A little over nine months after Bella is Bitten

Bella's point of view

The mid-size jet seems larger inside then I thought it would. I just hopped up and in through the open doorway, inside it looks modern and in keeping with Esme's taste. So far only Alice and Jasper are here, I can see them through the glass door that leads to the cockpit. The door I just jumped though is located right outside of where they are.

The jets engine is loud making a steady sound that mingles with the wind blowing by the open exterior door. Alice looks up from her seat and waves at me through the glass. I wave back and trying to keep things upbeat I say "all ready for takeoff captain?"

She replies confidently "you know it, we will take off as soon as the others get here. I already hacked into the flight log and scheduled us for departure here and landing in Seattle, to keep things on the up and up."

Jasper adds "Make yourself comfortable, the flight will take less than 3 hours, we should be in Seattle soon."

Edward jumps up and into the jet's entrance doorway holding my backpack, now stuffed with my laptop and some essentials, and a second bag of his own. He looks at me and smiles then he looks to Alice and Jasper and says "they will all be along soon" and takes my hand.

Jasper nods and Alice says "Bella will you be ok to take your shield down once I put the plane on autopilot."

I tell Alice "yep no problem, I'll bring it down for as long as I can." Alice nods and Edward leads me past the kitchen area. It's the small compact kind expected on fancy jets, It looks state of the art and has everything you would need to cook a meal or entertain guest, all crammed into a short walkway lined with granite counters. The Cullens doubtfully entertain many humans in the air, the kitchen is most likely a prop, just keeping up appearances.

Walking past the kitchen I enter a cabin with a cream color on the rounded walls with six small round windows on each side of the jet, the lower section of wall below the windows is a rich blue running the length of the cabin. There are eight seats and a glass door across the way separating this room from one with two large couches facing each other parted by the walkway.

Edward leads me past the four single seats spaced two on each side of the walkway facing each other. To the grouped seats, two on either side of a small shiny lacquered table. Edward folds the table away into a hidden panel in the wall and asks "would you like the window?" And he gestures to the window seat with his hand.

"No thanks Edward, I'll take the aisle." I sit next to the seat Edward gestured to and watch him as he stows are bags, then takes the window seat joined to mine, placing himself nearly on my seat he wraps an arm around me.

I immediately feel comforted by his touch, whole again. Just how it felt yesterday morning, it has only been a short time since I got Edward back I will adjust to the short absences but for now, it is still suffocating. The moment his arms first warped around me in the administration building nineteen hours ago was like a breath of air after going without for a year, a relief.

I smile up at Edward, happy that he cant as easily read me like when I was human. My burning cheeks and racing heart always gave me away when I thought of him like this.

The jet engine reves and becomes slightly louder, it sounds thunderous and ready for takeoff. This flight is going to be much better than my last one when I came here to Alaska. Turning my body to face Edwards I tell him "I've never been on a private jet, is it much different from typical plane travel."

"well its smother and faster when we fly the jet ourselves, It is also a lot roomier." He splays out playfully then repositions himself quickly as he was before. Sitting perfectly erect with an air of confidence, and his hand resting on the middle of my back as he twirling some of my long hair. He continues "A plane ride on a commercial airline can pose a problem for most of us vegetarians, that's why being trapped in a metal tube high in the sky with humans is avoided whenever possible."

I tell him "I understand, when I flew to Alaska the flight was full and the air became quickly permeated with their sent. I sat next to a kind older woman who smelled heavenly. After the fact, I thought it was funny because she spent the flight worried about me. She thought I was too young to be all by myself. I talked with her for the first hour until she fell asleep. she spent the rest of the redeye flight sleeping with her head resting on my shoulder and me worried that the blanket I gently placed under her head would not keep her from getting cold. I had no problem resisting but the pain was very unpleasant." I wrinkle my nose with the memory and Edward grins at the gesture, he looks completely enchanted by me, and a little stunned.

Edward's reaction to me is becoming standard, he is always so blown away by me. He is so different from when I was human, or maybe it's me that's different, I have changed quite a bit. Thinking back to my human memories, his mannerisms always appeared calm and controlled, he tended to look confidente whenever we talked. He still does have all those qualities but there is now also a constant wonderment to his gaze, even when I do the most mundane things. I sware I could hand him a pen and he would look like I gave him the moon. I wonder if it is my new appearance, possibly it dazzles him like he always did to me as a human.

