The Twilight universe and all of the wonderful characters than inhabit it, belong to the talented Stephenie Meyer.

Songs For the Chapter:

My Sacrifice - Creed, Safe Place - Staind, Ice - Sarah McLachlan, Possession - Sarah McLachlan

quick A/N: Ok, so I messed up in the last chapter, their plane would have got in to Seattle at ten am not five pm. . . my bad ;0

Chapter Twenty-Six - Somewhere I Belong

As the plane touched down I could feel the anticipation growing inside of me, he was so close I could swear I could hear him calling me. I knew it was just my heart aching for him. There was nothing more I wanted than to be looking into those eyes of his and telling him exactly how I felt. Edward, who still had Bella in his arms would occasionally peek over the seat at me, I knew he was trying to calm me down, but at this point nothing would work.

Bella was still awake, but barely. She looked more exhausted than I had ever seen her and I felt slightly guilty. Lucky for us it had all worked out perfectly. We were alive and we were almost home. I'm sure fatigue was an easy trade off. i knew that if I could have slept I would have. But Bella's stubborn streak was holding on to the idea that Edward didn't want her. He would take care of that.

The plane seemed to take a lifetime to taxi into the gate, I was beginning to believe they were doing it purposely. As soon at the seatbelt lights were off I was out of my seat and pulling both bags from the overhead compartment. I was dancing on the spot waiting for Bella and Edward to get out of their seats. Bella was so tired she was moving even slower than normal, but I didn't press the matter. She had been through so much, and helped us more than she would ever know.

We headed through the gates, I was craning my neck. I knew they were here, and that's when I saw him.

My heart felt like it had come to life again in my chest, every inch of my being wanted to run and jump into his arms but I knew that the emotions from that alone could cause an unexplainable surge of love and who knows what else around the airport. Our eyes connected and I headed straight towards him, stopping next to him we stared at one another for the longest time, I was sending him every emotion in my body and his dancing eyes spoke to me showing me every ounce of love that I was sending to him. My entire body flashed with the electricity between us, surge after surge of love washed over me. I was so happy I was close to crying. Everything I had wanted to say to him, everything I had thought of on the trip home came flooding out with no need for words. It was the most public reunion, but also the most intimate, I had ever experienced. Every emotion he had, connected with me, I wanted to go home and lay in his arms and never leave them again. I was home, I was complete, my heart was whole and full of love. We had no idea what was going on around us for the longest time, we were lost in one another.

After a while we were broken away from our reunion as Carlisle touched my arm gently. I looked at him and hugged him briefly.

"You two ready to go home," He asked grinning as his eyes danced between us.

I nodded probably a little to eagerly at this point, but picked up Jasper's hand and followed Carlisle slowly from the airport. The small touch of our skin sent a heat wave surging through my body. I looked at Jasper and smiled. His returning smile made me understand just how much the feeling was mutual. I would never leave his side again.

Edward and Bella headed towards the Mercedes that was parked under dim lights in the garage. I could see Rosalie and Emmett leaning against it waiting for us. I knew that Rosalie would apologize as soon as I saw her, it flickered into my mind briefly. I knew I would forgive her, maybe not as easily as she would like, but I would forgive her.

Carlisle approached us again and smiled gently. "It seems we'll be riding with you two."

"Oh good, we can talk." I said perking up a little. Jasper chuckled at my enthusiasm and pulled me along with him towards the Volvo. Jasper took the drivers seat and I sat in the passenger side. We waited patiently as Carlisle waited for Esme. She was encouraging Edward to ride with Rosalie and Emmett.

"I'm so glad you're home. I was worried." Jasper whispered quietly as he traced the features of my face with his fingers.

"I know you were. I missed you terribly." I said as I reached for the hand on my face and kissed the palm of it gently.

"At least you knew I was safe." he sighed as his thumb gently traced the line of my jaw.

"Jasper, this was the only thing that would have worked. But I'll make a promise to you now. I will never go anywhere without you again. It's too painful."

He nodded in agreement. I smiled. I finally felt like myself. We sat in silence, just looking at one another. I was so oblivious to anything but Jasper, that when the doors opened and Esme and Carlisle climbed in, it made me jump.

"Well, I hope they can talk it out." Esme's gentle voice finished as she pulled the door closed. "Hello, Alice. How are you?" She directed at me, residual concern lacing her voice.

"Fine, now I'm home." I said honestly.

