You readers are amazing though you don't review. But, um, just want to say thanks for checking this out. And for those two of you who do, thank you. Oh and I just want to say that I love all the Twi-hards because without you (and me) our world would be dull and inattentive to detail. You rock.

The jeep hummed along the bumpy roads. I stared at Edward, watching him with an intense gaze filled with wonder and bewilderment. His jaw was in a tight line, his eyes zeroed in on only what was in front of him. He looked so worried to me, so lost in his own thoughts that I felt the pain of it. He loved this girl, and yet it confused me.

"So, what's the game plan?" I finally asked my voice meeker than Bella's.

He glanced up in the rear view mirror at me and then looked back at the road. "We lead James north as far as he will go."

"He's following us?"

I was answered with one nod.

"And the female?"

"Victoria is following Esme and Rosalie's scent west." He paused. "Why was Laurent thinking you would join him in Denali?"

"You would know better than I would."

"True. I knew this was going to be a problem."

My face muddled into confusion yet again. "What is?"

"Your — availability."

"But…I'm not really available. I mean —"

"They don't know that. To their eyes, you're an underground goddess who could possibly offer some amusement."

"I don't understand."

"I'll explain later when I'm not so busy."

I blushed. Damn. I couldn't blush at all; only sink further into my skin. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize."

A long moment passed between us. "Edward, can I ask you a question?"

The jeep fumbled over the rocks beneath us and he didn't answer until we were driving on smooth pavement. "If I answer, will you warm up to the idea of me being in love with a human?"

That meant he already knew what I was going to ask. "Yes, I think it will."

"I love her because she is the first thing that there is to love in this existence. A century filled with loneliness that I'm sure you understand," his eyes flashed to me in the mirror, "is not enjoyable in the least. But it is because she isn't afraid of me, willing to die just to be near me that reels me in. Because her heart beats so violently when I'm with her, because those infinitesimal moments that she's with me make the human world stop, because of the peace she brings me, because of the endurance she has to be with me, that is why I love her. I have found someone that doesn't think me a monster, that loves me for me and she is mine…that is why I love her. Do you understand now?"

I nodded slowly. I understood then and it wasn't a lie. Jealous, yes, of the love he had for her because I wanted that love. But that explanation said it all. Bella was his everything in the sappiest of ways. And I craved what he had and knew that, at one point in time, I had it too. A love like theirs had existed but it — it didn't work out somehow. Something went wrong in that long ago century. Something that set my body in a blaze when I thought about it. But no matter how much pain it would render me, I lusted for it once more.

"I see." Edward said making me jump. He scowled at me for that but didn't comment on my mortal behavior. "You've had this sort of thing happen to you before."

"Yes, once. Not in my human existence but a long time ago." The memories shuffled before me uncontrollably. "I remember only one thing about it, however. It made my heart beat uncontrollable like Bella's. It was liquid fire and all around me, everything I was, belonged to him. But then the memory fades and I cannot recall what happened to me after that."

"It shall be interesting to watch your memories come back."

The conversation was over then, and all we did was stare out the windows. Carlisle and Emmett had been silent the whole time, Carlisle staring out the car windows and Emmett watching me with a stare — probably thinking I was odd. A question suddenly came to Carlisle's mind and he was hesitant to ask it. "In your mural, Lilly, I recognized that all the men were wearing tunics and the women wearing corsets and tattered skirts. Judging upon the style of clothing and the accuracy of it, you painted a sixteenth century replica of a village scene as if you had seen it with your own eyes. Why is that?"

I knew Edward and Emmett wouldn't be paying attention to a word I said, so I spoke freely without regret. "I think — now don't laugh at me. But I think…I was reincarnated."

I grimaced, waiting for him to double over in laughter. Yet, to my surprise, he nodded in agreement. I shouldn't have been surprised really. Carlisle was open to many things in which case Edward was not. Therefore, my ability to speak my mind with Carlisle was a bit less embarrassing, though Edward could just read mine anyway. "I think that is quite possible."

