Barely late this time! Hope you enjoy this! Happy Easter! BTW 1911 was gonna be in this but I need more planning time so it's being extended into its own chapter! Yay!

'I assure you I would miss you if I could, sweetheart. It seems such a long time to wait.' - Esme

1900. Bella

"Do you know how many people I have had intercourse with?"

Bella's ears pricked, she looked up from the book she was reading and turned to Kate with a raised eyebrow.

"I imagine the number is either shockingly low or shockingly high."

"Quite." The succubus smirked. "15,498. I'm very old, you see. And I'm two off a nice round number, it's awfully vexing."

"Huh." Bella said.

Kate casually returned her eyes to her book, as if this conversation was par for the course. But Bella knew that trick, Tanya had used it enough times. They liked to pretend they were talking about nothing of consequence when they were actually trying to impart some sort of life lesson. Life lessons that were often annoyingly profound. She returned her own eyes to her book and waited for Kate to come out with the punchline.

Twenty minutes later, Kate snapped her book closed with an agitated sigh. "And how many of those dear men and women do you think I killed?"

"...And women?" Bella asked, ignoring the question.

"Oh yes." Kate's smirk returned. "Go on, sweet girl. How many died at my hand?"

"Half?"

"All but two hundred." Kate returned to her book, clearly happy at the level of participation she was getting. "And how do you think I feel about that?"

Bella sighed. "I don't know... You don't feel guilt because it's in our nature to kill humans? Because every animal has a food chain and it's not our fault we're at the top? Because humans are weak and we are strong? Because we're eternal beings and their lives are nothing in comparison? I assure you, there aren't many reasons that I haven't already heard from Peter."

"All of those reasons have their place," said Kate, "but I don't feel guilt because I decided not to. If I were to destroy myself for every atrocity I have ever committed, I would be doomed to angst forever. There are people around me who love me and I would hate to put them through that."

Bella scowled. "So I should suck it up and get over it because I'm bothering everyone?"

"No…" Kate snapped her unread book closed again. "Tell me darling, did you ever enjoy it? Was there ever a truly detestable human that you had a lovely time killing?"

"Well yeah, of course…"

"What a wonderful anecdote that would make!" Kate beamed. "You should tell me about it."

Bella sighed and told her cousin the story of the child predator she let wander naked through the desert until he begged for death. Kate laughed in all the right places and asked all the right questions; and Bella started to realise that maybe, her being a monster wasn't the point of the story.

1901.

When it came time to finally rejoin society, the little family had a job to think of a feasible cover story. What circumstances could possibly bring together an English doctor, two southern gentlemen and a teenage girl? Clearly, some of them needed a disguise of sorts.

"Little lucky Luke likes lakes, lucky little Luke likes licking lakes."

"Lil' lucky Luke likes lakes, lucky lil' Luke likes lickin' lakes."

"Peter!" Bella groaned. "Are you even trying?!"

"Okay okay! Lemme try again…" Peter closed his eyes and shook himself in a dramatic show of effort. "LiT-le luck-y LuKe l-iy-keS lakeS, luck-y liT-le LuKe l-iy-keS lickING lakeS."

He beamed at her blank expression. "How was that?"

"How are we ever going to fit in with the northerners when you're talking like you've swallowed a brick?"

"Well I don't see why I should have to change my accent!" Peter whined. "And why is lil' Luke lickin' lakes anyway?"

"C'mon let's try another one. Repeat after me - Grey geese in a green field grazing."

"I just don't think it's gonna work, Bells. I'm me and there's no changin' it."

"So what's the alternative? You're our weird southern cousin?"

"... Can you do a southern accent?"

1902. Bella.

"Can I help you miss?"

Bella adjusted her pretty straw hat, flexed her brightest smile and put on her most Texan accent. "Thank you, sir. I'm just waitin' for my brother, he's the new partner here."

"Ah!" The secretary smiled. "You mean Mr Cullen? I believe he's in a meeting, but he will be done in just a few minutes. Feel free to sit and wait."

