Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, Meyer does. I own my characters and ideas, that is all.

A/N: I hereby dedicate this chapter to my friend Silva. I promised I'd dedicate one to her. :)

Gifted

After Victoria finished her tale, I decided to leave the room and give the others a chance to speak with her about her past, including the knowledge of her sister. Victoria seemed a bit awkward initially about opening up to everyone, but she grew more comfortable and I saw no reason to be present when I knew everything I needed to.

Alice joined me some time later and soon enough, the rest of the day passed us by, Alice falling asleep in my arms while laying in my bed. I was more than happy to hold her while she slept, though I had to wonder how comfortable I could be given my cold body temperature. Still, she never once woke up until it was the following morning.

Again, it was a sunny day, so we wouldn't be going to school. Alice didn't care in the slightest; she was happy to have the chance to spend more time with me.

Currently, I was laying on top of my bed with Alice, who was content with snuggling with me while we listened to my iPod together, neither of us wanting to move. I pressed my lips to my mate's forehead and she giggled in return, grinning up at me with her shimmering eyes.

"I love you," she said.

"As I love you," I replied.

"That was really cool of you to do, by the way," she said.

"What was?" I asked, confused.

"The way you talked with your sister to make her feel better," she replied. "That shows how much you care about the members of your family, which I think is really cool. It made me think about my relationship with Cynthia and how we can become closer together as siblings. Plus, Victoria's backstory was really cool to listen to. You vampires are so interesting."

I laughed. "Jeez, Alice, you make us sound like lab rats."

"Wha-no, that's not what I mean!" she huffed. "Don't twist my words around!"

"But I like annoying you," I remarked, snickering at her facial expressions. "I'm playing Alice, I know what you mean. And I agree, too. A lot of my family members have really interesting stories to share since they've experienced more in their lives than the average human. Just ask Carlisle and Esme, they've been around for over three hundred years."

"I couldn't imagine what that's like," Alice remarked. "I mean…how would it feel to live that long without dying? How do you feel, for that matter?"

I shrugged. "It's difficult to explain. Time is a different concept for us than it is for you humans; time goes by slower to us, for instance. We could be sitting in a waiting room for five minutes and by the first minute, we'll be extremely impatient and bored. Carlisle and Esme say that as time goes on, we grow more adjusted to the difference in time and adjust to it."

"It's like how you humans divide time into these ideas. You have milliseconds, seconds, minutes, hours, days, etcetera. For a vampire, all those things are blended together, so, for example, what you might see as being a few minutes might feel like a few hours to me, and at the same time, what I feel like being a day will in fact be several days in real life."

"Wow," Alice breathed. "That's the most you've ever said in a single sitting." She looked at me with awe in her eyes. "And that was really smart, too, Bella. I mean that as a compliment."

I shrugged. "I am intelligent despite what some may think, I simply prefer to keep my wits to myself when it comes down to it. Besides, I can't explain it the way Carlisle and Esme can, they know all the technical, sciency terms and they at least know a way to avoid making your head hurt with a bunch of confusing terms. Not that that's ever happened to me."

Alice giggled and sat up, removing the earbud and turning off my iPod. "Let's do something."

"Like what?" I asked, moving my iPod to my nightstand.

"I don't know," she replied. "I know we can't go into town because of the whole sun thing, but we could maybe go out and hang out in the woods or something? I like spending time in your house, its badass, but I like being in nature all the same, so I figured I'd—"

She suddenly stopped speaking and her eyes glazed over, at which point I knew she was having a vision. I patiently waited for her vision to finish while I put my iPod into its proper drawer, tossing around ideas in my mind for something to do with Alice that wouldn't involve going into town or anywhere near public. That was the biggest downside to the sunlight: lack of options.

"Oh!" Alice breathed as I sat back on the bed. "Um…apparently we're going to have visitors?"

I frowned. "Visitors? Don't tell me it's those Thorne bastards."

"No, not them," she replied. "These people have gold eyes like you. I saw them running through the shadows on their way here, but I noticed they had dark hair and darker skin."

I smiled. "Oh, I know them anywhere. That's Eleazar and Carmen, two more members of the Denali coven up in Alaska. Eleazar's the one with the ability to tell what gift a vampire has, what gift a human will have as a vampire and a way to combat it. He can also find any notable skills a vampire or human has. He was the one who told me my speed was my best trait."

"How come he didn't see you having a gift?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "That has me puzzled as well. I'm going to ask when he arrives."

