30 A Beautiful Spell (The Grand Finale)

When I finally hobble out of the hospital the next day, tylenoled to the gills to stay pain-free, it's raining. What a shocking surprise. I pull up the hood of my parka and Lynn supports me as I limp across the parking lot. She could carry me but people might see us.

At their residence, Carlisle smiles when she hoists me inside their home and hauls me to the living room, where everybody is already waiting for us. Today we are not using the war council room. Valerian told them it would be best not to but wouldn't elaborate on his reasons.

They all greet me warmly and inquire about my health. Even Rosalie seems a lot friendlier. In the hospital Lynn told me that she sees me in a different light since I helped them deal with Victoria. She could argue the whole thing was my fault to begin with, but she appreciates I was willing to put my life on the line to make things right.

After the preambles have been taken care of, they look at me expectantly. The first part of the night will only be a formality, really. I already know the result. Alice wouldn't have arranged this if she wasn't predicting the outcome we want. It's still something that has to be done before we can address the real reason for this gathering.

"I understand Alice already told you what I want to discuss. Despite some of Lynn's misgivings, I would like to become one of you. I would like you to turn me. Not right now, of course, but as soon as I graduate from high school, when I'm supposed to leave my dad's home one way or another. I will be with Lynn regardless, I can't live without her, but becoming a member of your family would mean a lot to me. Leaving me human could also lead to trouble with the Volturi. To be fair, I think it should be put to a vote…."

"Just one thing." Lynn interjects. "You all know how I feel about Brandon, but I'm reluctant to turn him myself. If you all accept his request I won't oppose the decision. I want to be with him. But I should point out that the Volturi are unlikely to become a threat as long as we keep a low profile. And even if they did, I think Valerian has become so powerful we could take them on."

Emmet and Jasper high five her, but most of the others groan or boo. Rosalie only has one choice word: "idiots".

"I believe Lynn is not completely wrong about this…" Carlisle says slowly, emphasizing each word. "With this shield ability he learned from Brandon, Valerian could neutralize their most powerful offensive threats and then we would have the advantage. However, I do not wish our family to go on a warpath with the Volturi. Defeating their best agents would only provoke attempts at retaliation down the line, and Valerian won't be with us all the time. We might have to spend centuries watching our back. Let's just worry about Brandon's question for now."

"Thank you, Carlisle. So, we heard Lynn's ideas, let's vote. Alice?"

"My vote is yes, Brandon. You know how I feel. You're my brother. Nothing will ever change that."

I nod and fight off the onrushing weeping fit threatening to make me lose my cool. But then again, who am I kidding? I've never been cool. A few tears trickle down my cheeks.

"Jasper?"

"Yes. Because I know how much you love my sister and because finally I won't have to fight the constant need to drink your blood." He winks and I half frown, half smile.

"Thank you, Jasper. I think." Everybody laughs. "Emmet?"

"Hell yeah, man. I'm not afraid of the Volturi but you belong with us." I knew he would say yes but his enthusiasm is unexpected. He even grabs me and lifts me up in the air as he votes. I'm a little dizzy when he puts me down and I feel mighty thankful for my painkillers.

"Thank you, brother. Rosalie?" this will probably be my only no. She's the only one who has barely spoken to me.

"I won't lie to you, Brandon. I always thought I would vote no. Not because I don't want you in the family, but because I think you are making a huge mistake. And yet, I complain I never had a choice when I was made a vampire, but in your case you know us better than anybody ever will, you kept our secrets, and you risked your life for us. You have made your own choice clear and I can see nothing will keep you away from Lynn; I can only honor your request by agreeing with it. My answer is yes, brother."

"Thank you Rosalie. This means a lot to me." I look at Valerian and Ayami but they say they have no right to vote since they rarely spend time with the others. If they were to, they'd vote yes. As they already told me, briefly, Ayami has become a vampire of her own choice. I still want to hear how they met but this is not the time either.

"Esme."

"Yes, of course, Brandon. To me you already are, and always will be, my son."

And then it's time for Carlisle. His vote is the most important even though he went last. His no alone could turn the tide. He looks at Lynn, but she's calm, although a little sulky, at the moment.

"Valerian showed me the possible consequences of separating you from him. I don't want to lose my daughter and I want Brandon, the man willing to risk everything to be with you and to protect our family and our community, to be my son. My answer is yes."

"Thank you," I say, more tears streaming from my eyes. "I'm so happy you feel this way about me." I hug them all, one by one.

And so the formality has been taken care of. It was an important one, because now I'm officially a member of the Cullens clan and, vampires or humans, we mate for life... But it's time to get down to the real business at hand and do something about the last remaining hurdle in the way of our happiness.

Lynn is standing a few feet from me now, giving me room to interact with the others. She's looking downcast and uncertain. After I disentangle from Ayami's excited embrace, reminding her that she still owes me a story, I walk to her. She has turned away from me but I put my arms around her slim body.