"You don't think I'm nuts?"

"I do." Emmett interjected. So he had been listening that little —

Carlisle interrupted my train of thought. "No. I'm curious as to who you were though."

"I think I was myself, in mind, spirit and body, come back from hell."

Carlisle blanched at the word. "Hell?"

"Yes," I drew in a sharp breath, "I don't think I was mortal at the time of my death."

Carlisle nodded, taking all I had said into his sponge of a mind. There were no further questions and no further curiosities; though I'm sure he was itching to know what I thought about our afterlives. We were to now focus on the impeding terror at hand, Bella's safety. I veiled my thoughts well enough to keep Edward from sideways glancing at me. Edward barely said two words to me or Carlisle, his focus all on Bella. So, I busied my time, if that was what you could call it, with sniffing the air and strategically planning out different attacks from all sides, all the while understanding more and more of Edward's obsessive love for Bella. Emmett and I practiced attacking each other, stifling our laughter at the fun we were having.

Edward soon wanted to call them, but Carlisle advised against it because of what it might give Bella — false hope. Besides, we had tracking to do and Edward needed his mind to settle on one creature, James.

Esme called a few minutes later to give us a report. The female had been to Bella's house, but Charlie was fine. She had been to the school, the airport, and every road in town but she couldn't find a single thing. She hung up so we could continue our plans.

And then the moment changed. Edward's head snapped up and ordered for Carlisle to call Alice, now.

Carlisle was already speaking to Alice when I turned my attention to him. "Is Bella alright?" His eyes moved over Edward.

"Yes." Alice's voice came from the other end. Her mood changed to that of assurance, giving me the slightest doubt that Bella was mentally alright. "I just saw him." Her voice became a blur but I comprehended each word. She saw James watching a TV screen in a room full of mirrors. "Whatever made him get on that plane…it was leading him to those rooms."

"Let me speak to Bella." Edward interrupted.

"May Edward speak to Bella?"

"Yes," a small pause, "Bella?"

There was no time at all that passed when Bella's voice came across the phone, making me wonder if she didn't have any superhuman powers herself. "Hello?"

"Bella."

"Oh, Edward! I was so worried."

"Bella, I told you not to worry about anything but yourself."

She was silent for a moment and I knew then that it was almost impossible for her to not worry about anything. She was such a worry wart. "Where are you?"

"We're outside of Vancouver. Bella, I'm sorry — we lost him. He seems suspicious of us — he's careful to stay just far enough away that I can't hear what he's thinking. But he's gone now — it looks like he got on a plane. We think he's heading back to Forks to start over."

"I know. Alice saw that he got away."

"You don't have to worry, though. He won't find anything to lead him to you. You just have to stay there and wait till we find him again."

"I'll be fine. Is Esme with Charlie?"

"Yes — the female has been in town. She went to the house, but while Charlie was at work." He explained what Victoria had been doing and reassured Bella that her father would be alright with Esme and Rosalie keeping watch.

I tuned out then, not wanting to intrude on their conversation any further. They would claim they loved each other. That was something I couldn't stand to hear. I walked off into the trees, absorbing every small piece of nature my eyes would allow, the wind whistling through my ponytail. This place was — familiar. I had seen these trees before, but then again, I had seen a lot of trees in my lifetime.

"We need to leave." Carlisle interjected in my thoughts at two-thirty. I had stood in the same spot for hours, unmoving, just listening to the small whispers on the wind that occasionally said my name — and then Corpus'. "We're boarding the first flight to Seattle."

"Why? Did something change?"
"He's heading towards Bella's mother's house and we need to be there before he tries anything."

"Isn't she in Florida?"

"We aren't entirely sure; she could be flying home as we speak."