"What about his mate, Carmen?" Alice questioned.

"Carmen doesn't have a gift, but she's one scary fighter," I replied. "She's as strong as Rosalie in the physical department—and Rose is the third strongest in this family—and as durable as Emmett when it comes to taking attacks. I think what Carmen has going for her is her intelligence, though. She can think faster than the average vampire can, I've noticed that."

"She sounds badass," Alice remarked.

I chuckled. "She is. Everyone in the Denali coven is. But they're not as cool as we are."

"I don't know, I really like Kate and Amara," Alice said, wiggling her eyebrows mischievously when I shot her a scowl. "They're hella sexy."

"True," I replied. "Do you have any idea on when they'll be here?"

Alice tilted her head to one side and concentrated. "I'm guessing…two hours tops?"

I grinned. "So that gives us a bit of time to ourselves, then. What to do…" An evil idea popped into my head and I instantly pinned Alice's wrists down. "I just realized something. I haven't gotten you back for teasing me the other day with the towel bit." I licked my lips. "Tell me, Alice, how long can you hold out on being tickled?"

Alice's eyes widened in terror. "Oh, God, no. Please, no."

"Hmm." My grin widened evilly for dramatic effect. "Nope, sorry, that won't do. Unless you can make me an offer of some kind not to typical you mercilessly…?"

Alice swallowed roughly and tried to come up with ideas. "Um…er…I, uh…I don't…"

"Nothing?" I asked, lifting an eyebrow. "How sad. Oh well."

In a flash I was at her conveniently naked feet, wrapping my legs around her knees to prevent her from getting away as I began slowly stroking her soles. Alice latched onto my bed and practically clamped her mouth shut, struggling as she attempted not to laugh.

"Aw, don't torture yourself, Alice," I cooed. "Laugh. I like the sound of your laughter."

I sped up my motions and rapidly moved my fingers up and down her soles. Alice couldn't take it anymore and burst into a hysterical fit of laughter, thrashing about wildly as I tickled my poor human's feet. I let out an evil cackle for added effect as Alice writhed about like a mad woman in a futile attempt to get away, begging me between breaths to stop.

"S-S-STOP!" Alice screamed, tears starting to form in her eyes. "B-B-BELLA!"

I paused for a few seconds when the sound of heart thundering in her chest started to grab my attention and let her catch her breath. She breathed in and out raggedly, glaring at me as she wiped her dampened face with her sleeve while I remained where I was, smirking.

"I…fucking…hate…you," Alice ground out.

"No you don't," I snickered. "You love me." I rested my hands on my lap. "Are you ticklish anywhere else, my dear Alice? Cynthia made it sound like you were."

"I'm…not telling you," Alice grunted, still catching her breath.

I tsk-ed and shook my head. "Wrong answer, my dear." I began tickling her feet again, reveling in the way she squirmed and laughed from my ticklish onslaught. And while I knew she was hating this, I had a feeling she was secretly enjoying it, too. "Tell me where else you're ticklish, my lovely Alice, and I'll stop tickling your cute little feet."

"NEVER!" Alice shouted, before guffawing and nearly tearing a hole into my bed. A few minutes passed and Alice finally caved. "ALRIGHT! Y-YOU W-WIN! MERCY!"

I stopped my assault and giggled evilly. "Fess up, Alice."

She gasped for air, drenched in sweat now as I un-wrapped my legs from her knees, giving her the freedom to move. She pulled her legs up and hid her feet under my blankets—which was cute, even though I could easily grab them again if I needed to—and ran a hand through her moist hair, glaring at me all the while.

"Bitch," she growled, though I could tell it was mock anger.

"Sometimes," I replied, moving in close. "C'mon, you owe me an answer."

She took in a shaky breath and sighed. "My sides and armpits are ticklish, okay?"

"Good," I said, grinning at the new knowledge. "Thank you. Was that so hard to do?"

"You're evil," Alice huffed.

I kissed her damp cheek, tasting the sweetness of her sweat. "Aw, don't be that way. I'm pretty sure you liked being tickled more than you're letting on, huh?"

She stared at me for a moment before nodding somberly. "Yes, I did."

"Well, I'm glad to know," I said. "Do you want to head downstairs?"

"Ew," Alice replied with a grimace. "I'm all sweaty and stinky. I need a shower first."

"Good point," I agreed. "Alright, then, I'll wait for you downstairs."

