Wow, I can't believe that this is the final chapter of Tiger Stripes. A huge thank you to everyone that has read, reviewed and enjoyed this roller-coaster of my creation. I couldn't have done it without you all.
Thanks to WrittenWithJoy for her amazing skills in making this readable and for being my BFF.
Peter's knowing shit belongs to Idreamofeddy and Twilight belongs to S. Meyer, I am only playing with their creations.
There might be character deaths - just sayin'.
Peter POV—One year after the confrontation...
One year, fifty-two weeks, three hundred sixty-five days, eight thousand seven hundred and sixty hours, five hundred and twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes, and believe me I also know precisely how many seconds it had been since the confrontation with the pack and the Cullens. This last year had been a fuckin' roller-coaster with more lows than a back-alley whore on her knees. Charlotte and I were holed up at the ranch trying to keep it together...
Once the dust had settled from the battle, our Italian friends left, taking the remaining Cullens to Volterra to await their punishment. Yeah, they could have done it here but Caius wanted to seek Aro's advice on what to do with them. Caius and the rest of the Volturi needed to grieve for Marcus and where better than the place he'd resided for centuries. It hadn't taken long for Felix and Dem to bundle the veggie vampires into the cargo hold of the plane, still under the effects of Alec's gift. Their plane took off and it was just the four of us again.
Puss was curled up on the couch with Charlotte sitting next to her. Jasper lounged against the doorway into the kitchen, his stance nonchalant and his bright red eyes gazing lovingly towards Bella. With a smile, he straightened his back, standing tall before walking to stand in front of her. Dropping to one knee he held out a small Tiffany Blue box.
"Isabella, will you accept this ring as my promise to court you? I know we talked and decided that we wouldn't have a relationship until after our trip to Italy," he took a deep unnecessary breath, "but I want to promise you that I'll always be here for you whatever you decide."
I'd never seen Bella so speechless before, her mouth gaped open like a fish as she obviously tried to process Jasper's words.
"Bella?" His voice was suddenly uncertain and nervous.
She jerked her head up to look him straight in the eye. "Oh sorry, I umm yes."
His whole face illuminated. "Yes?"
Bella nodded her head. "YES!" she shouted, the widest grin imaginable crossing her features.
Jasper picked her up and hugged her tightly, his emotions making Char and me smile.
From elation to despair, in seventy-two hours. How could we go from the utmost delight to the darkest depression so quickly?
"Jasper, baby," Charlotte's voice pleaded. "You have to let her go. There are things we need to do for her."
He remained still and silent, Bella wrapped in his arms as he sobbed over her.
"Jasper, sweetheart." She touched his arm gently but he flinched away and shuffled around so his back was to Char.
Shaking my head, I hunkered down next to him, making sure not to touch him.
"It's been three days Jasper, it's time to let her go." I kept my voice quiet and calm. He'd been like this since he found Puss seemingly asleep leant against a tree. His wail of anguish could be heard from the house, and Char and I rushed down to find him holding her, rocking her in his arms.
We understood his absolute grief, that he wasn't ready to let go of her. But it was the height of summer in Texas, the thermometer was topping out at over 100 degrees every day. Whilst his body temperature would keep her from... well, you know... it was inevitable it would begin at some point. Raking my hand through my hair, I breathed deeply, trying to calm myself.
"P... P... Peter," his voice croaked from disuse.
"Yeah, buddy, it's me. Can we say goodbye to Puss?" He shook his head, his golden locks covering his face.
"No, she's mine!" he snarled before almost sinking into himself.
"I'll take good care of her, I promise." Charlotte touched his arm.
With a resigned sigh and a soft kiss to Puss' forehead, he lovingly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "She's so beautiful Char, my blue-jean baby." Passing her gently to Charlotte, he slumped on the ground.
Walking slowly back to the house, my thoughts turned to how gorgeous Puss was when Char had finished tending to her—her hair in braids, in a white pretty top, cutoff blue jeans and her favorite pair of boots, the ruby promise ring shining on her finger.
We had a silent vigil over her, our only movement brushing flies away from her face. Caius and the Italian mob had joined us briefly on Skype but they respected Jasper's wishes and didn't fly out to join us.
"Petey, how do I go on now?" It had to be serious if Jasper was calling me Petey. My shoulders lifted in a shrug.
