~ Chapter 45 ~

"You walked in the garden with ghosts tangled up in your hair with shadows of I'm sorry's following your footsteps.

As you walk down the stairs your green eyes are emeralds except when you cry they are grey.

I can't stand the way that you're holding my gaze so I'm sorry, my darling, for turning away." - 'As It Is When It Was' - Juliana Richer Daily

Isabella felt the darkness recede slowly, as she returned to consciousness. She hadn't even opened her eyes before she realized that she felt different. Although that change was hard to quantify. She couldn't figure out how to define it. When she did open her eyes to take stock of her surroundings, she found herself staring directly into a pair of brilliant emerald eyes. The eyes seemed to be so vibrant that it seemed as if they were practically glowing.

However, on second look, Isabella realized that it wasn't because the eyes in front of her were so vibrant that they were glowing themselves, instead it was Alice's face that seemed to have a iridescent quality to it. A sheen of happiness had been applied to her flawless skin like a clear gloss. Alice's eyes, which had been amber for as long as Isabella had known her, were now so vibrantly green that anyone looking at them might have trouble believing they were natural. In truth, Isabella wasn't even sure that they would be able to pass them off as contacts.

It only took Isabella a second to expand her focus so she could take in all of hovering figure above her. It forced her to re-evaluate her opinion, it wasn't just Alice's face that was glowing, it was Alice herself, and it wasn't the glow they put off when hit by direct sunlight, rather it just seemed her entire body was practically aglow with unadulterated joy.

Still, it was hard to tell which was more powerful, the look of happiness and contentment on Alice's face, or the well of that same emotion coming through their new psychic link.

Not that it mattered to Isabella, simply being in Alice's presence made her feel a bit euphoric. So Isabella just let herself take in her new partner for several indulgent moments. She was radiant, glorious, and above all real. They were out of that dream, they were awake, it didn't matter what visions they saw, all that mattered was the here and now, and right in that moment Alice's body was nestled on top of Isabella's in just the right way.

Isabella let her senses take in the other changes Alice had gone through because of her bite. Some were so minute that they might be unnoticed by all. However, Isabella had spent more than a little time thinking about Alice of late, so even the tiny changes were obvious to her.

Besides the difference in eye color, the second thing that Isabella noticed was that Alice's skin was slightly less pale. Although still creamy white, her skin no longer seemed to have the same kind of chalk white consistency that older vampires developed. Her hair was still as glossy, and pitch black like raven's feathers, but Isabella could tell that it was several inches longer, and it framed her face in a striking fashion. The length helping to soften her narrow and angular features.

Their bodies were still on the slightly damp ground, nestled between two roots of a Sitka Spruce tree they had collapsed against when Isabella had given into her impulses. Of course the thing that Isabella couldn't stop noticing was how perfectly the two of them fit together. It made her smile in spite of herself, and she couldn't help but revel in that little detail, because it felt as if they were literally made for each other.

Slowly, Isabella reached up with a tentative hand, partially afraid that if she touched Alice's face, reality would shatter around her, and then come crashing down. The thought that she was a simple touch of away from destroying this blissful scene terrified her to her core. More than she could ever admit to anyone. To find herself back in that dreadful hole, full of hopeless nightmares, wasn't something she could even really consider. So she reached forward anyway, ignoring the fear balling her stomach up in knots.

She almost flinched when the tips of one hand brushed gently across the skin of Alice's cheek, but that touch was enough to tell her that she wasn't in a dream. She was sure that everything wouldn't fade away, but instant of fear had shaken her horribly. The possibility that everything could be lost again, that she could be trapped in that horrible hell again, made rationality feel very far way. But as she pressed hand closer to Alice's face, and then began to trace the tip of her index finger along Alice's jaw, reveling in the simple contact, somehow she instinctively knew that there was no need to be afraid. That nightmare was just that, a nightmare, that was long past time to be forgotten.

At the moment she couldn't hear any specific thoughts from Alice, or any words, just a raw outpouring of unrestrained joy and contentment. Isabella was still spinning in a jumble of her own chaotic thoughts, and fractured emotions. It was a struggle for her to even begin to sort out how she was feeling, so not hearing Alice's every thought was probably a good thing.

Then in what Isabella would later regard as one of her top three least eloquent moments of all time, she finally got up the nerve to speak. "Hi…"

Alice laughed, and it was a bright, amused, twinkling sound. Instead of immediately responding verbally, Alice slid her body forward against Isabella's and captured her lips with a gentle kiss, but one full of emotion. Even that gentle kiss sent electricity pulsing through both of them, their bodies practically vibrating in response to one another's touch.

The kiss lasted for several moments before Alice pulled back a bit and murmured softly in reply. Her voice full of heady laughter and dizzy amusement, "Hi yourself…"

Isabella found a grin forcing its way onto her face, and she traced her fingers down her mate's jaw line. That thought alone was enough to cause Isabella's fingers to stop for just a moment, as the enormity of that sentiment settled in her mind. Her mate.

"Mine…" Isabella found herself saying possessively.

Alice's eyes were locked on Isabella's, and when she heard that word, she nodded with a wide grin on her face. She took a moment to turn her head to kiss the palm of Isabella's hand as her fingers continued to dance around Alice's jaw and neck. Then she brought her own hand up to follow the contours of Isabella's face, unconsciously mimicking Isabella's movements with her own. "Yours."

Isabella's eyes widened as Alice said that, and it finally hit her. Why she was feeling so different. She wasn't angry. It wasn't that her anger was gone, or that she was incapable of feeling it. For the first time… in as long as she could remember, she wasn't internally raging.

