Just one small mistake

Alice sat stiffly in a corner, staring blindly in front of her for hours. Jasper did what he could, but even he didn't seem to be able to help her. Bella's dream had broken down the dam to Alice's past and it wasn't pretty. Sometimes a quiet sob came from her, but besides that, she didn't respond to anything. Jasper was going nuts.

Bella had recovered from her dream much sooner than Alice had and was sitting quietly in Carlisle's lap. She was staring, mimicking Alice in her behaviour. Carlisle caressed her cheek softly. Her head perked up and suddenly she jumped out of his lap. She walked towards Alice and climbed into her lap.

'I understand now, Alice.' She whispered softly.

Alice blinked once and her eyes turned towards Bella.

'By exposing yourself you lost your sister and you loved her.' Bella sighed deeply. 'I am so sorry.'

Alice's eyes went soft, gentle and she took Bella's face in her hands.

'I love you, sweetie.'

She held Bella's eyes for a moment longer and then looked up.

'Her name was Cynthia.' Her voice was hoarse with emotion.

Jasper sat down next to her and pulled her and Bella into his side, circling his other arm around them. Edward turned around to face Carlisle.

'We can't let this go on. We have to stop this.' His anger was barely contained in his voice.

'I don't know. We have all gained and learned from Bella's dreams.' Carlisle said thoughtful.

'What is she?' Jasper growled. 'Our personal psychiatrist?!'

'You are right.' Carlisle sighed. 'But how...'

He began to think and Edward followed his thought pattern.

This is an ability and it has to work in some way. I can't believe the dreams are completely random. There has to be some kind of trigger. If we can find the trigger, maybe we can prevent new dreams. Alice's visions are triggered by a decision, it could be something similar with Bella.

'If we want to uncover how to prevent the dreams from happening, we have to analyse the situation carefully. I need you all to think with me.'

Carlisle gathered his thoughts.

'This is what we know. There is no certain amount of time fixed in between the dreams. They can happen at any moment. She only dreams about us, so we can assume there has to be a strong connection between Bella and the person she dreams about. The dreams are always about the past. They seem to be moments in our pasts when we learn.'

'No,' Jasper interrupted, 'it is not just a moment we learn. It is a turning point in our lives. The moment that let us to here and now, that made us who we are.'

Edward nodded in agreement. All the situations in Bella's dreams were junctures in their pasts that placed them on the path that eventually let them to where they were now. The dreams were focal points in their destinies.

'Why only these moments?' Edward asked.

'What if this isn't about Bella at all?' Rosalie suggested. 'What if it is actually about us?'

Typically Rosalie to make it about herself. Edward gave her an annoyed look.

No wait, Edward. Just listen.

'What do you mean?' Carlisle asked.

'We could be looking at this from the wrong angle. We have always assumed Bella has to learn from our pasts, but maybe it is not Bella who has to learn.'

'Do you mean we have to learn?' Jasper asked sceptically. 'With what goal?'

'I don't know, to prepare us for the future perhaps.' Rosalie raised her eyebrows pointedly. 'You know with the so-called war hanging over us.'

Jasper shook his head.

That doesn't make sense.

'I think you are wrong. What do we have to learn? We already made the choices that diverted us from our paths of destruction. We have already changed, there is not much left to learn.' Jasper's eyes turned hard. 'And I refuse to believe Bella is just a means to an end.'

I didn't mean it like that. Rosalie thought.

'I believe Jasper is right.' Edward agreed. 'This is about Bella, not us.'

'We should stay focused.' Carlisle interceded. 'We need to find the trigger to Bella's dreams. Rosalie, tell us exactly what happened the day before Bella's dream about your past.'

Rosalie let her mind flow over the memory.

'Let me see, I dressed and showered Bella that day, but that is nothing special. Afterwards Alice, Emmett and I took Bella to the mall. We wanted a new dress for her birthday party. We went straight home after shopping and I went to the garage to work on my car.'

'Did anything out of the ordinary happen? Did you say something to Bella?' Carlisle pressed.

'I can't remember anything strange. Nothing happened.'

Emmett placed his hand on Rosalie's shoulder.

'That isn't exactly true. Something did happen, although it was something small.'

Rosalie watched him questionably. Emmett remembered the incident in his mind. Edward watched with him.