"Was it that bad?" Carlisle asked.

"We very nearly didn't make it. Bella, thankfully, got to him and pushed him in to the shadows, if she'd been even a couple of seconds longer, he'd be dead. Then your friends, Carlisle, I'm not sure I would ever like to visit them again. I believe you would have been surprised by the hostility. Although Aro remembered you fondly."

"Yes, well it wasn't the best circumstances in which to visit them really, was it?" Carlisle said regretfully. He had always spoken so kindly of his friends in Italy. I was sure he felt some burden of playing their authority down. Although, I would never see it like that. I had always feared them, with Jasper's history of them, it was hard not to.

"So, Alice, is Edward going to be coming home tonight? Or is he leaving you with the burden of story telling?" Esme asked sweetly.

I sat in silence as I looked. Edward was going to be thrown out of the Swan's house by Charlie. He would indeed leave gracefully and get in the car with Rosalie and Emmett. He would, however, get out of the car once it was out of sight of the Swan's and run back to the house and through Bella's window.

"Sorry, Esme, it looks like your stuck with me." I grinned at her.

"Oh, Alice I didn't . . ." Esme started but I stopped her by holding up my hand.

"Esme, please, don't be silly. You haven't seen Edward in months. It's only natural you want to spend time with him. But I'm letting you know now, chief Swan isn't too happy with him after what Bella went through, and then with her disappearance. So you will be seeing more of him."

Esme shook her head sadly, I knew that chief Swan's recollections of the events since we left, was going to be a topic of conversation tonight. I could see the guilt in Esme's eyes. She was blaming herself again.

"I'll wait till we get home and then Rose and Emmett can hear the events too." I said smiling encouragingly.

Both Carlisle and Esme nodded. We were a fair way home now, Jasper had been driving throughout the conversation. I knew he was looking forward to getting me home so we could be alone, but just looking at him I knew he understood. He was letting me know in his own way. I picked up his hand and didn't let go until we got home.

As we pulled up to our large white house, it was evident that they had been working on it in our absence. I knew that Esme would need to keep herself busy out of worry and the house was telling the story. The meadow, that had been overgrown when I had come here a couple of days ago was now trimmed to perfection. It looked as though we'd never left. The house looked warm and inviting instead of cold and hollow. They'd been working hard.

Jasper pulled the Volvo into the garage and we each stepped out and headed towards the house. I just wanted to sit in the enclosure of Jasper's arms. I could do anything now that he was by my side. I had never realized how much I had depended on him for strength until now. It wasn't in the terms of physical strength, but that of emotional. The term absence makes the heart grow fonder had a whole new meaning for me now.

The afternoon was dark and wet, it was a particularly overcast day and I was glad of it. It seemed very fitting for the home coming, and it would allow us all a little bit of freedom. As soon as I entered the house I could feel every inch of tension leave my body. I was home.

Jasper fell into the closest couch and I dropped lightly into his lap. He wrapped his arms snugly around my waist and pulled me to him nuzzling his head in my neck. The soft sigh he released told me he was home. I smiled to myself.

Esme and Carlisle took a seat with us. I knew it would be easier to get some things out of the way while we were alone, so I started.

"I would like to say, while we're alone," I said, getting the attention of both Esme and Carlisle. "I understand Rosalie is sorry, but I think that Edward and I have a right to be angry. No matter how you look at it, she almost got us killed. I specifically told her to let me confirm my vision. She blatantly went against everything I had told her. I will forgive her, I already know this. But we need to talk before it can happen."

"That's . . . reasonable." Esme said nodding her head, she looked at Carlisle.

"It's perfectly fair."

I smiled at them as I ran my fingers along Jasper's arm. We waited quietly for the sound of the Mercedes, and it didn't take long. Although, Emmett's booming laugh could be heard before they had pulled into the garage. I missed the little things like the sound of people moving around and laughing amongst themselves. This was the closest we'd been to normality since we let in September. It made our home coming all the more sweet.

It didn't take them long to get to the door, I could hear Emmett encouraging Rosalie as they approached. I knew then that she was more ashamed than I could have imagined, more than I believed she was capable of. It was then that I forgave her, I knew that I would have to still talk to her about it, but she was forgiven. I stood as the door opened silently. Rosalie stepped into the door and I approached her quickly. Carlisle and Esme held their breath and Emmett stood ready to defend his wife. Rosalie looked resolved to the expected outcome, but I shocked them all by throwing my arms around her and pulling her into an embrace.

