Learning to Breath

Disclaimer: None of these characters etc. belong to me. They all belong to the wonderful and amazing Stephanie Meyer. I don't think I could ever be that creative. Lol. Stephanie rules!

Author's Note: Hey peeps! This chapter is going to explain a little more about Alex's abilities, and why Edward can hear her thoughts when she's in cat form. Also, it has a scene where Edward gets another glimpse of Alex's other personality, and Alex and Edward's family get together. Lastly, depending on whether or not I include scenes from Breaking Dawn, this will be one of the last like three chapters. But if I do decide to include more, then there should be at least five more chapters. So yeah. Let me know what you think. Happy reading! Peace!!!

Dancing in the Moonlight

I visited with the Cullens for a while, and wrestled around with the boys, which was actually really fun. Tasha wasn't much for play fighting, and Nikki was still too young. Emmet was a bear of a man, so he was not easy to take on. But, with a little help from Jasper, we got him pinned. Emmet demanded on a rematch, insisting that we'd cheated. Jasper and I just laughed, and pinned him again. It was interesting fighting Jasper. I'd already fought him and won once, which was an experience I'd rather not remember, but when he had a clear head, he was one hell of a fighter. But so was I. And I was centuries older than he was, which gave me the upper hand with experience. So we called it a draw. Jasper was amazed even at that, since I was more or less human.

Edward and I left at twilight, walking hand in hand towards my house. He started walking me home, insisting that he wanted to make sure I got there okay. He was so overprotective, it was almost funny. Even after glimpsing my fighting abilities, he worried.

While we were walking, I realized what day it was. "Oh! Edward?" I asked.

"Hmm?"

"Tomorrow, I won't be able to come over." I said. Edward frowned.

"Okay. May I ask why not?" I smiled.

"Of course you can ask. It's the full moon." I said. He frowned.

"Ah, isn't it werewolves that have trouble with the full moon?" he asked, confused. I blinked at him in surprise, and then busted out laughing. I had to stop, and support myself with my hands on my knees. Edward glared at me. "What's so funny?" he demanded. I tried to regain control of myself.

"Oh, my love. There is so much of this world you have still to learn." I said, touching his face lightly.

"What did I say?" he asked. I smiled, and shook my head.

"Yes, some forms of werewolves have trouble with the full moon. But, to my people, the full moon is still something sacred, that we celebrate. Like the changing of the seasons." I explained. Edward's expression cleared.

"Oh. Okay." Then he seemed hesitant. I smiled.

"Edward, I told you that you could ask me anything." I said. He smiled to.

"Well, I was just wondering if I could come along." He said. I blinked in surprise.

"You want to come?" I asked. He nodded. I considered. "Well, I don't see why not. I'll ask Tasha." I said.

"But aren't you the leader?" he asked. I raised a brow.

"Yes, but it's still polite to ask." I said. Edward smiled apologetically, and kissed his cheek. "Silly boy." I said. Edward wrapped his arms around me, and kissed me gently. He rested his forehead against mine, and sighed.

"So, what will you be doing?" he asked. I smiled.

"Well, first there's the formal stuff. We all say a prayer, and then a moment of silence. Then we just dance and have fun. Listen to music. Then we all change, and go for a run." I said. Edward smiled.

"Sounds like fun." He said. I laughed.

"It really is. We always have fun." I said, remembering all the times in Montana we had danced in the moonlight until dawn. We hadn't had one here, because we'd been searching for a place we could go where we wouldn't be interrupted.

By now we had reached my house. I kissed him lightly. "See you tonight." I said. Edward kissed me back, and smiled. That night when he came in, we settled on my bed as usual, but lie awake together for a while.

"So what did you want to tell?" he asked.

"Hmm?" I asked.

"Back at my house. When we figured out that I could hear your thoughts in your cat form. You said you wanted to tell me something." He clarified. Oh! That's right.