Curiously I ask "Edward why do you always look at me like that, Like everything I do is some remarkable feat. I don't feel remarkable, honestly feel unprepared."

The arm he has around me tenses. Then he looks at me again with that same look of amazement and smiles "It's still like a dream having you back, every action of yours is truly a gift to me Bella. I will adjust to having you back with time, but I doubt I will ever not look at you like this. As a human, I thought you were remarkable and irresistible, I could barely keep up with you then and now you overwhelm me. I can not help but look at you this way."

I am so glad I cant blush anymore, I just know I would be bright red if I could.

Edwar tells me "I can hear them, the others will be here really soon." Then he leans down and smiles mischievously and whispers "we should make the best of our time alone." As his lips come closer to mine my whole body tingles with anticipation. As he cupped my face the look of want in Edwards Eyes is so enticing. He bends down further and kisses me, it feels like our first kiss did, soft and tender and a bit hesitant. I kiss him back not ruffly but with more force then he had, trying to remind him I'm not human and nearly as breakable. It must click for him because he kisses me more passionately. It is a good kiss that lasts a few minutes and makes my head spin. Not too soft but not too forceful, insistent but not aggressive. It feels so natural and my hand begins to explore his body.

That's when the others arrive, I can hear them outside the jet. We part and resume are previous positions from before, Soon after Esme enters followed by Carlisle. I hear Esme says hi to Alice and Jasper than with Carlisle's hand in hers, makes her way to us as Rosalie opens the glass door to the cockpit and step in to talk with Alice and Jasper. I look over my shoulder and see Emmitt closes the Jet exterior door and as he does the noise becomes subdued, he then joins Rosalie in talking with the others before takeoff.

I turn my attention back to Esme as she asks me "how are you hun?" And leans down to hug me.

"I am fine given the circumstances, Just worried. I should be used to Peril danger by now shouldn't I." then I smile halfheartedly. Esme trying to comfort me replies "I don't think that's possible dear, to grow accustomed to someone threatening your family. It will always cause a feeling of being off-balance but I do have faith in the strength of our family so don't worry yourself too much Bella. It will work its way out."

The steady rumble of the engine gets a bit louder, We must be taking off.

Carlisle agrees with Esme "Esme is correct, we will make it through this as we always do, together"

Emmitt walking up the aisle with Rosalie says "damn straight" and pats me on the shoulder reassuringly as he passes with Rosalie. Emmitt turns back as he reaches the glass door. He looks at me and appears excited and confident as he smiles and says "this will be an epic battle, but I will protect you Bella. while you shield us I will shield you, no one will touch you." Then he turns back and presses a button on the wall and the glass door separating the room with couches slides open, they enter and close the door behind them. They sit on a plush couch together and I lose sight of them, blocked by the wall.

I turn my gaze to Esme and Carlisle standing before us and tell them "thanks, I am just a bit nervous, my shield is still so untested. I am worried that it won't be strong enough to protect everyone."

Esme in a reassuring voice says "Emmitt is right and I believe in you Bella, we will test out your shied and you will feel more self-assured. Just remember you were an exceptional human, able to even block Edward, as a vampire I am sure you will do astonishing things."

I nod and they make their way to the seating closer to the cockpit, sitting behind us.

The jet moves in an arc on the pavement, Alice and Jasper must be positioning the jet onto the runway. Soon after we are racing across the runway and the jet lurches into the air rising steadily, in no time we are flying high in the sky at a steady pace.

Alice walks out of the cockpit and comes and sits across from us. "Its time Bella." I nod and concentrate, when my shield is down I say "ok, try now."

Alice closes her eyes and looks very focused. After a moment Edward nudges me lightly and says, "it is working Bella". I smile happy, then concentrate on keeping my shield down. Shortly after Jasper joins us and sits next to Alice, she leans over from her seat by the window and places her head in his lap.

Holding my shield at bay is like opposing a great pressure, like holding back the sea as it title-waves over me. After 30 minutes the struggle becomes a strenuous fight. Then after another ten minutes, I close my eyes to focus further, with all my might I press against my shields fight to snap back into place. For another five minutes I fight to hold it in place, The effort causing me to grit my teeth and squeeze my hands into tight fists. Then like a rubber band, it snaps back into place surrounding me. I gasp and open my eyes to a concerned Edward. He says "you did very well Bella, you have very good control over your gift for so short a time, it is impressive."