"Hey!" Alice huffed. "You're supposed to tell me I don't stink!"

"You don't, but if you walk down there drenched in sweat with messy hair, my siblings are going to jump the gun on how you came to be that way," I pointed out. "And I'm sure you'll be embarrassed like crazy. Therefore, a shower would help prevent that, don't you agree?"

Alice blinked and considered my point before nodding. "You're right. I'll shower. Oh, Bella?"

"Yes?" I asked as I got off my bed.

"Two things," she said, narrowing her eyes. "One, I swear to you I will get you back someday for tormenting me like this and two, you'd better tickle me more often."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Don't those two things kind of clash with each other?"

"Not the point," Alice said, sticking her tongue out at me.

With an air of adorable petulance, Alice made her way out of my room to shower and I couldn't help laughing to myself. I loved moments like this with Alice because it brought us closer together and really helped strengthen the bond we had. I was satisfied yet, however, especially when I mentally compared the closeness the rest of my family had with their mates.

There was an innate connection between mates, one that Alice and I had not yet reached. We were working towards it at a steady pace, which was a definite good sign. The more we learned about each other and the more we opened up, I was confident we would reach that level within no time. Alice meant the world to me and I would make sure she knew that.

While I thought on this, another thought popped into my mind: Alice becoming a vampire. I hadn't given it a lot of thought lately, but the idea had been in the back of my mind as of late, lurking there until I brought it up with Alice herself. Truthfully, I hoped Alice would choose immortality and be with me forever. That would make me the happiest woman in the world.

Almost, I thought. Once Edward is dead, then I'll be happy.

For the time being, I would continue to work hard on training until the time came when I would have the chance to kill Edward. That day would be glorious, but I couldn't get ahead of myself. Edward was a slimy bastard, so killing him would be difficult, especially since I was so emotionally invested in it. I needed to work on that at some point and soon.

With a sigh, I stood up and headed downstairs to enter the family room, which was surprisingly empty for a change. The only person present was Cynthia, who was reading a magazine casually on the couch until I walked in, at which point she set it down and smiled at me.

"Hey, Bella," she greeted.

"Cynthia," I replied with a smile. "How's it going?"

"Good," she replied. "Where's Alice?"

"Taking a shower," I answered, sitting down. "I didn't realize Alice had a thing for being tickled until today. Did you know that?"

Cynthia giggled. "I knew she liked it, but no, I didn't know either. So that's what you were doing up there. Your brother, Jasper, had the strangest look on his face for a little while before he and Victoria left to go…hunt. I figured you would take my advice on it eventually, though. It's fun to tickle torture her, isn't it? She's an easy target."

"She is," I agreed with a snicker. "Say, where's everyone else at?"

"I'm not sure," she said with a shrug. "When I woke up and came down here, Jasper and Victoria were the only two I saw. I asked and they said that your parents were upstairs in their study room, but I'm not sure about the others."

"Oh well," I chuckled. "That reminds me. Alice had a vision of two more of the family's "cousins" coming to visit, the one who can tell if someone has a gift and his mate. Alice said they'll be here within the next hour and a half, just so you're aware. I'm sure he'll be able to find out whether or not you really have a gift or if you're just super smart."

"I hope it's both," Cynthia said, grinning. "I want to make Alice jealous."

"We'll have to wait and see," I said, relaxing into the couch.

Jasper and Victoria returned home around ten minutes later, walking in with bright gold eyes as they greeted me with a hug and cheek kiss. Esme and Carlisle came downstairs shortly after and I informed all of them of Alice's vision about Eleazar and Carmen arriving.

"My, that was prompt," Esme remarked. "I called them the other day to mention it, but I didn't think they'd come down so quickly. I guess they were intrigued by what they heard."

"I thought they were in Spain?" I asked.

"They were on their way back when I called," Esme replied. "I merely mentioned to them that you had a gift and told them about Alice and Cynthia, stating that whenever they had the time, they should come over and help us decipher whether or not Cynthia has a gift."

"It will be good to see them, regardless," Carlisle remarked.

"What are they like?" Cynthia asked.

"Like Carlisle and Esme, only younger," Victoria replied, causing our parents to scowl at her.

"And what the hell does that mean?" Esme asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I meant physically," Victoria stated, biting her lip. "Since you're twenty eight and Carlisle's twenty five and all, I meant how Eleazar and Carmen are both twenty two."

"Bad lie, Tori," Jasper snickered.

