I don't know how many more of these I have in me tonight, but I'm just going to keep writing until nothing comes out.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, any of the characters in Twilight, or anything related to the books and/or movies. If I did, I would be way too busy- doing dirty things with the Cullen boys- to sit down at my laptop and write this story. The scenes and general plot ideas that I did borrow from Stephenie Meyer have been revamped to fit my story.

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Learning to Live Again

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Another Vote

"What?! Of course I am, Edward. I'm not going to let you all go fight my battle for me. Victoria wants me, remember?" I answered his tone with my own.

"He's right, Bella," Jasper answered for his brother. "It's too dangerous for you to be near all the fighting. If one of the newborns got past us, we wouldn't be able to save you. We'll be so caught up in fighting, Bella, that it will be too easy for us to lose control around you as well."

"Jasper, I'm not worried about any of you losing control around me. Enough has happened between us in this last year that I know none of you would ever hurt me. As far as the newborns, if I'm there with you then they'll be too distracted to put up a decent fight against you. It would only help for me to be there. If anyone gets too close to me, I can throw them back."

"You don't know that, Bella. We don't know enough about your power to actually try to use it in battle. If it didn't work, you would be dead," he said.

I had now turned in Jasper's lap and was looking him in the eye. His expression was stoic, not showing any emotion. Mine was not, even though I knew it wasn't necessary. Jasper could feel my hurt and frustration and anger.

"Jasper, I can't stay behind while you go. I would be in torture not knowing what was going on, not being able to offer any type of help that I can. I'm not as helpless as I was last year. I know that I'm not match up against Victoria or one of the newborns, but that doesn't mean that I'm completely useless."

"I have never thought of you as useless, darling. And I would love for you to be able to grasp and grow your power as much as you want, but not during this fight," Jasper whispered to me. "I just cannot bear the thought of you standing there with us, knowing that Victoria could get possibly get past me and kill you. Or even worse, if I lost control of my bloodlust and went after you again." He hung his head, not able to look me in the eye.

I moved my hand to cup his chin and raised his face to look at me again. I leaned my forward against his and whispered against his lips. "Jasper, you have been amazing in learning how to be in command of yourself around me. Case and point, what happened with us in our bedroom awhile ago. There's no way you would be able to be that close to me and not bite me if you weren't in control."

"I know, Bella, but I don't want to take the chance," Jasper said. His voice had changed from commanding to fearful. I placed a soft kiss on his lips, needing to show him that I loved him before I took my next action.

I turned away from Jasper, staying on his lap but leaning forward. "What do all of you think?" I asked. "Honestly, do you think that it would be beneficial to have me there during the fight? Let's take a vote on it." I felt Jasper tense beneath me and closed my eyes, cringing because I was hurting him with this defiance. It had to be done, though.

I looked at Alice first, starting at the end of the circle we formed in the living room. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to see into the future for any sign of what she should answer. She opened her eyes and looked at me. "I can't get a clear read on anything yet, Bella, so I'm going to have to say that you should not be present at the fight. It's too great of a risk, and I don't want to lose my best friend."

Cameron was next, even though he was new to our family. I needed all the chances for support I could get right now. He looked directly at me and gave me an approving nod. "You seem to have thought this through, so I don't see any reason to stop you. We will need all the help we can get, and if your power is as strong as it sounds then we would be stupid to not put it to use." I nodded back at him before looking to Edward.

"Do I need to dignify this with an answer?" he questioned me.

"Do whatever you want, Edward."

"No, you should not and will not be at this fight, Bella," he stated. He pinched the bridge of his nose and I would've chuckled any other time.

"That's your opinion. Good to know," I said before turning to look at Emmett and Rosalie. Emmett was of course the first to answer.

"Of course you should be there, Bella. This revolves around you just as much as any of us. You are pretty diabolical," he joked, referring to last year.

"I think that it's time you make your own decisions, so if this is what you want to do then it's alright with me," Rosalie stated. I smiled at her and a stray tear rolled down my cheek.

"Bella, dear, you are like another daughter to me. I could not stand if anything were to happen to you during this fight. You are still so frail. It would be too easy to lose you, and I could not watch Jasper or Edward suffer through that," Esme answered. "No, darling, you should not be in the fight."

Carlisle was the last person to vote, and he could honestly go either way. I expected him to vote no, because he was the fatherly figure of our family. He would want to protect me at all costs. I was surprised when Edward gasped and looked at him, though. "You have as much right to come as anyone else does, Bella. If you know all the options and consequences and you still want to come, then do so. You will have my support in whatever you decide."

"Thank you, Carlisle," I whispered to him, rewarded with a small smile from my surrogate father.

I turned back to look at Jasper and found a blank expression across his face. "I love you, Jasper Whitlock," I said as I placed my hands on either side of his face, holding his gaze to mine. "I love you more than my own life, but this is something that I need to do. I need to be there to make sure that you come back to me. If I were to stay out of this and you were killed then I would always wonder if there was something that I could have done to save you. I won't live like that, and I would never ask you to either."

His eyes showed understanding and I sighed contentedly as he leaned up and kissed me thoroughly. The kiss lasted longer than it should have considering our family was there, but no one said anything. We needed to show each other our love and support, and this was how we did that.

"No more votes, darling," Jasper whispered against my lips as we pulled apart. "They always seem to go in your favor."

I giggled and placed another soft kiss on his mouth. "I can't help it if I'm more convincing than you, sweetheart. Maybe I should go to law school." Our family chuckled with us this time.

I turned back to see Edward gone from the room just in time to hear the back door slam shut. Esme made a move to follow her oldest son, but Jasper stopped her. "Let me go, mom," he said. He tapped my hip and I stood so that he could get up from our chair. He leaned back down for another soft kiss on my lips before walking out the back door behind Edward.

"It's about time those two hashed some stuff out," Emmett said. "They haven't really talked much since we all came back."

"Good, I hope they can work everything out," I said.