CARLISLE

I get wishes. This will take some careful consideration. At least Sara is a good faerie. I don't have to worry about specific wording or malicious intent by the faerie. Everyone is looking at me like they expect me to make many wishes in a row. That would be foolish. There is one thing though.

"Sara, I do have a wish," I tell her.

"What is it honey?" she looks at me expectantly.

"I wish that everyone that requires rest is well rested," I make my first wish.

"Ooo, I like that wish! You are looking out for others. I knew you had a good heart," she exclaims, clapping her hands and bouncing a little.

Sara raises her wand above her head and twirls around on her toes. She waves her wand and a twinkling sound fills the room. Pale pink shimmers rain down amid Sara's childlike giggles.

BELLA

I feel rested the way that only magic can make you feel. Who used magic to help us? I should just be happy about it. Heading back downstairs, I run into everyone else that is not a vampire. That is odd, but we all just run with it. Eliot rushes in front of us. He has every right to push and shove, not that he actually is pushing and shoving. Somehow we all make it down the stairs without incident.

There is a pixie in Jen's room. That explains the well-rested feeling. I wonder who she is granting wishes for. It has to be a vampire because any other immortal knows better than to utter the words that call a faerie to them. The vast majority of faeries are terrible creatures that should have their wings tore off so that they cannot go to anyone. Wishes are dangerous things. This one looks like a sweet little girl and we are all fine. I'm going to say that Carlisle is the one who made the wish and he got so lucky with the pixie that responded to his wish. I am going to have to have that discussion that every immortal should have about phrases and actions to avoid. We don't want genies or gnomes or fiends running around our safe houses. Infestations are extremely painful to take care of.

"Hello! My name is Sara," the pixie bounces as she says.

"What a coincidence, my name is Sarah. Mine has an H at the end," Sarah answers.

"Mine does not. That's a good way to tell us apart, though you don't hear the H," Sara looks a little sad that things will be confusing.

"Don't worry about it, we'll make it work," Dakota rushes to assure her.

"Where's Nathaniel?" I completely change the topic.

"Over here," he answers from next to Jen. What is he doing?

"Okay, I think this place is a little crowded. Let us know what the verdict is," Nestalia says as she drags Jake with her out of the room.

"Same here, I'll show the new Sara to her suite," Sarah adds.

"We should start our own research of other immortals," Jasper comments as he ushers all of the Cullen family, except Carlisle, out. He was always good at discretion and giving people their space.

Nathaniel is still examining Jen. He does not look like he has good news. I was afraid it would be this way. She was hit by a particularly nasty curse. What if she can't be fixed? What will I do?

"Well, I have a diagnosis," Nathaniel breaks through my thoughts.

"Is it good?" I ask him.

"It's more of a mix bag. The good part is that she can be healed. The bad part is that I can't heal her," he informs us.

"I'm confused. If you can't heal her, and you are a Healer, then who can?" Eliot just looks so sad.

"Bella told me that she sent the curse that hit Jen," Nathaniel starts.

"It was an accident. I was aiming for a terrible vampire that we were hunting and Edward knocked my arm at the last moment. I couldn't stop it," I interrupt to explain.

"Be that as it may, due to the curse you used I cannot Heal her. It seems that you were angry when you cast the curse," Nathaniel tries to tell me gently.

"Yeah, at Jane," I am the one who is now confused. Where is this going?

"And Edward," Carlisle adds.

"Well, yeah I guess. He completely reverted and refused to accept my magic and my ability to use it," I respond.

"Well, I take it Jane is dead?" Nathaniel inquires.

"Yes, I took care of her after Edward backed off," I inform him.

"Okay, the way to heal Jen is to reconcile with those you were angry with when casting the curse. Jane is gone, so any residual magic would have gone with her. Edward, however, is still alive. So the residual magic concerning him is what is keeping Jen in this state," Nathaniel uses his firm, Healer tone.

"So, if I ever want Jen to be okay, I have to hash everything out with Edward?"

"It's not so black and white, I'm afraid. Sometimes it just means that you have to get past your anger. Sometimes it means that you have to actually come to some sort of agreement with the person you were angry with. I don't know what to tell you, Bella. I just know that you at least need to try…" the poor guy just trails off.

"And if I don't work on reconciling with Edward, not that I am considering it because I am not, then what? Will she stay this way indefinitely or will it eventually wear off?" I can't help but ask.

"Then she will stay this way and you will have to live your life. Hunting will be different. Your friends might grow apart. Eliot will probably not be able to even be in the same room as you. She will stay the same, but life will go on," Nathaniel tells me the consequences that I already knew.

"Jen is my best friend. She is loyal to the point of death. I could not really consider her my friend if I were not as loyal. I just have some stuff to deal with in regards to Edward. I don't know if I can handle that discussion right now. I'm sorry, Eliot," I say as I head out for a walk.

This is not fair. I don't even know where to start. Edward is infuriating. But I still love him. HE refuses to grow at all in regards to me. I am not the precious little porcelain doll that he needs to protect. I can totally take care of myself. But I still love him. I just don't know if I can be with him. A snapping sound catches my attention. I have been walking in circles in a clearing while my mind has been running its own circles. I turn to look at Edward as he emerges from the tree line. Of course he followed me. I guess we really will have to hash it all out now.

"You followed me," I state instead of greeting him.

"You seemed really upset," he explains.

"Are you sure that is the only reason that you followed me?" I press him.

"What do you mean?" he seems a little confused.

"I'm a powerful Hunter, Edward. I can defend myself if something comes out of nowhere," I inform him.

"I know that. Really, I do. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay," he sadly says.

"I see," I raise one eyebrow at him to get him to continue.

"Look, I know that I should have let you take care of Jane yourself. But she was attacking you and my instinct just took over. I acted before I even thought," he tries to explain away his actions.

"You interfered with my job. I can completely handle myself in a fight and you refuse to see that. Why can't you accept that I am now on equal footing with you?" I shout at him.

"It's hard for vampires to change. I just need time," he whines.

"Edward, if you can't grow, then I can't be in a relationship with you. I don't even know if I can be around you," I tell him.

"Don't you love me?" He's getting desperate.

"I love you, Edward. But that does not change anything. You still lied to me when you left. You still made the decision to end our relationship without discussing it with me at all. You still took your entire family with you, even my best friend at the time, Alice. You still barged back into my life. And now, you still refuse to accept the fact that I have grown into my own. I am not that desperate, clumsy girl that went along with whatever you say anymore. I have my own voice and I use it. I love you, I just don't know if we can be together anymore."