22.

"That was amazing, Lisa!" Esme had both of her hands on her face. She shook her head slowly in amazement. "You did such a good job with these kids."

"You did so much, too, Esme."

She shook her head, laughing. "Now, that's silly."

"Oh? I don't think so. You helped a lot."

She laughed again, but didn't deny it this time.

As I scanned the room, several of the parents met my eyes and mouthed 'thank you', giving me thumbs up. Many of them had already come up to me to shake my hand and congratulate me on pulling together an amazing performance. I had modestly turned all the attention to Alice and Esme, claiming they had done most of the work, who had in turn denied this and put all the praise back on me. John had stood beside me the whole time, rubbing my back, and beaming from ear to ear.

I noticed Charlie Swan making his way towards us, Bella at his elbow. He walked slowly due to the cane he had to use. His old age showed on his face and in the way he walked. The man had seen a lot and held strong. Bella had once told me he was 89.

He reached us and looked me up and down. I wondered what all those eyes had seen. "So you're Lisa Freeman," he croaked out.

I nodded and shook his extended hand. "Nice to meet you, sir."

"Oh please, call me Charlie."

I nodded and smiled. "Bella has told me a lot about you. She says you were a wonderful father."

"She said you were a wonderful dancer and teacher. I guess she's right about some things."

"Dad," Bella said softly.

Charlie chuckled softly, ending with a cough. "It's alright. I did what I could for her, but my Bella took care of herself."

We were silent for a moment, Charlie's eyes clouding over with memory. Finally his gaze moved to John. "Who's this handsome fellow, then?"

"This is my husband, John."

They shook hands. "Nice to meet you, boy. You make sure this girl here doesn't get away from you. She's a keeper."

"I know it, sir."

"Oh, you people need to call me Charlie!" he huffed out.

"Dad, maybe you should sit," suggested Bella calmly. Edward appeared at his father-in-law's other elbow to help if needed. Charlie waved him away. "I've been standing on my feet for 90 years, I think I can stand a little longer."

Bella and Edward let him be. Charlie seemed to have forgotten about John and I as he said, "Bella, where's my beautiful granddaughter?"

Just then, Renesme skipped up, Jacob at her side. "Hello, Papa."

"Ahh, my beautiful granddaughter."

The two embraced. Charlie turned back to me, having not forgotten me like I thought. His mind was still sharp. I wondered if he let anything touch him. "I hear you and Renesme play and sing together."

I nodded. "She's a great player with a beautiful voice."

"She gets that from her father. Bella never really had much tolerance for piano."

Edward and Nessie chuckled, while Bella rolled her eyes, a smile on her lips. "Okay, Dad."

"Well, girl, you've got lots of talent." Charlie's cane smacked down on the ground for effect.

"Thank you, Charlie."

"'Course." Then Charlie turned back to his family and John and I moved away. Most of the parents were begin to leave. I said goodbye to my students, reminding them classes would start again in the fall. I saw Bella and Edward leave with Charlie, probably to take him home.

When everyone had left, the remaining Cullens moved to take down all the decorations and the stage.

"John, why don't you go home? You look tired."

Renesme appeared at my side. "Do you need me to take him home? Jacob was going to drop me off there."

I nodded. "Thanks, Nessie." She bounced off, joining her other half. "Is that okay?"

"I could stay and help," John offered.

"No, we can get this done ourselves. It won't take too long."

John nodded and moved to join Nessie and Jacob, who were standing at the door waiting for him. I grabbed his hand before he could get away. "Thanks for the support today," I whispered.

He smiled and wrapped his arms around my waist. "You did wonderful," he mumbled. Then he kissed me softly on the lips. "Have fun," he added before going outside.

My heels clacked on the wood floor as I moved to help Rose pull down the starlights above the stage. "You did great," she said after a moment of silence.

I glanced at her in surprise, never having known her to give out compliments freely. "Thanks, Rosalie."
She nodded. "Made me wish I could dance."

"It's never too late to learn."

She was wrapping the cord around one of the five star arms. There was a slight halt in her movement when I said that, but she continued on a second later. "No, it's not for me."

I decided not to object. She seemed to not want to discuss it. We were nearly done when she spoke up again, this time quietly. "I took lessons a long time ago, back when I was human. Nothing as fancy as this, just some ballroom." She paused for a moment, relieving something from the past. Finally, she added shortly, "I wanted to learn so I could dance with my husband at my wedding."

