Disclaimer - I do not own Twilight, Once Upon a Time, or any of its characters.

A/N - I decided to do something different this time. I wanted to give the Cullens some more interactions with the visions. Let me know if you like this type of viewing better than the movie room.

Okay. There ya go. Happy reading. :)

xXx

Once Upon a Time

xXx

Eventually, the Cullens came out of their stupor.

"Where's Bella?" Esme asked, immediately noticing that the human was nowhere in sight.

The rest of the Cullens looked around as if she'd miraculously pop up. No such appearance. They figured Calista might've taken her back, so they waited for the next vision to start.

Nothing.

"Calista?" Jasper spoke into the air. When he received no response, he turned to face his family where they all stood in the space between the chairs and the screen. "Something's wrong."

"So what, are we trapped here?" Emmett asked.

While her family tried to figure out what was going on, Alice walked over to the heavy, metal door, noticing the keyhole was facing a different direction. She put a hand on the handle and tugged, but it didn't move. Then she tried both hands, pulling with all her measly human strength.

The door groaned, as if it was moving on century-old hinges, and slowly opened. "Still got it," Alice muttered to herself as she realized that only Calista had opened it when they first got here. Her entire family had tried opening it before, but never once did it budge.

The room behind the door was dark, and even though their eyes were well-adjusted to the blackness, they still saw nothing. Rosalie, deciding to take the plunge, stepped into the room. She took another step, another, and so on until her body faded into the darkness.

Emmett, not one to be apart from his mate, followed. The rest filed in after him.

As they walked, they realized the space they had thought was a room was actually a long hallway, getting narrower the deeper they went.

"Stop!"

They knew that voice and wasted no time chasing after it, running further into the black hall.

Emmett, who had somehow gotten in front of Rosalie, grunted and rubbed his forehead after running into a dead end. He turned and saw a faint glow of light ahead.

"Stop! Please!"

Rosalie rushed past him, knowing her husband was an idiot and that he was absolutely fine. She ran to the end of the short hall, where there was a door, wincing but otherwise ignoring the light as it grew brighter. Its source was coming through a small window in the door. Even on the tips of her toes, she wasn't tall enough to see through.

She ran at the door full speed, silently thanking whatever God there was that she didn't have human pain. Rose stopped just on the other side of the door as it burst open. The room was entirely white, completely different from the pitch-black hall she had just been in.

There! she shouted in her mind after seeing a figure in the distance. She tried to get closer but it was like there was a wall between her and Bella. But, she found she didn't need to move as Bella's crumpled form became surprisingly clear, as if she were a few feet from Rose instead of a hundred.

Her family ran in through the door and Emmett was the one to notice the obstacle first. He backed away and rubbed his temple while glaring at the invisible wall. "Why is it always me?" he complained.

"Because you don't watch where you walk," Edward snarked.

"There's nothing to watch!" Emmett exclaimed, knocking his right fist against the wall for emphasis.

Carlisle frowned and walked up next to Emmett. He brought up both hands and pressed on it. He let one drop to his side while he curled the other into a fist, knocking on the wall just as Emmett had. He leaned his ear against it as he knocked again. "It's glass," he said in bewilderment.

"Does that mean she's our Bella?" Alice asked, looking directly at the girl she thought was a 3-D version of another vision.

"I have no idea how this works. It might be, it might not. Calista's not here to tell us," Carlisle said.

Whatever it was, vision or reality, the Cullens could only stand and watch helplessly behind the glass.

The brunette groaned. She felt the cold tile floor underneath her and she abruptly sat up, scrambling backwards. Lifting a bruised hand, she moved her limp and dripping wet hair over her shoulder.

"Stop," she said again, breathlessly, using what little strength she had in her arms to hold herself up.

"I'll stop when you make me," said a woman's voice. The woman it belonged to wore a black piped pencil skirt and a red silk blouse. Her brown hair fell below her shoulders and curled out, creating spike-like ends. Despite the woman's confident stance, something resembling fear, worry, and regret flitted across her face.

The two were in a large room with dark, smooth walls, which were lined with shelves upon shelves of different colored vials and herbs. On the far wall, there were holes carved into it, with what looked like candles set on the empty spaces.

"I can't," Bella whispered.

Just like that, the emotions were hidden behind a mask of steel. "You can and you will."

Bella pulled herself from the floor on shaking knees. She winced as she felt the stiff bones in her back shift. She looked up and froze. In the woman's hand was a large fireball.