"Brandon." she whispers. "Once again words cannot describe how happy I feel when I think you want to be with me for eternity, but part of me is still unsure you are making the right choice. I know how much you love me but the price may be too high even if you're willing to pay it…. I feel responsible…."

"You still want your answer, don't you? Is that really all that bothers you? Please be honest with me." I try to make my eyes smolder as I make her face me. I probably fail. She nods, her eyes squeezed shut as if she was fighting off tears.

I decide to address the whole room.

"Guys, I'm just a kid, and I was born in the twenty-first century, on the west coast. I can't say I ever worried too much about the concept of a soul. My mother is more of a Buddhist than anything else, and to me meditation seems more useful than arguing about abstractions…"

I pause for a few seconds to observe my audience. Lynn and Carlisle seem the most interested, but the others appear to be curious as well. Maybe they wonder what I could possibly have to say about this subject. I'm hesitating now but only for an instant; I know what I have to say. That's all I've been thinking about since Valerian and Alice came to see me at the hospital.

"So, after Lynn told me about her worries, that by turning I might lose my soul, at first I laughed. When I realized she was serious, and that it truly concerned her, I researched the topic and tried to understand it better. So you all know many religions talk about this, and they all, to a certain extent, disagree about some of the details. Furthermore, many scientists believe in its existence, but they haven't been able to prove it. In short, we are left with many discordant beliefs and theories. Yet, I noticed that they all have one thing in common. They all claim that this thing we call the soul is always connected to our free will and our individual ability to feel emotions, empathize, and love." I pause for effect, and look at Valerian. He nods and closes his eyes to concentrate.

"I don't have to tell you that Valerian can feel other people's moods and use telepathy to communicate directly with other people's minds…."

Alice shrieks and brings her fists close to her face like a human teenager would.

"Yay, finally. Let's get on with the show." She's literally hopping up and down with anticipation.

I harrumph loudly and she quietens down.

"As I was saying before being so rudely interrupted….. Please proceed, Valerian, let us experience firsthand the intensity, and beauty, of the love that binds us to our partners."

I close my eyes for an instant and a wave of pleasure engulfs me and takes my feelings to unimaginable heights. When I open them, my body still struggling to adjust to the sudden emotional surge, reality has shifted; we are all enveloped in ever-changing cloaks of shimmering bright colors, our hearts laid bare for all to see.

Rosalie and Emmet are sheathed in vivid auras, bloody scarlet and blinding crimson, that writhe and intertwine like perpetually dancing flames; their love will burn, passionate and insatiable, throughout the centuries.

Valerian and Ayami hug underneath a wide open sky. Snowflakes swirl, thunderheads churn, wind lashes and gusts, strange vistas trail behind them; their love, like their wanderlust, will endure until the Earth is spent.

Alice and Jasper's auras drape around them sinuously, like warm folds of maroon velvet, a comforting cloak, while lightning splits gloomy skies and waves churn clockwise around them; their love is their shelter from the storms of a world in turmoil.

A sunset scorches the heavens in Carlisle's and Esme's auras, limns their shapes in brightness, glimmers in their eyes, turns the clouds behind them to purple sails; their love is a painting that won't fade with time.

I watch Lynn's stunned ecstasy as she scans the room, and feels, as well as sees, what is in their hearts. And then we look at each other.

Our auras are sparkling ivory filaments entangled in a shaft of flickering silvery light spreading over our skin and in our hair. Above us, a clear night sky, ebony brocade woven with maidens' hair, is studded with stars, and in its center the moon is free and radiant; our love will be true as long as even a single strand of moonlight can find its way across miles of empty darkness and reach our lonely planet.

Our lips meet and we close our eyes. Ghostly auras still sway and flutter all around us. We kiss, lost in the shared dream our imperfect languages define as love, until the stars, the night sky, and the moon leave the room to its earthbound occupants and return to their usual heavenly domains.

Valerian's spell, too hard to maintain for long, was still the beautiful thing I expected it to be.

"I will never be able to thank you enough…" I manage to tell him in a thick, coarse, unrecognizable voice.

"No, don't mention it. It was…. Incredible." He mumbles, just as stunned by his magic as we all are. Everywhere I look I see dazed vampires holding on to their loved one like survivors of a shipwreck clinging to a life-saver with all their waning strength, their sight unfocused, lost in the lingering afterimages of Valerian's gift to all of us. But I have a gift of my own and it's time to give it to the woman who needs it the most.

I look at Lynn again and squeeze her hand.

"So you see, Lynn, my silly vampire…." Tears are running down my cheek. I wipe them off with my sleeve. Everybody else in the room is blinking, sniffling, sighing. If any of them could cry, this room would flood with tears of happiness.

