I don't own Twilight or any other authors sited here. The rest is mine.

25.

"I'll follow thee, and make a heaven of hell, to die upon the hand I love so well." -William Shakespeare

Jasper's POV

We're sitting in a car across the street from a small gray house in Biloxi, Mississippi. Alice sits next to the window - staring out at a woman gardening in the front yard. She has long silver hair pulled back in a bun that sits on her head like a small crown. Alice doesn't move, instead she squeezes my hand in her smaller one.

Bella leans forward from across Alice, patting her leg. "Take all the time you need," she speaks.

"I...never thought I would be back here again," Alice trembles and I send a calming wave to her.

"Honey, you don't have to do this if you don't want to," I assure her.

She shakes her head at me, "Oh, I'm doing it. I have to face this."

Tying a scarf around her head, Alice slides on her sunglasses and pulls on her gloves, opening the door and stepping out into the day. We've gotten a stroke of luck as the sun is up but blocked by several puffy clouds.

I pull on my hat and step out behind her. Bella jogs up beside us and grabs her arm, clasping them together. I send out more calm for the storm and look around. The street is dead, empty, lifeless.

Alice gasps just in front of me and I stop. Bella looks over to her and then at the house and I have to come up to see what's going on. The woman has halted her gardening , her eyes fixed on Alice. She stands up, wiping her dirty palms on her jeans and motioning to the bed of white flowers in front of her.

"My mother, she liked daisies," she states in an ancient raspy voice.

I feel the panic closing in on Alice and I grab her hand, running a thumb over it before smiling at her out of the corner of my eye. "You're doing just fine, Mrs. Whitlock." I turn to the woman in front of us and apologize. "I'm sorry, Ma'am. My wife is taken back at how beautiful your house is."

She returns a nervous smile, "Thank you, it was also actually my mothers."

Alice gathers herself together and chuckles, "I bet your mother was also very pretty."

"Oh yes, she was. My father used to say she was the most beautiful creature in the south. Would you like to see a picture of her?"

"I would love to," my wife replies, her voice strained.

Walking over to the fence, the woman pulls out a necklace from around her neck and opens up an oval locket on the end. "That's my mother on the right and on the left is my aunt Mary, her sister."

I lean in, peering over Alice to see the photo. Of course, Cynthia is rather small in the picture so it's hard to know when it would have been taken. When I gaze at the picture on the left, I kiss Alice's cheek and whisper softly in her ear, "Mary is very beautiful."

And she was, with her long raven black hair cascading down her shoulder in soft curls. There's something unique about this photo though, something that lets me know she was my Alice all along. Most old photographs have people solemnly staring into the camera that leaves them appearing cold.

But Alice? Alice smiled, even back then.

"It's really too bad about Mary. She was unstable and my grandparents were forced to put her in an institution. No one ever heard about her after that. Shame - how crazy -"

"It's a shame that no one took the time to visit her and let her know she was loved, if you ask me," Bella cuts in and Alice trembles in my arms.

She nods to the lady, "It was nice to meet you, Mrs...?"

"Finch."

"Out of curiosity, what's your first name?"

"Alice."

My own Alice gets teary-eyed and I pull her back into my arms. "We should be going." We thank the lady and then Alice turns, looking up at me for a long moment. What do I say to her?

Is it fair?

No.

We walk away and for once I actually feel the weight of Alice beside me as if she's just driftwood. Getting to the car, I allow her and Bella inside first before sliding in myself. The rest of them are silent.

The car door shuts and Alice screams.

"Bella, maybe you should move away from Alice for a second," Carlisle says.

She ignores him and settles in front of Alice on the floor. "Ali, listen-"

"They remember me, of course they did. I was a stain, a freak of their family. They were embarrassed by me. Even as a human, I was just a burden..." Alice turns and hits me in the chest with her fist. I rub her back, sending out more waves of calm.

"I love you," I tell her.

"We all love you, Alice." Bella reaches up and pulls back some of the spiky hair covering Ali's eyes. "Family isn't defined by blood, it's defined by the love surrounding it - and just think what would have happened if you hadn't been turned. You wouldn't have met Jazz, or any of the rest of us. You're my best friend..."

Alice giggles and Bella continues, "I told you, you have to stop thinking of humanity in terms of blood pumping through your veins, how soft or warm your skin is, and god forbid - whether or not your skin glows in the sunlight. If we all measured humanity that way then people like Hitler would be in heaven and Carlisle would be in hell."

Alice sighs, "Bella, I've killed people too -"

"There's a huge difference between psychological and physical bloodlust. Hitler killed millions because he wanted to play God, not because anyone forced his hand. You're a vampire - defying your very nature because you choose to."

"You're point is?"

"It's our choices that show us who we truly are, far more than our abilities."

"Did you just quote Harry Potter?" Emmett laughs.

"Hey, Dumbledore is a pretty smart guy if you ask me," Bella replies with a smirk, still staring at my wife.
"And Alice, you may be a freak but look around. Everyone here falls in that category according to the rest of society."

