DISCLAIMER: The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creation of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Bella plays with her powers under Carlisle & Edward's supervision.
Explanation of Bella's power – most of this was covered in First Year so this is just a refresher: I will try to explain this, but since Bella hasn't figured out everything she can do, I don't know either. First and foremost, Bella has the power to keep her mind closed to all vampire abilities. This is something she can do all on her own, without touching Edward. When she touches Edward, she can open her mind to hear and send out thoughts. Anyone who touches her while she's holding onto Edward will hear her and she will hear them. She is NOT able to share anyone else's abilities … meaning she can't see Alice's visions. She can only see something if Edward is seeing it. Bella has learned to control her power so that Edward can hear her and the rest of their family, without hearing anyone else. She has some ability to share her memories and to share things she imagines, but she's not strong enough to really use them so Carlisle doesn't have her focus on those. The only other thing Bella can do without touching Edward is drain the energy from other vampires ... I think this is because of how worried she was as a human of being as strong as everyone around her. Hope that makes sense!
Practicing
"I know it's been awhile since we've had time for this. Are you ready, Bella?" Carlisle asked.
"Yep!" Bella replied.
I smiled at her. She was so much more confident now compared to just a few months ago.
"Do you remember our rules?" Carlisle asked.
"One, stay relaxed. Two, if Edward disappears, get out immediately. Three, don't force it. Four, don't panic if something new happens. Five, get out immediately if I feel tired in any way. And the newest rule! Six, once the safe word is used, let go of the person I'm draining. But can I just say again for, the record, that I don't like playing around with that part of my power?" Bella crinkled her nose at us.
"You just did," I chuckled.
Bella leaned over and slapped my arm.
"Ouch!" I laughed, trying to keep her mood light.
I knew she was worried about taking energy, but this was the most valuable part of her power. If she could continue to do it without me, she could drain anyone who meant her ill-will and get them to a level where she could easily defend herself.
"You know that I know it didn't hurt so hush!" Bella warned with a coy smile.
"Do you remember the safe word, Isabella?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows at her.
"Yes, Edward! It's 'Forks' and if I hear it I am to immediately stop draining whoever I'm touching."
"Okay, you two! Settle down. Now, before we begin practicing, I want you tell me exactly what happened with Demetri," Carlisle said.
Bella blew out a long breath. "Fine." She took a moment to gather her thoughts. "I was thinking that the only way to get him off of me was to be stronger than him. I kept repeating in my head that I needed to drain Demetri enough to get away. I was praying at the same time that he wouldn't notice. I grabbed his wrist and I could feel it working right away. And then I kicked him and yelled. Oh! And when I looked at the bruises on my chest, they were already yellow and faded, as if I'd been punched days ago instead of minutes."
"He punched you!" I roared.
Bella smiled sweetly and ran her hand up and down my arm. "Edward, it won't do you any good to get upset. He's not here and as you pointed out, he'll still be in the dungeon when we visit."
"Bella has a point, Edward," Carlisle said. 'She needs you to help keep her calm. You can't do that if you're fixated on Demetri.'
I nodded to my father and kissed my wife's cheek. "Anything else you remember doing when you were trying to get away?" I asked.
"I wondered why you didn't hear what he was trying to do in his thoughts," Bella replied. Her golden eyes shined with her curiosity.
"I was so focused on getting Emmett to calm down. He was screaming at me in my head and I couldn't concentrate on anything else," I told her, taking her hands into mine. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to hear Demetri before he got to you."
"You got to him before he could do anything. That's all that matters," Bella said, kissing my cheek.
"Alright. I think we have all the answers we need. Bella, I want you to take a little of my energy without touching Edward," Carlisle explained, holding out his hand.
Bella's lips pressed into a thin, white line. She nodded her head stiffly and moved away from me. She took Carlisle's hand lightly in hers and closed her eyes. I waited with baited breath to see if she could repeat what she had done.
She opened her eyes and smiled at Carlisle. "How was that? Did you feel anything?"
"I'm not sure what I'm looking for," Carlisle replied. "What did you feel, Bella?"
"It's sort of like a little electrical current that starts wherever I'm touching the person and travels up my arm, spreads across my chest, then out to my entire body," Bella explained.
"Edward, do you remember feeling anything when we had Bella drain you?" Carlisle asked.
"It happened so fast and all at once. It was like I was perfectly fine and then very tired," I answered. "Bella, repeat what you did to Carlisle to me and let me see if I notice anything."
Bella eyed me warily but did as I asked. I knew she hated this. She was still scared from the first, and only, time she had done it to me. She wrapped her hand around my wrist.
"I'm going to do what I did to Demetri so you can see if we're going to have a problem."
"Excellent idea, Bella!" Carlisle said proudly.
Bella gave him a small smile. She locked her eyes onto mine and I pushed forward all my love for her. She smiled a real smile and I returned it. "Ready?" she asked.
I nodded my head.
She released me a minute later. "Did you feel anything?"
"No. It's amazing. It just feels like you're using more pressure, more strength. You go from a firm hold to what a true newborn would be able to accomplish," I replied.
