Chapter Forty-Six: A Cullen Family Vacation

Alice (POV)

"You have a jet?" Jacob said incredulously, staring at the business class jet sitting on the tarmac.

"Yes, and it is tailored to our needs. Although we did keep the bathroom, and we made sure to stock some food for the flight." I explained, hoping he would understand we had specific necessities.

"I didn't even know you could buy something that big." Jacob shook his head. "It's just a lot to take in. First, we get packed in a car with Rosalie who drives like she races for a living. Then we get our pictures taken, and an hour later we have new driver's licenses, passports and birth certificates."

"Don't forget school transcripts, medical history and a full DMV record with insurance payments, residential history and a credit score of 750." I continued, making sure he understood that it was a full package, and he could theoretically start a new life with it.

"You mean, I can just keep all this stuff and live…" Jacob frowned deeply.

"Yes, although there is nothing that says you cannot return home and continue living as Jacob Black, Jake Blackwell is just a construct." Carlisle spoke up from behind us. Charlie was quiet as usual, his own opinions on Jenks and his business were suspicious at best, but he managed to not seem hostile while we were in Jenks office.

"Leah Waters has lived a charmed life. She has a solid chance to start college with her GPA and SAT scores, and her family money… Carlisle did you really give us ten million each?" Leah said looking at the folder in front of her.

"Yes, like I said I wanted to give you every opportunity." Carlisle looked slightly embarrassed, but we had all agreed the three of them deserved something for the sacrifice they were making for us.

"Alice, do we have an ETA for Bella and Edward?" Esme asked as she stepped beyond what would be considered a human hearing range in relation to me, after speaking with the attendant.

"Hmmm." I closed my eyes and could see two groups of three. Edward and Bella, with a young red-haired girl between them. Rosalie and Emmett were walking alongside a man who must've been in his fifties when he was turned, but his bright smile and friendly face gave me good vibes. "Soon, less than five minutes."

"I'll let them know." Esme turned and headed back to the attendant, who immediately got on his walkie-talkie to alert the flight crew.

"That's trippy." Seth said with a wide grin.

"I do what I can, it's nice to have my sight back. Although I'm still not quite used to the way it works." I felt myself grumbling.

"How so?" Angela asked sitting next to two identical strollers, a concession to normalcy. We already stood out enough, we didn't need to draw even more attention by carrying Rebekah and Jezebel without an accompanying stroller as a human family would have.

"My visions were always a bit cloudy, kind of like human memories. I would occasionally only see glimpses, and only ever the future. Now, not only can I trace things back to their origin, from a singular point in time I can interact with that vision like walking through a holodeck version of it. I even retain alternate futures, instead of them vanishing as if they never existed. Seeing all of Bella's alternate history for example is how I knew about EJ. Yet I can also see one where you were turned much later and never had your daughters, because Mason chickened out and never knocked on our door."

"That's fascinating." Angela said leaning forward a little.

"Yes, but it is also confusing. I'm starting to compartmentalize the stuff that is no longer relevant so that I don't get it mixed with our current timeline, if that makes sense."

"It does, and it is exciting to know you have an expanded capacity. We need every advantage." Carlisle added, his concern about our uncertain future was something we all felt acutely.

"Well right now, things are wildly in flux, that horrible future still exists, at least partially, but the details keep shifting dramatically. I even saw one potential version of events where we won the day. My only hope is that as time progresses that one possible future will become the future." I made the events seem more positive than they were. We had won, but with a horrible cost. Just thinking about that vision of the future made me emotionally sick, despite the otherwise happy ending. I had to find a way to get through the impending battle with my entire family intact… somehow.

"There they are." Carlisle said pointing towards the entrance to the wing of the airport where our flight was boarding. We all turned, and while I knew what was coming, I still felt shocked to see Bella turn towards the girl walking between her and Edward with an almost motherly smile, saying our names and pointing us out.

"They are so pretty." The girl said sweetly, her voice was so young that it almost hurt to hear her. I couldn't tell from her appearance how young she was, but in so many ways she looked like a child standing between them.

"So are you." Bella said softly, and the girl looked up at her with the most intense look of longing and pain I've ever seen. Whatever her story it wasn't a happy one… and as I thought about it I could see her history laid out before me...

Lexie (POV)

My mom was the one who gave me my first book. I was three maybe, and I remember being curious about a book she was reading. It had a red cover, and strange gold letters on it. I couldn't quite read yet, but she was happy when I expressed an interest in what she was doing. The next day she gave me my own, mostly picture books with simple sentences with large print. Characters like Grover and Kermit became my new best friends.

