Thanks as always for all the lovely reviews!! My computer's hanging on so far, which is suprising. Won't be updating next week because I'm going on holiday! :D HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!

Alice's Point of View

We smelt the blood before we saw her.

One minute, we were all talking and laughing, relaxed and happy- the next, everyone was tense, their muscles clenching down as the first wave of the mouth watering blood washed over us.

Carlisle was the only one who didn't react, but his eyes were trained on Jasper, watching as he clenched his fists down on the table, battling against all his natural instincts.

I was at his side in a moment, my hand winding around his waist. He glanced up at me, pressing his lips together and gripping my hand tightly.

"Is it Bella?" Emmet asked.

I shook my head. "No. She smells too different."

Jasper winced as the sweet smell circled around the room. "Sure, Al?" He gasped, "There's definitely something there that smells like Bella."

I sniffed the air again. He was right. It was there, an underlying smell that was defiantly Bella. I frowned. Who was it?

"Her daughter?" Esme suggested, answering the unspoken question that all of us were wondering.

I shook my head at once, glad to be confident about something again. "No way. There's no way on earth that Bella would be anywhere where Silver isn't." I took another sniff at the air. "And, believe me, I would be able to smell Bella if she was here."

Everyone nodded in agreement. After Edward, I was the one most immune to her blood.

Tanya darted on light feet over to the window, then glanced back over her shoulder with a little grin. "Well whoever it is is heading this way!" She trilled. I started to walk move towards her, but before I could- the front door bell rang for the second time that day.

For a moment, we all froze, each one of us looking at each other- then I broke the spell and darted out the living room, into the hallway- and pulled open the front door.

The blood was the first thing that I registered, but my sub conscious only had a second to reel back from that before my eyes flashed to the girls shocked face- and my own mouth fell open.

It was Bella.

Her dark hair was matted and tangled around her face, her thin, light summer clothes were ripped almost to shreds and there were long smudges of dirt across her bare arms, which were cradling a screaming Silver.

But that's not what shocked me most. Not seeing Bella turn up so suddenly, not even the state she was in. What made my mouth fall open, and my legs to stumble backwards of their own accord- was her eyes.

They were a bright, vibrant, blood red, standing out against her ice pale complexion.

It was clear, unmistakable- Bella Swan was a vampire. And she was beautiful!

I could hear my family gasping behind me, feel the Denali's curious stares on the back of my neck, but I never ripped my eyes away from Bella's, which were just as wide with surprise as mine were.

"You!" She cried, her tone venomous.

I opened my mouth to reply- when the front door was pushed open again, and a deep masculine voice said, "Bella?"

Edward was home.

Bella's Point of View

My mind was in shock. For the first time since turning into a vampire, my brain wasn't thinking about a hundred million things at once- just one, repetitive question that was bouncing around my head, demanding an answer.

What was Alice Cullen doing here?

I raised my eyes to look past her, to where the rest of my lost family stood, their eyes wide with surprise. For a moment, I wished furiously that I had Edward's power of mind reading.

Then something clicked. Where was Edward?

Ironically on cue, the front door was pulled back again, and then that same, velvet, breath taking, beautiful voice spoke my name.

And that was when I realised it was a bad idea.

It was in that exact moment that I realised what a terrible, terrible idea it had been to come here. Of course Alice would see me arriving! Of course Edward would be the first person she told and then-

And it was there that my trail of thought ended abruptly. Because then there was another thought in my head- so what?

What would it matter to Edward, to Alice- that I was here? Why would they, they all, bother to come all the way out here just to see me?

Or maybe I was just being self centred. Maybe this was just some sort of terrible coincidence. Was this karma paying me back for shouting at Silver earlier? If so, I thought that was pretty rich considering I never got praised for managing to restrain from killing that women.

"Bella?" The voice said again behind me. My eyes flickered shut for a moment and I sub consciously hugged Lyra closer to my body, though her heat made my throat burn up suddenly again.

