The air was filled the anticipation of the coming fight. Nearly a century since the southern wars had ruled her life and yet the feeling was still the same. Janet looked around her and though the atmosphere was the same in many ways, it was completely different because of the people she was with. In her moment of silence, she watched her family prepare for the coming battle. Esme and Carlisle stood together holding their hands and starring into their eyes and speaking a million thing to each other. Rosalie and Emmett were silently starring at the battlefield and holding onto each other without moving, as if two statues of past lovers.

Last she watched as her father spoke softly to Alice and made her smile as they sat together on a large bolder at the edge of the tree line. Edward and Bella were not present since they were somewhere in the mountains hiding. It was weird for her to see such a display of love and emotion before a battle. In the times of the wars there would be nothing but deadly silence and a tension that seeped into the bones. The only emotions ever present was fear and especially hunger. Hunger for the fight and hunger for the blood that would be a reward for a battle won.

That was how they were conditioned back then, the thought of the fresh blood pushed you to do anything to win. It was the only way to push the newborns to die trying and not think about running. Blood was always the way to do anything in this new life that they were pulled into. They say money makes the world go around but it's really the blood of the innocent that is spilled everyday everywhere in the world. There is no such thing as a safe place for anyone since there is always someone spilling the blood of an innocent.

Blood, Blood, Blood, …

Jasper placed a hand on Janet's shoulder causing her to jolt out of her rampant thoughts. They were starting to lead her in a direction she was trying to avoid at all costs.

"Under the bludgeoning of chance my head is bloody, but unbowed…" Jasper started to recite while looking into the sky, his hand still on Janet's shoulder.

"I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul" Janet finished reciting and looked to the sky as well as the sense of solidarity filled her from the ground up.

The world may be burning down around them, but they were the ones who decided if they burned too or not. This fight was not like the wars in any way and Janet was feeling as much herself as she has that first time, she realized she didn't have to fight anymore. It was her choice to fight this time and no one could take away her choice ever again.

In the distance the sound of the wolves was heard and that was a sign that it would soon be time.

Leah watched Janet send her brother with Jacob to where Bella was. He wouldn't fight in this battle and that had been a relief to her once she had heard this part of the plan. Janet had talked at length about how she felt about the injustice for Seth in all this. It was unfair that a child had to grow up faster than they were supposed to.

There was no telling what would happen at the end of this battle, but one thing was for sure, Seth would make it home. Janet turned to walk to Leah and she suddenly felt like she was seeing her for the first time again. Her sunshine curls floated in the wind as her white dress danced behind her while she walked. All other sounds ceased to exist but for the sound of her bare feet padding their way to Leah. It had been merely a couple of hours since they had last seen each other but it felt like a lifetime.

How was it possible for one single being to consume another's whole world with one look and one smile? The light in Janet's eyes as she looked at her filled her with the greatest happiness that could not be described in any way. In the back of her mind, Leah realized that the two were just standing starring at each other without moving or making a sound. But that was okay, there were no words needed or any grand gestures to express what they were feeling for each other.

"They're coming" Alice announced to the assembled group and they all broke into formation to prepare for the coming enemy.

Janet smiled serenely at Leah as she turned and walked to the middle of the field and turned into a small child. Though they had talked about this part of the plan, Leah still tensed as Janet sat in the middle of the battlefield as the live bait. It was going to be harder than either of them thought for Leah to rein herself in. But a whole town was counting on them to protect them and it was their duty.

Let's get this over with

**********************Skipping the fight scene**********************

Janet seethed with barely controlled fury and stormed through the forest. No one had dared follow her even if they could. Her father had ordered her to return to the house so the Volturi would not see her. It didn't matter that she was on the verge of storming off anyway or starting another fight altogether. Who was at fault for her current mood? Well, her mate of course.

She let out a frustrated shriek and stomped her foot while pulling on her golden locks. There was no other way for her to let out her need for something to hit without going to the reserve and hitting her mate. How could Leah be so stupid?! Was it on purpose? Did she not care at all? Janet stared angerly at the ocean roiling in front of her in their clearing.

