Clara Cullen-Taylor

I couldn't help the tears falling from my eyes as I was carried home. I had never ridden a wolf before. I had only seen Tony in his wolf form briefly when Sophie had asked to see one of the Quileute's. She had been fascinated, loving the softness of his fur and even climbed onto his back. Phoebe was smaller than her uncle but not by much. I guess she was the daughter of an alpha just as much as Tony was the son of one.

We arrived back, passing a wall of much smaller but far more fierce wolves. We arrived at the door and I was immediately pulled off Phoebe and was in the arms of my mother. She was sobbing as she held me but I could barely move. I watched as Zac carried my dead best friend into the house.

"Elijah," I said barely above a whisper, pulling from my mother. She helped me stand as we entered the house. The pain in my leg was excruciating but not as badly as the pain in my heart.

Lidiya and Anelie were bounding down the stairs, almost in sync as they fell to the floor by Elijah. Anelie's eyes closed and her hands fell on his chest. Lidiya watched over her sister as she flooded life back into my best friend.

The best sound in the world was the air flooding to Elijah's lungs as he took a huge breath. I fell to the floor trying to run to him. I couldn't help the tears flooding down my face as I hugged him.

"Did I die?" Elijah asked. I laughed through my tears and held him tighter, not wanting to let him go for a moment. As he sat up I moved allowing him to see me properly. His face softened at mine, his hand going to my face.

"Don't you dare ever do that to me ever again," I said, he stroked my face and smiled, the usual Elijah smile and I rested my forehead against his. Not quite believing he was ok.

"I love you Clara," he said softly.

"I know," I replied and kissed him. I hadn't realised until I saw my best friend lying dead how much I needed him. Wasn't that what love was? Someone you couldn't live without. I didn't know what I felt about Axton, I didn't know if I loved him after this but I had no doubt that I loved Elijah.

"Clara let me heal you," Lidiya said softly, kneeling down next to me, her hands reached for my leg and I flinched. I turned so I wasn't on my knees anymore and sat on the floor. My back against Elijah's chest. He was still holding me as I nodded to Lidiya. She smiled softly and placed her hands on my leg again. It was like magic. One moment the pain was there, then it was gone.

"Thank you" I said sincerely to her, she smiled again.

"And thank you Anelie for saving me," Elijah said to Anelie who was already standing out of the way.

"You're welcome, you might find your curse is gone now too," she said with a shrug.

"What?" he asked.

"You died, the wolf in you died too. It's a full moon and you're still human," she said looking out the door where the moon was in full show, so was the line of wolves outside protecting us.

"I'm.. I'm not a wolf anymore?" he asked, looking at his body as if in disbelief. "I can live a normal human life? I won't change?" He asked. I smiled at him, happy his burden had been removed.

"It would seem so," Carlisle said coming over. "Would you like me to test your blood? I could find out for you," he said. Elijah nodded and stood up, he pulled me with him, his hand never leaving mine.

"Clara!" There was the sweet sound of my baby sister as she ran down the stairs, she nearly tripped at the last one but Esme had caught her, a smile across her face at seeing Sophie and me reunited. Sophie leapt at me, her little legs wrapping around my waist and her arms around my neck. She buried herself in my shoulder and I returned the hug, dropping Elijah's hand and closing my eyes, memorising the feeling of how small she was. How alive she was.

"I thought you were dead. I thought you left me," she was sobbing.

"Ill never leave you Sophie. Never," I said kissing her hair.

"You don't know how true that statement is Clara." My mother said and reached her hand out. "There is something I need to tell you both," she said and I frowned at my mother. What could she have to tell me?

I still held my sister as I took my mother's hand and she took us in to the living room. Carlisle and Elijah came out from the adjacent room, Elijah rubbing his arm as they sat down.

"Ever since Carlisle and the Cullen's came back into our life I asked Carlisle about something that had been bugging me." My mother began. Sophie adjusted herself on my hip as I sat down on the couch. she sat on my knee, holding my hand in her little ones.

"After I met Phoebe I asked Carlisle to see if it was true."

"What was true?" I asked with a frown looking over to Carlisle who was watching us.

"Clara you're immortal."

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Like Phoebe. You're an immortal human. You can't die of old age. Nor will you age much more than you are now," she explained softly.

"Me too momma?" Sophie asked.