From there I made so many new friends, Bilbo, Frodo, Tom Sawyer, Nancy Drew, Alice, Charlie and Wonka, and of course Dorothy and Toto. I was nine when I snuck that red book into my room and fell in love with Lestat and his adventures. Mom was a little furious when she found out, but when I told her how much I loved it, she shared Louis' Interview with Daniel, and eventually the next chronicle in Lestat's journey with Aksasha. My love for vampire tales spun out of control, and I delved into some classics and some more modern works, with my nightmares filled with Dracula fighting Van Helsing for months afterward.

Yet my real nightmare started when I was twelve, dad was working as usual, on one of his long trips when my mom collapsed in the kitchen. I called 911 and then spent hours alone in a waiting room with attentive nurses while they figured out what was wrong with her. Dad showed up the next morning, looking tired and drawn. We sat in that room together for the next two days while she went through endless surgeries, the only upside was that my father and I managed to reconnect.

We didn't have a lot in common, he wasn't an avid reader, and never really liked fantasy or science fiction. He knew what a Jedi was, but had no idea what the difference was between a Klingon and a Romulan. Buffy was a bad movie to him, and not a groundbreaking show that practically defined who I wanted to be growing up. Of course, none of that mattered, all that really mattered was that he loved me, and we were worried and terrified that they would come out and tell us she was gone.

In a way I wish they had. Her cancer was removed surgically, the tumor had been pressing against an artery which is why she had collapsed. The next few months we struggled to get her healthy, going to chemo and living through round after round of doctor visits and test after test. She was so tired most days, her love of life and literature, her sense of humor were gone. All that was left was a vague struggle to survive, for me. She was holding on for me. I had just turned thirteen when I realized what she was doing.

I skipped school that day and took a bus to the hospital where mom was in for one more surgery. Not even the doctors seemed very optimistic, except in front of me. I had seen enough to know that things were bad. That's why I went, I had to let her know. The admin nurses all knew me so they waved me through with smiles. The walk to her room felt long, my feet felt like lead. I was about to say something impossible to the most important person in the world to me. When I opened the door she was looking out the window, but turned to look at me. Her face twisting into a forced smile when she saw me.

"Lexie, what're you doing here?" She sat up, although just that simple movement was a struggle. I pulled the chair by the bed close and sat down. I took her hand, and then a deep breath. I had no idea how I was going to say what I was about to say.

"Mom. I know. You don't have to fight anymore, I'll be okay." I squared my shoulders in an attempt to project strength. I tried to keep my voice steady, which was impossible, but I managed to keep the tears at bay. For all of ten seconds, as my mother's usually calm facade broke down completely. She closed her eyes and her head fell back against her pillow, and she wept, but did not let go of my hand. It took her several minutes to compose herself and sit up to look at me again. I could see something in her eyes had changed, but I wasn't sure what it was. I wasn't sure what she would say, I think I wanted her to say I'll always fight for you or some other dribble like that. Instead she opened her mouth a few times, before finally giving me a warm smile.

"Thank you." The two words felt like a shock that went straight through my heart. I tried not to let it show on my face. I tried to be strong for her, but as the tension released from her shoulders and her eyes fluttered shut I knew that she had let go because of me. The alert coming from her heart monitor felt like someone had stabbed me in the stomach, and I started to lose my mind with grief as I stood and started beating against her to wake up. The nurses had to pull me away, I think. They took me to a room and sat me down. Someone brought me a soda later, and eventually my dad came and drove us home. His face puffy with tears.

We didn't speak the entire ride home, or the rest of that evening, or the following week. I picked up a few new friends during that time. I discovered Novalee Nation, Lisbeth Salander, and fell in love with Eric Northman. Yet even escaping into books felt hollow, the person that made the experience better was gone. My mother was dead. Her funeral was lonely, just me and my father. We didn't really have anyone but each other.

Things probably would've stayed that way, if he hadn't started drinking. I don't think dad knew things were falling apart. Yet I could hear the argument he had with his partner, and saw his depression take hold when he got the letter from his lawyer that he was pushed out of the company, a small severance for a decade of hard work. I spent most nights alone as he went out to bars and tried to keep to my room whenever he brought home a woman.

It was a year later, a week after my fourteenth birthday when the house went up for sale, he seemed almost happy. We sold everything and packed some bags and got on an airplane. I didn't even know we were going to Brazil until I saw the destination on the gate. The trip felt longer than it should've, with dad drinking or sleeping and barely able to hold any meaningful conversation. I tried to read but could barely get through three chapters of the latest Stackhouse book. It was frustrating, but even more than that, I was scared. I didn't know where we were going, or why.