The beast was asleep.

Her long struggle to keep from losing control was silenced. It had been a battle every second of every day to keep a constant focus on her rage. One instant of lost control, and she could fly into a blind frenzy that would leave utter devastation in its wake. She knew the beast was still inside of her. Yet it wasn't working endlessly to get free, to be unleashed. It wasn't screaming at her with needs that she could barely comprehend. Taunting her to take back the flesh that had been seared and ripped open by Victoria. Or the malicious laughter it teased her with, that echoed in her ears in the endless hours of night. Laughter which sometimes sounded like her own tortured cries and insane ramblings which were her only company during her time in darkness.

The beast that pushed her to destroy instead of showing mercy. It had kept her monstrous for decades, which made her push away everything that could make her feel. She even had to keep her own daughter at arm's length most of the time. All of that was tied to a perverse desire, the food the beast craved, which was ultimately just a pointless game to keep her from ever reclaiming a sense of self that had been shattered and stolen by Edward. Although the beast wasn't active, she could still feel it's cold force of will, and it was still demanding, but it was no longer as commanding.

It was a relief to be free from it, even though she was sure it wasn't going to be a long reprieve. The only explanation she could fathom for this change, was that she had finally found her mate. She shook off the internal contemplation and returned her focus towards Alice. The sense of possession, of primal need had vanished as well. This was a far more complex emotion, and it was terrifying. Still, she couldn't run from it, and she didn't want to hide from it anymore. The floodgates had been opened, and if she didn't try and hold on she was sure she was going to be swept up in the current, where she was sure to give into her anger again.

"Mine." Isabella whispered again. The word was the same, except this time when Isabella said it, it was neither possessive or defensive. This time when she spoke the word, it was filled with reverence and a genuine adulation, combined with the awe and wonder of an impossible dream coming true.

Alice smiled, and tightened her grip on Isabella's jaw, brushing her thumb slowly over her cheek. Then Alice nodded again, with a small wistful smile. She took a deep breath, and when she spoke her voice was full of such emotion, that it startled her. "Yours."

In that moment Alice realized she felt more deeply than she ever had before. She wasn't just in love, she was absolutely sure of the depth of that love. There was no doubt, or hesitation in her heart. She was Isabella's, body and soul, and apparently mind as well.

Isabella pulled back and locked her ruby eyes on Alice's intense emerald eyes. Very slowly she reached up and laid her hand over Alice's hand, that still rested on her cheek. Then she slowly dragged Alice's hand away from her face. Alice frowned slightly, but she didn't look hurt. Inch by inch, Isabella guided Alice's hand down the left side of neck, and over her collarbone, enjoying the feeling of Alice's fingers against her skin which felt slightly softer than they had been when she was a normal vampire.

Alice watched with genuine curiosity, since she didn't want to intrude on Isabella's thoughts in that moment. Her own impulse was the press against Isabella's flesh as her fingers grazed Isabella's body. She wanted more of her, it was a greedy desire, but it felt like an important one. But she didn't give into those impulses, because of how Isabella had reacted earlier. She didn't want to cause another attack of fear.

Isabella almost grinned at the thoughts being broadcast from a very nervous Alice. She just knew that it didn't matter where or how Alice touched her, nothing she did would dredge up that fear again. So she confidently continued to guide Alice's hand a bit further downward, and then pressed that hand down so it flattened on the upper left side of her chest, just above the swell of her breast, so that it was resting over her heart. She locked her eyes on Alice's for several long moments, and then in a voice that was full of emotion and vulnerability, but was no less intense because of it, she whispered, "Yours."

It took Alice less than a second to figure out what Isabella was telling her. Isabella was saying in her own simple and direct way that, quite simply her heart belonged to Alice.

Emotions welled up even higher inside Alice, to place she didn't even know existed. Without words Isabella had just declared her love. For nearly a century, Alice had dreamed of that moment. Fantasizing endlessly in a destructive loop, about a life that couldn't possibly exist. She had spent all those years thinking that she had forever missed her chance, that half of her heart could never be recovered. She spent those solitary years in self flagellation for allowing herself give up on Isabella. Yet somehow, now after all that time, after all those moments of hopeless despair, Isabella was finally and unbelievably, hers.

All those years ago, when Isabella had told her that she loved her; Alice had held onto that memory as one of the best moments of her life. Even though those words hadn't meant what Alice wanted them to mean, her perfect memory hadn't dimmed in the slightest. She could recall the details of that instant in time whenever she wanted to, but hadn't actually lingered on them for decades. Not until Isabella had come back into her life. Then it was all she could do not to dwell on that moment.

That was the start, that innocent expression of familial devotion said in a moment of friendship. That small moment in time was insignificant after everything else that had happened in the intervening years, but for Alice, it could work as an appropriate voice for what Isabella wasn't saying. Alice closed her eyes and listened to the memory, hearing the echo of the past reflected in the physical gesture of love Isabella was displaying. It was enough, it was what she needed deep in her soul, even though she hadn't realized it was a need. She knew without any doubt that Isabella was telling her with every fiber of her being, that she belonged to Alice too.

Alice wanted to give into the urges, to fulfill a century of unrequited need. She wanted to scream to the world how much she loved the woman underneath her. Instead she brought Isabella's hand back up to her face, and turned her head slightly to nuzzle into Isabella's hand again, but she didn't break eye contact. She could feel her whole being was buzzing, and it was getting to a point where she couldn't stand it any longer. It was too much, not only did she finally have her beloved in her arms, but her long lost past had finally come back to her.

