This chapter is rated 'M' for death, some strong language, and dark themes.

Previously: Jasper, Bella, Peter, and Char leave Volterra, Stefan and Vlad were traded over, and Jack the Ripper was made Volturi General over the Americas.

Bella's P.O.V. (1781 words):

"Forgive yourself for your faults, and your mistakes, and move on." ~Les Brown

.:!*!:.

Peter and Char left Jasper and I the minute we landed in New York, promising to meet up with us at Jasper's house in Huston in a week. Jasper sent them a wave of gratitude as they headed to board another flight before we left the airport and took off running. I honestly had no idea what to say. Jasper and I hadn't been close before my life had gone to hell, and we hadn't had much time before I'd had Riley take him away. I was a bit at a loss. I mean, we'd practically already won, yet I didn't feel much better than I had when I headed to Italy.

"Please talk to me." Jasper said, coming to a stop. I looked around, unsure of where we were. I opened my mouth to ask, but he told me before I could. "We just entered Virginia."

"Right..." I whispered, shocked that I'd been so out of it.

"What is it?" He asked, letting his concern flow softly over me. I shivered a bit and rubbed my arms, looking to the right of him. He shouldn't care. I wasn't worthy of him. I was wretched slime, and the fact that I'd given up on myself made me even worse. I was weak. I was a failure. I had killed so many, and I'd known another way! Unlike Jasper, I had known that there was another way to live. I could have killed Maria and gone North too. I had been strong enough, even when I'd first completed the change. For God's sake, I should have let Vic kill me in the beginning! Even that would have been better than all the shit I'd done. I didn't deserve Jasper. I didn't deserve to be alive. I was dirty and evil.

"You're wasting your time on me." I told him, and I continued to walk in the direction we'd been moving before. Jasper moved to stand in front of me and stopped me by putting his hands on my shoulders. I was overwhelmed with a shock and a bit of anger that were not my own. I found my own concern taking over, and I repeated his earlier words. "What is it?"

Disbelief overtook the emotions he was putting out. He slowly shook his head, appearing beyond speech. I took his hand and continued running. He'd come out of it eventually. I didn't have to wait long.

"You need to open your goddamned eyes and see what you have in front of you." His voice was dark, and it brought me up short. I stopped running. Jasper used this to his advantage and pulled me close to hiss in my ear. "Is nothin' enough? You're alive. You won. Sure, you lost Riley along the way, but I swear on my mother's grave, it was all for you. It was you, you, you. It always has been. Ever since I met you it's been all about you. Don't you see? I had nearly forgotten the smell of purple smoke until I killed James, but I'd do it a thousand times over again. I hadn't hunted a human in nearly forty years, but I re-joined the South anyway. After eight decades, I walked back into Maria's camp. Do you know what that was like for me? It was hell, but my God, it was all for fuckin' you, and you are worth it, Isabella Swan! What will it take for you to start believin' it?"

I had never heard so many words come out of his mouth at once, especially not with such passion. There were no words for the things I was feeling, but lucky for me, I didn't need them. Without a word, I put a quick peck on his lips.

His speech had been sweet, but it had also served the duel purpose of making me realize that I was being really self-centered. Jasper was right. He'd put everything aside for me. He'd thrown his second and third back into the Wars for me. He'd done so much, given up so much, for me. It wouldn't be easy, but I promised myself right then that I would try harder to find happiness. With Jasper beside me, it couldn't be too hard. I was sure it was only a matter of time.

Grabbing Jasper's hand, I continued running. Jasper was at my side, the way it was always meant to be. I couldn't wait to get to know how he was in peacetime. That thought alone had me smiling. The Major in peacetime... now, that would be an adventure.

.:!*!:.

We arrived in Texas with three days until Peter and Char caught up to us. I automatically headed in the direction of Freeport. There were a couple loose ends I needed to tie up.

The dark of night covered our movements as we ran through the desert toward our destination. The camp was the same as I remembered. I could vaguely smell the ashes of dead vampires in the dirt, but even my exceptional sight couldn't pick up any visible traces of it. I made my way to the farmhouse, coming to a stop outside of Vic's map-room. I took a deep breath and opened the door. I heard her breathing halt. It went silent, but I could smell her in there so strongly that I nearly tensed.

"Victoria. I'm home." I whispered, making my way slowly down the stairs. Jasper stayed and blocked the door. "Vic, aren't you going to come say hi?"

"This is it, then?" Vic questioned, standing still near her desk, the maps on the table, cork-board, and walls all collecting dust.

