A/N: This is just a bit of fun in the present that I wrote up to sort of lighten it up a bit. We'll get into the questions when we next see the Cullens.

Enjoy and don't forget to review!

-Wish

Vancouver, Canada 2009: The Force that is "Alice"

Anna found herself running near the middle of the group, next to Bella.

"I wonder if you can do that memory-reading thing with my shield up," she speculated.

Anna laughed. "How many of you have extra things?"

Edward, Nessie, me, Alice, and Jasper," Bella said. She paused a moment before chuckling too. "I guess that is a pretty big number. Although, Carlisle has a theory that we each bring something from our human lives to our vampire lives, and that that trait is amplified during the change. Like Carlisle's compassion kept him from feeding off of humans and eventually to resist human blood altogether. And Emmett, as a human, was really strong, so he brought that to his vampire life. Though you probably already found that."

"Yeah," Anna replied, flexing her hand. Bella laughed again.

"You said Carlisle can resist human blood?" Anna asked.

"Yeah. I'm not sure exactly if that's a gift. But Carlisle was the one who taught us all how to resist the thirst and live on animal blood."

"I think I've heard of that," Anna commented. "Is that why your eyes aren't red?"

Bella nodded. "It's a side effect. The 'vegetarian' diet is hard, but we're all pretty good at it now. And we have Carlisle and each other to help us. Carlisle, Rosalie, and I have all never tasted human blood."

Edward dropped back from the lead to Anna's other side.

"I should warn you, when we get back to the house you will probably end up telling your life story. Alice also has something in particular she wants to do."

"Thanks for the heads up," Anna replied.

"How long ago did you come to this continent?" Bella asked. "Carlisle came just after the Revolutionary War. He's lost his accent."

"Actually it shows up a bit when he's angry," Alice interjected from behind.

"But you still have an English accent," Bella finished.

"I got here just after World War II. I was in London for the air raids. They weren't pretty. It was part of the reason I left."

"What was the other part?" Alice asked.

Anna's expression became distant. "I'd rather not talk about it," she said.

Alice opened her mouth to protest, but Edward silenced her. "She doesn't have to tell us if she's not comfortable," he told Alice, giving her a warning look.

"Thank you," Anna whispered to him.

They ran farther north, then cut northwest, crossing a few streams, before coming upon a solitary home in the woods off a little-used road. They approached from the back of the house, not even seeing the road. Anna was impressed by the size, but reminded herself eight vampires, a shape-shifter, and a nine-year old half-breed lived in the house. That was a lot of people! They needed a big place.

This house was well on its way to being a mansion. It had a turnaround drive circling a fountain in the front. To the side, what looked to be a garage was being remodeled. Several very shiny and very expensive, foreign cars sat in the driveway along with a silver Ducati motorcycle.

Carlisle opened the door and beckoned everyone in. The front doorway opened into a grand foyer with a wide, sweeping staircase to the second floor. Every decoration fit perfectly. The house had a sort of openness that was warm and welcoming, rather then cold and empty. It was difficult to pull it off in such a big house. Anna wondered if Esme had any hand in the decorating. This seemed like it could be her style.

The whole family trouped down the hallway, past the stairs, but Alice snagged Anna's arm.

"First things first, Anna looks like a mountain girl," she declared. She took Alice by the elbow and began steering her up the staircase. Anna was surprised at the strength she exhibited, especially for such a small figure. "Bella, are you coming? Of course you are."

Bella shrugged at Edward and followed Alice and Anna up the stairs, reluctantly. The others remained downstairs, glancing around confused.

"I wonder if the Canadians get the Redskins game," Anna heard Emmett from upstairs.

"I hope you don't mind," Alice was saying to her, "But I sort of saw you coming and I bought just a few outfits for you. They're in Bella's closet."

"So that's what those are?" Bella asked. "You just said to not touch them."

"And you didn't," Alice replied. She dragged Anna down the hall to Bella's and Edward's room.

Anna looked down at her own clothes. They were a bit dirty and worn, but they were still good. She'd stolen them from a store in Toronto only three months ago. Her jeans were permanently stained around the hem, but only a few grass stains coated the knees and they weren't ripped at all. And the sweatshirt she wore over her favorite Toronto Blue Jays' shirt was only slightly ragged around the wrists, though it was paper thin now. But Anna didn't need to worry about the cold. She wore the over-sized sweatshirt so she could pull the hood up and tuck her hands in when it was sunny.

Alice was rifling through Bella's closet as Bella stood with Anna in the bedroom. The closet was huge and Alice had all but disappeared into it.

"It's alright," Anna assured her. "Really I was—"

"It's better if you let her run her course," Bella murmured. "When I changed, she put me in a silk dress and stilettos!"

Anna's eyes widened. Silk? Such an expensive and relatively fragile fabric? Anna had only worn silk once before. And she'd seen humans trying to balance on stilettos. To put those on a newborn was asking for trouble.

"What happened to it?" Anna asked, curious.

"I ditched the shoes before my first hunt and came back wearing Edward's shirt," Bella replied.

Anna laughed, but clamped her mouth shut as Alice came back, glaring. In her hands she held six garment bags. She laid them across Bella's bed. Anna could see some of the tags. All famous designers, and therefore, all really expensive.