"Hang on a second." I said. I shimmied under the covers, and stripped my clothes. Then I made the change. "Help me out of here!" I called from under the covers. Edward laughed, and flipped them off of me. I shook myself. "That's better. Now," I started. "It's up to you. What do you want to know?" I asked. Edward stroked my fur softly.

"Everything." He said. I hesitated.

"Are you sure? Some of it's not pretty." I warned. He nodded, his expression determined.

And so I showed him everything, all the while looking into his eyes, steadily. My time in England; then France, when I met Tasha; a brushing over my other travels, since they were so lengthily; my time in Montana. When I reached the first day I met him, I slowed down. I showed him everything that I felt, everything I had thought. He was silent the entire time, until I reached the night he rejected me. He gasped in horror.

"Oh god, Alex. I'm so sorry." He whispered.

"Wait, I'm not done yet." I said. He waited, and I showed him the day he came back to me. His eye lit again, and melted into liquid gold. He smiled, and then his eyes went hot when I remembered that first real kiss. The color and consistency of hot cider. Beautiful.

"Change back, Alex." He said, his voice rough. I snuggled into the covers, but unfortunately I was unable to find my clothes. I shrugged. I only uncovered my head and smiled. His grimaced. "You're trying to kill me, aren't you?" he asked. I laughed. He rolled on top of me, the covers between us. He kissed me, his lips were smooth, but his mouth was rough as he ate at my lips. I greedily returned his kiss, and moaned. He chuckled huskily against my lips. "Slow down now, my sweet." He said. I growled in disagreement. He grinned, and kissed the side of my jaw. "Shhh. You should get some sleep." He said. I sighed, knowing he was right.

"Fine." I grumbled, and laid my head against his chest. Edward stroked my hair, and hummed the slower half of the song he had composed for me. I was asleep in moments.

The next morning, I stretched leisurely. "Morning." I mumbled to Edward. He smiled.

"Good morning, beautiful." He replied. I smiled.

"You should get going. Tasha agreed to you coming, but I promised I'd spend the day with her and Nikki. She also said the rest of your family is welcome." I said. Edward smiled, and kissed me gently.

"Alright. See you tonight then." He said. I nodded, and watched him jump out of my window. I vaguely wondered if Tasha knew about his nightly visits. I shrugged. Oh well. If she did, she didn't say anything, and that was all that mattered.

EPOV

I left Alex's house, and went home. When I came in, I told Carlisle about the celebration. He agreed to come along, and talked to the others, who all decided to come along. I was interested to see this other part of Alex. The ancient cat, that was forever part of the night. It would also be interesting to see her sisters. I knew Tasha wasn't found of me, which was unfortunate, but Nikki seemed to like me well enough. I smiled. It gave me an odd sense of pride, to see how close Alex was to her family. They were as close as I was with my family.

Thinking of Alex, led me to last night. I shuddered. It was intense. Hearing all of Alex's thoughts was nearly overwhelming. She had seen and experienced so much. A lot of pain, a lot of freedom. That was one thing that was a constant. Her freedom. It explained how her scent smelled to me. That got me thinking about why I could hear Alex in her animal form, but not her human one. After a while, a theory came to me. It was possible that in her animal form, she had a closer resemblance to the animal within me. But that didn't make sense. I head humans just fine. Maybe in her animal form, she was more one thing, than two things at the same time. Alice had said that she had difficulty seeing Alex's future at times, and that was the theory she had formulated. So I supposed that it was possible the same applied to me. But, I supposed it could also be possible it could also be because of how entirely different she and her sisters were from the rest of the world.

I spent the day with my family, playing chess with Alice, (who was the only one who'd play games with me anymore) wrestling with Jasper and Emmet, and I even went out and worked on my car with Rose. It was a pleasant afternoon. When the evening was coming closer, Alex called me. "Hey, babe." She greeted. I laughed.

"Hello."

"I just want to let you know where we're meeting." Alex gave me directions to a very secluded part of the woods. "Meet me there about ten. I want you to myself for while before we start." She said. I smiled.