Then a lock of her hair spilled out over Isabella's hand and Alice's eye focused on it for a moment, trying to grasp what she was looking at before she gasped in shock.

"I... my hair!" She sat back without thinking, pulling away from Isabella who let out a soft moan of playful disappointment and amusement. Alice's hand moved to her head, and she ran her fingers through her glossy black locks. "Did you do this? Can I grow it again!?"

Isabella furrowed her brow, and remembered her years before Eliza. It had never occurred to her that Alice would hate her hair, because as an unchanging vampire it was forever frozen at the length it was in the moment of her transformation. Being around the Volturi, they had been careful to try and keep most of the changes to themselves. Even before Isabella had gotten to hear Eliza's insightful political acumen, she knew that Caius would take every small difference as growing evidence to have them killed. So they were pretty careful to keep their hair the same length.

Slowly Isabella started to nod, "Yes, actually it seems to grow a bit faster than humans. We've never really tested to see why, since it's not like we're shedding a lot of dead cells or anything. It's actually kind of a pain if you want to know the tru-." The rest of Isabella's statement was cut off as Alice fell into her arms again and kissed her hard with a child-like enthusiasm.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Alice said between kisses.

"I'm... glad... you're... happy... maybe... I shouldn't... mention... that... your eyes are green now." Isabella managed to get out between Alice's frantic expressions of gratitude. That made Alice freeze, and she pulled back a few inches to meet Isabella increasingly joyful gaze.

"Green, my eyes are green? That's the same color they were when I was human!" Alice was practically bubbling with excitement, as she continued, "I was going to say something about your eyes too."

Isabella frowned at that, tilting her head curiously to regard Alice. "What about my eyes?"

Alice frowned a little bit, her expression intent as she stared into Isabella's eyes, "Your eyes are different than they were before too. They were a dark red… kind of crimson like most vampires, now they're a bright red. Ruby red rather than blood red, if that makes sense. Kind of like Rosalie's Porsche from way back when."

Isabella frowned a little bit further, and then shrugged her shoulders slightly. "I don't know."

"Will my eyes go back to yellow after I feed a few times?" Alice asked, her voice tinged with curiosity now, and a slight hint of hope. Although if her eyes shifted back yellow it wouldn't be the end of the world. Still, it was nice to have a piece of her human life back, and she couldn't deny the fact that she liked to be different, no matter how subtly. In the end though, she mostly she just wanted to know.

Isabella shrugged a little bit. "I'm not sure. I have some thoughts on the matter though, since Eliza eyes have never shifted color due to her diet, and neither have mine until now. Which I'm pretty sure has something to do with you."

Alice tilted her head curiously again, "I thought you both drank human blood from blood packs."

Isabella nodded a little bit, "That's our normal diet. Occasionally we have to go off of it though. A couple of years ago we had a rogue vampire we were sent to deal with in the jungles of Africa. The bastard was leaving bloodless corpses everywhere. Eliza and I had to live off of animals for almost a month while we hunted him down. No change in eye color. Eliza did discover that she hated reptile blood and somehow, despite the fact that she has nothing to fear, is terrified of snakes in general. Also she discovered that just because hippopotamus means 'river horse', does not mean they can be ridden, but that's an entirely different story."

Alice snorted in amusement before the wide genuine smile returned to her face, her voice taking on an awed tone. "Green eyes. I... it's… I don't know what to say. Without you I would never have known. God this is so... awesome!" Alice flinched at using such an outdated word, but the cringe was short lived when she felt warm tears flush into her tear ducts.

To Alice, although it was a simple thing, it was such an alien sensation that she froze again, before she tentatively reached a shaky hand up to her eyes, and wiped the clear liquid away with a finger. "I can cry again? What else?" Alice's goofy grin started to grow wider.

Isabella found herself captivated by the tears as Alice wiped them away from her eyes. It distracted her enough that her reply was several seconds in coming, "Yes… it doesn't happen often, but we can cry. Only when we are overwhelmed with extreme emotions like you are now. I can count on one hand the number of times that's happened for both Eliza and I."

Isabella paused and looked thoughtful, listing one or two main differences was always easy, but listing all the differences was slightly more challenging. "The rest, well… you've seen us in action. There are physical differences. We're stronger than any newborn, and yet we're still faster than ancients."

Isabella frowned as a thought occurred to her. "Actually that brings up a good point. Don't be disappointed if you're not as fast or as strong as Eliza and I are right away. Eliza and I have actually debated this between ourselves for years. We're genuinely not sure whether it is that we continue to grow faster and stronger as we age, or if it has to do with our bodies actually changing and adapting to things as we train, or maybe it's a mixture of both. I'm not saying the changes are huge or anything, but they're noticeable to both of us. We move more quickly and are stronger now than, when I began training Eliza almost seventy-five years ago."

Alice nodded slowly, her expression turning contemplative as she considered the physical actions she had seen from Isabella already, and melded it with the stuff Isabella had just told her. After a moment she shrugged, it wasn't like she could change what happened even if she wanted to.

After seeing that Alice took that bit of information in stride, Isabella continued. "Most of the rest of the major stuff you've already sort of seen or probably figured out."

Isabella began to tick stuff off on her fingers, "We have a mental link that we can use to share thoughts and feelings and to a certain extent, powers. You've seen that we no longer sparkle, it's more of a gentle glow, but not to the same degree of iridescence. It's subdued enough that we can even go out on clear days and avoid attracting attention as long as we avoid direct sunlight. We tend to err on the side of caution though. It doesn't have to be grey out, but some overcast is a good idea."

