A/N: Alright guys, this is it. It took me long enough, but here is the final chapter to this story! Enjoy!!
Chapter 36: All Around Me
Take my hand, I give it to you
Now you owe me
All I am
You said you would never leave me
I believe you, I believe
I can feel you all around me
Thickening the air I'm breathing
Holding on to what I'm feeling
Savoring this heart that's healed
Jasper
Today was the day; it was January 30th. In exactly twenty four hours from now, I will be in Alaska where I will be spending the next six or seven months trying to help Natalia become a strong, controlled vampire. It is easier said than done of course but, I had the utmost faith in her. Between all the people coming with us, she will have the best support system. The real test, however, will come at the end of summer when we see if she can truly be around other people without wanting to attack any of them. If she can do this, then she and I (along with Alice and most likely Jacob) will be attending school in the fall.
This morning, after everything had been packed away that was important, Natalia had told me to come back and meet her this afternoon, that she had something to show me. I had to admit, Natalia's current state of unpredictability was becoming more frequent with each passing day.
As I waited for her, I couldn't help but let the familiar feeling of déjà vu flood through my system. The last time I was supposed to meet her, the end results weren't what neither of us were expecting. However this time, she was stronger, immortal so I doubted anything bad was going to happen. And then, almost as if on cue, I saw her walking towards me until we met in the middle of the clearing.
"What are we doing here?" I asked after embracing her tightly.
"We're going to the beach." She smiled innocently as she began to take steps forward. My hand immediately grabbed hers and I pulled her back.
"Natalia, you know we can't go that way." I reminded her of the invisible treaty line that separated us from the dogs.
"Want to bet?" she stepped away from me, over the treaty line. When I didn't follow, she frowned "Oh, come on Jasper. We have special permission, just for today. I promise, we're fine." She held her hand out to me and I hesitantly took it.
"And just why are we going to the beach? It is winter after all."
"Oh, well you'll just have to wait and see…" she grinned playfully before she took off running. What choice did I have other than to run after her? Besides, I was curious and extremely eager to see what this girl had up her sleeve.
We ran until the beach started to come into view to which at that point, she stopped running completely.
"Will you look at that?" her voice held such wonder and awe "Have you ever seen something so beautiful and peaceful looking?"
Oh, well that was too easy "I'm quite certain I have."
"Biased. Come on, let's go." she took hold of my hand again as we continued down the path until we reached a particular.
"How are we allowed here again?"
"It's pays to have you best friend to be in good with the leader of the pack." she laughed, clearly thinking of something. "Alice pulled some strings for me; clearly we're not here to hurt anyone."
"I see." Even though she said we were okay, I couldn't shake the feeling I had. We didn't exactly belong here.
"So" she began, a bit of anxiety shining in her eyes "I know that this isn't exactly the willow tree but, I wanted to have a really amazing backdrop for this."
"For what?"
"Just sit." she instructed and I did and then, seemingly out of no where, she sitting in front of me, holding a guitar in her hand.
"Where did you get a guitar?" this girl was always full of surprises wasn't she?
"I had Alice bring it for me earlier. Now, you just need to not say anything ok? I'm already really nervous about this."
"I'm not sure I understand."
"For the past couple weeks, while you've been away sometimes, I had Edward teach me to play the guitar. I oddly picked up pretty quickly. I just don't know if the execution is going to be any good."
"Wait, wait. You're going to play? For me?"
"Yes. Is that um…a bad thing?"
"No, of course it isn't darlin'….just a bit surprising that's all."
"Promise not to laugh at me?"
"Why would I laugh at you Natalia?"
"Promise me" she repeated.
"Fine, I promise." I sat back a bit as she sat with the guitar on her lap, playing a few chords before an actual melody began to form followed by her…singing. I sat, fixated on the words she was saying. I knew this wasn't something she had written but that didn't matter. It was the meaning behind the words and the conviction as she sang them that mattered.
