A/N: You're all beautiful, amazing humans and I'm not worthy of your patience! However, thank you for waiting and I hope you enjoy this chapter. I've got a double dose of shout-outs to do at the end so bear with me!

I don't own Twilight, Christmas shopping would be a lot easier if I did though! ;)

"I miss you," I whispered.

"I know, Bella. Believe me, I know. It's like you've taken half my self away with you."
"Come and get it, then," I challenged.
"Soon, as soon as I possibly can. I will make you safe first."His voice was hard.
"I love you," I reminded him.
"Could you believe that, despite everything I've put you through, I love you, too?"
"Yes, I can, actually."
"I'll come for you soon."
"I'll be waiting."
Stephenie Meyer, Twilight

EPOV

Now that Bella had a better intention of why she shouldn't worry about us fighting, there's been an air of calm before the storm. Jacob and Jessica have been getting closer within the last couple of weeks; she had even managed to convince the pack members to help set up for prom. Training was going smoothly and I felt that we had learned as much as we could. Now we had been leaving in pairs to hunt with a wolf or two to watch out for us to keep our strength up for the battle. Alice remained vigilant in her search for Victoria; she even had Bella and Jessica bring over their clothes and tickets just in case they need to leave sooner than later.

During one of the few moments we've had alone lately, Bella opened up to me about seeing the school counselor and talking to her about how our relationship was progressing.

"I was afraid to tell you," Bella admitted. "I thought you would be upset."

"I'm sorry that I ever would have made you feel that way," I told her. "You definitely needed a neutral party you could talk to about this. So how do you feel?"

"I'm starting to feel more stable," Bella told me. "We've been a lot more open with how we feel and a lot more willing to compromise; that's honestly all I've ever wanted."

I held her close to me and kissed her on the temple. "I'm sorry I ever made you feel like you couldn't talk to me," I expressed to her.

"It's partially my fault too," Bella said. "I shouldn't have been afraid to speak up."

"Well, at least we can both figure this out together," I reassured her.

The next day, we did a double date with Jacob and Jessica in Port Angeles; surprisingly, it was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. We perused a vintage record shop, went to the local arcade, found an independent bookstore, and found a vintage store where Jessica found the last of the decorations she wanted to use for prom.

After a few hours together, we decided to head to Bella Italia where the three of them could recharge with some food. Bella ordered the mushroom ravioli, which reminded me of how this should have really been the first date we went on.

"I've gotta ask," Jacob said after he finished chewing a rather large meatball. "Does the smell of food ever bother you since you don't have to eat in the traditional sense?"

"It's not a bother, really," I told him. "We just don't have the desire to eat like anyone else when the scent of food hits us."

"So does the scent of food do anything for you guys?" Jessica asked.

"Sometimes it reminds us of a certain aspect of our lives," I answered.

"Like what?" Bella piped in interestedly.

"Well, whenever I smell fresh baked cookies-I think of my mother baking for special occasions like Christmas or my birthday," I said with a sad smile.

"Do you ever miss your birth parents?" Jacob asked.

"I do," I admitted. "My memories of them tend to fade more and more as the years pass, but I always wonder if they would be proud of me."

"I'm sure they would be," Bella said taking my hand. Jessica and Jacob gave reassuring smiles and the three of them continued on with their meals.

Shortly after the bill was paid and we were coming out of the restaurant, Alice came up to us.

"Alice, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"We have a problem," she said. "The vision with Victoria changed."

"How much sooner is she coming?" Jacob asked.

"About six hours from now," Alice revealed.

"Meaning?" Bella and Jessica asked.

"Meaning we should have gotten the two of you out of here yesterday," Alice said. "Bella, I need your car keys."

Bella handed them over to her; Jasper and Emmett were already out grabbing the girls' bags out the trunk of Emmett's Jeep.

"Don't worry about Charlie, Billy's calling him for an impromptu fishing trip," Alice assured her.

