Love is a Battlefield - Literally

Mara finally collapsed in a chair after pacing around the living room for what felt like hours, though really hadn't been that long. Emily was in the kitchen making more tea while Rachel and Jared's fiance Kimmie sat silently on the sofa.

"It'll be fine, you know. They've done this before," Rachel said, looking over to Mara. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.

"I know, just… I don't like sitting and waiting," she said, sitting up in the chair and reaching for her bag. She dug around inside and then pulled out another of her father's journals. She had thrown it in at the last second, figuring she could probably get some reading in on the drive from Seattle but had nearly forgotten she'd even brought it.

Now was probably as good as time as any to get some reading in. Outside of distracting her from the fact her boyfriend was now likely locked in a battle to the death with a large coven of vampires, she might be able to learn something more about what she could do with her father's gift.

More than anything, she wanted to get over the feeling of helplessness that had come over her. Part of her knew it was silly. But she couldn't help but wish there was something she could do. That she had gotten the shapeshifter gene or that her gift was more helpful.

Or, heaven forbid, that she had been turned.

Mara reached up, her fingers grazing the scar left on her neck from Alessandra's bite. While she was grateful Lila had been able to stop it, she couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if she hadn't. Right now, she would be a vampire. With all the super strength and speed necessary to fight. The others told her that newborns were really powerful, which is why they were such a threat.

Her eyes turned towards the windows, a frown appearing as she looked out to the trees, wondering if she would have been able to help more as a vampire.

"Everything okay?"

Mara turned to look over as Emily walked in with a tray of mugs. Rachel hopped up to her feet, taking it from the very pregnant woman.

"Really, you should be sitting down, Em. You're about to pop," Rachel chided as she put the tray on the table and Emily moved to sit next to her on the couch, propping her feet up. But her dark eyes were still trained on Mara.

"I'm fine," Mara said quickly, dropping her hand to her lap as she looked down at the journal.

"And I can tell when you're lying," Emily replied. Mara looked up at her, eyes wide, but saw the small smile on her face. She sighed.

"Just… wish there was something more I could do," she admitted. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that I'm not a vampire, but can't help thinking I'd be a lot more help like that than I am now."

"You wish you had become one of them?" Kimmie asked. Mara looked up, seeing the look of disgust on her face. Rachel looked completely stunned, though Emily looked more worried than anything.

Mara huffed as she pushed out of the chair, the journal falling to the floor as she began pacing again.

"No, I mean… no. But… if it could help. If it meant that I wasn't sitting here doing nothing while the man I love is out there risking his life to protect me, then maybe?" she said. "God, what good is having a gift if it's not even helpful?"

"But it is helpful," Emily said. Mara stopped pacing and looked over at her. "Maybe not in this exact situation, but it is helpful. You can bring people peace through it." Mara just blinked. "All of us, we all have roles to play in life. Sometimes we are meant to step up and take the lead, and sometimes we have to stay behind. Right now what's most important is that we're here. That you're here. If those other vampires get you or if the Volturi finds you, that's good for no one." Mara still didn't respond. "And that's why they're out there fighting. They're fighting to protect you. To protect all of us."

Mara sighed.

"I know, I know. Just… can't blame me for wishing there was more that I could do," she said. Emily smiled.

"They've fought like this before. They know what they're doing. It'll turn out okay, trust me," she said. And Mara did feel slightly more comforted by her words.

"Sorry. I'm still getting used to… all this," Mara said, offering her an apologetic smile.

"It's okay. We're all a bit stressed out right now," Emily said. Sighing, Mara walked over and picked up the journal off the ground and settled back in the chair. She flipped through it, but stopped, noticing that the binding at the back had come slightly undone when it fell to the ground.

Brow furrowed, she picked at the paper, finding it pulled away from the book cover rather easily. What's more, there was something tucked inside. She could hear Emily and the others start up a conversation, but she wasn't paying attention as she pulled out an envelope, her eyes widening when she saw her name written on the front in her father's handwriting.

Heart pounding, she ripped it open and pulled out the paper, unfolding it and wondering how she had missed this. Her eyes began tearing up. It was dated the day before he died.

Dear Mars Bar,

If you're reading this, it means that I'm no longer here. And while I had hoped to always be there with you, sometimes life doesn't work out the way we planned it. I'm writing this in case I don't get the chance to talk to you about it in person...

Mara stopped reading as her vision became too blurry to continue. She closed her eyes and her hand flew to her mouth.