A moment later, he had darted around me, and was stood right in front of me, his expression a mixture of disbelief and happiness. It was evident that he wasn't surprised to see me, which meant I was right about Alice tipping him off, but then why did he have to look so damn pleased to see me?

Then his smiled started to fade as he properly took in my appearance. His expression turned from happiness to horror in less than a second as his eyes roamed freely over my blood red eyes and pale skin, so identical to his own. I knew what he was thinking. He was thinking that I had turned myself into a vampire then come looking for him because I missed him that much. He was contemplating having to spend the next hundred years with me tagging along everywhere he went.

If I had been seventeen again, and human- I would have blushed, but now, I just managed to take a deep steadying breath. Might as well set him free. Do it now, before he does it later.

"Get away from me." I said, my voice deadly quiet, and as the words came out my mouth in an unfamiliar sound, I realised just how true those words were. I did want him away from me. I wanted him miles and miles away. I wanted him to leave and never come near me or Lyra ever again.

We were better off with him gone. Me, Jake and Lyra.

Hurt flickered across his face as he held up his hands much like a criminal did when he had realised he had been caught out. He took a cautious step towards me.

"I said, get away from me!" I was shouting before I knew it. My right hand held Silver steady while the other one flew out and grabbed the nearest thing to me- a small table with a plant on it- and threw it with all the force I could muster at Edward.

He leapt aside just in time, and the table hit the back wall, leaving a dent. One of the Denali's, the older women, gasped, but the younger one didn't move. Her eyes were on me, and she looked amused.

I knew at once that she was Tanya.

"Okay, okay- I'm sorry!" Edward said hastily, then glanced behind him for help.

At once, Carlisle stepped forward as Edward straightened up, his anxious eyes never leaving mine as he brushed pieces of wood from his clothes.

"Bella?" Carlisle said quietly. "Bella? Can you calm down, please?"

I staggered towards him, panic blurring my thoughts. "I- I need…I need HELP!" I cried, thrusting Silver forwards so he could see her bleeding arm. His eyes widened in alarm, and he reached out to take her at once, but he was unfamiliar, and Silver started to bawl, her little hands clutching for me.

At once, I brought her back to me as I slipped down the wall into a heap on the floor, pressing my lips into her hair. My thirst was maddening- it was driving me crazy.

"Carlisle!" Edward said, sounding alarmed, and Carlisle stepped forward, but I suddenly saw him as a predator, out to hurt my baby, and I leapt back to my feet, holding out a hand to stop him.

"Don't." I said, and my tone was suddenly begging. "Don't take her away from me!"

I could feel the silent presence of the rest of the Cullen's, feel their sad eyes on me, but I wouldn't look at them. To look, would be to remember. And to remember would be to give in.

"She's hurt, Bella." Carlisle said softly. "She needs help." He shrugged. "It's either this or taking her to the hospital."

His words brought on a mental reel of images- people dying, crying, bleeding. No matter how crazy I was, I knew that the hospital was bad.

"Is she not okay?" I choked.

"She will be." He was avoiding the question as he knelt on the ground and slowly reached his arms out to me.

I flinched away, and he fell back at once.

"Carlisle…" Esme murmured, and her tone was layered with fear. Fear? I looked up at her, confused- and that was when I caught sight of myself in the long, full length mirror. I looked terrible, my blood red eyes sparkling almost as if I was crying, with huge black bruise like marks underneath them. But even worse- was Lyra. She looked too thin, her face drawn and red and blotchy with tears, her clothes ruined, her skin muddy.

And she was crying. How could I have not been able to hear her cry?

My hand went clumsily to her head, only to stroke back her hair, but as soon as I touched her, applied even the lightest pressure, she started to scream- and I removed my hand at once, dithering over her.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I sobbed without crying, then raised her carefully so I could kiss her fragile head. "It's alright, baby." I whispered, the sobs gone as suddenly as they had come. "It's all alright now. You'll be okay."

And then I raised her carefully and slid her tiny little form into Carlisle's outstretched arms. He cradled her close for a moment, looking down into her face- then glanced back up at me. "Thank you." He said simply.

