A/N: Angela's gift is to give Comfort to everyone, she feels the tensions of others and can give words of comfort and a much-needed morale-boosting hug. But with time it will grow xx

Someone asked if I was putting no canon stuff in, so I have, well sort of xx

Only one chapter to go folks, so enjoy xx Alexis

Angela's funeral was traumatic for everyone for different reasons. Bella felt so bad for her parents, not able to tell them she was okay. Emmett was worried about Angie, Carlisle was desperate to be the support Emmett needed, not sure if it was all just too late. The Webbers were stoic and the twins inconsolable until half way through they seemed to calm and become more relaxed.

Everyone who knew guessed Angela was working her magic on them. The boys had felt her hug and could have sworn they heard her voice in their heads, saying 'Heaven's not so bad, don't be sad for me. Be brave and make me proud'. She didn't dare try it on her parents but was happy to alleviate the boy's pain somewhat.

Little did they know that in the future when things were bad and they would get that special feeling once again, their sister was out there doing all she could to help them through. Distance would be no barrier to a sibling's love and wherever she was Angela would sense when her brothers needed her.

The school had closed for a week to let the students come to terms with the loss of one of their own. Bella knew her time here was short and decided maybe she should just leave now. Both Charlie and Garrett talked her out of it saying to wait until Christmas break then revaluate. She reluctantly agreed as it was only a few more weeks.

It was Charlie who came up with the answer, a position for a State Trooper at Bear Creek, Alaska had been posted and he had applied. Sickened by the behaviour of Billy and the Quileutes he wanted a clean break and this would get Bella away too. It was exactly what he was doing now, just under a different title he told them. Plus the ice fishing would be phenomenal, they would be near Steward and not that far from Anchorage too.

So by the time the new year started they would hopefully be gone from Forks and in a place where nobody really knew them, Bella could finish school and then leave with Garrett. Bella was worried he'd be all on his own, but he reminded her he knew several State troopers already and his friend in Anchorage at the Bureau, as well.

Now Garrett realised was the time to tell Bella about the Denali sisters, they lived to damn close by vampire standards not to. She listened to his stuttered explanation and smiled,

"Garrett sweetheart, I'd have been more worried if you'd never had a relationship. You've had to wait for me for so long, I never thought you were a saint! " she told him and he sighed, god he was so lucky.

"They are all more interested in human men nowadays, but they are succubae! If it's wearing trousers they're interested!" he said laughing and she shook her head.

Bella wasn't upset or worried, of course, he had a past, hell he'd been around long enough to have several pasts! But he was hers now and that was the main thing. She was woman enough to be sure of her own ability to satisfy him, she'd seen other women try to get his attention and fail. She also knew it would only get better once she was a vampire too and he didn't have to be careful with her human body.

They had a few tense days waiting for word and then the green light came, they were glad to be getting someone of Charlie calibre and he got the ball rolling in Washington for his departure. He had to work his notice and although he was staying in American Law Enforcement, it was a different State and they did things their own way. He was actually looking forward to it, a new start was what they all needed and who knows he might find himself a partner to share it with.

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When eventually, Emmett, Angela and Carlisle got to Alaska, Esme was waiting. She looked at her husband, her mate and he stood for once unsure and almost childlike, toeing the ground. He didn't know what she expected of him and it made him afraid.

"Carlisle honey, I didn't do that to hurt you, but you had to see! Your blind actions had far-reaching consequences. You pushed us all aside for him and didn't seem to care!" she told him and that was his undoing.

Falling to his knees in front of her clutching at her dress. He sobbed incoherently and inconsolably too, but he needed the catharsis of it to finally move forward. Knowing he'd nearly lost it all for one selfish child. Because he now knew Edward must have heard all this in their thoughts and never told him, or worse, he didn't give a damn and let Carlisle bury himself!

Esme stroked his hair and murmured tenderly to him,

"As long as you've learned from this and promise to be there for me, from now on. Then we can start to be us, Carlisle and Esme, first and foremost."

He shuddered against her and raising his head to look upon the veritable angel, who was his mate. Esme saw and gasped as one lone venom tear rolled down his face. That was all the proof she needed that her husband was repentant and she dropped to her knees beside him and held him tightly.

To be able to shed a tear was a sign from the heavens above that they would survive and learn from this, Angela too felt the power of his conviction and she added her own brand of compassion by mentally hugging them all. Emmett smiled and scooped up his vampire parents saying,

"Come on then, mum and dad, places to be and all that!" Carlisle heaved a sigh and thanked his son for his forgiveness and the four headed towards the lodge north of Denali.

