A/N: Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer. I'm only borrowing her characters for a little while. The plot and original characters of Longing do belong to me, however. Jasper as the God of War and Peter "just knowing shit" are ideas that belong to Idreamofeddy.

Thank you to Laurie Whitlock, Shelljayz and juliangelus, my betas and prereader. Longing wouldn't be nearly as good without them to help me polish it. I love you guys.

Thank you to everyone who has read, followed, favorited and reviewed this story. You guys rock.

Posting Schedule Update: Here's the deal, guys. I am going to be posting every other week for a little while, but it's only temporary. I am currently having an incredibly rough time and have been for a while. I struggle with depression. I have my whole life and it has been kicking my ass of late. I don't know if it is the result of all the other crap I've got going on or if the other crap is a result of the depression. Either way, it has been affecting my ability to concentrate on pretty much everything, including writing, which has slowed down my chapter progress significantly. I still have a few in written in advance, but I am trying to take some pressure off myself because it's not good for me. Unlike before, I'm not taking a break from posting. I don't have writer's block, I haven't stopped writing and I will not stop writing this story. I realize that this is news you probably don't want to hear, and I wish I didn't have to tell it to you, believe me. However, I have to take care of myself, and I am taking steps to do that. As I said, this is only temporary. Once I'm doing better and can get back in to the flow like I was before, I will begin posting once a week again. I hope you can understand.

And now we get a peek into Charlotte's head, which I'm very excited about! I've been waiting for the perfect opportunity to explore her in more depth and thought this was it.

oOo

Thursday, November 19th, 2080 ... 3:00 am

CharPOV

Peter and I were deep in the woods, at the waterfall we'd claimed as ours.

After Bella came home from work and went straight to bed, not giving us the opportunity to talk to her about "Van Gate," he'd insisted we go hunting to take our minds off of what was to come because Lord knows we had no fuckin' clue what exactly that was. He had extended an invitation to Jasper, but Jasper had refused, and my mate had looked unsurprised by it. I didn't say a word about that, just took Peter's hand and raced off through the trees as we searched for some nasty ass animal to sate our thirst. He had developed a fondness for moose while I shared Emmett's affinity for bears, though I didn't have a preference for grizzly over any other. I had noticed a difference in flavor, but nothing could compare to the sweetness of human blood, so while bear was what I would choose to drink every time I hunted if given a choice, it still tasted like shit. We both managed to bag our animal of choice before we made it to our final destination.

When Peter broke the news about what Bella was to Jasper, I was so shocked I didn't have words … yet. This information was a huge piece of the puzzle we'd been missing and things made a hell of a lot more sense now, but it wasn't quite the key we were hoping for. There was more to this. There was still a bigger picture that we weren't seeing. I could tell by the look on my mate's face.

I wanted Peter to be wrong about Bella, but that didn't mean I didn't want Jasper to be happy. I wanted that more than anything; it was about damn time he found his mate, but I knew how he felt about them. I wasn't sure Jasper was ready to have that thrust upon him, and I sure as hell didn't think he'd appreciate that she was his mate. I didn't necessarily appreciate that she was his mate.

I couldn't help but like the girl, but most of the time I could hardly keep myself from ripping into her for the way she treated Jasper ... when she wasn't ignoring him that is. The only thing that had kept me from doing it was Peter and his insistence that she could be good for him.

I would do anything if it would do Jasper some good, so I couldn't fuck with her because of that possibility, even if it meant I had to keep my mouth shut while she gave him shit. Normally I would not tolerate that, but Jasper didn't need me to stand up for him. That didn't matter to me though. He and Peter were the most important people in the world to me, and I protected what was mine whether they could do it themselves or not. Not only that but Jasper needed someone to show him he was cherished, that there was someone who would fight for him and love him so fiercely, so unconditionally and without judgment that there was nothing that could ever contain it. It was my job, and Peter's—our mission—to make sure he knew he had people like that in his life, and I would do that job to the best of my ability if it killed me. Pete and I both would and did, though it hadn't killed us yet. I didn't think it ever would—Jasper would die for us just as surely as we would for him. That didn't mean Jasper himself was a job or obligation. I enjoyed making him feel loved and so did Peter. It made us happy.

Jasper would be resistant to the idea of his mate showing up, no matter who his mate turned out to be given his past, so all this would be a hard sell.

"Please tell me you're kiddin'," I begged.

"I'm sorry, darlin'. I'm not," Peter said. I knew he was sorry but not because of who Jasper's mate was. He was sorry because I was uncertain. "I know you don't like it, Charlotte, but if you think about it, she's kind of perfect for him."

I huffed. I knew that Bella wasn't afraid of Jasper, that she wasn't shy about giving him shit and handing him his ass and that she challenged him. He responded to her in a way I'd never seen before, so that did make her kind of perfect for him, but that just didn't quite penetrate my doubts over it.

