"I can understand why you chose not to tell us yesterday Jasper, however it is important that you understand one thing. We are a family here and the most important part of being a family is to trust each other", Carlisle finally said and I could already hear where this was going in my head. I am sorry, but you have betrayed our trust and we cannot accept this. You are welcome to stay until tomorrow but then I would like you to leave, I heard Carlisle's voice in my head.
However, real-life Carlisle said something completely different and unexpected: "It brings me great joy that you have found it in you to trust us with your story, especially considering the violent upbringing you've had. It doesn't matter if it took you a few hours to get here. It would have been alright if you needed a few days. What's important is, that you have eventually decided to trust us."
I looked at him, shocked by the response. I had only lived under one coven leader before and I had no doubt that she would have punished me harshly for keeping vital information like this for myself. "Jasper, stop it", I suddenly heard Edwards voice and realised, that I pictured the horrible things Maria used to do in my head. So sorry, I thought, quickly distracting myself by rolling down my sleeves again. Meanwhile, I looked at Esme, Emmett and Rosalie. "Are none of you mad at all?", I asked and could hear the disbelief in my own voice.
"Of course not! We understand", Esme said and smiled, gently patting my hand. She and Carlisle still stood next to me. I wasn't sure about Rosalie, though. She had been very quiet and I was positive that I had felt some anger flaring up inside of her, when I admitted that I had not been completely honest in the first place. However right now, I could not feel anything of the sorts from her. The blonde realised that my eyes were lingering on her and she shrugged her shoulders. "None of us go around, throwing their history in everyone's face – with the exception of Emmett maybe", she finally answered and grinned at her mate. "Why shouldn't I? Battling a bear, being saved by a beautiful woman and turned into this gorgeousness is a story worth telling", he replied flexing his muscles. The comment made all of us laugh.
"I am willing to forgive you Jasper, under one condition", he added and from his feelings I could tell, that he wasn't taking this too seriously. Still I was a bit wary about what was to come. "What do you want?", I asked, eyeing Alice who had suddenly started laughing. "He wants you to fight him", she explained and I could tell that Emmett was sulking. "What's so funny about that?", he asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Oh, you'll see", was everything Alice had to say about her vision right now and I shrugged my shoulders. "If you insist, sure", I accepted his condition, "Right now?" - "Why not? I would love to see how I could fare against Alice myself", Edward joined the conversation and I immediately growled at him, getting to my feet as he mentioned fighting Alice. My mate was at my side at once, gently lowering the arm I had stretched out protectively. "It's fine Jazz, I want to", she said, taking my hand inside hers.
"Not in here!", Esme exclaimed and I could feel how worried she was. She probably feared that we would destroy her whole living room in the process. I could understand her. Emmett was the first to slip out the door into the backyard, and Alice, Rosalie, the others and I followed him. "Who first?", Alice asked when we were all assembled but somehow I suspected that she already knew. "You go first. Keeping the best for last", Emmett decided with a big grin on his face and neither Alice nor Edward had to be told twice. They immediately descended the porch and Rosalie started: "So, the rules are…", but Edward stopped her. "She knows", he reassured, pointing towards Alice and taking a few steps back from her.
Watching Alice and Edward fight was indeed very interesting. At first, both of them hardly moved at all. It was, as if the fight was only going on in their head. I imagined what must be going on between them: Edward decided on an attack, Alice saw his decision and started thinking of her best defence, which Edward, in turn, heard of course.
However, after a few minutes, the action started to heat up. They went back and forth multiple time, each time one of them attacked and the other of course knew what was coming and eluded the attack. I was proud, seeing that Alice used some of the moves I had taught her. I had struggled with the idea of teaching her to fight for the first few months of our travels. But after nearly going crazy with worry one afternoon, when she went into the city to run some errands and I couldn't accompany her because of my thirst, I decided that I had to make sure that she could defend herself – at least to the point where she could escape and run back to me.
They had been going on back and forth for about ten minutes, when Emmett had enough and growled. "We get it, you two are evenly matched. Can we now please move on now?", he demanded impatiently. Rosalie called the match a tie and Emmett immediately took his place on the field. "Let's see what you've got in you", he said, circling his arms as if he was warming up. "The rules are easy", Rosalie explained and this time, no one interrupted her, "No biting, no dismemberment and the first one who has his teeth to the other one's throat, wins." While the first two rules made sense in a friendly struggle, the last one was not logical for me. Why go for the old "teeth at the neck" move, when it was so much easier to behead opponents with your arms, hands or even legs? Nonetheless, I nodded, taking position. I shifted my weight forward, acquiring a better stance to defend myself, since I did not plan to attack first. I wanted to see how Emmett fought, before deciding on a strategy. And I was positive, I could take a few blows. So, I let him come at me. And boy did he.
