Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Unbeknownst to the family, Bella spent the next few weeks watching and listening very carefully, trying to do what she could to understand and in some cases, to help. At first she felt extraordinarily guilty eavesdropping on conversations that she was clearly not supposed to hear. She didn't go out of her way to do it. But the Cullens were used to speaking in front of her and in front of other humans. It certainly was convenient to be able to communicate right in the open without dim human ears listening. Bella saw its appeal...like speaking a secret language that others couldn't understand or even know you were speaking it. Unfortunately, Bella's skill with this aspect of her gift only improved. By the end of the school year, her ears had become so attuned to her friends' whispers that she didn't even need to think about it when she listened. It was automatic now.

Bella learned a great deal using her gift, including her family's approximate true ages. Carlisle was by far the oldest-over 300 years. She almost slipped that time, and barely covered up her reaction when Carlisle cavalierly mentioned meeting King James II. Hearing his age first prepared her for the others', though none of them surprised her as much as Carlisle had. Edward was born in 1901, Rosalie and Emmett in 1915, and Esme sometime in the late 19th century. She didn't catch Jasper's age, but nearly had a heart attack when she learned he fought in the Civil War. That explains his obsession with American history, she thought as she stared at him in awe during class. They were actually talking about the Civil War that day. And Jasper was just sitting there, paying attention to the teacher like everyone else...

She now also knew all about the Volturi, ironically thanks to Edward who despite her efforts at a decent friendship with him continued to whine about their potential discovery and inevitable doom and gloom. Edward and Carlisle had a particularly tense conversation about the Vampire royal family while she helped Esme put away that one morning's dishes. Trying not to let on that she was listening (a ridiculously difficult task, Bella discovered), Bella mulled over what she had learned. Aro, Caius, and Marcus sounded like a nightmare. Someone who could know every thought you've ever had, simply with a touch? Edward seemed particularly terrified of a brother and sister named Jane and Alec. The thought of losing her senses made Bella shiver too, but she had rolled her eyes at Jane's description, especially her power. Feeling like you're on fire? Ha! Welcome to Bella Swan's world. Bet Jane's never felt it herself.

Edward proved to be extremely annoying-not only because of his incessant fears over her humanity but also because of the extremes with which he swung regarding their relationship. He was worse than Rosalie! If she wasn't aware of his exact reasons, Bella probably would've given up ages ago. But as irritating as he was, she couldn't deny the validity of his concerns...concerns that would make sense if she was anyone else. Her scent affected them all, though by the time Edward came back from Denali he was the only one that visibly struggled with it. She tried everything within reason to help. She showered as often as she could. She sat as far away as she could without being rude. She even gave in and let Alice take her shopping, just so she'd have more clothes to wear that didn't smell so much like her all the time. None of it worked. The only thing that made any difference was her brilliant realization that scent traveled by wind. Now that she knew the signs, she could always tell when it was too much for him. His eyes would darken and Bella would subtly shift the heading of the wind so that her scent traveled in a different direction. It didn't necessarily stop his pain, but at least it seemed to halt its rise until he could find an excuse to leave.

Bella really did feel bad for him, and kept trying to befriend him much to his annoyance. She took every opportunity to talk to him...about books, music, anything to get him to warm up to her. She understood that exposure to her would help lessen his uncontrollable hunger for her blood. She assumed that's how the other Cullens, especially Jasper got over wanting to bite her. Her progression with him was a frustrating one step forward, two steps back ordeal. They'd have a pleasant conversation one day, then the next he'd pointedly ignore her. He'd brighten as she expressed a liking for a favorite band of his, then sulk for the remainder of the day, reminding his family that they'd probably kill her before the end of summer. It was all Bella could do not to levitate him into a wall head-first.

If he only knew how many times her knowledge had helped them avoid a sticky situation. Bella understood that their friendship with her was against Vampire customs, and that in fact they had unknowingly already broken the cardinal Vampire law of secrecy. So she did what she could to help them keep their secret. Ignoring their eating habits was just the tip of the iceberg. There was the one time she and Alice went shopping in Port Angeles, and right before they were about to step out of the car the sun came out. Poor Alice was trying to find an excuse to stay in the car a while longer, but Bella solved her problem by exclaiming her sudden need for a bathroom and rushed inside, yelling at Alice to meet her in the store.

There was the time Emmett accidentally broke the xbox controller straight down the middle while they were playing together. Bella heard it of course, but pretended she hadn't and tore his character to pieces while Rosalie discreetly handed him another controller. Rosalie had a similar incident...only it was the bumper of a car that suddenly had a hand-sized dent in it. Bella simply made a show of reading something in the car manual intently, strolling slowly around the garage to give the blonde time to fix her mistake. And the time she, Jasper, and Alice went to Seattle and found themselves in the middle of some parade. Jasper looked ready to pass out from the sheer number of beating hearts and sweaty palms. There was nothing Bella could do about the former (and she was working hard to keep from hyperventilating herself), but that day she was able to divert strong gusts of wind over that section of the city in the opposite direction. It gave Alice enough time to help him into a pharmacy, feigning indigestion.

Countless times, Bella turned a blind eye to all the unusual occurrences that seemed to happen with alarming frequency around the Cullens now that Bella knew what to look for. She couldn't believe that she had gone for so long without knowing. She couldn't believe nobody else in school or in town noticed! But it appeared she really was the only human in Forks aware of their secret.

For all her observations, Bella never realized that she too was carefully being watched.

