Disclaimer: We don't own the Twilight saga. And Julia doesn't own Ari. Although Julia wants to. Heh...
Who is Ari, you ask? –Snicker-
Julia: Ari is my best friend. He is a boy. And I love him.
Tirzah: Putting it bluntly.
Julia: He goes to my camp.
Tirzah: No, really?
Julia: Mmhmm. He is tall.
Tirzah: Nearly every boy his age is tall.
Julia: In this one picture of him, he looks like gopher. But a cute one.
Tirzah: Well folks, that explains the quote on our profile, eh?
Julia: And I figured out how to get a picture of him on my phone! He lives in New York. And he might be coming for my birthday!
Tirzah: Lovely. On with the story, hmm?
Julia: I love you, Tirzah.
Tirzah: What do you want?
Julia ...Well...can we use Ari as our profile picture?
Tirzah: No way in Hell. Shuzzup, foo.
Tidbit o' Info: When the immigrants came from other countries in Europe, like Italy, Poland, Russia and so on, they came by boat to America; Ellis Island, New York.
Now Bella and the Cullens aren't immigrants, but they're just coming on a boat with immigrants. However, they aren't in the bottom of the boat, where all of the people were usually "stored". They're first class, thanks to the Cullen men and despite Bella's protests.
To answer a question: Julia mentioned someone or people suggesting the little girls from the beginning being involved in the story. It is a good suggestion; but we've decided not to use it as having them being involved later in the story might turn them into main characters. If they were that, they might pull away the attention from the real main characters; The Cullens and Bella. So, chapter three is the last time they're mentioned.
On with the fic!
One Week Later
Edward POV
I watched her lean over the railing, careful of her broken arm, and I gulped nervously.
"Bella, don't do that!" I called to her. She turned to look at me and smiled sweetly. The last thing I'd need would be for her to fall over the railing a week after rescuing her from the Nazis.
"Sorry, Edward; It's just...I've never been on a ship before." She sighed, and turned around to look out across the ocean. Her brown hair was whipping around her face, and it was a cold day. The air smelled faintly of fish, but it was ruled out by the smell of sea salt. Bella didn't seem to mind either. I quickly strode over to her, and leaned against, rather than over, the railing with her.
"Bella?"
"Yes?" She answered, turning to face me. She had full, pale pink lips curved up into a smile, and her cheeks had color in them now and were somewhat full. Her hair wasn't tangled, and dirty. Her brown eyes weren't like other brown eyes; they had depth, and they were the color of dark chocolate. Her face wasn't as gaunt anymore. She was positively beautiful...what was I thinking? This was Isabella Marie Swan, the Holocaust survivor that my brothers and I had just rescued not a week before. We were going to take care of her for a little while, and then we were going to let her go, to find her own way in the world. I couldn't just think these things about her...I cleared my head, and I remembered I had wanted to ask a question.
"If you don't...mind me asking...I mean, you don't have to answer, but I was just, you know, wondering..."
She scrunched her eyebrows together, smile gone. "Yes?"
It all came out in a rush. "What was your life like...before?" I gestured with my hand, waving it out in front of me towards the ocean.
Bella POV
I hadn't realized I had been holding my breath. I let it all out in a whoosh.
I felt a small smile take over my face. "That's all you wanted to know? I don't mind remembering the times before the camp. Those were happy, and I'd do anything to re-live them. Now, if you had asked about my time in the camp..." I let it go un-finished. It was obvious what I would've said next. Edward smiled too.
"Oh." He stated in relief, "so...what was it like?"
"We were happy." I said in a matter of fact tone.
He nodded his head in understanding, the wind played with his hair, making it even messier than usual. I smiled at that thought, and shivered. It was so cold today...
He put his arm around me, and the simple gesture just made me shiver even more. He was freezing. It felt nice having his arm around me all the same.
Edward POV
I should have realized sooner how cold it was outside. Also, it didn't help that my body didn't generate heat. We left the deck, and I started walking with Bella to the dining room; it was time for dinner, and my brothers and some of the crew members who we had made friends with were already seated, waiting for us.
Bella continued to talk as we walked down the corridor to the dining room.
"I had three sisters. Hannah, Ariella, and Laura. And I had two parents. Rachel and Charlie." She had had a large family; that must have made it harder to lose them all. The next question just spilled out.
"Do you know if they're all still alive?"
Pain instantly contorted her features. I felt so ashamed. I hadn't meant to... "Oh, Bella. I'm sorry...I...I didn't mean, I mean, I didn't mean to ask that, if I had known, well I had known but I hadn't meant to ask th-"
She let a shaky breath out. "No, it is fine...," she trailed off, with a faraway look on her face, "I think they are."