With enormous force he dashed forward and threw me back against the nearest tree. The wood ached and creaked under the force of the thrust, and for a minute I feared it would break but eventually the tree held up. I fell to the ground, landing on my feet and was immediately confronted with the next attack. I tried to resist his force this time, putting all my strength up against his but I was without a chance: the earth beneath me did not hold and he pushed me back until I lost my footing and tumbled to the ground. This time I came up with my back, rolled over and right back onto my feet.
I had seen enough and was pleased with what I observed. Emmett's fighting style resembled newborns in many ways. He used his enormous force well, but that was about as much of a strategy as he had. It would be easy for me to outdo him. The next time he came at me, I ducked away under his punch and then used his own momentum to throw him to the ground. The sound of his massive body hitting the damp earth resembled thunder, but I did not let that distract me. Before he even got back on his legs, I got a grip on his arm and threw him halfway through the backyard. Emmett only missed a massive tree by a few feet and did not hesitate to attack again, immediately after landing on his feet. The fact that I eluded his punches and he wasn't getting a grip on me again, made him angry and I used my talent to elevate the emotion even more. Time and time again, he came at me with the same boring, straight forward approach and most of the times, I managed to use his attack to my advantage. The more often his attack met nothing but air, the angrier he got and the more amused I was. I had forgotten how good it felt to fight – and to win.
I did not know how long we had been at it, but at some point I could sense that Rosalie was getting bored. So, I decided to end it. With the next attack, I evaded Emmett's punch again, kicked his legs out from beneath him and had my teeth against his neck before he even hit the ground. "That's it, Jasper wins!", Alice exclaimed and I could hear the pride in her voice. I released Emmett, holding out my hand to help him get up. "That was fun", he said, obviously not too bummed about the fact that he lost. "Your fight style is… interesting", I replied, as we walked back towards the porch. "What do you mean by interesting?", Emmett echoed but I was too focused on my angel - who approached me with a big smile on her face and held out her hand - to bother elaborating my remark. "Hey, Jasper! What's wrong with my fight style?!", Emmett repeated, but I ignored him, amused by the emotions my silence spurred in him.
"Patience, Emmett", Esme scolded, "I am sure Jasper will tell you. Later." Emmett growled but was rapidly distracted by something Rosalie was whispering into his ear. I could immediately feel the passion growing in both of them, clenching my jaw. Not again. "Will you tell us the rest of your story? I would love to hear how you met", Esme now asked, capturing my attention. She and Carlisle had come closer, holding hands and sporting genuine smiles. Alice, of course, was very excited to tell our shared history and I let her. To my own relief, Emmett and Rosalie interrupted whatever they were talking about, to listen to her tale as well.
"Like I said, the first vision I ever had was of Jasper. I saw him, standing in front of a shack and staring into a bonfire and I immediately felt drawn to him. However, at first, I did not know what all this meant and why I was seeing things that weren't there. It was very scary. I was in a cave, all by myself, feeling this immense pain in my throat and having no idea who I was and what had happened to me", she explained and I couldn't bare the fear and sadness that were taking a hold of my beautiful, cheery angel, so I took them away and instead enhanced all the love there was inside of her. She looked at me, her eyes telling that I didn't have to do that. "I wanted to", I reassured her and gently squeezed her hand.
"I only understood what these visions were, when I saw myself killing two hikers and then – two minutes later – heard them passing my hideout… With the worst of my thirst gone, I was able to focus and visions started to pour in, one after the other without any chronological order. It made my head hurt. One minute I saw Carlisle and Edward hunting deer, then suddenly you were in a living room, Edward playing the piano and you playing chess with Esme, while Emmett and Rosalie were laying on the couch. Flashes of Jasper were mixed in as well and it all was very blurry and unclear until everything focused on a family portrait."
"We were all standing next to each other in a living room, Jasper by my side, staring back at the camera from our golden eyes. And that's when I realized that you were my future. All of you", she continued and now love was just flowing out of her small body in an endless stream. "Still, I did not know when and where we were supposed to meet, so I kept an eye on Jasper's and all of your futures while I was travelling, adjusting to my new life and the vegetarian diet. But it wasn't until 1948, when I suddenly had a clear vision of us meeting in a small diner in Philadelphia."
