A/N: I know I told you I wouldn't be updating a lot and that's true. But I found some time to squeeze this chapter in for y'all. I hope you enjoy. But I reiterate, after this it would be a long wait for the next chapters. I'm sorry but I'm a student balancing a lot of things. Tsktsk.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the Cullents.

Chapter 25: A Bittersweet Reunion

There, standing in the middle of the room were Carlisle, Esme, Emmett and Rosalie. They were smiling at me. All of them— even Rosalie. As I looked in their eyes I could see only pure happiness radiating as they gazed at me. Each one of them hugged me tightly, as tight as they could. I should have felt happy by then for I was reunited with my family again. But a sudden pain entered my body— pain that even Jasper and Vaughan could not contain. Because these set of arms were not the ones I wanted to feel, these pairs of eyes were not the ones I longed to see.

My eyes scanned the rest of the room for him but he wasn't there. Had he lied to me again? Was I honestly that naïve to have believed him so easily? No. I refused to believe that. He was coming back. He promised and I trusted him with my life.

"We've missed you so much Bella dear." Esme smiled at me lovingly.

"Yeah Bella. You don't know how hard it was not having you around. There was no one to watch trip all over the place." Emmett's booming laughter sounded throughout the room.

Rosalie's hand instantly found its way to the back of Emmett's head. Emmett frowned at her, "What did you do that for?"

I had to laugh at that. The others joined in but the laughter died out and soon enough, it was silent again. It was in that silence where I heard the soft thud of a door and saw two figures enter the living room.

As I followed her movements, I realized I didn't notice that Alice had left the room earlier. She walked towards Jasper and took her place beside him. My eyes wandered toward the other figure that entered and my breath hitched. If there was any opening at all in my chest, I was sure that my heart could have jumped out of it. There, standing in the center of the room with his eyes cast downwards was the reason for my existence, my true other half. I heard the soft gasps around me as the Cullents laid eyes on Edward for the first time.

Was this true? Was he really here standing right in front of me?

My feet started to move on its own accord and I felt everyone's focus shift to me. When I was only a foot away from where he stood I stopped. Why wasn't he moving? Why was he just standing there and not doing anything? My eyes irrationally filled up with tears and my chest instinctively tightened with these thoughts. Did he change his mind? Was he regretting his decision to come back?

And then, as if he heard the thoughts that passed through my head, he looked up slowly. The instant our eyes met, everything around me melted away. He gazed at me from under his lashes. His eyes were a scorching molten gold. They showed his uncertainty, pain, longing but above all… his love. I shuddered at its intensity.

Slowly, hesitantly, I let my hand reach out to his face and brush his cheeks, never once looking away from his gaze. My mind did not acknowledge the sharp intakes of breath that occurred simultaneously around me. The entirety of my being was only focused on Edward and Edward alone. The moment our skins touched, a jolt of electricity coursed through us. But I didn't pry my hands away from his face. I cupped his cheek with one hand and continued to trace his features with the other. My fingers grazed his hair and made its way down to his forehead. He closed his eyes slowly as I went down further and allowed me to brush his cool eyelids. From there, my fingers glided on his straight nose. I then let my fingertips brush against his cold, marble lips. He opened them slightly as I traced its outline and I felt his cool breath against my hand.

My memory had not done him justice. The dreams, the visions, every thought I had of him could never compare to the god-like beauty that was right before me. This was real— he was really here, he came back to me. I couldn't find the right words to express the complexity of what I was feeling as I looked at him, as I touched his face.

He took the hand the was still hovering over his lips, as carefully as he always did. He brought it up against his cheek and I felt him inhaling the scent from my wrist. Slowly, he turned his head and gently kissed the palm of my hand.

As our eyes found each other again, my self-control completely disappeared. I mindlessly flung myself to Edward and held on to him with every ounce of strength I could muster and sobbed into his chest. I heard his soft intake of breath at the suddenness of my actions and felt his hands hesitantly encircle my waist. But I pressed myself against him, wanting nothing more than to feel the coolness that was radiating off his skin, to be as close to him as possible. The next thing I knew, he was already the one that was pulling me tighter against himself— as tight as he could without hurting me— and he was placing chaste kisses on my forehead, my eyes, on every part of my face that he could reach but never my lips. I was admittedly too distracted to put much care on this issue as I could only focus on so many things at once.

