Chapter 24: The Landing Party

AN: Thanks to all my reviewers. You guys are amazing. I'm sorry I don't respond to you to thank you for your reviews. Instead, I work on the next chapter. I think that's a better way to thank you. Oh, and don't worry…the drama is FAR from over

EPOV

Bella let out a sigh and her head dropped onto my shoulder. I looked at her and saw she had fallen asleep. The gentle vibrations of the Coast Guard jet were very relaxing. I looked over and saw Alice with her head on Jasper's shoulder. He had his arm wrapped around her waist.

I looked down at the clothes I was wearing. I had on a white cotton shirt and khaki pants. The people on the island we had arrived at had allowed us to shower in their homes. They also gave us clothes to change into. We had stayed with them until the jet arrived to bring us back home.

I looked down at Bella. She was in a long dress with a floral print. Her hair smelled like coconut. She moved her head, but stayed asleep.

I heard footsteps. I looked up, and saw Amaya Tanaka, the PR rep for Japan Airlines, walking back to where we were all sitting. She down at us: Bella, Cynthia, and Seth were all sleeping. Alice, who had her head on Jasper's shoulder, was staring at something in front of her, not saying anything. Rosalie and Emmett were talking quietly while Mike had his arms wrapped around Leah.

"Hi, I just wanted to let you know we're going to be landing soon. It's a Coast Guard base in San Diego. All you're families are there, waiting, but the facility is private. Also, once the press found out about you being alive, they want to speak with you, but as far as Japan Airlines is concerned, you don't have to do anything."

I looked over at Jasper, and he gave me a small nod.

"No, it's fine. We'll talk to them."

She looked around at everyone else. "Is that alright with everyone?"

"It's fine, we've all agreed. We just want this whole ordeal to be over with. We want to get back to our lives."

She nodded, and started walking back to the front with the pilots. She must have remembered something, because she turned back to us. "By the way, they're calling you the JAL Ten. It's not the greatest name, but the press seems to like it." She went and rejoined the captains.

"Everyone remembers the plan?" I asked them quietly. "Answer only the questions you want to answer. If they ask you something you don't want to answer, or can't answer, don't say anything. They'll think you're in shock."

"We are in shock, Edward," Alice said quietly, still staring.

"Well, then we won't have to convince them about that."

I felt the plane start to descend, so I gently shook Bella. She opened her eyes and stared at me.

"We're landing," I whispered to her. Her eyes opened wide and she sat up.

"Where are we landing?" she asked.

"A Coast Guard base in San Diego. Our families are waiting for us there. Well, the members you put on the list."

Before we left, Amaya asked each of us for a list of family members they were going to contact. They were going to bring them to the landing site for when we got back to the U.S.

"That means my dad will be there!" she said, smiling. The cabin gave a lurch as the jet touched the ground. It came screeching to a stop. I looked over at Alice, and saw she had been gripping Jasper's hand tightly the entire time we were landing.

"You okay, Alice?" Bella asked, looking worried.

"Just not a fan of flying anymore," she said, trying to crack a smile.

"I don't know if I'll ever get on a plane again," Rosalie said, shivering.

The back of the plane opened up, and several Coast Guards connected a ramp to the back. I looked out and saw a bunch of people standing there, craning their heads to try to see inside the cargo hold. I unbuckled my seatbelt and stood up. Everyone else followed suit.

I started walking down the ramp when I spotted my parents. Esme and Carlisle were standing with a group of other people.

"Oh my god, Edward," my mother sobbed. I ran to her and she threw her arms around my neck.

"Mom, I missed you so much," I said as she held on to me tightly.

"Mom!" I heard Emmett call. Esme let go of me and ran to Emmett, tears coming out of her eyes. Emmett pulled her into a bear hug as my father and I quietly hugged.

********

BPOV

"Charlie!" I shrieked when I walked off the jet and saw my dad standing there.

"Bells, is that really you?" he said as I launched myself into his arms. He picked me up and gave me one of his Charlie hugs. I had missed them so much. He set me down and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Dad, I can't believe it's really you," I sobbed into his shoulder.

"I can't believe you're alive," he choked out, fighting back his tears. Charlie was never one to cry, but even he couldn't help expressing his emotions now. He looked at me again.

"You're looking a little skinny, Bell," he said disapprovingly.

"Charlie, I've been living on an island for the past three months. I haven't had a descent meal since before the crash. Cut me some slack."

"I missed you kid. You and your sarcasm." I smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek.

********

APOV

I hopped out of the jet, supported by Jasper. He offered to carry me, but I didn't want my parents to see me for the first time after three months being carried by some guy they had never met before. My mom would probably freak out.

"Mommy!" Cynthia squealed, running out of the jet into our mother's arms. I saw my mom was crying.