"1948! You've been on your own for so long? That must have been so awful", Esme said and gently touched Alice's shoulder. I could tell, that she thought of her as her daughter already. "It was, but I wasn't alone. I had my visions keeping me company. I was living all of your lives with you, just watching from afar", she explained and dwelled in her memories for a minute, before she continued.
"So, 1948. I was in Maine when I learnt that I was finally going to meet Jasper. It was so exciting! Naturally, I rushed down to Philadelphia within the day. However, there was no way of knowing exactly when the meeting would take place. I only knew that it would be soon and it would have to be a rainy day. So, I rented an apartment in the outskirts of the city and kept an eye on the weather, waiting in the diner every rainy day until he finally came", she recounted, turning her head and looking at me with a big smile on her face.
"I was travelling alone at that point. The weather had been bad for a few days and my hunger drove me into the city. However, I quickly realized my error when people started to notice me - the strange man, standing outside in the thunderstorm. That's why I finally decided to enter the diner", I explained my side of the story, looking into golden Alice's eyes, "I was shocked to meet another immortal and tried to determine whether she was going to attack. But she simply smiled and came directly towards me, saying that I had made her wait for a long time."
"I could tell from the look on his face that he thought I was crazy, when I addressed him with his name. However, being the gentleman he is, he didn't say anything the like of it but rather ducked his head and uttered: 'My apologies ma'am'", Alice repeated my words. They were all looking at us, captivated by the story. "I held out my hand and he took it without hesitation. I was very pleased but also surprised, since I did not expect it to be this easy", Alice continued and now all eyes were on me, waiting for an explanation.
"I'm not one-hundred percent sure, why I didn't second guess it… But I think it was because after being alone and depressed for such a long time, the emotions she exuded were nothing like I ever felt before. It was the first time in almost a century that I felt… hope", I told them, smiling at the memory of how taking her hand had felt like. Direct contact heightened the power of my gift and back then, her emotions had washed over me without resistance. It was invigorating.
"We spent a few hours in the diner and I was telling Jasper about myself and the future I saw for us, while we waited for the storm to pass. It was tricky, he was thirsty and although the diner was nearly empty, the staff was around. When the rain finally stopped, we quickly slipped out and I took him back to the apartment, where I quickly packed my bags. I didn't want to stay in the city for any longer than we needed to", she explained, leaving out how I had attacked a beggar on our way back to the apartment and how I nearly dragged her down that road as well.
"At first, we were headed northeast, towards Maine and New Brunswick, but the area was still too populated. We stayed in the forests for most of the time, but the occasional run ins with humans did not help Jasper adjust, so we finally decided to head farther north – first to Greenland and finally to the Yukon area. We spent most of our first year there, then travelled back south, closer to the populated areas. I rented a cabin near Saguenay, so Jasper could slowly get used to being around humans again. We stayed there for nearly half a year, before we went back to America and spent a few months near Portland."
"We were still in that area two weeks ago, when we were out hunting one day and Jasper came across the scent of immortals, which he recognized. We followed them north, back into Canada and up the Hudson Bay, when we finally reached Peter and Charlotte near Fort Mackenzie. I had been having regular visions of you settling here during the last months and knew that it wouldn't be too long before we would meet. So, when we left Jasper's friends, we immediately headed to the West Coast to find you", Alice recounted our travels over the last year, casually mentioning my struggles with vegetarianism, while she was at it. I wouldn't have minded if she kept these details for herself. But it was her right to tell – it was the truth after all.
"This is a beautiful story", Esme said, smiling as she gave Carlisle a loving look. I could feel the purity of her emotions toward him and averted my gaze, noticing Edward who stood a few feet apart from us by himself. I felt sorry for him. It must have been hard for him, being around all of us without having found his own mate yet. You'll meet your mate as well. It took me almost a hundred years as well, you'll find her eventually, I thought, taking away some of his melancholy and lightening his mood.
Suddenly, Alice's hand went limp in mine and her expression blank. Another vison but only a short one. "We should get inside, it'll start raining in", she paused and I already felt the first drop of rain, "now!" Everyone laughed, getting back into the living room and Emmett was about to retake his seat by the coffee table when Esme stopped him: "Oh no, you and Jasper will clean up before sitting in my living room. You are absolutely filthy!"