"I just … I don't want her to hurt him," I admitted, venom pooling in my eyes. Jasper had been hurt enough, and I didn't trust that Bella wouldn't add to his pain.

Things between them while they were underneath the van were cordial but that didn't automatically change things. Bella had made it very clear over the last weeks that she hated him, which was odd. Maybe it was because she was human, I don't know. It's supposed to be impossible for mates to hate each other. They feel the pull, it brings them together, they fall in love and that's that. There's never supposed to be hate between them but a vampire/human mated pair was rare. Ultimately, it didn't really matter why she hated him. I would not let her hurt him.

"I know, sugar." Peter took me in his arms and pressed a kiss to my temple. His touch was gentle, soothing. It was exactly what I needed, but it didn't dispel my unease completely. "I don't want that either, but it'll be awhile yet before they're in that position."

I twisted in his arms and met his gaze, raising my eyebrows in question.

He smiled at me. "You know how the Major feels about mates, so we're not gonna mention anything about this new development to him."

I sighed in relief.

"He's got to figure out what she is to him on his own if he's ever goin' to accept it," he continued.

Peter sure as hell was right about that. "That doesn't explain why it will be awhile before they'll be in a position for her to be able to hurt him," I pointed out.

"We don't know if she's goin' to hurt him, but they're still keepin' each other at arms length, which does, at least, minimize the possibility of emotional damage. The bottom line is, they're not ready for each other," he explained. "Jasper, I think, is gettin' there, but Bella's goin' to take a bit longer."

"What do you mean 'Jasper is gettin' there,' babe?" I demanded. How could he so easily dismiss all the things our brother had gone through? And how could it possibly take a human girl longer to fall in love with Jasper than it would for him to fall in love with her? That idea was preposterous. He was a wonderful, if fucked up, man. Any woman would be lucky to have him, and countless women, vampire and human alike, had fallen in love with him over the decades, starting with Maria, the woman who was only capable of two emotions: hate and bitterness. That proved me right a million times over.

"Because now that we know what they are to each other, we can put all their fightin' into the right context," he responded with a smirk that made my insides twist.

"And that context is?"

"Sexual tension, of course," he told me. "They want each other, babe. Think about it. We've been tryin' all this time to figure out why Jasper responds to Bella the way he does. They're mates, and he wants her. That confuses him. He doesn't understand what's goin' on and his confusion is pissin' him off. It's more than that though. I think he's got feelings for her, but I don't think he knows or understands that either. As far as I know, he's never felt anything more for a woman than lust. He won't let himself because he's a soldier, a fighter, a protector. He could never do those last two things for himself when he was with Maria, so he's been doin' 'em ever since he left her. He's had to, and Jasper has never met anyone worth givin' those up for. He doesn't see that Bella is worth it … yet, but he will. He does have feelings for her though, deeply buried though they are.

"Bella's a little different. I'm guessin' it's because she's human. That makes it even more confusing for her, I think, which is probably why she's so hostile, and she's young. I may not remember much about my human life, but I do remember that love can knock you on your ass when it takes you by surprise or when you can't entirely figure out what's goin' on. It can be like that at any age but especially at that one since you have no experience with it." I scowled at the thought of Peter with anyone else, even if it was while he was human. He'd had a fiancée when Jasper turned him and it was irrational, but he was mine. It didn't matter that I wasn't even born when he was with her—he. was. mine. He knew what I was thinking because he always knew, and I suspected he would even if he didn't "just know shit." My mate caressed my cheek in a gesture of comfort before he continued, "What Jasper is feeling is no doubt overwhelming but she's got to be overwhelmed by what she feels too. I imagine the vampire mating bond has got to be an odd thing for a human to feel. They'll figure it out though. They'll both come to the conclusion that they're worth it to each other, that it's worth giving them a shot. They can fight it all they want for now but it's inevitable."

"But what if she's not worth it?" I questioned dubiously as I stepped out of his embrace. I wanted to believe Bella was. I really did.

"You don't believe that," Peter replied certainly.

"Is that something you 'just know'?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied with a tender look.

I didn't want him to look at me tenderly at the moment because he was right, and I didn't want him to be. It didn't change that deep down I knew she was or that I just didn't know if I could trust her with Jasper's heart. Maybe it was just that I didn't want to trust her with it after everything. Was she really good enough for him? Was any woman truly good enough for him? I had my doubts about that, doubts I wasn't even sure the certainty of my mate's gift could quell. In the end, who was good enough for Jasper wasn't something for me to decide. I wouldn't take his choices from him. If he chose Bella, I wouldn't stop him, but I sure as hell would make sure she knew there would be consequences if she broke his heart.

