Sorry for the lack of review replies with the last chapter. It wasn't intentional! Y'all sure have your theories as to what's going on with L. I love it!

Chapter 5

"That's impossible," Carlisle blurted out after hearing Alice announce Elizabeth Masen was alive and well on Paulina Street.

"I would have said the same thing had I not just come from Edward's," Bella said, backing Alice up. "There is someone who looks, acts, sounds, and knows everything Elizabeth Masen would know."

"But you saw her die, right, Carlisle?" Esme inquired quietly, earning a nod in response.

"I signed her death certificate, Es."

"That is just all sorts of fu…" Emmett started before a glare from Esme stopped him dead.

Jasper noticed Will standing off to the side, paying no attention to the discussion before him.

"You alright, Will?" Jasper asked quietly after sidling up to his friend.

"I'm not sure. L is acting rather strangely," Will replied quietly.

"Even for her?"

"Now, don't you start."

Jasper nodded, a wan smile tugging at his face. He understood probably the best of the others the isolation L had felt for most of her life and being an empath, he could sense her unease even though they were separated by several rooms.

"You know how she gets when things don't go according to her plans."

"Ain't that the truth."

Suddenly, L flounced down the stairs, her trusty laptop tucked under her arm. All eyes turned toward her as she bounded through the crowd and plopped onto her favorite chair. L was oblivious to the others watching her in silence as she began to boot up her laptop and log in.

"Am I the only one that's going to sit?" L said suddenly, looking up at the others. "Because if so, I'm going to feel tacky."

"You are tacky, L," Emmett teased before Rose popped him on the back of the head.

"Serves you right," L said, smiling at Rose as she took a seat on the divan. "Even if it is true."

More out of habit than anything, the others scrounged for places to perch.

"Now start at the beginning and tell us what went on today," Carlisle finally said. "I'm assuming it was not what was planned."

"Not by a long shot," Alice agreed before beginning to recount the events from walking up and seeing Elizabeth looking out her window at them to going inside the house and spending three hours discussing war bonds and fundraising ideas.

L frantically recorded every detail, editing when she felt it was necessary. As a hybrid she did not have the photographic memory the others possessed and she liked to have everything written down so she could refer back to it at a moment's notice. Every now and then, though, she flipped to an opened tab on her web browser and after quickly checking to see if anyone was watching, she'd search for something, read her results, and exit out of the screen.

Will watched his wife as she studied the computer screen, shaking her head in disbelief. Something was up and he had a feeling she knew more than she was letting on. He scowled at the notion she was hiding something, especially from him.

"We heard her heartbeat and everything," Bella interjected.

The others looked at one another in stunned silence.

"But. But. That's not Zafrina's gift. Hers is pure illusion, right? It's all in the mind. So what does this mean, Carlisle?" L finally asked, unable to take the quiet.

"I have no idea."

"Well that's oh so comforting." She threw her arms up in frustration, catching her laptop just as it was about to fall off of her lap. "The smartest one of us all is confused by just how Elizabeth Masen has been raised from the dead. This whole scenario just can't be described without the word cluster which …"

"It's not really fair thinking Carlisle has all the answers, Liriope," Will said calmly.

"He always has in the past!" L's face screwed up and turned red and for a moment it looked like she was going to cry.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room. They were all used to L's outbursts but this just felt like something more.

"He always has had the answers," L finally murmured, looking down at her laptop.

"Oh. My. Lord," Alice suddenly murmured.

"Alice?" Jasper asked, taking his wife's hand in his.

"Liriope Missouri!" she murmured. "So that's it."

L looked from person to person in a panic, avoiding making eye contact with Will.

"Ummmm…" she hummed, stalling.

Alice's eyes got wide.

"Alice, please," L whispered, shaking her head.

"You …" Alice paused before noticeably relaxing. "You need to go let Zafrina in. She'll be at the door by the time you get there."

L blinked owlishly before jumping up, thrusting her laptop at Will who barely caught it in time as she rushed to the door.

"Am I missing something?" Emmett asked a little too loudly. "Because it sure feels like there was this conversation going on here that not everyone got to take part in."

"I do believe you are right," Esme agreed, looking directly at Alice who nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Later," she murmured, a smile tugging at her lips.

Jasper noticed the bouncy, happy energy flowing off of his wife and gripped her hand tighter in his own.

"I'm back!" Alice said in a sing-song voice.

Zafrina and L entered the living room, the Amazon dwarfing the hybrid.

"Miss Elizabeth thinks I am going to market for her so I have some time," Zafrina said in her calm, direct manner.

"What do you know about Miss Elizabeth?" Bella asked.

Zafrina looked at Bella before speaking.

"I was waiting at the house as L's letter requested. I walked from the kitchen to the foyer and when I walked back, Miss Elizabeth was seated in the sitting room. She began talking to me immediately, treating me as her servant. Respectfully. But obviously as someone in her hire. I thought L had arranged for her to be there and had not told me. Did you not?"

"No," L whispered.

Zafrina shrugged as if it did not matter to her one way or the other.

"What time did Elizabeth arrive?" Alice asked.

"Last night. Just before the thunder started rolling through the sky."

"About the time L set the experience in motion," Carlisle observed.

L's jaw dropped as she shook her head.

"I didn't do anything to cause this," she insisted. "At least not intentionally!"

