Disclaimer: I do not own twilight or any of its characters.

(A/N: Hello everybody, sorry it's taken a bit longer to update this time. I've tried hard to not rush this story as I want to get as much from it as I can. So this story concentrates only on Alice and Jasper as they continue on the next stage of their journey. There's a small part at the end of Breaking Dawn where Bella says that Jasper looks more 'central to the family picture' than ever before, and I attempted to address the reason behind that in a small section of this chapter. Hope you enjoy! Ellie xx)

Emerging Gifts

Jasper rolled his eyes and forced a smile. "You can be such a nerd sometimes."

I stuck out my tongue as his disappeared into Peter and Charlotte's house. I took this rare moment of not been in his presence to pause, and to really concentrate on what we had to do over the next five weeks.

There were only three things really, but each one would be a struggle in its own right. Number one: Find Kachiri, Zafrina and Senna. Number two: Find the invisible hybrid. And Number three: Get them back to Forks.

I knew the general area where the Amazon coven lived. Carlisle, Esme, Jasper and I had visited them not long after we had joined the family. Jasper was… struggling, to say the least… and Carlisle had suggested a holiday of sorts. He had talked about the wonderful animals to choose from in the Amazon – how different their blood was. I remembered how Jasper's mouth was almost drooling. While we were there we visited Carlisle's friends. I couldn't help think how different they were to him, Esme and my newly adopted brothers and sister… and neither could Jasper. I think that was a turning point for him – seeing the two extremes of civilisation for our immortal world – and he made the important choice of who he wanted to be. I had always wondered if Carlisle had planned that side-trip on purpose.

I sighed while remembering my wonderful and kind-hearted father, and realising how much I missed him already. It had only been twenty-four hours since I had seen him, but there was something about being in a bad situation that always made me cry out for him. While we were in Volterra I wanted nothing more than to have Jasper and Carlisle by my side – more so that Emmett. Perhaps all any girl wants when times get bad is to be held by their daddy.

"Alice?" Jasper suddenly called, peering around from behind the door – a small bundle of clothes in his hands. "What's wrong?"

I scoffed under my breath. So much for using my time wisely! I had barely thought about anything to do with our journey.

"Nothing. I just miss them all so much already." I huffed.

He walked over slowly, balancing the clothes in one hand and reaching out to stroke my face with the other. His fingers moved across my cheek as though he was wiping away an invisible tear. "We'll see them again, Alice."

I smiled forlornly. "How can you sound so sure?" I said, with an almost jealous hint in my tone. Nothing was sure for me anymore. Too many black spots clouding my sight.

"I'm not. We've just got to be hopeful." He smiled. "Besides… there is no other being in the whole entire world that has a better chance of getting this done than you!" The smile had gone and there was nothing but seriousness in his tine. "Now get changed, we've got a lot of rainforest to cover."

I slipped into Charlotte's clothes easily; we were pretty much the same size. Jasper had found me a thick pair of jeans and a long sleeved shirt… Bella would have a field day if she saw me in this! But it didn't matter, they would suffice for a couple of weeks. I made Jasper pack a rucksack full of spares for us to carry on our journey. We wouldn't have any opportunities to re-stock as soon as we hit the rainforest.

"What's the plan Alice?" Jasper asked, ready to go.

I tore my eyes away from the quickly darkening sky, wishing I didn't have to, for it would signify the beginning of my ludicrous attempt to save my family.

I turned my head to Jasper after one heavy blink. "We go back to the car…"

I was cut off by the sound of a police officer calling out the car's licence plate over his radio in about an hour's time. "Yes Chief, the car has just been spotted just east of Flagstaff…" Our side trip to Peter and Charlotte had cost us our chance of getting out of the state undetected. It wouldn't be a good idea to take the car now – I didn't have the time to break out of jail, nor did I have any cash on me to bribe off a police officer. But driving was so much faster than running.

"We drive as fast as we can and as long as we can in a south east direction…" I checked our future again, an hour and forty minutes is all we would have. We didn't have enough time to take alternate and longer routes. "… We abandon it outside of Arizona, find another – we won't have to worry about what type… it just has to be fast." We'd be travelling at night for the most part and then in the thick winter mist for the latter, no need for blacked out windows. "We'll pass through Arizona, New Mexico and Texas quickly and efficiently and get to Huston in eleven hours." I sighed looking at my borrowed clothes which will only break, rip and fray more easily after two days of swimming! "Then we swim to South America."

Jasper nodded. "That will give us a month to find the hybrid until we need to start heading back if we're going to make it in time."

"One month…" I agreed.

Jasper came close to me once again, gently moulding his hand into mine. "I think we'll be able to do it Alice. I really do." He said seriously.