Alice was nodding as Isabella listed those things off, she had already seen some of that first hand, so it hardly came as a shock.

"Our bodies seem to be far more efficient with blood, which means we don't need to feed nearly as often, and we don't have to take as much. We can control our venom to a greater degree, and we don't lose control when feeding. Also we now have evidence that both Eliza and my venom apparently can change a vampire into whatever the hell we are now. I'm not sure if yours will do the same or not, but I'm guessing it probably does, so watch out for that. In other words the family rule now applies to you, no biting other vampires." Isabella said thoughtfully, she was trying to make sure that Alice understood everything about the changes, although she felt a bit like she was rambling. Although she couldn't stop the slight smile from crossing her face as she repeated the same rule she laid down to Eliza after Bree.

"What about humans? How does our venom affect them?" Alice asked tilting her head to the side in curiosity.

"I honestly have no idea. We try to avoid feeding on humans if at all possible. Oh, that reminds me. One last thing. Our thirst is very different. We still feel it, but it's more like… human hunger, there is no pain. You'll never have to fear your impulses around humans again. It makes things easier, I think that's why we never worried about taking the blood from an occasional human. We don't necessarily have to kill." As Isabella explained, Alice's smile somehow grew wider and wider, until she looked almost like the Cheshire cat.

Before Alice could interject, Isabella's voice turned thoughtful and speculative. "Honestly that's another thing Eliza and I have debated. Because both of us spent so many formative years starving for blood, when I bit her originally, and we changed… or evolved if you will… we think our blood efficiency is one of the things that we evolved to avoid. That's her theory anyway. I just think it's because we're different, but Eliza likes to have reasons for things. 'It just is.' is never a phrase she blindly accepts."

"I'll keep that in mind. I'm fairly certain we'll be around other humans sooner rather than later, so it'll be put to the test soon enough." Then she cocked her head again, as one of the things Isabella said seemed to penetrate. "So you can hear my thoughts? Is it all the time?" Alice asked curiously.

"Yes, we can communicate mentally from wherever we are, since distance is not a factor. I could be on the other side of the planet and I we could still hold a conversation through our link, if we wanted to." Isabella replied honestly.

Alice frowned. "But I'm not hearing any thoughts from you right now. Or Eliza or Bree for that matter. I mean, I can feel you..." Alice broke off as a smile crossed her face, and she even shivered slightly in pleasure at that, before continuing, "But I'm not hearing a stream of consciousness or anything."

"You can learn to narrow the connection so that you can keep most thoughts to yourself, so it's not like you never have privacy. You can also focus on blocking most things out. Which I never really worried about until recently." Isabella's thoughts drifted and conjured Eliza's face, followed by an image of Leah's, and the emotions and sensations Eliza had been broadcasting earlier when they were being intimate.

Alice blinked and then started to giggle softly. "Yeah, I imagine that would be majorly awkward."

Alice frowned as a thought occurred to her. "Does… that mean we have to… um… hold back?" Alice asked with a slight tilt of her head. Although she played it off as innocent, Isabella could see the fire in her eyes, and the intense desire coming through their link. She was asking for far more than just kissing.

Rather than respond verbally, Isabella cupped Alice's cheek a moment before running her hand back into Alice's hair, fingers trailing through her dark mane slowly. She just let them both enjoy the physical sensation of touching one another. Isabella wanted to make it clear that she had no intention of holding back. Not now. Not with Alice. As her fingers threaded through Alice's hair, she paused to consider the sensation. She had always known Alice with her hair short enough to be spiked out. Now it was down past her chin, curling into the shadowed valley of her throat where the muscles met at the clavicle. The rough edges of the hair reminded Isabella of her own methods for cutting off her own auburn colored locks.

She and Eliza were always utilitarian about cutting their hair. They simply swiped it off with a blade every week. She idly wondered if Alice would start trying to drag them to salons to get their hair done properly.

"Abso-fucking-lutely. The ends of your hair are butchered. It's like you use a weedwacker or something." Alice responded to Isabella's thoughts without realizing she had eavesdropped. She winced slightly, wondering if her teasing would come across as mean-spirited but smiled in confidence when Isabella just sighed in mock-exasperation.

"I guess I'm hearing stuff now." Alice added before Isabella could respond.

"I was wondering when you would. I'm good at keeping thoughts contained, though I'm not perfect. And to be honest, a sharp blade has always worked fine for me." Isabella retorted with a frown. Her response was halfhearted at best. She already knew it was a pointless argument.

"Then why argue it at all it." Alice asked, responding to Isabella's internal shrug. Then she leaned forward and kissed Isabella softly, making her melt a little. Isabella had never found it so hard to be resolute.

"Because I don't want you to completely dictate how I do things. God knows you'd try and have me in dresses every day of the week" Isabella said gathering her wits for a moment and grumbling in a good natured way. Her tone making it clear that she didn't really think that's what Alice was trying to do

Alice's response however, was serious and emphatic. "Never. It's your choice, always."

After a brief pause her voice turned more lighthearted. "If you want to keep your hair ratty, well I'll adjust, grumpily, but I will. Anyway, it'll be a while before I want to get it cut. I'm going to let it grow out. I've had short hair for almost two hundred years, and it wasn't even my choice. The fucking orderlies chopped it all off when I went into the asylum." Alice shook her head and shifted her mouth from a slight frown to a seductive smile, as she pressed her body down into Isabella's. "Not to change the subject, but you were answering me about holding back?"

