A/N: First of all a big thank you for all those nice reviews! Don't worry, I haven't forgotten you, but I've so much work in RL that I barely get around to writing. I even just got this chapter done, because I took this weekend off from writing my MA-thesis or doing other things for university. But as you see, this chapter is an extra long one ^^, about 8.000 words.

So, go on reading and enjoy!


Old Ones

Edward's quiet groan was the only noise that penetrated the sudden and unexpected silence that met my declaration. My whole body had immediately tensed after I had given away his secret, ready to defend him if necessary. I knew that it was a bit ridiculous, seeing as Edward was still stronger than I, but my heart told me to jump in the middle of the attack and protect my soulmate. But nothing happened. No one moved and I was starting to get nervous.

Why weren't they doing anything? I had just told them that my fiancé was a vampire and yet they were just standing there and not doing anything at all. Except for staring at us.

Suddenly, from one second to another, almost as if what I had said was first now processed in his brain, a look of pure shock and disbelief crossed over Xander's face. "You're kidding, right? Please, tell me you're kidding."

If the situation weren't as serious, I would have thought it funny how Xander was almost begging me to take my words back and tell them that this was just a joke. But as it was, I couldn't make head or tail of his reaction. And the little amused smile that appeared to be tugging at Willow's lips didn't make the whole situation better. Shouldn't they be angry, or trying to get me away from Edward? Shouldn't they be attacking him?

"Bella's not kidding," Edward eventually said and I could swear that I saw the beginnings of an amused grin on his otherwise emotionless face. For a split second I wondered what Willow and Xander were thinking, especially Xander. However, the beginnings of this grin disappeared just as quickly as they had come, as he stared directly at them. "I am a vampire."

"But he's a good vampire!" I quickly threw in. I knew that I had begun to dig his proverbial grave, but did he have to dig deeper without telling them the most important thing? "He's different! He's a vegetarian… I mean he- he only drinks animal blood… and he… he sparkles in the sunlight!" Very elaborate, Bella, I berated myself, stopping myself before I could ramble on.

"He… sparkles?" Xander raised an eyebrow, as he appraised Edward. He squinted a bit with his one eye. Did he try to see the sparkles in the dim light of the street lamp? And why was he even worried about Edward sparkling? Had they already forgotten the fact that Edward was a vampire? They weren't attacking and Xander even put his weapon back into the sheath at his belt, which I hadn't noticed until now.

Edward must have noticed that I was getting more agitated with each passing second, as he suddenly pulled me tightly against his chest. "Breathe, Bella," he mumbled softly into my hair. I obeyed and breathed deeply, once, twice, and noticed how most of the tension began to seep away. If it was because of the new oxygen in my lungs or because of Edward's presence, I didn't know. "And now, please listen… As strange as it sounds, they believe us. All of it. Except maybe for the sparkling part."

I carefully pulled a few inches away from him, so that I could turn to look over my shoulder to Xander and Willow. "How?"

Removing one of his hands from my arms, he tipped against his temple. "There aren't many people here, which means not so much background noise, so…"

"Willow could read your mind," I concluded. This made some sense, even though I still doubted, if they truly didn't regard Edward as a threat.

"We had a little conversation, while you were freaking out," Willow admitted with an apologetic grin on her face. "I must say it's amazing to communicate with someone who can read your mind and hear every single thought you have. Not to mention hearing Xander's thoughts at the same time, even though I'm not trying to talk to him. Anyways, your lovely fiancé has told me the same as you tried to tell us, only a bit more… detailed, if I may say so. And yes, Xander, he really sparkles. As does his whole family."

"Whoa, wait a sec, Will. I know you had this really amazing conversation with Sparkly Dead Boy over there, but care to fill the non-mind readers in? What about his family?"

"I live in a family… in a coven you would say, together with others of my kind. All except two of us have been created by the same vampire. The other two joined us at a later date."

"And you all sparkle?" Xander asked, still sounding slightly doubtful.

"Yes," Edward answered, with a humorous tone in his voice.

"And you only drink animal blood?"

"Yes," Edward answered again. "We usually hunt deer or other animals in the woods, also bigger game, when we're further from home."

"And you have a soul?"

Edward hesitated with answering this time, so I stepped in immediately and said, meaning it with all of my heart, "Yes, he does. They all do."

I looked up to see Edward gaze down at me with wonder and love, and also a bit of annoyance in his eyes. I took his cold hand into my warm one and squeezed it tightly in reassurance. I knew that he still thought that I was crazy for believing this, but someday, I swore, I would convince him that he had a soul. But for now, it was enough if our two guests believed it.