I stop panting after a moment, not feeling nearly as bad as the last time I stretched my shield. I already feel like I am recovering after only a moment. My shield feels strong around me so I try to flex it out and move it to cover Edward. It snaps back around me and I feel even more fatigued by the effort and decide to leave it alone for a while.

Alice lifts her head from Jasper's lap and smiles. she looks pleased with her time gazing at the future. Probably glad to not have me blocking her for a change. Her attitude reassures me though, she seems extremely upbeat about something.

Jasper also appears calmed by Alice's deminer. Alice tells us "Aro is being cautious not making too many decisions, he is keeping his options open to combat my gift. But he has decided enough for me to be sure they are coming for us."

Confused I ask her "then why are you smiling, that's bad news, not usually accompanied with a smile Alice?"

She looks at me with amazement and says "Bella I saw something else, you are even more powerful then I imagined. Your shield is amazing, you will see today."

She tells me "you should relax now Bella you were very helpful,but It drained your energy. I am going to go talk with Carlisle and Esme." I nod, then she gets up and skips over to Carlisle and Esmae's seats, Jasper close behind. I tune them out and instead bring my legs up and wrap my arms around them, then I turn my body to face Edward once again.

He informs me tenderly "Alice is right, you look extremely tired Bella."

I answer "I don't know if as a vampire I have ever felt so drained, it's hard to believe I have any power."

Rosalie and Emmitt make their way to the others to join in on the discussion, Emmitt gives us a big grin as he passes.

Edward informs me "we will land in a few hours and by then you will probably feel better, you have just overextended your gift." Then he scoops me up and pulls me onto his lap. I rest my head on his chest while he rubs soothing circles on my back with his right hand. With his left he tucks a long lock of hair behind my ear, moving it out of my face.

We speed the flight in this way, and Edward tells me some of what Alice saw.

he says " Alice saw Aro, Marcus, and Caius meet with their guard, and tell then that in two weeks' they will be leaving. They didn't tell them were but that they will find witnesses to observe their justice being done."

I tell Edward "it is probably me, I am why they didn't give a location their not sure where we are. I tend to cover you all with my shield, even if they try to find us with Demetri they could not." I stretch my shield out to cover the Jet, worried that they may be looking at this very moment."

The time passes and soon Alice and jasper go back into the cockpit and Rosalie and Emmitt return to their couch. Esme and Carlisle follow and sit on the couch across from them.

Well, my first time on a private jet doesn't disappoint, it definitely is better than a plane. Alice and her co-captain Jasper are doing great. The ride so far has been smooth. Alice announces in a playful stewardess tone "I hope you enjoyed your flight, your red-eye from Alaska to Washington will be landing in fifteen minutes."

I am quite comfy and relaxed with my legs and feet resting on my unoccupied seat. When Alice makes her announcement I lift the side of my face from where it rested on Edward's chest so that I could look up at him. I tell him "either nothing fazes her anymore, or she has a lot of faith in us getting thought this if she can still sound so upbeat. She sounds like we are landing to go on that shopping trip we planed not the potential danger I feel were in"

"Its mostly her faith in you Bella remember she saw your strength, she thinks your Shield is the key and will save us and so do I. I am just not as cavalier about it." Edward laughs making me curious about what he is thinking, I look at him with a questioning gaze.

"its nothing you just made me remember something Alice thought not too long ago."

I ask him "and that was?"

"She is extremely impressed with your shield and was thinking, we can't get hurt if the villains can't get to us. That's what she thought, word for word. I laughed because of her phrasing. I think she is expecting more trouble down the line of our long life. She didn't want to limit us to a single antagonist, probably accounting for your magnetism for trouble."

I frown at his joke. Then he kisses me on my frowning lips and I can't help but smile.

"I hope she is right about my shield, but I don't feel like I can do anything right now, just covering the jet is still hard and I still feel bad I could only bring my shield down for 52 minutes." I close my eyes and rest my head back on his chest. I almost wish I could sleep and wake up refreshed like when I was human.

"Bella you are just exhausted from stretching the bounds of your gift, you did excellently. You should give yourself more credit, you are a newborn. Being fatigued is frustrating but you will feel better after we hunt."

I open my eyes and examine his face, he looks worried about me again. "yeah, you are right, I just don't like feeling vulnerable. I am actually starting to feel much better though." I give Edward a smile that seems to hypnotize him because he is now grinning at me stupidly. To distract him further I tell him "When we land Let's see who can catch a mountain lion first, it's your favorite right, well its mine too. We can have a friendly race then we can look in on Charlie on our way home, I haven't seen him in a month."