Bella gets back up and puts her seatbelt on, and the content happiness flows from Alice, ricocheting off me and permeating around in the small space of the car. I watch as the sun begins its descent from behind the highest yellow clouds, down into the orange and red ones. Quietly, I glance back at Bella in the corner - thinking about the memory of my own human sister's face. Finally, peace comes. With Alice I have uncovered true love...but with all of them, I have found family. Something I never thought I would experience again.

It's an extraordinary feeling.

Bella's POV

Of course Florida by definition is the sunshine state - it figures that most of the time we would be under cover and inside. Every single Cullen has been trying to get me to step outside without feeling guilty. Admittedly, I've gone to the pool at the hotel a few times to think...and sunbathe.

I think of my dad and how much time we've lost over the year - over the past 19 years, really.

But then I think of Edward and the Cullens - if I choose them there will never be grandchildren for Charlie. No more Christmas's sitting around the dinner table. There won't be anyone to just sit with him and talk when he's just lonely or missing Renee.

I will never grow old, never experience a mid-life crisis. I will never have him walk me down the aisle at my wedding, never see him sitting in the crowd at my college graduation.

I gasp as the sun glares through my sunglasses - I'll never experience it like this again. And I'll have to attend high school...over and over...

Clearly, the silver lining of immortality is fading fast.

And where does that leave Edward anyway? What about the rest of the Cullens? I can't ask them to allow me to age. What happens when Edward has to pose as my grandson in public instead of my lover? How will he deal with my breakdowns and episodes? Do I really want to be on medication for the rest of my life?

Jasper could never come near me. And I'm not going to ask Edward for sex as a human...that would just be unfair. But do I seriously want Edward Cullen's body to go to waste?

Hell no.

What if Edward tries to kill himself when I die? He talked to me about it once...I can't have him choosing his family or me and the thought of Esme sobbing is enough to stop that thought in its tracks.

But what do I want? What do I need?

There's a scale in front of me - one holding my life, Charlie, friends...and the other holding Edward, the Cullens, a fairy tale. Either way I'll lose.

You can't have your cake and eat it too.

A tear slides down my cheek - my own choice is daunting, jaded and impossible.

It's night at the Dali Museum and I'm jittery. Jasper puts a hand on my shoulder to stop my humming movements. "Sit still," he chuckles.

I peer out the window and up onto the glow of the building. I'm so involved with the sight that when the door opens, I jump a little. A hand offers itself out to me for balance.

Slowly I grasp it, pulling myself up and out carefully. I look up right into the face of Edward and blush as he smiles softly and lets me go, whispering, "Happy Birthday, Bella."

Esme walks beside me as we enter the museum and takes my arm in hers. "Which piece would you like to see first?"

"Well The Persistence of Memory is in New York so...let's see..."

Emmett suddenly charges up beside me, pulling on my arm. "Bella, you have to see this one!" He drags me off in the left direction to a long hallway and everyone follows behind. Edward laughs abruptly and murmurs something to Jasper.

"Em, this better not be some-"

We stop and he silences me with his hand over my mouth. He motions to the work in front of us.

"You've got to be kidding me, Emmett," I deadpan.

"Many men have been saved great agony because of this painting, just so you know." He huffs to himself. Only Emmett...

We're facing The Great Masturbator.

"You know, Dali didn't have the best association with sex, Emmett. This painting isn't supposed to be happy," Edward chimes in.

"Art means something different to everyone, Edward!" Emmett snaps back and Jasper stands beside them with Alice and Rose, laughing darkly.

"So you're turned on by the thought of STD's? I'm pretty sure most people want to avoid them - but then what am I saying? You'll never get one. By all means, it's a great work - but everything reads paranoia. The ants, the locusts, the -"

"I hate you guys," Emmett sulks and Rose kisses his cheek.

Moving on, I glance at tables covered with statues and moldings - huge tower like ones sit in the middle of the floor and once in a while I glance at Edward slyly. A few times we even catch each other through various shapes and holes and glass.

Then, I see it.

Atavistic Vestiges after the Rain.

I float over toward it, gazing in wonder at the meaning of the images before me. Apparently, this had been Ila's favorite painting and now I see why. Suddenly his breath tickles the edge of my earlobe when he asks from right beside me, "Do you like this one?"

"Yes," I breathe back.

"Why?"

I can feel the others hovering nearby and I bite my lip gently, starting to speak. "'Atavistic' means crude and vestiges are remains." I point to the white shaped rock with the hole in it - the very center of the work. "To me this is a mask - and the smaller white shape on the top of it looks sort of like a heart. It's like...you're connecting your inner feelings with your outward appearance, wondering if you'll ever be seen right or good enough to the world around you.

"There's also a blue watery substance on the ground beneath the white shapes and it makes me think of someone's face coming up out of the water - out of an ocean of pain. You connect yourself with the past and the present when you stand in the crude remains of the rain after its done pouring. The father and son standing in front are two people watching the entire process as it happens - like looking on the outside into yourself. The past is crude, it's filled with pain and it hurts but it's like you want to hold onto it because it made you part of who you are today."

I turn to Edward, looking up into his eyes.