So, not once averting my eyes from our locked gazes, I continued, "Edward and his family are completely different from the vampires you told us about… the ones I've just fought. There's not a demon living in their bodies. They're still the same persons from when they had been human, only much less breakable and they drink blood now. Actually, that blood-thing is about the only thing they have in common with your vampires. The Cullens are good people, too good to not have a soul."

"Aaand, there's no happiness clause?"

"Xander!" Willow scolded him and slapped his arm.

"Sorry!" he yelled defensively, rubbing his arm. "Just making sure!"

"Happiness clause?" I asked, once again stunned by their behavior. It was just too confusing that they didn't react at all how I had expected them to react to the revelations of this night.

Much to my surprise, Edward lowered his head slightly and whispered, "You don't want to know."

I still wanted to know what Xander meant by this, especially now considering Edward's mysterious comment. Why didn't I want to know? If Edward said something like that, it surely meant that it was something that I, in my opinion, needed to know. Or at least should know about. But I didn't fight him on this, for now. If he didn't want to tell me at a later point, I would simply ask Xander.

"So, what should we do now?" I asked, looking from Edward to the two people who had turned my life upside down. I immediately noticed the look Edward exchanged with Willow and just knew that they were again talking to each other. Xander seemed to have noticed it as well, because he just winked at me with a grin and shrugged. Apparently, conversations like this one weren't that uncommon where they came from.

Still grinning, he quickly said, "Willow, I'm sure that you really enjoy using your witchy abilities to talk with Sparkly Dead Boy, but the mere mortals here would like to hear what you're discussing."

"Oh, sorry…" the redhead blushed slightly, as she and Edward finally ended their conversation.

"Really, Will," Xander said, shaking his head, as he put an arm around her shoulder. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that you are flirting with a man who's about to be married."

I finally also allowed a small grin on my face, even though I was still nervous and tense about this whole situation. Especially seeing as they still hadn't answered my question. Almost as if he could read my mind, Edward finally told Xander and me what we wanted to know.

"Miss Rosenberg and I decided that we should continue this conversation elsewhere. This alley certainly isn't the right place to talk about this."

"And where should we go? Back to the restaurant?" I asked him. "Or to their hotel?"

"None of those places, Bella. We're going to Forks, to..."

"Whoa, wait!" Xander exclaimed, before Edward could finish his sentence. Turning again to Willow, he said, "What do you mean we go to Forks? Why don't we go back to the hotel?"

"B-because I really think that we should meet his family. I mean, it seems that we have just discovered a whole new breed of vampires! This is truly fascinating and I'd really like to talk to the rest of his family and I'm sure that Giles would also be eager to hear about this right from the source and—"

Suddenly, Willow was broken off, as Xander clasped his hand over her mouth. I could see Willow's eyes sparkle dangerously, as she glared at Xander, but he just shrugged again and told her with a cheeky tone to his voice, "Will, you were rambling again."

"Oops," she muttered meekly, after Xander had again removed his hand from her lips.

And then she turned back to us with an apologetic smile on her blushing face, a smile which I couldn't help but return. At this moment I had a hard time to believe that those two people were real. I just couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that they accepted Edward and what he was just like that, just taking our word for it.

Maybe it was really all just a dream, or a really bad joke. My eyes quickly darted to the darkest corner of the alley to make sure that there wasn't a hidden camera. No camera. That only left the other option. In a moment, I was going to wake up wrapped up in cold arms and nothing of the past two days had happened. I wasn't a Slayer, I hadn't told virtually strangers the Cullen's secret and most importantly, there would be no shiny black Mercedes in Charlie's driveway, but my trusty old truck.

"Sorry, but this happens quite often, when I'm really excited, and I don't think that, except for closing the Hellmouth, awakening all potential Slayers, defeating an army of ubervamps and beginning to round up all the new Slayers and building the new Council, much exciting stuff has happened to us recently. And now I'm just rambling again. Why don't you just stop me? And I'm shutting up now." This statement, she accompanied with raising her right hand and zipping her mouth shut.

And this was the last straw. I couldn't help it. I began to laugh. Hard. So hard that I had to wrap my arms around my stomach to keep me from doubling over. Of course, I immediately felt Edward's cold and strong grip holding me upright, clutching me to his marble chest, as my whole body trembled with laughter. They were surely thinking that I had snapped. And maybe they were right. A human being could, after all, only stand so much stress. Maybe it had finally been enough for my poor human body and soul. It seems that even I, who had accepted just about everything this supernatural world had thrown at me without much of a fuss, just couldn't take everything without becoming crazy.

Waking up now really wouldn't be too bad.