"No one thinks you did," Will said soothingly, handing her back her laptop which she hugged to her chest like a lovie.

"But it's my fault."

"Now what makes you think that, L?" Esme asked sympathetically.

"I …" L paused, unable to continue her line of thought. She took a deep breath. "I set everything in motion. I didn't know this would … I should have …"

"Liriope, it's not the end of the world," Jasper interrupted. "So we have an extra guest. Fine. As long as everything goes smoothly, I really don't see the problem."

The others nodded in agreement of the assessment but L still looked perturbed.

"Excuse me," she muttered before dashing upstairs, leaving the others to stare after her in confusion.

"Will, I think you need to go talk to her," Alice said quietly. "We'll go to Carlisle and Esme's to puzzle this out."

"I don't know what's gotten into her," Will said apologetically before following his wife upstairs.

"It'll be ok. I promise."

~BE~

Across town, Edward Masen had returned home and being the good son that he was, he immediately went searching for his mother to let her know the car was safe in the garage with no new dings or scratches.

"In here, Edward," came Elizabeth's voice from the upper floor.

He climbed up the stairs and found her preparing for bed, sitting at her dressing table. The brief thought that he had not eaten supper crossed his mind but he was not really hungry so it was quickly dismissed.

"Did you see the ladies home safely?" she asked, glancing up at her son as she carefully rubbed Pond's cold cream over her face.

"Yes, Mother." Edward hesitated at the door to her room.

Elizabeth motioned for him to enter, and he took a seat at her writing desk. Edward silently watched as his mother carefully removed the cold cream with a soft cloth. He smiled as she examined the few wrinkles around her eyes, something he remembered her doing even when he was a small child. She was still a beautiful woman in his eyes and he remembered his father telling her such over and over.

Edward's mind drifted to imagining having his own home, watching his wife dress for bed. He saw a young woman of petite build with dark brown hair reaching up to remove a few pins before the curls flowed down her back, the light from a nearby lamp casting alluring shadows over her body. He knew he would approach her, perhaps comb her hair for her, and then take her hand and lead her toward their bed and …

"Lovely young woman," Elizabeth said suddenly.

His eyes snapped up to the image of his mother in the mirror. She was staring at him with the same emerald green eyes he knew he had.

"Lovely young woman?" he asked, confused at her train of thought.

"Miss Swan. Mrs. Whitlock's companion this afternoon. She was quite lovely."

Elizabeth reached up and began to pull a few clips from her hair. She carefully laid them down in a cut crystal dish before reaching for a hairbrush.

"I suppose so," he finally responded as he watched his mother mouth the words to the number of strokes as she brushed out her hair.

"That look you were giving her said more than you supposed so, my boy."

Edward shrugged.

"Did you lose your tongue, Edward?"

He shook his head, earning a frustrated sigh from his mother. She spun around in her chair and stared at him for a moment. Edward felt much like he had as a child when he had done something wrong.

"I didn't come here just to have you beat around the bush and miss out on the opportunity to woo her properly." Elizabeth punctuated her words with an authoritarian wave of her hair brush.

"But you live here, Mother," he said, confused at what his mother was telling him.

Elizabeth smiled indulgently.

"Yes, dear boy. I do. For a short time I will be here." She turned back to her mirror and placed the brush on the top of the dressing table.

"She was quite lovely," Edward mused softly.

"She is."

"And rather bright."

"You would be hard pressed to find someone with both attributes."

"But do you think she would be interested in me?"

"And why in the world wouldn't she be?"

Edward had no answer.

"Darling boy," Elizabeth said quietly, rising from her chair and walking toward her son. "I know it is all confusing right now, but I promise it will get better."

"I'm supposed to call on her tomorrow."

"Wonderful!"

"But…"

Elizabeth waited patiently as Edward struggled as whether or not to tell his mother about the voice in his head. He was so uncertain as how to verbalize what he felt.

"Oh. I see," she murmured, nodding her head. She gently cupped his face with her hands, gazing into his eyes with a hint of sadness in her own.

"Edward Anthony, you are an amazing man. Full of many, many talents and with many, many secrets you've had to keep locked up for a long time."

"I don't have any secrets," he insisted, confused as to what he was being told.

"You do," she assured him soothingly. "You've just forgotten them for a time. But it is nothing that cannot be overcome. Go talk to Bella. I think she will help answer some of your questions."

"It's a bit late to do that right now, Mother."

Elizabeth shrugged ever so delicately.

"I'm not telling you to climb into her bedroom and watch her sleep. You have all the time in the world. But do not wait too long for time is not something I have an abundance of."

"You're not that old, Mother. You have many, many more years on this earth."

She smiled broadly before leaning down to kiss him on the cheek.

"It is very kind of you to say that but for now, good night, sweet boy."

And with that, she gently ushered him out of her bedroom and shut the door.

~BE~

So a few questions answered, a few more come up. Typical me, right? Sorry.

It will probably be two weeks before the next update—I have a few personal things coming up and a wicked Valentine's Day themed plot bunny I need to exorcise. If I get it ready in time, it'll be in my profile (B&E, AU, no non-canon characters).

I hope everyone in the latest storm's path stays safe and warm. We may not get a Spring Break but we certainly are safe!

As always, I love reviews!

dejeansmith on Twitter (rarely) and Goodreads (frequently)