Chapter 11:
In my studies of Norse Mythology I learned about the fierce and beautiful Valkyrie women, who were said to be female warriors that were sent down to battlefields by the god Odin to choose which soldiers would be carried to Valhalla once slain. Tales of these women portray them as angels, seducing human men with their wild blond hair and otherworldly allure before carrying them home. But much like the fairytales many of us grew up with, the reality is much more sinister. Valkyrie women did not only choose who was destined for Valhalla, but also chose who lived and who died, using malicious magic to weave the threads of fate, made from the bones and intestines of man, in their favor no matter how valiantly the men fought.
Seeing Rosalie barrel through the trees I was struck with the weight that the myths held. She was beyond resplendent, with her blonde hair flying in tendrils behind her, her perfect posture, and the truculent, angry, determined look on her face. I didn't need to be attracted to her to know that any man would be completely witless to not find himself pleased as well as completely terrified to have this woman deciding their fate.
"You monster! You absolute, complete imbecile! Are you really that selfish? Did it not matter at all to you how your little slip was going to affect everyone else? How it affects her! Now she's no better than any of the rest of us, with her choices stripped from her!" Rosalie's voice screeched at me, piercing harshly through the welcoming peace that originally settled over the family prior to her arrival.
Suddenly we were surrounded by chaos, everything happening all at once. Jasper recoiled, chanting "Alice told you not to interfere, let this happen," in his thoughts, making no attempt to calm the atmosphere. Carlisle and Esme clung to each other, their mouths set in disapproval but their thoughts also determined to do nothing to hedge Rosalie, though they had become between us so many times before.
Emmett simply looked sad and defeated. One train of his thoughts were set on comforting his wife, but not knowing how to. One was aroused by her anger as much as it seemed to hurt him. A completely different train of thought wondered why no one else was saying anything. Alice was standing very close to me, blocking her thoughts off to me entirely by translating as she always did. And then there was Bella, my fierce and flawless wife, who was absolutely enraged. I had never seen her look at someone with such vitriol and I quickly closed the distance between us, wrapping my arms tight around her rigid form.
"Rose, calm down. Please." I urged between clenched teeth.
She laughed coldly. "Why should I? Want me to stay quiet so the golden boy can get his way again? No, Edward. I am sick of this. Once again, you put your entire family on the line for her. Do you even know what's going on? Did you even bother to ask what was happening at home while you were off doing the devil's tango for two whole months?"
I looked around at everyone, a deep well of betrayal settling into my chest. All the times I had talked to them and inquired about how everyone was doing, no one had said a word. I even recalled acknowledging that Alice was hiding things but I had cast it aside, unwilling to part with my bliss. I struggled to find what the hell she was talking about hidden in the minds of my family, my wife shaking with rage in my arms, but no one said a word inside their heads or out that pertained to the matter and there were too many voices to hear anything clearly enough to pick out any information they may let slip.
"I did ask. Clearly I was not told the truth. Get on with it, Rose," I told her quietly.
"War, you idiot. You broke the fucking treaty! The one you made, by the way."
I shook my head. "No, this was Bella's choice-" I had more to say but Rosalie interrupted me.
"The fuck it was! The treaty states that all bets are off if any one of us bites a human. I heard all about it, Edward. She had decided to stay human and you just changed her anyways, because you can't stand to take anyone else's wishes into consideration but your own!"
"Rosalie…" Bella spoke in a dark warning tone, shocking me that she was even capable of speech through her rage.
"I don't want to hear anything from you! You hardly care enough about your own family, how am I supposed to expect you to care about mine?" As those words tumbled from Rosalie's lips, Bella lunged. You could say all you wanted about her, but you never went after the people she loves and Rosalie had crossed a line.
I struggled to hold her back, whispering affirmations in her ear to try and calm her down. Temporarily she was allowing me to restrain her, but the smug look on Rosalie's face was quickly making the matter more and more difficult.
"God damnit, why is everyone just standing around? Help me. I can't hold her back on my own," I pleaded, glancing around at my family.
Let her go, Edward. This has to happen. Alice thought, her mind far too calm for my liking.
"What the fuck are you talking about, Alice?" I shouted.
As I spoke, Emmett's eyes left Rosalie and glared at Alice. Clearly I wasn't the only one in the dark. What most people didn't understand was that Emmett was not a stupid man, not by a long shot, and he was connecting the fact that me, Bella, and himself were being left out of some very important revelation that pertained to the woman he loves and he was not at all happy about it.
Alice began showing me the scene she had seen coming all along. Bella attacking Rose, the two girls tangled in a furious fight. Everyone standing around doing nothing, including me. She was attempting to show more, but I was absolutely on fire with treachery and malevolence and I could not care less about any silly vision she had to show me.
"No!" I shouted, still struggling with Bella.
Do you trust me, Edward? Alice asked silently.
I was at a loss of what to say because on one hand, of course I did. On the other, Bella came before absolutely anyone else and I was not willing to put her in danger for even a second, especially when it was already clear that I had been lied to.
