I don't have a lot to add right now, so I'll just continue where she left off, if you don't mind. You don't right? Cause if you do there are other places we could start, I mean we wouldn't even be sitting here if you hadn't asked, so it would be the least that I could do. … Are you sure? Ok, let's go.


There are some things that I will always remember from that night of action in Seattle.

Death and fire.

Death, fire, and the movement of the earth as it rose to help, or as I thought then, to compensate for my uselessness.

I remember staring into the fire as it burned the remains of the young woman who'd done nothing more than show up and the wrong place one night. It was such a strange juxtaposition. The innocence of a victim, set against the guilt of the predator, the fragility of her prone and broken form set against the wildness with which she'd fought; it was too much. I stared at the flames and thought of Alexandra, until Leah came in with her worries.

I'd eased her worries as best as I could and then she'd asked about the earthquake.

Immediately my mind had gone back to that moment.

The newborn had had its arms around Leah's immense, lupine, neck and was preparing to go in for the kill. The sound of footsteps had been getting closer. She was in danger if discovery and death and suddenly, excruciating pain had shot through my head and I'd felt something that I hadn't felt in years. The world itself had seemed to hum for an instant and I'd felt the vibrations in the deepest part of me, but where before I'd only heard it, at that moment I'd felt it along with a near dizzying sense of power.

It was too much. Leah was going to die and then me, and The Girl From Geometry Class, would likely be eaten by the newborn, and it hurt, it hurt so badly. The pain was physical and emotional and….

"No," I cried, and the ground shook briefly and violently, the vibrations of the world becoming a fierce hum and then sinking to the edges of my awareness.

I'd watched, numb and barely seeing as Leah had chased the newborn into a warehouse and listened with vague horror as she'd torn her apart. Then I'd gathered my wits about me and walked into the warehouse.

I wasn't ready to think about what all of that meant so, when Leah asked about the earthquake I told her the only thing that I really could. It had been a stroke of luck, and if to say so was a lie of omission for not admitting my possible part in that stroke; well you'll just have to forgive me.

As you know, after that we walked around looking for the others and found them preparing to burn the remains of Victoria and her newborns.

Once more I stared into the flames, my mind and heart focused on Alex. You are my Match, my love, my only. I sent the thoughts towards the flames which reminded me, so much, of her. How could there be another whose soul fits with mine?

There couldn't, I decided. It must have been a stroke of luck, and I'd just have to meditate later to prove it.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Leah look away from the fire, towards me.

Of its own accord, my hand rose and settled on her shoulder in comfort, and it stayed there until Jack and Izzy pulled me away and sent me walking back towards my car.

I followed them back to the hotel, having agreed to play chaperone so that they could share a room for the night, before heading back the next afternoon.

The two of them were staying the longest, the pack and the Cullens both planned to leave earlier that that day.

When we got to their room, I dropped my stuff on the floor beside the bed that Jack and I would share for the night and the three of us took turns washing off the smoke and sweat.

After Jack immerged from the shower, dressed in his pajamas and a little miffed about having to go last, we all piled onto my and Jack's bed and prepared to get caught up.

The three of us sat in a triangle with our legs crossed and after a moment I started the conversation.

"So, Izzy-bell, any new visions to report?" I asked, reaching over and mussing her hair.

"Stop that! Yes, actually. I saw her again today, while I was napping on the way here, the girl standing amongst the flames. I never see her whole face, but this time I saw her mouth. She was shocked and scared, but Jamie I don't think that she was in pain, the heat from the fire didn't seem to be touching her either. No sweat," she replied amazed.

I thought about it briefly, feeling that mixture of grief and affection that thoughts of Alex tended to bring to the surface.

"Maybe," I suggested, "you're seeing someone's Match power manifest for the first time. You know it's happened before."

"What's happened before?" Jack asked, momentarily confused, " being surprised by your power?"

"No…Well yes, people have been surprised before, but that's not what he means. He's saying that someone has had a fire related match power before," Izzy clarified.

"Who?" he asked, curious.

"Look," I invited, and he turned his all too knowing eyes on mine, and upon seeing the answer to his question, turned away. He gripped my shoulder in support and then gave Izzy a slight hug, before continuing the conversation.

"So, there's nothing to be done about it then," he pointed out, "she'll call out in panic, he'll hear her and the proper questions will be asked."

"Wrong," I relied, " Izzy, you were focusing on the situation within the watchers, and mom's doubts before you drifted off and had those visions right?"

"Yes, but we aren't even really sure that my power works like that."

"But there's still a chance that she could be related to whatever the Watchers are hiding. Izzy…"

"Alright, I'll keep looking. First though, how are you doing?" she asked.

"I plan to live. What about you two? Still inseparable?"

"Utterly so," the two said at the same time.

"And your friends?"

"Ben and Angela are doing well, though everyone is getting antsy waiting for acceptance letters to get here," Jack answered," and for your next question, Mom and Dad are alright, a bit stressed with all the Watcher stuff happening, but they've been meditating more, so they'll be fine."

"Charlie is actually pretty happy. I think that he and Sue Clearwater are dating, or getting close to it," Izzy added.

We talked for a while longer before deciding that it was time for bed, and I went to the vending machines down the hall so that they could say goodnight without my presence making things awkward.

When I got back, Jack was sitting on the floor next to Izzy's bed and stroking her hair. She was asleep. I left him to it, climbing into bed and drifting off the moment my head hit the pillow.