Esme decided that since Angela was so controlled they really didn't need to be there and she thought that they would appreciate the time alone. She suggested to Carlisle that they too could do with some alone time and he agreed wholeheartedly. So after one day of straightening up and making sure all the Forks things were being dealt with they decided to head off to Isle Esme for a few months.

"Emmett, what are you wearing?" Esme asked him, this being the first time seeing him in one of his myriad of t-shirts.

"You like?" he said spreading his arms wide and Carlisle laughed, seeing the scientific joke right away. Today's shirt proclaimed,

'Vamπre'

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"Oh, I think not Edward, do I look like your nanny? You want to eat you hunt for yourself or eat what we eat! Otherwise starve" Raven said loudly and Edward cursed, forgetting once again Raven could read his mind.

For the first few days it was true Raven had caught and fed him his food, but he was able to manage himself now and that was over. It became apparent early on Edward was spoiled, arrogant and demanding. But he was getting nowhere fast here in Volterra, nobody cared who he was, what his to their minds minor gift was. He was no longer a big fish in a small pond, rather the other way around.

"Yes, I love you, but I am neither your mother or your keeper and your childish attempts to use emotional blackmail, are weak at best. It's time you grew up, act your age Edward, not your shoe size!" was his parting shot as he left the sulking boy.

Well, Raven now knew the other reason why Edward was being punished and although he was truly repentant, it had done nothing to address his demanding, expectant behaviour, years of being treated as special had turned Edwards' head and it would have to stop. Nobody had really hurt him out of respect for Raven, but Demetri had ripped off his hand and Jane had zapped him twice.

He had foolishly ordered the elite guard's second in command to get him something and when Demetri had laughed and started to walk away, Edward had grabbed his arm. Thus losing his hand and told if not for Raven he would be dead. Edward was not used to this and to be only accepted, on the behalf of another, was a hard concept to master.

Jane had first zapped him for making demands of her too, but the second and more painful time was because he repeated her brother's thoughts. Edward had far too slowly for their liking realised he was nothing to them. Aro had read him and denigrated him by saying,

"Pfft! Still worthless, I thought by now it would have improved greatly, but I underestimated your intelligence Edward" he's said scathingly and dismissed him as a mere annoyance. Caius compounded it by saying loudly,

"I don't want that spoiled brat in the guard and Raven keep his mouth shut, he can still suck your dick with no tongue, it won't be as good, but it's doable!" This had horrified Edward, they really cared nothing for his wellbeing, only Raven's.

Of the three Kings, Marcus was the kindest, Edward stayed out of his head intentionally, the pain and suffering in there were horrendous. So under the watchful eye of Marcus, Edward was learning to control and adapt his gift, to shut it off or to amplify it to hone in on one mind alone. Slowly and many years too late he was getting taught how to use his gift properly.

"I advocated for your termination, in the beginning, you know? Carlisle did you no favour allowing you to rule the roost. You have missed out on much Edward and it's time to rectify that. I now admit you have the capacity to learn and grow, you just needed to want it too! Why the turnaround, may I enquire?" Marcus quizzed,

"I don't like that everyone sees me as worthless, I know I've rubbed some up, no, many up the wrong way, but others who don't know me have sneered at me and made it plain they think I'm expendable! I want to prove them wrong. But mostly because it reflects badly on Raven and I don't want him to be hurt because of me!" he stated and Marcus nodded.

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"Remember what we agreed when we first met? Not to change for each other, but to be true to ourselves. Because that's who we fell in love with, not some facsimile of ourselves" Garrett asked Bella. She nodded and raised an eyebrow,

" Well, If you want to stay in Alaska with your dad longer, please say so and don't do what you think, I want from you! I only want you to be my Bella, my angel and I don't care if that's human for now. It's your life and your choice" he said holding her close.

They decided to wait until she'd finished school to revisit their discussion, just a few more months and she would graduate as a senior from Steward High School and she would make her decision then. They had agreed to not say anything to her mother and that way she could keep her end of the fashion business running as long as possible.

Little did they know Renee and Phil had the chance to move to Japan and for him to coach out there, so her mother was thinking of handing the business over to Bella in full. So when after the New Year she spoke to Bella, she said no, she had to stay at least as a board member and not lose out on the revenue. That she'd need her mother's help before she was able to take over, then she could become a shareholder only if she wanted.

In a way this made all her choices easier, she wouldn't see as much of her mother and when she became a vampire, any changes could be disguised with makeup for video chats etc, this eased Bella's mind considerably. She also fully intended to involve Angela in the business, give her a stake and an income, she could produce her jewellery designs and make a name for herself.