"Then why did the question bother you?" I asked more slowly this time, making sure to edit and word everything as correctly as possible.
Bella POV
"It...just...brought back a memory from the camp."
Flashback
"But Bella, your family. They're still alive, right?"
"I think yes more than no." I responded to Angela.
"You're lucky, then."
"Lucky." Disbelief colored my tone.
"Yes, lucky. You have 3 sisters and 2 parents out there, alive."
"Waiting for me." I added on. Right?
"Yes….but they'll never see you again." I was sure she meant to just think that and not actually say it. But when she saw how I raised my eye brows, and was gaping at her, she noticed she had said it aloud.
"I…I…should explain, shouldn't I?" She admitted. I nodded encouragingly.
...
"What if...what if one of us found a way to survive? It'd be hard, and frightening, but we could try to hide someone or fool the Nazi's that way one of the three of us survived. And was able to tell our story again. Someone with living family." The two of them looked at me. I looked back and forth between them.
"But, no! I'm not even sure that my family is still out there, alive! Your families could be alive!"
"Bella, we all know that Angela and my families aren't alive. I saw my mother and two sisters die at the hands of the Nazis. My father had left us and for all we know, he could be a Nazi now-" I cut off Lyubov.
"A Jew as a Nazi?" I questioned Lyubov, skeptically.
"My father wasn't Jewish. That's why...he left. And then, for all we know, he could be dead." Lyubov finished.
Angela nodded. "And I saw my parents, four brothers and my fiancé Ben burned right before my own eyes. Our families are gone, Bella. We're almost sure you at least have one family member left, and that's why it wouldn't matter if we died, and you survived to tell what's happened."
"No! I won't hear of it! We'll survive together! The three of us! I don't give a damn about Jessica; we'll survive! The three of us together!" I protested, shaking Lyubov and when she didn't move, I cried out, and took Angela's hand in mine. I squeezed it, trying to bring some warmth back into it. I then suddenly dropped it and pulled my two friends into a hug. I would never forget my sisters.
End of Flashback
I felt Edward's questioning stare on my face, and I started to go over everything from start to finish. From my new nightmare, which I remembered all to well. To the middle, when we had to wake up Lyubov and to the end when I took Angela's hand and hugged my two friends.
"Those monsters." He snarled low, under his breath.
"My friends?" I asked disbelievingly, a bit taken aback.
"Oh, no, no! The Nazis." Edward corrected.
"Oh. Er, yes." I stuttered, and blushed.
"Hey, there they are! We've been waiting for you two! We're hungry!" Emmett's voice boomed. I grinned as Ethan and Jasper rolled his eyes.
"Emmett. You don't eat human food." Jasper sighed, his southern accent more prominent when he was annoyed.
Ethan nodded solemnly and looked at Emmett in a way that said, Oy.
Our friends from the crew filed in at that moment, thankfully missing the hints that the Cullen men weren't human.
"Hello, Bella." Victoria sat down next to me, and smiled. I smiled back. Victoria was the one of the two women in the crew, and my closest friend besides the Cullens on this ship. It was always good to see her.
"Hello, Victoria."
Amos, Charles, Robert, Tyler, Gabriel, Thomas, Elijah, Richard, William, and Eric filed in after Victoria.
Eric and Tyler scrambled for the one vacant seat next to me, but Edward pushed them aside and smirked as they fell down
Emmett raised an eyebrow. "Where's Carol?" Carol was the cook, Richard's fiancé.
"Carol is cooking." Jasper said slowly, enunciating every syllable.
"And Tanya still has to be he-" Edward whined, but was cut off by none other than Tanya.
"Hey, Eddie," Tanya giggled in a sultry voice, running her index finger up and down Edward's right arm, the one facing away from me, "what would you like to order?" She giggled again, and winked. I rolled my eyes in disgust; wasn't it obvious that he didn't want her?
"Yes, hello to you too, Tanya." Ethan chirped.
Tanya raised an eyebrow at him, and snapped, "I wasn't talking to you."
"Oh, I know." Ethan responded back. Tanya snarled at him, and then plastered a huge smile on her face and turned back to Edward.
"So...see anything you'd like to order, Eddie?"
"Edward." Edward stated passively, looking straight ahead.
"You want to order yourself? Isn't that...strange?"
Edward's right eye twitched every so slightly. "My name. Is. Edward. Not...Eddie."