"You know, I try to go for practicality over style," Anna admitted.

"I know," Alice replied, looking over Anna's current clothes with a wrinkle in her nose.

"I did too," Bella added. "Before I married Edward. But Alice used to yell at me that I didn't know how to use my closet if I came out in jeans and a t-shirt, so…" Bella gestured to her own chic, designer clothes.

"I still have to dress you sometimes," Alice told her. She grabbed Anna and pushed her towards the bathroom. "Go get all the mud and twigs off you. Fresh towels are under the cabinet." Alice gathered up a bag and handed it to Anna. "Then put this on."

Anna looked back to Bella for support but the other vampire simply shrugged. She was helpless against the force known as "Alice".

Anna sighed and, taking the clothes, entered the bathroom. It was small and decorated with pale yellows, again warm. Accents of red and even a bit of orange were scattered through the bathroom. Hanging on a hook behind the door was a Princess Belle towel. Anna assumed it was Nessie's.

Although vampires didn't sweat, they could still get dirty from running through mud and trees like anyone else. And if they hunted, particularly if they were still young, a large amount of blood on their person was almost guaranteed. Not to mention, a shower still felt good. Anna scrubbed hard until the grime was down the drain and there wasn't a single twig or leaf in her blonde hair. Then Anna stepped out, dried herself off with one of the towels from the cabinet, and went to see what Alice had picked out for her.

Opening the bag, Anna was afraid. Alice obviously liked fashion and based on Bella's story, she didn't necessarily go for what was practical for the situation, or comfortable. But Anna was slightly relieved when she opened the bag and the first thing she found were jeans. They were a dark wash, decoratively faded on the front and part of the back. They fitted Anna snuggly through the hips and legs and flared out slightly at the bottom in a thin boot-cut. Anna was surprised that, even though they hugged her legs, the jeans did not restrict her movement.

The next item brought on another sigh of relief. It was a sweater, faded purple, with a modest v-neck. The sleeves were three-quarter length, falling around her elbows. Just below the bust was a seam of tiny, silver sequins. Like the jeans, it was close-fitting, but not excessively so.

The outfit was finished off with a light grey, fitted jacket, a hint of military to it. Overall, the outfit was simply, yet stylish. When Anna came out of the bathroom, Bella seemed shocked. She turned on Alice.

"How come she gets a reasonable first outfit and I got a cocktail dress?" she demanded.

Alice grinned. "You were married to Edward. You weren't going anywhere. She I have to worry about scaring off."

Alice's words made Anna duck her head and grin. Anna didn't think she would leave so easily, especially over clothes. She reached down to her finger to twist the ring as she typically did when she was nervous. But her finger was empty. A pang of fear shot through Anna's chest for a moment, before she realized where the ring was. It was still with its real owner. Downstairs.

"You need shoes," Alice commented, looking down at Anna's bare feet. Anna followed her gaze, rocking back on her heels. She hadn't worn shoes in three years. "Bella, grab the silver ballet flats in your closet," Alice ordered.

This time Bella disappeared into the closet. Alice towed Anna back into the bathroom. Anna had left her old clothes folded on the counter. She moved to grab them, but Alice got there first.

"I'll take care of these later," she said. Bella returned with a pair of sequined ballet flats. Alice muttered something incomprehensible in Bella's ear before exchanging the bundle of clothes for the shoes.

"Here." Alice laid the shoes on the floor in front of the vanity stool. Anna sat down, at first facing the mirror, but then Alice turned her around.

"Don't move," Alice ordered. Anna immediately obeyed, going perfectly still the way only a vampire could. Alice attacked her hair as Bella returned, but still Anna didn't move an inch. Alice dried, combed, painted, smoothed, and generally worked furiously over Anna's fair and face. Finally, Alice stepped away, beaming.

"Perfect!" she declared. "You can look now."

Anna turned slowly, peeking over her shoulder first. When she didn't see anything that immediately stood out to her eyes, she turned more, until she was facing the mirror head on.

"Wow," Anna whispered. She knew she was beautiful. What vampire wasn't? But her beauty had always been the "natural" kind. Anna had never done much with her hair and she'd worn makeup only one day of her human and vampire life. This was day two.

Alice had first off, styled her hair mostly down so that it fell in cascading, loose curls. It was thoroughly brushed. Alice had scared all the knots away. A few strands were pulled back loosely from her face and elegantly clipped back.

Then Alice had focused on her face. Her complexion was, of course, perfectly pale. Alice had only done a few things to make it more natural. She'd darkened her eyelids a bit, added a light dusting of blush. The touches accentuated her cheekbones and her smile.

"Thank you Alice," Anna finally whispered.

"You're welcome!" Alice chimed. She pulled the taller vampire up by the elbow. "Let's go downstairs. Everyone is going to love it!"

She grabbed Bella from where the other girl was sitting and reading Sense and Sensibility on the bed. When Bella looked up at Anna, her reaction was much the same as Anna's. "Wow. I might have to watch Edward from now on."

Alice snorted. "Edward wouldn't take his eyes off you even if you shaved your head."

Bella shrugged. It seemed to be a common gesture for her. She got up, leaving the book on the bed, and followed Alice as she led Anna down the stairs.