"We've also told him that the weather would be a little rougher when you two were supposed to be leaving in Florida, so you wanted to head out a little earlier," Emmett added.

"What about your parents, Jessica?" Jasper asked.

"They left for a cruise a couple of days ago," she replied. "I can just give them a call to let them know we made it in okay."

"We know you're going to want a chance to say good-bye, so you two ride up with them," Alice said.

After my brothers and Alice said their good-byes, we rode to the airport in a tense silence. Once we were out of the car and the girls were nearing the checkpoint, Jessica tearfully turned towards Jacob and clung to him.

"What if I don't see you again?" Jessica asked Jacob in a panicked voice.

"You'll see me again, I promise," He whispered as he kissed her lightly on the forehead.

Bella turned towards me, trying to keep her own tears at bay.

"Remember what you promised me," Bella said before kissing me soundly on the lips.

"We'll be safe I promise," I told her.

"I love you," she whispered to keep her voice from breaking.

"As I love you," I told her.

Now boarding flight 1425 to Jacksonville, FL at Gate 3b, we heard over the P.A system.

Jessica reached up to kiss Jacob one more time before turning and coming in mine and Bella's direction.

"I should say bye to Jake," Bella tried to avoid looking into my eyes so I couldn't see the tears that were forming. While Bella went to hug Jacob tightly, Jessica looked me in the eye.

"Edward, this is a lot for me to ask-especially since we just started talking regularly," Jessica said. "But promise me you'll look out for Jake."

"I will, Jessica," I promised her.

"And you be careful too," she added. "I saw how bad Bella was when you were gone, I don't know how she'll handle it if anything were to happen to you."

"Jessica, I promise you we're all going to come out of this okay," I assured her.

Now boarding flight 1425 to Jacksonville, FL at Gate 3b, the P.A system repeated.

"You girls better go," I said. "You don't want to miss your flight."

Jessica surprised me by giving me a tight hug. The girls took one last look at the two of us and left for their gate. Jacob and I stood in silence as we watched the two most important women in our lives disappear for safety. We walked to Bella's car and started to drive back towards Forks. I noticed Jacob's leg was shaking constantly so I pulled near the closest wooded area that I could find.

He looked at me in confusion and I just shrugged my shoulders. "You look like you could blow off some steam," I told him.

He nodded in appreciation. "I'll see you back in Forks," he said as he got out of the car, nearly vibrating with every step he took until I saw the giant red wolf take over.

I pushed Bella's car a little bit past the legal limits to get back to my family home where I saw Alice pacing back and forth.

"Alice?" I asked in a worried tone.

"I'm fine," she said. "I'm just trying to keep watch on a lot at the same time."

"What can you see?" I asked her.

"Victoria's army is on the move, they'll be coming by nightfall," Alice announced.

"The girls?" I asked her.

"They land safe and sound at 8:30 East coast time," She said with a small smile. "Renee looks really glad to see her and she's pretty excited to meet Jessica."

"Have Rosie, Esme, and Cassandra gotten back yet?" Emmett asked.

"Wait, where are they?" I asked him.

"They ran to try and draw Victoria to our baseball field while wearing some of Bella's clothes with her scent," Emmett said. "Hopefully it turns out better than when we tried to distract James so that she could get away."

We heard howling in the distance, alerting us that Jake and the pack were drawing near. Around that time, Rose, Esme, and Cassandra were coming back after running.

"Are you sure this will work this time, Ali?" Rose asked.

"The newborns know that we protect her, so it won't necessarily throw them off like it did with James," Alice said.

"We'd better change before we head back to the field," Esme said. "I would hate for Bella's clothes to be ruined."

"Knowing Alice, she probably has a new wardrobe waiting for Bella when she gets back," Cassandra joked.

"That's true," Alice said. "But with you keeping her clothes on, the scent will travel just a little bit longer and convince them she's there with us."

Carlisle pulled in shortly after and came up to the rest of us.

"How much longer do we have, Alice?" he asked her. She shut her eyes for a brief moment and answered Carlisle.

