21 Years Later: Chapter 3

Summary: The Cullens visit the Denalis after 21 years to be met with the most unlikely of surprises.

Bella/Tanya

"They are just human, beneath us... food if we were so inclined. Why do you care so much about this one? None of the others ever bothered you before." Alice sneered at Esme.

"That is true, and I guess we are all at fault because none of the others got to us as much as she did. Yet we left without so much as a goodbye. Well, I couldn't do that." Esme said.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Alice growled, taking a threatening step towards Esme. Carlisle did nothing to come to his wife's defense much to the disgust of the Denali coven members.

"We wrote her a letter saying goodbye," Rosalie answered without so much as a glance towards Alice.

"You weren't the one that brought her into the family. I did, she was mine, and if I chose to leave without a word, it was my prerogative. What right did you..." Her words ended abruptly as a great deal of pain shot through her. She looked up to find Emmett and Jasper locked in a fight that didn't last long as Kate soon had both men on the ground writhing in pain. Rosalie took that opportunity to go after Alice. The fight only ended when Esme of all people stopped Rosalie.

"You know what, fuck you," Emmett growled. "We are done. I am done having this argument." He turned his attention to Carlisle. "You, a coven leader, have allowed her to play games with these human girls for decades and I for one have had enough. As Esme said, we played a part in allowing it to continue. Well, no more, Bella was the last straw. Either it ends today, or we are leaving." Carlisle said nothing; he just stared at the wall refusing all eye contact. "Goodbye." Rosalie snarked as Emmett got their bags and walked out.

"My sincere apologies for the damage caused," Rosalie said before following Emmett out.

"Carlisle." Esme tried getting his attention, but still, he refused eye contact. "I see." She muttered grabbing her bags. That got Carlisle's attention.

"Esme, you can't." He choked out.

"Unless this need Alice has to use unsuspecting human girls as playthings end, I can't in good conscience stay. As Emmett stated, Bella was the last straw. So make a decision." He couldn't, knowing full well any attempt to stop Alice meant he would lose the members of his coven that had gifts. They were formidable because of Jasper. They were not challenged because of Jasper. If Alice left, so would Jasper, and he suspected Edward. "Goodbye, Carlisle." Esme followed Emmett and Rosalie out the door.

"Rosalie said they wrote to her." Carlisle insisted.

"She never got it. Emmett gave the letter to a boy from her school, a Mike Newton. He apparently never gave it to her, though he held on to it." Eleazar answered.

"Yes, I can understand her anger towards us." Carlisle had no defense for leaving without so much as a fuck off, as Kate had so eloquently put it. Carlisle had sided with Alice because he was afraid she would leave his coven if he didn't. In the end, he lost his mate, and two of his children. He had never believed they would walk away from the protection been a part of the family provided. In 21 years he had heard or seen nothing of them. It was clear the Denali's had, as Eleazar knew more about the letter than he would have, had he not communicated with them.

With Bella out with Tanya, as apparently Tanya was trying to butter her up before an old flame came for a visit they felt free to ask questions about her and her abilities. Charlie was asleep, they were still avoiding him, even though he knew they were there.

"What are her gifts?" Carlisle asked.

"She's primarily a shield, a mental and physical shield, one that extends to anyone she wishes. We could be on the other side of the world, and her shield would still work.

"That is why none of our abilities work." Jasper surmised.

"It is," Eleazar answered with a nod to boot. "Everything else she can do it as a result of her ability to manipulate her shield." He knew his answer was vague, but he wanted them to see her gifts for themselves. Isabella was beyond impressive; her strength surpassed that of a newborn. It was a privilege to watch her fight. The power she exuded alone made every vampire they'd come across wary of her.

"Is she the reason the Volturi has no problems with your number," Alice asked her voice barely above a whisper. She had realized, most the Denali's ire was mostly towards her, especially Kate, who simply didn't acknowledge Alice's existence.

"Yes," Eleazar answered with a chuckle.

"Why, what happened," Edward asked, sensing there was a story there. Eleazar never got the chance to answer as the security system alerted them to Tanya's car coming up the road. Kate joined them in the den; she couldn't hide her eagerness for Aida's arrival no matter how hard she tried. "Katrina, we do not need you making things more difficult for your entertainment," Carmen warned.

"Bella is my sister, my best friend... I don't enjoy her losing her mind over Tan's past. I feel for her because Tan's got one hell of a past." The door slammed open to reveal a furious Tanya.

"Where is Bella?" Carmen asked, looking concerned.

"She took off to hunt, or so she says." Tanya collapsed on the couch next to Irina with a loud sigh. "How does a succubus end up with an extremely jealous and territorial mate?" No one answered as none had one.

"Where is she?" Kaye muttered under her breath. Bella had not come back from her hunt yet, and Aida's car had just pulled up. The coven as always, stepped out to greet their guest.

"She'll be here. It will be a miracle if she leaves Tan's side with Aida here." Irina added. Tanya turned and scowled at her sisters.

"Tanya." Aida greeted with a purr that had Kate barely able to stay in her skin.

"Aida, Kate only told me you were coming yesterday, had I known..." A loud boom in the distance interrupted Tanya.

"Finally," Kate whispered, getting Aida's attention. The noise had been loud enough to get the Cullens outside.

Something like a comet shot through the air then paused and started to descend towards them. Bella had no intention of slowing her speed, knowing she'd have to fix the mess she would make when she landed.

"She can fly?" Jasper asked even though he'd just witnessed it for himself.

"Yep." Kate was practically bouncing on the spot.