I thought about it honestly – the possibility of finding the only thing in this world that could save our family. I calculated that it would take 98,039 days to search every mile of the Amazon. If I concentrated hard enough I would be able to tell which direction would lead to our blind spot, but I would have to be able to evaluate every possible route for every step I took. It made my head hurt just thinking about it. If only we had a starting point, something to point us in the right direction.

The flash of green made my body jump and I felt my eyes twitch as they focused on the three faces in front of me. I was confused as Senna and Zafrina looked sadly at Kachiri and slowly walked away, though it was obvious they didn't want to. The image blurred as it fast-forwarded, my legs running fast underneath me, Jasper beside me… Kachiri in front of me.

I had seen the second half of the vision already; it had always been the first clue to our salvation. Kachiri was the key. She would be the guide that we needed to get us on our way.

"We will need help though, Jasper. We can't do it by ourselves." I exhaled finally, beginning to run back to the car.

"Are the Amazon's coming with us?" Jasper said, joining me now. "They know the area. Perhaps they will know where to look? Even just a general direction?" He assumed.

I shook my head. "Not all of them."

My eyes stared at the blurry image of Bella and Edward talking about the talented member of the Amazon coven late at night, alone – well almost, I couldn't help but notice the black hole lying in Bella's arms.

"Extremely talented, if she were to agree to help us… if it came to it… well then it would be a major advantage…"

"And if she doesn't agree?" Bella's voice whimpered.

"Bella… just think about how much help she has been already, how much confidence she has given us all, how much guidance she has given you…"

"They are needed at ours. Especially Zafrina." I added.

Jasper sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "How are we going to convince them to separate? You've seen how they are… like one being, one unit…"

"Just like us you mean?" I interrupted. He knew I meant our family, not just the two of us. "Nobody could ever divide us… but we all have to make sacrifices when it's the right thing to do."

We had just reached the car. We both got into it seamlessly, still continuing our discussion. It was only a few seconds before we were moving again.

"Of course your right Alice, but we made the decision to save someone who we unconditionally love... they don't have that want or need to help, they don't know us well enough to have complete faith in what we are asking them like…" His breath stuttered instead of mentioning the names of our dear friends. "… They don't even know about Nessie, and I'm assuming that we won't even be able to tell them about her?" He questioned.

My eyes just focussed on the road. "I'll try and persuade them as best I can Jasper. They'll know something is wrong when we turn up anyway – I mean, it doesn't happen regularly does it?" I tried to stop my tone of voice from sounding condescending. "Like many of the people who are going to agree to help our family they have a great and deep respect for Carlisle. When they find out that his family and his principals and his compassion are in danger, then they won't hesitate in wanting to help him. Many of his friends do not agree with our methods, Jasper, but they have so much admiration for him. He is everything that they wish they could be, even if they don't admit it."

He shook his head and laughed once. "How could anyone deny you anything?" He said reaching over to me and stroking my cheek.

I tore my eyes away from the road and shrugged. "That's what I'm hoping for."

"So who will it be then, Alice? If not Zafrina, then perhaps Senna? Or Karachi?"

I remembered a conversation I had with Carlisle in our early years together. It had happened only a few days after we had met this mysterious coven. I was so fascinated by them I had questioned Carlisle about them for days.

"Where did they come from? How did they originate?"

"How did any of us?"

I growled under my breath. "You know what I mean!"

Carlisle chuckled in reply. "Karachi was the first to be turned…"

"Karachi?" I interrupted harshly. "But I though Zafrina was their leader?"

Carlisle grimaced. "In one sense of the word… she does not control them, nor tell them what to do, they just look up to her for protection. With her ability, an intruder could walk right past them without seeing them… she controls what they can see of course. All she has to do it show them the exact scene in front of them, but neglect to show them herself and her sisters."

"Yes, yes I understand that… but what about Karachi? You said 'in one sense of the word', what about the others?" I asked impatiently.

Carlisle remained completely calm despite my haste. "Each of them has their purpose in that small coven. You might say that they are all leaders, just in different ways, with different responsibilities. Zafrina is the protector with the confidence to speak on their behalf, Senna has immaculate awareness and perception – not in the way of an ability so to speak, but her senses are always heightened as though she is always twice as alert as anyone else, and Karachi has the knowledge and experience that truly leads them. She was the turned them both after six hundred years of being alone."

It was nice to get our answers from a memory instead of a premonition.

"Kachiri is the oldest by over six hundred years! She's the one who knows the entire rainforest like the back of her hand. She's all we need."

It was an entire four minutes before Jasper spoke again. "Alice…" He paused again. "I… I actually think we can do this. I mean… with Karachi's help and your ability, finding the hybrid will just be a matter of time…"

"That's if it does exist!" I whispered.