I was hopping over to my parents since I couldn't put any weight on my ankle when my dad came running up to me. He scooped me up in his arms and gave me a big kiss on the cheek.

"Ali!" he said, hugging me. "Oh Alice, I can't believe it's really you!" I wrapped my arms around his neck and didn't let go. Then, I started crying.

I thought I was never going to see my parents again, yet here they both were, acting like they never thought they were going to see me again.

Cynthia and my mom came over. Cynthia wrapped her arms around my dad while I gave my mom a kiss on the cheek.

I looked over and saw Jasper standing by himself, no family there to greet him.

"Jasper!" I called out. He looked at me and I motioned for him to join us.

"Mom, Dad, this is Jasper Whitlock. He's part of the reason I'm still alive."

"Oh, thank you!" my mother sobbed, throwing her arms around Jasper. "Thank you for keeping my girls safe." He looked shocked at first, but then returned my mother's hug.

"Aren't your parents here?" my dad asked him.

"No, sir. They died when I was a kid."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You have two wonderful daughters, Mr. and Mrs. Brandon," Jasper told my parents. They both beamed at him.

I was so happy to see my parents liked him. When I eventually would tell them we're engaged, I'm sure they would be thrilled.

********

RPOV

"Ohmigod, Rosalie!" Kendra and Bridgette shrieked when I got off the plane. Since I hadn't spoken to my family in years, I put down my closest friends on the list of family. Kendra and Bridgette were like my sisters since we had been living together for the past three years.

The two of them came over and pulled me into their arms.

"I can't believe it's really you!" Kendra screamed in my ear.

"I'm right next to you, Kendra. You don't need to shout," I said laughing.

"Ohmigod, when that girl Amaya called the house this morning, it was like Johnny Depp had just walked in the mansion. We all thought you were dead since the beginning of June," Bridgette sobbed.

I looked around. "Where's Hef?" I asked.

"Back at the mansion. We haven't touched your room since you've been gone. It was kind of like a 'memorial' to you or whatever. It's just as messy as it was when you left it," Kendra laughed.

"Excuse me; you're calling my room messy?"

"Well, mine isn't anymore. My mom and I cleaned it all up."

I looked at her, confused.

"I'm moving out."

"Why?" I gasped. Kendra was like my little sister. I had missed so much while I was away.

"I met someone, so I'm moving on. I bought a house, and I'm moving out next week."

When she mentioned meeting someone, I thought of Emmett. I peeked over my shoulder, and saw him standing with his parents. He was giving his mom a big kiss. I smiled when I saw that.

"Speaking of meeting someone, tell us who he is!" Bridgette squealed.

"What are you talking about?" I said, trying to act coy.

"Oh, don't treat us like we're stupid!" Kendra said, offended. "I've known you for a long time, and I've never seen you smile after looking at some guy, not even with Hef. So spill. Who's the guy who captured Heart Breaker Rose's heart?"

I looked back to Emmett, smiled, and turned to Kendra.

********

LPOV

Seth and I walked out of the jet and saw everyone greet their families.

Seth and I had none. Our adoptive parents had perished in the crash, and we hadn't spoken to our birth parents since child services had taken us from them.

I looked over at Edward and Emmett talking with their parents, and my heart began to ache.

I looked over at Seth, and saw the sad expression on his face.

"Hey, don't be sad," I said to him, trying to cheer him up. "Mom and Dad wouldn't want us to be sad. They'd want us to be happy, to be with our friends." I knew I was speaking the truth. Dad had always told us that when he died, he wanted people cracking jokes, not crying.

Seth smiled at me. "You're right. Dad said a joke always made everything better." He gave me a big hug.

"At least I still have you, Seth."

I looked over and saw Mike with his parents. He looked over at me and Seth, standing there with no family members to greet us, and walked over to us.

"Mom, Dad, this is Leah Clearwater and her younger brother Seth. This is the girl I was telling you about." I felt my cheeks start to redden. What had Mike told them about us?

"Oh, Leah, it's very nice to meet you. Michael was just telling us all about the wonderful girl he met on the island." She beamed at me.

I looked over at Mike and smiled.

"Your son is quite incredible himself."

I looked over at Mike with questioning eyes. Had he told him mom he'd knocked me up? He slightly shook his head no.

"Where are your parents?" Mike's dad asked.

"Our parents were on the plane with us," Seth said quietly.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry for your loss," Mrs. Newton said, giving me a hug. "But don't you have any other family?"

"Seth is my only family now," I said softly, giving Seth's shoulder a squeeze.

"Well, at least you have each other."

********

EmPOV

I was the last one out of the jet. I saw Rose leave and go to her friends. I didn't see any of her family.

She never talked about her family when we were together. The only thing I knew was that she had been married, but her husband had died. Any time I asked her about her family, she clammed up.

I walked down the ramp and saw Edward with our parents. He was giving Esme a hug while Carlisle stood to his left.