Rosalie and Emmett were standing in a store, holding hands. A few feet away, Alice was holding out dresses in front of Bella. A young human couple walked inside, looking disgustingly happy. In their arms they were holding children. One was a small boy of a few years old and the other was just a baby. The mother cradled her infant sweetly. Rosalie's eyes were pinned on the couple and there was an immense longing in her stare. Emmett tried to comfort her, but she shook him off. She kept staring at the couple, until Bella's voice sounded close by.

'Is everything okay, Rose?' She asked uneasy.

Rosalie ripped her eyes from the couple and smiled to Bella.

'Everything is fine, sweetheart.'

She took Bella's hand and walked on.

'That is it!' Edward exclaimed. 'Bella gave us the clue herself. Don't you remember what she told you after her dream?'

Of course! Carlisle thought.

'She said: "You don't want this life." I wondered at the time how she could know that. She derived it from your emotion in the store and her dream.' Edward concluded.

He roamed over the other days before Bella's dreams and found the answer.

'The day before Esme's past, Bella had fallen down and hurt her knee. She wasn't upset over it, but you were, Esme.' He looked at her and she nodded.

'I felt like I hadn't paid close enough attention to her. I let her get hurt.' Esme answered.

'And before Alice's dream, Alice was very upset with Bella and me for almost exposing us. Bella didn't understand why.' He was so close to the solution now. 'Her dreams could be triggered by her need to understand us, to understand our behavior.'

I don't get it. Emmett

Very plausible explanation. Carlisle

I don't know, there wasn't such a situation before Bella had my dream. Jasper

'No think, Jasper. There was most definitely such a situation before she dreamt your past.'

Jasper thought back hard.

'Do you mean the game?' He asked Edward.

'Yes, exactly. We tried to teach Emmett a lesson for cheating without letting Bella lose. You had come up with a strategy and it worked at first, but then Emmett tricked you again and you were very irritated. Remember?'

Jasper remembered.

'You are right and Bella noticed my irritation and asked me why I was always so serious.'

'So our actions and emotions trigger her dreams.' Alice summarized.

'Well, that's easy.' Emmett said sarcastically. 'We just have to stop acting like ourselves around Bella and problem solved.'

'It is not that difficult.' Carlisle said. 'We, and with we I mean Emmett, Edward and myself, will have to discover the most defining moment in our lives and try not to act on it around Bella.'

Sure! Piece of cake! Emmett thought.

They considered their pasts carefully for a while, but Edward already knew what choice let him to his path. It was the moment he chose to come back to Carlisle and follow his diet, the end of his rebellious years. Emmett figured it was probably his fight with the bear, so they banned him from excessive bear hunting just in case and from showing in any way that he liked the fact that he was stronger than a bear now.

Fantastic! Take away my biggest pleasure besides having sex.

Carlisle's moment was the hardest. His life was long and full of important moments. In the end, he decided it had to be the moment he chose to feed on animal blood and found an existence for himself that didn't repulse him. So both Carlisle and Edward were banned from showing any repulsion they felt for what they were. Edward shook his head in dismay. Carlisle had come to turns with what he was, but Edward was not so lucky. It was going to be hard to hide from Bella that he thought he was a monster, that he didn't deserve happiness. He was going to do everything in his power to hide it though, everything to make Bella happy.

They tried and it went better than they expected. Bella's sixth birthday came and went, Alice had another of her crazy, exuberant party urges, and they even neared Bella's seventh birthday without any dreams. Bella was the happy child again, finding even a friend in school. It was the boy named Liam, who she saved in class. They became close and she even brought him home with her sometimes. Carlisle was a little bit worried about Liam's past, now that Bella formed a relationship with him, but he was just a boy. How much past did he have?

They avoided taking Bella to crowded places as much as possible to prevent her from having visions of dying humans she had to save, until Alice decided it was time for a trip again. She wanted a luxurious Spa week and managed to convince everybody besides Carlisle and Edward. Carlisle had to work and Edward took the opportunity to be away from Bella and freely brood about his miserable existence without the fear of causing another dream.

The week went by slowly and lonely. Edward missed Bella terribly and the silence disturbed him. He wasn't the only one having a difficult time. When Carlisle was home, he was silent and uneasy. Edward read in his mind that he didn't like the quietness in the house. The sadness in his eyes convinced Edward. Carlisle desperately needed his family. The moment they returned, Carlisle stood waiting for them impatiently. His normally composed face betrayed his anticipation. Bella came running towards him and he spread his arms. Carlisle caught her and held her tight. It was in that moment Edward realized their mistake.

'I have missed—'

'No! Carlisle don't!' Edward shouted desperately.

He was too late. Alice's eyes clouded with the vision immediately.