He ignored me. "… and then the Volturi would have no excuse to execute." His whole body rotated in the seat to face me. "What do you see Alice? Has anything changed?"

I was scared to look that far ahead. A thousand different possibilities flashed in the centre of my vision, some very similar with only one or two differences depending on miniscule decisions. But there was only one vision that was blindingly obvious, pushing its way to the front. To me, this meant that what I was about to see would be the likely conclusion, the most probable… the current course that we were on.

The images that welcomed me were by no means pleasant or something that I wanted to see. Not much had changed. My family still stood there, alone now, awaiting their death, their eyes unfocused, completely unaware of everything around them. Except for Bella… She was completely conscious, scared, trying to wake Edward from his trance, but unable to do anything. That vision led to their absolute demise.

But there was another option… Not as obvious, but a clear opportunity. The only reason it stood out was because it was the only one which didn't end in death. For some reason in this one everyone was standing there as Bella was in the previous one. Not just my family but all of our friends. No one had left them, no one had dulled their senses… but why?

"There are many possibilities, Jasper…"

I didn't understand, and it made that vision hard to concentrate on. It was so much easier for me to see the first one, the one that I had seen all along. The second one – the one I wished would become clearer to me – had a missing link. Something was yet to be discovered that would lead to the colossal difference in the two visions.

"…and there are still stones left unturned, questions still to be answered, roles and responsibilities still to be recognised…"

Bella, Bella, Bella… She was all I could see now. Her face was straining, tensing, concentrating… but the picture was too blurry. I couldn't make hardly anything out… something yet to be discovered. And until it was, our family would die.

"If you asked my mind, I would say that our family is still in great danger, and that the day will end in their deaths."

I couldn't see what was happening, but whatever it was would stop the Volturi from attacking. Whatever it was that hung on Bella would halt their troops long enough to allow myself, Jasper, Karachi and the two anonyms beings to get there in time to plea our case. There was no vision to back up these thoughts, they sprung from the optimism that I just couldn't deny.

"But if you were to ask my heart… then I would say that there is still hope for us all. And that, yes, there is one conclusion that will lead to our liberation.

But it wasn't set in stone; there was no evidence that this might be the case. But I had faith that the missing answers would reveal themselves to me as and when the decisions behind them were made.

"But many things have to happen for that to be the case. And unfortunately, I can't see most of them."

Jasper relaxed and held onto my hand gently, closing his eyes in deep concentration.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked him.

"Being back at home, with our family." His sandy eyebrows creased over his shut eyes. "I don't think I've ever appreciated them as much as I do now." His deep golden eyes flashed open and flickered around in front of him. "I've taken them for granted Alice. I was too concerned about you when you went to Volterra that I didn't recognise all they did to support me – even when they were hurting just as much." He rubbed his forehead with his right hand as if he were massaging away a headache. "Ever since we've been a part of this family I've never been without them… and now that it's a possibility I can't help but regret all the missed opportunities I had to tell them all how much I love them, all the times I should have thanked them for everything they have done for me, and everything they've had to put up with."

"Jasper…" I tried to sooth.

"I've always intentionally put myself on the outside of the family, because I felt that it was all I deserved. I didn't deserve the love I felt from Esme, I didn't deserve Carlisle's pride, I didn't deserve the buzz that Emmett's joy and excitement gave me. And I regret feeling like that… I regret not embracing it. So I want this to work Alice…" He looked across to me, his eyes sad and parched, like the driest of deserts. "I need it to work… because I won't be able to live with myself if I don't get the opportunity to make things right, to make up for lost time.

"Then it will work, Jasper. I promise you." I sat there quietly, barely seeing the road in front of me, and all I focussed on was the vision of my family safe, and my feet running towards them with the solution to all of our problems by my side. It would become true, no matter how distant and vague it seemed.

The morning came quickly as we travelled east, but thankfully it did not bring the blazing Texas sun with it. We were able to travel all the way to Houston in our small Chevrolet which we acquired near Winslow. Jasper though it would be best if he drove from now on, meaning I would be free to concentrate wholly on my visions.

It was just past midday in Texas, meaning it was still morning in Forks. I had spent the night focussing on the only vision I wanted to see from now on, concentrating on the loop holes that would cause it to be true. But the only things I saw were the faces of Bella and Eleazar… and I just could fathom the connection. I came to the conclusion that I was getting confused between my premonitions. Tanya, Carmen, Kate and Eleazar were approaching our house now and perhaps the pressure on my mind was causing me to think about the two visions simultaneously.

Jasper's sudden scoff finally distracted me from my intense concentration.