Feels like I have always known you
And I swear I dreamt about you
All those endless nights I was alone
It's like I've spent forever searching
Now I know that it was worth it
With you it feels like I am finally home
Falling head over heels
Thought I knew how it feels
But with you it's like the first day of my life
Cuz you leave me speechless
When you talk to me
You leave me breathless
The way you look at me
You manage to disarm me
My soul is shining through
Can't help but surrender
My everything to you
I thought I could resist you
I thought that I was strong
Somehow you were different from what I've known
I didn't see you coming
You took me by surprise and
You stole my heart before I could say no
Falling head over heels
Thought I knew how it feels
But with you it's like the first day of my life
You leave me speechless
(the way you smile, the way you touch my face)
You leave me breathless
(it's something that you do I can't explain)
I run a million miles just to hear you say my name
Baby
You leave me speechless
You leave me breathless
The way you look at me
You manage to disarm me
My soul is shining through
I can't help but surrender
My everything to you
When she was done, she hesitantly set the guitar down, and looked up at me, anxiously awaiting my reaction.
"Well" I thought carefully of my words "well darlin' I think I'm the one speechless right now."
Her face immediately fell, indicating she had taken it the wrong way "Jasper" she pouted.
"No, no I didn't mean it like that" I grabbed her face in my hands "it was" I pressed my lips to her cheeks "amazing."
"You have to say that." she glanced up at me. Even though she was seemingly perfect in the eyes of so many, Natalia still had her insecurities and worries.
"No" I wrapped my arms around her trying to reassure her through my embrace "it was truly amazing. No one has ever sang for me.'
Joy quickly filled her golden eyes before crashing her lips against mine. Every ounce of love that she had for me was in that kiss. Her arms, which had wound their way around my neck, pulled me down easily. Her newborn strength was something extremely appealing to me. There was just something so attractive about the way that she was able to so easily take control.
I knew what she wanted; her emotions were reflecting want, desire and an all around craving for intimacy. Her hands traveled where they could, her lips marking what she could reach. Even though I was right there with her, so desperately wanting to show her what this could all feel and be like now that we were the same, I knew we couldn't. At least, not right now.
"Natalia" I pinned her wandering hands at her side "Natalia, we can't do this darlin'."
"What?" her eyes snapped up at me and I wasn't all that surprised to see them dark; dark with want "why not?" she attempted to press her hips up against mine, trying to create some sort of friction.
I couldn't help but laugh at her feeble attempts to give in "not to say I don't want to it's just that…here and now doesn't seem like the right place."
"Then when?" she sighed, defeated.
"Oh believe me Natalia, you'll know and I promise you" I kissed her lips once more before sitting up "it'll be worth the wait."
"It's not nice to tease people like that Jasper" she sighed.
"No, I suppose not but, I think I have something that'll make you feel better. Close your eyes."
"What?" she looked at me confused "Why?"
"Just do it please." giving in, she slid her eyes shut, waiting for me. Quickly, I pulled out the small velvet box that had been in my pocket for the last month as I waited for just the right moment to do this. And now, well now seemed like a perfect time. Opening it and placing it in front of her, I told her to open them back up.
The look on her face was priceless. Though she had seen the ring before when I first gave it to her, she knew what this was, what I was asking her without having to say much.
"You did have it all along." she smiled.
"Of course. I've had it since the day we graduated" her eyes softened a bit as she looked at me "I was going to ask you that night Natalia; that's why I asked you to meet me. Everything was supposed to be perfect that night. I was…"
"Shh" she placed a finger on my lips "this is supposed to be a proposal, not the time to think about the what ifs."
She was right. I couldn't change what happened that day, couldn't take it back. All we had now was this moment and whatever was to come after it for all eternity.
"So uh, are you going to ask me?" she broke the silence.
"Right!" I took the ring out of the box "Natalia Cullen" I slipped it on her finger "will you marry me?"