"Bella!" Edward's voice was slightly panicked, but enough to pull me back to reality, and I heard footsteps coming up to us between the bursts of laughter coming from my throat. "Are you alright?"

"'M fine," I managed to mumble. "It's just too funny…"

"What is so funny Bella?" Having heard me say that I was fine seemed to have calmed him a bit, as the panic had almost disappeared from his voice. Well, at least I wasn't crying this time, so that was a plus, even though some tears were rolling down my cheeks. But those were tears of laughter.

"Everything…" I took a deep breath, hoping to suppress the bursts that still wanted to erupt. "And at the same time nothing… I can't explain." Another deep breath. Get a grip Bella, or they'll have you admitted for sure! One more deep breath. I felt my body relax and the laughter in my throat finally die.

Inwardly shaking my head, I realized how insane this must have looked. The second nervous breakdown in just as many days, and honestly, I had no idea which I preferred. Destroying the shower or giving in to hysterical and insane laughter? But there was one thing of which I was sure – I just wanted it all to be over. I wanted to be sure that Willow and Xander really meant no harm to the Cullens. I wanted them to leave so that I could return to my life.

Immediately another feeling rose up within me, and I could feel the sob rise with this feeling. However, before the sob had the chance to break through, I swallowed it. Instead, just a few more tears escaped my eyes. I had no time for another breakdown, not now. I had to keep myself from falling apart again just for a little longer, until we were all sure, that the Cullens, my family, weren't in danger.

When I finally thought that I had regained my composure, I wiped the tears away from my cheeks and turned halfway around in Edward's arms, so that I was facing all of them. Now feeling that it was me who had to apologize for my behavior, I said to all three of them, "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. So let's just call this a Random Moment of Insanity and forget about it, okay?"

"Are you sure, you're alright?" Edward asked worriedly, holding me even closer if possible. I had to resist the strong urge to just melt into his embrace and let it all go. "Maybe we should postpone this conversation until tomorrow, when you've gotten some rest."

"Yeah, Bella," Xander nodded in agreement. "We can understand, if you need some more time, and we can really wait until tomorrow. Can't we, Will?" Willow looked clearly disappointed about probably having to wait until she could satisfy her curiosity about Edward and his family, but she tried to hide it, as she, too, nodded.

"No, no…" Shaking my head, I said, "I'm really fine. Really. You've answered all of my questions, now it's only fair that you get the answers to yours. I'm too wired to go to sleep anyway, so we can get this over with." In fact, even though I spoke the truth, when I said that I couldn't possibly sleep because of all this excitement, I was also still a bit worried by their unexpected reaction. I was scared that they would call an army of Slayers to Forks, when our backs were turned, and killed my family. I knew that it was a bit illogical, seeing as Edward probably would have heard those thoughts, but I just couldn't help it. It really would be better, if we managed to really convince them that the Cullens were harmless, before we let them go again. I inwardly shook my head. It almost sounded like we wanted to take them hostage.

"We should use both cars," Edward suddenly said. My head jerked up and I saw him looking at Xander, who himself looked a bit startled. Apparently Edward had just answered to one of Xander's thoughts. "So that you have the means to go back, when we're finished with our conversation. But… I hope you understand that I'm not completely comfortable with you two driving alone."

"Of course. I guess we would feel the same, if we were in your place."

Edward nodded his thanks at Xander for understanding. I almost sighed in relief, realizing that Edward's thoughts mirrored my own. "Maybe we could split up," I suggested, even though I knew that Edward wouldn't like it one bit. Me moving from his side in this situation surely must be unthinkable for him. But I didn't see another choice. "I could ride with Xander in their car, while you and Willow take the Volvo."

"Absolutely not!" Just as I had expected, Edward didn't like my idea. He looked down at me with stormy and almost furious eyes, but I stood my ground.

"Do you have any other suggestions? You don't want to let them go alone, which they understand, but you also want to take both cars."

"Bella…"

"Don't you Bella me." I nearly snarled in annoyance, but then sighed, as my voice softened because of the hurt look in his eyes. I raised the hand which he wasn't holding and wiped a lock of his bronze hair out of his eyes. "I can take care of myself. If you look at it logically, Willow's more dangerous than Xander. She's a witch, but he's just human. I can stop him, if he tries something."

Edward opened his mouth again, just as the theme song for Disney's Alice in Wonderland suddenly came from the front pocket of my jeans. Before I could even reach for my cell phone, Edward had already pulled it out of my pocket and was holding it at his ear.

"What, Alice?" He was silent for a short moment, before he snapped the phone shut and gave it back to me. I took it and put it back into my pocket, as he sighed. "Alright. Alice says it's going to be okay."