"Save her." I replied, then shut my eyes as he stood up and walked out of the room.

"Bella?" I heard Edward's voice, bleating my name in that annoying fashion again, and then footsteps, coming towards me.

"Give her space, Edward." Esme whispered. "Maybe Alice should…"

"No." Edward replied quietly. "It's got to be me."

And then arms were winding hesitantly, comfortingly, around my waist as he pulled me close. Giving in, I slipped down onto the floor again, and he came with me, his chin resting on the top of my head, his hand stroking my hair out of my face, his mouth whispering my name over and over again.

Almost like he was glad I was here.

In a flash, I was back in the hospital where he had hugged me then, held me close- just like then, this felt so easy, so natural, so real, that it was easy to pretend. It was so easy to just relax against his body and fit against him in our embrace, because no matter what anyone said, no matter how much time passed, we still fitted together like two pieces of the same puzzle.

Except all the other parts were still missing.

I pushed the last thought out of my head as his lips pressed down onto my forehead and my eyes slipped shut.

I don't know how long we sat like that, his arms cradling me, rocking me slowly, stedily from side to side, his lips softly kissing my hair- before I felt Esme's cool touch on my arm.

I glanced up, my eyes opening. "Is Lyra okay?" I demanded at once. It was good to see Esme again. While I was so busy missing Edward, I had not realised what a hole in my life Esme and the rest of the Cullen's had left. When I looked at her, it was like having another mother.

Esme nodded. "I'm sure she'll be fine, honey. Now, how much have you drunk so far?"

"Drunk?" I repeated, my head still fuzzy and reeling with the comforting news that Esme thought Lyra would be okay.

"Blood- wise."

Oh. Of course. I thought back over the last few days, then shook my head. "Nothing."

Edward pushed me away suddenly, sitting back so he could stare at me. "Nothing?" He repeated incredulously.

I shook my head. "No, I just…"

"But you've been carrying Lyra." He interrupted, still frowning. "Who's bleeding. Pretty heavily, I might add."

"Will she be okay?" I panicked again for a moment, but Edward just rolled his eyes, then leant forward.

"Focus, Bella. How did you manage?"

"I just did." I replied, feeling confused. So I hadn't turned into a cold blooded murderer quite yet. So what?

"Bella, this is amazing. Quite extraordinary." Edward murmured. "Most new born vampires can't go a couple of hours without drinking something, and I think even one of us would go mad carrying a bleeding human."

"But she's my daughter." I frowned.

"That wouldn't matter to a normal vampire." Esme said patiently.

I pounced on the word normal. "You mean I'm weird?" I said, sounding whiny. "I always knew there was something wrong with me!"

I heard Emmett titter a laugh, and Edward pulled me back into his arms, comforting again.

"Not weird." He corrected. "Amazing, maybe."

And for a moment, I was seventeen again. Emmet teasing me, Edward comforting me, and Esme looking at me like I was another daughter. I knew that that was my moment, right then, to pull away, and save myself later- but I couldn't do it. I just couldn't tear my heart out my chest and stamp on it all over again.

So I carried on my game, my pretending, even knowing that it would kill me later, no matter what anyone said about vampires being almost impossible to kill.

To give him credit, Edward was playing very well as well, keeping up a good, pleasant smile on his face, keeping his hands always on mine, as if he had missed my presence…

"Do you want to go hunting?" He murmured into my hair.

For a moment, I was torn. YES, my throat shouted manically, but my heart stayed here with Silver. I didn't answer, dithering.

"Lyra's in safe hands." Esme said, noticing my hesitation. "If you really want to help her, you need to go out and drink something, clean yourself up."

"Okay." I agreed reluctantly, then pulled myself away from Edward as I stood up. He refused to let any distance between us thought, his fingers sliding between mine, keeping us linked.

Esme was still looking at me, a strange glint in her eye. It took me a moment to register it as happiness. "It's good to have you back, Bella." She said softly. "It's been too long."

I looked down, my hair falling in to my face. "Far, far too long." I whispered.

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