The hotel looked nice from the outside, but it was cheap and dirty inside. The staff all spoke English, and were polite, but the other guests scared me. Dad spent his days out on business, although I had no idea what kind of work could keep away for twelve hours a day. He always came home smelling weird, his clothes dirty. He stopped shaving, and after a week I wasn't even sure he noticed I was even there.

It was a Monday when I woke up to him shaking me.

"Lexie, wake up." Dad's voice was weird, but I nodded.

"Daddy." I said feeling groggy and grumpy. I had been bored for days, having re-read the one book I took with me three times already.

"We're going for a ride." He said almost shoving me out of bed.

"I'm hungry." I said as my stomach growled.

"Get dressed, and we'll pick up breakfast." His impatience made me worried, he was sweating, and his eyes were wide and slightly crazy looking. I didn't know much about the real world, but I had been immersed enough in fiction to spot someone strung out. Whether it was drugs or alcohol I had no clue, but I was a little scared to disobey him.

I shuffled quickly to the bathroom and got changed and tried to hold in my tears. He knocked on the door a couple of times as I got ready, and each time I jumped. Once we were outside, he peeled out of the parking lot faster than was safe, and almost hit a guy trying to walk across the driveway out of the hotel parking lot. His breathing was rough, and he kept looking over at me with a nervous expression.

We stopped at fast food for breakfast, but he didn't order anything for himself. I ate in silence as we drove, deep into a part of town I had never seen. The buildings shifted subtly until we were clearly in a somewhat dilapidated part of town. We stopped in front of a row of storefronts on a random street. I had no idea where we were and couldn't even begin to guess how to get back to the hotel.

"Stay here, and keep the doors locked. I'll be back in ten minutes." He said getting out, before dashing across the street and into a store with barred and blacked out windows. So I waited for ten minutes, which stretched into fifteen, twenty. I was starting to feel hot with the windows up and the air conditioning turned off. When I heard a loud, muffled bang, followed quickly by another. I looked around frantically, I recognized the sound of gunshots.

Not a minute later my father stubbled out of the same door he had rushed into, clutching his stomach. His shirt was stained a deep red, and his hands were covered in blood. He almost fell but caught himself just well enough to lurch into the street. The first car slammed on their brakes, but the second clipped him on the left side, spinning him wildly into a small delivery van which hit him at nearly thirty miles per hour. He flew forward like a rag doll, hitting the concrete with a thud that even I could hear through the glass. His face was turned towards me as he landed, and I could see his eyes searching for me.

"Lexie…" I think he was trying to say as his eyes stopped moving and the life drained out of them.

I know I screamed then, but I was too terrified to get out of the car. Instead I watched as people gathered around him. It took a while for an ambulance to arrive, and they didn't even try to work on him. Instead they covered him in a sheet and loaded him onto the back of their truck like a slab of beef. He was gone before I could force my arms to move, and even longer before I stopped crying long enough to get out of the car. I had watched the ambulance and hoped I could walk to the hospital where they took him. So I got out and started to walk.

It was farther than I expected, and soon I found myself walking alone in the streets of a strange foriegn city searching for my dead father. It occurred to me that I was lost and possibly in danger, but it didn't matter. I didn't even fight when the van pulled up and two guys got out to grab me. They were surprisingly gentle when they sat me down in the back next to five others who were all sitting bound and unconscious.

"I'm sorry about your dad kid." The man who grabbed me had a thick accent, but a kind face. "We don't usually take anyone your age, but this is a better life than what those other monsters had planned for you."

"Other monsters?" I said looking at him in confusion, but he shook his head and in a move so fast I couldn't track it he hit the side of my head hard enough to knock me out.

When I woke up I was in a large underground room with poor lighting. There were a lot of people crammed in the small space, but I was laying down on a blanket or something mildly soft. The person next to me shifted when I woke, and I would've stayed asleep if I had known it was the last time I would ever dream again.

"Morning." His voice was deep, and he was clearly American. I looked up and found a friendly face, he looked like my elementary school principal, but nicer.

"Hello." Was all I could think to say, and sat up. "Where are we?"

"No idea, but they brought us here for a reason. That much I'm sure. I'm Constantine, you can call me KC." He held out a hand, which I took and felt a measure of comfort in his presence.

"So we wait?" I asked, not sure if he had any answers.

"I guess. Might as well fill the time, what's your name?" He said with a small shrug.

"Lexie, short for Alexandrea. My mom liked history." I explained, hoping he would know who I meant.

"The femine of Alexander, a strong name. Constantine and Alexander, both named after the Greats." He nodded and took a short breath in thought.