Edward suddenly reaches down and cups my cheek tenderly with a concerned look, he must have noticed something in my deminer change when I mentioned my dad. Maybe he sensed my sadness or concern for Charlie. I worked hard to make it sound off-handed, I must have slipped up if he noticed though. Edward states my previous thoughts "You are worried for Charlie, I am sorry love. I promise we will keep him safe like last time." I look down in my lap so he doesn't see the sadness in my eyes, the sadness over hurting Charlie.

Edward moves his hand from my cheek to my jaw and gently lifts my head to look back up at him. He studies my face and then tells me "He is human Bella and although he will always miss you because of how much he loves you, time moves by quickly for them and with it, the pain of loss fades. We will always watch over him together and ensure he is well."

Then Edward gives a reassuring smile and turns my distraction for him, back at me "you are right mountain lions our my favorite, but I don't want to spit up for our hunt. I'll let you have the mountain lion and I will have a few deers along the way."

I reach up with my left hand and grasp his shoulder to pull my torso up his body so I can kiss him.

He must not want to race because he doesn't want me out of his sight. He saw with Alice how strong I am and he knows the extent of my gift even more than I do. I can tell he believes in me, he knows I would be safe if we raced. I think Edward is being over-protective so when I break the kiss I smile at him look into his golden eyes I tell him "I love you Edward, but I won't let you hide me away and you cant always have me in your sights."

His lips form a pout. I maneuver my right leg on the other side of him so that I am straddling him. With each of my knees on either side of him, I let his shoulder go, able to stay at his eye level without it. I tell him "So how about we do race but as a concession, we can hunt together until we catch the scent of a mountain lion and race to the same one."

He smiles and says "I like that plan."

"good, I have never raced another of our kind before I think it will be a lot of fun. I love to run now, I always feel so free and uninhibited. I think my clumsiness as a human has shaped my deep appreciation for running."

I look at Edward seriously and tell him "I want a fair rase Edward, you can't let me win. You tend to do things you think will make me happy, since I don't think you can help yourself I will give you an incentive to win yourself. What do you think a good incentive would be?"

Edward says "how about if I win you agree to drink the Mountain lion. It is your favorite so I want you to have. If you agree to that then I will race you with my all."

"Ok Edward I don't mind you giving me the Mountain lion if you win, but I am still not sure you won't let me win in the moment. You may think about how excited I'd be and how happy it would make me to win and not be able to help yourself, so how about if I win you take the mountain lion."

after a moment Edward looks at me and nods with a sheepish smile on his face.

I look at him and say "good, then we have a deal."

Edward looks to the window a little frustratedly and then back at me a moment later with his face composed. Then he appears to be thinking, probably trying to formulate an argument or way to give me everything, so I give him one more thing to think about by leaning in and kissing him. This time also pressing my body close to his and wrap my arms around his neck. I can feel his arms wrap around me pulling me closer to him.

We continue kissing and as we do I can feel the plane slowly and smoothly descending then I feel the wheels make contact with the ground and the plane lurches a few times. The landing is fairly smooth and after a few minutes we come to a stop. We kiss until I hear Alice clears her throat behind us. But it is Emmitt that speaks first, he makes his way to us quickly with Rosalie following behind and says " get a room".

Edward unwraps an arm from my back and swings it out to hit Emmitt near the gut. He must have found his mark because I here Emmitt grunt then say "it was just a joke" he smiles at me and says "sorry Bella". Rosalie pulls Emmitt along saying "Come on Emmett" then looks to us and says "we will see you guys back at the house." Then they disappear thought the open door.

I pull away and lean back then place my feet on the ground, standing in front of a disappointed looking Edward. I hold my hand out to him and say "let go for a hunt ."

He grasps my hand and gets up, looking towards them he says to Esme and Carlisle, "we are going to hunt and check in on Charlie, we will be home soon. We can all go visit the wolves in the morning, if we wander along the treaty line they will show up."

Carlisle answers with "will see you back at the house son" and then looks to Bella and says "have fun" with a happy smile. He must have heard some of our conversations and knows I am excited about our race.

I smile back at him than Edward and I run out into the early morning air hand in hand.

Hi all,

Thank you for reading. Let me know what you think about the chapter, good or bad I am always curious to know what the reader thinks.

-Byher