"You will age Sophie, you'll age to about 25, that's how old your father aged to." She explained looking at me as if it was all supposed to click into place. The only way an immortal human was created was a Quileute and a vampire hybrid. My mother was neither Quileute or a hybrid so I was unsure what she was getting at.

"As a direct relation to Jacob Black our family carries the wolf gene the Quileute's possess. Any of us could have phased in early adolescents if we had been exposed to vampires. Because we didn't, no one has phased in our branch of the Cullen family tree in generations. However it doesn't mean we do not have the gene. I wasn't aware of this when I met your father. I was sixteen when I met your father, a year later I had you and he had to tell me then. He had to tell me what he was."

The realisation hit me like a tonne of bricks. My father was a hybrid.

"We went through some trust issues, arguments, even separation for a while but in the end I loved him more than anything in the world except you. It took a few years but I began to trust him again. We had Sophie and then he died."

"How did he die? Why didn't you get Lidiya to save him?" I asked. The death of my father was even more frustrating to me now, knowing he was part of this world. Why wasn't he saved?

"He died the same way I have always told you. He was in an accident."

"And where were Anelie and Lidiya?" I asked, my eyes darting to the twins at the edge of the room. they looked sad, solemn as if this was the first they had heard of this too.

"I didn't know of them Clara. I didn't know they were real" she said, she was sobbing now. Tears falling from her face as she fell to her knees at my feet. "If I had known Clara... I am so sorry... I made you grow up without a father and I am so so sorry for not knowing. For pushing our vampire family away. For not letting them be a part of our lives. If they were we would have known. We could have saved him. I am so sorry" she said, tears streaming from her face. They were mirrored on my own, seeing my mother like this in front of me.

I believed her, every word. I pushed myself and Sophie off the couch and fell into the lap of my mother and hugged her. The three of us held each other as my mother cried for my father and for the guilt she had been carrying so long.

"Was-" Lidiya began to speak but I saw Zac shake his head.

"Cremated Lidy. he's gone" he said sadly and my mom's sobs wracked harder. Had his body still been here, could the twins have brought him back? I didn't want to think about it. I felt like I was grieving for my father all over again. My mother had kept this secret, held this guilt for too long.

"It wasn't your fault mommy. I forgive you," I said raising my head to look at her. Her crying stopped and she looked at me with awe. "Its ok," I said softly. "I will miss dad every day for the rest of my very long life but we have a bigger family now, one we might not have had if he didn't die. You have Zac," I said looking at Zac behind us. "And we will get to live forever."

"Yeah mommy I forgive you too," Sophie said softly. She had never known dad but she knew she had missed out on having a father. One I hoped would now be Zac.

"So we can't die?" Sophie asked.

"You won't age past 25 Sophie but you can die. But now we know of Anelie and Lidiya. You'll live a very long immortal life, just like Phoebe," my mom explained and kissed Sophie's head.

"So Sophie will age more than me?" I asked with a frown.

"Possibly." Carlisle spoke. "Your mother was ten years younger when she had you. Working on averages with your fathers age, Sophie may age a few years more than you now." Carlisle explained.

"So ill be like your big sister?" Sophie asked with a smile.

"No Soph you'll always be my baby sister," I grinned at her but as she smiled back at me, her baby teeth showing. I knew that the prospect of spending the rest of forever with my little sister wasn't as bad as I thought.

"Clara" Elijah said softly to me. I looked from my little sister to my best friend by us. He held his hand out. "Can we talk?" he asked. I nodded and stood up, leaving my family and taking his hand. He took me up stairs, to I don't know whose room.

"It's a spare room, one for subjects if they stay," he explained.

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"I've been paying attention, I got a tour from a guard member, she was really nice."

"Was she?" I asked with raised eyebrows. He smiled at me before pulling me by my hand so I was closer to him. My breath caught in my throat at the proximity and my eyes fell to his lips so close to mine. He had grown since he was turned into a wolf, his muscles had grown, his hair was shorter, more wild. I never viewed my best friend as attractive before but it suddenly hit me, he was hot.

"Please tell me the kiss before meant that you finally feel something for me?" he said in a nervous whisper. I smiled at him and leant forward kissing him.