"Oh come on!" she exclaimed, shoulders sagging. "There's no way I can beat that!"

"Bella," she started. "You can." She released the ball of fire with a gentle push of her hand.

Bella threw her arms up to defend herself, closing her eyes and bracing for the burn. When there was none, she cracked open an eye. There was no trace of the fire having ever existed. She furrowed her eyebrows. What happened?

Seeing her confusion, the woman spoke. "You manipulated the air and gathered enough of it to snuff out my fire." There was only one way to describe the woman's expression. Pride.

"Why didn't you start with the fire first? I could've lived without that thunderstorm you threw at me," Bella complained, wringing out the bottom of her shirt, squeezing out what looked like a bucket of water. She let go of the hem, wincing when it fell against her stomach, cooling the skin instantly. She lifted a hand and looked at the purple bruise; it was likely from when she tried to block the lightning. "Damn," she whispered, wincing after ghosting her unharmed fingers over it.

From her peripheral, she watched as the woman walked forward and grabbed her bruised hand. She waved her own over it, creating a faint glow, and the bruise faded to nothing. Bella looked up and smiled at her. "Thanks, Mom."

"Mom?"

"Wait-"

"Hold on. Mom? This vision is crap at explaining things," Emmett pouted.

Jasper smirked. "If you gave it ten seconds, I think you'd have your explanation."

Sure enough…

Yeah, it was a shock to Bella, too. Imagine living a perfectly normal life for seventeen years before moving, discovering the existence of vampires, and werewolves on top of that. Not to mention the arrival of a sister she didn't know she had, having said sister explain that every fairytale she ever knew and thought was fiction had actually happened. Then her sister had explained that their biological mothers were on-again-off-again enemies who united to save their brunette mother's new lover. Confusing, right?

The cherry on top was learning that she and her sister were the daughters of the Evil Queen and Maleficent. But of course, the sister waited to mention the dragon thing until after they crossed the town border, where the transformation was already halfway finished.

Discovering you can turn into a freaking dragon, having two badass fictional-non-fictional mothers, a dark sister, an adoptive brother, and then discovering magical powers only the child of True Loves could have would shock anyone into a coma.

Still confused? Well, let's rewind to last week. Yeah, you heard right. Last week.

"And here I thought that everything about those other vampires was a lot to learn. This is...so confusing," Emmett said, trying to make sense of the events that apparently happened in only a week.

Carlisle, because he's, well, Carlisle, he was easily able to keep up. He caught the train of events, he just didn't understand them. Fairytale characters are...real?

You know what Bella was done with? She was done with Jake. She was done with his ever-changing attitudes; he always went from extreme irritation and anger to the boy she knew who was sweet and kind. She was done with how he made her feel somehow less than him. She was done with him and his little gang of shirtless boys.

Though they weren't bad to look at, their personalities were enough to make anyone cringe. Well, maybe except for Sam. He had been kind to her for those few times she met him. But, like the Cullens, the entire pack had turned their back on her when she needed help, only to have Jake come running back after she fixed the problem herself.

"This is the second time she's mentioned us refusing to help her. What could it have possibly been?" Edward asked, blowing a flimsy piece of bronze hair out of his eyes.

"I want to know, too, but it feels as if these visions are against us," Emmett said.

Alice crossed her arms and turned to her brothers. "The one who's against us is the person who created the visions."

"Why are we trusting these visions? What led us to trust Calista? She made them, she could've easily changed things to make us want to go back." Edward looked at the scene in front of him, all but pressing himself against the glass. It looked and felt like Bella was actually there. How had Calista made the vision three-dimensional? If the glass wall wasn't there, he was sure he could reach out and touch her.

Well, none of that mattered now, because she was done. Completely and utterly done with the wolves and their stink.

Emmett snickered. "So she smelt it too, huh?"

Rose nodded to Alice, who was the closest to Emmett. She nodded back, turned to Emmett, and hit him on the back of his head. But nothing could make his grin fade.

Just knowing her decision to cut them out of her life made her feel ten times better. Her entire life had revolved around helping the pack with anything she could. Now that she had no obligation to help them, she was free.

Free from the wolves' clutches and into a world where her time was her own.

It was invigorating.

Bella skipped up the stairs with a smile on her face and a spring in her step. She opened the closet and grabbed a towel, moving into the bathroom and turning on the faucet. A nice long soak in the tub would do her good. And you know why? Because she had the time for once!