"This is it." I replied, not moving toward her. I watched her though, and she seemed to be accepting of her fate.

"I always figured it would be you that rose above me to kill me. You were quite determined, and you were able to throw James off your trail before I found your information at the school. That showed me that you were smart. It's why I let Riley step down for you when he said he'd been taking orders from you anyway."

"Riley knew I was his leader. It was ingrained into his very instincts. He was a second-in-command, Victoria." I told her, watching for her reaction.

"I figured as much." Victoria whispered, sighing. "James had one, way back. He was killed in 1923, and James was never the same. I could see the way you and Riley reacted to each other. The two of you thought and acted like clockwork."

She sounded so sad, and I found myself growing determined not to grow callous. I never wanted Jasper to feel the way that Victoria obviously had. I would move on, for all of our sakes.

"He meant a lot to me." I replied, and she looked at me, shocked.

"You lost him?" She gasped, eyes wide. Her next words were sincere. "I am so sorry."

"Me too." I whispered, never wavering my gaze. I decided it was about time I apologized as well. "I wish Jasper hadn't had to kill James."

"I never really blamed you." She admitted. "Really though, I wasn't strong enough to go after the Cullens. I knew there were at least a couple of them that cared for you on some level. I did what I could in his name. I finished his game. That's all he would have cared about."

"You did your duty as a mate." I said, hating that I understood. After all, hadn't I done the same thing to avenge Ri? I hadn't been able to go after the Volturi, so I made them lose a couple members as vengeance. The way I saw it, Vic and I weren't really much different, as much as it sickened me.

"Thank you, Isabella." She said softly, looking at the floor. I raised an eyebrow. "Thank you for coming back to end it."

"It needs to be done." I answered. "For both our sakes, you must die."

"Yes." She agreed, and I walked over to the titanium door that lead to my old playroom.

"Wait here." I commanded, going to the room and returning with the whole chest of venom. After opening all the jars inside of it, I placed it at Victoria's feet, pulled out my lighter, lit a spark, and looked to Vic. "In a way, I'm glad you found me when you did. Who knows how long I could have sat in that forest? Who knows if I would have ever snapped out of it without your punishments, your threats, or Riley? I might never have stopped hoping Edward would come back."

"I'm glad I found you then too. With your leadership, I've lived very comfortably in my last days." Victoria said, taking the lighter from my hand gently. There was a creepy smile on her face, but I recognized it. I started backing up, her smile got wider, and she issued her last order as a Warlord of the South. "Run, Boss Swan. This place is going to be burning hotter than the very fires of Hell in the next five seconds."

I didn't hesitate, and I heard as the venom caught aflame. Jasper and I barely made it out on time. When we finally got far enough away, I looked back to see that it was already almost over. Freeport's fire department got there quickly, but even with their amazing response time, there wasn't much left to put out. They ended up just letting it burn. As Jasper and I turned to continue on to Huston, I happened to hear the words of the three arriving deputies.

"Jesus, Rick. What could have possibly made the fire burn so hot that fast?"

Rick shook his head slowly, poking the ashes with his baton as he answered. "Well, ya can sure betcha ass it wa'n' paint thinna!"

"You're right, Rick. This fire showed classic signs of being started with Acetone..."

.:!*!:.

My ghosts were gone. My past was over, and the next chapter of my life was sitting unwritten before me. It was up to me to come up with something. I was no longer a young child, forced to grow up too fast because of an irresponsible mother. I was no longer a love-struck teenager, holding tightly to the hologram of a fairy-tale ending. I was also no longer a weak, brokenhearted girl crying in the dirt. Most importantly, I was no longer Boss Swan. I could leave her behind now. I needed her no more.

I was Isabella Swan once more. Now, I just needed to find out what I could make of her.

A.N.: I bet you guys can tell, but it's winding down. I had planned on this being my usual length of around 3,000 words, but as you guys can see, it didn't turn out that way. I would begin to expand on certain parts, but it just didn't feel right. The beginning part with Bella and Jasper was especially hard for me to get through (which is why it is a day late). I couldn't think of something that Jasper could say that would give Bella the kind of motivation that she needed, so finally, after much needless deliberation, I decided to just write Jasper. After wring a few empathetic, yet bluntly agressive words, it all came together.
Falling action is always the hardest part for me to write, so just stick with me. This fic will be finished before May 20th, that I can safely promise you.
Thanks a ton for all your support! I know I say that in nearly every review reply I write, but I wanted to let everyone that doesn't review know it too. I really to appreciate all the hits, story/author alerts, and story/author favorites I've been getting.