A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading! Sorry for my evil cliffies, I just can't help it, it's too much fun.
Disclaimer: *Sigh*. Twilight is still not mine.
"So who're the Cullens?"
It had been a day since Tanya's excited announcement, since which she'd been a blur of arranging sheets and just generally readying our three guest cottages for their use while they stayed with us. We were all humored by her but generally let her do her thing. It was good to see her so happy. I was sitting with Kate and was curious about our soon-to-be visitors.
"They're a vegetarian family like us. We've been friends with them since we moved to North America and they visit us about once per year during the summer for a while. We think of them as our cousins."
Another family like us? I was so happy at the news, the prospect of new people. I'd only seen the faces of my new family for several months now and the city girl within longed for more excitement and new people.
"The father of the family is Carlisle Cullen. He is a doctor and is just generally one of the best people you'll ever meet. He's a wonderful man. His mate is Esme."
It had been a couple of months since I had learned about mates. I had been sitting with Carmen while she taught me to crochet (something I would never have considered doing while I was human. How times had changed). I had picked it up quickly and we sat companionably side by side making cute bikinis for us to wear (Carmen had seen them in a magazine and insisted we try it).
"So how long have you known Eleazar?".
"I met Eleazar 63 years after I changed. I never have told you my story, have I?" She smiled in that maternal way of hers I had grown accustomed to.
"I was born at the beginning of the 18th century in the South of Spain. It was a strange time- a Frenchman had recently ascended to the throne, throwing my country into civil war- the war of Spanish succession. War hurts the lives of many, and my father died shortly after my birth in the fighting. My mother subsequently went into work while I was raised by my grandmother. I had two little sisters, Katerina and Isabella. When I was 15 my grandmother arranged for me to marry a man from a local family, the son of the local judge. His name was Matias. Matias was a hard man, but loving, and he required me to work. I kept bar in a local tavern, necessitating late nights, and worked there for several years, until I was 22. I worked late nights and cared for my family in the day. It was an exhausting life, but my family gave me purpose. On one of those nights I was making my way home when I was attacked by a vampire named Santiago. Santiago told me of his intention to kill me. I was so tired that I couldn't think straight, and so I snapped at him. I told him that I was tired and busy and had a family so he had better go and find someone else to kill. I don't know what came over me, but anyway, that's what I said. Santiago was…. intrigued however. He said that he was interested to see how a pregnant woman would undergo the change."
I looked at Carmen, horrified. Pregnant? "Oh, Carmen". I put my hand atop of hers, and she looked at me, grief in her eyes.
"Yes. Pregnant." She looked down at the table. If she was able to cry I was certain she would have rivulets running down her cheeks at this point.
"The baby was lost in the change. He could not withstand it. I woke to find my son expelled from my body in a bloody mess. A few more weeks and he would have come safely into this world. I can still picture his perfect little face…. I had a family with Matias. We had had 4 children at that point, two of whom had lived past their first few months. My son Matias, and my daughter Maria. My family died shortly after I changed in a bout of plague that hit our village particularly hard." She broke off here, unable to continue. I looked at her in pity, and we held hands for a couple of minutes, thinking of our respective families, all of whom were gone. She removed her hands from mine and inhaled deeply,
"Anyway. Santiago and I stayed together for a decade after that. He taught me how to hunt. We hunted humans at that time." She looked remorseful.
"I'm not proud of it, but I knew no other way, and I was a lust filled newborn. I did not have your restraint."
This surprised me. My restraint? She knew what I had done to my- my… It was too hard to think of.
"My restraint?" I hoped that my question held it all.
"Yes Bellisima". She smiled at me. "You have amazing restraint. A newborn vampire, no matter if he were the most controlled vampire to ever have lived, could never withstand a human throwing themselves at you. But instead of going on a blood fueled drinking binge, as any other vampire- ay carumba, even me…." She stopped, musing, before gathering herself. "The point is, you removed yourself instantly. And since then you have only fed from animals, all on your own. It is a remarkable achievement, and you should be proud".