Apparently Alice was pleased with my silence, because the scene in her head melded into Bella and Rosalie post-fight, laughing with their arms slung around each other. Pure confusion joined my amalgamation of emotions. I had seen this exact vision in Alice's head once before, when I first met Bella, except with a different sister in the place of Rosalie. Was Alice really trying to tell me that if I let this happen that all would be forgiven? Surely she didn't think I was that stupid.
"I will not allow it," I spat, causing Bella to pause and look at me questioningly.
"See, Bella. Even now he can't let you make your own decisions," Rosalie sneered. She wasn't sure exactly what conversation Alice and I were having, but I suspected she got the gist.
As she spoke, Alice looked at Jasper and nodded once, as if signaling him. Without hesitation, he pitched towards me, arms out, and I saw the plan in his head to pull me away from Bella. Instinct kicked in in the place of logic and I leapt for him, our bodies crashing together in the air.
With my attention pulled elsewhere and my restraint on her gone Bella was able to charge at Rosalie, who immediately crouched in defense. My only goal was to get to my love. To stop this before someone, namely her, got hurt. I was filled with such rancor that I would not hesitate to tear anyone limb from limb that was attempting to stop that, especially after the treason that I had endured in the course of the past hour.
"Oh shit, girl fight!" I heard Emmett bellow, bringing his fist to his mouth.
He still didn't make any sort of move to come between them. He had it in his head that neither of the women would hurt each other. He found it amusing, and he felt it held no more danger than when the three of us brothers would practice fighting in the woods. He failed to see that this was not two well adjusted 'adult' vampires seeking a little fun. This was the arrogant, proud Rosalie and a very angry and irrational newborn Bella, each fighting for things they were passionate about. He couldn't see how bad this could go, and how quickly it could turn that way.
Jasper and I grappled, my unwelcome look into his thoughts keeping me on an even playing ground with his battle hardened prowess. With both of us gripping each other's shoulders, I lifted my foot up and landed a kick square in his chest, sending him flying. A thundering crack echoed around us as his back connected with a towering redwood, splitting it straight down the trunk.
I don't want to hurt you, Edward. Jasper yelled inside his head, snarling out loud while he righted himself.
"I don't want to hurt you either, but I will if I have to," I replied. I turned to run to break up the fight that no one else seemed interested in stopping. I didn't stand a chance, between Bella's strength and Rosalie's ferocity, but perhaps I could be enough of a distraction to stop this madness.
Bella had landed the first blow, her fist connecting with Rosalie's arm that came up to block her face. Rosalie, the more experienced fighter, crouched and swung her leg out to sweep Bella off of her feet, using her hand on her chest to drive her into the ground. Bella reached up and grabbed Rosalie's hair, quickly flipping the tables so that Rose was now on the ground. Her fist connected one, two, three quick blows, faster than Rose could react. Snarls and growls and curses flew from the girls as I ran towards them, pushing back the strange pride I had in seeing Bella fight with such flawless instinct.
I was too focused on getting to her to anticipate Jasper's arm coming around my chest and pulling me back.
Jesus, Edward, stop! Do you really think I would let Bella get hurt? I love her, you dummy. Alice pleaded with me in her thoughts and for just a moment I allowed myself to believe what she was saying. However, I was being ganged up on and attacked by my own family, how could I trust anything at this point? Glancing up at the porch I noticed Carlisle and Esme had gone inside and I could hear the worried thoughts from the living room. They didn't want this any more than I did, but they were strangely resolved.
It only took a moment for everything to come together in my head, realization washing over me. Alice saw this happening the second Bella had been changed. Rosalie didn't plan to fight her in the beginning, but she did plan to confront me about my follies and her words can cut deep. Alice could see that Bella wouldn't be able to control her response this early in her transformation, and her feelings for me would send her careening over the edge while Rose was berating me. She could also see past the fight to see that neither of the women would be hurt in any sort of lasting fashion, and it would cut the tension between them in the sort of unavoidable way that Rosalie always seemed to need in order to change her mind on anything. From what Alice could tell, this was going to wind up being beneficial, and maybe the only way to get the issue solved as quickly as possible so we all could attend to other much more pressing issues.
They had been preparing me, and maybe even Bella, all along. Letting me know just how angry she was, warning me. But once again, my selfish nature stood in the way of seeing the true danger at hand.
As soon as she saw the events unfolding, Alice told Carlisle, Esme, and Jasper about what them and asked that they not interfere in any way. Jasper suggested cutting the tension with his powers to allow the two women to talk rather than fight, but Alice insisted that it would only delay the inevitable. Bella and Rosalie had to be around each other for eternity now, so the sooner they got along and learned to play nice the better. The only instruction she gave him was to stop me from stopping them.
Emmett was left out of the loop for the same reason I was. If either of us knew about it, we would have delayed their meeting as long as possible, and considering apparently now we had a pack of angry wolves to deal with, that wouldn't be good for anyone.
