A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS! :) I hope you have all had a nice holiday however you celebrate it. I spent most of it working, but I was fortunate enough to be able to find some time earlier in december to spend some time with family and exchange presents.

I am so grateful for all your sweet commets, it's really nice to hear what you think of my little project.

As for the wolf-pack, I just want to get it out there that I'm by no means a wolf-pack hater - I love wolf pack fanfics. It just felt like a fitting reaction for this story for them to be exstremely protective an vary against a new species, especially one that has ties with their natural enemies. They are after all young men who are prone to anger and bad tempers from a small tribe that has been through a lot with vampires so it felt right for the story.

I really hope you like this new chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable parts of twilight, only original characters ond plot.

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The river where Carlisle an Edward found me went all the way near their house. It was about half a mile away and the water was just deep enough that I could swim comfortably. After we decided that I would stay, they had been quick to put up a small bathing bridge that reached out into the deeper parts of the river. It made it easier for me to get in and out of the water on my own without getting hurt by the sand and small rocks of the riverbank. Alice had even put up a small trunk in the corner at the end of it to keep towels in and store my clothing while I went swimming.

As I got closer I saw Edward was waiting for me; sitting at the end of the bathing bridge. I had expected this, considering I had stayed out for far longer than I usually would have. He looked worried, but he was still relaxed enough that he had kicked off his shoes and dipped his feet in the water. Considering it was freezing, despite the lack of snow, this alone gave away that he was not human but since we were alone on the Cullen's property, we were free to be ourselves.

Feeling a bit mischievous I swam as silently and as carefully as I could under the surface and lightly touched his foot, hoping to startle him a bit. To my slight disappointment, his only reaction was to smile.

"Welcome back my love, how was your swim?"

I giggled a bit before I responded,

"How did you know it was me? It could have been a fish or something..."

Edward laughed playfully in response, "my love, fish are scared of me and you are the only one in this river with hands so it didn't take much to figure out"

"I'll just have to try better next time," I laughed as I pulled myself up out of the water just enough to give him a quick kiss.

"I can't wait."

Edward reached down and pulled me up into his lap.

"What did you do that for, you're getting all wet"

"Can I help that I missed you?" Edward laughed as he hugged me to him and kissed me fiercely. Every part of me tingled with the kiss and I kissed him back as hard as I could.

"I missed you too! Very much indeed." I breathed as I rested my forehead against his.

"Did something interesting happen during your swim today?"

"As a matter of fact it did… I unknowingly crashed a Pack meeting…"

"What?! Are you okay my love?" Edward was frantic, running his hands over me to search for non-existing injuries.

I placed my hand on his cheek to try to calm him down, "I'm okay Edward, and we actually made peace. For the first time they listened, and found out what really happened. They even swore to protect me should I ever need it as a thank you for saving Embry."

Disbelief was written across Edwards face.

"How are you real?" he whispered as he leaned into my touch, "You managed in a few months what we have been working towards for over a hundred years. This could be the first step to a lasting peace between all of us."

I didn't know what to respond, so instead I leaned in for a kiss. It was slow, steady and exactly what we both needed. When the kiss ended, Edward wrapped his arms around me and tucked my head under his chin. I sighed and leaned into his embrace, grateful for the comfort it brought me after such an eventful evening.

"I'm not sure if you're aware of it, but tomorrow is Christmas day and we would like to show you how we celebrate it if you're up for it?" Edward asked.

I looked up at him and smiled at him.

"I would love to! I have heard stories about it, but few ever came on land at that time of year so stories were rare. What are the customs now? I suppose they change and the stories I heard are most likely quite outdated" I chuckled a bit; this could be so much fun.

"Well it varies depending on the family, but we usually decorate a tree on Christmas Eve while Carlisle is at work at the hospital, and then when he get home in the morning we sit down and exchange gifts."

"That sounds really lovely Edward… But I don't have a gift for anyone…"

Edward smiled as he cupped my cheek.

"Don't worry my love; Alice has a selection of things you can choose from to give as your presents this year. Since you're home a bit later than anticipated, she started the general decorations of the living room but she's saved decorating the tree for when you came home."

"Let's get home then so we can get started, because that sounds like so much fun!"

"As my Lady commands" Edward laughed and handed me a towel.

"Thank you" I gave him a small kiss on the lips as I took it from him. He sat me down on the bridge and went behind the tree line of the forest to give me some privacy to get dressed.

….

We had just finished putting on the last of the decorations on the tree when Carlisle walked in. Alice had found some amazing things for me to choose from for presents. My favorite had been the cufflinks in the shape of seashells I found for Edward. They looked just like a pair of shell I found the other day on a swim. I liked the thought of him having a piece of the sea with him, even if it was a replica in gold. As we put the presents under the tree, the rest of the family came in and we all sat down in the chairs and sofas in the living room. We took turns finding a gift under the tree to hand out and we got to the very last one when Alice jumped out of her seat to take her turn.

"It's my turn to hand out a present now" Alice grabbed the last present from under the Christmas tree and danced her way back to jasper.