"Thank you, sir!" Bella perched on a nearby plush chair and surveyed the dark panelled waiting room. Carlisle Cullen, attorney at law, had been working here for two weeks now; under the tutelage of the formidable Mr. Andrews. It was quite a career change to what her sire was used to, but it was all for a good cause. He would soon inherit the account of one Anthony Mason, a certain someone's grandfather. This was the first step in the plan to bring Bella back to her husband, and she was just as excited as she was terrified.

After a few minutes of ignoring the secretary's eager eyes on her, Carlisle exited his office with a grieving widow in tow. He guided her out the door and turned to Bella with sparkling eyes.

"Your sister is here to see you, sir!" The secretary so helpfully pointed out.

"Yes. Thank you Jeffrey." Carlisle smiled at him. "Isabella and I will be in my office, do you mind lettin' me know if my ten o'clock comes in early?"

"Yes sir!"

Carlisle guided Bella to his office with a secret smile. The southern drawl sounded odd in his mouth, but he enjoyed it far too much to tone it down.

His office was small, befitting a new junior partner, but many of his books had made their way to the shelves and his globe stood proudly in the corner. He sat in the large chair behind his desk and gestured her towards one of the ones facing it.

"It is odd, saying you're my sister." He said.

She snorted. "You think it's strange for you? Do you know how many mothers have asked me if it's true that all three of my brothers are bachelors? They're circling like vultures."

"In which case I'm just glad you are pretending to be so young. How is school going, anyway?"

"It's fine!" She lolled in her chair in a remarkably unladylike manner. "Kind of fun actually. We're learning things they didn't teach in high school when I was human. Now I can write cursive!"

Carlisle smiled indulgently. "I'm proud of you, sweetheart."

1903. Peter

Peter couldn't help his delighted grin as he and Jasper waited by the school gates. They got out of work early and were dutiful big brothers, that was all. He was wearing the shirt that was just a little tight around his upper arms and missing the top button because the others were in the wash, no other reason. And his hair might be a little more tousled and sexier that day, but he couldn't help if it was windy. He got nothing out of this whatsoever.

A girl gasped as she saw them and started whispering to her friend. "Do you see those men?"

"Oh my, they're so handsome!"

"Doesn't one work at the papers?"

"He must be so clever!"

Peter sent the girls a wink and glanced over to his brother. Jasper was obviously trying not to enjoy it, but he was. A little stroking of the ego was healthy here and there, and his odd relationship with Bella can't be good for his self esteem. Yes. Peter was just being a good brother, not getting anything out of this.

Bella didn't seem to think so as she helped herd the younger kids out of the school room. She raised an eyebrow in a way that showed she knew exactly what he was up to.

"Isabella!" A girl of similar age grasped at her arm. "Do you know who those men are? Aren't they dreamy?"

Bella snorted and sent Peter a maniacal grin. "They're my brothers. But trust me, you wouldn't think them dreamy if you heard their snorin', and swearin', and saw them pickin' their toenails in the sittin' room!"

The girl gasped.

"There's only so much a pretty face can excuse, don't ya think?"

Peter, meanwhile, was incensed with this slander. Jasper had transitioned into trying not to laugh, which he most certainly didn't appreciate. He opened his mouth to yell something embarrassing back at her but received an elbow in the gut before he could even try, he rubbed his belly and glared at his brother.

"What're you doin' here, oh darlin' brothers o'mine?" Bella swept up to them with her friend still on her arm, looking as angelic and innocent as she clearly wasn't.

Peter narrowed his eyes at her. "We got outta work early and thought we'd walk ya home, sister dearest."

Jasper politely reached around the staring match they were having to introduce himself to the poor girl awkwardly hanging off Bella's arm. She shook his hand and said her name was Emma.

Peter broke his aggressive eye contact with Bella and reached out to press the girl's hand. "Why Bella never told us she had such beautiful friends."

The girl's eyes darted down to the ground and a blush bloomed over her cheeks. Bella smacked him round the back of the head.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked the girl, who nodded and scurried away.

Bella turned back to Peter, unimpressed, and didn't even look away as she took the arm Jasper offered to her. They walked in a tense silence for a while, until Bella deigned to break it.

"Peter, are you not gettin' enough attention?"

Jasper erupted. The laughter he had been holding in burst out of him and left him gasping in the middle of the street. Even when he had calmed enough to retake Bella's arm he couldn't help the chuckles coming out his mouth every now and then.