"Mom!" I called out, running off the jet, straight to Esme. She ran to me with tears in her eyes. I pulled her into one of my bone-crushing hugs.

"Oh, Emmett! I'm so happy it's you!" she sobbed. "These past months…I just couldn't…oh, both my sons are alive!"

"Mom, it's okay. Me and Edward are here. We're not going anywhere, I promise."

She grabbed my face and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "You better not!"

I put her down and walked over to my father, who was conversing with Edward.

"…but do you think I'll be able to resume my residency?" Edward was asking.

"I don't know, son. I'll have to see."

"Carlisle!" I said, throwing my arms around my father.

"I see you're still as exuberant as always, Emmett," my father commented, smiling.

"I missed your criticisms, Carlisle," I said to him. "Can you believe I went a whole three months without you insulting me?" He laughed and gave me a hug.

"How's everyone else?" Edward asked.

"Good. Tanya's been hanging around the house. She's been keeping up the search for you the entire time you were missing. Why didn't you have her some to greet you, Edward? She is your wife!" Esme scolded.

Edward looked at the ground, not saying anything.

"We thought this was a moment that should be shared between parents and kids. Why involve spouses?"

"You mean 'spouse'," my mother corrected. "Last time I checked, you were unmarried." I grinned sheepishly.

"You know me, the eternal bachelor."

"Yeah. The day you get married is the day the Eagles win the Super Bowl."

********

EPOV

I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist. It felt nice to finally take a shower in an actual shower after three months. The people from Japan Airlines had given us and our families rooms at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego. Tomorrow, we were having a press conference with all the members of the media to talk about what happened to us. Apparently, we were the biggest news story since Heath Ledger died.

I heard a knock at the door. I sighed. Emmett probably forgot his key when he went to go see Rosalie. Typical Emmett.

I opened the door, but instead of Emmett standing there, Bella was standing there. She smiled when she saw me, and I pulled her into the room.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her. I hadn't talked to her since we got off the plane.

"Well, I realized it had been way too long since I saw you, and I missed you. Plus, do you honestly expect me to sleep by myself after I spent more than three months sharing a mat with you?" She stood up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to mine.

She looked down and saw I was only wearing a towel.

"You already showered?" she pouted.

"So?"

"Well, I still need to shower," she said seductively. She trailed her hands down to my waist and pulled at the towel. I saw it fall to the floor before she leaped into my arms and wrapped her legs around my waist. She kicked her shoes off as I walked to the bathroom with her in my arms. She kept kissing my neck as I turned the water on and we both got in.

***

"Wake up, baby," Bella whispered in my ear.

"Five more minutes," I groaned. I rolled over in the bed and threw a pillow over my head.

"Mr. Edward Cullen, get your ass out of bed," Bella ordered. I didn't answer her. All of a sudden, I felt like an extra 100 pounds was on top of me. I looked up and saw Bella sitting on my chest. She leaned her head down and kissed me. "C'mon, you need to get dressed. We have to be downstairs in like 10 minutes."

"Alright, alright, I'm up," I said, gently pushing her off me. I walked over to the suitcase Esme brought for me and pulled out a pair of boxers, jeans, a white beater, and a short-sleeved blue button-up shirt.

I got dressed while Bella stood in the room, looking at me impatiently. She, of course, was already dressed. She had on a pair of black pants, a light gray tank top with a black jacket, a long gold necklace, and black pumps. (Bella's outfit in profile.)

"You look beautiful," I said, giving her a kiss, after I was dressed.

"Okay, let's go," she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of the room. The two of us made our way down to the Crown Room at the hotel. When we walked in, the rest of our group was already there, sitting at the table, waiting for us.

"Finally," Rosalie muttered. Bella smiled at her.

"Edward needed a little motivation to get out of bed," she said, smirking at me. I pulled her close to me and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"If you two will take your seats, we can bring the press in. They're getting a little impatient," Amaya said, walking up to us. Bella and I took our seats at the table in the stage. I was in between Emmett and Bella. She grabbed my hand underneath the table.

Amaya walked to the doors and opened them. Hundreds of reporters walked in with cameras, microphones, and notepads. Our families were there too. They were seated in the front row. All of the reporters and cameramen took seats in the other rows. Every seat was filled.

Amaya walked up to a podium on the stage and faced the crowd. "I'd like to welcome you all to the Crown Room at the Hotel Del Coronado. Yesterday, August 29, 2008, ten people were rescued after the whole world believed them to be dead. On May 21, 2008, Japan Airlines flight 2232 crashed in the Pacific Ocean. The plane wreckage was found on June 1, along with 104 bodies of passengers. These ten people survived the crash. It is believed they were living on an uncharted island far from the crash site. On day 98, they heard something in the background. Believing rescue was close, they left the island on the airplane raft they had. They eventually drifted to a small island off the coast of the Philippines. They were discovered by local inhabitants. When it was discovered who they were, the Coast Guard was called and the survivors were brought to an air base in San Diego yesterday.