I nuzzled the side of his neck and let my lips trace his jaw line at the same time inhaling his amazing, intoxicating scent. I pulled my face away slightly and took in his breathtaking perfection. I saw that his eyes were closed and a small smile was on his lips.

"You came back." If it wasn't for his vampire hearing, there was no way he could have heard me. "You're really here."

His eyes opened and smothered me with its intensity. "Bella, I would never desire to be anywhere else if you won't be there with me."

He held on to me tighter as he whispered into my ear, sending shivers down my spine. His soft, velvet voice weakened my knees and his indescribably sweet breath didn't help me regain composure one bit. I guess due to his prolonged absence, his effect on me impossibly magnified. Edward's arms were the only ones holding me up as I continued to hold his gaze, letting his words sink in and settle themselves in my heart. My vision started spinning but I did not let that hinder me from looking at my Adonis.

"Breathe Bella." Edward's eyes were wickedly amused as he spoke in a low chuckle.

I willingly obliged. I don't know how long we stood there, content in each other's arms just looking at each other when the world started to move again.

"If I remember correctly, Alice gathered us here because we have matters of greater importance to attend to." Lyra's carefully controlled voice broke the barrier that separated Edward and me from the rest of the people in the living room.

I saw Edward's eyes visibly tighten as he let go of me completely. That's odd. He didn't even keep his arm around me as he would usually do. His head turned to Alice's direction and he nodded as subtly as he could. He let Alice take me away from him and stand me beside herself and Lassarina as he positioned himself in between Emmett and Carlisle. My chest tightened again and I did my best to breathe evenly. I was being overly dramatic. There was absolutely no reason to panic.

"I'll get straight to the point then. Irina wants revenge… and she's teamed up with Victoria."

Alice's voice echoed in my head as I tried to make sense of what she told me. The two vampires who hated me were together… and they wanted me dead. I stiffened. Now there was every reason to panic. My breathing started to get short and labored. I saw Jasper move closer to me in his attempt to send out calming waves. It was working… sort of.

"I'm sorry. I think I speak for the rest of my family when I say that I don't understand what's going on. My family is well aware of this Irina but who is Victoria?" Vaughan said with confusion visible on his face. "And what exactly is your relationship to Bella?" his eyes rested on Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rosalie and Edward as he said the latter but I had a feeling that his question was mostly directed to Edward.

"I'm sorry. I got too ahead of myself." Alice smiled apologetically. "These are Emmett, Rosalie and Edward— my siblings. And these are Carlisle and Esme our parents. Well, non-biologically of course."

She turned and this time addressed her family. "They on the other hand are the Cullents. They are Vaughan and Josette, Lassarina and Ethan, and Lyra and Patrick." I took note of how she coupled them all off and when she paired Lyra and Patrick, a small knot in my stomach formed.

"He looks like Edward." Emmett said in what I believed was supposed to be a whisper.

Rosalie smacked Emmett's head in an instant. But Emmett was too busy ogling that he didn't even give her a proper reaction. I could see the room was quietly comparing Edward and Patrick. As I looked around, only then did I notice how Patrick and Edward were standing right in front of each other with identical postures, looking at each other with a great intensity that would make any other person run for his life. Though it didn't seem like either of them were going to surrender in this staring contest any time soon.

Alice cleared her throat loudly causing all eyes to shift back to her. "Yes, thank you for the keen observation Emmett. Well, you ask who Victoria is so…"

Alice first proceeded with telling us about the encounter with Irina for the benefit of the Cullens. Then she started to recount what happened with Victoria almost a year ago. She told the Cullents about the baseball game, the chase, the hunt, and the disposal of James— Victoria's mate. I didn't know if it was because of Vaughan and Jasper's presence but they didn't seem fazed one bit.

"But why is this Victoria going after Bella if it was Edward that killed her mate?" Vaughan asked.

Alice looked to her family, unsure whether she should tell them that I was more than a mere close friend to the family. Edward's eyes flashed to Patrick and his eyes suddenly clouded with uncertainty.

"Well you see, Victoria wants to make Edward feel the pain she went through as a sort of compensation." Alice started off hesitantly.

"And that involves Bella because?" Vaughan pressed.

