"Do you have any questions or anything you want us to do before we start?" Carlisle asked.

"No. I'm not afraid."

"This is going to hurt a lot, more than you can imagine. I wish there were a way for it not to cause you pain, but it's an unfortunate part of the process.

Remember, when you wake up, you will be confused and disoriented and that's alright. You may not be yourself at first.

Remember that we love you no matter what." Carlisle said as I nodded. He had me lay back on the bed and he leaned down to kiss my forehead, and then he bit my neck. I was instantly aware of an intense, burning pain. I couldn't muffle my scream even if I tried to.

After what felt like weeks, but was really only a few days, the pain started to subside. First, I could feel my hands and feet without pain. Then, the pain left my arms and legs.

The burning in my chest was intensifying and it was almost done. I vaguely heard Alice calling for the rest of the family and saying that I would wake up soon. All I could focus on was the fire still burning in my chest. It was the memory of Edward and that he was out there waiting for me that kept me strong and kept my heart beating until it had to stop.

With one final, painful thud, the pain was gone, and I was awake. A warm hand touched me. I jumped up and across the room and dropped into a crouch before I could even think about it, growling.

But then, I realized it was Carlisle and straightened up, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Carlisle. You startled me. Your hand was warm, and I didn't realize it was you."

The whole family was staring at me with their jaws dropped, unspeaking. "Is something wrong?" I asked, scared that somehow my transformation hadn't worked as expected.

"Bella!" Alice exclaimed. "You have an ability! You're a shield!"

"A what?"

"A shield! I know how we can rescue Edward!" That was all she had to say. Although my heart no longer beat, it felt like it was pounding in my chest.

The following weeks passed in a blur. Carlisle and Jasper said that I had exceptional self-control for a newborn. I was able to be around humans without being tempted by their scent by the second week.

I knew that I had to overcome the temptation to get to Volterra to rescue Edward, so I did overcome it. I wanted to write him so badly, but Alice said it was best to have the element of surprise when I showed up in Volterra, both for him and for Aro.

The family's reaction when I woke up was because I had started to attack Carlisle and then backed off when I realized it was him. They said they had never seen a newborn stop mid-attack like that before. Alice had a vision of me using my shield against Jane in Volterra and Carlisle quickly called his old friend Eleazar and asked him to come help me learn how to use it.

At first, it was hard. I was full of doubts and didn't believe that I could possibly be special enough to have an ability. It was impossible to visualize my shield or understand how to use it. But soon, Eleazer asked Kate to join him. Kate's ability was to shock people with just a touch. She prided herself on being able to knock even the strongest vampires on their butt, which Emmett happily tested.

I was standing alone in Esme's garden trying to visualize my shield when Kate and Jasper came to talk to me together.

"Bella," Kate started, "You saw me knock Emmett down last night. You know how much my powers hurt. Jasper has agreed to be shocked, but he can't promise not to project the feeling of pain outward like an emotion, so you better prepare to be shocked too, shield or not. We both know Jasper can get past your shield. Esme didn't want me to hurt anything in the house."

Without a second's hesitancy, and before I could run away, Kate reached out and grabbed Jasper by the arm. He didn't react at all.

"Kate, were you bluffing to see if I would shield him?! Not fair!"

"You are shielding him, Bella. He should be on his ass crying right now."

"Oh."

Jasper just smiled at me, proudly. "Gotcha sis. You do have a shield. Now we just have to figure out how to control when you use it."

Kate, Jasper, Emmett and sometimes Carlisle spent the entire day practicing with me. The men happily took turns being shocked, and if I failed to shield them and they got hurt, they didn't complain too much, but got right back up for another go. Well, aside from Emmett. He was happy to complain, but it usually made me laugh.

"Come on Bella, my ass hurts from falling on it so much! Can't you like knock Kate over or something?" We laughed.

After a few more tries, I was able to visualize my shield and control who it shielded.

As a test, Kate tried to shock all three men and I was able to only shield Jasper and Carlisle, or only Emmett.

We all went for a celebratory hunt after a long day. I was starting to feel hopeful. I finally had something to offer that might help save Edward!