"Yes, a million times yes." she beamed, staring at the ring once it was on her "god Jasper, this is really beautiful." she turned it towards the light, the sun reflecting off the blue sapphire ring. "I can't even tell you how long I've been waiting for you to ask me to marry you." she suddenly flung her arms around me, pushing me down back to the ground, showering my face with tiny kisses. I let her have fun without letting her get too carried away before sitting us back up. We spent the next couple hours sitting on the beach, my arm draped tightly around her shoulders as she looked out towards the water.
"Probably not what you expected to happen today?"
"Not in the least" she laughed "I was so worried about playing you that song. I'm glad you liked it by the way."
"May I ask why you chose that song?"
She shrugged "I thought it pretty much summed up our relationship don't you think? I mean, for awhile there, I wanted nothing to do with you" she laughed some more "But, my heart already belonged to you before I even knew what was happening."
"Likewise. There was just something inexplicable about you Natalia from the moment I met you."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Anything?"
"Do you think that if you hadn't imprinted on me, you'd still love me the way you do now?"
I pondered her question. It was definitely something I had thought about from the moment I met her and a bit more since she had been changed. I would never tell her because it wasn't that big of a deal but, after becoming like one of us, the pull I felt towards her wasn't as strong, as dominant as it once was when she was human. However, that was neither here nor there. I loved this girl, and that's all that mattered.
"I don't know Natalia but, there's no need to think about that. I love you beyond reason and I am always going to be there for you do you understand? No matter what."
She didn't seem too pleased with my answer but she took it anyway. "I'll always love you too."
"We should get going" I looked up towards the sky, standing to help her up "they're probably wondering we are."
"Yea, you're right." she stood, taking my hand in hers. "Jasper, can you promise me something?"
"Anything."
"Promise me that everything's going to be okay. That this whole living in Alaska is going to pay off and I'm going to get better.."
"You don't need my promise. You're already getting stronger Natalia, ever day. This is only going to make things easier for you, you'll see."
We walked away from the beach, hands still laced together the entire time. There was no rush to get back to the house. Our flight wasn't until much later this evening so we walked at what one would call a normal, human pace as we enjoyed the nature that surrounded us as well as each other.
When we finally arrived at the house, everyone was already there, just waiting. Emmett and Rosalie were sitting on the front steps. As soon as he saw us, he jumped up and ran towards us. Immediately, Natalia started laughing as she took in the sight of him. He was wearing one of those furry hats and had a huge smile on his face.
"Emmett, what are you wearing??"
"Oh don't worry babe, I bought one for you too!" he winked "you know, so we wont' 'freeze' out there in Alaska. I mean, we got to play the part right?"
"I guess so but I don't know if I want to wear one of those." she shook her head, hugging him when he frowned "fine, just once okay?"
"I knew you'd see it my way!" he kissed her cheek before going back to Rosalie.
"Very peculiar that one." I observed him interacting with my sister.
"Yes, but he loves your sister very much. And you have to admit, his happiness is contagious." it was true, the smile on Natalia's face was still in place as we entered the house where the rest of the family was.
"There you are sweetie" Esme came up to us quickly, hugging us both "Ah, I see Emmett showed you his hat." she laughed warmly. Even though we weren't all her children, she saw us all that way. Esme was clearly the matriarch of this family.
"I got two presents today." Natalia looked at her mother knowingly before the two women erupted into huge smiles and more hugging.
"Oh, honey" she beamed "oh, it's beautiful" she awed at the ring.
"You did good Jasper." Alice was at our side suddenly, looking down at the ring too "it's perfect."
"We should really get going everyone." Carlisle called the attention of his family towards him "we're due at the airport in an hour."
Everyone began saying their goodbyes to Alice and Jacob; the only two who wouldn't be coming with us. I didn't understand much about Jacob and his pack as they called it. Alice said he was on his way to becoming an Alpha, the leader, and apparently that was a huge responsibility. There were others, his brothers and his loyalty to them was why he was still staying here. That and he was still in high school.