"I mean it, Peter. Do you need reassurance?"

Jasper snorted. "Do you not feel pretty enough?"

"We could compliment you more."

"We really don't mind."

"We just want you to be happy, sweet boy."

"Okay!" Peter exclaimed as they got to the house and he let them in the front door. "Is it so wrong to perhaps enjoy a pretty lady's gaze? Just because you two are so besotted with each other doesn't stop me gettin' bored!"

He froze. They both stared at him in shocked silence, for mentioning the thing they don't mention. In a flash, Bella's sharp fingers shot out and dug into his side.

Peter yowled. "Carlisle! Your progeny is pinchin' again!"

1904. Jasper.

She'd been saying it for years.

"Anton is going to die in 1904." "Anton is sure gonna know pain in 1904!" "I can't wait for Anton to get what's coming to him in 1904!"

Then 1904 finally came, and she waited all year with bated breath for that jabbing at her spine to go away. It took until late December for the distress to truly set in.

Even Jasper couldn't calm her, not with his words or his affection or his gift. No one could stop her crying.

"He's supposed to be dead! This was supposed to go away!"

Christmas was supposed to be a joyous time, but every day they drifted closer to the new year darkened Bella's heart. They all still had a dwindling hope that perhaps, 2012 Jasper had meant this horrific death took place on New Years Eve; or perhaps he somehow had his dates wrong. But they all knew that wasn't true.

Bella had changed too much, Anton would live.

On Christmas eve, Bella hit her breaking point and Jasper just scooped her up and ran with her until she found the will to complain.

"There has to be something," he said, "that would make you feel better. Something that might make you feel secure again. Let's go find it."

He hadn't expected for her to have a place in mind, but she took his hand and pulled him away. He also hadn't expected to arrive 16 hours later in Mississippi, dangerously close to newborn activity, but Bella didn't seem to care. In fact, that might have been why she dragged him there at all.

It was early morning, the sun just weak enough that they could walk hand in hand down the street without care. She was looking for something, he let himself be dragged along.

They came upon the church just as morning mass let out. A young, kind faced woman stood in the yard, speaking to a group of other young mothers. A child of about three was hanging off her hand; wearing a puffy white dress with her long, black hair braided neatly down her back. The little girl turned and looked at them like she was expecting them to be there.

Bella froze, then bloomed into pink and silver. They fluttered through her and lifted the oppressive fear that sat on her shoulders. She breathed a sigh of relief, and Jasper felt the raging anxiety within her cool just a little, under that infant's knowing gaze.

They stayed until the crowd cleared and the girl was pulled away from them by her loving mother.

"Come along, Alice."

1905. Bella.

The Cullens were getting to the point where they would soon have to leave the town they were living in, although Carlisle had to stay on as Anthony Mason's attorney. The man had recently bought an estate in the country, surprising to all his family due to his old age, and no one quite knew where he got all that money from.

Bella was nervous, but the heavy sun coverage and abundance of large mammals always made the dense forests of the North the perfect vampire playground; and those who loved her were happy to drag her through them as a distraction.

They were searching for bears through the tall evergreen trees. Bella split from the pack, her nose leading her deeper into the forest towards the stream. She looked up as she ran, breathing the cool fresh air and shutting her eyes against the sparkling sunlight.

It was then that she saw a flash of white, streaking across the nearest tree. It was a trick of the light, just an illusion, but then it jumped from branch to branch, tree to tree and all she could see was Emmett.

Her mind travelled back to Montana. Edward ran from her after she turned, his guilt too much to bear, so Emmett taught her to hunt. She looked to her side and saw his massive frame leaping around and calling for her to follow.

She broke into a sprint towards the phantom of her mind. He whooped and hollered from the tree tops, shouting and taunting until she kept up. He swung from a branch and sailed through the air, grinning and waving his arms as if he were teaching her to fly.

But then a cloud passed by and that light trickled away. His phantom disappeared into the trees and she was hit by this empty pang of dark loneliness.

Jasper was by her side in an instant. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his chest; his hand stroked her hair away from her face as he took her cheek.

"What is it?"

She tried to smile. "I miss my brother."