"Never bet against Alice," I quipped, eliciting a small smile from his lips. "Okay, so your family knows we're coming."

"They know everything and they want to meet our guests."

"Okay, then I'd say we should go. The night isn't getting any younger." At least not for us mere humans. Even though I wasn't ready to sleep yet, I still felt some of the exhaustion began to creep up on me, and I knew that the conversation that awaited us at the Cullens' house could be a very long one.

Willow and Xander agreed quickly, and so we made our way back to where Edward had parked the Volvo. His arm was wrapped tightly around my shoulder, pressing me close against his side. Sighing, I leaned fully into his embrace and closed my eyes for a moment, trusting Edward to lead me and to catch me, should I stumble. Inhaling his sweet scent and feeling his strong arm around my shoulder allowed me to relax for a moment and to pretend that we were home already and that everything was over.

However, we reached the Volvo all too soon to get completely lost in my little fantasy and it was not even a minute after we had all gotten into the car in silence, that Edward suddenly spoke again, "Yes, I think you should call him."

"Who?" I asked confused and also again a bit annoyed. Why couldn't they just talk like normal people did?

"Our Head Watcher, Rupert Giles," Willow explained. "He's been Buffy's Watcher for seven years and has now taken over the New Watcher's Council. And I believe that he's the most knowledgeable in the Council concerning the supernatural at the moment. Maybe he can shed some light on our situation."

While Edward seemed to agree with her, I, however, was more doubtful. And I finally voiced my doubts. "And who's telling me that he won't come here with an army of Slayers to kill the Cullens?"

"Bella," Xander said quietly, but firmly behind me. "I give you my word that your family won't be harmed in any way. You've reassured us that they are good… people. And we believe you, until they somehow prove to be otherwise. Innocent until proven guilty. We'll stand by that. So, no Slayer army, I promise."

I turned around in my seat and looked at him directly. The dim light in the car certainly wasn't enough to see his face, but the one split second that the light of a streetlamp fell on his face, I could see the sincerity of his words in his one eye. Finally, after one long look at him, I nodded. "Okay… Call him."

Immediately after I had said this, Xander gave me a grateful grin and took a cell phone out of the pocket of his jacket and pressed a few buttons, before lifting it to his ear. It took just a few seconds, for the other side to answer. "Giles? It's me, Xander. Yes, we're still in Port Angeles. Listen… the reason I'm calling… I know that there's another girl in Seattle, but listen first… Something… unexpected has happened here. It seems that Bella… the Swan-girl, Giles, the one from Forks? Well, it seems that she has already known about the supernatural before we even spoke to her… I know that she didn't say anything about this in our first conversation, but her reasons for this are quite understandable. Actually, I don't think we would even know about this now, if there hadn't been this little incident during her first Slay… Ah, just that her boyfriend has ripped off the heads of every single vampire in that alley and that they both say that he's a vampire himself."

Xander was silent for a long moment afterwards and I was sitting in the car, my whole body again completely tense. Edward being Edward noticed this of course at once and made soothing motions with his thumb on my left hand. It helped a bit, but still I didn't believe what I had just heard. Those guys didn't make any sense! How could he just drop this bombshell that Edward was a vampire on the phone?

"Yes, a vampire," Xander finally said, his voice showing some amusement. "But you'll never guess… He's got a soul and only drinks animal blood. Oh, and he doesn't burn in the sunlight, but sparkles." This, Xander said with a wink in my direction. "You heard right, he sparkles. Well G-Man, it seems that we have just found us a completely new breed of vampires. Yes, there are more, seven to be precise, and right now we're going to their place to talk about everything. And that's actually the reason for my call. Will and I thought it best, and Sparkly Dead Boy agrees with us, that you be there as well. Maybe you can already shed some light on this situation. I know you couldn't resist. So, get the Dawnster ready and we'll call, when you can come. See ya later!"

Xander ended the call just as we pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. Somehow, I had hoped that we would already get some answers now, but instead, I had many more questions. The most important ones being: Did this Watcher know something about the Cullens? What is a 'Dawnster'? And how could the Watcher come to the Cullens at such a short notice? Was he close by? Maybe even in Forks? But this didn't make any sense.

"Bella, are you sure you want to do this?" Edward's voice tore me out of my thoughts. I hadn't even noticed that Xander and Willow had gotten out of the car and that both were waiting – Xander for me to join him and Willow to get into the passenger seat, which I was currently occupying.

I nodded resolutely. "I am. Don't worry, Edward. Everything will be alright." I leaned forward and brushed my lips shortly against his. "Oh, and please, don't drive like a maniac," I added with a grin, as I got out of the car. Edward's musical chuckles followed me, until I was standing next to the rental from Willow and Xander.

