I took a deep, unnecessary breath as I let my hand rest on the door handle. "May I come in?"

There was no response for a moment, but then I felt the handle turn and the door swung open, Edward standing with a blank face on the other side. He gestured behind him and moved so that I could enter the room, closing the door again behind me.

I leaned against the window sill, watching him as he sat down on a couch occupying the space on the other side of the room from where I was standing. Silence filled the space as I wondered how to begin the conversation that we both needed to happen. I cleared my throat, mentally rolling my eyes as I resorted to another human habit in my nervousness. "I'm sure this is a shock to you."

Edward let out a small, harsh laugh, "A little more than a shock, Bella. I left you fifty years ago thinking that you would be able to live out a safe, human life. You are supposed to be seventy years old somewhere with grandkids, but instead you're standing in front of me as vampire, which is the last thing I wanted to happen."

I had assumed that this would be the first thing out of Edward's mouth, so I let him finish as I pictured steam coming from his ears to accompany his angry tone. "Edward, you need to understand something. I know you left me because you thought it was for my own good, Jasper told me that much." I watched him shake his head at the mention of my husband, "That was your decision. You chose to do it without considering what I actually wanted. That is not my fault, nor is it Jasper's. It is only yours."

I could almost see Edward trying to work out what I was saying as he calculated a response. He ran a hand over his face, "You didn't know what you were asking for."

I sighed, "You should have told me what you thought I was asking for, then, if you didn't think I would want it." I shook my head, "It doesn't matter now, all you need to know is that I am happy. If that is what you wanted, then you achieved it." I moved closer to him, sitting on one of the chairs across from his couch. "I don't think it is possible for me to stop caring about you, Edward. I want you to be happy, too."

"I feel the same way, always." Edward made real eye-contact with me for the first time since I walked into the room. "You have to imagine, though, how strange it is that you're not only here and a vampire, but with my brother."

I saw him cover a smirk as I let out a small laugh, "Yes, I'm sure it is strange. I am more than happy to share the story with all of you, but after this situation blows over. I think we need to be focused, for Irina."/

"Yes, I agree." Edward ran a hand through his hair, "It will be hard for a while, but I hope we can stay in touch, as friends."

I reached my hand out to touch his knee and nodded, "Friends."

I found Jasper talking with a vampire that had brown hair that hung down in his face, nearly covering his red eyes. I touched his arm lightly as I approached the pair, and my husband immediately turned to put his arm around me. I could see in his face that he was searching my emotions to find out how my confrontation with Edward went. When he was satisfied that I was okay, he introduced me. "Garrett, this is my wife, Bella.

Garrett reached out his hand and I took it, smiling at him. "Nice to meet you, Garrett."

"Likewise. Jasper tells me that you also have some training in fighting, is that right?" He looked interested, and assuming he wasn't just making small-talk, I launched into Jasper's training and what I was capable of. We quickly decided what I would be in charge of for training the rest of the group as Jasper stepped away to take a phone call.

When he stuck his phone back into his pocket, I excused myself from Garrett and made my way to Jasper, curious what the call was regarding. When I reached him, he pulled me into his arms and kissed the top of my head, sending pride and love through me. "I take it the conversation didn't go terribly?"

I shook my head, "No, it was alright. I think we both need time to process, but he was shockingly rational for being Edward."

Jasper smiled at my joke and led us to the porch, sitting down on the steps and pulling me into his lap. "I just spoke to Zenna. She said that they will be here in the next few days."

I felt a huge wave of relief. Zenna and Safrina were both gifted and would be extremely helpful if this came to a fight. "Wait a minute, how did you speak to her? Are you telling me she owns a cell phone?" I giggled.

Jasper laughed with me, "No she called me from a payphone somewhere. She said that a small vampire passed through and let her know I would be attempting to get in touch with her. I'm assuming it was Alice." His eyebrows pulled together as he began trying to work out what she was doing. I kissed his forehead in comfort, and stood up, taking his hand to pull him with me.

"It is time to start training, love." We walked together to the group that had gathered, ready to start practicing for what could reasonably mean the end to all of our lives.