"Mara?" Emily asked. Mara looked up at her, finding all three women looking at her with worried looks.

"It's okay. It's just… I found a letter from my father," she said, catching her breath as she looked back down at it quickly scanning through the first few lines. "He wasn't sure if I had his gift, but wanted to make sure he left something for me about it just… in case…"

She stopped speaking a few moments as she struggled to regain control of herself. She took a deep, shuddery breath and then looked back down, starting up where she left off. He wrote about how he first felt the gift as a child, but kept it to himself out of worry about what others would think. Then the accident in the pond. How it changed him. How he could actually see what happened to the dead.

Her heart nearly stopped when she came to the paragraph after that.

I tell you all this because I never had the chance to learn about this gift from my father or grandfather - they had passed on before I grew the courage to speak about it with them. And I don't want that for you, should you inherit it as well. I promise that I will be at your side every step of the way once you are old enough to understand the importance of what we can do. I still don't understand just how it develops or why, though my father and grandfather had passed down stories of ancestors who had this same gift.

It's important to know those stories, which I've also written about in my journals. Some of them were even able to bring forth the spirits of the dead - speak to them - though it's something I've yet to do myself.

Mara dropped the letter down onto her lap, her tears now drying as that last bit of information sunk in. Some of them could actually communicate with the dead. Bring them forth, as he said. She looked back down at the journal, quickly flipping through it as she searched for these stories that he had supposedly written down. The ones about their ancestors.

All thoughts of the battle that was likely raging somewhere far off fled from her mind.

"Mara?"

"Shh," she hissed, her eyes moving quickly over the pages as she flipped through them. She then stopped, finding the story she wanted. She was silent as she quickly read through it. She then looked up, finding Emily, Rachel and Kim all staring at her, even more concerned than before. "Okay, I'm going to try something, but try not to flip out too much. I need to concentrate." They just nodded in silent agreement.

Mara put the journal and letter aside, rolling her shoulders as she took deep breaths, willing herself to relax. She had no idea if this was going to work, but it was at least worth a try.

Closing her eyes, she took slow, deep breaths in and out, emptying out her mind as much as she could. She pictured her father in her mind, standing in the living room before her. She could clearly see his tall frame, the way his eyes crinkled when he smiled. His dark hair that was starting to turn gray around his temples. His scent filled her nose - leather and damp moss from the woods. She could feel the warmth of his embrace.

"Dad," she said softly. "I need to see you…"

She heard a soft gasp and nearly lost sight of her father, but managed to grab hold of it, keeping the picture of him in her mind.

She then opened her eyes and stared at the living room in front of her as joy ran through her.

"Hi, Mars Bar," her father said softly. Mara's hands flew to her mouth a moment and then she launched out of her chair and ran towards him. "Afraid that's not really possible," he said, stopping her before she reached him. She stopped as he held his hand out and she tried to touch it, but instead her fingers passed through his. She looked up at him, her eyes already filling with tears again. "I knew you'd figure it out."

"Why didn't you tell me you had the gift? That I might have it?" she asked softly. There were a lot of things she wanted to say to him, to talk about, but for some reason that was the first thing that came out of her mouth. He smiled sadly at her.

"I wasn't sure if you had it," he replied. "And I didn't want to scare you. When the time was right, I planned to sit down and talk to you about it."

"Did Mom know?" she asked. He shook his head.

"I never told her. Wasn't sure that she would understand," he said. Mara nodded and then smiled brightly.

"Can I… can I do this any time that I want?" she asked. He nodded.

"Though I'm not sure how much of a mental strain it will be for you," he said. "Probably best to take it a bit at a time." She nodded quickly. "God, I miss you, Mara."

"I miss you too, Daddy," she said, barely able to control her tears.

"I'm so sorry that I was taken from you the way I was. I did everything I could to keep you and your mother safe from my work," he continued, a remorseful look coming over his face. "But at the same time, I had a duty to stop injustice when I saw it happening."

"I know. I understand," Mara said. "Mom does too. We don't blame you."

"There is so much I want to talk to you about… show you," he said. "But more than anything, I want you to know that I am proud of you. You've grown into a strong woman and I know that you can handle this gift and everything it entails." Mara nodded solemnly. "And I'm always with you, Mars Bar."

"I love you, Dad," she whispered, still smiling even though the tears were pouring down her cheeks.

"Holy shit!"

Mara jumped and looked over, seeing Seth standing in the living room, his eyes wide in shock as he stared.