"I don't think I give a shit who can hear us right now." Isabella felt Alice's renewed desire through their bond as Isabella pulled her down to renew their kiss, this one filled with more heat.

Alice started to tremble, and Isabella sent her own desire through the connection. The matching emotions were difficult to process for both of them, but it served to only heighten the intensity of what was about to happen.

They could both feel Eliza and Bree making a conscious effort to shut down their sides of the connection, in a subtle gesture of privacy and respect. Alice didn't really get it, but Isabella smiled and pulled her new lover to her tightly.

They smashed their mouths together greedily, their inhibitions falling by the wayside as they began letting the longing they both felt for one another come through. Then the slight physical changes seemed to come through in that moment. Alice shuddered, overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught of physical sensations. She had never made love as a human, and as a vampire it was a wholly tactile experience.

Now it wasn't just her body that was responding, nor was it just Isabella's touches she was responding to. Alice could feel all of her, and her emotions sent waves of tingling over her skin, and up and down her legs and arms. Her whole body responded to Isabella in a way that she didn't think was possible. Tears began to fall again, and briefly, delighted laughter. She couldn't stop, it was too much.

Isabella kept going, she had to. For her it was more than just emotions, it was more than just physicality. This was something she had never felt. It was pure. It was raw. It was vulnerability that wasn't weakness. She reveled in it, opening herself up to this other person. She had never known that being exposed, and letting someone in could feel so amazing.

The kiss had no rhyme or reason, it was a mess. Lips and hands, bodies pressing against one another so hard that a lump of coal could've be rendered into a diamond from the pressure they were creating between them. Alice's hands moved through Isabella's hair, luxuriating in the feel of it, pulling her into the kiss.

Isabella groaned softly into Alice's mouth, one of her arms slid around Alice's waist, pulling her in even tighter somehow, the other sliding through Alice's hair. The two of them moved slowly against one another. Their bodies shifting to match each other, as the kiss intensified even more.

Neither of them noticed the two sets of eyes that watched them quietly from a distance. They didn't see the smile that adorned Rosalie's face. It was a smile of happiness for the young couple. It was replaced by a look of mild irritation when Rosalie noticed the overly goofy smile on Emmett's face. In a show of mock anger Rosalie reached up and smacked the back of his head lightly, before gripping his arm and pulling him away. He didn't make a sound, nor did he protest, the amusement that widened is smile told her that he had been smiling like that intentionally more to get a rise out of her than anything. He was as happy for them as she was. The moved far enough away to not intrude, but not so far that they left them vulnerable to attack.

Isabella and Alice continued to kiss, lost in their private world, and totally oblivious to their surroundings. It didn't take long for the kiss to change, as their hands began to wonder. Soon clothes began to be shed, without real thought to keeping them in one piece.

With a feverish need, shirts and pants were tossed negligently to the side. It seemed that the more skin that they bared to one another, the more impatient they both got. Underwear disappeared in a blur of ripped and shredded fabric. They both held their breaths as they stared into each other eyes, this was the moment they had both been waiting for.

Isabella let out a soft sigh of anticipation, and mild irritation when Alice reluctantly pulled away from her. She sat back and posed, putting her hand over her head to evoke the image of a pinup model. Isabella grinned, and sighed again.

Isabella slid her eyes down Alice's neck, still able to make out the faint marks on Alice's skin where she bit her earlier. Her eyes moved downward, over her collarbone, lingering on Alice's full breasts, and the pale pink of her nipples, before continuing on downward. Isabella's eyes roamed over her narrow ribcage, and waist, where her hips flared out slightly, to the junction in the vee of her legs, and the small patch of black hair there. Then finally down the skin of her legs before letting her eyes reverse their course back up her body.

No matter how long she lived she was sure that it was an image that would forever be seared into her mind. She relished every second of it. She let the only word that came to mind escape her throat.

"Perfect." To her eyes Alice was perfect, and that feeling echoed through their link, which made Alice fidget slightly and drop her arms, and a demure smile crossed her face. Drawing Alice's attention back up to Isabella's now ruby red eyes. The brightness in them was a contrast to the blood red from before, these weren't the dull or crazed eyes of a newborn, but vibrant and gorgeous.

Alice had been running her eyes over Isabella's body, taking in the shape of her, which was a moment she had fantasized about for a century. She had no idea that her imagination was so poor, and that the real thing was so much better. Alice's noted the differences between them. Isabella's skin was slightly darker than her own, and she was physically bigger, taller, her shoulders wider, and the rest of her frame was filled proportionally. Her breasts were larger, hips slightly wider, legs longer.

Isabella slowly sat up, and kept her arms at her sides. She had never been naked in front of anyone, well at least not like this, she didn't care about occasional shredded outfits during training or combat. This was revealing and making herself vulnerable to her lover, and she couldn't explain why she was so nervous. She felt a small tremble in start in her shoulders, and she bit her lower lip in a strangely fearful physical tick.

"Beautiful." Alice said both vocally and through their new connection. The emotion coupled with the word was full of longing and awe. Isabella felt a wave of modesty, she had been called beautiful once before. By Edward, and she knew deep down that he didn't truly mean it. This was different. She could feel Alice's absolute sincerity, and more than that, appreciation, and it hit home in a way she had never really thought would matter.

As a human she always thought of herself as average. As a vampire she never cared. This was the first time she ever wanted to be beautiful, and it was for someone else.