"We have about two hours before they come to the clearing," Alice responded. "We may have a chance to hunt quickly for one last burst of energy before they come."

"How will the wolves know where to find us?" Carlisle asked.

"My vision just went dark, so they should be here any second," Alice answered.

With that, Carlisle ran into the house and changed quickly. The pack came into our backyard and we explained the situation to them. Jacob mentally assured me that they would keep watch so that we would be able to hunt. We ran together and separated into pairs so some could hunt while the others kept watch. In no time at all we finally made it to the clearing.

"You should hang back further in the trees," Jasper suggested to the wolves. "We still need that element of surprise."

The wolves nodded in understanding and backed into the trees. Alice did her best to keep watch with the wolves being near, but eventually gave up and relied on her other senses.

"They're coming up fast," Jasper said. "I can sense everything: their bloodlust, rage, confusion, and even some fear."

"I'm ready," Emmett said, flexing his muscles.

"Bring 'em on," Rose said stretching her neck.

In case anything happens to me, please don't forget the promise your family made me, Cassandra thought as she prepared to face the army with us.

We heard the rush before they had even come through the trees; twenty-two vampires in total came rushing towards us as we prepared to end this nightmare once and for all.

BPOV

The flight itself was smooth as Jessica and I were currently fleeing for our lives. I hated that it felt like I couldn't do anything; I felt even guiltier that Jess ended up involved in this. Fate must love hints of irony because just as Edward and I were getting closer, it seemed like we could be torn apart again by something much worse than distance; and Jacob found the one he couldn't live without just as he promised to protect me.

Jess and I had been sitting in silence for the first two hours of the flight; I don't think either of us knew what to say to the other. Really, what could I say to her?

Sorry for introducing you to someone that's risking his life for me because I started this whole thing by falling for the right person at the wrong time? Yeah, that doesn't cut it at all.

"Bella?" Jess finally broke the silence.

"Yeah?" I said back brilliantly. She finally looked away from the window and looked towards me.

"Do you really believe that they'll be okay?" she asked me as I looked at her tear-stained face.

"This army is going to be strong because they're newer vampires, but we're with two people who have stronger reasons to stay alive," I told her. "I have to believe that they'll be okay because I can't imagine Jacob not being around and while I'm getting better, the thought of Edward being gone permanently…" I trailed off, trying not to let the hole in my heart form again.

"I told him that," Jess admitted, surprising me. "Just before we left the airport, I told Edward to be careful because I'd hate to see you the way you were back in September or even worse," she continued.

I just sat in silence at that point, because I was surprised that Jess had even spoken to Edward before we left, let alone that she would ask him that.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Jess started to say when she must have taken my silence for anger.

"No, no, it's okay," I smiled at her. "Thank you; I think sometimes he needs an outside perspective."

She nodded and we both let out huge sighs, a lot of thoughts swirling through our heads that neither of us wanted to say. Jess looked back out the window and I looked up at the ceiling of the plane.

Even though she was whispering, I could still here Jess say, "I really hope our boys make that red-headed bitch suffer."

As do I, Jess! As do I...

Well, thank you guys again for being patient with this chapter. I was going back and forth on if I was actually going to add the big fight, but I decided to make that it's own chapter, which I plan to start working on soon and hopefully will be up either around Christmas, but definitely before the year ends!

And since I realized that I didn't do the usual shout outs to new followers and favoriters last chapter I have a lot of ground to cover so bear with me!

Thank you to my new favoriters: JazzofPalePhoenix, ShinyHappyPeopleHoldingHands, and Sromum making a second appearance in the thank yous ;)

Thank you to the new story followers: skyfalletta1, lexy1986, hopeisfound, Flute1516, TrueFanV, Anira Back, sujari6, DutchGirl01, and RunningWithNemo :)

And finally, thank you to my favoriting followers: lisamccool388, ShellyBlackRoz, and AriaRain.

Until next time,

xoxo