She even decided to break out the old but unused candles. Bella carried them from her room to the bathroom, knowing she couldn't transport lit candles without burning something.

Creeping into her father's room, she grabbed the only lighter they had in the house. It was a barbecue lighter, tall, and with a stiff trigger, as she found out after bringing it to the wick. But, of course, the damned thing refused to light.

Not one to let her good mood go to waste, she forwent the candles and grabbed her iPod and earbuds instead. She set it on the counter, returned the candles to their designated box to be once again forgotten in her room, and put the lighter back on Charlie's desk.

Bella was very lucky that the vision was so careful with its shots. Else the Cullens would've gotten a full view of a naked Bella. That would be displeasing to all. Except for Edward.

But he immediately dispelled the thought, so that gained him some points. Right?

She slipped into the bath, wincing only slightly at the hot temperature before sitting down and closing her eyes, resting her head against the cooled part of the back wall. Before she let her hands drift underwater, she put the buds in her ears and pressed play.

The device sat on the side of the tub, and she was confident that the side was thick enough that the iPod wouldn't accidentally fall into the water.

That confidence calmed her sudden bout of anxiety, letting her enjoy her peace.

However, peace never lasts long.

She had gotten only five minutes of peace and quiet before the door opened and in came Charlie, not even noticing her. Bella tracked her father with her eyes. The hell? I locked the door! she mentally exclaimed. Thankfully he didn't come to use the bathroom, because that would've been mortifying. He bent down, opened the lower cabinet doors, and grabbed the bottle of 409.

When he turned he jumped, accidentally sending a spray of chemicals her way. The bathroom was small, so she slammed her eyes shut, feeling the mist land on her closed eyelids, face, and no doubt in the water. Now I need to take a shower to clean myself from the bath, she grumbled.

Of course, Charlie didn't scramble out of the bathroom like she hoped. He just stared like an idiot.

"Can I help you?" she growled, making him jump.

His face flamed red and he ducked his head. "No. Sorry, Bells." Charlie grabbed the open shower curtain, which she had forgotten the existence of in her humiliation, and yanked it closed.

She sighed a little in relief, only to hit her head on the wall when she heard his voice again. He still hadn't left. "What," she bit out, "do you want?"

"Well, since I'm here," he started, only to be interrupted by Bella.

"By all means, make yourself comfortable," she muttered in annoyance.

"Since I'm here," he repeated, his voice slightly louder, "I thought you'd like to know you have a visitor."

That had Bella sitting up. The cooling water sloshed in the tub, lapping at the walls, before settling into silence. "Really?" she asked doubtfully. She didn't get visitors because she didn't have many friends. "Who?"

"She said her name is Lily. Is she a friend of yours?" he asked and she saw his shadow lean towards the curtain.

"Can we have this conversation maybe later? Ya know, when I'm not...ya know?" She sighed and rubbed her forehead with her hand. Maybe peace was too much to ask for, considering the intruding father and unexpected visitor.

She thought over the name but it didn't ring a bell. Bella knew only one Lily and she worked at the diner. She'd only talked to her once, and that was when Bella was placing her order. It couldn't be that Lily. But if it wasn't, then who was she?

"She still here?" she asked, grabbing her body wash and squirting some into her washcloth. She lathered it onto her face, smiling, knowing the 409 wouldn't survive the soap. The water splashed as the rag fell into the tub and she decided to wait to use the sink to wash it off. There were still chemicals in the water.

"I tried making coffee. I, uh- accidentally knocked the mug off the table, and we don't have a mop." Though Bella - thankfully - couldn't see him, she could feel his embarrassment. It made her chuckle. "She's in the kitchen waiting for me to come down with the bottle of cleaner."

"You left a stranger alone in our house?" she hissed, careful to keep her voice low lest 'Lily' hear. What if she was a thief? Or a criminal? She was shocked that her father managed to keep his position as Chief of Forks with his lack of intelligence. Smart with criminals, not so bright when it comes to other situations.

She stood, making the water roar, and poked her head through the curtain to glare at her father. Her towel sat on the closed toilet lid and she grabbed it after pulling the plug from the drain. Bella rubbed the soap off her face before wrapping the towel around her body. She pulled back the curtain and stepped over the short wall.