"Yeah, my history is a little light. I'm mostly into fiction."

"Oh, lovely. I'm a second-generation Trekkie." He said with pride, his smile momentarily making me forget my miserable and horrible situation.

"Trekker." I corrected.

"Oh, pish posh. I'm a Trekkie, and no one can tell me otherwise." He shook his head but let out a small chuckle. Then looked down as his laughter faded.

"KC." I said after a few seconds, and he looked at me with a thoughtful look. "I'm scared."

"Me too sweetie." He reached out his hand, and I took it and held on as tightly as I could as we sat in the darkness of what could only be described as a hole waiting for an unknown fate.

A few hours later, just after night fell, they came in. The dozen men and women came in too fast, faster than seemed natural. Then they scanned the group of us, and each seemed to narrow in on one person that seemed to strike their fancy. I realized a second before she moved, that one of them had chosen me. I felt a small pain in my neck, and then came the fire.

Alice (POV)

"Alice?" Esme asked, touching my elbow.

"The girl, she is their daughter now. We need to treat her as a member of the family." I said in warning, and a joyful smile spread across Esme's face. "She's lost a lot and far too early in life."

"Of course." Esme's breath caught in her throat as she turned to look deeper into the airport to catch a glimpse of the new addition to our family.

"Daughter?" Angela said in confusion.

"Long story, but that is why Edward was so cagey over the phone." I extrapolated as I experienced her time in Ricard's compound and felt through her eyes the burgeoning relationship with Edward and the way he described Bella on the long flight here created a longing for an immortal mother, who would never abandon her or leave her.

"There they are." Charlie said as I fought against the impulse to walk over and wrap my arms around him. Even with the changes to his appearance, he still looked almost half a decade older than me and we would have to be careful not to show our relationship in public. Not that we had defined who we were to each other yet. I felt strongly about him, and I was quite sure it was love, but it felt different from my feelings for Jasper.

Our connection felt almost deeper, more powerful and in a strange way a bit more honest. Perhaps I had been too dominant in my relationship with Jasper, I had walked into his life unexpectedly. I always took for granted what my vision told me about him, and never bothered to go through the early stuff, the formative stages where we figured out if we were even a good match.

With my eyes still closed I turned my head towards where I knew they were coming from, and took a deep breath. As I opened my eyes to take in Lexie for the first time physically, I found she had stopped in mid-step as she took in all of us gathered.

"My god. How big is this family?" She said mostly to herself, but Bella turned and leaned down to whisper something in her ear. I felt a strange anticipation as they started towards us again, it wasn't just the new additions. It was seeing our family gathering together again. It had been too long without Emmett and Edward. As they drew close the tension pulled back like a bowstring, as we all stood in a loose circle.

Yet no one seemed to know what to say first.

"Lets board so we can hold a more private conversation." Carlisle finally said, breaking the short awkward silence. Everyone basically nodded, and we all made our way onto the plane. During the short chaos of boarding and getting seated as the plane took off, the core of the family took seats on the two interior facing couches. The rest took the adjoining seats, the wolves buckling themselves in. Charlie and Angela held onto Jezebel and Rebekah respectfully, their arms more powerful than any seatbelt.

"Everyone, I would like to introduce Alexandrea and Constantine. We encountered them when we were held captive in Central America, and have invited them to join us as a part of this family." Edward said formally, his voice relatively neutral.

"It is a great pleasure to meet you." Carlisle started. "I don't know how much Edward has told you, but we are always excited to meet others who share in our values."

"Carlisle." Lexie said, and then turned her eyes around the room. "Esme, Alice, Charlie, Angela. I already met Emmett and Rose. Who are the rest of you?"

"My daughters, Jezebel and Rebekah, and new allies and friends. This is Jacob, Seth and Leah." Angela answered easily, a glance towards the wolves spoke volumes about her feelings on our relationship with Jacob's nascent pack.

"Neat, Damphirs." Lexie said enthusiastically. "I was always partial to stories about true vampires, but Damphirs have a pretty solid base in the fandom. Pretty names by the way."

"You like literature?" Esme asked with a happy and welcoming smile, the love she was already clearly feeling for the girl was very much what I expected. However, knowing Lexie's past I was a little worried we might come off too strong.

"I always thought the whole concept of a hybrid was kind of weird…" Jacob started, but looked at Angela with a small wince. "Sorry."

"It's weird, and I gave birth to them." Angela said with a shrug. "I'm still adjusting to this life."

"Oh?" Lexie looked at her curiously.

"Bella, Charlie and myself are all new to this life." Angela answered simply, and Lexie's eyes went wide.