"That's excellent!" Carlisle laughed. "Demetri will never know."
"Neither will anyone else," I added. "If any of them grab her, she can drain them and get away."
"About my little eating quirk that gives me the ability to bruise … Why did the bruises fade so quickly?" Bella asked.
"Taking energy from another vampire affects you physically in the same ways hunting does. When you feed, your strength increases and your wounds heal. The same will occur when you take energy," Carlisle explained.
"Can I give energy back? If I'm draining more than one person and I don't want to keep it all inside of me, can I give it back?" Bella asked.
"Let's try it and see," Carlisle answered.
We all stood, with Bella in the middle. She took a hand from each of us and placed them each of them in her own. She closed her eyes in concentration. I felt her grip increasing for a while and then the desire to sit down. Then I felt Bella's grip relaxing and my strength returning.
She opened her eyes and smiled at me. "That seems to work."
"Excellent!" Carlisle chuckled.
"That's three or four of those in a row," Bella said, lifting an eyebrow. "What are you thinking?"
Carlisle motioned for us to sit again. "I will not go into Italy without a few plans. Now listen closely, Bella. I truly believe Aro will not harm us. Mostly because of the deep respect he holds for me. But also because time has no meaning for him and he's egotistical enough to believe you will come to him eventually. But I never walk into a situation without knowing everything about it. If something were to go wrong, you could use that power to keep yourself out of their hands. If any of us were hurt or needed help, you would be able to steal energy from the Volturi and pass it to our family."
"So I would be a valuable weapon," Bella whispered. "We can't ever let Aro know about this. We can't let the family know either."
"Alice will know," I reminded her.
"No," Bella smiled. "I had an idea of what today's practice would be about. I specifically instructed Alice to keep away from all visions regarding this session. It will be much easier to keep this a secret if only the three of us know about it."
"As long as we continue to show a united front and that we are no threat to the Volturi, I am sure everything will go fine this summer," Carlisle said. "I need to write down a few notes. I want the two of you to practice hearing each other. Start out holding hands and decrease your contact until your fingertips are barely touching. We need to know exactly how much contact is required for Bella to hear."
I nodded to Carlisle as Bella turned in her chair to face me. She had her knees drawn up before her and she was smiling sweetly at me. I leaned over and kissed her forehead. Her arms wrapped around my neck and she held me in a tight embrace. I rubbed her back, hoping to sooth her.
"What's wrong, Bella?" I whispered to her.
"Nothing. I just needed a hug."
I smiled and kissed her cheek. "I'm happy to oblige whenever you need."
Bella chuckled as she let me go. We held our hands up, palm to palm, smiling at each other.
'Edward.'
'Hello, wife.'
'What shall we discuss?'
'How is your English paper coming along?'
'I'm nearly done. I can't say I particularly care for Keats, but I think I'll get a good grade anyway.'
'What don't you like about "Ode on a Grecian Urn"? It's usually quite popular.'
'He can't make up his mind. In one line, he's happy to have the urn and to guess about the history shown in its images. In the next, he's sad that he'll never know if he was right in his theories or not. It's maddening! Either you are a true historian and you are delighted in what you have found, or you think what you have found is pretty and you make your guesses, going on with your day.'
'Maybe he's sad because he knows the urn will outlive him.'
'So it's immortality he's pining for?'
'Not pining, love. Only pondering.'
'Poetry was never really high on my list.' Bella shrugged. 'It's too quick to really ever be over.'
'A good poet can say in a few lines all that a book can.'
'I find that hard to believe.'
'It won't be as descriptive as a book or have the detail that a book will offer, but the basic story will be there.'
'Give me an example of a poem that does that.'
'"When I Read the Book" by Walt Whitman.'
'I don't know that one.'
I smiled at her. 'Then allow me to recite it to you. Pay close attention because I will ask you questions about it after.'
Bella nodded her head, a bright smile on her face.
I moved my hand so that only a few of our fingers were touching and starting reciting the poem:
'When I read the book, the biography famous
And is this then, said I, what the author calls a man's life?
And so will some one when I am dead and gone write my life?
As if any man really knew aught of my life
Why even I myself I often think know little or nothing of my real life
Only a few hints, a few diffused faint clues and indirections
I seek for my own use to trace out here.
I paused, letting Bella think over the poem for a moment. 'What do you think he was talking about?'
'He was obviously reading a book about someone famous. From his comments, he didn't seem to think it was a very good biography. I think he's saying not even the man who lived the life knows every thought behind every decision and action. He's saying there isn't enough time to discover yourself, much less relay enough of it to another person for a true biography to be written.'
'Very perceptive of you, Bella. But there is another warning he is giving the reader. He's trying to convey that since no man can have the time to truly learn himself, you shouldn't look to him to know how to lead your own life.'
''Diffused faint clues and indirections' ... He's saying he can't give you enough information to make an informed decision because he doesn't know what led him to make that choice.'
'Exactly, Bella! Now if someone had taken that and written a book about Whitman and his comments in that one poem, I'm certain they could have gotten three or four hundred pages down. They could have delved into Whitman's past and guessed at his future. They could have described his physical features and outward personality. There are many ways to fill the chapters and mask the true message.'