A pool of water gathered at her feet as she stood and stared at Charlie. She loved him, she really did, but there were some moments where she just wanted to flick him. Bella shook her head and pushed past him, throwing open the door. She walked into her room and closed her door behind her, making sure to lock it. And just to be safe, she moved her rolly chair in front of it.

"Yeah. That'll keep him out," Jasper muttered.

Next to him, Alice smirked and kissed his cheek.

She quickly got dressed, donning a simple pair of jeans and a flannel shirt. Bella threw her damp towel on the side of her hamper, leaving it to air dry. She didn't bother with her still-drying hair, leaving it a dripping rat's nest piled on top of her head.

Bella opened the door again, sparing the father who stood outside it with a sheepish smile on his face another glare before walking past him and to the stairs. Halfway down, though, she slowed, realizing that she probably sounded like a torpedo of rhinoceroses. After all, whoever this girl was, she hadn't done anything wrong and had actually come to see her, for whatever reason.

Skipping the last step, Bella landed on surprisingly firm feet. She stared down at them for a moment in bewilderment. She'd done it many times as a child before her clumsiness kicked in, and just now, she acted on an old instinct. How the hell she wasn't face-first on the ground was an enigma in itself.

She shook her head, getting rid of the thoughts. The brunette looked up and rolled her shoulders, gathering herself, before walking into the kitchen.

Sitting in a chair next to the round table meant for two was who she assumed to be Lily. The girl didn't look much older than herself. Lily had long dark brown hair and brown eyes, and she looked eerily similar to Bella. Hearing the old wood groan underfoot, Lily's head snapped up and the two locked eyes. Something passed between them in that moment, something neither could explain. The simple contact bonded them in a way no one, not even them, could understand.

Lily stood, the chair squeaking as it was forced backwards, and Bella noticed the slightest quiver in her legs, almost as if they were jelly. She didn't know if the girl had just been sitting for too long or if it was related to what she just felt.

Charlie, who leaned awkwardly against the wall behind her, pushed himself up. "I'll just- I'm gonna- yeah, bye." The stairs, which were partially above her head, groaned as he not walked but sprinted up them. She could guess that he had skipped almost half.

The two brunettes stared at each other for a minute more. It was only when a bird flew into the window behind Lily's head that their trance-like state broke.

Bella fumbled for her words, trying to come up with an apology for staring like a buffoon, but, as always, her mouth operated before her brain. "Hi," she blurted stupidly, making her wish she could smack herself on the head.

"Hi," Lily responded amusedly. She turned to look out the window, and frowned when she saw the bird on the ground. Its wing was crooked. Her eyes flew back up to the spot the bird had flown into, where a splotch of blood was smeared. She closed her eyes, and Bella could only stare in confusion as Lily's entire body tensed up.

Then, the bird rolled onto its stomach and Lily opened her eyes. The two of them watched as its wing slowly moved back into place and the bird stood on short legs. It flapped its wings a couple of times before taking flight and disappearing from their view.

"Wha- h-how?" Bella stuttered. She closed her gaping mouth and composed herself, carefully shelving her shock, her tone becoming more firm and demanding. "What was that? And who are you?"

"That was magic," Lily responded, turning back around, facing Bella. She took a few steps forward, and Bella saw that the girl was a few inches taller than her. "As for who I am? Well, that's the easy part. I'm your sister." She smiled and took a twice-shocked Bella into a strong hug.

"In what world is you being my sister the easy part?" Bella asked. She wasn't a fool, she saw the similarities. It was the first thing she noticed after all. Lily was a carbon copy of her. However, despite the similarities, she couldn't believe it. Her family consisted of herself and Charlie. Yes, Renee was her mother, but she acted more like a glorified friend, forcing Bella to sacrifice her childhood to become an adult.

"It's the how that's hard to explain," Lily said with an apologetic half-smile. "I know you're thinking it's not possible. That you've got a father and probably a mother stashed somewhere, too. It's good, great actually, that you have them. But they aren't the ones who brought you into this world. The people who did, well...that's a very long story. One I won't share unless you're willing to listen."

Bella raised an eyebrow. "Straight to the point, huh?"

Lily shrugged and turned her head. Not quick enough, though, because Bella noticed the grin that had grown. She looked back at her, deciding not to hide her smirk. "It's the way I work."