"Your wish is my command, my love." I replied. She chuckled.

"See you there. Don't be late." She said. We said goodbyes, and then I continued my game with Alice.

APOV

I went into the woods just before ten, and easily found my way to the center of the woods, to the small field we had chosen to meet at. And, right on time, Edward walked into the field. I smiled. "Hello my love." I greeted him. He touched my face lightly, and kissed me softly on the lips.

"Hello." He said. He looked at my attire, his eyes smoldering. I was wearing a thin silk dress that flowed around me like water, that was the color of moonlight. My hair was curled, with the front pinned with glittering flower gems. "You look stunning." He said. I smiled, and we lay down together in the grass, and watched the stars. The moon would rise in about half an hour, so I had that time with Edward. "Alex? I was wondering. You knew what my families gifts were, right?" he asked. I nodded. "How did you know? Do you and your family have any special abilities?" he asked. I sighed.

"We each have two. One mental, one physical. We don't know why, that's just the way it is. Tasha can sense people's personalities. Something sort of similar to what Jasper does. She can also cast illusions. It comes in very handy for us. Nikki we aren't sure of yet. You don't come into your gifts until you're fully mature as a Werecat. As for me, I sense people's abilities. Whether they are especially smart, or artistic, or whether they can read minds." I teased. Edward smiled.

"And your other gift?" he asked. I focused on a nearby rock, and lifted my hand. The rock lifted with it.

"I have power over nature. Anything natural, I can control. Nonliving things are easiest, but animals and humans really drain my energy. I can control weather, the elements. But I try not to fiddle with the weather too much. It's not good to mess with things like that." I said. Edward blinked.

"Wow. That's… incredible." He said. I laughed.

"Yes well. We try to use them too often. They can really take it out of you." I said. Edward nodded.

"I see. Although, I'm afraid I may insist on a demonstration later." He said, grinning.

"We'll see." I said.

Just then, the moon reached its peak in the night sky. Nikki and Tasha came out of the trees, wearing dresses similar to mine. Edward family came from the opposite side of the field. They all smiled at us, and I smiled back. I went over to stand with my sisters. "The formal part of the celebration is short and sweet." I said. My sisters and I linked hands, and I let the queen of the night come forward.

"Praise to the wind brother, praise to the earth mother, praise to the father sun, and sister moon. Gods and goddesses of old and new, share with us the power and life of the moon." I said. We bowed are heads, and then looked at the Cullens. They were watching, slightly in awe. I smiled. "And now the fun begins." I said. I took out of my bag my iPod and its battery run dock. I put on Celtic music to start. Something in honor of the woods.

EPOV

When Alex and her sisters began to dance, it was breathtaking. They moved in fluid graceful movements, and their dresses flowed around them. Alex smiled at me, and pulled me into the dance. We began to waltz, and then the rest of my family paired off and joined the dance. The first two songs were slow, but then suddenly punk rock music blared through the speakers. We all busted up laughing, and danced into the night.

Carlisle and Esme sat in the grass and watched when music a little beyond their maturity came on, but danced when the mood struck them. Alex had amazing dance skills. She rocked her hips in time with the music, swayed, and moved her arms and legs as well. She was exquisite. She insisted that I danced with her at least every other dance, though she sometimes went with her sisters.

To say the least, it was one of the most perfect nights I'd ever had. My family, my love, and her family all in the same place, forgetting about any differences, and just being and having fun.

Ending Note: Hey peeps! I hope you liked this chapter. It was lots of fun to write! I hope to have the next chapter up tomorrow, though it may have to wait till Friday, because things are getting crazy at school. Lots of studying to do. Anyways, the next chapter will have the baseball scene, which will have some similarities to the one in Twilight, but definitely lots of differences. Anyways, I'm still trying to figure out whether or not to include scenes from Breaking Dawn, so please review and tell me what you think! Oh, and sorry I got this one out so late. Peace!!!!! ~~~~~~~~:D~~~~~~~~