Epilogue
The plane ride to Alaska couldn't have taken longer. I almost regretted giving in to Edward's idea of travel. On the one hand, I've been hoping my father could have survived the fall into the veil for years now, on the other hand, I knew I needed to calm myself before meeting him. Vampire emotions were so amplified, I wasn't sure if my brain was making rational decisions at the moment.
My dad was alive, living in Alaska with my new extended family, as a different man. I made Tanya tell me everything she knew about Garrett and to say that I was shocked…Well. An American patriot with a bunch of hateful things to say about the UK didn't quite sound like my Britain-raised father. Garrett was born in the mid-1700s somewhere in New England and turned around 1780 in a battle. At least that hasn't changed, he was a soldier in his first life and stayed the same in this new one.
One thing that bothered me was the fact that Garett has never mentioned wizards or any memories of his past life. What if he didn't remember me? What would I do then? So many questions were left with no answers. Even Alice couldn't give me the answer to them, since my dad didn't know I was coming to meet him for the first time in over three centuries.
The plane landed in Juno and the family decided to rent cars to make it all the way to Denali. The drive would help me calm down, at least that's what Carlisle kept saying. I wanted to believe him, but we both knew the wait would only make me more anxious, making me come up with even more unanswered questions.
The minutes dragged by like hours and I found myself unable to sit straight in the car, so mid-drive, I asked Edward if I could drive instead, at least my attention will be concentrated on the road and not on where this road led to.
"Do you know what you're going to say?" Edward asked, looking at me from the passenger seat.
"I don't." I sighed and glanced at my husband. "What can I even say? Hey dad, your daughter here, haven't seen you in a few centuries, what's new?"
Edward chuckled sadly and took my right hand from the steering wheel.
"I'm sure you'll find the right words when you meet him." Edward smiled at me and placed a soft kiss on my hand. Whatever happens when we get to Denali, at least I still had him by my side. "Maybe if his memories have been hidden, we could use that spell that Hermione used on her parents."
"But my dad's memories weren't obliviated, he simply doesn't have them."
"Hey, we don't know that." Edward pointed out. "Maybe he never speaks of them because he thinks you've died. Carlisle told me it took you a while to speak about me for the first time, and the connection we share isn't as big as the one a father shares with his daughters, you can trust me on that."
"Huh, so if you had to choose between…"
"Love, if we were in a situation where our family was in danger, I would use you as a body shield to protect them." Edward chuckled and I laughed at that. We both knew he would use himself as our body shield, but it was a nice gesture. Somehow, it made me love him even more.
"I wouldn't expect anything else, honey." I smiled.
I parked the car in the driveway and waited for the rest of my family to do the same. Carlisle, Esme, Jasper, and Alice, who shared a car arrived right after Rose, Emmett, and Tanya did. It appeared that my father's strange reincarnation into Tanya's soon-to-be brother-in-law brought our two families even closer together. Rose dropped her petty anger toward Tanya, even though she wasn't going to accept the latter union with Beau until he became one of us.
"Ready to do it?" Edward asked, rubbing my shoulders from the back.
"As ready as I'll ever be," I replied, turning around, and placing a kiss on his lips. "My search ended."
"What on earth are you going to occupy yourself with now?" Edward chuckled.
"I have some ideas," I winked at him. "But let's get my dad back first."
"After you, love." Edward smiled down at me and turned me around in one place, slightly pushing me toward the front door.
I took a deep breath and walked the last few feet to the door. Before I could knock, Carmen opened the door with a welcome, but surprised smile.
"Bella! We weren't expecting you all. Why didn't you call?" Carmen asked, but let us inside immediately.
"I'm sorry for intruding on you guys like that," I spoke with a smile, giving Carmen a quick hug. "Um…We found…I guess Beau found something and I don't even know how to say it…Is Garrett home?" I mumbled.
"I think so." Carmen looked confused. "Garrett!"
"I heard you the first time, no need to shout." The voice spoke from downstairs, followed by footsteps. That voice was so familiar, so dear to me. It was different, yet completely the same.
"Well, hello there." A man who looked just like my father appeared at the bottom of the steps. His long black hair was shorter than I remembered, with stubble on his face, and red eyes. It was him; I couldn't deny it, it must be him.