She nodded. "I'm willing to listen, but here may not be the best place, ya know? The walls have ears." Bella said this second part louder and the duo heard a loud thump overhead, roughly where the top of the stairs ended. They heard a grunt and then a second thud before listening to the heavy footsteps as they retreated into what Bella guessed was Charlie's room. She shook her head fondly, her gaze once again landing on Lily, who was staring up at the ceiling with wide eyes. "That's Charlie for you," she chuckled.

Lily looked down, her widened eyes replaced with a smile. "Charlie," she repeated, her eyes gaining a faraway look to them.

"Uh- Lily? Are you okay?" Bella asked.

The brunette nodded, albeit distractedly. "I'm trying to figure out who he is and how you came to live with him."

Bella frowned. "He's my father. Why wouldn't I live with him?"

"He's not your father. I thought I told you this."

"You said you were my sister. Nothing else. But, I guess if you were my sister it might mean my father isn't my father." She chuckled. "Unless Charlie has something to tell me."

Lily shook her head, her hair falling from her shoulders and in front of her face. She grabbed a strand and tucked it back behind her ear. "He doesn't. But that's a part of the story, which you agreed to listen to so long as we went somewhere else. Where, exactly?"

Bella reached out an arm and grabbed her keys off the kitchen counter. "You'll see."

"A library?" Lily asked incredulously as she exited Bella's truck, slamming the ancient door behind her. She looked up at the two-story building in bemusement. "A library," she repeated, still just as confused.

"A library," Bella nodded, climbing back in to get her keys before shutting her own door.

Lily frowned and crossed her arms while she stared up at the library. "Aren't libraries supposed to be quiet? Why would we talk here?"

The shorter brunette chuckled. "Just follow me," she said before walking past her supposed sister and through the daunting double doors. Bella stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Are you coming?"

She nodded and hurried up the path. There were a few steps, and Lily took care not to trip. She wondered if her sister was just as clumsy, but she doubted it. She didn't think her hand-eye coordination skills, or lack thereof, were hereditary.

Lily followed Bella as she bypassed the endless rows of shelves, stopping at what looked like an old, used door. It was red and the knob was rusted, very much like the truck. Bella looked both ways before she put her hand on the knob, turning it and pulling the door open.

Bella led the way up a dark, wooden staircase that groaned even before Lily set a single foot on it. The stairs looked seconds away from caving in but she followed her sister. They reached a landing, pausing for only a moment as Bella hesitated. She shook her head, dispelling the thoughts in her head that told her to not show Lily her private space.

She walked up the last few steps and opened the unlocked heavy, metal door. The warm air hit them as they walked onto the library's rooftop. There was a little building that always seemed useless to her, but she walked right up to the little door and easily opened it.

Inside was a couch that had once looked like a house for rats, but she had watched videos on how to refurbish furniture, so now it could pass as brand-new. Every wall had a window, and one of them was covered by a bookcase. There were twinkling lights strung from the ceiling, shining like stars.

Next to the only outlet was a small fridge. She opened it and pulled out two waters.

"Woah," Lily said as she came in behind Bella. "You did this?"

Bella smiled. "Yeah. I wandered up here when I was nine and I've been adding on to it since. I got the fridge and bookshelf recently but the couch has always been there."

"How'd you even get all this stuff?" she asked as she picked up a beautiful necklace. "Are these real diamonds?"

She walked over, carefully taking the jewelry from an astounded Lily. "Everything in this room was a gift."

"Calista, can you pause it?" Rosalie asked.

The woman in question didn't respond, but the vision froze.

Aware of her family looking on, Rosalie took a tentative step forward, crossing the space where the glass wall had been. She walked into the room, past a frozen Bella and Lily. She bent down, gingerly taking a necklace from its box into her hands. She cradled it like she would a baby, standing to reveal what she had found to her family. "Why would we give this to her if we intended to leave?"

In Rose's hands was a silver chain, and hanging from it was the Cullen's crest.

"We wouldn't," Edward said strongly. He remembered the necklace he had made before he left tucked safely in a box in his closet. It was a sign of forever, created when his desires had won out over his mind. If he had given this to Bella, he never would've left the second time around. Something had happened to them. Relief washed over him, knowing he didn't leave her again. Now it was just a matter of finding out what exactly happened. So they could prevent it. "There's a reason why we're not with her."

"You know what, Edward?" Alice said as she stared at the pendant. "I'm starting to think you're right."

15 - Written: 10/10/21-5/16/22

Posted - 5/17/22

:)