38.

John was still asleep when the plane landed. We were on an airstrip a little bit outside of Forks, where the Cullens rented a hangar. Darkness covered us as we filed out and gathered the luggage.

"John, wake up, baby," I whispered, softly shaking him awake.

"Huh?" he mumbled as he rolled his head towards me, his eyes slowly opening. "Are we home?"

"Yeah."

He let out a yawn and stretched, pulling himself out of the seat. He trudged sleepily after me as we made our way to the car.

The moment we walked through the door of our cabin, John headed straight for the bedroom and plopped down on the bed. In seconds, he was sound asleep. I went about silently unpacking his bag.

Everything was exactly how I remembered it. I stood in the middle of the living room for a long time, looking at everything. Being held captive for two days made you think a lot about your home. This little cabin had never felt more like home than now.

I glanced down at the crinkled shirt I wore. Somewhere in my mind I heard Edward thinking. He was talking to Carlisle about me. I pulled on a sweatshirt and decided to walk over. I scanned the area around the cabin carefully before stepping out, quickly making my way to the house.

Alice saw me come in and greeted me. "They're upstairs," she whispered in my ear as she took my arm and led me up the stairs to Carlisle's office.

Edward was slowly pacing the floor, looking lost in thought, while Carlisle watched him silently, contemplating. He looked up when he heard Alice and I enter.

"Lisa," he said softly, "We were just talking about you."

I nodded my knowledge of the fact.

"Of course you know," mumbled Carlisle in fascination. "Sit," he said a little louder to me.

"How do you think it happened?" asked Edward after I had taken a seat, tucking my legs under me. He had stopped pacing and stood, watching me thoughtfully, though he had asked the question to Carlisle.

"This is really quite fascinating," said Carlisle as a sort of response to Edward. "Has it happened with anyone else, Lisa?"

"Well, I guess I haven't really tried, but no."

"Did you try with Edward and Alice's gifts?"

"When I was locked up with Jane, I was able to get through the shield for a moment and send Edward a message, but I wasn't trying to hear him… or anyone else."

"And then what happened?"

"Edward was next to me but he wasn't touching me like he usually has to, and still I could hear his thoughts."

"Were you touching Alice when you saw the vision?"

I shook my head. "It just happened and I didn't even know… I wasn't trying."

"So it's involuntary."

I nodded slowly. "Yeah." I was wondering how ridiculous this conversation would sound to a normal person. But I wasn't normal anymore; I had accepted that a long time ago.

"And it just happened while you were locked up?"

Again I nodded.

Edward had been rubbing his chin, listening in silence. He spoke up now, "Do you think what happened pushed her gift further. Maybe the emotional surge caused something to break in her mind."

"Like she was blocking her full potential…" mussed Carlisle.

"Unintentionally, of course. But the extreme emotions that you experienced, whether because of Jane or just because of the situation, caused your gift to… expand. It broke down the wall that was blocking it."

"It makes sense," muttered Alice softly. She was sitting on the arm of the chair I sat in, leaning over me and playing with my hair absentmindedly. "But if she's simply seeing what I'm seeing, why didn't we see the vision at the same time? Why did she see it first?"

"I thought maybe because she was looking for it, watching for Aro," offered Edward.

Carlisle nodded, tapping his fingers thoughtfully against his chin. "It could be possible. Who knows; I don't think we will ever fully understand why it happened that way."

"It may not happen again," I offered to Alice, knowing she was feeling uneasy about someone stealing her 'spotlight'.

"I know," said Alice. "Maybe you're right, Ed, maybe it was just a one time thing." She sighed and I offered a smile up to her. She smiled back slowly at first, then breaking into a full one.

"It would be interesting to see if you can use others gifts."

"Perhaps I can use Edward and Alice's because I have been around them the most."

Carlisle nodded. "Good thought. It's very possible. You are very used to using your gift with use theirs, and not so much with the others."

"I'll try doing it more with the others and see if it happens."

There was silence for a long time. Edward finally took a seat. I glanced at him and cleared my throat. "Edward?" I asked slowly.

"Hmm?" he asked, looking at me.

"Does it ever stop? I mean, is there a way to turn it off?"

Edward shrugged, searching my face as if looking for the answer in it. "No," he finally said, "I've just grown used to it, learned to ignore it."

"Is it hard with both of us in your head?" asked Alice softly.

I glanced up at her, thinking. "No, it's not so much that. I just don't always feel comfortable invading people's minds like that."

I glanced at Edward, hoping he would understand. He nodded slowly. "I know. It is both a blessing and a curse in some ways."

I folded my hands in my lap slowly, wondering what this new addition to my gift would mean for me. Sure, now I could hear everyone's thoughts whenever I wanted and I would randomly see people's futures, but was it going to help me at all or just wear me down mentally?

"It's quite extraordinary," said Carlisle after a long pause. He said it as a closing statement to our conversation.

I unfolded myself from the chair and walked out quietly, Alice behind me. We made our way silently down the stairs, plopping down on the sofa in the Cullens' living room.

Alice broke the silence first. "Do you want to try now?" she asked me slowly.

I glanced at her. I knew what she meant; she wanted me to try and see if I could use anybody else's gift without touching them. "Do you want me to?"

She shrugged and I smiled. "You already know what I'm going to say."

She laughed and got up from the couch. "Jasper!" she yelled softly.