"Does that answer your question?" I asked looking up at him. He pulled me in to kiss him this time, his arms wrapping around me and sitting down on the bed, pulling me into his lap. "I know its cheesy but seeing you die... it just all came to me. I realised that I can't live without you, I can't go a day without seeing you. I need you by me, always," I said, my forehead against his.

"Do you know I've been in love with you since we were twelve?" he asked. I laughed and shook my head.

"You're kidding right?"

"Not in the slightest" he laughed and kissed me again.

"Elijah," I said softly as he kissed along my jaw and neck. "We need to talk about something."

"You're immortal, I know," he said and pulled away.

"We can talk about it another time but I just wanted to make sure you realised what that meant," I said with a frown.

"I don't want to be a vampire Clara," he said. The words broke my heart and set it free at the same time. I never wanted that for him either but it also meant that one day he would leave me. I wasn't sure what to say. "But that's not something we need to worry about right now is it? Can't we just be us? Eli and Lara?" he asked with a grin at the name he used to call me as a child when he couldn't say my name and I would get angry at him for calling me 'Claire'.

"of course we can," I said taking his hand in mine.

We went back down stairs hand in hand, my mom noticed immediately but before she could say anything Tony came running into the room, he had only shorts on and he was watching Lidiya and Anelie, staring at nothing in the room. Like their minds were somewhere else.

"We didn't win," Anelie said after a few minutes of silence and us all watching the twins.

"What do you mean we didn't win?" Zac asked, fear coating his voice. "Is everyone ok? Is everyone alive?"

"No not everyone and not everyone is coming home to us either," Anelie spoken.

"Oh god," Esme said her hands going to her face. Carlisle comforted his wife, a frown etched onto his perfect face.

"Who?" Zac asked. There was a pause and I think we all looked at Lidiya at once. Tears were falling from her eyes. "Who?!" he yelled.

"Our mother!" Lidiya shouted back. "Esther. She's gone! She's not in our heads anymore. She's gone." Lidiya sobbed. Anelie had tears matching Lidiya's and Zac stood there frozen. My mom stood up and took his hand in hers. Tony pulled Anelie into his chest but their tears fell silently as if they were completely defeated.

"We need to get out there," Anelie said making a move from her husband.

"No chance," Tony said taking his wife's hand.

"There are a lot of dead guard members. I need to go and save them. We need to put the vampires back together," she said grimly.

"It's over. They're all on their way home. They'll explain everything," Anelie said to us.

No one had even moved when the door swung open. Matthew ran to Lidiya and I ran to Edward, hugging his waist tightly. He held me against him, unspoken words flooding between us.

I forgave him for yelling at me and he didn't mean to shout, he was only scared for my safety.

He kissed my head and I hugged Bella.

"Where is Esther?" Zac asked. His eyes falling on Eddie. He shook his head. I had never seen Eddie so empty, so broken before.

"We need to get her back," Zac said strongly.

"Don't you think we would have tried if we could?" Edward asked him. "She went willingly. She left us out of choice."

"Sounds like someone else we know," Zac said, clearly infuriated. He looked to Matthew.

"Leave him out of your anger, it's not his fault, you're angry with Esther." Edward said.

"No I'm angry at you why didn't you protect her?"

"Enough," there was a shout. Aleksander's voice radiated the house. He walked over to his daughters and kissed each of their heads, he muttered something in Bulgarian and Anelie and Lidiya nodded. They wiped their tears away and took his hands before heading for the door.

"They're going to save the dead." Edward announced and a few followed, Emmett, Jasper, Rose, Alice, Tony, Zac, Leah, Matthew. Probably to put the vampires back together. I shivered at the thought.

It was then I noticed Axton and Alena by the door. I stepped away from Bella and walked over to them.

"Did you wake up Phoebe?" I asked Alena. She nodded slowly but smiled at me.

"Thank you. For saving us" I said and reached to hug her. I looked to Axton watching me. "I'm glad you're both okay," I added, not reaching to hug Axton. He noticed and I saw his smile drop as he nodded.

"We're going to help. We're going to find Cain and were going to get Esther back for you," Alena explained. "We came here to see you. We wanted to know you were ok, and Elijah."

Axton's eyes found Elijah talking to my mom, he was holding Sophie in a hug.

"I need time," I told Axton. It was out of context but he knew what I meant. I needed time away from the drama of everything, away from him, I needed time with my family. In reality I didn't know how long it would take me to work through all this, through my feelings for both him and Elijah. I just knew I needed time. I didn't know when i'd be ready for Axton, it may be a decade, it may even be a century.

