"Let's talk inside," I hiss, aware that every vampire within a three mile radius just heard that, and also aware that there is a chance Edward didn't. Eleazer allows himself to be dragged towards his own office, and once we get there I practically slam the door shut.

"Alice," I hear Edward whimper down the stairs. "What are they talking about?"

Alice sighs, "Nothing you need to worry about now."

I almost reprimand her for her lie, but then I realise that was probably the best answer for him at the moment. He doesn't need to worry now, especially when he's finally facing his fears. "How do you know it's permanent?" I inquire, trying to keep calm while facing my friend.

"This venom," He says, gesturing to the bottle in his hand, "Came from a talented vampire. I can tell what the talent is from the venom."

"Really?" I ask incredulously.

Eleazer nods, not minding the interruption. "Yes. It's nothing I've ever seen before. The venom is toxic, almost. If a human was to be bitten they would also go blind and they wouldn't turn into one of us, but considering it's venom from a newborn I doubt any blood was left in the human for that to be discovered. It also goes for the ears. It muffles the hearing to the extent of a human's, and it damages any talent the victim may have that may aid them in their blindness, that's why he can't stand to be spoken to in his mind."

Gritting my teeth, I nod. Then I look down at my shoes; at the floor. "We'll tell him now," I decide, wanting to get it over with. Esme appears at my side immediately. She smiles and takes my arm as we descend the stairs together, Eleazer just behind us. Everyone else is sitting in front of the fire in the sitting room, Edward with Alice in Jasper beside him, trying to calm him down.

"Edward," I murmur, kneeling to sit on the floor in front of him. Placing one of my hands on his knee, Esme sits on the arm of his chair and strokes his hair. "We've found that as a talented vampire did this to you, we can't reverse it. It is permanent, son. I'm so sorry."

He sits for several minutes, all of us watching him as he stares in my general direction. "No," He finally croaks out. "It can't be permanent. It can't be. It's not fair."

His voice is desperate and his pained expression breaks our hearts. "I know it's not fair, son," I say to him, trying to keep my voice steady. Esme places a comforting hand on my shoulder. "But now we know it's permanent, we can start to try and help you cope."

"I don't want to cope," Edward whispers. "I don't want to be blind."

"I know, sweetheart," Esme says soothingly. "It's not fair."

It takes the entire night to console him as he went through the many stages of trauma. At first there was denial, and then crying, and then silence, and then acceptance. The next morning found us all outside, with me just guiding Edward to join the rest. Jasper, Eleazer, Kate and Alice stand a few feet away from the front door, and one or two feet away from each other. I stop with Edward a few feet away from the four in front of us, and go to stand with everyone else who is standing to the side. "Carlisle!" Edward exclaims, panicking, having been abruptly left alone.

"It's okay, son," I reassure him. "You need to do this on your own. Walk towards Jasper."

He tries to steady his breathing, but fails miserably. I'm tempted to step forward to help him, but the moment I do Emmett pulls me back. "He needs to do it on his own," my son tells me, and I nod. Beside me, Esme looks like she's in pain.

"I don't know where Jasper is," Edward whimpers, standing still as stone. "I can't do this."

"You can," Surprisingly it's Emmett who says this, trying to help his brother. "Take a deep breath. Just follow the scent."

Edward takes another deep breath, but then proceeds to hyperventilate as he slowly takes one step forward. His shoes scuff the ground as his steps are unsteady and painful to watch. He is walking towards Eleazer, who is next to Kate, who has Jasper on her other side. But he is walking on his own, so it's all progress. "Carlisle," He whines again.

"You're doing great," I tell him, and even though he's nowhere near Jasper, he is doing well.

Just as he's about three steps away from Eleazer, he takes another deep breath and frowns before turning left slightly. His steps become more hesitant as he changes his course, kicking up snow slightly as he shuffles. He stops in front of Kate for a moment, but inhales again and continues. Stopping in front of Jasper, his breathing becomes heavier. Edward isn't facing his brother, so he's unsure of where to go. "Jasper?" He whispers.

I nod to my blonde son, who grins and reaches out to take Edward's arm. "You did it!" Jasper cheers, and Edward smiles slightly. Jasper lets go of his arm. "Now... See if you can walk back to Carlisle."

My newly-vulnerable son looks ready to punch his brother, but calms quickly. He takes a deep breath, but I haven't been over there since we arrived, and I'm downwind of him, so he won't be able to smell me at all. Esme realises this at the same time I do, and calls out gently, "We're over here sweetheart."

He turns at the sound of Esme's voice, but he's a bit off. He's walking towards Alice now, who is several feet away from us. "Edward," I call, and he turns towards us completely. I smile. As he walks, he keeps his hands in front of him, his expression still panicked. Emmett inhales sharply, not used to seeing his once independent, brooding brother looking so vulnerable. Unable to walk any further without fully panicking, Edward stops a few feet away from us.

"I can't," He mutters, lowering his hands and attempting to take one more step, but his nerves take over and he trips slightly. I dart forward to steady him before he falls.

"That's enough for today," I announce, and everyone grins at the amount of progress he made in just one day. Edward's breathing steadies the moment I begin to guide him inside.

Later that night, Edward is upstairs with Rosalie while she teaches him brail, which she learnt just before Emmett joined our family. When we asked her about it, she said she was bored, so she learnt brail. She has been keeping track of any changes in it since. Everyone else is reading or talking as we sit in front of the fire. I look up at my daughter. "Did you tell Bella?"

