Many, many thanks to Meha (MeSh17) for all her help and willingness to go back and forth with me on my concerns with this chapter. I think you are getting a much better version as a result!

And of course, thanks to Stephenie Meyer for graciously letting us play in her world.

This chapter first published April 12, about 4:15pm Australian Eastern Standard count: 1788


Chapter Six – Listening In

Bella woke on Sunday to the fourth sunny morning in a row. "Must be some kind of January record," she muttered to herself happily as she got dressed.

She'd had a restless night, finally waking fully at the end of an awful dream—but she wasn't going to even think about that. That life wasn't real, not in the present. And she couldn't be made to marry someone in a life that wasn't real, she just couldn't. Besides, Jasper would come back in time. He had to.

"Stop it, Swan!" She told herself crossly. Whatever happened in her dreams was in the past, this life was real, it was now, and she was going to make the most of it.

And Jasper Hale was most definitely real, even if he hadn't been in school on Thursday or Friday—according to Jessica that was par for the course for the Cullen family when the sun was out—and even though he didn't know her, it just couldn't be a coincidence.

There was still a part of her that felt guilty about her attraction to him, as though that was betraying her Jasper. But she was almost convinced now that the whole point of the dreams was to make sure she knew him when she found him. After all, if he never spoke to anyone besides his siblings, and she was her usual shy self, they may never have spoken at all. Though in truth, he spoke to her first. But still….

Maybe the dreams were there to make sure she made an effort with this Jasper. Of course, that would imply some higher power was involved, and she wasn't sure she believed that. But maybe... There had to be some explanation for her dreams, didn't there? She'd never really questioned them before, but she'd known from an early age that having a whole separate life in her sleep was not normal.

She showered quickly and dressed in jeans and a warm thermal top with a long sleeve tee over it, grabbing a warm jacket as well. Half the kids on the rez seemed to get by in summer clothes all year round, but she knew she would be cold if they went for a walk today.

She'd told Charlie she'd go to the rez with him today and hang with the kids there while her dad helped out at the Clearwater's. Harry Clearwater—another good friend and fishing buddy of Charlie's—had died a few months previously, and Charlie's weekends were divided between fishing with Billy or helping out with chores at Sue's.

Honestly, she didn't know how much help Sue needed, but it was Charlie's way of showing support. If there was still some sun later maybe she could walk down to the beach with Leah and Seth. She walked downstairs slowly, trying to keep that positive thought uppermost in her mind.

It was hard to keep her mind on the present though, her dreams had become so disturbing lately.

Yesterday, Charlie had already gone down to the rez to go fishing with Billy Black when Bella came down stairs and by the time her dad had arrived home late in the afternoon, Bella had completed all her homework, read ahead for English, and had dinner ready in the oven.

After eating, she'd done a load of laundry and watched a game on TV with her father—even though she had no idea who the teams were and couldn't really follow the game. By the time eleven o'clock rolled around Charlie was in bed, her laundry was folded and put away, and there was nothing else to keep her from her bed.

Which was when Bella had to admit that she was putting off going to bed for a reason.

For most of her childhood Bella had looked forward to sleeping and dreaming, knowing that she would get to play with Jasper at some point in the night.

Her second life, as she liked to think of it, was always incomplete. She didn't dream full days, morning to night, but rather snippets, most of which included Jasper. In those dreams, she had an awareness of the rest of her day, but on waking, though she'd have a full knowledge of nineteenth century Bella's day, only the parts included in her dream really felt like they'd happened to her. The other parts were more distant, with less emotion attached, as though they had happened a long time ago. Which they had, she supposed.

And most of the parts she dreamt about were spent with Jasper. That was, until a little under two years ago, when Jasper joined the confederate army and left to join the war.

Since then her dreams had included very little of him, although she often dreamed of writing to him, talking with his sister, Mary, or knitting for the soldiers.

But while he was unavoidably absent from her dreams, there was nothing in them to dread. Of course, there was the ever-present worry that they would get bad news from the front, either about Jasper directly, or about the war effort in general. But there was also the hope that he would be home for a visit, or she would receive a letter.

Now, for the first time, she was actively dreading her dreams. Jasper had just been home, and wasn't expected back soon, and her parents were seriously contemplating suitors for her.

She'd known that her father didn't overly approve of Jasper, who came from a rather poorer family than her own. But it had truly never occurred to her that he would force another marriage on her. Especially not with most young—and not so young—men away at war. Jasper was trying to make something of himself, and she would wait for him for as long as it took. But it seemed her parents had other ideas.

For the first time, Bella had been truly afraid to go to sleep, and the dream she had had before waking this morning only increased her fear for tonight. Papa's friend, Mr Johnson, honestly gave her the creeps.

Edward joined Jasper outside Bella's house before midnight on Sunday, and they quickly discovered that Edward could read her mind while she slept—which for the most part was as pointless as reading anyone's mind while they slept, full of unrelated images and vague nothings.

