing bad about America, lady.' He laughed again, moving closer to me.

'You still haven't answered.' I frowned and he tilted his head, studying my face this time.

'I don't really know what I like so much about you. You're… different. I can't explain, but I'm drawn to you in some way.'

I stood, confused, and then I got annoyed with both myself and him. 'Enough to be with me?' I whispered. He came even closer and I felt slightly threatened.

'I think so.'

'Too bad, because I don't believe in love. Now get out of my personal space.' I pushed him aside and sprinted away. I didn't need anyone, and Garrett was wrong to think of me as a mere challenge.

TANYA

We had been staying at the Cullen's for a while now. At first I had not wanted to get involved with any of this not-so-immortal-immortal-child business. But as I had proclaimed earlier, I wouldn't let my friends down again. I sat by myself in Carlisle's office and my head was spinning with thoughts. Old memories, new memories, impressions of other vampires. Irina, Irina, Irina. Her name had become a taboo. If someone mentioned her, they spat it out like a curse word. I couldn't wrap my mind around that. My tiny, cheerful sister had somehow transformed into 'the bad guy.' Weren't her motives completely obvious to the others? They were to me. I wouldn't deny she had done something utterly stupid, but not something so bad that she should be seen as an evil person. Luckily, I knew someone who could explain.

Edward? Could you come, please? I tried to think as loud as possible.

A few seconds later he opened the door. 'You called for me?'

'Yes. I wanted to ask, er, why is Irina suddenly the evil one?' Most people only spoke to Edward by thought, but that seemed strange to me. Nevertheless I loved how I didn't have to explain anything.

'Well, I wouldn't say evil…but she went to the Volturi to have us killed, and all of that has to do with us not letting her kill the werewolves. I cannot even imagine losing my mate, so I understand how upset she must be, but we were her friends and now…'

'Wait, what?'

'What?'

'Do you think she did this because of the wolves!?' I almost shrieked in disbelief.

'Yes, obviously.'

I shook my head so hard I got strings of hair in my eyes. 'Of course not!'

'What could otherwise be a possible explanation, Tanya? I know she is important to you, but you can't defend her in this case. She had put all of us in great danger over a heartbreak! ' He was furious.

NO, YOU'RE ALL WRONG! I thought this time, because I didn't want all the others to hear me yell. How can you be so blind. Especially you and Carlisle! I was wondering why everyone acted as if Irina were the scum of the earth, but this explains a lot. How can you think this? You know her, Edward, you can read minds! She would never do this for her own sake. She did it for us! SHE DID IT FOR US!

Edward seemed to be caught off guard. 'For you?'

'Yes, for us. If the Volturi were to find out that your family had actually created an immortal child, as Irina thinks, they would undoubtedly come to Alaska to inspect our clan. They know we are befriended and they are not particularly fond of us in the first place. We would have been perfectly safe if Irina hadn't seen Renesmee, but she did, and if she would have come home and had told us we would have been forced to betray you! Because if we would not tell and they would check up on us, to find out we were aware of her existence, they would kill us all, too. Perhaps they would do that even when only Irina was aware of it. She should have asked you about your daughter, Edward, I don't appreciate the way she reacted, but she didn't dare to come back home, afraid we would pull the information out of her, so she went alone! It has got nothing to do with those stupid werewolves!' God, how can you be so dumb?

'I never thought of it that way.' Edward mumbled.

'I can see that. But trust me, Edward, I've known her much longer than you have.'

'Yes, I know that. You could be right.'

'I am right.'

He sighted, then nodded. I leaned forward. 'Don't be too harsh on yourself, it's okay to be a judgmental, superficial bastard sometimes. But not everybody is a teenage drama queen like you, please realize that.'

'Hey, I'm not a drama queen! Nor judgmental!' He frowned at me with a silly pout.

It made me smile. 'You once tried to commit suicide, because you broke up with a girl you had know for less than a year. She didn't even dump you, Edward, you left her yourself and then decided you couldn't live without her. But instead of going back you just try to get yourself killed. Which is, besides stupid and theatrical, very selfish.' I shook my head. 'Sometimes you understand so little. I can't believe I ever liked you.'

'It's my undeniable charm.' Edward said playfully.

'I guess it is. '