Tanya pouted, but asked anyways, "Are you going to order or not?"
"I already ate."
Tanya was about to protest, but Edward looked at me and sang out, "Bella, darling, would you like anything to eat?"
I played along and answered, "Why, yes. Yes, I would. Thank you, Eddie darling."
Tanya turned bright red. A little, huffahgh came out and she stomped away.
Everyone snickered, and Carol came out holding mushroom ravioli for me, and unidentifiable globs of who knew what for the crew members.
"Aw, Carol! Not this stuff again! How long do we have to go on eating fish like this? Why do Bella and Victoria get real food?" William complained.
"Because she doesn't complain. And you'll all be off this boat tomorrow, thank God."
William rolled his eyes, and tentatively poked the "fish" with his fork.
Carol set my plate down in front of me, along with another plate of the same ravioli for Victoria, smiled kindly at both of us and bustled back to the kitchen. She was used to the Cullen men refusing food.
"So, any plans for when you get off the boat?" Amos asked Edward.
Edward smiled, and answered, "We're going to meet my mother at the dock, and then we're going to Chicago to get Bella's arm fixed by Carlisle."
Amos's eyes widened. "Doctor Carlisle Cullen? The Carlisle Cullen?"
"Yes. My father."
Gabriel turned to Amos, "Note that they have the same last name, Amos."
Amos looked confused for a moment, and then understanding dawned his features. Gabriel rolled his eyes, and went back to eating the fish.
"And then Bella's going to live with us for a little while before she goes off on her own." Emmett added in. Edward shot him a warning glance, and I gave Edward a confused look.
"I thought I was living with all of you, you know, forever." I said quietly. There was an awkward silence. Suddenly, Emmett grabbed William's plate of food, and took a big bite.
"How about this fish! Eh? THIS IS SOME GOOD EATIN', CAROL!"
Carol's voice carried out from the kitchen, "Thank you, Emmett. It's nice to know that someone appreciates my cooking."
Richard got up from the table and ran into the kitchen, yelling, "But, dear! I appreciate it too!"
Jasper snorted, and then everyone was laughing at Emmett, who had decided to continue eating.
Later
Edward POV
I couldn't believe how careless Emmett had been. I had specifically told my brothers not to mention Bella leaving us. So of course, what does Emmett do? He mentions Bella leaving us. I made sure not to bang my head against the wall or any other surface of the ship. I knew I wouldn't feel like explaining to the crew why the boat would be dented courtesy of my head.
Three loud raps sounded at the door. "Edward? Are you in there? Can I come in? Are you finished dressing?"
"Bella. I'm here. Yes. You can come in. And yes, I am dressed."
She opened the door slowly, her head visible first and then the rest of her body followed.
Bella came over and sat on our bed, waiting for me to stop pacing.
"Edward? Is there a problem?" Concern clouded her face, and her hands were tightly clasped in her lap.
"Emmett."
"Pardon?"
"Emmett. Emmett's the problem."
"So, what are we going to do? Throw him over board for the fish?"
"That idea has never been more appealing."
She stood up, and walked over to me.
"Was it something I said during dinner? It was when I asked if I was staying with you forever, wasn't it? I really didn't mean to ruin our time together with everyone. If I had known that saying that would have ruined every-"
Bella POV
He pressed his lips to mine. His lips were glass smooth, and cold. Oh, they were cold. I didn't care, though. Edward kissing me was amazing, even if he didn't really move his lips. It was if I didn't have any control over my body; I literally attacked him. I started to move my lips with his roughly, and he responded. He latched his hands onto my waist, and I did the same with my hands around his neck. And he tasted amazing. His breath was so amazingly sweet. I didn't ever want to let go. This the first time I was really happy since the camp. I had to breathe sometime, though. Edward stopped moving his lips.
"Bella. Breathe, Bella."
I sucked in a huge gulp of oxygen. Immediately, I blushed. My first kiss...was with a vampire.
Worry washed over Edward's face, and then embarrassment.
"So sorry. I shouldn't have done that." He mumbled, and shuffled away from me as much as he could in the small space.
I reached over, and pulled him back. Hugging him, I mumbled into his chest, "No, no...it's fine...Thank you."
TA DA! Oh, yeah. We're on a roll tonight! Extra long chapter to make up for us not updating in quite a while. And since Julia insisted they kiss on the boat, and in this chapter particularly...here you go. Victoria is nice in this chapter. I, Tirzah, decided that she could be a kind person for once. So there.
We hope you enjoyed it, dear readers! Please, don't forget to review.