Author's Note: A huge thank you to all those who have reviewed and added this story to their favorites or alerts section! Also, I'm sorry for not updating in a while, but hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter nonetheless. The Twilight series belongs to Stephanie Meyer. I own nothing (or nothing of any consequence anyway) – I'm just borrowing the characters temporarily for my own (and hopefully your) amusement.

I had found the DVD player lying on the floor just before the ballet studio was destroyed beyond repair and had decided to take it, just in case we could glean something of Victoria's whereabouts from the contents. I had not been expecting this, though…

I sat in shock as the DVD played the conversation between Bella and James. After hearing James' confession about my past on the video, the rest of the family had quickly made their excuses and surreptitiously left the room leaving only Jasper and myself sitting on the couch in front of the television. I felt a hesitant hand on my shoulder and turned, seeking the comfort of Jasper's embrace as he attempted to shield me from the world at large. The after images from the video were seared into my eyelids as James' words played inside my head.

And so now I knew another of the secrets to my human past – I knew why I couldn't remember what my human self had been like and why I did not know the person responsible for my vampiric transformation – and finally I had some kind of a clue as to how to learn more about my past. My past had been tormenting me for so long that I felt a certain degree of relief to finally have some answers, but at the same time now that I finally knew something, I found that I now had a million more questions.

As if reading my thoughts, Jasper whispered in my ear. "We can always go and pay a visit to Mississippi if you'd like. I know a part of you has got to be curious…"

It took me a moment to find my voice, so I just nodded in response. "I would like to know more, but now that I know where to look… Well, I know this might sound silly but I'm just not sure I'm ready to do that just yet."

Jasper chuckled softly. "All right… But just so you know, I'm willing to go there with you when you're ready to face your past, and I'll always do what I can to help support you as you work to find out answers."

"Thank you," I replied with a smile as I gave his hand a comforting squeeze. "I promise I won't leave you behind when I'm ready to face my past. I don't think I would have the inner strength to be able to do it without you."

Jasper tightened his grip on me once more before releasing me from the embrace and leaning back on the couch, as if taking in my expression. "That's right… You gave me the courage to head back to Texas for our honeymoon, and now I may get the chance to repay the favor. What a pair the two of us make." I couldn't resist playfully slapping him on the arm for that gibe.

It took several months before I felt secure enough to take the next step in finding out about my past. I could tell Jasper was trying to avoid the subject, but his actions around me would often speak louder than any words could have. Truthfully, it sometimes got to be downright annoying having Jasper constantly trying to read a little too much into my emotions and making me feel like I was walking on egg shells, but in the end I managed to steel myself against saying something that I knew I would regret later by trying to remember that I had probably put him in similar situations before when I would try and see his future to make sure he was all right. Plus, I had some things – like prom and trying to keep an eye on Bella's future – to keep me occupied so that I didn't go completely insane (no pun intended).

The summer passed fairly uneventfully and soon Edward, Bella and I were back at school. A part of me felt resentful that I couldn't enjoy having Jasper in all my classes the way Edward could with Bella, but at least I could spend all of my time with him when I was at home. I tried to tell myself that it was good for Jasper and I to spend some time apart, since it made me appreciate the time I could spend with him all the more. Plus, it gave me a reprieve from having to watch Jasper as he worried about how I must be feeling after finding out more about my past, so I would often spend my time away from him trying to think rationally about whether I was ready to take the final step.

It was the night of Bella's birthday party, and I had just left the kitchen after making sure that Bella was alright after her little accident. I had a feeling I knew where Jasper had gone but figured I would allow him a little time to cool down before trying to rationalize with him. On the way to meet him at our special spot, though, I fell to my knees when I had a vision of him walking off on his own, leaving me behind. How could he do this to me? Doesn't he love me anymore? Jasper was the first thing that I consciously remember, and I was going to be damned if I would let him get away so easily. I ran faster than the wind, not caring how much noise I made as I crashed through the undergrowth towards where my instinct told me he had gone. When he and Edward finally came into sight, I allowed myself to come to a halt and crossed my arms over my chest to let Jasper know just how vulnerable I was feeling now. "You wouldn't leave me, would you?" I tried to sound strong and felt even angrier as I heard my voice shaking. Jasper merely shook his head in answer to my question, and I swelled with relief. Edward excused himself and left to give the two of us some privacy.

I ran to Jasper and hugged him tightly, needing comfort from him as much as he seemed to need it from me at that moment. After a few moments the silence seemed to become overpowering. "We could go up to Alaska, to spend time among the Denali clan, like Edward did before when he needed to escape," I said. "Or we could go and spend some time with Peter and Charlotte. Just please let me come with you wherever you go. I don't think I could bear to be left behind." Jasper agreed to head to Alaska, so the two of us set off back to the house to say our goodbyes.

We spent about a month in Denali before we both felt that we were once again ready to face civilization. I enjoyed spending time with Tanya, Irina and Kate, but when Jasper suggested heading down to Massachusetts to try and track down more information about my past, I realized that I was at last ready to face my past once and for all. We packed up our stuff that night and took the train, just as we had when we went to Texas to help Jasper face his past.