Victoria hissed. "You're supposed to be on my side, jackass!"

"I am on your side," Jasper said with a wink. "I simply don't like to lie."

I rolled my eyes as the two began wrestling around on the floor while Carlisle and Esme watched on in amusement. Cynthia seemed to enjoy it as well and I wondered what was taking Alice so long to finish showering. Then I recalled that she enjoyed taking long showers, so I didn't worry about it and decided to join in on the wrestling match by tackling Victoria.

We wrestled for a good fifteen minutes, none of us coming out as the victor. Esme ultimately broke it up when we came dangerously close to breaking one of her prized vases and we all scowled at there not being a victor, though Victoria said we'd have to continue outside. By then, I was beginning to wonder just how long a shower Alice could take.

"Cynthia, what's the longest Alice has ever spent showering?" I inquired.

"About an hour and a half," she replied. "I had to throw her out to get my turn."

"Would you be willing to go check on her?" I asked.

"That won't be necessary," Rosalie replied as she and Emmett walked down from upstairs, a shit-eating grin plastered onto my oldest sister's face. "I think you're going to like what you see, Belly-Button. Alice has a little surprise for you."

"It's not a strip tease, though," Emmett said. "I asked."

I arched an eyebrow. "Do I want to know?"

"Oh yes," Rosalie replied. "You do."

Confused, I wondered if this was the "revenge" Alice had mentioned. I caught wind of her scent and heard a door opening upstairs, so I waited. Not too long after, Alice gracefully made her way downstairs and what I saw shocked me; she'd cut her hair!

"Holy crap," Cynthia breathed.

My thoughts exactly, I said inwardly as Alice strolled over to me. Her once long hair was gone now, replaced by a short mess of spikes that looked utterly sexy on her. She grinned at my reaction and sat down next to me, lightly fluffing her hair for dramatic effect.

"What do you think?" she asked.

"I like it," I replied.

"Sexy, isn't it?" she teased, pressing her lips to mine. "I asked Rosalie to cut it for me and she did a wonderful job." She turned to Rosalie with a sweet smile. "Thank you, Rosalie."

"No problem," Rosalie replied. "Shorter hair isn't my thing, but it looks sexy on you."

"I agree," Alice chirped. She rested her head on my shoulder as I wrapped an arm around her, leaning in to bury my nose into her silky locks. I breathed her intoxicating scent in repeatedly, smiling as I nuzzled further into her hair. Alice giggled. "That feels good."

"It smells even better," I murmured against her head. "And it's so soft."

Alice giggled again and cuddled with me as we both laid our heads on the arm rest, Alice snuggling into my body as I held her close. My body began to vibrate as I continued rubbing my nose against her hair, loving the new short haircut Alice had gotten.

"Oh," Alice remarked. "Your cousins are here."

I frowned and pulled away from her. "Already? That was quick."

There was a knock on the door and soon enough Eleazar and Carmen were walking inside, Carmen smiling warmly as always while Eleazar maintained his usual placid demeanor. They noticed Alice and Cynthia right away and Carmen practically sprang forward.

"Hola!" she greeted, offering her hand to Alice. "I'm Carmen and you must be Alice!"

"Um, hi," Alice replied, slightly surprised.

Carmen beamed. "I'm sorry about my over excitement, I'm just so happy that mi amiga has finally found her other half. And a cute one too, just like Kate and Amara said." She turned to Cynthia, tilted her head to one side, then walked over and smiled. "They didn't mention you, but you must be Alice's hermana, si?"

Cynthia blinked and nodded. "Yes. My name's Cynthia." She shook Carmen's hand when she offered it while Eleazar chuckled and slowly made his way towards us. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise!" Carmen replied happily. She ran around the room to greet everyone, saving me for last when she came and scooped me into a tight hug. "Oh, Bella, I'm so happy for you! You found your mate and you have a gift! Congratulations, mi amiga!"

"Thanks, Carmen," I chuckled, hugging her back as we traded cheek kisses. "Good to see you."

"Thank you for coming on such short notice," Carlisle said, shaking Eleazar's hand.

"It's no problem," Eleazar replied. "When I heard that Bella had a gift, I had to come immediately to see for myself. Plus, hearing about the two human girls staying with you intrigued me as well, so it was double the incentive to visit."

Once Carmen set me down, I stood and walked over to Eleazar. "I wanted to know how you missed the fact that I have a gift. Didn't you notice before?"