"I can wait for you, if that is what you need of me," he said, speaking for the first time.

"Well I do have forever now," I smiled slightly. He smiled back at the prospect of hope. "But it's going to be a very long time Axton. I want time with my family. With Elijah first, he deserves it after everything that's happened to him." I said trying to explain.

"I understand Clara and I will make it as easy as possible for you." He said. "I am sure my sister will not leave your life so easy but if you ever need me, you know where to find me," he winked. He kissed my forehead and my eyes closed at the contact. Alena pulled me into another hug before they teleported from the room.

Was it selfish? That I was making him wait? That I had given him hope when I knew I couldn't live without Elijah?

I had found out I was immortal today. I had never factored that I could possibly have them both. Two loves in a lifetime was more than anyone had in this family.

I wondered if this story would go down in the Cullen's history books like all the others I had told my sister. I wondered if in a hundred years there would be a girl telling her sister of the events of today. Another tragic loss like the loss of Allesandra. I looked to see her being embraced by Esme.

Would this be a myth, a legend?

I had no doubt it would.


Cain

The door on my cell swung open. I didn't move, I could barely open my eyes to see who it was. I could only hear. I had heard everything above us, I didn't know if Lilim had made sure I heard everything but I had. I saw the blurred figures of my children. The gasp from Alena and the hands of Axton on my wrists, trying to remove the restraints. I wanted to tell them it wouldn't work that the spell keeping me here was draining every ounce of my power and soon I wouldn't be able to think let alone hear or see but I couldn't get the words out.

"Axton," Alena said. I felt his hands drop from my skin and they stood together. I felt a surge of power and suddenly the restraints on my wrists were gone. I could move again. Axton helped me sit up and my vision cleared, my children watching my face in expectation.

"Thank you," I said to them, my eyes focusing on Alena in front of me. Axton was sitting next to me, keeping me sitting up.

"What did she do to you?" Alena asked looking over me.

"Drained my power," I said softly reaching out for my daughters hand. I never got to raise these children in front of me and it infuriated me but also made me proud to see what they had become despite the person they had to teach them.

"How can we help?" Axton asked. I turned to my son I thought hated me.

"Amari," I said. "Where is she?" I asked.

"I found her in the other cell. I sent her home. To her real home" Axton said. I shook my head.

"No you'll be stronger with her," I said looking at my children. "She can help me," I said.

"She is only a teleport away father, how can she help you and not us?" Axton asked.

"She's nephilim she has the power of angels mixed with warlock magic. She can give me power." I explained.

"Then let's go to Greece," he said and pulled me onto my feet. Before I could protest both my children had each of my hands and we were gone from the cell. The heat of the sun hit my face and I breathed in the humidity of the air.

"Papa!" Amari called and ran to me.

"What is wrong papa?" she asked in Greek.

"I need your help daughter" I answered her.

"You need my power?" she asked as if she knew straight away what I was going to ask. I nodded to her and she hugged me tightly. I gasped as I straightened up. I let go of Alena and Axton and was able to stand on my own. I felt Amari's power flood into me and I felt stronger than ever. The pain and weakness slipped away and I was strong again. I wrapped my arms around the girl hugging me and kissed her head. My youngest daughter didn't have power in the sense that Alena and Axton had. She hadn't spent her entire life training and learning how to use her magic, she just had it radiating through her body. She didn't want to use her magic for spells or to make her life easier. She was just a ball of unused energy and she could give that power to anyone around her, then charge it back up for the next use.

"Thank you," I said to her in her language. She turned and smiled up at me before letting go.

"Thank you for sending me home," she said turning to her brother. I translated for her and Axton smiled.

"You're welcome, maybe one day we can get to know each other better," he said and I let Amari know of his promise. She smiled at this.

"I learn English," she said in a very broken accent. Axton smiled.

"Or ill learn Greek," he replied and she smiled, knowing the last word.

"We must get back. We need to save Esther" Alena said.

"Yes. let's set that family free." I said, kissing Amari's head and saying farewell before taking my children's hands, disappearing and arriving back in the United States.

We found Lilim easily. I traced her teleport to the north of Canada. She was on the top of a mountain, a glass house perched on the highest point. I knew this was a possibility. It was a favourite place of hers.