'It's been too long since we've talked like this, Edward. I'm amazed every time I find out how little we know about each other. I never knew you liked poetry so much.'
'I like poetry that has meaning to it. Honest truths that can be pulled from the words. There are some wonderful poets, but there are also a lot of bad poems out there. Things that are hardly more than limericks.'
'Tell me about another poem that you like.'
I smiled at her and then spoke the poem:
'Come slowly, Eden!
Lips unused to thee, Bashful, sip thy jasmines
As the fainting bee
Reaching late his flower
Round her chamber hums
Counts his nectars—enters
And is lost in balms!'
'What was that?'
'"Come slowly, Eden" by Emily Dickinson. Do you have any ideas about the meaning of that poem?'
'Heaven?' Bella shrugged and I knew she had no idea.
'Let's take it apart and see. 'Come slowly, Eden' obviously refers to the Garden of Eden, to paradise. 'Lips unused to thee, Bashful' means that the people looking for paradise are unspoiled. 'Sip thy jasmines, as the fainting bee' refers to cautious touches and soft kisses. 'Reaching late his flower, round her chamber hums, counts his nectars' means he is thanking his lucky stars for the beauty before him and can't believe it took him this long to be with her. I think you can understand 'enters, and is lost in balms' by yourself.'
'I think so, too!' Bella's giggles in my head were soft and sweet. 'I can see how those few words convey a lot of passion.' Bella shook her head slowly. 'But I think I'll always prefer books.'
'As long as you can appreciate both, you'll do fine.' I looked down to see that Bella and I were only connected by a single fingertip.
"That's very promising," Carlisle said, as he stared down at our fingers. "I think we've done enough for today. Bella, why don't you see if Alice and Rose will go hunting with you? I'd like to talk to Edward."
Bella looked warily at our father.
"I promise you it has nothing to do with Italy or your powers. It's just been awhile since I've had a long conversation with Edward."
"Okay," Bella said as she stood.
She kissed my cheek and then Carlisle's. She left the office, glancing at me once more before she closed the door.
I turned to face Carlisle. "What did you want to speak to me about?"
"I am aware of your agreement to train Bella."
"Yes. She says she wants to learn to defend herself."
"Edward, you will have to treat her as you did your siblings. You will have to be forceful and be more concerned with teaching her rather than protecting her. Can you do that?"
"Not by myself, but that's why I've asked Jasper and Emmett to help."
"You know Jasper and Emmett will do what they have to in order to teach her, even if that includes her getting hurt. You have to restrain yourself and know that your brothers are only doing what they need to. You will need to keep your temper at bay and stay on the sidelines."
"I'm committed to training her. I even took her hunting with me last week to show her how I do it."
"You showed her how you really hunt for yourself?"
"Yes."
"How did that go?"
"I was a nervous wreck on the way there. I kept thinking back to the bear incident. I was also worried about what she would think of me, if she would see me differently. The only thing I saw in her face and eyes was determination. She's willing to do whatever it takes to not be the weak link for us."
"She's never been that. She's always been such a source of courage and bravery. How could any of us dare to back down when a human girl was willing to sacrifice herself for her family and friends?"
"But Bella still fails to it see that way. It's something I hope the training will correct. I want her to see herself as the warrior and not the third wife."
"Does she remember the Quileute story?"
"Bits and pieces, but not enough to know what it truly meant to her. She remembers thinking about the third wife during my fight with Victoria. She's asked me about it on occasion, but I've been able to avoid explaining it to her so far."
"Have you talked to her about Jacob since our return from Forks?"
"She hasn't expressed any desire to talk about him. But I did explain about Irina and the wolves on the drive to here."
"I'm hoping my last conversation with Tanya and Irina will keep them from doing something foolish. I explained to both of them the danger it would present to us all if the Volturi were to have another reason to visit that area. While Aro may be fascinated with our way of life, there are many others who consider us to be foolish. They would be happy to do away with us."
"But as long as they still consider us to be foolish, they will always underestimate us. Jasper has shown us how much of an advantage that can be."
"We are lucky to have him in our family. He's a good man and fine husband. He's also a valuable asset when it comes to protecting us. With that in mind, do you have any idea when you'll start Bella's training?"
"In a few days. I would like to wait until after her birthday."
"I thought she was boycotting it," Carlisle chuckled.
"She is," I grinned. "But I want her to enjoy the day even if she won't let us celebrate it."
"How many gifts have you gotten her?"
"Only two and they are necessary items," I laughed. "I thought for once I would do what she asked of me."
"Wise choice, son!" Carlisle chuckled. "I think we've covered everything. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon."
I nodded my head and left the study. I checked for Alice and Rose's thoughts and heard nothing. I headed downstairs and found my brothers painting the walls we had recently put up. I grabbed a brush and joined in, thankful for the menial task. I didn't want to fret over Bella's impending training and I knew if I were alone right now, that's exactly what I would do. Alice would kill us when she saw us painting in our good clothing, but even that would be a welcome distraction. I smiled, feeling more thankful than ever for my family.