"I don't know, Jasper, but we will get through this, I promise."
He turned his head, the grief written deeply across his face. "What will happen to her? I don't know how they do things now."
Keeping my voice low, I walked him through the steps necessary to register Bella's death legally—she'd often voiced plans for her funeral in her lowest moments, so we knew a simple cremation was all she desired.
"Fuck no!" His voice rose exponentially, "I don't want anyone else to put their hands on her. I will not have her taken to the morgue. I will not have a stranger pawing her. We can do this ourselves."
Charlotte moved to stand behind him, putting her hands on his shoulders. "It's okay, it will be okay, Jasper. We will work something out."
My gift decided to make itself known, showing me a way we could deal with this without help from anyone outside the family. This was a crazy plan and completely illegal but that's what I did best. It would leave us free to say goodbye to her in our own way, one that would nullify Jasper's concerns about strangers touching Bella. I explained the plan to Jasper, and he nodded before resting his hand on her bare leg.
"By the watering hole. It was her favorite place." His voice broke as did Charlotte's and my hearts all over again. I nodded and began to make preparations.
That was the hardest thing I'd ever done in my life, building a pyre fit to cremate Jasper's blue-jean baby. We lit it at sunset, the flames blending with the setting sun, standing and watching as the fire cast Puss' soul to the sky.
Once the fire was out and the ashes cold, we gently raked them up and placed them into Bella's precious battered treasures tin. Weird I know, but what she'd wanted.
Jasper spent the next few days, sat in Confederate's stall. Refusing to feed, move, or acknowledge anything other than his grief. Waves of depression emanated from him, crippling in its intensity. We sat with him as much as we could, but I kept being interrupted by Italians needing comfort.
Opening the front door I stepped inside and flopped onto the couch. Holding my head in my hands, I remembered the details about the Cullens' fate.
Carlisle and Esme were sentenced to an eternity serving the Volturi—Esme to help Heidi with luring tourists in, and Carlisle in the library as an archivist. On being told they were to feed on humans, the absolute fuckwit Carlisle said to do that would be against his conscience. The order was repeated and a concession made that it could be from a bag for the first month. Carlisle still refused and Esme joined him in his defiance, so they were decapitated by Felix and their remains incinerated.
Alice was ordered to take over from Felix's mate, Giovanna, as the receptionist. Edward was to be an errand boy, or as Caius put it, his bitch! After seeing Carlisle and Esme's fate, they reluctantly agreed to drink human blood directly from the source. The sadistic beauty of this was that Alice would see herself feeding from innocent humans before it happened, which would surely drive her insane, and whiny brat Eddy could read his victim's minds.
Emmett was initially sentenced to join the Volturi Guard. He just shrugged his shoulders when told to drink human blood. After a few weeks, he met Corin and from the sparks when they touched each other he discovered that Rosalie was never his true mate. Now that he found his true mate in Corin, he fully embraced his life with the Volturi. I'd never seen the big lug happier.
"Take care Dora, either Char or I will call you in the next couple days." I pressed the end-call button on my cell phone and walked out into the moonlight towards the barn. Patting Confederate gently, I held out my hand and gave him an apple—he was grieving for Puss as much as we were. The lack of tangible emotions in the air had me realizing Jasper was no longer in the stall. My knowing stuff kicked in, telling me to get my ass to the watering hole.
The flames danced higher, red and gold tongues of fire reaching up to touch the heavens, thick smoke curled up into the night sky. The searing heat was incredible, my skin overheating even though I stood meters away.
"Jasper!" I yelled. "Fucker! C'mere!" Deep down I knew it was hopeless, the purple smoke telling me what was going on. He'd done it, he'd fuckin' walked into the fire. How did I not see this coming? How did I not know? Why did my gift not tell me he was going to do this?
With a heavy heart, I stood watching the flames, the white-hot heat at the center glowing almost preternaturally as the remains of my brother, my friend, my sire turned to ash.
They were at peace now. It's over. It's finished. It's ended. Their story ends here. Full stop. Period. The End. Finis. Jasper and Bella would be together until the skies burned and every day for the rest of forever.
The End
I'm aware some of you might want to lynch me right now. Would it make you feel better if I said this was the ending I'd always planned for this story?
I have another story in the works, but I'm waiting till most of it is ready to be posted so that there's not such a long wait next time.
Till then,
Jules.