"Even the most important people...they mess up and it burns you...but it helps you. It teaches you."

His eyes swirl and soften like metal being welded and crafted. He steps just a hair closer to me.

"Dali," I rasp, glancing back at the painting, "he's a good artist because he distorts everything - nothing is what it seems with him, yet...you can see everything when you just...decide to look."

"Which is the one with the reddish brown hair?"

"No, it doesn't matter to me what you are."

"Someone just needed to look," I murmur, trying to keep my eyes averted.

"Bella..." he sighs, and I force myself to gaze back at him. I hear the pounding of the rain on the roof and panic suddenly takes over. So I run past him and out the door.

Edward's POV

I dart quickly to the exit and after her.

"Don't mess this up," Jazz and Emmett both warn as I rush by.

When I swing the door open my eyes scan the area until I see her matted, wet hair flinging back and forth in the downfall. Her skin is covered in translucent light and it makes the droplets in her hair glint like sterling silver or fallen stars.

Gradually I approach her, trying to shake some of the rain from my own hair. She's shivering from the cold so I take off my jacket and carefully wrap it around her, creating a cocoon. "Thank you," she smiles, clenching her teeth together.

It's almost like seeing a ghost in front of me - for so long I tried to dance in the shadows and far enough away to where I could be worthy of her again one day.

"Why were you at my mom's grave that day?" She asks.

Running a hand through my hair, I sigh, replying, "Because I wanted to mourn the woman who gave you life. She made it possible for us to even cross paths. I honestly didn't know you were going to be there, or I would have stayed away."

A flash of hurt lights her eyes. "I wanted to see you, Edward, every day. I wanted to talk to you and tell you...well, everything. But every time I even came near you once I realized you weren't just some figment left to haunt me, I got so angry."

My mistakes had been our road to perdition, instead of a road to redemption...I can't blame her.

"But you were always there, even in the hospital. I wasn't always sure if it was the illness or if sometimes it was just the memory of us that delighted in torturing me, and when you came back it was like being in a heaven on fire. Though, then Emmett reminded me about how you hear voices," she giggles and I scoff, "-and Alice, telling me that you took care of Thompson. I couldn't really be mad at you then because as much as I hated to admit it I liked that you cared."

"Bella, you're my life. And...I'm an idiot. What happened a year ago, it terrified me. I figured it was my duty to protect you from everything, even myself - no matter how much it hurt."

We both fall silent and she sighs.

"It wasn't my choice, I know that now. It was supposed to be our choice...well, I even made choices that weren't even ours to make. I forced my family to leave and Alice...well...I'm shocked she's even talking to me to be honest."

"I'm still having reservations about it!" Alice tells me in my mind. Huh, the traitors have been listening this entire time.

"Yeah, Alice is still pissed off at me, okay?"

"Edward," Bella steps forward, "you got all the documents that Confetti couldn't."

"Yeah, I did."

"It's like you've been here the entire time and yet just out of reach - I wasn't sure if I could ever face you again."

"Bella you have every right to be angry...and I'll always wait for you."

"But why? What's in it for you? What do you want?"

"My answer is the same as it was a month ago: you. I just want you. The real question is: what do you want?"

"There are a few things." She steps up to me, her shoe tips pressed against mine. "I want The Thing back first."

"Your orange pile of-" her eyes narrow, "-your chariot awaits you at my house in Rosalie's garage. She'll be happy to have it out of there."

"You fixed it?"

"Happy Birthday," I reply gently.

"I don't wanna fight anymore. I'm tired of...what's the phrase? 'Staying away from you, Edward'?"

I grin. "Can you forgive me? Can you accept what little apologies I have left to offer for what I put you through? I'm not asking you to forget what happened between us but-"

"Edward, I forgive you."

The whisper comes so softly, I almost can't believe it was stated. Hope is starting to inflate in my chest, like a hot air balloon. I touch my nose to hers. "What do you want, Bella? What do you need? That's what I should have said that day in the woods." Our lips are millimeters apart and her breath is fanning my face.

"You. I wished for you - on my birthday-"

"Funny, I did the same thing."

"You stole my wish?"

"Bella, don't be absurd." I laugh as she swats at me. "By the way, what is it with you and the rain? You always hated anything cold and wet."

"I did, but when I was in the hospital it would rain and I would think of you. I would remember baseball games during thunderstorms and you sloshing around in the mud. And when you protected me from James and the others - your whole family, it just...it was like I was one of you. I felt safe and loved. There wasn't a day that went by where it would rain and I wouldn't think of you, of-"

There are many types of kisses in the world. Some that can be described as rough or soft as satin, or somewhere in between. But when I lean down surrounded by droplets that look more like fireflies and finally touch my lips to Bella Marie Swan's, every thought fades out. It's not something you can compare to any one thing. It's just...the smell of strawberries wafting through my nose, the taste of freesia's on her skin and down in her pores, and the knowledge that her lips feel like sunflower petals. It's the combined thought of everything utterly good on this earth.

I could get drunk off a kiss like this - the deep purr coming from my throat can attest to that fact.

And when she pulls away, I smile. "As you wish."