1906. Jasper.

Bella was breathtaking that day, although Jasper had dearly wished she wouldn't be.

White suited her, and she wore plenty of it. It enhanced that appearance of innocence that he knew that in part he took from her. She had laughed that morning, as she adorned the lacy white dress that only just reached her ankles and wrapped a thick red sash about her waist. She said something about Mary Poppins and pinned a wide brimmed straw hat to her hair to protect against stray sun rays. He, Peter and Carlisle wore similar cream suits, with red ties and beige hats.

Jasper didn't know why they put so much effort in, Irina had even come down to help. They were dressed too lightly for the cloudy day, too nicely for just sitting on a bench in Chicago; but they took entertainment wherever they could get it, and it felt like an occasion.

An occasion he had desperately not wanted to attend. Why would he want to see Bella's husband? Why would he do that to himself? But Peter was relentless, and insisted that if left to his own devices he would make it all so much worse in his head.

So he sat sullen on a bench, thigh pressed to the girl of his dreams'. She couldn't stop shuffling, fidgeting as Carlisle knocked on the tall door of a middle class town house and gaining admittance. She was the only vampire Jasper knew who felt the need to move when she was nervous.

They listened in as Carlisle explained to a Mr Edward Masen that according to his late father's will, he had inherited a large estate in the country with its own income. The only stipulation being that the family must move there. It was, after all, his father's last wishes that his little grandson, Edward Jr, grow up in the fresh air.

Thinking about it, they were lucky that Anthony Masen was so willing to adhere to their plan.

Edward Sr was less compliant, but Carlisle got to work convincing him, and was willing to use every dazzling quality he had to manage it.

Jasper was distracted by his listening and didn't realise they had company until Bella stilled beside him. He followed her gaze across the street, where an elegantly dressed woman was leading a small child down the street. The boy looked about five - although Jasper knew he was five. He wore shorts and a little jacket, his knobbly knees were reddened by the summer sun. He looked up at his mother and laughed, a sweet sound that made Bella gasp.

Damn.

Jasper braced himself and waited for the girl he adored to glow golden, to look at the boy who would grow into her husband and love more than he had ever felt from her before. But she didn't. She was filled with something; it was certainly love, and he had certainly never felt it from her before. But it was peculiar.

She glowed, but she didn't burn. There was no passion mixed into the soft blue that flooded through her. Perhaps it was because he was just a child, with copper ringlets and freckles spattered over his cherubic cheeks. Perhaps it was because it mixed with her usual Edward grey. He felt her breath catch, her eyes welled up. She loved that boy, but not in the way that she loved him.

He shuffled by her side. Maybe it was some sort of itch it was impossible for him to have, maybe it was to distract her from the boy she would one day leave him for. He didn't want to admit something so selfish to himself. Whether it was conscious or not, it worked. She tore her eyes away from the babe and turned to him.

There was that gold again, blooming from within the blue and burning through it like veins through marble. She smiled at him; soft, unassuming, happy.

"Isn't he beautiful?" She whispered.

1907. Peter.

Peter had always been of the opinion that Bella looked strange among humans. Not in the way that they all did, with their ice pale skin and inhuman good looks; but she was self conscious and awkward in a way that told him she had always been like this. She didn't fit in with humans even when she was one.

That's what made it so surprising when he was wandering Seattle on an overcast day and found her sitting in the window of a quaint little tea room. A hat covered the brown curls piled on top of her head, understated but fashionably vintage. She wore cream, with a short cape covering her front and shoulders. She loved that cape.

She looked beautiful, but he could tell from the set of her shoulders that she hated the admiring eyes trained on her. So the resounding question was why she was sitting there putting up with it.

A bell tinkled as he entered the shop and took the chair opposite her.

"Fancy seein' you here." He grinned, "Gettin' some refreshments?"

She nodded and took a deceptive sip of her beverage. "Coffee. It doesn't taste too bad on the way back up."

"Huh." He turned to smile at the waitress who had come to greet him. "May I have one of those lil' lemon cakes I see on the counter please, Ma'am?"

She tittered and nodded, hurrying back to the front of the shop. Bella's eyes followed her the whole way.

"So," He drew her attention. "As nice as this is, what exactly are we doin' here?"