In the time-honoured way of vampires they would eventually pass the businesses on to themselves as the children of the original owners, use front people to do the day to day stuff and if they so wished sell and start anew, the world literally was their oyster.

But first she had to finish school and Alaska was her home now, Garrett built himself a cabin in the mountains and nobody but Bella and Charlie knew he was there. He felt it would be better to not draw any attention to them, neither human or vampire. Because he had no scent and was basically untraceable. no one was aware that a vampire was occasionally among them.

Bella and Charlie saw him often as their home was pretty isolated in the small community. She often spent the weekend at his cabin and Charlie bit the bullet and accepted his little girl was all grown up. Garrett did keep the Volturi appraised, saying that she was still unaware of his true nature and once she finished school he would rectify that and they were satisfied for now.

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Sod's Law is a strange thing, roughly a year ago in Washington three vampires very nearly passed through Forks. But the sudden influx of vampires from the Volturi changed their minds and they headed to Canada instead. After causing untold misery and destruction for most of that time, they decided to leave and head south once more.

This time heading down through Alaska, where when in Steward the caught the most tantalising scent. It was reminiscent of the one from Washington that had almost been in their grasp if not for the Volturi. But not quite the same, not as pure, it was a watered-down version, you might say. They scouted around and found it leaving town heading up country.

These three were not a coven, not even really friends. What brought them together was their love of violence and games, torturous games. They followed the scent to a small house in a secluded woody area, the woman wanted to kill what they now knew to be a girl and her father who they could see through the windows, now.

One of the men a sharp-featured evil looking vampire said,

" No! Shut up and listen!"

The girl was leaving for the weekend and would be back late on Sunday night she told her father. The vampire thought it was his lucky day, she wouldn't be missed and they could play their games with her until she died or they got sick of it and her.

What none of them was aware of, as the planned all the gory details of what they would do to Bella. Was another vampire sat high in a tree watching and listening to them, hearing all they said and decided to do to his mate! He had been patiently waiting for her to finish packing, as they had been going off to see Angela and Emmett.

In fact, Jasper had taken Alice there as a reward, she had surpassed his hopes for her and after an initial slow start had taken to her training like a duck to water. Peter and Charlotte had returned and were also there too, they were all waiting for Garrett and Bella to arrive.

Garrett pulled out his phone, typed a message and sent it to the Major. If these three clowns wanted to play games he'd oblige them, his mate was not a plaything for anyone. He then texted Bella, told her to stall, to say,

'That was Mindy on the phone and she wouldn't be finished work for another half an hour!'

"Well I might as well sort out your dinner before I go, dad, that was Mindy and she won't be finished for another half an hour," Bella said handing her dad the phone,

"Thanks, kiddo" he answered, as the phone vibrated in his hand with another text.

'Jasper, Peter and Emmett on the way! Stay calm and inside together'

Garrett moved slightly closer to the three and the woman looked antsy, glancing around her. He wondered if she had a gift. Not twenty minutes later Garrett looked down at his phone reading,

'Alice and Charlotte will take the woman, Alice says her gift is evasion, but she'll see any decisions. Angela will guard the Swans, Peter and I will take the idiot with the dreads and the other guy is yours, Emmett will be your backup. We go on your word!'

Garrett smiled and relayed that to Charlie. The Major was, as usual, the man with the plan. Garrett dropped from his hiding place and scared the crap out of the guy with the dreads.

"You weren't thinking of stealing my girl were you?" he asked casually,

"What, No of course not! We were just passing through, she smells good though! But we'll leave now!" the blond nasty looking one said backing up slightly.

"I see one 'Major' flaw in that plan, I can't let you leave. you might decide to return later and I'm not to keen on your plans for her!" Garrett said alerting the others to be ready.

"You going to stop all three of us on your own are you?" Blondie laughed nastily,

"What made you think he was alone?"Peter drawled, stepping out and leaning against a tree.

The idiot thought he still had a chance as they were three to their two until Jasper too stepped into view behind them.

"We never travel alone if we can help it. Isn't that right girls?" he said and Alice and Charlotte stepped out of the trees near the red-headed woman, who looked panicked.

"What about me bro, I hope I'm not one of the girls?" The giant that was Emmett said, also stepping into view and the three were surrounded.

"I'll testify to that baby!" Angela called from the front door of the house and all three vampires looked up and saw her with her arms around the two humans shoulders, but not in a, we own them way. This was more like, they were friends! Friends with humans!

They had made the most common mistake going, not checking on who they were about to attack. They did no recognisance work or even scouted the area for scents they were too cocky for their own good and now it would cost them their lives.