"For you, my very own Major Whitlock"

"thank you, darlin' " jasper replied with a heavy southern accent in his voice.

Everything in me froze when I heard that name. My hands went numb and I dropped the beautiful necklace I had gotten from Edward in my lap.

"Ana, are you okay?" Edward shook my shoulder trying to get my attention.

"What… what did you say?" I stammered, why wouldn't my voice work?!

"What do you mean?" Jasper asked, looking puzzled.

"Name… that name! I know I heard it, but it can't be right, that's not possible…"

"My human name was Major Jasper Whitlock, but why shouldn't that be possible?"

"I… I never told you this, but I was named after the mother of my human father. He was the only man she ever loved and his name was Henry Whitlock. He was a soldier who served in a regiment based in Galveston. He used to visit a remote beach near the town, that's where they met, but that's too much of a coincidence… there has to be more Whitlock's in Texas two hundred years ago!"

Jasper looked like a deer in headlights, but shook his head no.

"I don't remember much from my human days, but I have done research since which was made easier by the fact that it was the only family of that name in all of Texas at the time…"

"Then who were Henry to you?"

"I'm not sure; my family were not very prominent, I haven't succeeded in finding more than the photograph from when I was promoted to Major and a few trinkets."

Alice looked liked she would be crying if she could.

"Open the present honey"

Jasper pulled at the wrapper with trembling fingers. I had never seen a vampire tremble. When he managed to open the wrapper, he pulled out a very old looking picture frame.

"How did you find this Alice?" he asked staring at the picture.

"I had a vision and tracked it down of course. Turn it around and read the back."

"General Whitlock and family…"

I couldn't stay in my seat anymore so I crossed the room to see the picture.

"That's my father" jasper said and pointed to the young man on the left. He looked like he would be on the verge of tears, "and that's my Mother… and the baby, that's me, but I don't remember the older man in the center of the photograph, but he's the only one in uniform so he must be general Whitlock."

"That's Henry, my father" I said with silent tears streaming down my face "and your grandfather apparently"

Edward had gotten up and hugged me from behind, and I clung to him.

"How do you recognize him, my love?"

"My mother used to bring me back to the beach where she met him every springtime to tell me stories of him and to reminisce. One year as we approached the beach, he was there. A young couple and two small children who were running around playing surrounded him, but he looked sad even when he smiled. We had to leave because my mother couldn't control her emotions and kept projecting them; it made the children cry.

"You met me before when I was human? Why don't I remember that? How could I forget my own family?" he sounded lost and for a moment, you could see the remnants of the boy who sacrificed his childhood to protect his home.

"Memories and emotions are linked together, maybe I can help…"

When Jasper nodded, I placed my hands on both side of his face to amplify my ability and focused on everything I felt from my mother that day and that he would have felt as well. The longing, the love, the heartbreak from knowing that he had moved on. All of it rolled into one whirl storm of emotions. Tears streamed down my face, they would have on Jasper as well if he could, and I willed him with all of my soul to remember.

"The princess of the sea… I remember… that was the day grandpa told us the story of the princess of the sea… we were inconsolable my sister and I, so he sat us down and told us the story of when he was a young man and fell in love with a princess from the sea. Every night he would come to the beach and every night she would come out of the ocean to meet him. They fell in love, until one day she couldn't come on land anymore, so he had to give her back and let her return to the ocean and her people. He had been sad, but said that he was grateful to have experienced magic in his life, and it would have been selfish of him to hold on to it when it would have put her in danger. He said that when you find happiness in life, that you should treasure it, because you never knew how long it would last." Jasper finished and as I let go of him, I stumbled backwards back into Edwards arms, who wasted no time helping me to sit in an armchair next to Jasper and Alice.

"That was her," I said through my tears "that was my mother he spoke of."

"My love, why did your mother stop being able to go on land? Could that happen to you?" Edward asked while he stroked my arm to help me calm down.

"She got pregnant with me… it is dangerous to go on land, so in order to protect the child a mermaid cannot have her tail dry into legs when she is pregnant. So she had to let him go, it broke her heart to do it."

Jasper, who had been clinging to Alice, suddenly looked up and ran out of the room at vampire speed. When he returned, he held a small wooden box.

"I found this at an auction few years ago; it was dated to the early 1830's and inscribed with the name Whitlock. I figured it was my fathers, but since I can see now that the picture inside isn't my mother I think that maybe it could have been Henry's."

Jasper handed me the box and inside I found a pocket watch. Edward helped me find the mechanism to open it and inside I saw my mother's face for the first time in over a hundred years. The tears were flowing freely now. Edward gathered me up and placed me in his lap when he sat back down; gently rocking me while I clutched the watch, afraid that somehow, it would disappear.

"Thank you…" I stammered out to Jasper, "I never thought that I would be able to see her face again…"

"No… thank you, you brought back memories of my human family. Hell, you are my family – well biological family anyway; I never thought that something like that was even possible."

"Fate works in mysterious ways…" Alice said.

...

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