A soft smile landed on Alice's lips as she saw me accept defeat and decide not to interfere with the scene in front of me that was ripping my heart out of my chest. It felt like she was mocking me, but her thoughts were more of the comforting nature.
It's okay, Edward. I know this is hard for you, but it needs to happen.
I could only glare at her and manage to think that if she knew this was what was waiting for us at home, why did she put Bella in that fucking dress?
Many emotions warred inside me, and though most of them were unwelcome and somewhat foreign, I couldn't ignore the arousal that swept over me while I watched the woman I love fight in this tight fitting number that was just barely managing to cover her most intimate parts. With a sweep of her leg connecting to Rosalie's hip I was thankful that Alice had at least made sure she was wearing adequate underwear of a boy short style. I couldn't help but think how many times I had seen her in such a thing right before she slipped into her bed and into the land of dreams.
I was a sick, sick man. Lusting after my wife while she fought for me.
Rosalie flew through the air, landing against a giant boulder that crumbled to pieces, immediately back on her feet and pummeling her way back towards Bella.
And on and on they went for what seemed like an eternity. In reality, it was likely only a few minutes.
Finally, Bella had Rose pinned once again and they were both staring daggers at each other, faces twisted into angry grimaces and panting with rage.
"I would die for this family, Rosalie. I did die for this family. It didn't go as planned, but I don't regret it. Everyone but you chose me a long time ago. Please just accept the fact that I love them too so we can move on." Bella's voice was shockingly calm and the tension physically rolled off of Jasper, causing him to release his hold on me as he felt the charge in the air slowly fade.
Rosalie considered Bella for quite some time, not saying a word. Her mind was sort of fascinating to watch. Her anger melted away to indignation, purely too stubborn to let go of this battle that she had been fighting one sidedly for far too long. Not for the first time, she thought about Emmett and how much she hated how easily he had accepted Bella. My attraction to Bella and lack thereof to Rose had stung, but to see her husband also show affection to this girl was what had really set her mind against being willing to acquiesce her arrival to the family.
"I like you, Rose. I like how loyal you are and that you fight for this family. I like that you love with all of your heart, and I like that you can sometimes be a damn good sister. But so help me God, if you ever talk to my husband like that, you will not be walking away from a fight again," Bella said.
Jesus Christ, could I love this woman any more?
Slowly, Rosalie's resolve softened. Her indignation changed to something else. Surrender, finally, but also...affection? Something in her was finally realizing that Bella loved just as ardently as she did, that she would fight for all of them the same way she had just fought for me. Rosalie finally saw a sister, rather than an enemy. And once you were family to Rose, she would defend you to the end.
She didn't say a word, only nodded once. She wasn't quite ready to show all her cards to Bella, though she threw a glare at me that wasn't quite as sharp as she may have intended. She knew that I knew exactly what she was thinking, and it drove her mad. I couldn't really blame her, but it was something she learned to live with long ago.
Bella climbed off of her, and held her hand out to help her up. And bless her, Rosalie allowed the assistance. Then, something quite bizarre happened. Bella broke into a smile, Rosalie returned the smile, and the two hugged.
Alice, Jasper, and Emmett sighed as if they had been holding their breath.
"Great, now that that is over, we have some business to attend to," Alice chimed, skipping over to the girls. She threw one arm around each of their shoulders, though it was quite comical since she was so much shorter than the both of them. "I think our parents need to see that you two are in one piece, yeah?"
All three of the girls laughed and a weight lifted off of my shoulders that I hadn't even known I was bearing. For just a moment, it didn't matter that the treaty was broken or what that may mean for us.
Every person I loved was all in one place, and they all loved each other. This gaping hole that had been open for nearly a century was completely full and gone, and it didn't even leave a scar.
A little while later, after Esme and Carlisle had welcomed us back and we all conversed a bit about the parts of the trip that we could talk about without being completely vulgar, the tension was starting to show itself again. It was the ever present elephant in the room. No one was willing to acknowledge it just yet, and I found myself willing to allow my family some peace after the little wrestling match we had witnessed before I hailed them with questions.
For a short time, I permitted myself to take a step back and observe.
Carlisle and Esme sat next to each other on the couch, his arm around her and her hand pressed to his thigh. Rosalie was standing in front of Emmett, his arms around her waist and his head resting on top of her head. Alice sat perched on the back of a chair that Jasper was sitting in, her legs fitted on each side of his shoulders and his arms were wrapped around each of her legs, absently tracing circles on her shins while she messed lazily with his hair. I had seen this same exact layout for so long, but this was the first time I was really a part of it, no longer the spare wheel awkwardly in the corner.
I was on a stool near the bar and Bella stood between my legs, facing sideways with her head on my chest and her arms around me, my fingers playing with the ends of her hair. Even though this wasn't the first time we had been around my family as part of a couple, it was the first time that there wasn't some cloud of doom hanging over us that I may kill her, or Jasper might, or someday she may grow old and leave this earth for good. For a few hours, I didn't think about the war that we faced. I simply basked in the feeling of being simply, impossibly happy.
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XX - Dani