I felt like that was a bit of stretch, but she'd certainly given me something to think of.
"Santiago and I parted ways after 11 years together. We never really got on, and I preferred my own company to his. I drifted around Europe in the decades after that, hiding by day, feeding by night, reading and learning as I went. I used to visit great monuments in the night. It was a pleasant, if lonely time. One night I encountered another vampire and greeted him. It was Eleazar". Her voice filled with warmth and love at this.
"We quickly fell in love and I moved with him to Volterra, where the Volturi live. But it was hard… Eleazar was one person by day with the Volturi, and a completely different person with me at night. It took a toll on him- on us. Eventually it was too much, and Eleazar begged to be excused from the Volturi. They were reluctant but they eventually let him go". We moved eastwards and there encountered the Denali sisters. Shortly after that we came to Alaska together and the rest, as they say, is history."
I listened, enraptured. "When did you know you wanted to spend your life with him?" I asked. I felt like a dewey eyed schoolgirl. "I suppose, from the moment I first touched his hands. It is often that way with mates."
"Mates?".
"Yes, dear Bella. Mates. This is one of the 'perks' of vampiric nature. We mate once, and we mate for life. The love two humans share could never compare to that of a vampire bond. It is as though we are all separate halves of a whole, and meeting a mate instantly fuses you into one. There is no possibility of separation after this."
"but what if…" my voice trailed off here, it seemed too awful to hypothesize.
"If one of us dies?" She finished my sentence for me. I nodded. "It would be like being wrenched in half, straight down the middle. The feeling would never abate, never lessen. Vampires who lose their mates often shortly follow, and those who live do so… without color. It is an empty existence. I would wish it upon no one. One of the Volturi brothers, Marcus, lost his mate several thousand years ago, but he still behaves as if it were yesterday. His brothers do not let him kill himself, but he merely exists. He ceased to live when his beloved was taken. They never found who did it either."
This sounded horrific. I almost wanted to never find my mate, lest I lose them. But it warmed my heart to see the happiness Carmen and Eleazar brought to each other.
"Is it rare?" I asked.
"Not rare, per se, but it seems uncommon. Remember there is only one mate out there, and they could exist at any point in history. They may not have even been born yet. But as rare as that sounds, if is still not uncommon for vampires to be mated. It is as though our paths take us to those we are destined to live with. At least, this is what I choose to believe.".
I came back to my conversation with Kate.
"Esme is his mate. She is a warm, motherly woman, and indeed acts as mother to their 'children'. These are Alice and Jasper, Rosalie and Emmet, and Edward."
"Three mated couples?!". Kate chuckled. "Yes, indeed, three of them. It is an unusually large coven, but it is not uncommon to meet your mate. My sister and I have just been unusually unlucky in that respect." Kate looked dejected at this, but her eyes suddenly glimmered mischievously.
"That's actually why Tanya is so excited to see the Cullens- Edward Cullen. She is besotted with him."
"I don't understand, I interjected. How can that be? I thought mating went both ways?"
"It does; Tanya and Edward are not mates. But ours is a long existence, and it is not rare for vampires to seek solace with each other until they meet their mates, or move on. Dating, if you will. Those relationships are often filled with as much love as a human relationship, but as you know, that love pales in comparison to that of a vampire mating bond."
Kate sighed, shaking her head. "Tanya is not used to not getting her way, and she burns an especially bright torch for Edward. It's actually why they don't live with us permanently. Well that, and Carlisle's medical practice".
She stopped briefly before continuing on.
"Edward is…reserved. He holds out for his mate. Tanya hopes to convince him that there could still be a happy, loving relationship. She also doesn't get turned down by male companions often and…. It has lit a fire under her, so to speak."
"Edward is Tanya's in her mind, I get it". The thought made me laugh, but I was more than happy to support my beloved sister in her quest for Edward. Perhaps I could even help…. I thought of extoling Tanya's virtues to Edward, winning him around for her. I resolved myself. I would repay some of her kindness by helping Tanya win over Edward.