"I'll get my hair done, any way you want." Isabella whispered feeling a touch sheepish. Alice grinned, and launched herself back into Isabella's arms, then she nuzzled her face in Isabella's hair.

Isabella breathed deeply, not because of the need for air, but to breathe in Alice's scent. It was slightly different, than it had been before she bit her… but it was still Alice. She still smelled of cinnamon and lilacs, only somehow the scent was clearer and stronger, yet in a way it was almost more delicate. It wasn't the scent given off of a monster trying to lull their prey into a false sense of safety anymore. It was something else entirely, and Isabella smiled at the idea that it would take a long time to figure out what that difference was.

They sat there for several minutes, basking in the closeness. Until finally Isabella she broke her impossibly tight hold on Alice, and lifted the smaller woman onto her lap. Letting her eyes roam the body above hers, biting her lips she allowed her examination to be slow and thorough. Which brought them back to the moment, and the heat began to rise again.

There were no more words between them. They didn't need them. Isabella pulled Alice back down to her, in response Alice shifted slightly, and pushed a leg up between Isabella's. Pressing a thigh right against her sex, and Isabella's leg slid naturally into a matching position as she claimed Alice's lips in another kiss. The two of them began to move together, their movements becoming quicker and more intense as their excitement increased. Through it all, they moved together, as one.

In the end, they climaxed together. It was explosive and with an absolute intensity that neither had dared imagine, much less expected. The link magnified the peak of their pleasure to such a degree that for several long moments neither of them could fully grasp who felt what, and where feelings stopped.

For that moment they were truly one, and the only thing they could do was to ride the waves of it until they finally came down. The collapsed against the tree, even though they weren't even remotely physically tired, the sheer intensity of the experience was emotionally exhausting.

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It was about an hour later when Alice and Isabella finally made their way back toward the remains of their home. Alice had mentioned on the trip back that they would totally have to go shopping now that Isabella's only outfit was torn and stained. Even though it was a playful demand, Isabella could truly say she didn't mind. She knew that Alice was only concerned, and in her own way it was endearing.

The only thing that kept Alice from skipping all the way back to the house, was the fact that she had her arm around Isabella's waist, and she was nestled quite close under Isabella's arm, an arm that was wrapped possessively around Alice's shoulders. Every so often she'd let out a happy little purr as they walked, which made Isabella smile each and every time. She hadn't smiled this much since she was human, and it was a bit strange to consider the change in her outward personality.

She was trying to process the huge onslaught of emotions that came with her new lover. With the way her beast was caged and how she now had the only key. That the anger she had never been able to stifle had not vanished, but had reduced down to coals, which could still easily be stoked up again with the right fuel. They had become just a constant heat that gave her a passion she never had before. Life suddenly had meaning. Meaning beyond herself and her daughter.

The pain of memory was still there, and the thought of Victoria riled up the beast and threatened to tear down her newly constructed cage. It made her acutely aware of the fact that she wasn't fully 'cured', nor was she suddenly a paragon of pacifism and tranquility. Rather… in the acceptance of Alice's love, she had an epiphany of sorts. She realized that the anger she had used for so long to keep her going, was really a mask she used to hide from everything.

It was a mask that kept down the hurt, and the deep seated convictions of inadequacy she felt about herself, and everything that had been done to her, she had deserved. The false truth she had known in her heart for nearly a century. That she didn't deserve to feel love or joy, and she was destined to forever be alone. Those beliefs came from a strangled place emotionally, tied to Edward and Victoria who had smashed those feelings into her so deeply she hadn't realized that she had let them define her.

Isabella's thoughts started to turn darker, when suddenly she felt them swamped by a surge of emotion. Concern, caring, and above all, absolute love.

"You will never alone again, and if you have some wild delusion about being inadequate, maybe I'll drag you down behind that tree, and convince you to take me until I'm screaming your name loud enough for everyone in a ten mile radius to hear. Then maybe you'll realize otherwise."Alice said responding to Isabella's inner conflict with both a certainty and an amused quality that could only make Isabella smile.

"Mm. As much as that idea sounds fun, and I'm all for trying it some point, we probably should check on the others."Isabella responded in an attempt to deflect.

Alice raised a speculative eyebrow."I'm being serious."

"I know. I think I'm working on it now. I didn't even think about it as being a problem before. I guess that's a first step."Isabella kissed the top of her head once, before pulling her even tighter.

Alice tiled her head, and nodded once in agreement. "Yes, definitely."

Alice hesitated a moment before continuing, not wanting to bring up bad memories but feeling it needed to be said. "You know, I think your parents would be proud of you. You are so wonderful, and strong. You embody everything I remember Charlie standing for. You protect, and give of yourself thoughtlessly. I don't care what my worthless ex-brother thinks. You are literally the most important person in my life now. You know, this whole… bond thing is interesting. I can literally feel how you feel about me… and I can sense your emotions as they change."

Isabella nodded a little bit, though she responded mentally so that Alice could get used to it. "That's normal. You'll learn to block emotions in and out so it's not a constant flow. Eliza and I learned, and we'll teach you and Bree."