I felt my breath get stuck in the middle of my throat and without any hesitation, no thoughts behind my actions, I rushed to him in less than a second and wrapped my arms around his neck. I felt a strong push of energy, like an electric shock run at the exact place where my hands first touched him, and a moment later, my dad screamed and pushed his body weight on me.
I opened my eyes, afraid something was wrong, and I saw golden streaks of energy flying around us.
"Don't let go, Bella." Edward's voice told me. "He's remembering."
I squeezed my dad harder, making sure I supported both of us upright. I could feel his hands travel to his head, in an attempt to make it feel better, he was breathing very heavily, like he was in pain. It was hard to not let go, hard to think that I was the one who was causing my dad pain. Fifteen minutes passed before my dad exhaled deeply and took a large breath of new air. His arms slowly reached my shoulders, and he pushed me away a few inches to look at me.
"Hey, pup." His voice was at a breaking point. A smile appeared on his face and grew with every second he looked at me.
"Hey." I breathed out, a similar smile rising on my own face. I wrapped my arms around his neck again, and he held me tight to his chest, rubbing circles on my back. I sobbed and laughed, feeling completely happy now.
It was only a minute later when my dad let go of me and held my face in between his arms.
"I liked your eyes more when you were human, kiddo." My dad chuckled.
"Ditto." I chuckled back.
"You're still the most beautiful girl in my eyes." My dad kissed me on the forehead and looked behind me. "Cedric." He whispered, letting go of me.
I turned around to see my dad place his hands around my husband's face now.
"Isabella brought me back too, sir." Edward smiled.
"Of course, she did." My dad laughed and gave Edward a tight hug. "It's nice to see you again."
"It's nice to see you too, Mr. Black."
"So, what did I miss?" My dad let go of Edward and looked around the room.
Edward and I stayed in Alaska for months after that. The rest of my family had returned to Forks, keeping the appearance. There were a lot of things that I needed to tell my father about and vice versa. That summer, the whole family took another trip to England. My father was introduced to his granddaughters, properly this time. He did retain some of his memories and was intrigued to find out his grandbabies went to Hogwarts with him. After his words, "I hope McGonagall lost her mind when she found out", we decided to pop over to Hogwarts to see the Headmistress of the school. I don't think I've ever seen Professor McGonagall cry happy tears before.
Everything was going great. And I mean everything. My dad was getting married again, to Kate Denali, whom I've shared a good connection with. Nessie, against all my better hopes, was carrying a bun in her oven and I was preparing to become a grandmother. After we finished school in Forks the following year, Edward and I took time off and traveled the world. I wasn't worried anymore. My daughters were taken care of, my father was happy and well. I could visit them whenever I wanted. My family was safe and finally full. All we had to wait for was Beau's transformation and that was planned to happen in the very near future.
"I just got a letter from Hogwarts," I spoke, flying into the small house in my favorite place on earth. Isle Esme.
"The owls are really incredible." Edward laughed, watching me fall into the bed next to him. I laid my head on his chest and ripped the letter open. I scanned it quickly and smiled. "It looks like I'm being offered a job."
"At Hogwarts?" Edward questioned, taking the letter out of my hands.
"It's only for a year."
"A DADA professor?" Edward chuckled. "You'd be really good."
"I don't know, I might need an assistant." I cocked my eyebrows, turning my head to look at him.
"I'd be honored, Mrs. Black-Diggory."
"Well, Mr. Diggory, maybe you can start assisting me with something right now." I smiled wickedly.
"And what would that be?"
"Getting me out of this dress?" I whispered and leaned in for a kiss.
Oh, I don't know if I'm about to high-five myself or cry. This story is finally finished!
Thank you to everyone who has been following the updates and writing reviews, I really do appreciate every single one of you! Tell me if you liked the ending cause I sure as hell loved writing it!
On a side note, check out my other works if you haven't already. I'm working on a new crossover story between Twilight and The Vampire Diaries, this one is going to be Edward's POV and it's sooo interesting to write from his POV. So stay tuned for it.
On another side note, if you are reading the TUA story, I promise I haven't abandoned it, more chapters coming soon!
Thank you all again and I hope I'll see you later!