I had been hoping to have some kind of memory recollection when we arrived at Union Station in Meridian, Mississippi, but unfortunately this place did not seem to hold any memories for me. Jasper suggested heading for the hotel first to get settled and I reluctantly followed him. Now that I was finally here, I wanted to head down to the site of the old East Mississippi Insane Hospital to see what I could find out about my past. Jasper used his calming influence on me to try and give me some patience, though, and truthfully it was probably a better idea to at least look as if we were tired after our journey from Alaska, so I let him drag me to the hotel where I came to find out that Jasper had booked us in the honeymoon suite under the alias 'Mr. and Mrs. Stone.' He insisted on carrying me across the threshold and rested me on the four-poster bed before tipping the bellhop that had shown us to our room. When the bellhop had left, Jasper came and sat with me on the bed and I wrapped my arms around him. "The honeymoon suite… This is a nice surprise" I said.

Jasper grinned. "I think we should always be on our honeymoon," he answered. "In fact, I've been thinking… Maybe we should get married again, and give Rose and Emmett a run for their money."

I laughed. "Well, I'm all for marrying you again, Jasper, but I think Edward and Bella should be the next ones in the family to get married so that they can make it official. In the meantime, we can still be on our honeymoon and enjoy this four-poster bed to occupy us when we're not trying to look into my past…"

Jasper shook his head in amusement. "I might have known you'd see through the ruse. Admittedly the whole 'honeymoon suite' idea was Rose's. I'd called her because I was afraid that you'd be disappointed if this trip didn't turn up as much information as you were hoping for so she suggested that this might help to at least make this a fun holiday for you."

I rolled my eyes – I might have known Rose would suggest something like this. Still, it was a welcome idea, especially given that I was likely to be at least a little disappointed no matter what we were able to find out. After all, I now knew that society had determined that I was clinically insane when I was alive, which left me wondering what impact this had had on my family – had I mattered enough to them to have them come and visit me, or was I quite literally alone once I was institutionalized. There were other questions too… What psychiatric disorder I had been diagnosed with? What treatments I had had to undergo to leave me with such limited recollections of my human life? Did I have any family left who might remember something about me? Knowing these things might not have much of an impact on my present and future, but it would at least give me something that everyone else had – a past.

As if reading my thoughts, Jasper moved his hand to rest on my knee. "Don't worry, love… You'll find answers to your questions yet, and I'll be here for you every step of the way."

I smiled and placed a gentle kiss to his lips. "You'd better. I'm not going anywhere without you."

We waited until dusk fell before leaving the room, and Jasper was sure to ask the staff for recommendations for local restaurants so as to avoid any suspicion. We were able to find the asylum grounds without too much trouble, and as the iron gates creaked slowly open, I was tempted to shiver. The grounds looked fairly dilapidated and the windows and doorways were all boarded up, but these barriers posed little problem for the two of us and we were soon inside. The first thing I noticed was the slow dripping of water from the pipes above our head onto the floor below and the strong stench of mildew. I covered my mouth and nose instinctively, even though I knew we didn't have to breathe. Jasper reached out to take my hand and led me down the corridor until we came to an open area. "Does any of this look familiar?" he asked. I shook my head and tried hard to hide my disappointment. "Do you want to split up to cover more ground at once?" he asked.

"No!" I blurted out quickly. I needed him here with me now, since even though I couldn't recollect anything specific yet, I did still have a feeling that I had been here before. I moved further into the room and then through a door on the other side, which led to another corridor. "Let's go this way." He let me lead him through the maze of corridors and rooms until we finally arrived at a door with the words 'THE DOCTOR IS' on it with a plaque that could be turned to say 'IN' or 'OUT'. Inside the room a small desk and broken chair stood by one wall with several filing cabinets lining the opposite wall and a small window behind. "It looks as if we might be in luck," I whispered excitedly.

Jasper and I spent the next several hours leafing through files trying to find one that would tell us about my past. Eventually we hit pay dirt – we found a file on a 'Mary Alice Brandon' that had been diagnosed with Schizophrenia and had received numerous Electro-Convulsive Therapy treatments (which would explain my memory lapses). We also found out that I was from a middle-class family that had lived just outside Biloxi, about 175 miles away. "I guess this answers one of my questions…" I said more to myself than to Jasper. When he gave me a quizzical glance, I filled him in on the question that had been on my mind. "I'd been wondering whether I had continued to have any contact with my family after coming here. I'm guessing that if I had to travel that far to get here, then I probably didn't see them very often, if at all."

Jasper put an arm around me. "Well, if I'd have known you back then, then I'd have definitely made the trip and then some to spend time with you while you were here. In a place like this, I'm sure you could have done with all the company you could get." It was moments like this that made me love him all the more. "Now," he said, "how about we head over to Biloxi and see what else we can find out."

I laughed and nodded. "That sounds like a great idea, but I think I'd like to spend some more time in our honeymoon suite here first."