Eleazar frowned and studied me for a moment. "Ah. I see. It would appear that I did notice before; I simply never mentioned anything because at the time your gift had yet to fully develop as it has begun to do now. Tell me, Bella, what do you think your gift is?"

"Something speed related?" I replied.

"Exactly," he said. "Your gift…I'm not sure what to call it exactly, but it allows you to move in ways no ordinary vampire could. You can move so fast that, to your eyes only, time itself will slow down, allowing you to avoid unnecessary danger, for example. In a way, it's sort of like an adrenaline rush for a vampire, only to a much stronger degree."

"Since you've only recently discovered it, you have yet to fully tap into the potential you gift has, but I can give you the basic idea of what you're looking at. Your body can move and react quicker than the average vampire and as it continues to develop, you'll learn to think faster as well, making you a threat to anyone you fight against."

"Another thing of note is that you will be able to increase the movement of your entire body to a degree that no ordinary vampire will be able to stop you. A word of warning, however; using your gift in the two unique ways I mentioned repeatedly will wear you down. I suggest training it and starting small before you try anything too overtly strenuous on your body."

"So she's like The Flash mixed with the Matrix?" Emmett questioned.

"To put it into simple terms, yes," Eleazar replied.

"Cool," Alice breathed as I sat back down.

Eleazar looked to Alice and cleared his throat. "My apologies, I didn't introduce myself. I am Eleazar, Carmen's husband. You're clearly Bella's mate and you are her sister." He glanced to both and received nods. "It's a pleasure to meet the two of you."

"Likewise," the sisters chimed together.

Eleazar nodded to each, then looked at Alice. He studied her for a moment with interest. "I don't think I've ever met a human with the ability to see the future before, let alone one with such a heightened gift despite the fact that she's human. Very impressive."

"Thank you," Alice replied with a smirk. "Will it get stronger?"

"Yes," he answered. "I can tell that the full potential of your gift has yet to awaken. If you were to become a vampire, it would unlock that potential, but I don't see that happening if you remain a human." He turned to Cynthia next and did the same to her. "Hmm. What was it you said this girl's gift was, Esme? Or at least, what you believed it would be?"

"I'm not certain," Esme replied. "But she's very good at noticing small details. It seemed like the kind of thing that may evolve into a gift if she were to become a vampire. What do you sense?"

"I sense that she does have a very keen sense of sight and that she will notice the smallest of details fairly quickly, but I don't see it becoming a gift, more so a skill," he replied. "However, I do sense the inert potential of a gift deep within her, one she has yet to tap into the way her sister has, which is understandable as such a thing is quite rare."

"What will my gift be?" Cynthia asked curiously.

"I do believe it will be telekinesis," Eleazar replied. "I could be wrong, as it's harder to tell what a human's gift is for me, but I'm fairly certain. You have this innate ability to notice things, but I can sense that there is a hidden desire within you to want the power to change things lying within you, one that will evolve into telekinesis. Sorry, I'm not sure how else to explain it."

Cynthia and Alice shot up and squealed happily. "That is so fucking cool!" Cynthia shouted in delight. "Now I totally want to be a vampire!"

"Me too!" Alice chirped in agreement.

I watched the two bounce around like giddy school girls and thought to myself about how open they seemed to turning into vampires. Normally when I thought about such a thing for a human, it would be a big decision since most humans had families, friends and other things they would be leaving behind. For these girls, however, I realized they didn't have those things.

I should still talk with Alice alone about it, I thought. Just to be certain.

"Wasn't there something else you wanted to talk about?" Carmen inquired.

"Yes, there was," Carlisle replied. "You see, we've run across a bit of a dilemma."

"Do tell," Eleazar replied. "We planned to stop in Alaska briefly before returning to Spain for our vacation and to visit old friends, but we'd be happy to help in any way we can."

Carlisle and Esme proceeded to explain the situation with Edward and the appearance of the Thornes, Victoria adding some input here and there to give them an idea that the Thornes weren't the nicest vampires around, but also stated we had yet to form a decision on whether or not we could trust them and take their offer of assistance.

In truth, ever since Victoria told her story, we hadn't even discussed the Thornes, primarily because most of us hoped they would simply leave us be and that would be the end of it. Even so, I had a bad feeling in my gut that it wouldn't be that simple. Given what I saw and learned about them from Victoria, they'd be back. But what could we say?