Jasper had visited Bella's house on Sunday afternoon when the clouds rolled in, and finding it empty, spent some time poking around in her room. But, he hadn't found anything suspicious, and certainly no other vampire's scent.

"That doesn't mean she hasn't had contact with a vampire, though," Edward was quick to point out. "They would probably have been careful not to touch her anyway."

Towards morning, her dreams became clearer.

"It's almost like listening to the thoughts of someone a mile or so away. Far enough that I can't hear what's going on audibly, but I can follow the whole scene through her mind," he explained to Jasper. "There's no indication that she's dreaming at all."

"So, what are you seeing?"

"She's in a house that looks like something from—well, from the 1800s, I think. Pretty nice—a well-to-do family. She's sitting in what looks to be family's living room, fancy uncomfortable chairs and everything. Her mother—I think it's her mother—is lecturing her, and she seems pretty unhappy."

"Who, Bella or her mother? What are they saying?"

"Bella's unhappy. Her mother, not so much. Okay, I'm just going to try to report it as I hear it. Her mom's just told her she needs to start acting smarter.

'Look Isabella, Mr Johnson was very impressed with you yesterday, and he means to come back next week.'

'But Mama, I don't even like Mr Johnson!'

'Correction: You don't know Mr Johnson. Nor do you need to. What you do know is that he won't be drafted in the war, because he has a serious position in the city. You know he is willing to support your father's interests, and that he can also support you and any children you might have, without your father's support. And you know that your father is never going to approve a marriage between you and Jasper Whitlock. This is your future. I suggest you embrace it and learn to be happy with it.'

'Yes, Mama. May I be excused now?'"She's crying, but she's trying to hide it. I can't tell what she's thinking—whether she's really that meek or she has some other plan, she's not thinking about it. She's left the house and is walking somewhere. She's picturing a large oak tree, I guess that's where she's going."

"Well, I may not know what she's thinking,' Jasper threw in, "but she's feeling completely devastated."

"Jasper, oh my god, she's picturing you. Except, a human you. Waiting for her under the tree. Except you aren't there, she's there now and just sitting down. But I can see what she's thinking about inside the dream. So weird. "

"And?! What is she thinking about?" Jasper asked impatiently

"You," Edward said simply. "She's remembering, I think, sitting under here with you. You told her the next time you were able to come back, you would speak to her father. You said—Oh shit!"

"I'm pretty sure I would never have said that to a lady in the 1800s. Even in a planted memory inside a dream. If that's even what this is!"

"Jasper, you told her you had to leave in the morning to evacuate the last people from around Galveston, because there was a plan to retake it."

Jasper actually felt the strength go out of his legs and sat down on the ground.

"Oh my god," he whispered. "Oh fuck."

"What was that? What did I just see in your head?"

"I don't know." Jasper was still whispering. He felt like he was in shock. "Edward, I think I'm remembering something. Look at the images in my head."

"Jasper, you're picturing her exactly the way she is dressed in the memory in her dream. And you're picturing the exact same tree! "

"What the fuck is going on, Edward?"

"I don't know, but, Jasper—Galveston!"

"I know. I know," he moaned. "That's where Maria found me."

They both heard the change in Bella's heart rate and breathing as she started to wake up. And they both heard her quietly crying.


A/N Okay so let me have it - what do you think now? Reviews get a teaser of chapter 7!

Next chapter I promise we'll get Bella and Jasper in the same room and even talking! LOL.

And by the way, I have already sent chapter 7 to my lovely betas, BUT my kids are on school holidays for two weeks as of this afternoon, so I don't absolutely promise to get the next chapter out next week. I will do my best though. And who knows, maybe I'll get more done instead of less, what with the lack of stress over school lunches!

Recs:

New(ish):

What Have We Done? By ladylibre s/12499419/1/What-Have-We-Done

This is a New Moon alternate, canon couples but in Rosalie's POV. I really enjoyed it. It's complete, but recent – just finished in March.

Summary: "Fed up with her family's mourning since leaving Bella behind, Rosalie returns to Forks to prove that the stupid human is just fine without them. But what she finds is not what she expected. And that will not do. *A canon-based, drabblish AU New Moon fic."

From the archives:

Long Way Down by forthelongestday s/6242534/2/Long-Way-Down

This is a New Moon AU Jasper/Bella Fic. The truth is, I read so many Jasper-Bella fics in such a short time a year or two ago, that many of them are blended together in my head – especially since post new moon is SUCH a common starting point. And most of them I can't pin to a title or author. And, at least a couple of my favourites are no longer on this site. So, I don't remember exactly how this plays out. But it's got a great beginning, I think.

Summary: When Edward confesses his motivation for leaving Bella she realizes she cannot offer him a second chance. Her insistence for closure is met with the realization that one member of the family has no intentions of leaving her unprotected again."