She didn't answer. "How is a cake better than coffee?"

"Easier to hide." He waggled his eyebrows at her smirk. "Hey, answer the question-"

She shushed him. The waitress approached their table again; this time with a perfect lemon cake perched on a plate in her hands, icing sugar lovingly dusted on top.

"Here you are, sir."

"Why thank you, Ma'am." Peter had a feeling about this girl, Bella looked like she was about to vibrate out of her chair and needed the opportunity to pull herself together. He ramped up the southern charm to keep the sweet little waitress talking. "My compliments to the chef."

The girl giggled. "Oh, I make these!"

"You do? Well then please accept my compliments for yourself!"

He glanced back at Bella, who was chomping on her lip. C'mon Bells, he thought. There's only so long I can keep this up without it gettin' creepy.

"I love your earrings!" Bella finally blurted out.

The girl startled. "Oh, thank you!" A blush spread over her cheeks. "They were a birthday gift from my sweetheart."

Bella smiled slowly back. "Well they're beautiful. You are beautiful."

The girl turned scarlet up to the tips of her ears, gave a quick curtsey and scurried back to the front. Once again, Bella's eyes followed her.

Peter ripped a piece off his cake and stashed it in his inside jacket pocket. "Y'know..." He whispered. "If you're not careful, she'll think you have some intentions."

His sister wrinkled her nose at him. "Don't be silly." She turned her attention back to the blushing brunette behind the counter. "Her name is Marie Peterson, soon to be Marie Swan. She's my great grandmother..."

He grinned wide. "Well then, I reckon we should stay a while."

They stayed for hours, until the evening sun hung low in the sky and the proprietor gave them impatient looks. Bella left a tip large enough to make a rich man cringe and they walked away with linked arms and thoughts of futures not their own.

1908. Jasper.

Bella was so good, when she put her mind to it. She genuinely saw her diet as the right thing to do, saw human life as worth saving. She didn't want to hurt people, the light within her went deep into her core.

Peter didn't really care. He didn't see humanity to be synonymous with goodness. Even when they lived happily in human settlements, he would indulge on occasion. He saw no problem with it, after all with the type of people he feasted on, the community was safer for it.

Jasper wasn't sure why he kept to this diet; he supposed there were many reasons. The first was Bella, his first reason for anything was always Bella. When he slipped, she slipped. When he succeeded, she glowed.

The second was the emotions. He didn't enjoy being a monster any more than Bella did, but when you can feel the fear of the man you are about to kill it is hard not to believe yourself as one.

The third was the challenge. He liked to be good at things, he liked to achieve what he set out to. He hated failure.

But he would still fail. He would always fail. He was so grateful for this girl, who could walk into a room bathed in the blood he had just spilled and know exactly what to do.

He was huddled in the corner, furious with himself. He didn't even savour it, he just lost his temper at this bastard of a man and ripped him limb from limb. She didn't even blink, didn't linger on the dead man and went straight to him. She hiked up her skirts from the puddles of blood and climbed over his legs to sit in his lap. She swept his blood slicked hair off his forehead and pressed her lips there, then travelled down to lightly brush them against his.

"We get up, and we try again." She whispered.

He nodded and pulled his angel closer, holding her gently so as to not corrupt her goodness.

1909.

Carlisle approached his coven one day, confusion painted upon his face.

"It's very strange. The White Star Line has been on the up for years and shows no sign of slowing down. But in the advice given by my future self he says I should sell my shares now. Do you have an opinion, Bella?"

Her nose crinkled. "The White Star Line sounds familiar…"

"It is a shipping company. They are building a line of ocean cruisers that are unsinkable, ushering in a new age of safety in sea travel. That's why I am so confused."

"...Is one of the ships called the Titanic?"

"Yes, I believe so."

She laughed. "Yeah sell your shares. But, there is a film that will come out in 1997 that I'm sure you'll really enjoy."

1910.

"I just want to be sure I have this right, Bella. I am to work as a 21 year old newly qualified doctor in Columbus?"

"Yes."

"But I am to leave after six months."

"Yes."

"And you cannot come with me."

"Exactly."

"And this is not a part of your overall plans?"

"I can neither confirm, nor deny, that this is part of my plans."