"You ready?" Xander grinned at me. His voice was light, apparently to ease any fears I might have of driving with him.

I, however, simply grinned back, as I got into the passenger seat of the rental. "The question should be: are you ready? I warn you, Edward might not abide by the speed limits."

"But he doesn't run over the 'Welcome to Forks' sign, when we reach the town, does he?" As I just raised an eyebrow at this once again very weird question, Xander just shook his head and started the engine. "Forget I ever asked that."

Edward pulled out of the parking lot in front of us and immediately sped off. I shot a look at Xander, almost as if saying 'I told you so', but caught up with Edward at the next traffic light and once that one was green, I was very surprised to realize that my '100mph-is-still-too-slow-vampire' wasn't driving faster than he was allowed. "Now, that's a first…" I mumbled to myself.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing… it's just… I think it's really the first time that Edward's driving so slowly." I shook my head. "But what were you saying about driving over Fork's welcome sign?"

Xander laughed, but never took his eye from the road, as he asked, "Didn't I tell you to forget that question? Okay, Spike – he was one of the two vampires with a soul – had the habit of running over the Welcome to Sunnydale sign, whenever he came into town."

"Ah, I see," I only answered. Somehow, the more time I spent with those people, the more confused I became. I shook my head slightly, unnoticed in the darkness of the car, deciding that it wouldn't do me any good to brood about this any longer. The only way to get through this with my sanity still intact was to tackle one thing at a time and the next thing would be the confrontation of Willow and Xander with the rest of the Cullens.

We rode for a few minutes in complete silence. The silence was a bit strained, with Xander just staring at the road and trying to stay directly behind Edward, who was still driving like a normal, law-abiding person. I small grin began to tug at my lips, as I thought about how agonizingly slow this must be for him. At the same time, I still had so many questions, but I didn't know, if I could or should ask them.

A sudden noise to my left broke the silence. I started slightly, as Xander had cleared the throat, having been too deeply lost in my thoughts for the past few minutes. "Uhm… Willow just told me that Edward had told her that you should call a guy called Sam. He and some of his friends should apparently come to their house, too."

"Of course!" I immediately pulled out my phone. Edward was right. I had promised Jake and the pack that I would tell them everything, as soon as I knew more, and was there a better opportunity than this, having the two persons who had told me about my change at the Cullens' house? No, there wasn't. However, before I dialed the number, I hesitated. "Uh, can you please ask Willow to ask Edward about the treaty?" This was so stupid. Why didn't I just call Edward myself?

"He says it's okay. They won't break the treaty by coming over." Xander's voice sounded confused, but I just nodded, as I finally dialed the number. It took a few seconds until I heard a sleepy "Hello?" on the other side. It was Emily.

"Hey Emily," I said quickly. "This is Bella. I'd like to speak to Sam."

"Of course, just a second."

My heart was beating wildly against my chest. I hadn't spoken to Sam for quite some time, with my only contact to the wolves having been Seth. And I wasn't really sure what he made of my sudden changes, which were in no way of vampiric nature.

"Hello, Bella?" Sam's deep voice was suddenly on the other end.

"Hey Sam… I'm calling about… what happened to me. I'm on my way to the Cullens now, with two of the persons who are… responsible for this. Edward suggested that you and maybe some of the others should come, too."

"The treaty?" he asked warily.

"Won't be broken by your coming to the house," I promised.

"Okay, when will you be there?"

I looked at the clock on the dashboard and estimated how long we'd already been driving. "About half an hour."

"We'll be there," he told me.

I sighed in relief. "Thanks, Sam…" However, before either of us could hang up, another thought hit me. I bit on my lower lip, before quickly saying, "Please, tell Jake… that he should come too… He doesn't need to come into the house, but he should hear it at least."

"Don't worry, Bella… I'll tell him. Bye."

The line was dead before I could answer and I sagged a bit deeper into the seat of the car. This was truly about to get interesting. But it had been the right thing to do.

"Sooo," Xander said eventually after another longer period of silence. "Who's this Sam? And Jake?"

"Sam's a… friend and Jake… he's…" my sun, my best friend, my best man. "…another very good friend." I felt the part of my heart that belonged to Jake ache, so, to change the subject, I quickly asked another question that had been on my chest the whole time. "So, what was this happiness clause you mentioned earlier?"

"It's another longer story, actually," Xander grinned, but this grin didn't reach his eye. "And I had gotten the impression that your dear fiancé doesn't want you to know."

