A/N- Hey everyone! Sorry for the longer than normal wait for an update. Some shit's happening again that's causing unwelcome stress and I just need to get through that. On other news, we have less than 10 chapters to go in this story! We're getting to the end!! So that's it for news… Enjoy!
MainlyMaddison- Yup, the whole group is here now! And Nessie will be coming back soon!
BirdieInABox16- Everything's back to coinciding with the books so everyone's married or has imprinted!
Romance4ever- Don't worry, you'll see Bella and James' interaction while they're in the same proximity. I'm not going to ruin that for you though… Yes, I could see how Alice could use Jasper, but I thought using Cerys' mirror was a nice change…
EmeraldLace- Yup, the book and this story have come together again!
Superdani- I'm glad you're excited about it!
As soon as I was out of the office I raced down stairs looking for my 'family'. I found the two female vamps lounging in the kitchen talking to Esme. I smiled sweetly to the matriarch of the Cullen family before turning on my sisters. "What's that look for?" Tanya asked.
"Kate, I just learned something… shocking."
"Uh oh." Tanya said with a slight giggle. Esme was watching us from the counter with a soft smile on her lips.
"So you heard about my power." I nodded. "Eleazar tell you?"
"It slipped when we were talking about Bella and how she was going to be trained." I said. "Why didn't you want to help me?"
"We didn't know how offensive powers would work with your mirror! I was watching the faces of some of the Volturi's guards and they were hit with Chelsea's power even though it was directed at you."
"So you're saying it deflected?" I asked.
"Exactly. We didn't know where the power would go if I helped to train you. It was simply so we wouldn't hurt anyone or anything." Kate explained. "We can try if you want now. I don't know where we could work though."
"Why don't you train Bella? When you're confident with her power you can send a shock at me and then we can see how much she can shield." Tanya suggested.
"Can you aim something sent at you?" Kate asked me.
"I've never tried and I haven't really been using my power all that much." I replied. "The last time I used it was when I saw Alice."
"You saw Alice? And you used your power on her?" Esme asked. There was hope, but also worry in her eyes.
"She wanted to see her own future so she asked me if she could look into mine. That way my mirror would block mine, but would let her see hers. If it helps at all, she saw hope I think. She was smiling at least when she came back to reality."
"It does, it really does help." Esme smiled. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find Carlisle." We all said goodbye to her, but turned our conversation back to the training.
"I'm going to need to train somehow." I said. "I haven't trained since the last time, well ok the only time I ever practiced."
"So you don't know if you can make your mirror grow?" Kate asked.
"No, but I can probably work on that on my own. I can see the mirror if I concentrate hard enough."
"Why don't you work on that and then when we're ready with Bella we'll come get you? It'll be in a few days."
"I figured it would. That will give me time to work on my mirror I guess." I replied. "Now, I know this is going to be personal, but Carlisle said there was a reason why Irina would overreact when she saw Renesmee."
"You want to know about our mother." Tanya said.
"If you won't mind."
"We knew it would come at some point, especially with this event." Tanya said. "We had a mother like the Cullens have Esme. She taught us everything we know. One day we were just sitting around the house when the Volturi came. They said our mother had changed a child, but we had never seen one. That's why we were unprepared and then so surprised when this child was brought out. The burned the child and then our mother. Aro touched each one of us and decided that we were indeed unaware of our mother's activities. They left the three of us in mourning for our mother. We weren't sure if we should mourn our brother since we never knew him."
"But you call him your brother?" I said.
"In essence, he was our brother. We aren't blood related, but we're sisters. That's also how we viewed our mysterious brother." Kate explained.
"What is it about these immortal children that make them such a threat?"
"They can go… crazy with the bloodlust. Plus they are immortalized at an age where they won't know right and wrong all that well. They can easily break our silence and expose us to the world."
"So the Volturi outlawed them."
"Exactly." Tanya said. "If Irina had taken the time to just meet Renesmee, she would have understand. She wouldn't have gone to the Volturi. We think it's also because Bella was with the werewolf that killed Laurent."
"Jake's the one? He killed Laurent?" My anger was starting to rise.
"He was, but we have forgiven him and you're going to have to if we want to get through this in one piece. He loves Renesmee and she adores him." Kate said.