"Then we are in good company." KC said with a nod. "We start this journey together, with help from trusted mentors and friends." He glanced at Edward and Emmett, and I could almost feel their friendship.

"Yeah, been with them since day one." Emmett said with a wide grin. "They never strayed."

"Neither have we." Charlie said proudly.

"I imagine we have a lot of stories to tell. Who would like to start?" Carlisle asked, looking around the group of us.

"I will." Angela offered, and took a deep breath. "It all started two months ago…"

Each of us shared our story on the long flight. Filling in each other with news and details of our lives since we parted. It went around until it finally came to Lexie and KC. Lexie shook her head, and so KC leaned forward.

"Mine is a sad story, although I fear that Lexie's is more tragic. I am a nurse; my wife was as well. We were traveling to impoverished areas of South America to help, in any way we could. From tending to the sick, to helping build housing. I had made some good choices financially early in our marriage, so we retired early and that was the life we chose. Three months ago, we were with a group that was bringing aid to a small community hit by a recent flood. There were dozens left sick or injured, and hundreds in need of basic necessities. We arrived without incident, but the conditions were worse than we imagined. Within days, half of our group were sick, my wife among them." He spoke lost to the memory, his eyes distant and clearly in pain.

"After she died, I continued my work. I was in Brazil; I rarely indulged in alcohol, but that night I had drunk myself into a deep slumber at a dive bar. When I woke, I was in a plane handcuffed to Lexie and Hana. We were taken to this huge compound with no roads, only a landing strip. Our captors were vampires, and they threw us all in a small room and held us there for what felt like days. Then they came and fed on us. I imagine you have all gone through the burning, it was impossible. When I came to, Edward and Emmett were there. They taught us another way to live, without the cost of human life on our consciences. We were sent to attack another compound to the north, and Hana and I did everything we could to keep Lexie safe. It was chaos, and fire, and while we managed to say together, we found ourselves trapped. Hana… Hana sacrificed herself to save the two of us. I would've joined her, but I had to make sure Lexie made it out of there alive."

"I'm glad you were able to get out of there, and welcome." Carlisle said as almost an official agreement that they were a part of us now.

"Yeah, it was awful. But you know what's really tripping me out? The fact that the two of you are family." Lexie said out of nowhere, pointing towards Bella and Charlie.

"That's right, Bella is my daughter, biologically speaking." Charlie said in confirmation.

"Two generations of vampires, that is something." KC said with a thoughtful nod.

"Bad luck." Charlie sighed slightly.

"It's my fault." I said again, even though if I let myself think rationally about it, Victoria was truly to blame.

"Hardly, stop blaming yourself." Bella scolded me. "Icky Vicky is entirely at fault here."

"Icky Vicky. I love it." Lexie said pressing her shoulder into Bella's, their hands were still intertwined, and the body language was clear. Bell had already adopted this girl, and a mother and daughter bond was already starting to develop between them. I felt a twinge of jealousy, but it was passing. I had found a mate I could picture spending the rest of my existence with, and Bella, Edward and Lexie would be a part of my life forever as well. It occurred to me that in a strange way I was now Lexie's grandmother. I could feel the telltale phantom sensation of tears stinging the corners of my eyes, as a wave of emotions crested over me. I had more family now than I ever thought possible.

"I have been less than forthcoming about my visions lately. So it's hard not to feel at fault when the bad stuff happens." I said, finally admitting my biggest secret to the rest of my family.

"Did you have a vision and choose not to act?" Carlisle asked with a serious look on his face.

"Well, no." I shook my head. I had fought desperately to stop the bad things from happening. I just sucked at preventing them.

"Then you are saying you need to be omniscient about every possible outcome?" Esme asked next. I was starting to feel like they were ganging up on me.

"Umm…" I couldn't come up with a rebuttal that made sense. I shook my head again.

"Alice, you have nothing to feel guilty about." Bella said reaching out and taking my hand. "Your visions are not perfect, and no one expects you to see everything."

"You can see the future. Does every vampire have a special power?" Lexie asked with that same excitement as before.

"No... well yes according to Mason. At the moment there are only… damn six of us that have gifts." I said shaking my head in disbelief. "Plus little Rebekah can do something, at least according to Leah."

"Oh she can do something, I still don't have a clue what she did to me." Leah said with a look of awe on her face as she smiled at Rebekah who giggled at Leah.

"Did it hurt?" Lexie asked with a genuinely curious expression.

"Um, no. She just brought out my deepest issues and kinda clarified them for me. Allowed me to see that I could face them without worry or fear." Leah's explanation made a kind of sense, but I wasn't the only one who couldn't quite understand it.

