You're in luck, my intrepid readers (well, I hope you consider it luck): I was particularly active this weekend, so this is one of two chapters I'm putting up today. I hope you like them.

"This is just so… strange!" Jasper said, laughing.

We lay in my bed together. I didn't really need a bed, as sleep was no longer necessary, but I liked having one around. It made me feel normal, feel comforted.

Jasper lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling, hands behind his head. I was on my stomach next to him with my feet swinging idly in the air behind me, and my head resting on my folded arms.

I smiled. "What's strange?"

Jasper looked down at me. "I just met you. Not more than 24 hours ago! I run into this dirty diner because I think nobody's going to be in there, and there sits this… this pretty little thing in clothes that could make a priest blush, and she hops off her chair and tells me that I've got to come with her." His chest shook with laughter. "I actually did it! And now I'm lying in her bed… her bed!... and you're next to me, and I've already even kissed you.." He closed his eyes and shook his head, still smiling. "This is crazy. You're crazy, you know that?"

I grinned up at him. "Nope, not crazy. Just right all the time."

He laughed out loud. "And the mouth on you! So brassy for someone so little." He reached out and poked the tip of my nose with one finger. "Brassy. That's what my mama would have called you, right before she ran you off the ranch."

I pouted. "Your mother wouldn't have liked me?"

"Hell, no," Jasper chuckled. "Not in the 1800's, darlin', not with that skirt. She would've chased you off with a broom and called you a rather unladylike name."

I sighed happily. "Say that again."

"Uh… What part?"

"The term of endearment part, in that little bit of Southern accent you've still got."

He cocked an amused eyebrow. "You mean… darlin'?"

"That's the one." I smiled ear to ear. "It's okay, Jasper; you don't have to understand it. I'm female. We women are weird."

Jasper sighed loudly. "Women. Strange when they're alive, still strange when they're undead." I playfully punched him on the arm.

He shifted position, lying on his side and propping himself up on one arm. "I haven't smiled this much in… in a long time, Alice," he said quietly. "I don't know why I trust you so much, but I do. Maybe it's just that your feelings, they're so… strong… pure, really…" He smiled. "You've got two settings – imp and sweetheart."

"I'm glad I make you smile, Jasper."

He bit his lip. "I've got a question for you," he said haltingly. "What's it like, seeing the future? It's got to be tough sometimes. I mean, what do you do when you see that something bad's going to come to pass?"

"I won't lie, Jasper," I said softly. "It is hard sometimes. Knowing… Knowing can be a burden." I sighed. "Until I got a clear vision about you, that you'd be coming to that diner at a crossroads, I lived in Paris. I loved Paris, so much… It was so beautiful, so vibrant. Just an amazing place. You couldn't throw a stick without hitting an artist of some sort."

"And then I saw the international pot boiling over, if you will," I continued sadly. "I saw what was coming. I saw Germany and Italy sending forces in to take over MY city." I shifted over on my side, facing Jasper. "I couldn't do a damned thing about it. What was I gonna do? Walk up to De Gaulle and tell him that Hitler and Mussolini were coming, and bringing all their friends?"

Jasper reached out and held my hand.

"At the least, I would've been laughed out. At the worst, I would've been captured. Or outed as one of us. and you can never be outed… The Volturi WILL hunt you down and destroy you if you reveal yourself." I swallowed. "So I had to sit back, knowing that the attack was coming, trying like hell to get people to make themselves safe. Trying to pick off the soldiers one by one as they came into the city."

"And as if that's not enough, then you start blaming yourself for what you didn't see, for what you couldn't see. I was so focused on Paris, that I didn't see what else was going on."

Jasper shifted onto his back again, and pulled me close. I laid my head on his shoulder, and draped my arm across his chest. He had his arm around me, and his hand gently rubbed my shoulder.

"I wish I'd known what Hitler was doing with the Jews," I whispered. "I maybe could've… maybe…"

"Don't you say that, honey," Jasper gently said. "You couldn't have done a damn thing. You're just one person. One damned cute person, but still only one. You know how many troops it took to liberate those camps?"