I woke up early the next morning, out of habit, and immediately noticed that Jack had managed to crawl into bed during the night. I smiled down at him, well, at the tuft of blond hair that was visible over the blankets. I looked over at the other bed, hoping to see that Izzy was sleeping equally well.

She wasn't.

Izzy was thrashing about in her sleep, murmuring something that I couldn't quite hear. I slipped out of bed and approached her cautiously, hoping that she wouldn't wake up and kill me on impulse.

Just as I got close enough to attempt to soothe her, I heard what she'd been repeating.

"No…can't…dead…no!"

I shook her. No little sister of mine, blood or otherwise, was going to be made to watch someone die. But I couldn't even protect her from sleep, it seemed, her distress filtered through her bond with Jack, waking him up.

Seeing what was going on, he used the bond to call to her, essentially making her wake herself up.

Her eyes flashed open, and she yelled out, "Alexandra!"

The world stopped for a moment, and I couldn't breathe.

"What?" Jack asked, coming out of the light meditational state that he'd used to help wake her up and nearly teleporting to her side. He wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Nothing, I'm sorry, I was dreaming about the girl in the flames and I was so scared…she's my big sister. I never really met her but I know her a little through her online journals…I just wanted someone who'd understand and because I'm still learning about her, she doesn't feel gone to me. I didn't mean to upset you Jamie," she explained.

"It's ok," I murmured in response. I mussed her hair and she smiled a little.

"I wish," I added after a moment, " that I could help you more, introduce her to you. We'll have to talk more often, you and me, when you're not too busy with Nimble."

"What about today?" Jack asked. "I could go explore Seattle a bit and you two could stay here and hang out."

"Jack, you don't have to leave," I replied, not wanting him to feel like I'd chosen Izzy over him.

"It'll be fun, and we spend too much time together as it is. If either of you miss me I'm a call away, phone or otherwise," Jack reassured.

An hour of taking turns using the bathroom to get dressed and ready for the day later and Jack was out the door, leaving Izzy and I to talk and hang out. We sat side by side with our backs to the headboard and my arm around her shoulder.

"So, I guess that I should be honored. A private audience with her majesty is no small thing," I joked, hoping to lighten the oppressively serious mood that we'd stumbled into.

"No small thing indeed, for most, but you caught the eye of an empress once, so I can't imagine that you're any stranger to royalty," she replied.

"She was, wasn't she? Not just in looks, either; she knocked me down a peg within minutes of our first meeting."

I smiled at the thought and Izzy, seeing her chance, started in with what she knew of the story.

"It was around finals, and you were reaching for the same volume in the library."

I squeezed her shoulder and continued the story, "it was an act of fate, I swear. She-"

We spent a peaceful, warm afternoon remembering Alexandra.

I told her all about her, her temper, her intelligence, her strength. As constant and unpredictable as fire, and just as warm, as beautiful; I showed her as much as I could of the sister that she would have had and in doing that I finally let myself remember her as more than the love that I'd lost and the empty space by my side.

In return, she told me stories from her childhood mixed in with anecdotes from her guessing game with Jack, and whispered stories from a life that we couldn't hope to hold. She wrote a future for us, me and Alexandra and her and Jack. She built it on the air like a castle made of sand and sunlight, to be washed away by the evening tide and I… I couldn't stop thinking that maybe there was someone out there who could complete the vision, a second Match…

I didn't want to think about it but, well, you know how it goes when you try not to think of something.

Izzy-bell's voice drew me back when I wandered too far though, so the afternoon passed in a wonderful haze of peace and love and support.

When Jack came back, he found us laughing, and he leaned against the doorway, letting me steal one last hug before I shooed her off to greet him.

"My lord, my love, it's been years!" she cried, embracing him overdramatically.

"And who would I be to argue with a noblewoman of your stature," he laughed.

They treated me to a few more moments of their time before piling into the truck that turned down a position as the batmobile and heading back down the road towards Forks.

I left the hotel moments after them and I drove around Seattle for a while before parking and walking into a church, on impulse. The services had ended for the day and it was calm and quiet. Light filtered in, purple, and red, and gold through the stained glass windows. I walked to the front and lit a candle for Alex.

I sat on the floor between two rows of pews, hidden from all eyes, and for the first time in years I closed my eyes and let my awareness drift outward. The previously too soft prayers of the others knelt in the church washed over me like music. The very walls seemed to hum, as did the floor beneath me, but I barely noticed. Above all of those things, I felt the absence. That feeling of something gone, but not lost, was real and I was feeling it again.

The feeling of my tears welling and spilling over made me lose focus. I wept, softly, in a mix of joy and terrible pain. I had the second chance that I hadn't had time to want yet. I had the opportunity to complete my broken soul and to be of use to my family again.

I drifted like a ghost towards the candles lit for the lost, for those mourned, and knelt to the floor. I wished so badly that I could be in Tucson, and kneel before her grave, but I settled for the candle that I'd lit for her. I thought about the dreams that Izzy had spoken of earlier and the memories we'd shared, and I struggled with the idea that I might someday learn to love another.


The next part of this story is best told by the one who started all of this telling; not you, but the one that you asked all those weeks ago. Just let me get her on the phone, and we'll continue in a moment, okay?


Hey guys, I'll keep it short because I'm trying to post this before class, but thank you all for reading and reviewing. Please review, it makes me antsy when you lot are too quiet.

Next up: Izzy comes in to fill us in on some things!

Finals have descended upon my little college, so I'll get it written and posted as soon as I can but be patient with me.