Now, this entire ordeal has been very trying and traumatic for the survivors, but they have agreed to answer some questions. I give you the survivors of Japan Airlines flight 2232."

At once, reporters began shouting our names.

"Dr. Cullen! Dr. Cullen!" a reported shouted standing up. "What was the crash like? How were you able to survive when so many others perished?"

I leaned forward into the microphone in front of me and began to speak. "Uh, the crash was terrifying. It's something that will haunt me for the rest of my life. I remember the plane hitting the ocean and filling up with water. I acted quickly. I was seated right by Miss Swan, so I pulled her out of the plane through the emergency exit before the entire cabin filled with water. We saw the emergency raft floating and got in it. We were joined by the rest of the survivors. We floated in the water for about a day before we ended up on the island."

"Mr. Whitlock!" another reporter asked, standing up. "Why do you think only half of the plane was found?"

"Probably because the plane broke apart when it was crashing. The plane split apart. Sadly, the back half exploded and everyone, including Miss and Mr. Clearwater's parents." Jasper looked over at Seth and Leah and gave them a reassuring smile.

"Miss Clearwater! What was it like living on the island?"

"It was tough," Leah answered. "We had to find everything and make everything ourselves. We were sleeping on mats made of leaves and eating fish and crabs we caught ourselves with tools we made ourselves."

"Miss Swan! You and your fiancée, Jacob Black, were both on the plane. What happened to him?"

"He died," Bella said softly, looking down.

"Was he—?"

"Look, I'm sorry, but I really don't want to answer any questions about Jacob," Bella said, fidgeting uncomfortably in her seat. The reporter sat down.

I gave her hand a gentle squeeze. She turned her face towards mine and gave me a small smile.

********

BPOV

God, why did they have to ask about Jacob? I was glad nobody except the other survivors knew Edward and I were together, or the reporters would be questioning us nonstop about that.

I really just wanted to kiss him now, but I restrained myself. The reporters were still questioning us. I wanted it to end so Edward and I could go back to the room and continue where we left off last night.

"Ms. Hale! What was it like seeing your family after three months apart?"

"I wouldn't know," Rosalie said with fake sweetness. "I haven't spoken to my family since I left Rochester four years ago."

"Why not?"

"That's my business."

"Does it have to do with the death of your husband, Royce King III?"

"I'd prefer not to discuss my personal life," Rosalie said stiffly.

Wait, what?

Rosalie was married?

How did I not know this? She never mentioned the fact that she had been married or that her husband had died.

"Miss Brandon!"

"Which one?" Alice asked.

"Alice. Alice Brandon. Why was Mr. Whitlock carrying you in the photo taken by the fisherman?"

"I hurt my ankle. On the raft, we hit a storm. A huge wave crashed into us and it got crushed when someone fell on top of it."

"Are you and Mr. Whitlock currently involved?"

"I don't believe that's anyone's business but my own."

"Miss Swan! Now that your fiancée is dead, are you planning on returning to work as a stripper?"

All the other survivors turned to look at me. Right, I never told them I worked at a strip club.

"I was never a stripper, I was a waitress. And I don't know. Maybe I'll go back to school instead."

"But you're from a trailer park. How do you plan on financing an education?"

"Miss Swan's financial situation is not up for discussion," Amaya said to the reporter. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Mr. Cullen! What does it feel like to be back?"

"It's great. It was nice to finally sleep in a bed last night, even if it wasn't mine."

"Yes, you shared with Ms. Hale last night."

"Excuse me?"

"There's a photo of you going into her room last night. Ms. Hale, how does your boyfriend, Hugh Hefner, feel about you spending the night with another man?"

Rosalie looked uncomfortable. "Well, just because we spent the night together doesn't mean we're together. For the past three months, we've been used to sharing mats with others. I was lonely, so I called Emmett to come and hang out. We fell asleep."

"Yes, but—"

"Look, I'm not answering questions about my personal life, so drop it."

"Mr. Newton! Your rescue is truly amazing. Since all of you were found alive, don't you think it's possible that there are other survivors out there?"

"No. Absolutely not."

"But suppose—"

"It's impossible. We were the only people to escape the plane. Everyone else died during the crash."

"But there were only about 100 bodies found. What about the others?"

"Well, there are ten of us. Also, at least half of the people were on the part of the plane that exploded. I suppose they'll never find those bodies."

"Dr. Cullen! Are you excited to see your wife after three months apart?"

My mouth dropped open. Did she say wife? As in, Edward's married?

"It will be an interesting meeting," Edward said. He gave my hand another squeeze.

I ripped my hand out of his.

My boyfriend's married?