"That's no bueno," Carmen said, frowning. "If they go to the Volturi, then you'll have them to deal with and none of us want that to happen."

"Precisely," Esme replied. "Now you see the problem."

"That is troubling," Eleazar remarked. "Very troubling indeed. Perhaps the best option would be considering turning the girls into vampires? That way, you wouldn't be breaking any laws. Not only that, but the Volturi don't know about their gifts yet."

Carlisle and Esme shared a look. "Turning them would only do so much," Esme said. "And…we still have our treaty to uphold. If we break the treaty, it'll only give us more enemies."

"You could move," Carmen suggested.

Rosalie scoffed. "To where? Even if we did move, we'd have two newborns to deal with and that would be utter chaos." She glanced at Alice and Cynthia when the two halted their dancing of excitement and frowned at my blonde sister. "Sorry, girls, but you've got to know now that when you turn, you'll be extremely difficult to keep in check. We'd have to keep you locked up."

"Only for a while," Emmett added when Alice's eyes widened with terror. I stood and wrapped her into my arms reassuringly. "I mean, if you went near any humans…"

"You would kill them," Victoria finished. "As a newborn, you're gifted with immense strength and a bloodlust to rival it. You'll anger quickly and you'll have poor control, something each of us went through with the exception of Carlisle, who had a strong enough will to resist. The rest of us have killed countless humans because we lost control of ourselves."

"However, you would have us to help you," Jasper offered. "I personally have dealt with newborns in the past and with my gift, it would be easier to keep you calm rather than your primal instincts agitating you quickly like they normally would."

"That wouldn't make it a walk in the park either way," Rosalie stated.

Alice looked up at me. "Is this all true?"

I nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid so."

"Well that stinks," she huffed.

"Don't worry," I murmured, kissing her hair. "I'll be there with you the whole way if that's what you decide to do. We all will. The same goes for you, Cynthia. But let's save this conversation for another time." I turned to Carmen and Eleazar. "What do the two of you think?"

"I think you should accept their request," Carmen said. "Even if you don't like them, having them on your side might be beneficial. Not only that, but they'd be less likely to turn on you because the Volturi like your family more than most."

"They only like us because of Carlisle and Esme," Emmett grunted.

"Maybe so," Eleazar replied. "But she's still correct. Use them. You can act civil on the outside and still manipulate them into being pawns against Edward. It may be a waste of time, but you never know, they might come in handy. Should the worst come to past, you can always use your other allies to crush them. Or we can come and stay in Forks for a time to help."

"Si!" Carmen agreed. "They won't want to mess with all of us combined!"

Carlisle nodded. "True. We'll give it some thought. Thank you for coming to do this for us and I'm sorry we interrupted your vacation time. We appreciate it."

"It's quite alright," Eleazar replied. "We don't mind. I'm glad I was at least able to help identify Bella's gift and discern her mate's sister's gift as well. We're going to leave for the airport, but if you need us again, don't hesitate to call."

"Adios, everybody," Carmen said, waving. "Tell Jane and Riley we said hello."

We bid our goodbyes to the duo as they left just as quickly as they'd come. I thought about what Eleazar had said regarding my gift and made a mental note to practice with it like he'd suggested, but I would do so later on when I was in more of a mood.

I glanced down at Alice, about to ask a question when I noticed her eyes were glazed over. I waited until she came out of her vision to turn her around, noting the frown on her face.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I saw the Thornes," she said.

Victoria shot up. "Where?"

"They're on their way here," Alice replied. "They'll be here within the hour."

Great, I groaned inwardly. Here we go again.

A/N: So there you have it. Bella's gift is super super speed. Those of you who guessed it, kudos.

Truth be told, I intended for Carmen and Eleazar to make a longer cameo. I got so busy with the fluff, it didn't turn out that way, though. Ah well, it's not like they won't reappear in the future along with the rest of their family. :P

At any rate, I now have a new beta. My first has disappeared (which is fine, real life and all), the person who I believed to be my second never got back to me, so now I have a third. Special thank you to urthsin for agreeing to be my beta.

Next question: when you imagine Alice, do you see her as Ashley Greene's portrayal or one of your own mental creation? Is she the overly small girl Meyer made her or do you imagine her being a bit taller? What're your thoughts? For me, I see Ashley Greene and Alice being taller. While in both this and Blood Solstice Alice is 5'2, if I ever write future stories, she'll be...a bit taller. Why? Because I saw Ashley Alice first and like her the most. What about you?