"Cain, you managed to get your power back?" Lilim asked coming to meet us.

"I did, now maybe we can talking about this whole Esther thing," I said my children standing behind me their hands locked together.

"No need my dear Cain. Esther is here out of her own free will," she said and turned to smile at the girl coming down the stairs to meet us. Esther was wearing white, oddly pure looking with her long blonde hair cascading to her hips in front of her.

"Own free will but if she leaves you murder her family," I said seeing the girl approach us. Everyone in the world viewed this girl as an immortal, all powerful, ancient being. I saw a young girl, centuries younger than myself and Lilim, only alive because she had a friend in an immortal witch and only here to protect those she loved more than anything. That was something I fiercely admired and she deserved more than this, than to live in a glass house on a mountain thousands of miles from her family.

"What family?" Esther asked me. Her eyes locked with mine and I saw nothing there. Emptiness. My heart broke.

"What did you do to her?" Axton asked, infuriated, clearly seeing what I had seen.

"Esther!" Alena said and stepped towards her. Esther stepped back, not familiar at all with the three people standing in front of her.

"She surrendered to me. I told her the terms and she accepted. She is now our guest. Unable to hurt or help anyone." Lilim smiled.

"You're despicable," I said to her. I was seething.

"You're welcome to stay old friend, and see for yourself your efforts to rescue miss Esther were in vain. She is no longer the woman she was." Lilim announced before turning and heading to the other room. Axton, Alena and I stood there staring at the body and shell of Esther. She was watching us curiously.

"I am Esther. Can I help you?" she asked and I looked at her solemnly. I was glad she didn't remember the pain she had gone through this past day but it also meant I couldn't get her back to her family.

"No, it's ok." I said before smiling at her. She turned and went back up the stairs.

"What are we going to do?" Axton asked. I had seen how he and Alena had promised Clara they would return Esther to her family and how desperately he wanted to fulfil that promise but I dreaded how long it would take us to return Esther to normal or how we would do it.

Five months.

That's how long it took us to work it out. To reverse the spells on Esther, destroy the talisman with her memories in and overthrow Lilim. Alena had visited the Cullens nearly every week to keep them updated and to stop them from charging in and rescuing her themselves. It wouldn't have helped, the Esther they knew wasnt there anymore, we had to keep Lilim alive to find out exactly what she had done to her. Esther had so much power regressed in her, so much of Grace fighting in her to surfacethat when her memory clicked, when she was back she nearly exploded. Lilim had put the memory spell on her but also a spell to suppress her power. The power Grace had given to her before her death, the power that could end Lilim.

Esther hadn't even hesitated. She took Lilim and her hand went through her chest. Lilim had barely any time to register what was happening it happened so fast. Esther had gripped her heart in her hands and pulled it out of her rib cage. Lilim's body fell to the floor.

Maybe we're not all immortal after all.

"Esther..." Alena said softly.

"I want to go home," she said, her bloody hand dropping the heart. I grabbed a blanket nearby and picked the heart up incinerating it in my hand just in case someone managed to find a way to put it back in Lilim's body. I then threw the fire still coming from my hand to the body, burning Lilim to ash in her glass house.

"We'll take you," I said softly reaching my hand out to Esther.

"Thank you," she said taking my hand. I shook my head.

"I am sorry it took us so long to save you."

"I knew it would happen and I expected never to return to my family, I didn't know the power I had could end this forever otherwise I wouldn't have made a deal."

"Lilim knew. That's why she kept you here and removed your memory."

"Is she really gone?" Esther asked me. I looked at the ash on the floor and nodded.

"She's gone."


I hoped you liked the ending of this. I definitely changed the end quite a few times, from Grace surviving, to killing Lilim, to Lilim giving up but this version stood out to me the most. I also changed my mind so much with who Clara would end up with but I felt this version means everyone wins. (Thanks Cassandra Clare for The Infernal Devices)

Thank you to everyone that has read and stuck with me during this story. I cant believe its taken me two years to write this. I will post the epilogue for this within the week and thats it from me for a while. I seriously cant say thank you enough to anyone that has ever read any of my fanfictions, reviewed, favourited or made graphics/videos for me. For the past seven years i have always been writing and its been an honour to have you read it. Thank you for the support. Im taking a break from writing for a while but I will still be around on twitter.

~Nikki