Isabella frowned as a thought struck her, "Actually… you shouldn't be overwhelmed by my emotions at the moment, I keep them pretty well walled off…"

Any reply Alice might have had was cut off as they stepped out of the forest and made their way toward the house and found everyone's eyes on them. The rest of their coven was very aware of their new status as a couple, but none of them made a single comment about it. Isabella let her eyes roam over each person in the clearing. She didn't see a single expression of disappointment or resentment, everyone seemed almost relieved. Rosalie's genuine smile was matched only by Jasper's. Emmett was smirking unabashedly, and Adara just looked happy for both of them. Leah and Seth were both smiling as well, since they remembered seeing Isabella as a human, so broken and alone. It was such a nice change, that their expressions also held a hope for the future that neither realized they were expressing.

Mei and Kira were nowhere in sight, but a quick scan of the forest and Isabella caught them drifting away, no doubt to do a perimeter run. She caught Mei out of the corner of her eye stopping and nodding once in satisfaction for her new relationship. Isabella knew that from Mei it was almost the equivalent of jubilation.

Bree was beaming, she was so happy, but she wasn't looking at Isabella so much. Her focus was on Alice, and she was trying desperately to hold back the anticipation she felt in her heart. For a girl who a week ago literally felt alone and unwanted by everyone she ever encountered in her life, to suddenly having this seemingly ever-growing family that was concerned for her and wanted her around, it was a still a very heady experience. She wondered if this new addition was going to care for her like the other two in the family did.

Alice could feel the emotions coming from the girl, and wanted nothing more than to go over to her. Of course she accepted her, she would love her in whatever way Bree needed from her without hesitation. Isabella pulled her arm from around Alice's shoulders, and let her go towards Bree. Alice moved over to the girl, and hesitated for only a second before gently laying her hand on Bree's shoulder. That seemed to be all that was needed for Bree to suddenly throw herself into Alice's arms.

Rosalie tried to keep her own mild disappointment in check, it wasn't her place to be upset by Bree's new affection for Alice. Bree seemed to want to take people in. She knew that Bree wasn't just going to be pushing anyone out, but practically soaked up all the care people showered her with. Rosalie didn't need to sense the girl's emotions to know that Bree was worried this was all going to get taken from her again, and so she was determined to bask in it for as long as it lasted.

Isabella smiled after them, but was quickly distracted by the one reaction that was majorly different than the others. Eliza started walking toward her with a strange frown on her face. She kept her face otherwise neutral, and her emotions masked behind a wall that Isabella couldn't feel through.

Isabella raised a concerned eyebrow, wondering for one brief second if Eliza resented or was angry with Isabella's choice to bring Alice into their family. When suddenly Eliza blurred towards her in a flash of movement, tackling Isabella full out. Then she wrapped her arms around her neck and hugged her very tightly.

Eliza could feel her mother's now much broader range of emotions, as well as things she never felt from her before. Isabella seemed to be truly happy for the first time Eliza could ever remember. For someone who had spent three quarters of a century feeling nothing but a sense of emptiness that ran the full depth of her soul, and watching the shell that her mother had become go through the motions, it was a complete revelation. She hugged even more tightly as she thought about it, and burrowed her head against her chest. Although slightly shocked by her reaction, Isabella returned the gesture happily.

"Oh god Mother, I'm so happy for you. It's been so long, and I've been so worried for so long. I can't believe it's finally happened. I can't tell you what this means to me. This is so awesome." Eliza knew she was babbling and didn't care.

"So you approve?" Isabella said with a slight smirk. She couldn't resist the chance to tease her daughter, however slightly.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Totally and absolutely!" Eliza said back, not really catching Isabella's playfulness.

"Eliza." Isabella forced them to sit up, even though she just wanted to hold her for a while longer. Then she met her eyes very directly, and then spoke clearly but quietly words that were long overdue. "I love you, Eliza. More than I can possibly say."

She echoed the sentiment through the link, pushing along with it all the deep feelings she had for her. The fact that Eliza was the reason she could even begin to love again, the seventy-five years of memories and the pride she felt in how she turned out. How much she admired Eliza's capacity for hope and optimism given her origins. She finally released all the things she had to keep bottled up about Eliza, finally sharing with her everything that she loved about her daughter.

Eliza stiffened. She was stunned, and couldn't react. In her entire life her mother had never actually said those words to her. Eliza had known, she had always understood that Isabella loved her, but that emotion was nearly impossible for Isabella to express verbally even over their connection. Over the years Eliza had come to accept it. She told herself again and again that it wasn't a big deal to her, and that she didn't actually need to hear the words.

Eliza told herself that Isabella's actions time and time again proved how she felt. Her mother was more than willing to put her life on the line for hers, willing to protect Eliza with her entire being no matter the cost. Isabella made this sacrifice and more while still letting Eliza live her life with as much freedom as was possible while working for the Volturi. Yet in her heart, deep down and buried, she was still a little girl who needed to hear how much her mother loved her.

After seventy-five years she never imagined what hearing those words would mean to her.

They were beyond emotion, they made everything they had ever gone through make sense. They pushed aside all the doubt and pain, all the fears she had hidden from Isabella about not being her 'real' daughter. All of that came flooding up from wherever she had them hidden. She couldn't stop the thoughts and feelings from coming, no matter how embarrassing they were. Isabella pushed Eliza away, but kept a hold of her.

"Did you really feel that way?" Isabella asked in the same emotional whisper she had used to finally express her love for her daughter.

Eliza looked down, and shut her eyes tightly. "Yes." Eliza wasn't sure what to expect, maybe anger, maybe sadness. Instead she felt pure unfiltered love pouring back at her. Emotions that were so strong, that Eliza couldn't process them consciously. She just let them flow over her. It was too much, but she didn't care. She leaned forward, and curled up in Isabella's lap, and pulled her mother's powerful arms around her. All semblance of composure gone. Eliza was half sobbing, half laughing as she embraced the person who meant more to her then her own life.

