EmmettPOV
Hermione is still in bed two days later. We're all coming to terms with the revelations about Marcus, or Sirius as she called him outside. Jasper's still pacing back and forth, having gone after to Volturi to pick a fight. In the end, so Edward reports, Marcus took him aside and had a frank discussion with him, although neither Edward nor Jasper will tell us what was said between them. He came back, and Esme had grabbed him and told him is he ever did that to her again, she'd strangle him.
She hasn't moved a muscle yet, and Carlisle has drugged her to the hilt. He's not taking any chances, and has her fully sedated.
"She needs to heal, Jasper," he says, wearily, for at least the tenth time. "She can do that if she's shut down for a few days. Now for goodness sake, Emmett, take him hunting and keep him out for two days. Then, when you get back, we'll wake her up. But get the fuck out of this house, or I swear to God I will chain you in the basement."
"But -"
"No buts." Edward and I drag him out the house, and haul him off to the woods.
"No point getting agitated, bro. She can take care of herself."
"How'd you feel it was Rosalie?" he demands in response to this.
"I get why you're stressed. That's not my point."
"I know what your point was!" he says, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"And I know that you're stressed because you thought you'd be human by now," Edward says, sagely.
"Does that make me a bad person?" he says, chewing his lip.
"No. You got all psyched up about it, and then it got snatched away. Classic reaction. Plus you love her and stuff."
"I am not comfortable having this conversation with you guys."
"Good thing Hermione is equally weirded out about talking about how she feels, otherwise it'd be whiteboard messages from here to Christmas."
"Just because that's how you and Alice communicate, mate."
"Whatever. Lets go hunt. I can smell a mountain lion not far north, and some grizzly too."
We keep him occupied for a couple of days, at least enough to prevent him from talking of her constantly. But he's agitating to be off the day of our return, and his amber eyes glow whenever somebody mentions her name. I look at him curiously, wondering what he'll look like with colour in his face and with grey eyes. He always says he used to have grey eyes. It's such an incomprehensible change, such a huge choice to make. I'm not sure I could make it. There's so many risks attached to the change, so much that could so easily go wrong. And what will it be like once he is human, once he's settled down with Hermione and had babies and all that human stuff. And what will it be like for us to watch him aging and - and dying. Once they both look old enough to be our parents. Will we all be able to stay together? I suppose they'd want a life together, jobs maybe. I know Jasper wants children, and I think Hermione does too. I can see them in a little cottage together, snuggled down by an open fireplace. They won't want to move about all the time, they'll want to settle down so their kids can go to school and make friends. Hermione is a social creature, even if she likes to just sit in company sometimes. Someone will have to make a sacrifice. Perhaps we could all stay local, work something out, even if it's flying back and forth a lot.
Edward hangs back, saying he wants to stay out a bit longer. Jasper makes an impatient gesture and carries on alone. I stay with Edward, thinking its some kind of thing so Jasper can have that first reunion alone. But I realise pretty quickly that he actually wants to talk to me.
"Alice was thinking the same thing last night. I don't want to lose them, none of us do, but it isn't going to be possible to live together. They'll want their own life, but I also know that both Hermione and Jasper want us close by. There's no reason why we can't live in the next state, and visit every week. There's no reason why we can't live in the same state once in a while."
"But we can't live with them."
"No, they'll want their privacy. Once Hermione is fit to travel and all that, which Carlisle reckons will take a good year. They'll get the use out of the cottage here, and - well, this is a secret, but Esme is having an exact replica built in Ireland."
"What?"
"She's having an exact replica of the cottage built in Ireland. When Hermione and Jasper move, we'll get some of the fittings out and taken over. Don't tell Jasper, whatever you do, it's meant to be an absolute secret."
"Nice. Hermione will protest about the money."
"She's going to have to get used to it. Jasper is worth a hell of a lot of money."
"How much are we all worth, individually?" I ask with interest. I don't think anyone has ever actually sat down and calculated our individual wealth.
"Lots. Carlisle and Esme are worth five billion, and they're the richest, because Carlisle is the oldest. Jasper's next, and he's got around 4.9 billion, which is growing every day because of that Civil War book series he wrote and the publishing company he owns. I'm next, and Alice and I have a combined fortune of 4.2 billion. You and Rosalie have the same."
"Wow. Thinks she knows she's marrying a billionaire?"
"I doubt it. I don't think any of us actually know how much we're all worth. I just did it out of curiosity. But that fortune will keep amassing for them, passing down through their family. It'll go for generations, and we'll look after them."
"I suppose. It's going to be strange, when he's not here anymore. You know. When they're - well."
"I know," he says in a low voice, slightly thick. "But it's what he wants, Emmett. We can't stop him, no matter how hard it is for us. He wants a human life with her, and we can't stand in his way for that."
"I know. Doesn't make it any easier though."
"I don't think it'll ever be easy. Come on, we'd better get back to the house. She's awake now."
JPOV
She wakes up slowly, and she seems a bit disorientated. Carlisle takes her blood pressure, a blood sample and her temperature.
"Bed rest for you, until your blood pressure comes back down. But apart from that, you seem well. Well, at least, your injuries seem like they're healing nicely. I am not discharging you as my patient for at least a year, but after that, you are out of my hands. You'll need a fair amount of physiotherapy, there's some quite bad muscle wastage. Or, total lack of muscle. Anyway, I'll give you both some time alone. I'll come back later to check you over thoroughly." He slips out silently, and I'm aware that they've left us alone again, probably to work on the cottage again. I take her hand, press a kiss onto her palm.
"You have no idea how worried I've been."
"You went after Sirius and the others. You wanted a fight, but he put you off."
"You know everything."
"I saw it, in Edward's mind. He is a good man, Jasper. I will tell you about him, soon."
"You loved him, I see it in your eyes."
"Not in the way you think. Yes, I loved him, as one might love a member of their family. I loved Harry in exactly the same way, and what I feel for them is not the same as what I feel for you."
"I know. I'm sorry you couldn't stay with them. I'm sorry there was nothing I could do to get you back to them."
"Hey," she says, softly. She tips my chin up so I look into her eyes. "Hey. Don't be sorry. None of this is your fault. I did what I had to do, what needed to be done. My sacrifice was made willingly and I made my own choice. If this is the price to pay to save the world, what right do I have to regret it, to mourn my loss?"
"I honestly believe you are an angel that got lost on her way to Heaven, and that I don't deserve you."
"That's what they said to me. The versions of me in the Gap. That I was a gift from the angels. That I was the epitome of everything good and light, that I didn't have any sense of evil, without a mark on my soul. A gift from the angels. That I wasn't capable of being evil, no matter what I did. I never believed in Heaven, the afterlife, God. I didn't think there was anything after we died. It frightened me, but I didn't believe there could possibly be anything else. But then I met them, and if I am really the gift from the angels, like they said, then there must be more, there must be more after we die. There has to be something."
"I don't know anymore. I used to think I knew. But I could believe again."
"Jasper, in whatever's next - when we die. If you leave me first - will you wait for me there?"
"You don't even need to ask me that. I would wait for as long as it took. And if you go first - would you wait too? In whatever's next?"
"I would wait. No matter how long for, I would wait."