"I know, I know…" I sighed. "I still wish I could've done something."

Jasper kissed me on the top of my head. "And there's that whole sweetheart part of you again."

I smiled, and then took a deep breath. "But knowing what's going to happen isn't all bad. I've seen you in my future for quite some time. And that thought, knowing that I had someone waiting for me out there… It's gotten me through a lot."

"Gotten you through a lot? What happened?"

I told Jasper everything. Well, everything I remembered; everything from waking up this way, to Carlo and James, to the Volturi, to finding him. Dusk turned to midnight, which turned to dawn. I left nothing out.

By the end of my story, Jasper had enfolded me in every way he could. I sat cross-legged on his lap, with my back against his chest. His arms were wrapped around me, and his chin gently rested on my shoulder. The rise and fall of his chest, along with the feeling of his breath on my cheek, was reassuring; he didn't need to say anything. The protective, slightly possessive cocoon that he held me in said it all.

"I wish I could tell you my story," he finally said quietly. "I can't yet. I just can't. I hope you'll understand."

I squeezed one of his hands. "It's okay. I don't expect you to. I've got lots of time to find out what makes you tick."

And we did; we had all the time in the world. We really only left my wonderfully cozy bed to feed outside. That's what our days consisted of, for a week or so – talk, talk, talk, feed. Repeat.

I introduced Jasper to the idea of only consuming blood from animals. He thought I was joking at first; I showed him I wasn't. He did take the idea seriously when he found that I was serious, and something indefinable changed in him when he agreed to start only drinking animal blood. Something… lightened. He'd been walking around in this cloud of what looked like self-hatred and guilt, and when he found out that he could live without killing, some sort of spark came into his eyes.

We washed the remains of our hunt off of ourselves in a stream, and walked hand-in-hand through the woods. "You seemed to be okay with that, Jasper. Am I right?"

He nodded. "Tastes like hell, but I can get used to it." He suddenly stopped and pulled me into a tight hug. "Thank you so much," he said in a strangled voice. "You don't know it, but you've just saved me."

"Saved you?"

"I don't want to be a monster anymore," he said quietly. "I don't have to be one now. I didn't know this was possible. I'm just afraid, though," he said, pulling away. "What if I'm not strong enough?"

I looked him straight in the eyes and concentrated, hard.

I saw us. We were in a field surrounded by trees. I watched myself… wait, what was I doing? Throwing a baseball? Me?

I threw the baseball straight at a grinning Jasper, who readied his bat. The ball connected with the bat, and it flew high and away.

Two shapes ran after the ball; one large, dark-haired, muscular man, and one smaller, leaner, bronze-haired man. They gleefully chased after it, playfully shoving one another out of the way.

Meanwhile, another blonde man laughed at the two boys from behind the catcher – a very pretty woman with caramel-colored hair. His hand rested on her shoulder, and she reached up to stroke it in response.

I watched myself spin around as a stunningly gorgeous blonde woman tried to steal home. I caught the ball that one of the fighting boys had tossed to me, and I pitched it toward the catcher as hard as I could. She caught it, and another woman stepped forward – no, not a woman, not quite. A teenage girl. Brown hair, warm brown eyes, nervous smile. She pronounced the blonde "out", and I realized a few very important things.

These people were family, somehow. My sisters and brothers. Jasper's sisters and brothers.

Except for the human girl, they were all vampires, every one of them. Every one had the gold eyes of an animal-blood drinker.

My heart leapt in my chest as I realized that Jasper was among the gold-eyed. I watched as the big, dark man ran past him and stole his hat; Jasper left the base that he'd claimed and ran after him, yelling playful obscenities.

I came back to the present with Jasper shaking me by the arms. "Alice," he cried. "Alice! What's wrong?"

My face lit up in a smile. "Nothing's wrong," I said. "Nothing at all. Just a vision. A wonderful one."

"What did you see?"