"And the other stuff?"

"No, sweetheart," he said. "I know because I know how Jasper's mind works, because I was there when Maria and Savannah made him into the God of War and when Savannah forged the fake mating bond to bind him to that power hungry bitch. I watched that shit for thirty-four years and how as each of those years passed, they progressively fucked him up more and more. I'm right—he cares about Bella, and he wants her. He's not in love with her yet, but he will be. She's just what he needs, Charlotte."

I sighed and nodded. "Alright. What are we gonna do about it?"

"What makes you think we're gonna do anything about it, sugar?"

"Because I know the way your mind works, mate of mine," I reminded him.

"That you do, my Char, that you do." Peter smiled fondly and caressed my cheek. I covered his hand with my own and squeezed. "As I said, we aren't goin' to tell the Major, which means we aren't goin' to tell the Cullens."

"They won't be happy with us when they find out we kept it from them. Neither will Jasper," I said. The Major would probably rip us apart for not telling him.

"Tough shit," he remarked. "Some of them might be able to keep their mouths shut." I read between the lines there and knew he meant Edward and Rosalie with the possibility of Carlisle and Esme. "But they won't be able to control their emotions around him. Jasper will know something's up, and he won't stop until he finds out what it is. There are others who absolutely won't be able to keep their traps closed." Again reading between the lines, Alice and Emmett were the ones who immediately came to mind, but as Peter continued, I knew the next words he spoke were more in regard to Alice than our bear-sized brother. "And those are the ones who won't approve of us keepin' him, them, in the dark the most. As much as I like the guy and as understanding as he is, we can't take the chance that the Doc won't take the moral high ground and spill the beans if we tell him. Therefore, it's necessary for us to keep this from everyone, not just Jasper."

That was true. Carlisle was an honorable man who held honesty in the utmost esteem. After how his lie to us had tortured him, we couldn't take the risk that he couldn't stomach keeping another secret. There was no way around Peter and I keeping this to ourselves.

"However, that doesn't mean we can't help things along some," he said mysteriously.

"What does that mean, Peter?" I questioned warily. I trusted my mate but this sounded a bit ominous.

"All in good time, my Char," he replied, still in that mysterious tone. "All in good time."

I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest. It seemed I wasn't the only one who had doubts about the other.

"Oh, don't be like that, sugar," he begged, adopting an almost irresistible puppy dog expression. "I'm not tryin' to keep you in the dark on purpose, but the first move has to be mine to come up with and you're struggling enough with this as it is. You need to get right with it, to put whatever misgivings you've got aside and really think about Jasper's happiness because this is his only shot at it, sugar. She is his shot at it. You need to be happy about it before you can really help."

I sighed and bucked up. Peter was right. This wasn't about me. It was about Jasper. He deserved happiness and if Bella was his shot at it, I was all for it, or I would be once I had a little time to digest this information and get over being shell-shocked. I truly did like her better than any other woman Jasper had set his sights on and that included all the nomad friends of ours he'd fucked. Actually, there was one exception: Kate. I really loved Kate, but I didn't know Bella the way I knew Kate. Maybe if I got to know her, I would love her just as much, and I had to love her just as much because Bella was Jasper's mate. No matter how long they fought their bond, eventually they wouldn't be able to anymore, and she would be a permanent fixture in all our lives. Things would be awkward if I didn't love her, so I didn't have a choice, but that wasn't it … not really. I truly wanted to love Bella and it wasn't a stretch that I could given how much I'd liked her from the get go, minus my irritation and anger with her for how she treated my brother. I could see myself loving her fiercely … eventually. This whole "Jasper being mated" thing would definitely take some time to get used to, but I would be cautiously happy about it until some of my doubts eased, and then I would be over the fuckin' moon.

Once I got over my shock and misgivings, I would tell Bella I wanted to be friends. That didn't mean I would put up with her shit.

"We will strategize together soon. I promise," Peter assured me, wrapping his hands around the tops of my arms, squeezing gently and giving me another soft, sincere smile. "And I might be comin' up with our first play on my own, but I won't be makin' any moves without you by my side."

I couldn't help but believe him. He never lied to me; he had only kept the truth from me twice, and he'd had legitimate reasons for both even though that didn't completely ease the sting. "Okay, but how are we gonna go about this? You may be comin' up with the first move on your own, but you might as well give me a starting point. That way I can come up with some stuff while you're masterminding a romantic coup."

"Subtlety is the watchword, darlin'," he announced with a grin.

oOo

A/N: And there we have it! Charlotte's perspective on things! How do you think things will progress between her and Bella now that Charlotte knows that Bella is Jasper's mate? I would love to know.

Take care everyone. I will see you in two weeks. :)