"Is that a…"

Mara looked back, finding that her father had disappeared. Seth walking in had distracted her and she lost the connection with him. Groaning in frustration, she started to close her eyes to bring him back, but a sharp pain in her head started up. She winced before opening her eyes.

"Emily, do you have any pain killers?" she asked, rubbing her forehead.

"Yes, in the kitchen," Emily said. Rachel hopped up before the pregnant woman could move, already set on getting them. Mara walked over and sat back down in the chair, stunned.

She had brought her father's spirit back. Talked to him. And she could do it whenever she wanted. A delirious grin filled her face despite the pain.

"How did you… what was that?" Seth asked. "You can do that?"

"Apparently so," Mara said, smiling over at him. She then took in the strained look on his face, noting that his presence meant something was wrong. Dread began to fill her as Rachel rushed back into the room with a couple of pills in her hand and a glass of water. "What's going on?"

"Things aren't going well. Jacob wants us to move somewhere safer," he said. All three women looked at each other and then back at Seth.

"How bad is it?" Mara asked.

"No one's died, but… it's not good," he admitted. Mara took the pills and stared down at the journal. She was struggling to fight off the overwhelming feeling that they were going to lose. They couldn't. But it wasn't like there was anything that she could do to help.

Or was there?

Mara looked back up at Seth, her eyes wide as an idea began forming in her mind. It was crazy. And there was no guarantee that it would work or that she would be able to make it last all that long. But it might be enough to help turn the tide.

She put the glass down and stood.

"Take me to where they are," she said.

"What?! No! I'm supposed to make sure that you guys stay somewhere safe!" Seth shouted.

"Either you take me or I figure out how to get there on my own," Mara said. "I've got a plan."

"What? Are you planning to conjure up a bunch of ghosts and scare the shit out of them?" he asked.

"Just, trust me… Please..."

Embry yanked his head to the side, the vampire's arm that was in his jaws, ripping from his body. Before he could react, Embry spit it out and went for his head then made sure the bloodsucker wouldn't be getting back up anytime soon.

He then surveyed the clearing, seeing all of his brothers locked in their own battles along with the Cullens. For a moment, he felt a bit of relief. When Alessandra and her coven had finally appeared, there were far more vampires than they were expecting and he wondered just how it was they had been able to move across the world so quickly without being detected.

More than that, he worried how long before the Volturi came following. There was no way they hadn't heard about this. At least Mara was far away from here and safe.

Embry, watch out!

Embry turned to look just in time to see another vampire leaping at him, arms out. He pivoted out of the way just before the woman could wrap her arounds around his neck. He snarled at her as she quickly spun around and lunged for him again. It was a rapid back and forth. The vampire coming towards him, Embry moving out of the way and then attempting to catch her in his jaws, but not being able to snatch her. While not newborns, these vampires were obviously trained in combat and proving to be hard to beat down.

It had been a rough back and forth, but at the moment, he thought perhaps they were getting ahead. Taking the upperhand.

SHIT! HELP HERE, PLEASE!?

Embry wanted to run over to help Quil, but the vampire had just launched towards him and he barely had time to move, much less make a decision on whether to help or not as he pivoted again. This time he managed to latch on to the woman, clamping down on her midsection until she was lying in two pieces on the ground. Only then did he turn to see Paul bounding over to help Quil with the two vampires that he had been squaring off against. Embry started towards them, but then a howl of pain left his snout as he felt strong arms around his middle, squeezing. He turned every way that he could, trying to reach the vampire before it broke his spine. In the process he got glimpses of the others and it wasn't looking good.

He finally managed to buck the bloodsucker off and was about to pounce on them when he got a hint of lavender in the air. Every hair on his body stood on end as he forgot the vampire and scanned the trees around them.

A howl left his throat.

SHIT! MARA'S HERE!

"Are you sure you can do this?" Seth asked, his eyes fixed on the scene before them. For a moment, Mara was frozen in fear. It was clear that they were losing. If that wasn't motivation to get this right, then she didn't know what was. But she needed to act now if she was going to do this.

She tore her eyes away from the wolves, not sure she wanted to know if Embry was one of the ones on the ground or still fighting. She heard a howl echo out across the clearing and in her heart, she knew it was him.

But rather than take a small joy in the fact that he was still alive, she kept searching the field, her eyes finally falling on the person she had been looking for. She then closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

She didn't know if it would work. Or if it did, what sort of repercussions she might face. There was a very good chance that either way she'd end up seriously hurt or possibly dead.