Soon it was just the four of us in the living room.
"Alice, what am I going to do without you?" the two girls stood together, arms wrapped around each other. Surely if they were human, they'd be crying. I could feel their sadness and it was tremendous. "you're my best friend."
"Don't worry Nat" Alice smiled "before you know it, we'll be together again."
"You mean?" her smile brightened "you guys are going to come??"
"Jake finally worked things out with the rest of the pack so yes, we will be there come time for the fall semester."
"Oh Alice" she flung her arms around her friend again before turning to walk to Jacob "and you! Thank you so much." she embraced him quickly before pulling away because of his scent.
"Like I said doll, I knew you weren't going to kill me that day…and if it makes Alice happy, you really think I'm going to say no?" he joked.
"You better not" Alice glared at him. Even I had to admit, these two were the perfect pair.
It was still a bit odd that a werewolf would imprint on a vampire. I had never heard of such a thing. It was probably something uncommon and only happened once in awhile. Whatever the case, it was an amazingly strong bond that I doubt could be broken.
"Uh, Jasper?" Jacob stepped towards me "I know that things haven't been the best between us but, I want you to know that everything that happened? Well, how about we just put it behind us? For the sake of Alice and Natalia?"
He did have a point. If we were going to be going to school together in the fall, we'd better start treating each other somewhat decently.
"There no promises Jacob but I'll work on it alright? Work to get along with you."
"That's all I can ask for man. Besides, I think the four of us being in the same city a few months from now will prove to be the ultimate test right?" he laughed.
"Clearly." I agreed.
Finally, it was time. A few more hugs for the girls and a somewhat friendly handshake between Jacob and I and then it was time to go.
There were eight of going which required the use of two cars. Alice and Jacob watched us load up before one final wave and they were gone, on their way back to the reservation, which was to become Alice's new home for the time being.
Natalia sat in the car, with Emmett and Rosalie in the front. Night was falling over the city as we drove away, making our way towards the airport. The entire time, she held on to my hand tightly. I could tell that she was scared, unsure of what these next few months would bring her. I honestly didn't now. I believed that she had it in her to become even stronger and resistant to human blood. Though, I had to wonder if Natalia were to encounter her singer once we got to school, would she be able to control herself with only myself and Alice at her side? Right now, she was going to be surrounded by seven other vampires who could help her, where someone would constantly be with her.
I supposed that only time would tell; that this would be the ultimate test once she started college with thousands of other people surrounding her.
Holding her hand, looking at her, I realized that this was just another stepping stone. We had already gone through so much together that this was just another thing we would face together, and hopefully overcome.
She was mine, I was hers. With one look, she became my world and now here we were, about to embark on a new journey together. Imprint or not, Natalia and I are bound to each other forever now; and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Nothing was going to tear us apart. Hell, we had gotten this far hadn't we? Anything after this moment would be easy in comparison to everything else we had encountered. Everything was going to be just fine, it had to be. I took a chance on something mystical, supernatural, not knowing where it was going to take me. With that chance, there came a wide range of emotions and things that I will never forget or regret as we look forward to this new life together...
Thoughts on the last chapter..or the entire story for that matter? I am sad to see the story to come to an end but so excited for the sequel. There were lots of little things in this last chapter that hinted as to what's going to be going down in the sequel. I'd be interested to see what people think is going to happen?
As always, I have to thank everyone who has ever reviewed this story, I know it was a bit different so thank you for taking a chance on it, it means so much to me!
As for the sequel, which will be called "Here We Go Again" should be up in the next two weeks. So, make sure you keep an eye out for that!
What else? Oh, the song Natalia sang in this chapter was 'Speechless' by the Veronicas...and the Title of this story 'Until you're Mine' comes from the song of the same name by Demi Lovato; if you've never heard it, I highly suggest you do!!
Again, thank you so much!
~Chel