Crossing my arms defiantly over my chest, I replied, "Sometimes Edward wants to protect me from things I don't need protecting from. I guess this is just one of those things, am I right?"

"It depends on the perspective, but I think you'll get to hear this story anyway, so I don't think it would hurt much if I told you now. The happiness clause is connected to the first vampire with a soul, Angel. Or Dead Boy, as I like to call him," he told me, still grinning. His eye, however, was still completely serious, as he told me the story. "Angel was once known as Angelus, one of the most fearsome vampires ever, until he was cursed with a soul by some gypsies. But this curse had a loophole. He was meant to suffer, so when he experienced one moment of true happiness, he lost his soul and turned again into Angelus. In the end, Willow managed to restore his soul, but the few months, when he had been Angelus, weren't pretty ones."

Xander's voice was grave, as he spoke about Angelus, full of hate. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know just what exactly this Angelus, or Angel as he is probably known again now, had done to him and his friends, but I could imagine that it was something I never wanted to experience. "What was it?" I asked him. "This moment of true happiness?"

Turning his head slightly towards me and only taking his eye off the road for a split second, he just replied, "What do you think this moment of true happiness could have been?"

For a moment I just looked at him incredulously, until it suddenly all made sense. "Oh!" I felt my face heat up and was suddenly glad that it was dark in the car. One moment of true happiness. How could I have been so stupid? "Oh…"

"You know," he then said with a wink. "You're not the first Slayer who's fallen in love with a vampire. Our dear Buffy and Angel have been the first ones, as far as I know, and when they, you know, it happened. His one moment of true happiness. But your sparkly fiancé still seems to have his soul, so no loophole."

If it were possible, my face grew even hotter and redder. I just knew that by now a tomato looked pale next to me. "Well… I mean… Edward's… he wants to protect my virtue… so we haven't… yet. Though not for lack of trying on my part!" I quickly defended. Oh god, why wouldn't the ground open up underneath me and swallow me? And could someone also please sew my lips together while we were at it?

"He's gotta have a lot of self-control," Xander mumbled with an admiring tone in his voice. "I mean, if I were in his place, I certainly wouldn't say no, if a pretty young woman like you threw herself at me."

I grinned, glad that he didn't make fun of me and my still intact virtue, even though his indirect compliment caused the slowly fading blush to return at full force. But he was right about Edward's self-control, only that this included much more than me throwing myself at him. "You have no idea."

Still, I wondered what had happened to Buffy and Angel. Were they still together, two star-crossed lovers, just like Edward and I? One growing old, while the other stayed the same until eternity? Just that I was willing, more than willing, to become one of them, a vampire. But I knew that I would stay mostly the same after the change. I realized that Buffy had never had that choice – she knew that she'd become a soulless demon, should she ever be changed. My heart reached out for her, knowing that their love most likely hadn't survived.

Then, all of a sudden, I had an epiphany. Some of their reactions made sense now with that new knowledge. "But wait! That's why you and Willow were both so amused, when I told you that Edward was a vampire! You've been thinking about how once again a Slayer has fallen in love with a vampire."

"You got it right on one," Xander told me with a wink, but then shook his head slightly in mock defeat. "Once in a blue moon…"

I chuckled at the defeated tone of his voice, which brought a small smile to his lips. Once in a blue moon was just the right term for it. I wondered, how often it really happened that a human, and on top of that, a Slayer, loved a vampire. Until recently it couldn't have been that often, with there just being one Slayer, but now with there being many Slayers, maybe even hundreds, the chance was more likely. But I didn't think I should tell Xander that. He seemed to have a hard enough time to accept that a Slayer, namely me, wasn't just the girlfriend of a vampire, but was also betrothed to one.

We continued the ride in silence, this time a more comfortable one, even though there were still many questions I desperately wanted and needed to ask, but I realized that it would be much better, if they didn't have to repeat everything again later. At least I finally knew what this happiness clause was, even though it had been highly embarrassing for me to talk about that, and that there had been another Slayer before me, apparently the Slayer, who had been in love with a vampire.

Much to my surprise, it was just a few minutes later, when we needed to turn into the dirt road leading to the Cullen's home. Xander looked at me questioningly, when Edward indicated and I just nodded at him to say that it was right. However, upon realizing that we were so close, the tension in my body began to grow again. But at the same time I was glad that I would be with Edward again in just a few minutes.

As we came to a stop in front of their house, Carlisle was already standing on the front porch, having obviously heard us from afar. "Who's this?" Xander asked, while he was killing the engine.

"That's Carlisle Cullen," I answered, my mouth being completely dry. I swallowed once. "He's the one who changed Edward and three more of his family. He's a doctor at our local hospital and he's also the most compassionate man I've ever known."

