A/N: Perhaps a bit anticlimactic...okay a lot, please don't rag on me like Stephenie Meyer's Breaking Dawn ending. Obviously they both have to get the Cullens', and if you've read Midnight Sun, you'd know that Peter and Charlotte are still alive, so you know they all get out. This is a warning, it's kind of anticlimactic, if you want to skip this chapter, it's not really needed to the story line, so long as you know they escape.
"What?" Jasper asked in shock.
"She's finally decided what to do with us."
"Alice, what is Maria planning?" Jasper met her eyes and felt the panic that her emotions betrayed her of.
"She..." Alice swallowed. "She's going to kill the three of us." she motioned to Peter, Charlotte, and herself. "And take you back to Texas. She thinks you're too valuable to just kill."
Jasper wrapped his arms around Alice. "I didn't want it to come to this, but we fight. No way any of us go down without a fight." his arms tightened around her. "If only at least one of us was at full strength."
Alice sighed and looked up into Jasper's hard eyes, slipping back into his old lifestyle. "I wish this didn't have to come to fighting. You've seen so much already, you should have had enough fighting to last any lifetime, vampire or human."
They suddenly heard Maria, "Bring them out. We've kept them here too long. It's time to do something." Jasper dropped his arms with a sigh and instead kept a firm hold on Alice's hand. He glanced once at the opening of the tent before gently leading her out, Peter and Charlotte following after.
"Jasper," Peter whispered, though they could all hear him. "You know with none of us at full strength, we won't be able to take them. I know I wanted to try at first, but not now. Why try? You could keep yourself alive if we don't fight. Come on man, self-preservation first, that's what you always said." He was trying to knock sense into his long-time friend. Why not at least keep himself alive?
"It's different now." Jasper snapped, glancing at Alice. "I'm not going down or giving up without at least trying. You can give up, but you'll just be killed that much faster."
Peter winced but glanced back at his own Charlotte. "Fine."
Alice glanced down at the engagement ring that was still on her finger. "There's so many things that we never got to do, Jasper."
"I know Ali, I know."
The newborns were standing in a loose circle, all of them eyeing Jasper and the others with ill-concealed excitement. Maria was watching them carefully.
"So what are you going to try to do, Jasper?" Maria taunted. "Try to fight me—us?" she motioned toward the other newborns. "If you give yourself up, you won't be hurt. If you start a fight, you'll all be killed." Jasper stayed where he was standing, glaring at Maria. Maria sighed and dropped her hands. "Do you really want to get yourself killed?"
"I'd rather fight for love then give up and lose her." he looked at Alice, sending her wave after wave of so much love to really show how much he loved her.
Alice gasped, and at first Jasper thought it was because of the onslaught of emotion, but then he realized she was having another vision.
When it ended, where there was once submission and surrender in her emotions, she now felt hope and relief. Happiness, even.
Maria took a step closer and glanced once more at the newborns. She was about to say something, when somebody suddenly burst into the clearing. "Maria!" he cried.
The vampire had mexican features, and was probably not a newborn. Maria turned to look at the man and recognition sparked in her eyes. "Rafael, why the hell are you here? You're supposed to be governing the others. They're probably already killing themselves!"
"It's the Villanueva coven! Maria, they found out you were gone and attacked! Three others are all that's left now, not including me." Maria's eyes widened and she cursed under her breath.
"I—how?"
"One of our own." Rafael said gravely.
Maria hissed and her eyes flickered to Jasper before she looked back at Rafael. "We have to get back there..."
Jasper took this as his chance to speak up. "We aren't going with you Maria. You can go ahead and try to get rid of us, but I know we can take out at least two of your newborns if it comes to that, maybe more, before you can kill us all, and you can't afford that right now. Try to get us to go with you, we'll just run."
Maria glared at Jasper, knowing he was right. "When did they attack?" she asked Rafael harshly, still keeping her eyes trained on Jasper.
"Last night. I think he's planning another attack. We got rid of five of them, he's down to thirteen, but I think he's planning on attacking again. We can't lose Mexico city, again."
"I," Maria looked at all of the vampire under her control then back at Jasper, Alice, Peter, and Charlotte. "Go back as quick as you can, we'll follow after."
Rafael nodded and, with one fleeting glance at Jasper, immediately started running back. Jasper was tensed, not sure what Maria, who was now staring after Rafael, was going to do now.
She looked back at Jasper and growled out, "Don't think you're going to get away easily. I may be letting you go now, but I will be back Jasper. One day, I will find you again, and I will get revenge. You won't be able to hide from me forever, and that's exactly how long we'll have." Maria turned to the newborns, who were now getting antsy. "Get ready, we're leaving in five minutes."
They threw glances at Jasper and his group, and Maria shook her head, growling at them. "If any of you get killed here, then we're losing Mexico City. Let them go."
Jasper turned to look at Peter and Charlotte. "Go," he whispered, "We'll be right behind you." Peter nodded, and they slowly made their way out of the clearing, Jasper ushered Alice after them, and took up the rear, watching the newborns warily.
It happened in a flash then. Maria was suddenly in front of him, snarling. She ducked to the side and bit into his skin on the shoulder blade. Alice whirled around to stare in shock when Jasper hissed in surprise. Her eyes widened and she was quickly furious at Maria. She snarled and took a step forward like she was about to attack.
Jasper wrenched his arm back from Maria's grip and growled, sinking into a crouch. Maria laughed and stepped back. "Just making sure you know just who you belong to, Jasper. You're mine."
Jasper glared fiercely and urged Alice to keep walking, promising to follow right behind. As he continued walking away, Jasper hissed back, "I'm nobody's."
When they were well away from the camp Maria had set up, Jasper finally turned around and couldn't help the shaky laugh of relief that escaped his lips when Alice threw herself against him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I was so scared. If that one vampire hadn't come..."