"Being angry won't make the fear go away" Alice's voice came from behind Janet who stiffened. She had been so caught up in her 'what if' scenarios that she didn't notice Alice come into the clearing.

"How else am I supposed to deal with the fact that I am mated to an idiot?" Janet huffed out and crossed her arms in defiance.

"I think you are forgetting she is only 20 years old" Alice spoke reasonably and directly since she knew Janet hated being talked to as if she was a child.

"She is old enough to carry the burden of the safety of her people but when she acts like an idiot, I must let it slide because she has not lived as long as I have? We are equals in this bond and therefore I expect for her to rise to the best of her ability to the occasion!" Janet whirled around to glare at her father's mate.

It was not about Leah's age or her lack of experience but the fact that she chose to act like a newborn in the midst of battle. In the wars of the south Janet had seen those who acted like Leah on the battlefield be massacred without mercy. There was no room for stupidity in war, one wrong move could lead to death. Though Janet was prepared for their death, she wasn't going to let either of them make it easy.

"She does not think like you do. There are decisions that you make based on the life you've had to live but she has not had to live it so she cannot make the same decisions. There are going to be more instances like this you know. She will make you just as mad, if not worse but that is love." Alice smiled sadly at Janet as she watched her yank her hair in frustration and shriek. She had watched Janet do this when she would get into fights with her father and knew it meant that she was angrier at herself than the other person.

Janet threw her head back and heaved a huge, unnecessary, sigh of resignation.

"I should have prepared her better" Janet finally whispered out the true reason for her anger.

"Oh honey, it wasn't…" Alice tried to sooth the self-loathing Janet felt.

"SHE IS MY MATE!" Janet interrupted with a fierce yell and tear-filled eyes that held such roiling emotions. "We are responsible for each other, no matter how anyone looks at it. No amount of pretty words is going to change who we are. We are a vampire and a wolf who have a magical bond that is beyond our own comprehension. She is my mate and it is just as much my job to take care of her as it is hers to take care of me. We can fight it all we want but it is the law of nature and there is nothing we can do about it." Janet sat on the floor of the clearing in emotional exhaustion when she finished speaking.

Alice walked slowly forward to sit beside Janet and offer her silent support. It was always such a whirlwind when she spoke to Janet because she always wanted to see things for what they were.

They sat there for a good couple of minutes and thought about life and their mates. It was a pleasure for Alice to be able to share this moment with Janet, even if it was once in a century. After some time, Alice placed her hand delicately on Janet's to get her attention. Janet looked at Alice and the two share a small smile.

"I think it's time we move forward and leave the past where it belongs." Alice advised as she rose and dusted off her pants.

"You're right," Janet agreed as she stood and stretched languorously, "But I will still be having words for my Leah" Janet warned with a playfully rueful smile on her face.

"Of course, honey how else will they learn that we are always right" Alice sneered playfully and turned with regal grace to walk back to the house. Janet laughed and followed her father's mate with a new camaraderie blossoming between them.

Leah was running the treaty line after she had escorted Doctor Cullen off the reserve. There was a lingering indignation after the whole fiasco after the battle and the newborn who hurt Jacob. Everyone was making it seem like she had done it all on purpose or worse like she was stupid to get into that situation. It had all happened so fast and she had still been running on adrenaline. The only thing she can remember is the look on Janet's face after the newborn had been disposed of.

The anger on her face as she tore apart the newborn and then faced her father who ordered her to go home, was unbelievable. She was not some child just because she was one of the last ones to change. She was an adult, damnit! There was no way she could explain what came over her at that moment. No one seemed to want to listen anyway and now her mate was angry and Jacob was in excruciating pain.

Leah tore a tree sapling from the ground in frustration and mauled it to pieces. It was all so frustrating, and she didn't know what to do. They couldn't keep doing this to her, one minute they understand and the next she has to be perfect or she is a failure. She turned back in the middle of the pit she had made in her frustration and let the tears flow. How much had she given already, and this was how things were repaid?

A twig snapped behind her causing her to snarl and whirl around with an intent to harm. The unflinching frame of Jasper Whitlock stood before his daughter's mate as he looked onto the broken girl before him. There was a blank look on his face as he stared at Leah and motioned for her to follow him. Leah sighed and stood to follow him with the knowledge that he was going to chew her out as well.