He seemed kind of slow. With the way Edward and I acted a while ago, I was so sure that by now the rest of his family knew what Alice was subtly trying to point out. But Ethan's telepathy, Lyra's perceptiveness, Lassarina's sensitivity and Josette's uncanny ability to interpret and see the underlying emotions in gestures and actions sure helped them.

"Bella is Edward's mate." A flicker of surprise washed over me as an irritated, impatient voice rang through the room. It was Rosalie who spoke. "Victoria therefore sees it fit. Mate for a mate."

"But we shouldn't be worried. There are only two of them. We've got the upper hand." Lassarina pointed out.

"That's not entirely correct." I saw Alice shift uncomfortably. "Irina and Victoria are creating an army of newborns."

I think she saw the bewilderment in my face because she asked Jasper to explain how the newborns can serve as a threat to us. I can say, I did not like what I heard one bit.

"When?" Patrick's voice startled me. He hadn't spoken till now.

"A week from now." Alice answered swiftly.

"How many?"

"Around twenty, including Victoria and Irina. But their numbers will diminish."

My breathing slowly became shallower. How were they going to fight so many newborns with immense strength? What if one of them got killed? What if it was Patrick, or Alice or… I refused to think of his name.

"Bella relax. We won't let anything happen to you." Patrick tried to soothe me, but it wasn't working. He took my hand and then pandemonium ensued.

Edward gave off a loud, menacing growl. I looked in time to see Emmett and Carlisle restrain him but he was trying to throw them off. Simultaneously, Lyra let out a growl that could have easily belonged to a tigress and flung herself forward. Lassarina quickly got hold of her and Ethan ran forward to help her contain Lyra. I could see Carlisle reasoning with Edward but his eyes were focused on Patrick and they were aflame with rage and… pain?

I looked at Patrick and saw that he was looking intently at Edward, focusing on something very hard. I immediately knew what was happening.

"Stop! Patrick, stop it!" I yelled angrily at him.

Surprise flitted on Patrick's face as he looked at me. Lyra stopped struggling against Ethan and Lassarina and turned to look at me with bitter amazement.

"What are you talking about? He's not doing anything!" Lyra growled at me.

"He's provoking him. He's thinking of things that he knows would cause a reaction to Edward." Ethan reasoned.

I looked at Ethan, surprised that he knew this. But of course, Edward was not the only mind reader in this room.

Lyra's eyes widened, knowing her brother would not lie to her. She bowed her head in embarrassment but Patrick continued to stand beside me, his face was hard and barred from any emotion.

Edward's growls subsided and turned into silent sobs. He fell to the floor as Carlisle and Emmett let go of him, certain that he would not try to attack anymore. I rushed to his side and kneeled beside him, unsure of what to do. I never dreamed of seeing Edward like this— pained to the extent that he looked so helpless and broken. I could see his entire frame shaking and his hands were curled into fists. As my eyes darted downwards, I noticed a patch of moisture on the floor. I instinctively raised Edward's head so that I could see his face better.

"Edward." I gasped softly. "You're crying."

There on his cheeks, was some sort of liquid now flowing freely from his eyes. I ran my hand over his cheek in an attempt to wipe it dry but more of the liquid trailed down, making it wet again.

"That's impossible." Josette said as she and the rest of the group went nearer, trying to get a look at something so improbable. "Vampire's can't cry."

"But it's true." I argued.

Carlisle kneeled down beside me and examined the moisture that was still escaping Edward's eyes.

"It's venom." He announced.

Vaughan let out a cry of incredulity. "Amazing."

Edward wiped one cheek and examined the liquid that was now only falling at random intervals. He looked away and wiped his other cheek. When he finally looked up he gave me an apologetic smile and helped me stand up.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." He apologized— for crying or going out of control, I didn't know. "They just came out on their own." He chuckled in embarrassment. The latter enlightened me on why he was apologizing.

"Crying hardly deserves an arrest warrant. You shouldn't be apologizing. I cry all the time." I said jokingly.

"True." He smiled his crooked smile.

My eyes softened as I looked into his still shimmering topaz ones. "You cried… for me." I whispered. I didn't know if the disbelief was apparent in my voice but I was still in awe over what happened.

He nodded slowly but he smiled softly at me. His eyes were smoldering once again. "My tears are only for you."