"I saw us, Jasper… Many years from now. We were with other vampires, and we regarded them as family. We were playing baseball with them, of all things," I said, laughing. "But here's the thing: not one of them was red-eyed. Including you. There was even a human girl with us… And you seemed fine! Just fine."

Jasper's expression was incredulous. "Really? You're serious?"

I put my hands on my hips. "Do I look like I'm lying?"

"Oh my God, you're not," he gasped. "So… So I'm going to be okay."

"Yes," I said, laughing. I grabbed his face with both hands and kissed him again. He was just too cute; he looked like an innocent, trusting little boy.

He kissed me back, first gently, then fiercely, I responded wholeheartedly. He broke it off, smiling. "You're gonna get me in trouble, aren't you?"

"Yes," I responded cheekily, "but I promise it'll be fun trouble."

He took my hand again, and we walked into the house. "So where are we supposed to find this family of ours?"

I sighed. "That I don't know. The vision was of where they will be, not necessarily where they are. And I didn't pick up any names other than you jokingly yelling cuss words at some big guy named Emmett."

"I was cussing? Loudly?" Jasper laughed.

I shrugged. "He stole your hat."

"Hm. Well, I guess we at least have a starting place, if we can figure out where it is."

"We were in a field," I said. "Lots of trees. Mountains in the distance."

Jasper nodded. "Okay, well – that makes it easier right there. Not too many major mountain ranges. Probably either the Pacific Northwest or the Appalachian mountains. How was the weather?"

"Thunderstorm."

"Well," he said, "let's pick a place to start." He got up and paced the room. "Both territories have plentiful wildlife, but the Pacific Northwest is more remote. Appalachian territory's surrounded by people…" He rubbed his chin and paced more. I could definitely see him pacing in a tent, plotting out some regiment's next move. "Pacific Northwest has pretty much nobody, and it's got easy access to Canada if they need to run." He stopped, and turned towards me decisively. "We start in Oregon and work our way around the surrounding territories."

"Yes, sir, Major Whitlock," I said, grinning and sitting on the bed.

He smiled and turned toward the door. "Well? he queried, reaching it. "You comin'?"

"You mean now? Like now now?"

"When else?"

I laughed incredulously. "I've got to pack, Jasper!" I looked around, and realized – I truly didn't have to bring everything with me. I could leave most of it here, and buy new things once we found the others. "Alright, just... give me a minute, and we'll leave. I can leave most of this, but there are a few things I have to have."

Ever the gentleman, Jasper came over. "Anything I can help you with?"

"It's nothing heavy. Just one thing, really." I pulled open a drawer in my dresser and took out a flat, paper-wrapped parcel. I sat on the bed and stared at it, unopened.

"May I?" Jasper asked gently.

I nodded. "Just be careful."

The parcel he unwrapped had my old gold dress in it. It had been gold, before, but by this time it was very well-worn and thirty years old.

Jasper looked at me, frowning. "This makes you sad."

"I woke up in this dress, after I was changed," I said quietly. "I know so very little about my human life. Almost nothing. But I hold this dress, and I feel… I feel…" I took a deep breath. "Kindness. Longing. Being loved. I can't explain it. I wish I knew." Jasper sat down and put an arm around me. "I have a family out there, somewhere. They're probably still alive," I said, sighing. "I just wish I could remember them."

"We don't have to go find this family you saw," Jasper said. "We can go find your human family, if you want."

"No," I said, shaking my head and putting the golden dress in a bag. "Not now. That would cause… problems. Let's find this family. Just… Will you promise me something, Jasper?"

"Anything."

"Will you help me find out about my human life someday?"

He smiled and kissed my hand. "Absolutely, Alice."

I couldn't be serious for too long. "One more thing?"

"Yes, darlin'?"

"Let me buy you some new clothes?"

Jasper stood up, threw his hands up in mock disgust, and walked out the door laughing. I followed quickly on his heels.

Remember: I'd love to make my stories better, but I can't without your reviews! If you liked it, let me k now. And if you hated it, let me know that too.