"A doctor?" Xander asked, completely stunned.

But before I could answer, the door at my side was pulled open by none other than Edward. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, as I took his hand and immediately let myself be pulled into his arms. He held me close for a few seconds, before letting me go again. "Are you okay?"

"Of course… Xander and I were just talking. I told you, you didn't need to be worried." When I looked into Edward's eyes, I saw him glaring at Xander, and smirked. "You're jealous." Immediately his eyes flashed back to mine and gazed at me like a deer caught in the headlights. "Really, Edward… So Xander said that I'm pretty, so what? He was just giving me a compliment. But I love you and I want to be only with you. There's really no need to be jealous. And now come, I'm sure Sam is already here, too."

Wrinkling his nose, Edward nodded. "He and Jared are already inside. And Jacob's close by. I can hear his thoughts."

Edward looked at me closely, as if gauging my reaction to his mentioning of Jacob. But I only nodded in acknowledgement. I didn't allow myself to think about Jake for now. Later maybe, but not now. "Then let's not keep them waiting any longer." I grasped Edward's hand in mine and turned to Willow and Xander, who were patiently waiting for us, even though both of them looked a bit worried. With a hopefully comforting smile, I motioned to Carlisle, who had careful come down the few steps. "Willow, Xander, this is Dr. Carlisle Cullen. For all means and purposes Edward's father. Carlisle, these are Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris."

Willow's eyes widened, as she registered my introduction. "The Dr. Cullen? The one who published the article about—"

"One and the same," Carlisle interrupted her with an easy smile, as he extended his hand towards her. "The one and only time I was forced to publish something. I'm sure you realize that we have to keep a low profile and that I try to avoid publications because of that."

"Of course," Willow replied slightly dazed, as she shook his hand.

Carlisle also shook Xander's hand, who shuddered a bit at the cold, before he asked them to come inside. Edward and I followed them and I wasn't surprised to see the rest of the family plus Sam and Jared in the living room. It was also unsurprising to see the vampires stand and sit on one side and the two wolves on the other side of the room. Edward kept me in the background, as further introductions were made, and as I looked around the room and my eyes landed on the huge glass front, I thought I saw a gigantic shadow moving outside.

Jake.

It seemed that the shadow caught my gaze for a moment and I offered him a smile. I imagined that he would return it, his wolfish grin, which could always brighten my day. I felt a slight squeeze in my hand and looked up at Edward. His eyes once again showing worry, but I offered him the same smile I had already given Jake, which should tell him that I was alright.

"Okay, our Head Watcher, Rupert Giles, will be here in a moment," Willow suddenly said. I looked to her and saw that she snapped her cell phone shut. Once again I had been so lost in my thoughts that I had completely missed the introductions and, as it seemed, a phone call.

"Ooh, this will be amazing!" Alice breathed, excitedly. For a short moment, I expected her eyes to become distant, but she was only staring at Willow and Xander in wonder.

"What is it?" I asked, but Edward only chuckled lightly.

"Alice is right, this truly will be a sight to behold." Upon the confused looks everyone else was giving him, he elaborated, "She had a vision, when our visitors called their Head Watcher while we were still in Port Angeles. In just a few seconds, we will all see something we have never seen before and probably have never thought possible. Mr. Giles and a young girl will step through a portal, which will appear right over there." He motioned with his head to a spot in the room only a few feet away from everyone.

And really, just a second after he had said this, a green glow appeared there. It grew until it almost reached the ceiling and then we could see two people stepping into the living room – a man who looked to be in his early fifties and a teenage girl, not much younger than me.

"Wicked!" Emmett exclaimed, as the green glow disappeared again into nothingness.

I saw how Rosalie glared at him for this comment – as a matter of fact, her face was set in a deep scowl which I doubted had just appeared there now. She was obviously more than wary of the strangers, and also still angry at them. I caught her eyes and tried to give her a reassuring smile, upon which she just rolled her eyes and slumped down on the nearest sofa with her arms crossed firmly over her chest.

No one said anything for what seemed like a really long time, as both newcomers looked around the living room. I guess that there were more people here than they had expected and they didn't quite know how to proceed from here. The older man took off his glasses and began to clean them with a handkerchief, while the younger girl was chewing on her lower lip. I was just about to do something, anything to break this extremely uncomfortable silence, when the teenager suddenly whirled towards me with a bright grin on her face.

Nearly dancing up to me, she held out her hand, "Hi, you must be Bella. I'm Dawn."