"That's amazing." Edward said with a small chuckle to himself.

"What can you all do?" Lexie asked with the same curiosity. "I already know Edward has telepathy. Alice you have visions…"

"We probably shouldn't pile on too much new stuff for now." Carlisle said with a small frown. Lexie sat back pouting a little.

"Believe me, I find comfort in the fact my new group has abilities. I was captured, thrown into a small cage, turned into a vampire, and sent off to die as cannon fodder. If it were not for Edward, I would be gone, if not dead I would be a killer. I owe him so much, and all he asked for in return is for me to stay true to my vow to not kill. He even offered me a place, a life. If you are worried about saying too much in front of me before I earn your trust, I do understand. But don't worry about our capacity to accept this life, both Lexie and myself have already bowed our heads against the weight of absurdity and the supernatural." KC's thoughtful reply stunned everyone, and Edward looked so happy and calm, in a way I never thought possible. Some new friends, a mate and child. Had he finally gotten past his self-hatred?

"Um, Angela." Esme said suddenly, looking down at Jezebel. "I know I've been a vampire for a long time and weight doesn't usually matter to me, but she is suddenly weightless."

"Weightless? Here let me have her." Angela unbuckled her seatbelt and handed Rebekah to me.

I watched in amusement as Esme attempted to pass Jezebel to Angela, only for the little girl to wiggle free and float into the center of the cabin.

"What the hell, are we in freefall?" Emmett said with a laugh.

"I don't think so." Jacob said, shaking his head. "Of course, she floats."

Angela stared at her child for a few seconds before she reached out towards her. Jez giggled and pulled away from her, flying back almost five feet right into Charlie's arms as he stood and caught her. A loud blast of laughter erupted from the girl, as she realized someone had her. I saw Angela start to move towards her, when I felt a tiny hand touch my cheek. I looked down and realized something was happening as I met Rebekah's eyes.

"Mom, don't do this to yourself." Rebekah said getting up from the long dining room table, the polished wood casting a sharp reflection from the afternoon light coming through the tall windows to our left.

"I can't take it back. I saw it coming and did nothing." I stood as well and turned away from her.

"Truly, you did nothing?" Her voice was calm, but there was no way she could be so accepting. I had just told her that I saw the death of her parents coming and did nothing to stop it.

"I never said anything, I never told them it might happen. I even saw the events leading there on that horrible day and didn't try to intervene." I lowered my head in shame, the guilt so intense that I hadn't been myself in over a decade. I loved my family, my adopted daughters in particular, but nothing could assuage my guilt.

"So, you suffer. I've seen that look in your eyes my entire life, and you've never let me help." She grabbed the back of the chair she was just sitting in and leaned forwards against it.

"I don't want to; I need my guilt. I can't ever forget them; I can't let you just wash that away." I shook my head, I knew that wasn't what would happen with Rebekah's gift, but I wasn't making a rational argument and I knew it.

"Bullshit. You just want to wallow, and I'm tired of it. Let me help, all it will do is give you a chance to live again. Maybe you can get back together with dad, he still loves you." I looked into her beautiful mis-matched eyes and could only see Mason staring back at me. I turned towards the nearest window and walked over. The green expanse of grass stretched for nearly an acre, perfectly manicured with paths and patches of flowers. Stone benches and a lovely water feature in the center. I had spent so much time making this home perfect for Jezebel and Rebekah, trying to make a home for them to love.

"Okay." I said after a few minutes staring out that window. I could hear her moving towards me, then she reached out and cupped my right cheek, turning my head to face her. A thousand memories came flooding into my mind all at once. Recollections of time over a decade… I hadn't yet lived and would never live. My future family, my broken marriage, my adopted daughters. None of that was going to happen because I couldn't let it happen.

All my guilt, all my conflicted emotions jumped to the front of my mind. Then something dark, buried deep inside lurched forward as the sealed door to my past flew open.

Mary Alice Brandon, that was my full name. I was born in 1901, in Biloxi, Mississippi. My parents were afraid of me, because of the prophetic dreams and predictions that plagued me all my life. So scared that they had me committed when I was fifteen. My sister Cynthia tried to get me out when they died, but she wasn't able to get a court to overturn the order without my doctors signing off on my infliction.

I was eighteen when the monster found me… James. My god James. If it hadn't been for Kumbah, the groundskeeper. He desperately tried to help me, but in the end, James killed him because he had turned me instead of letting James have me. I had lost my memories because of electric shock treatment a year before I was turned. That's why they were gone, my entire childhood was burned away while I was human. Yet it was all still there, just hidden beneath the surface. I was always like this; I was always a seer.