She pushed the last star into the box they had come in, signaling that the conversation was over. I wanted to apologize but thought better of saying anything else. I knew Rose to be the type of person to want to leave the sensitive stuff alone. If she ever got mushy, it was at her own terms, and when she thought it should be over, she expected others to leave it at that. She moved off the stage and went to help Esme with something else. As I got off the stage, I grabbed the box of lights and signaled to Emmett that the stage was ready to pack up. He and Carlisle were going to dismantle it. Jasper was just finishing up putting away the sound equipment and camera, and the girls were almost done with the rest of the lights. Alice was rolling up the gauze from the floor. I moved over the floor, picking up handouts and tissues.

With everything packed into the cars, we set off for the house. Alice sat up front with me in my little convertible. Esme had decided to go with Carlisle and Jasper. The radio was playing softly, a love song I recognized from the 90's. Alice didn't say much, staring out the windshield most of the time.

I couldn't bear the silence much longer. I had made up my mind to tell Alice tomorrow, but I wondered why I should wait. "Alice," I whispered softly. We were about halfway from the school. She turned to me, smiling softly. "Are you mad at me?"

Shock crossed her face. "No, of course not! Why would you think that?"

"Well, I haven't told you what happened with Aro, yet."

She turned all the way in her seat until she was completely facing me. "I'm not mad because I don't know what happened. I already know what you're going to tell me. I'm just…upset because you haven't actually told me yet."

I nodded slowly. "I see."

Her hand appeared on my thigh. "I don't want you to think I'm mad at you, Lisa. You have every right not to tell me if you don't want to."

I turned my face to hers for a split second before looking back at the road. "I want to tell you, you know I do."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her nod. "I know."

We didn't say anything else for a little bit. The song on the radio had changed to a classic rock ballad. "I just don't know what to do with it, Alice. I don't even know where to begin to think about how to handle it."

Alice responded with a strong reply. "You don't have to think about it. Neither option is acceptable. We will not loose you or John. We just have to figure out a way to let Aro know we won't be budging and that we refuse to let him push us around with threats."

I glanced at her again. Her face was set, determination burning bright in her eyes.

"I won't loose you, Lisa."

I squeezed her hand, which was still resting on my leg. "I know," I replied softly. "You know I won't leave."

She nodded. "I know." She smiled. "And anyways, none of those Volturi's have as good a fashion sense as I."

I was thankful Alice had popped in a joke. "Yup, you're the queen."

She gave a mock bow. "Why thank you, kind lady."

I chuckled. "Okay, calm down there, your majesty."

She smiled. "Thanks for talking to me about it, Lis. You know that means a lot to me."

I nodded. "Of course. That's what best friends do, right."

She smiled brightly. "Yes."

I could still hear the clicking of the cooling car engine as I made my way to the cabin. Somewhere an owl hooted. I found myself thinking about Charlie Swan. I wondered what it was like watching all the people you know die or leave. Everyone he had known had moved on or was long dead. I touched the locket around my neck that Bella and Edward had given me.

I pushed the door open and silently made my way to the bedroom. John was breathing deeply, his arm wrapped around his pillow. I kissed him softly on the cheek.

I was just changing my clothes when there was a knock on the door. Alice, I thought. I hurriedly pulled on fresh jeans and padded into the living room. I pulled on a pair of boots out of habit before answering the door.

The night was blacker than I remembered. The owl must have flown off because I couldn't hear it. In fact, I couldn't hear anything.

"Alice?" I called softly into the night.

Nothing. "Hello?"

Silence filled my ears. I stepped out of the doorway, scanning the surroundings. Everything looked exactly the same.

I was about to turn around to go back into the house when a hand clasped over my eyes. Somebody stuffed something into my mouth before I could scream. Cold, hard hands pulled my wrists together behind my back and turned me back towards the forest. There was the clicking of metal on metal as two cuffs were snapped unto my wrists. I bit into the rag in my mouth in furry, releasing the sweet taste of blood onto my tongue. My eyes rolled back into my head as I realized what kind of blood it was: human. My fangs broke out and hungrily I sunk them into the cloth, going into a slight frenzy.

A voice stopped me cold, bringing me to my senses. "Hello, Lisa." The hand left my face, leaving me to look into cold, burning red eyes. "Are you ready to join me yet?" Then a bag was pulled over my eyes.