"The choices we make,

not the chances we take,

determine our destiny" ~ Unknown to me

I stared out at the barren, alien land as our rental car skidded to a stop. The trees were tiny, and everything looked kind of grey. I poked my head out of the open window, feeling the cool air on my face. I could hear the swarms of autumn mosquitoes and felt a pang of jealousy toward them. At least they could drink from whomever they wanted.

"Right, everyone out! We all have to get a photo for Renesmee's book!" Alice was already opening my door for me, calling out to the second car that had stopped less than a foot away from ours.

I had ridden with Alice, Emmett, Jasper and Rose. Rose had insisted on driving and the two boys had offered to sit in the back with me.

I knew they were trying to be protective. I was squashed a little by Emmett's huge frame, and Jasper sat behind Alice, stroking her hair absently, while sending out calm feelings for my benefit. I had refused to have my father read and react to my thoughts for the entire trip, so I had chosen this car. Most of the drive had passed in comfortable silence, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

And I had thought a lot. I still had Jacob's crumpled letter in my pocket, and I could practically remember all the words off by heart.

I had also been trying to learn some Finnish. Alice, of course, had seen herself and the rest of the family in Finland in a vision a couple of years ago, so she had started to learn. My father had read her thoughts and apparently argued with her, but the future had been set – just not the timeframe. They had held a family meeting one night when I was asleep and decided to keep the move a secret from me until it was necessary. No need to bother me too soon.

No need to include me too much, I thought bitterly.

As a result, everyone had a varying grasp of the language. Except for me. Handy.

Emmett groaned but nudged me in the ribs gently. At least, he thought it was gently. Rubbing my side, I stumbled out of the car and breathed in the fresh air. I caught so many scents. Pine… something like a deer… some other animal… maybe an elk? And something else…

"Mmm. I smell bear, do you?" Emmett grinned at me. He looked a little hungry, though we had all hunted before the long journey. I had never been allowed to hunt bear. Although I was stronger than your average human, I would probably never match the strength of a bear – not that anyone would let me try of course.

"Come on you two – I think Alice is about to throw a tantrum." Jasper interrupted my thoughts. He could probably feel my bitterness.

"No, no, Rose, I want Ness next to the sign – Edward, you can stay there…" Alice's shrill voice cut like a knife through the relative silence of the wilderness. She was pushing and shoving family members into place, all around a small green sign. It had foreign writing on it:

Saariselkä

Tervetuloa!

Saariselkä was a small village in the fells, and it was going to be our new home. I allowed myself to be shoved into position, and plastered a polite smile on my face. The wind played with my curls, and I pushed the light brown locks away from my face impatiently. Alice balanced the digital camera on the car, and checked the view.

"Okay everyone, smile!"

Alice had set the timer for 10 seconds, though she hardly needed a second to get to her place in the frame. She used the remaining 9 seconds to scowl at Emmett and my mother, who promptly plastered a happy smile on their faces too.

"Wait a minute… Edward, swap places with Carlisle. That's better – now you're next to Bella. And for goodness sake, Ness, you could at least try to look happy!"

Alice took two more photos – "just to be sure" – and Rose insisted on a photo of me alone by the sign. Everyone else started piling back into the cars as Rose faffed around with the camera, trying to find the perfect angle. Alice was climbing into the passenger seat, talking animatedly to Jasper and Emmett. The other car was full, and they started to pull away.

"Don't worry – Carlisle is driving. I'll catch them up soon enough." Rose smiled, enjoying the challenge of a car-chase. I don't think she realised that I didn't want to be near my father right now. I didn't want him hearing my thoughts.

I stared past the camera, my well-practiced smile pulling at my lips. I had grown up with a camera shoved in my face every two minutes. Just then, something caught my eye.

Just behind Rose's head, far in the distance, there was a lone figure watching us. It was a man, for sure. I could definitely make out his short blonde hair. I tried to sniff at the air inconspicuously, as I didn't want to alert the others that we were being watched. No, he was downwind from us.

Clever.

Or just a coincidence?

I wondered if he knew what type of people (to use the term very loosely) were moving into the neighbourhood.

"Are you okay Ness?"

Damn it, Rose had caught me staring. She was looking from me and back at the fells, trying to figure out what I was seeing. She would be able to see more of the man than I would.

"What are you looking at?" She wrinkled her brow and cocked her head to the side, perhaps straining to listen.

She couldn't see him?

"Over there… a man – " I lifted my hand to point, and as I did, the man moved his hand, and it looked like he lifted his finger to his lips as if to say "shh", though I couldn't be sure from such a distance. A normal human would not have been able to spot him without binoculars. Though, Rose should be able to make out each hair on his head if she wanted to. Why could she not see him?

"No…honey, there is nothing there." Rose looked from me to the fell, and back again. "Guys, can you see anything over there?" She asked the others in the car, lifting her painted finger toward the fell.

"No, nothing at all." Jasper said, looking slightly worried about me.

"But there's definitely…" He was definitely there. I was absolutely certain about that. I could see him. Or could I? The man looked like he was laughing, even as he spread his hands as if to say: "I'm real, see?"

Alice scrunched her eyes in concentration. A moment later she announced that she couldn't see anything unusual. Not that that meant anything anyway, as she couldn't see my future.