Jasper just laughed again and kissed the top of her head. "We're safe now, that's the important thing. I promised to get you to the Cullens', didn't I?"
Alice smiled in relief. "Yeah," she breathed, "You did, and you came through."
Jasper sent her another surge of love, and Alice surprised him then by kissing him on the lips in relief, happily pressing herself tighter against him.
Jasper suddenly winced, and Alice pulled back immediately. "Are you alright?" she asked, instantly concerned.
He nodded and rubbed at his shoulder absently. "Yes, don't worry, it's just where Maria bit me."
Alice pulled his arm gently outward and observed the bite mark. Standing on tip toe, she lightly brushed her lips against the soon to be scar. Although the venom was still there, it felt to Jasper that the stinging stopped right then as her lips barely touched his skin.
Jasper buried his head in her cropped hair and smiled. Alice pulled back then and looked up at him. "You're wrong, you know." she told him.
"What?" he asked in confusion.
"I said that you're wrong. You do belong to someone. You belong to me." Jasper felt a wave of possessiveness roll off of her, and couldn't help but smile.
"You're right," he agreed. "But just so you know, you belong to me."
Alice nipped at his skin, her own mark on him, and one he would bear with pride and honor. "I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Come on!" they suddenly heard Charlotte cry, followed by a chuckle from Peter, both of them a little farther up.
Jasper stood up from where they had fallen to the forest floor, pulling Alice up with him. He let go of all of her once she stood up, save for her hand. Alice got a mischievous glint in her eye and smiled slyly before, "Race you!"
She took off to where the sound of Charlotte's voice was, and Jasper followed close behind, trying to catch up. Alice laughed, completely happy to finally be away from Maria and the newborns.
Jasper caught up to her as soon as Charlotte came into view. He wrapped his arms around her, and they both fell to the floor, laughing.
Charlotte smiled and Peter came up behind her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and watching Alice and Jasper who were lying on the ground and staring at each other, their laughter slowly coming to a stop as they gazed into each other's eyes lovingly. "Come on," Peter murmured in Charlotte's ear. "We'll meet up with them in a few minutes." It was obviously a very intimate moment.
Charlotte nodded and they left Alice and Jasper quietly, turning their eyes away from the private scene.
"I love you." Jasper whispered so quietly that there was no possible way anybody besides Alice could ever hear.
"I love you, too." she noticed the black of his eyes right at that then. Alice didn't want to ruin so wonderful a moment, but she knew it had to be done. "You have to hunt." she told him quietly.
Jasper sighed but nodded and lifted Alice to her feet before following. "Anything good in this forest? Or maybe we should go as far away as we can right now."
Alice hesitated. "Are you sure you can go very long without hunting?"
"I've made it this far, haven't I? Come on, we'll go find Peter and Charlotte first." Jasper wrapped an arm around her and they slowly walked through the forest.
"We survived, Jasper. All of us, and not a scratch. Well, almost." Alice said, looking at his shoulder blade sadly.
"Yeah. We made it."
****
Alice looked up from the second bear that she had had. Jasper was finishing one a few paces away, his body hunched over the grizzly on the floor. They had gone a little ways away, and would be meeting back with their two friends in a little.
Alice dropped the corpse to the ground and continued to watch Jasper. When Jasper finished his own bear, he looked over at Alice, who gasped before grinning in delight. "Jasper, your eyes are completely golden now!" she cried happily.
"What?"
"They're golden all the way, there's no more red in them, at all!"
Jasper stared at Alice before he slowly started to smile with her. It had taken one year, but this was proof, proof that he didn't have to be a monster. "All thanks to you, Alice."
****
Alice and Jasper stood on the side of the road with Peter and Charlotte, their car nearby, and coated in a layer of dust. "When are you getting married?" Charlotte asked them.
"We don't know, yet. Is there any way we can keep in contact with you, to let you know."
"We've been staying in an abandoned building nearby, but I don't know how long we'll be there." Peter answered for them.
"If I keep tabs on you guys, I will probably be able to figure it out."
"We're going to travel up north somewhere, probably Montreal. We're going to be taking our time though."
"Canada?" Jasper asked in surprise.
Peter nodded. "Somewhere far away from here."
"We'll find you." Alice promised, and Jasper nodded in agreement.
"I suppose this is where we part ways, then." Charlotte said.
"I guess so." Alice agreed. The two girls hugged, as did Peter and Alice, and Jasper and Charlotte. Peter and Jasper shook hands before Alice and Jasper headed for their car, while the other two started running, quickly trying to get out of any of the southern states.
"Can we get a hotel?" Alice asked when they got into the car.
Jasper chuckled as he slid into the passenger seat. "If you'd like."
Alice crinkled her nose. "I need a shower," she said and added as an afterthought, "And a new outfit."
Jasper laughed and Alice turned the car around to head back to the city that they had practically flown through in their haste. It was barely evening now, and they would leave the hotel before morning the next day to get out of there as soon as possible. "So where do you want to go next?"
Alice stared out the window at the setting sun. "I don't know. Right now, I don't think I want to plan ahead more than tonight."
"We'll figure it out as we go along, then?" Jasper asked.
"Well figure it out as we go along." Alice confirmed.
Erm...so, yeah. Not to sure how I liked this but hey, what can I do? And just for the record, you guys are like, amazing. I'm almost at 200 reviews (like 22, I think)! I'm now averaging almost twenty review per chapter! You people are amazing!
I'm definitely not getting the next chapter out as quickly as I did these (three in three days, that's a big WOW for me), but it should be out in less than a week, at least I hope so.
Okay, I didn't proofread this as well as I should I have, but I'm tired, and truthfully, I want to play with some of my Christmas presents (or at least read the book I got).
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
~Tally