Jasper stood about 20 miles from the house, waiting for his wife. They had been meeting here secretly every few days since Edward's return. The rest of the time, the two of them kept their minds shut tight to the irritatingly perceptive boy. These nights away from him were the only times they could relax and think freely.

Rosalie was the one who alerted them to her suspicions regarding Bella, but it was Alice and he who continued to watch. Rosalie was too wrapped up in her feelings for the girl now to be of any help. She was too blinded by her passion for Bella, not that Jasper blamed her. Emmett, ever the trusting and loving kid that he was, was no help from the very start. So it was just him and Alice now who tried without success to figure Bella out.

There were too many irregularities...things that didn't add up.

Bella was supposed to be human, yet her mind was comparable to a vampire's. He watched her closely in the classes they shared. Bella was bored out of her mind in classes, like none of the material was new for her. She read at an astounding speed, faster than even he could when it was something new. And she tried to hide it. She continued her game of tapping out song lyrics in morse (and numerous others) code in between pages. He had looked over her shoulders a few times while writing papers for class...Bella didn't need to refer to her books for accurate quotes. She had them memorized down to the page numbers. Not normal.

She was also too...graceful. He never saw her skate, but his eyes did nearly pop of their sockets when she leaped way too high in order to climb a tree. And she didn't actually exert any effort as she pulled her limbs up the 20-foot climb. She had absolutely no fear of heights. Emmett loved frolicking on rooftops with her, and the few times he had joined the two of them up there during lunch he observed her carefully as she leaped, rolled, and flipped all over the roof. She came precariously close to the edge several times, but it never affected her. Not normal.

The emotions he felt rolling from her were also far too intense. Emotional pain was one thing. Physical pain, apparently caused by an emotion, was something else. Jasper had never experienced the level of pain he sometimes felt from the girl. It was enough to make him, a vampire, cry out in pain. Yet every time he managed to catch sight of Bella during those...episodes...her body revealed nothing. People just don't feel that kind of pain without collapsing. Not normal.

Then there was the deal with her father. Jasper had gone back to Bella's house a few times since the day of the fire to check up on him. Each time, the guilt he forced on him would be severely diminished, replaced by a fierce hatred for Bella. Each time, Jasper would growl and shake his head, and proceed to teach the man another lesson. Jasper wished his ministrations could be permanent but that was not his gift. He wished he could ask Edward to help him understand what was going on in the man's head, but if he did he'd have to explain why, and Edward was the last person in the world they wanted on Bella's case. He was bad enough with her ability to block him. If he learned of what they had observed, they'd all find themselves in Alaska before they knew it. No, it was imperative that Edward be in the dark on this one.

He heard Alice approach and before he knew it, she was standing at his side.

"Hey darling," he said. "Hunt well?"

"Deer," she signed. "Nothing special."

He nodded. Deer is so bland. More like tofu...it satiated their hunger, but boy it was nothing like a good bear.

"Well?" He asked, unable to hide his curiosity any longer. "Did you find anything?"

"Oh yes I did," she said with a glint.

Jasper waited, noticing her eyes glazing a few times. She was probably searching for the best way to tell him, he thought, rolling his eyes. She really needed to stop relying so heavily on her gift.

"I called children's welfare agencies, the Phoenix police and fire departments, every county records office in Pennsylvania, Charlie's old boss and coworkers, dozens of elementary and middle schools, and every Carol Higginbotham in the tri-state area. If I didn't come away with something, dear husband, I would've eaten somebody."

Jasper sighed. He knew how to handle his wife.

"Darling, you are a goddess. A miracle for all the ages," he said and bowed to her.

"Thank you," she smiled smugly and curtsied.

"Now, will you please tell me what you learned?" He hated to beg but the suspense was killing him.

Alice sighed dramatically.

"The fire occurred on September 13, 2005. It was Bella's 9th birthday. The fire chief said it was the worst and craziest fire he had ever seen. They weren't able to put it out until dawn, and by then most of the housing development was burnt to the ground. Jazz, he sent me some news reports and pictures from that day...the damage looks very similar to what happened here."

Jazz was silent, taking it all in.

"What else did you find out?" He asked quietly.

"To be honest, not much. Charlie's old co-workers remember him saying he'd sent his daughter to live with an aunt, that the trauma was too much for Bella and that she needed a new environment. He left for Forks not long after that."

"I called dozens of records offices and schools in Bradford county," she continued. "There's no record of an Isabella Swan attending any school or being part of any kind of organization. I called surrounding counties to be sure. Nothing. Bella Swan, born in 1996, has never-according to the records anyway-attended school or joined the girl scouts or so much as gotten a library card in the state of Pennsylvania."

Alice paused, and Jasper sensed there was more.

"But that's not the most disturbing thing," she started. "I went through the Bradford county phone book, then every other PA county phone book...there's not a single Carol Higginbotham in Pennsylvania who knows a Bella Swan. I spent an absurd amount of time online, searching the library's databases. And I found this."

She handed him a printout of an old newspaper article, dating from 1991. It was an obituary.

He silently read it. 'Carol Higginbotham, age 19, died June 2, 1991, as a result of injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident. She is survived by her mother, Marie, and her younger sister, Renee...'

Jasper looked at his wife, who was watching him carefully.

"Now what do we do?" he asked.

Author's note: All the humans in this are 9 years younger. Bella was born in 1996. Renee was born in 1977. And so on.