"Never mind. Maybe I'm tired." I lied, and stumbled a little on my way to the car, which also surprised me. I was usually quite graceful – a result of my vampire half. My powers gave me some grace, but not enough to have to conceal it too much from the humans. I just looked like a ballerina, or something. But not right now.

I stumbled again, and looked at the others. Jasper could feel my confusion, because he was out of the car again, looking at the fells where I had seen the man. He was still there, still staring.

I knew that Jasper couldn't see, because he shrugged his shoulders and got back in the car.

I spent the rest of the journey in confused silence, while Alice babbled endlessly. I realised that Alice was telling me what our cover story was going to be, so I made a conscious effort to listen. Perhaps I had imagined the whole thing – after all, two long flights and a 4-hour drive had tired me out. Nobody else needed sleep like I did.

"…. and Remesmee, you are going to have to call your mum and dad by name, okay? You only look a couple of years younger than them, remember. Emmett, you get to play big-bro to me – actual big bro, that is; Jasper and I are the youngest. Except for Nessie, of course. Bella and Edward are going to be married – they won't take off their wedding bands. So they'll have to get jobs. Edward is going to end up working in an office somewhere, and Bella will be working as a waitress in a tourist hotel…"

I zoned out again. She seemed to have everything planned. I was going to college, or college… or whatever they called it here - with Emmett, Jasper and Alice. Phew. No having to worry about dad's thoughts. Carlisle would probably take up a post as a doctor, and Esme would be a full time adoptive mum to all (or most?) of us. I hoped I would remember all this.

We were nearly there now. We had caught up with the other car, and Alice was getting more and more excited as she pointed out the few shops and buildings.

"That's where Edward is going to work. Oh. It's a Psychiatrist's! And that's the hotel your mum will work at, Ness…" I watched the white washed wooden buildings fly by with little interest. It was starting to get dark.

"Lets stop here – we need to introduce ourselves and buy some traditional food." Alice chattered, pointing at the smallest shop I had ever seen. Rose pulled into the tiny car park. There were some dry flowers in a pot by the door, which was propped open despite the autumn chill. Above the shop there was a sign with blue writing on an orange background.

"Saariselan K-Kauppa", it read.

The shop smelled of fresh bread, fish, and liquorice. It was hard to believe that someone could cram so much stuff into such a small space, but somehow the shop owner had managed. There was a youngish man (early twenties, I'd guess) at the till, reading a newspaper. He looked up and smiled cheerfully as we came in.

"Moi!", he nodded, his eyes resting on each of us in turn. He was probably wondering who we were, and thinking about our unusual movements and pale skin. Well, except mine, of course. I had inherited my mothers' human tendency to blush, and I could feel myself doing just that as his eyes met mine.

"Hei." Alice replied, and said something else in Finnish. The boy offered his hand to her and she extended hers to shake it.

At the exact moment that their hands touched, Alice's expression went completely blank for a few seconds. It was enough time for Jasper to notice and dislodge her hand with his, offering it to the man as a distraction. Alice's sharp intake of breath alerted me to her return back to the present, but it was my turn to shake the young man's hand, and I decided to try out what little Finnish I had learnt.

"Hei. Mi-nun nim- nem… nimeni on Renesmee. Mika… si-nun nimesi o-on?" I said, slowly, and even to me, my words sounded clumsy. I couldn't even ask his name without stumbling on the words. How would I manage in school? But I decided to try anyway, as he flashed me a white smile.

"Hei – hyvinhan sina osaat suomea! Mina olen Matti. Tervetuloa kylaan."

Right. I got exactly half of that. He said his name was Matti, and welcomed me to the village. I think.

"He said your Finnish is good…" Jasper muttered quietly, feeling my embarrassment.

I liked Matti instantly.

We bought far too much food for just me (considering that I didn't really like human food anyway), but we had to keep up the image. Alice babbled some more in Finnish, sounding fluent. Emmett filled me in quietly. She was telling the man about our family, and making sure he knew that we were here to stay, not just tourists. The village got a lot of tourists – people liked the night less nights in the summer, and the snow in the winter. They came here for a snippet of the traditional Lapland-culture, and enjoyed Northern Lights and ski tours.

We each took a bag full of shopping (though any one of us could have carried all of them without breaking sweat), and thanked the man. As we walked out into the cool autumn evening, I was desperate to ask Alice about her vision.

"Not here." She hissed, and shepherded me back into the car.

A/N: Wow, well, this chapter ended up twice the length of my other chapters. Hope you enjoyed!

I'm starting to get there now – the plot will start soon, I promise! I just needed to make the scene believable. I hope I'm doing an okay job.

Reviews much appreciated – please let me know what you think, good or bad!

I am also looking for a Beta. If you have done it before, and are over 18yrs old (I am going to include atleast one chapter that will be rated M, for adult themes), I would like to hear from you. I'm not looking for someone to check spelling or grammar – I think I can manage on that front. I'm hoping for someone who can help with making my writing better.

Thanks!

Next update will follow soon. It will include Alice's vision (if Renesmee can convince her to tell it), the letter from Jacob, and a meeting with the strange man…

Love,

Sara x

P.S. I seem to have forgotten to do this for the other chapters, so please note that this applies to the WHOLE story: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters, nor do I pretend to. I do, however own this plot and a couple of extra characters that I will include later. In other words, if you do not recognise it, it's mine. Feel free to borrow them with permission though!