The leader was vainly trying to bluff his way out of it and it wasn't until Garrett said,

"Thanks, Major, I owe you one" to Jasper that his shoulders slumped,

He knew who he was dealing with now, glancing up at Peter he realised just who they both were and then Emmett asked,

"Okay Garrett, what you want us to do with them?"

Fuck! He really screwed up this time, three of the vampire world's best fighters all in one place and all friends! He knew he was toast now, there would be no escape for him and Laurent, Victoria might have managed but he also guessed one of those women was the Captain's mate, so that meant the other was the Major's.

He would have to go after the Patriot's girl, shit if the Volturi were in Forks then they knew about her too, she's not just his girl, she's his mate!

"I was going to do to them, what they'd planned for Bella! But Fuck it, I'm no sadistic monster! Just kill them" Garrett replied,

The three didn't have time to process it before they were in bits and being fed into a bonfire the huge vampire at the rear had started.

"Like I always say, Never and I mean never, underestimate your opponent or your target!" Jasper said as he smirked at James' head before throwing it onto the bonfire last.

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The incident as it was now called, just reminded Garrett and Bella how easy it would be to lose one another and she decided as soon as she had her diploma she was getting changed. No more close shaves, no more pussy footing around. So with Charlie's blessing, because he too saw what a near thing that was, the date was set.

She wasn't prepared to do the Senior prom this time, she purposely didn't make close friends with anyone and had said she was going to College in Arizona. So no one would be overly surprised when she left. Charlie, on the other hand, he was making friends and was even getting some attention from the ladies, he was lapping it up.

Angela was almost halfway through her newborn year, she had mastered her strength and her bloodlust was minimal. They were going off to visit Esme and Carlisle, who had yet to return from Isle Esme. They had literally taken it as a new start and were having the honeymoon they never got because of Edward.

Alice and Jasper were also going off on an extended vacation, going to all the places he'd wanted to go or show her when they were with the Cullens and that she'd refused to do, saying they were boring. Alice now saw just how selfish and self-centred she'd been and was making it up to her mate. She planned the whole thing as a surprise for him, with the help of Peter and Charlotte.

They would be travelling around the US, but told Bella and Garrett if they needed them to just shout. Well, what Peter actually said was,

" Oh, maybe just whistle, You know how to whistle don't you, Bella? You just put your lips together and ... blow "

"To Have and Have Not, Peter?" Bella said a little surprised,

"What it's a great movie, a classic, a masterpiece!" he replied and everyone laughed, knowing it was his favourite of all time, he had a thing about Lauren Bacall back then.

So it was just the waiting now, those last few weeks seemed to go so slowly. Garrett kept surprising Bella with her favourite things to eat, he didn't want her to wish she'd had something after it was too late. But she didn't care, all she needed and wanted was to be with him.

With the help of Charlie, Garrett planned to surprise Bella with a secret wedding. They could do the big thing later if she wanted, but he wanted her to be his wife before he changed her and Charlie was beyond pleased. No man wants his daughter living in sin, even if she's a vampire!

So the Saturday after she graduated, the three of them went to Anchorage to celebrate. They had the clothes in the trunk and Charlie got Bella's ring for Garrett out of the house safe. It was going to be four pm ceremony and when he talked her into changing to go out for a late lunch, Bella had an inkling.

Mainly because she never wore white and he insisted, then they went in the opposite direction than they would have normally. Her dad had mysteriously vanished, but he had also been all dressed up. The final thing was the clincher, Garrett was clean shaven and his hair was shorter and very neat.

He laughed it off as he felt like it but she knew and loved him all the more for the whole surprise. But the most emotional thing was when he led her into the building, Renee and Phil were waiting with Charlie. She was so happy, that had been something she truly wanted, her mother at her wedding and Garrett delivered.

So Charlie led her down the short aisle, while Renee and Phil were their witnesses. Garrett was the most handsome bridegroom, she could have ever wished for. Lots of photos were taken and a lovely late lunch enjoyed by all. Well maybe not Garrett, but he was at an all-time high and didn't seem to mind.

He loved his ring, he knew she had wanted to wear the middle part of her engagement ring now as her wedding ring. But he didn't know she'd had an identical one made for him and he was touched and he loved how it showed everyone he was taken, he belonged to Bella alone.

Renee and Phil were flying back to Japan that night and Charlie had a hot date in Steward. So Bella and Garrett spent the evening wrapped in each other's arms in a top Anchorage hotel. Making love until the dawn broke and Bella could keep her eyes open no more. She was so happy and ready for her new life to begin.

They were returning to Bear Creek tomorrow, or should I say today. This was to say goodbye to Charlie and then they were off to Canada, to a house Garrett had there. Then two days from now he would change her into a vampire and they could start their eternal life together, finally.

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