Much too stunned by her sudden introduction, I shook her hand. "Hi Dawn." First now it hit me that she must be the 'Dawnster' Xander had been talking about. It must be some kind of nickname for her.

The grin on her face widened, if that was even possible, and she leaned in closely to whisper, much too loudly, "I've gotta say, you've got a really good taste. Your boyfriend looks yummy. Despite the fact that he's of the undead variety."

Of course, everyone in the room had heard that and watched, as my face went beet-red for the umpteenth time that night. I heard Edward chuckle next to me, as well as Carlisle, though he was trying to be discreet about it and hid his mouth behind his hand. Alice and Esme, however, didn't even hide their giggles and even Rosalie allowed a tiny smile on her face. But of course, as I should have known, Emmett broke out in loud laughter, along with Sam and Jared, and, to my surprise, Jasper.

"Oh dear Lord," the Watcher only muttered, at the same time as also Willow and Xander snickered.

This situation was truly highly embarrassing for me, but at least it had broken the ice.

Still trying to regain his composure, Carlisle's face turned serious again, as he approached the Watcher – Rupert Giles was his name, I think – and introduced himself as the head of the family. It was truly interesting to watch, because as soon as the two men had finished their introductions, with Carlisle also presenting his family and Sam and Jared as family friends, they and everyone else in the room seemed to sense that they were very much alike, almost like kindred souls.

Mr. Giles was still a bit nervous, as Carlisle led him to the couch and therewith closer to the other vampires, but he hid it well. At least the others were so considerate to give him some space. Dawn, however, just grabbed my hand and pulled me, and therewith also Edward, along to the big sofa, where she simply flopped down next to Alice, giving her a bright smile, which Alice returned happily.

Once again, I couldn't believe how much these people kept surprising me with their rather atypical behavior.

"I, uh, believe you realize that this situation is rather uncommon," Mr. Giles eventually said, after all of us had settled down. The glasses, which he had put back on his nose sometime during the rather embarrassing exchange between Dawn and me, were once again in his hand and rubbed with the handkerchief. "Visiting the homes of vampires is highly unusual, even for us. And I daresay even reckless, seeing as we only have the word of a new Slayer that you mean us no harm."

"I understand your worries, Mr. Giles," Carlisle said calmly. "But I can only assure you again that neither you nor your charges are in danger."

"And I believe you."

Stunned silence followed that statement, and everyone stared at Mr. Giles, even Willow and Xander. Dawn, however, only grinned, much to my confusion. Apparently she knew more than Willow and Xander, despite her young age.

Still, it was only a few seconds before the silence was broken again, as Edward suddenly spoke up, "Please, go on, Mr. Giles. Your theory is highly interesting and might be a good explanation for various things that have been discovered tonight."

Mr. Giles raised an eyebrow at him. "Have you read my mind?" At Edward's nod, Mr. Giles looked at bit relieved and some eagerness crept into his eyes, eagerness to share what he knew with us. I was clutching Edward's hand tightly, urging the Watcher to go on with my gaze. "This is just another aspect to prove that my theory is true. I don't know, how much you all are aware of ancient mythology, so I'll just give you a short overview."

To my right I heard Alice sigh and I looked over to her and saw a small pout on her lips. I suppressed a small grin at that. Thanks to the wolves' presence, she wouldn't be able to see anything, and I just knew how much Alice wanted to know beforehand what Mr. Giles was going to tell us. I just wanted to turn my full attention back to Mr. Giles, when I heard Dawn whisper into my ear with a small giggle, "He just loves that part."

I was a bit confused by her statement, but this confusion cleared, when Mr. Giles cleared his throat and began to talk. It was obvious that he had already done this more than once, maybe even more than ten times.

"Contrary to popular mythology, life on earth didn't begin in a paradise. Demons walked the earth for untold eons, true demons, of which some had special abilities, before they eventually had to leave that reality, our reality, and mankind came. However, before the last demon left, he fed off a human and mixed their blood. This is how the vampire as we have known him until today came to be. I, however, believe that not all true demons have left this reality, that some are still hiding here. And I came to this conclusion by something Xander has told me over the phone tonight, something which I had not wanted to believe. It is said that those true demons, the true vampires, couldn't be harmed by sunlight, but that the sun still showed them for what they were."

"They sparkle," I muttered, as I realized the same thing that Edward and Alice already knew.

"Exactly, Miss Swan," Mr. Giles nodded at me, before he turned to look at the Cullens. "After everything Xander has told me, it is my firm belief that you are, if not the same, then at least descendants of the true vampires, the Old Ones."


End Note: I changed two short paragraphs in this chapter, because while writing it, I had completely forgotten that Alice can't see, when the wolves are around.