"Alice?" Rosalie mumbled into my hair, obvious shock lacing the ethereal tones of her voice.

I pulled back and held her at arms length, I simply smiled at her.

'Okay, that wasn't the reaction I was expecting." she said in disbelief.

"Well, it seems to me you've beat yourself up enough. I think we still need to talk, but I forgive you."

"Oh, Alice." This time Rosalie shocked me by throwing her arms around my neck and kissing my cheek. I was shocked Rosalie had never been someone who enjoyed showing their affection.

I stepped away from her once again and smiled. I headed towards Jasper and once again dropped into his lap, his arms were immediately around me again.

"Well, for now I think I should explain everything that happened, while we were gone, when I came back, and Volterra." I grimaced slightly. "I should also get this little beauty out of the way first. I'm still awaiting Edward's wrath."

As Rosalie and Emmett took their seats, Esme and Carlisle frowned at me.

"What is it, Alice?" Esme asked concerned, I knew that the word wrath was the one that tipped her over the edge.

"Well, on the plane ride to Italy, I promised Bella something . . . something I really had no right to promise, by she will undoubtably want to cash in."

"Which is?" asked Carlisle.

"I told her I would change her."

Carlisle laughed and picked up Esme's hand, relief spread across his face. "Yes. Well, I could see how that would induce Edward's wrath, but I think all things considered, it's becoming more of a probability at this point."

I nodded in agreement, but the look on Rosalie's face told me she didn't agree. I let it drop, it would come up again. As Carlisle said, it was more of a probability now.

"Well, I guess I should start at when we left. I asked Charlie to explain to me how Bella had dealt with us leaving, and I was shocked when he said that in the first week they considered hospitalizing her."

Carlisle's understanding was immediate, he nodded, but his expression was somber.

I told them every detail, the bad months, the friendlessness and solitude. Esme was silent and held a look of sadness that told me if she could have cried, she would have. Rosalie looked just as morose, for the first time she seemed to really understand Bella. It was a mystery to me, and always would be, I was sure.

"Then she made a friend," I continued, but each one of their faces told me that they weren't expecting it to be happy news. "Of course, it was Jacob Black, from the reservation."

"A Quileute?" asked Emmett, sounding astonished.

"Yes, in fact the one that told her about us being vampires. Well, they were friends and he seemed to ease her pain a little, Charlie tried to convince me that she was happy, but even he couldn't admit that. I could tell by the mess of her she wasn't successful. Anyway, he stopped showing up and taking her calls after he fell sick, his father was telling Bella he had mono, but retracted the statement later on because she threatened to stop by. So he told her they got it wrong and he was out with friends. Bella became a little depressed again, her silver lining had taken a walk on her and she was left alone. She had taken to hiking with this . . . Jacob and to relieve some frustration, she took herself out to a trail, she didn't tell anybody either. Apparently, there had been some bear sightings and Charlie had asked her not to wonder in the forest alone, because there had been some attacks. But you know Bella, stubborn as an ox, went anyway."

"Bella, hiking?" Emmett asked laughing, we all knew how clumsy Bella was, so it wasn't a complete insult.

Rosalie slapped him gently on the arm to quiet him and nodded for me to continue.

"Well, on her hike, Bella ran into an old friend . . ." Esme stopped breathing and Carlisle sat forward. Rosalie raised her eyebrows. "Laurent." I concluded.

Each of them reacted like a perfect audience should, there was outrage, disgust, anger and fear.

"What was he doing here?" Carlisle asked.

"He was apparently checking on things for Victoria, he told Bella that Victoria had planned to take revenge by killing Bella."

"Victoria?" Rosalie asked, confused. "Wasn't Edward supposed to be tracking her?"

"He lost the trail." I explained. "Remember, he was in Texas and the doubled back to see if he could find her."

"So Victoria and Laurent had spoken?" Carlisle asked, his voice full of concern.

I nodded. "So now she knows, everything about us. I'm sure he had plenty of questions for Tanya whilst he was there!" I said filling in the gap no one had picked up.

"She will know about the visions, and the mind reading, and my ability to manipulate emotions." Jasper said quietly.

I nodded. "But we'll never know how much he was able to tell her."

"Why's that?" Emmett asked, he looked like he would happily track down Laurent and kill him.