I felt empowered, and I turned towards the vision again, the twisting mire of pain. So many details had already changed, but one thing remained. The battle itself. Now an indeterminate distance in the future, in a place I had never seen before. I could see things trying to solidify, and yet just by focusing my attention on it the threads of that fate began to untangle. There was a battle coming but choosing to withhold or give into a specific outcome was the wrong approach.

I opened my eyes and felt a wide smile on my face. My fears, my pain, my guilt was laid bare and none of it was insurmountable. I was Alice Cullen, and I was never going to let fate rule my life again. Rebekah pulled her little hand from my face, as I realized the rest of the family was still staring at Charlie, Angela and Jezebel.

I looked over at Edward, half expecting him to be staring at me. He looked over when I did but furrowed his brow. "Something wrong Alice?" He thought towards me.

"No, not at all." I gave him a wide happy smile as I formed the thoughts to respond.

"Dream on, dream on, Dream On!" Jacob jumped and looked down at his phone in confusion. "Dad." He said recognizing the number on the display, quickly answering it. "Dad."

"Jake." Billy said with a strange tone of voice. "Are you with them?"

"Yeah, they're good people. They don't deserve what Sam is doing." Jacob's defense of us just confirmed everything we had already seen; he was genuinely on our side.

"That's good. I know you wouldn't make a reckless choice. The council has decided to stay neutral, except for the fact we will honor the treaty. Under one condition, I need to speak with Charlie Swan." Billy's request made Jacob turn and stare at my boyfriend, future husband... I wasn't sure, who simply nodded once in reply.

"He's right here." Jacob said, and then held out the phone towards Charlie who passed Jezebel to Angela, then moved to sit in an open seat next to Jacob.

"Billy." Charlie said in a very familiar way, as someone speaking to a best friend they hadn't seen in a very long time.

"Charlie, are you and Bella okay?" Billy sounded almost like he was reading from a script, but Charlie didn't seem to care and glanced around the plane once.

"Yes, we're fine. Good actually. Bella is happy, and my god so am I. I found her Billy, I never thought I would find someone again." Charlie stole a look towards me, and I felt my breath catch a little. Yeah, I loved him, I just had to figure out a way to tell him in private.

"I'm happy for you Charlie, but I need to know are you and Bella following the same… diet as the Cullens?" Billy clearly didn't like the question, as he almost stumbled over the words a bit.

"Absolutely, I refuse to hurt anyone." Charlie's response had some force behind it, the truth in his sentiment coming through with crystal clarity.

"Is that enough Sam, do you finally accept it?" Billy said, and the game was revealed. There was a long silence, until finally someone on their side spoke.

"I know all of you can hear me through this phone. I know you have left Forks, but are coming back. I will not war against your family any longer, and will honor the treaty. But there are two stipulations that we need to address first. Isabella, do you agree with your father's assessment of your situation?" Sam Uley spoke almost too formally, but it was clear this was something official for them.

"Yes, I agree." Bella said as a bright smile spread across her face.

"Angela Weber, are you present?" Sam asked, as if going down a checklist.

"Yes." She said loudly enough to be heard.

"There are two things we need from you. First do you agree to follow the same lifestyle as the Cullens?" Billy asked taking over from Sam.

"Yes." She said simply, although she clearly wanted to say more.

"Secondly, do you apologize for attacking our pack, and agree never to act in a hostile manner towards us ever again?" Sam continued, this time his voice wavered, this was a stipulation based on fear, I was sure of it.

"Um, yeah. Sorry about that, but you had given us an ultimatum. I agree as long as the treaty is in place, your pack has nothing to fear from me." Angela frowned, and glanced at Carlisle who just shrugged slightly, mouthing the words 'you did fine'.

"Carlisle Cullen, are you present?" Billy said after longer silence, their side clearly on mute.

"Yes I am." Carlisle said with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"The second stipulation is this, due to the increased numbers of your family, we have encountered a rapid rise in transformations. I have no desire to see more children suffer from this life. Our request is twofold, we accept your presence near our land and will continue to honor the treaty as it has stood for over a century. However, we request that your family does not stay for longer than five years at a time, with a gap of at least fifty years between occupations." Sam sounded stilted and uncomfortable, but sincere.

"Ten years." Carlisle countered quickly.

"Six." Sam shot back with a note of hostility.

"Nine." Carlisle came down, glancing at each of us and all giving a small nod of approval.

"Seven, and don't push it lee.. Carlisle." Sam's tone had not changed, and it made me realize Billy Black was forcing this to happen.