"What's wrong?" I asked, as though I had just woken up from a deep sleep.

"Nothing…" He smiled, nodding towards a road sign indicating where we were. "It's just the last time I was here, I was… human." He laughed once. "Or should I say that the last time I was human, I was here…"

"Interesting. That would indicate a rather powerful latent talent, if it was manifesting so clearly even before the transformation…" Eleazar's voice rang in my ears, completely uninvited. I was apparently witnessing a conversation between Bella and Eleazar… why were so many of my visions drawn to the two of them recently? Maybe I was just subconsciously keeping tabs on my family. But there was something prodding me, telling me to keep watching.

The vision moved towards Kate. "Can you project?"

"Project?" Bella's confused voice replied.

"Push it out from yourself…Shield someone besides yourself?"

As she spoke the words, it felt like my whole universe changed! I could just about hear the deep inhalation of air plunging deep into my lungs as my head spun with both changing and disappearing visions.

The image that I had been trying so hard to find for the last eleven hours had finally made an appearance! Everything became clear.

With the arrival of Tanya's family came the arrival of Eleazar, the only known vampire who has the ability to sense other immortal's abilities.

His evaluation of Bella was much more than any of the rest of us could ever have assumed. She was a shield! And with this appraisal came the unfolding of our future. Now she knew, she would train with Kate to extend her shield, and she would be able to do it too! My wonderful, strong sister would be able to do anything! She would be the one who would shield our family from Alec's, Jane's and Chelsea's powers. She would be the one who would shock the Volturi into submission. Her unknown ability was the missing link, the thing that would save my family… but it wouldn't… not by itself anyway.

Yes, she would delay proceedings, but she would not be able to stop them. She would try her hardest to protect our family and friends for as long as she could – an almost impossible task when it came to hand to hand battle. I watched intently as the Volturi numbers began to decrease. Jane and Alec were taken apart by Kate and an immortal that I did not recognise. A few of the nameless guards disappeared from my sight in a blur of darkness – something to do with the werewolves of course. Carlisle, Esme and Rosalie dismembered Chelsea, Renata and the wives – each of them incredibly vicious when they needed to be! But Emmett and Edward had picked their fights with Felix and Demetri… they were both trying their hardest, but they could not compete against their centuries of intense training and fighting knowledge.

Bella was distracted, her fury peaking, her concentration lost… and that was the end… the vision returned to the very same ending of death and destruction. The only difference was that this time, both sides had lost.

But the alternate ending still balanced on the periphery of my extra sight, and this time, it hung on no-one except from Jasper and I.

The future was in our hands now… I only saw two options… all those other thousands of possibilities had disappeared with this new information… either we would find the hybrid, return to Forks, and save our family, or it would nothing but a red herring, and our family would die…

"Alice!" I finally heard as my eyes flickered back to the present. We were pulled over on the side of the road and Jasper's eyes were burning only a few inches from my face.

I had no idea how long it had been since I had last heard him speak. It could have been seconds or hours – I felt as though I had seen so much.

"Oh Jasper…" I sighed, complete joy in my tone.

"What is it? What has changed?"

"…Everything!" I smiled.

"Alice…" He begged.

"It's Bella… it's always been Bella!" I gushed. "She's a shield Jasper!"

His mouth opened slightly as he was about to say something, but he didn't get a chance.

"Not just for herself, but for us all... Well not yet… not until it's actually necessary… but she will be the reason that the Volturi will not attack… because they will be completely powerless against her!" My chest was rising up and down as if it contained a heart that was beating a hundred miles an hour. I wanted nothing more than to call my family with this news, but Aro must not know! He must not know anything. "She will keep them at bay until we get there. The future is decided Jasper… it just depends on us now!"

Jasper's eyes were wide and I could feel his body twitching with excitement and optimism like electricity was flowing through every inch of his body.

Without saying a word he jumped out of the car, rushed over to my side and pulled me out. He grabbed both my hands in his and pulled me with him. "Let's not leave it all up to our talented sister then… we've got a big part to play in this aswell!"

"Couldn't agree more!" I grinned, but yanked on his arm hard, stopping him in his tracks. "We just need to do it a bit more… calmly." I nodded my head to the right, just as a car came round the corner.

He took a deep breath and led me through some narrow passageways following the sound of the ocean. It was only a few minutes before we found a secluded spot.

I looked down at the grey waves. "It's going to take two days Jasper."

"I know." He sighed, "We can come up when it's dark though."

"Just look out for patrol boats off the coast of Mexico."

Jasper rolled his eyes. "You act like I've never done this before…" He joked. "Next stop: South America."

"Next stop: Salvation." I whispered, diving into the deep waves.