"I'm going to go with the old saying forgive, but never forget." I said through tight teeth. I nodded a goodbye to my two sisters before finding James and pulling him outside. I explained what Tanya and Kate had shared with me, leaving the whole Jake killed Laurent deal for the end.
Understandable, James wanted to kill Jake immediately, but I stopped him with the same words that Tanya and Kate stopped me. He was tense and said he wasn't sure if he'd even be able to forgive Jake. He might just be ignoring the wolf more than originally thought.
We returned to the house and waited for Edward to come back so we could meet the mysterious child. I wanted to know if she could show me what's been going on or if it would be just James. That's saying that we would even be allowed near her. Towards the end of the day Jake walked back in with Nessie, but he wasn't letting us around her till her parents returned. Apparently they were arguing and then making up. He didn't want Nessie to hear or see anything inappropriate.
"Ok, we talked…" Bella said as she stormed in. "And first, Cerys gets to see Nessie."
"I'm still not sure if this is going to work." I said.
"Why not?" Bella asked.
"Cerys is a mirror. She's like you, but she'll reflect that person's power back on them." Edward explained.
"Really? So you can help me with my shield? I mean, you can help me move it and stuff."
"I'm not sure. I can't expand my mirror, but I can tell you what to look for." I replied. Bella nodded eagerly. Nessie held her arms out for her mother from Jacob's arms and Bella welcomed her into her arm. "Of course honey." She cooed to the child.
Bella walked her daughter over to me. The little girl held out her hand and I gave her mind. I felt my shield instantly go up and I watched as the little girl frowned. I smiled reassuring them and closed my eyes. When I found the shield in my mind's eye, I moved it to James, allowing Nessie's power to wrap around me.
The images I saw were amazing. I saw Bella after the birth, when Edward was instantly next to her changing her. Then I saw how Jacob and Rose took care of the child when Bella could not. I felt her love for her parents as well as for the wolf and her aunt. I watched as she played with Emmett and when she fed with the help of Rose. She even showed me one of her hunting trips, the one I presume that Irina saw, since Bella quickly swept her away.
All too soon Nessie had let me go. I was sucked back into reality and then my mirror crashed back onto me since my concentration had shattered. I stumbled back, but James was there to catch me before I fell to the ground.
"James… that… that… that was something else." I stuttered. "Bella, let James see. He's not going to hurt your daughter."
"Quickly. I'm still not so sure about you." Bella said. James made sure I was standing on my own before touching the child's outstretched hand. His mini-vision lasted about half the time as mine, but I knew it affected him just as much as it affected me.
"Thank you." James whispered when the child released him. I could tell he was just as awestruck from the experience as everyone else in the room. Nessie was quickly returned to Jacob's arms while Bella and Edward once more left for their cabin, or so we assumed. James and I smiled, knowing exactly what they were going through since we were still in the middle of it. Even now, as we stood in the Cullen's living room, we were constantly touching, even if it was something as simple as our pinkies lightly holding on to each other.
"James, why don't we go outside. It's so… stuffy in here." I said. It had been the longest time we had spent in doors in months. James nodded and we left through the back door for the forest. After we passed the small stream that passed through the property, we took to the trees until we found a sturdy one that gave us enough support to rest on.
We remained silent as we thought about the day. There was so much that we had just been told. Everything from Bella and Edward's story, to Nessie's, to Tanya and Kate's. It was all too much. I didn't know how to wrap my head around it and that only made me worry more. If I was confused so much, well not confused just completely struck by the amount and complexity of the past events, how were the Volturi going to within the short time they give those on trial. Their short tempers were just going to make it harder.
As I thought about it I started wiggling my fingers, controlling the shape and size of my shield. It wiggled and swayed like a puddle of water. I was barely aware I was doing it. The only think that let me know was James holding my hands still for a bit before releasing them, allowing them to play with the shield once more. I smiled a bit realizing it was starting to annoy James. Before he got mad I bent my head back and kissed his cheek before snuggling into his chest.
We spent the rest of the evening on the branch, watching the sunset. During the night we took to the forest, hunting and making love, but then as the sun started to rise once more we returned to our tree. As I watched the sun rise above the mountains and trees I decided that today I would start working on my mirror some more. I would find someway to control the size so no one would have to go through a repeat of last time, well except some of the guard. I wouldn't mind if Chelsea got a taste of her own power, or Jane or Alec.