We loaded into the car all the while saying nothing. The ride was like a grave, each one anxious for what was to come. Edward wanted Bella in his arms, to hold her and promise that everything would be alright. Carlisle wanted to make sure his family wouldn't be split apart. Emmett wanted to kick James's ass into oblivion. And I…I wanted to just be with my family. To have no tension and no confusion, no killers and curious enemies —no worry and no fear. Onto the plane we boarded, the human mouths dropping at the sight of us. It brought to mind again the wonder if every vampire was beautiful. I didn't feel beautiful and I didn't feel as if I appeared beautiful either. But to the average human eye, I supposed I was.

The clouds zipped past Edward and me, neither one of us paying any attention. "Edward?" My voice was coarse.

"Yes?"

I could have sworn his was too, but it could have just been an overwhelming amount of worry. I swallowed my spit and liked my lips though neither one was needed. "I'm glad that you found Bella and I'm sorry I was so jealous. I'm sure you understand."

I could hear him nod while his eyes searched my bowed face, my hair not shielding me from it that time. If I asked a tear to come, would it obey me? I had been such a child, such an idiot and now…

I hadn't been watching his facial expressions, but I felt his cold marble hand on mine. We comforted each other and to my grateful surprise we were almost there. He was so close to Bella that —

"What?" Edward asked into the receiver of his cell phone.

"It's Bella. She's gone to the ballet studio. James has her mother…I saw her death."

Edward, Emmett, Carlisle, and I stiffened at the word. We had ten minutes until landing. Would we make it? Could we save her? I felt like crying, afraid of what that would mean if she died. We wouldn't be able to turn her, to make her one of us in time.

We were on edge the entire time, the stewardesses ignoring asking us for trash or if we needed anything. They were all watching our faces, our statuesque stillness, and our eyes straight forward. They couldn't hear the argument we were having in our head's on what to do, what the best course was. The moment we landed was the moment we shoved past the people. I could care less if I broke an arm or two with a mere push of my elbow. They couldn't catch us even if we tried. We fled in our gang of four down the flights of stairs and outside where the sun would have glinted off our skin if we weren't moving with that of an unnatural force. I hadn't even noticed Alice and Jasper joining us on our inhuman sprint, but that didn't matter. We were minutes away from Bella's old ballet studio. In different circumstances I would have been amused by her doing ballet as she was the most ungraceful person in the world.

Her screams came to us then, driving us faster. That scream…

It reminded me of mine once. Of pain, desperation, knowing that it was time to die. I ran faster, catching up with Edward, our feet not touching the ground. We had to stop the screaming.

Through a window we smashed, Edward calling her name at once. James crouched beside her, his mouth upon Bella's wrist. Emmett removed James, thrusting him into the opposite wall. Carlisle and Edward moved over Bella while Jasper, Alice, Emmett and I moved in on James. He was no match for the four of us. It was his time to die. My hand reached out and took hold of his arm and for the first time in what seemed like centuries, I tore him apart with my brother's and sisters. His screaming was tolerable. He deserved to die for all the trouble he had caused us, caused Bella.

Into a different room we gathered him, the broken pieces of rock, and lit him on fire. I watched the flames of purple that strongly smelled of death to me, but to a human I believed it would smell like sweetened incense. But then the thought of Bella came to me once again and I was crouched over her in no time. Edward had sucked the poison out of her to the point of cleanliness.

"Bella?" Carlisle asked as we all watched her, her cuts bleeding and her foot bound up in what looked like a makeshift cast.

"What?"

"Where is your mother?"

"In Florida. He tricked me, Edward. He watched our videos." She was quiet for a moment, her senses coming back to her. "I smell gasoline."

Carlisle looked up at Edward. "It's time to move her."
"No, I want to sleep."

"You can sleep, sweetheart, I'll carry you." Edward's eyes had never left Bella's face the moment we found her. She was all he could see, I realized. He picked her up gracefully, cradling her in his arms and off we moved to the nearest hospital.