Alice and Bree watched, Isabella caress her daughter's hair and shoulders in a soothing way, as Eliza let her emotions out in unrestrained sobs. She couldn't explain what it all meant to her. To finally have the one thing she never thought she would have. Then, after a few minutes she sat up abruptly, and in a blur of speed that the rest of the coven had trouble following, rushed over to Alice and tackled her and Bree in a huge hug. A moment later, everyone could hear her repeating over and over, "Thank you.. thank you so much."

Isabella was mildly surprised when Eliza pulled away, but couldn't repress the smile when she saw her tackle Alice. Bree was clinging to both of them as tightly as Eliza had clung to her, and her face was so peaceful. Yet Isabella could feel the conflict inside. Bree still had this shadow looming over her. The man who raised her was vile and repugnant. A presence she couldn't turn away from no matter who was a part of her life.

Isabella nodded to herself that Bree needed closure next. She stood and moved over to the trio, and knelt down next to Bree. Then she leaned over and whispered in her ear "Don't think for a second I've forgotten you. I love you too." She put the same emotion behind it. The feelings she had when Bree opened her eyes for the first time, feelings she couldn't express at the time. It might be a new love, but Bree was her daughter, and nothing would ever change that. Bree stiffened a little, and then shifted to bury her face in Isabella's chest.

"I love you too… Mommy." Bree whispered so softly that even Isabella had trouble hearing it. She wrapped the girl in her arms, and realized for the first time how incredibly young Bree was. In a group of ancients, she was a child. She could be a true mother to her, she had decades to get it right. She had an eternity to help Bree forget about the misery of her childhood, and she didn't have to do it alone anymore.

Isabella caught Alice's eyes and could feel the smile there, even as Alice held a still semi-hysterical Eliza. In that moment. Isabella accepted it. She had a family. She knew that together they would face Bree's demons, just like they would any of her own. They would fight the battles ahead of them... and they would never be alone again.

They were a family, and heaven help anyone who tried to come between them, or tried to hurt them. The group hug had just broken up, and Rosalie was making her way to Isabella to say something when they were all interrupted by a faraway scream of pure agony.

The scream wasn't close by, miles away, but nearly every person there recognized the voice of Esme Cullen.

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YAY Chapter! and some MAJOR Bellice ^_^

1) First off, sorry about the humugo-ginormously long wait to get this chapter out. Real life stuff has happened, and I just couldn't get this chapter to where I thought it was acceptable. I'd rather take the time, and put out quality and something I won't look back and cringe with than get something out quickly. As it came out it was a very emotional chapter with a lot of fluff and some tears.

However it's also important to note I write for myself, not on any schedule. If you wish to pay me to do otherwise then we'll talk!

For a bit there this Harry Potter idea was on my mind and wouldn't get off, so I had to put some writing into that. So I will write what speaks to me. the HP idea might come out relatively soon. Though I might ask if anyone out there is a HP nut to message me! so I can ask questions/bounce ideas off as they occur to me.

Finally. I WILL NOT ABANDON THIS FIC. AT ALL. EVER. IT WILL BE COMPLETED. Even if a bus falls out of the sky and lands on me, Samantha Minuet will finish in my stead. Because she's awesome!

2) I'm going back through and editing the chapters to fix minor errors. It was pointed out that I've both said that whatever the hell Bella and Co are, (since they're like… hybrid vampire things) could and couldn't cry. so I made a decision and am editing retroactively. Those edits should be made and completed by tomorrow. They can cry. If this upsets you. Um. File it with our complaint department. I'm sure i have a trash bin somewhere.

On that note, what did you think of what we did to Alice's eyes?

I know we're portraying Bree as vulnerable, but in this case she really is. A family that includes her is still sinking in. She's not a child, just emotionally been stunted. I'm aware it's a theme of mine. :P

3) Samantha Minuet's Co-Author's Note: So it's finally here. Isabella and Alice are finally together! This chapter, and the next were tough. How do you pay off nearly three hundred thousand words of buildup? I hope this chapter was as powerful and impactful as it needed to be.

And no, this is really just the first step in the Bellice relationship, so don't expect them to stagnate at all. The month downtime, well we could explain, but excuses are kind of pointless. Suffice it to say, stuff came up. We're back on track, and the next chapter is definitely going up a lot faster than the last one. Please review! Oh, one last thing! Secrets and Covenants Chapter Four is coming soon!

4) Sharp-Eyed Shoutout goes to IronicArchangel for the FABULOUS review he posted pointing out some of the more in depth work we have on some of the "secondary" characters. It felt so good to be recognized for that.

5) No one really got the Star Trek bit we threw out there. The "throw sabo" quote is what we were actually going for.

6) Wow, 1200 reviews, We passed Black-Rose-of-Night's story "Reach for Me" in reviews. Which is amazing because that story was my inspiration for the basis of this story, and in particular Eliza. Though we have major differences. I just wanted to shout out my thanks

7) Also, I'd like to direct your attention to the fic, Irrational.

www dot fanfiction dot net / s / 9369729 / 1 / Irrational

It's a new fic by the author "A Thousand Undiscovered Stars". It's still in it's nascent stages but it has potential, and the writer seems super nice!

8) If you made it to the end of these author notes, thank you! This was A HUGE chapter we've been building to for... pretty much since chapter 1. Please let us know how you think we did. I hope you enjoyed the read enough to review!