"I don't know if the 'soul' exists, and frankly I couldn't care less. But I know one thing: you still have the same emotions, or capacity for them, a human like me has. There is no difference. There never was. If humans have a soul, there is no doubt that vampires have one too, to lose or to gain, to waste or to nurture, to corrupt or make divine through the strength, or the weakness, of their convictions, their choices, and their deeds. You are not a monster, Lynn. You never were. You could have been. All of you, in this room, could be among the nightmares that haunt humanity's sleep…."

I pause to scan the room, making eye contact with everybody until I turn to Lynn again.

"But you choose not to, at a great personal cost. If what we talked about today is real, I will say that I only see, all around me right now, the most beautiful souls anybody will ever have the fortune to call: 'family'."

She looks at me, speechless, the perfect statue of a Goddess, for the first time really and truly seeing all that is 'me', and reflected in that 'me' an image of herself she had neglected for too long, buried in a dusty old trunk filled with superstitious junk and stashed away in some musty attic of her mind.

If it wasn't for her love, I could have never been the man I now know I can be. She gave me the most precious gift ever: the freedom, and the belief, to be myself.

It's only fitting then that, with Valerian's help, I gave the love of my life the only gift that could possibly have any value for her, the only gift nobody else could have ever given her; I could make her see herself as she really is.

Her eyes, wide open, quiver restlessly, awash in feelings I couldn't name in a million years but that resonate with every fiber in my being.

I didn't know it then, but it was true the first time we met in a noisy high school cafeteria and it's still true now: everything we'll ever want or need is right in front of us.

She gently takes my head in her hands and our stares lock.

The room has fallen silent all around us. All heads are turned in our direction.

Her lips part….. It's time to voice the question burning in her throat from the very beginning, the one she had never dared to voice.

"Forever?" She asks in a hoarse whisper, suddenly timid.

Deep emotions stir the oceans of her mind and golden waves churn in her iris.

The others take a step toward us. They're all smiling; they know what this really means.

Someday we might indulge in the silly ceremonies humans, and Alice, love so much…. Or we might not. It doesn't matter one bit. This is the only promise that truly means everything.

My hands find and hold Lynn's head and pull her forward, slowly, inch by inch.

I draw her closer to me until her eyes become my whole universe and our foreheads touch.

"Forever."

Afterword by the Author

My dear readers and fellow Twilight fans…. The little story I wanted to tell you is now complete. Before you leave this fictional world and return to your loved ones, or your daily routines, there are a couple of thoughts I'd like to share with you if you'll kindly allow me to.

First of all, credit where credit is due: Moonlight wouldn't have been possible without the wonderful stories and the unforgettable characters created by Stephanie Meyer, whom I'd like to thank with all my heart. Words will never suffice to express my gratitude, but they're all I have.

Secondly, like most writers I couldn't help trying to put my own unique spin on the work you just read, in terms of plot and style, not to improve a story already perfect in its own way but to create an entertaining alternate version of it that, one would hope, will add to the vision of the original creator of the Twilight saga without detracting from it. Ultimately, you'll be the judge of whether my efforts were successful and your reviews, positive or negative, are of course always welcome.

Lastly, I'm not a physicist and I do not claim to have a final word on the existence of parallel universes. Still, I'd like to think that if those other realities exist in at least one of them Bella and Edward are there together, in their private meadow, never far from their family and their friends.

Before I bid you farewell, though, much like my main characters (or Bella and Edward) when they first went to that very same meadow, I have one confession to make.

I started writing Moonlight out of love; love of writing, love of the saga that inspired it, and love for the romantics out there who appreciate the beauty of Twilight.

Somewhere along the process of writing this novel, however, I have to admit that I couldn't help also falling in love with the shy human boy and the silly vampire girl I was building my tale around, and that the story itself, like all stories worth narrating, soon took on a life of its own and made demands of me that couldn't be denied.

So I hope you forgive me when I say that as much as I hope Bella and Edward have found each other in their world, I also hope that in another parallel dimension Renee Swan gave birth to a whimpering, hairless, green-eyed baby boy named Brandon, the very same boy that, seventeen years and a few thousand blushes later, met his soulmate, Lynn Cullen, and found a way to be with her, and be worthy of her love, despite the insurmountable odds stacked against them from the very beginning.

And this is how I like to imagine Brandon and Lynn: together, right now, in their own little corner of the Multiverse, playing extreme sports with Emmet and the rest of the family, running free through Cascadian forests, climbing peaks untouched by human footprints, learning martial arts from Ayami and strategy from Jasper, grudgingly wearing Alice's fashionable outfits, making Carlisle and Esme ever prouder of their children, composing otherworldly music through their sleepless nights…..

And, of course, kissing in the moonlight until the end of time.

Thank you for reading.

Niteowl.