The mess was a crater. Tanya sighed in resignation; this was her mate, her irrationally jealous mate. Bella sauntered towards Tanya with a smirk at the sight of Aida's dropped jaw. Aida was a two-thousand-year-old vampire. In all her time she'd never known a vampire with the gift of flight.

"Aida, this is my mate, Bella. Bella, this is Aida, an old friend." Tanya couldn't help the emphasis she put on the word friend. Whether intentional or not, Aida got the message. Tanya was off-limits, and she would respect it. She'd be a fool not to after feeling the waves of power emanating from Bella.

"Bella, nice to meet you." She greeted then turned to Tanya. "I had no idea you were mated. Congratulations, I know you have always wanted this." Aida was disappointed, but what could she do. You didn't come between a mated pair unless you wished to be ripped apart and burned.

Aida moved away to greet the rest of the coven. Tanya stared at the crater Bella had formed with her display. "Is your territory sufficiently marked?" She asked with an eye roll. Bella had the decency to look embarrassed.

"It will be fixed in the morning," Bella muttered pulling Tanya close and promptly taking off without warning.

"We probably won't see them for another few days," Eleazar said with a chuckle.

"She can fly, really fly," Alice said in wonder. Jasper had moved to inspect the crater.

"And to think she'd be in your coven now if you hadn't so callously abandoned her." Kate sneered.

"You could convince her to forgive us and talk to us, but you encourage her to go on as though we don't exist." Alice groused. "Yeah, we made a mistake, but..." Kate took a menacing step towards her.

"Mistake, it's that what you call it. So are we to ignore the fact that we know Bella wasn't the first or the last. That you don't befriend teenage girls, give them the love and security only a family can provide then snatch it from under them. Are we to forget that you use the threat of the Volturi to keep them quiet? She thought you were dead, for months she lived feeling a level of guilt you cannot comprehend thinking the Volturi had come for you. It never once crossed her mind that you had simply abandoned her. " Charlie looked down at Alice with disgust that made her feel dirty. "I welcomed you into my home despite Billy's warnings. I treated you no differently than I treated Bella. I loved you, Alice... and you nearly destroyed her. What would it have hurt to have said goodbye, but then your game would not have been complete had you said goodbye."

"Charlie..."

"No, I am Mr. Swan to you. To think you have 80 years on me. Be happy she is ignoring your very existence. It's far better than the alternative." He muttered before walking away.

"Alternative?" Edward question.

"Yeah, her destroying you more than she already has." Carmen's answer made no sense to them.

Not far from the coven home and high up on a boulder Bella landed softly. "You could have saved yourself a lot of work if you landed just as softly back home."

"Are you going to let it go?"

"What am I going to do with you?" Tanya whispered softly as they sat down on the boulder. It had a large smooth surface and offered a great view of the town below.

"I could think of a few things." Bella purred as she pulled Tanya onto her lap.

"I'm sure you can... Bells, Aida was a long time ago... just please rein it in. She's got the message... okay."

"I can't help it, just the thought of..." A growl rumbled in her chest. "I will focus all that energy on the Cullens."

Tanya chuckled. "Yeah, that's a good place to focus all negative energy." She got comfortable on Bella's lap. "I'm really hoping one of them really pisses of Charlie to the extent that he shoots them."

"Yes a bullet going through one of them would be rather pleasing." Kate had designed a gun with diamond and venom tipped bullets that would go through anything. It went through Jake like a hot knife through butter.

Jacob had known about the Cullens leaving and left Bella thinking the Volturi had killed them. The betrayal had been too much for her, and she cut ties with him. For years he had no idea where she was until two years ago when he followed Charlie to the Denali compound, only to end up with a bullet in his shoulder. It was particularly satisfying, he stood there, arrogance personified, only for a look of utter shock to take over his features when the bullet damn near tore his arm off.

"Why did you destroy the Cullen's home in Canada?" Bella knew Tanya would figure it out eventually.

"I was hunting when I came upon Edward's scent, I was surprised I recognized it. It was a few weeks old, but I followed it until I found the house. I didn't go there to destroy anything, considering I would have left my scent. Then it started raining, and I just stood in the rain staring at this house... before I knew it, the house was lopsided." Bella sighed, waiting for the dressing down she knew was coming.

Tanya bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. "Lopsided? Carlisle made it sound as if it was minor damage that would take no time at all to fix."

"Maybe a lopsided building is minor damage in his mind." Bella retorted.

"What is done is done," Tanya muttered with a sigh. "But please, no more."

"I'm good, it's Kate you should be worried about." Bella chuckled.

"After knowing you and Charlie, we find it hard to believe the Cullens did what they did. If I don't keep a level head, I'd hate to think about how this would end up. Kate doesn't influence your beast, therefore can get away with the open hostility she shows them. Isabella will kill them without hesitation, and I for one, am not going to give her any ammunition to do so. She might not regret it, but you would when it's all said and done." Bella nodded, knowing Tanya was right.

"I've destroyed enough of their properties so..."

"You did what?" Tanya whispered. The low timbre of her voice sounded deadlier than any bellow or roar.

"I might have gotten a list of their properties from Emmett and left them all lopsided," Bella admitted. "I made sure to do so while it was raining. They will never know it was me." She added. "Had I known they'd show up here after their last performance, I would not have done that."

"And yet I don't believe you." Tanya stood then. "Come on, let's go home. I have a guest I didn't really get a chance to welcome because I was whisked away."

They weren't going home, Bella had plans and said plans were getting derailed by her own mouth. "Stay a little longer. We have a full house, and I just want the freedom to talk without other ears."

"Yes, you are right," Tanya answered although she was well aware of what her mate had in mind, and it had nothing to do with talking.