"Well, he . . . um . . . he almost killed Bella." I spat out. It was the most difficult part of the story for me. Bella's near death experiences were not something I enjoyed reliving.

The room was silent and the horrified looks of my family made me realize that they were, for once, speechless.

"How did she escape that?" Rosalie asked, her eyes wide.

"Narrowly, and not without help. It seems that the Quileutes are back to their old tricks. Bella was saved by a pack of five werewolves."

I stopped and waited for the reactions. They were again shouting over one another in disbelief and anger. I waited for them to quiet down before I once again continued.

"The pack killed Laurent, and Bella headed for home. Only to suffer more. Now she thought that Laurent and Victoria were after her, she had no idea that the wolves had killed Laurent. Bella avoided her friend, she didn't want to endanger him, but when she grew concerned that he had been recruited by a new gang that was calling themselves 'protectors' or something like that, she grew concerned and headed down towards the reservation to confront him. He was very rude to her and sent her away, crushed and once again in pain."

My audience had put two and two together and realized what had been going on.

"Does she know?" Carlisle asked, concern once again winning out over astonishment.

"Of course she does, " I said. "What worries me is that he has only been phasing for a couple of weeks. She truly had no idea, how much danger she was in."

"So how'd she find out?" Emmett asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"She guessed, he was forbidden to tell her so he reminded her of the story that lead her to the truth about us."

Emmett nodded.

'Well, it came out that they had been chasing a red headed vampire around and this is what lead to the jump. Once they figured out that Victoria was circling forks for Bella, they protected her, mostly by keeping her close to them, on their land, but she grew bored. So . . . the dog had promised to take her Cliff diving for recreation, but he never showed so she went alone."

"Ahh, the vision!" said Carlisle. "So how did she get out of that, weren't you certain that she was under for too long?"

"I was but it turned out she wasn't under for long, the dog saved her!"

"But . . ." Esme started.

"Why didn't you see that, Alice?" Rosalie asked.

"I don't know, but I haven't seen them at all in my visions. They were able to sneak up on me at Bella's house. I don't think I can see them."

"Interesting," said Carlisle, always the philosopher. "I'll have to do some research on that."

I nodded in agreement, they had no idea how annoying it had been.

After this brief discussion on lack of vision concerning the wolves I went on to explain what had transpired whilst I was here and how Edward had called to confirm Bella's death. I then continued with the story of how we made it to Italy. I also described the Porsche in great detail. Rosalie in particular was interested in this. She was happy that I'd used the skills she'd taught me.

"I told you they would come in handy, didn't I!" she said happily clapping her hands. I smiled and nodded. I was more interested in the car rather than how I broke into it, but I wasn't going to take Rosalie's one second of redemption from her.

Jasper cringed, he didn't like that I had been so close to the Volturi. He had always been admirable of the Volturi, but they also made him nervous. He'd had a long history and seen a lot of things. He particularly didn't like the fact that they had shown interest in us. Their interest in Bella seemed to bother him the most. He felt that they had been playing games.

Carlisle had been upset that Aro had gone through our minds, but was particularly impressed that Bella had also locked them from her mind. He promised to come up with some answers about that too.

By the time my story had come to an end, I had been talking for most of the day. The light was disappearing and the night was setting in. I was ready for some time alone with my husband.

It didn't take me long to escape the company of my family. As much as I loved them, I needed to be with Jasper, just he and I. No interruptions.

I excused myself and dragged Jasper along with me. We headed up the stairs quickly and into our room. Everything was back in it's place. Jasper had done a wonderful job with our room.

I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him gently. He wrapped his hands around my waist and pulled me up to him, the height difference had it's perks. I wrapped my legs around his waist and his arms pulled me closer towards him. My lips made their way down to his collar and I kissed him softly.

"I'm never letting you out of my sight again." he whispered.

I giggled and kissed the other side of his neck. He freed one hand to lift my chin so my face was level with his.

"Alice, you have absolutely no idea how much I love you."

I smiled at him as I ran my fingers through his hair. "Oh I think I do." I grinned and raised my eyebrows. In return, I was given a smile. Just the one I'd been waiting for. He headed towards the bed and placed me gently into the center of it.

A/N: Short but fluffy. :)

Hope you enjoyed, Thank you to those of you who reviewed and added alerts. YOU ROCK. Sorry some of the info was repeated, but that's what I saw happening whilst Edward was with Bella as she slept. Bella does ask Alice if she's explained after all. :)

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