But she had to do something.

Cecily ripped the head off another vampire and quickly looked around, searching for Demetri. She had tried to stay near him, but as soon as Alessandra had shown up, he had launched into an epic duel with her, intent on killing her quickly in the hopes it might cause the others to stand down.

But it either hadn't worked or he hadn't accomplished it yet as the fighting still raged on around her.

Finally, she saw a flash of long, brown hair and zeroed in on it. Narrowing her eyes, she started after Alessandra. As she sprinted towards her, she watched as Demetri flew through the air, hitting the ground with hard thud. Immediately, he was back on his feet. Cecily narrowed her eyes, focusing on Alessandra as she stood laughing.

Perhaps if Cecily could get close enough, get Alessandra to look into her eyes, she could convince her to stop all this. Hell, she would probably even kill herself if Cecily told her to. She just needed to get close.

Cecily jumped through the air, intending to tackle Alessandra to the ground, but the older vampire turned, seeing her approach. And before Cecily knew what had happened, she had come to an abrupt stop, Alessandra's hand around her neck. Had she been human, the whiplash alone would have likely killed her.

"CECILY!" Demetri shouted.

"Ah, ah. Looks like I get to finally take care of this pesky little problem," Alessandra said, her eyes fixed on Demetri. He took a step towards her, but Alessandra tightened her grip and Cecily swore she heard her skin cracking. "One step closer and I will kill her."

Demetri froze in horror. Cecily struggled, trying to claw Alessandra's hands from her neck, but it was to no avail. She had her lifted off the ground so all she could do was attempt to scratch her as her feet kicked wildly at air.

"Should have stayed with me," Alessandra said, a cruel smile filling her face. Cecily turned her eyes back to the vampire, praying that she would look at her. She wasn't sure if she could make her gift work without the ability to speak, but she would at least try.

"Don't hurt her. I'll come willingly if you let her go," Demetri called out.

"Won't work this time," Alessandra said, tightening her grip even more. Cecily squeezed her eyes shut as she felt more of her neck beginning to crack.

She couldn't help but think right now would be a good time for a miracle if ever there was one.

As if someone somewhere heard her prayers, she felt Alessandra's grip loosen slightly. Cecily's eyes flew open as she looked down at her, finding Alessandra's red eyes opened wide as she looked around frantically.

Cecily followed her view, wondering what was happening. The sounds of fighting quickly died down as well.

All around the group, pale ghostly figures stood watching them, not moving, not making any sounds.

"What… who's doing that?" Alessandra shouted. Cecily looked over at Demetri, though he seemed just as stunned by the figures' appearance as Alessandra did.

Taking advantage of her opening, Cecily swung her legs back and landed a strong kick to Alessandra's stomach, causing the vampire to let go of her. She tumbled to the ground, but jumped to her feet quickly and pounced on Alessandra before she could counter her, shoving her shoulders into the ground.

"Listen to me - you will stop this," Cecily hissed as Alessandra's red eyes met her own. They widened slightly and then glazed over.

"STOP!" Alessandra shouted.

"Good. I'm going to get up, but you aren't going to fight me," Cecily said. Alessandra nodded. Cecily then stood up, making sure that she kept eye contact with her. "You want to do the honors?"

"How about together?" Demetri said, now at her side. Cecily nodded, still glaring at Alessandra who stood dumbly looking at them. After everything, it seemed almost too easy, but Cecily wasn't about to lose their chance.

"Last time you underestimate me," Cecily said before she and Demetri grabbed hold of both her arms and then wrenched her body apart. Before she could attempt to pull herself back together, Demetri pulled a lighter out of his pocket and tossed it on her body, the two of them staring at it as it quickly caught fire.

Only then did Cecily look over at him, still breathing heavily though she wasn't tired or out of breath.

"It's over," she said. He smiled and nodded at her before quickly pulling her into a fierce hug.

"It is," he whispered.

"MARA!"

Cecily pushed away from him, whipping her head around to follow Embry's voice. She finally saw him running naked across the clearing towards the treeline. At the edge was Seth, who was bent over a figure lying on the ground.

"Holy shit…" she muttered, starting towards them.

"Cess… we got bigger problems," Alice called out. Cecily stopped and looked over at her. "They're almost here…"

Cecily froze, not needing to ask who.

The Volturi were coming.

I know! I'm sorry! But I haven't abandoned this one! Just need to finish up Chapter 20. Got distracted by a LOTR fanfic…

Thanks for reading and following!