"That it's permanent?" Alice questions. I nod. "Yes."

"How did she take it?" Emmett inquires, genuinely curious, and worried for his fragile little sister.

Alice sighs. "She cried a little bit, but just because she's worried for him. She wants to see him. I was thinking of arranging for her to come up here in a week or two, as a surprise for Edward. It is his birthday soon."

"Maybe we could have her arrive here on his birthday," Esme suggests, and we smile at the idea. "I know we don't celebrate anymore, but it might be nice after everything that's happened."

That decided it, and a week later, on the nineteenth of June, I find myself on the road back to Forks on the pretense that I'm needed for emergency surgery at the hospital. I'm actually going to pick up Bella, as unfortunately her truck has recently given up, and I'm unsure whether she can afford another car any time soon. Also, Charlie would be a lot happier if she was making her way up to Alaska with someone they both know and trust.

"Carlisle!" Bella exclaims, running out of the house to hug me. I hug her back briefly, and then I walk forward to greet Charlie as he shuffles out the door. The noise reminds me of Edward, as he hasn't made much progress since that first day. We've found that the bit he finds hardest is when whoever guided him outside leaves him. It breaks our hearts to see him so scared.

"Hey Carlisle," Charlie says gruffly, shaking my hand and flinching slightly at the cold. "How's Edward?"

I look behind me to see if Bella's with us, as I don't want her to hear this part. She's standing at the doorway, giving me a questioning look. "Bella..." Charlie mutters. "Why don't you go upstairs and finish packing?"

Bella rolls her eyes but makes her way towards the stairs. "Yes," She says sarcastically. "I'm going to go and finish the packing I told you I finished an hour ago."

Charlie chuckles, and then turns to me, waiting for my answer. "Edward is... terrified. He refuses to go to any blind school, so we've been putting all of our efforts together to help him. Rosalie got bored a while ago so she decided to learn brail, which he seems to enjoy, but he's terrified of walking on his own."

"Poor kid," Charlie murmurs, and I nod in agreement.

I sigh. "We hope Bella will help him. It's his birthday tomorrow, and even though he has blatantly told us he doesn't want presents... Well..."

He grins. "Well, don't let me keep you waiting. Bella!"

Bella comes bounding down the stairs, taking them two at a time. Surprisingly, she doesn't trip at the bottom. "Let's go."

The car ride is silent at first, the road flying away beneath my tires. "How is he?" She asks quietly, looking up at me in the dark car. My hands clench around the steering wheel tightly at her question. I'm not angry at her for asking the question; I'm angry she has a reason to ask it in the first place.

"That's a question you have to witness the answer to," I tell her, looking over at her. Bella cringes as I take my eyes away from the road; I don't blame her, at the speed I'm going. "I'm afraid the answer may upset you."

"I'm not upset he's blind," She answers quietly. "I'm upset he's blind."

I understand what she means entirely. Bella isn't bothered by the fact he is blind, she is bothered by the fact that he is terrified of his blindness. She is upset for him. "Alice told me he thought I would leave him."

"You won't," I reply. I know it to be the truth without asking her. The fact she is coming to Alaska to help him cope says enough.

She shakes her head, tears forming in her eyes. "I'll never leave him," She mumbles. "Especially for something that's not his fault. I love him. I love him with his blindness, not despite it."

I smile widely at this. Even though I already knew it to be true, there is something about hearing it directly from her lips. She is one special girl. "Go to sleep," I tell her. "It will be a long drive, and I expect you'll want to see him as soon as we get there."

She grins, and she's asleep within the hour. By the time we arrive back in Denali, it's the morning. I pull up into the drive with Bella already awake beside me to see Alice and Emmett already standing where Jasper and Kate were standing the first time we did this. Everyone else is sitting or standing to the side while Esme guides Edward outside. "Bella," I say firmly just before we exit the car. "When we get out the car we're going to stand like Alice and Emmett are standing. Everyday we tell him to go to a different person, by scent or by hearing. Today there's no wind so he won't be able to smell you for a minute or two."

She nods and grins as I've already warned her about how Edward's current condition may affect her. We exit the car together, and we go and stand close to Emmett and Alice. Alice grins at Bella, while Emmett is itching to give her a bear hug. Esme slowly walks away from Edward, and tears form in Bella's eyes as she sees her love's terrified expression. "Okay, Edward," Jasper shouts with barely contained glee. "Walk towards Bella."

At this Edward's head snaps up, looking in Jasper's direction. "Really? She's here?"

"Say something," Alice mutters to Bella. Bella quickly snaps out of the trance she was in.

"Of course I'm here," Bella cries, trying to control her excitement. "They wouldn't lie to you."

My son turns towards Bella's voice, and begins to walk with more confidence than ever before. He keeps his hands in front of him, and even though he only heard her voice once he is walking straight towards her. Once he is two steps away from her, we can see the glee and excitement on his face as he can feel her warmth. Raising his hands, he puts them on her shoulders and then gently strokes her cheek with one hand, wiping a small tear away in the proccess. Without a second though, he pulls her in for a hug, and then to Emmett's delight, a passionate kiss. It seems he doesn't even have to see her to know where her lips are.

"Bella," He whispers, over and over again. "Bella."

"I love you," Bella sobs into his shirt as he kisses her hair. "I love you."

"I love you too," Edward murmurs, love saturating every syllable. "I love you."