"Eight seems to be a fair median." Carlisle said after surveying us once again. Rosalie was the only one that seemed upset to go any lower.

"Eight. Eight years to reoccur no more than once every fifty years. Is that agreed upon." Sam said, ending with a small sigh.

"I agree with your terms." Carlisle said, closing his eyes in relief.

"The council agrees to the terms. The treaty has been ratified." Billy said in response, his own voice full of relief. "The conflict has now been suspended, and according to the new terms your family may return for an additional five and a half years. Charlie and Isabella Swan, while you are technically enemies of the Quileute, we recognize this was not your choice of life and will always consider you a friend of the tribe. Jacob, Leah, Seth you are all welcome back onto Quileute lands as members of the tribe, and your pack is now recognized as independent and autonomous from the Uley pack."

"Thank you, Billy, I cannot express our gratitude. There is something more to discuss, but it can wait until we return. There are some developments that may affect you and your people." Carlisle said as much as he dared over the phone, because going into all the dangers swirling around our heads felt like far too much.

"Understood, we will have a formal meeting when you return. There is one more thing, I just got a call from Rachel. Jacob, she wants you to call her. Something happened, and she won't talk to me." Billy sounded worried, and suddenly everything became clear. Billy forced all of this to happen because he couldn't let his son stand alone against the tribe. Love was what ended Sam's one-sided war, it was kind of beautiful.

"I will dad, see you soon." Jacob said with a somewhat goofy smile.

"We can go home." Seth said almost bouncing in his seat.

"That was unexpected. How did Billy do that? Sam was adamant that we destroy your family." Leah was shaking her head.

"Jacob." Bella said tilting her head, her expression thoughtful. "Billy wasn't going to let Jacob become an enemy of the tribe."

"Legacy." Jake said, almost sneering at the word.

"Love." Esme said as if there were no other possible explanation.

"That's what I thought." Bella said, backing her up.

"I should call my sister." Jacob said with a deep sigh.

"Do we still get the money?" Seth said with a wide toothy grin.

"Of course." Esme said reaching out and patting him on the back. Jacob dialed the number, and it picked up on the second ring.

"Jacob." The voice wasn't familiar, but I assumed it was Jacob's sister.

"Yup. Dad said you wanted to talk to me?" He didn't sound thrilled to be talking to her.

"I shifted, and I have no desire to be in a pack with Sam fucking Uley. Can I join yours, I heard you broke away?" She sounded a little desperate, but I could already see Jacob's gut reaction. He started to say 'NO!' when Leah put a hand on his shoulder. The look on her face was clear and despite having no real idea what wolf politics were at play, I knew that Leah had a voice in the pack.

"Yeah. Can you get to Italy?" Jacob said with a small silent sigh.

"Italy?" Rachel said with a slightly higher voice. "Um, yeah but that'll be the last of my savings."

"I got ya, hell if you have any student debt just let me know." He smirked and glanced at Carlisle with a small chuckle spreading across his shoulders.

"Okay, I'm not gonna ask. Where am I going again?" Rachel said, her voice impossible to gauge.

"Pisa, we'll pick you up. Just call me when you arrive." Jacob said, repressing as sigh.

"Thank you, Jake." She sounded relieved, and I couldn't blame her. Although I wondered how she would adapt to taking orders from her younger brother.

"Love you sis." Jacob let a small smile out, the love he felt for his family clear on his face.

"Love you too." He ended the call and looked around. "So, I hope you guys don't mind one more."

"Not at all." Carlisle said with a wide grin, and I felt a small wave of relief as I realized we were building something special, maybe even strong enough to survive what was coming for us.

Author's Note:

I hope this one wasn't confusing, it has a unique format. Also the vision in this one was somewhat tied to Rebekah's power. To explain a little, basically Rebekah brought out Alice's guilt in such a way that one path of her visions played out before her far into the future (roughly ten years after the events of this story). In that version of events, Angela and Mason were dead, and it is implied that Bella didn't make it either. I won't make any promises about what will happen, but the final conflict will be pretty rough and it is distinctly possible that several characters could die.

Here is Lexie's book list:

The Hobbit
Lord of the Rings
The Adventures of Tom Saywer
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Nancy Drew (series)
Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass
The Wizard of Oz (series)
The Vampire Lestat
Interview With a Vampire
Queen of the Damned
Dracula
Where the Heart Is
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Southern Vampire Mysteries (specifically Dead to the World)

Please take a moment to share your thoughts, I really appreciate any and all feedback. My profile will be updated with upcoming release dates.

Thank you for reading!