"What are you doing here?" Leah asked as she began to pull on the clothes tied to her leg and trying to follow him at the same time. She forced herself not to think about the fact that she was naked in front of her girlfriend's father.

"It wasn't your fault" Jasper stated simply once Leah was dressed and standing before him as defiantly as she could with the crushing emotions he could feel coming off of her. The pressure he could feel she was under made him upset and guilty since he could remember a time when he put the same pressure on his own daughter.

"That's not what everyone else thinks. No matter what I do, I seem to always be in the way of everybody. Do you know what that feels like? To be looked at as a burden and know that the people who are supposed to be your pack, your family, only tolerate you because of the blood in your veins!" Leah cried in emotional turmoil yanked on her hair after a moment of not knowing what to do with her anger and self-loathing. How had she come to be the pathetic, weak link that everyone barely tolerated.

"Come with me" Jasper encouraged after a moment's pause to let Leah get a hold of herself again. It would be easy to ignore the child before him, but she was to become a part of his kin and that mattered more than their species.

Leah wiped her face and walked behind Jasper as he led the way into the woods. She wondered briefly why she was following without feeling threatened but pushed it into the back of her mind. It was kind of nice to have someone to talk to in that moment no matter the species or the history.

"Where are we going?" Leah finally asked as they kept walking in silence for what seemed an hour.

"To the source of your problem, you are not to run away from a problem and brood about it in silence until it blows over." Jasper stated as he took a no-nonsense stance in the middle of the field where they had just faced the newborn army. Leah didn't know what to expect from this man at that moment.

"What are we doing here?" Leah asked in a defiant tone but kept her distance in case Jasper decided he didn't want to be patient.

"You are going to start your training" A wolfish grin spread across Jasper's face as he said these words. Leah just gulped and looked as worried as a canary in front of a cat.

Janet sat on the roof of the house as she stared at the stars that had started appearing a while ago. Life had not seemed so hard since the time they left the southern wars behind all those years ago. How could this be so complicated? It has always been simple to know what life is like and accepting it but for some reason having a mate feels different.

"You know there will never be a rational reason for love" Edward spoke as he approached his niece. He had always found her mind to be a straightforward, open book that need no explaining. It had always been a refreshing thing to not have to decipher what her thoughts meant or if he should hide his knowledge of some of it.

"That is what all the 'experts' say" Janet replied back with a mocking tone when she said experts making Edward chuckle.

"Your mind is unusually troubled recently and yet I think it's the most normal I have ever heard it. You know its normal to not know why you feel like you feel? If you could hear how every other couple in this house questions their sanity daily then you wouldn't question yours" Edward tried to explain to the girl beside him.

"I had given up finding love so long ago that now I don't even want to wrap my mind around it. It just all seems like a dream I will wake up from soon and I will back to going around this world on my own. The sad thing is that I'm okay with that because I have closed myself off from feeling for so long that only my father can touch my heart now…She deserves better." Janet whispered the last part in confusion as if confessing something unexpectedly.

"You have told me many times that we like to think ourselves the sovereigns of our lives, but the truth is that things are going to happen one way or the other. She may deserve better, but she has you, so all you can do now is be what she deserves and hope its enough." Edward advised as he looked at the stars with Janet and heard Jasper had arrived home.

"From the mouth of babes" Janet snorted out and causing laughter to bubble out of Edward as he stood to leave.

"You're not that much older than me" He reminded with good humor as he walked away and leaving a chuckling Janet to wait for her father.

A couple of minutes passed before Jasper came to sit beside his daughter and pulled her to his side with his arms around her shoulders. She laid her head on his shoulder and sighed in contentment. They sat in silence for the rest of the night just enjoying the moment and sharing their emotions for that moment.

Life was going to get so much more complicated but at least the bond between father and daughter would always be the same.

A/N: sorry it took so long but I got kind of stuck. Next chapter will be the family dinner at the Clearwater's ! please let me know what you thought of this chapter, I had a weird time with this one. Let me know what you want to see in future chapters as well please. Love you all and your support. Thanks