A/N: Heyy, so thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! :) :) :) I re-read Eclipse recently, and it kind of annoyed me how there wasn't much about Jaspers past between him being changed by Maria and him meeting Alice, and there was hardly anything about Alice's vampire life before meeting Jasper so I thought I'd have a go at making some of it up...hope you like it :)

Chapter 14: Jasper explains his scars...

14. Stories of Scars

Alice was splayed lazily across Jasper's bare chest as the morning light shone in through the window, making their skin sparkle. Jasper played with her hair as Alice traced Jasper's many scars that became were more visible in the sunlight.

"This one?" Alice asked, lightly following the shape of one of his crescent scars with her finger.

"1916." Jasper told her, "One of the newborns got out of control, and I was supposed to be sorting him out. He'd already killed two of the newborns, and Maria didn't want half her army disappearing. She was screeching at me to stop him, to get him under control. Of course, I obeyed her every command. This newborn was only a few days old; very strong, and very fast. I killed him, eventually, but after a long fight."

"This one?" Alice asked, tracing another scar.

"1898. It was a war between us and another newborn army." Jasper said. "Maria wanted control of a city called Fort Worth in Texas. It had a population of about 23,000 and it would be an easy hunting ground for us. 23,000 was more of a big deal back then - it was almost as populated as the major Texan cities; Houston and Dallas. That meant that it wasn't just Maria who had her eye on it. A couple of other vampires were planning to claim the city, but it was just one that challenged us. We won, but many died in the battle, or were injured." Alice moved to a different scar, and Jasper continued before she could ask the question, "1926. A bunch of the newborns were fighting, killing each other. It didn't matter much - Maria was planning on replacing them soon. She didn't care that they were dying, it happened all the time. It didn't take much to replace them. Still, I got in the way of the fight, and one of them bit me."

"This one?" Alice asked again, pointing to a scar.

"1880. Lucy and Nettie were planning to kill Maria and I to gain control of the Mexican coven. I could feel their malicious feelings, and I told Maria." Jasper explained, "She wanted them executed for betrayal. Lucy was killed first, right in front of Nettie's eyes. She was outraged, and tried to fight against us. She managed to get a bite in before we killed her. You know, I never liked her."

Jasper felt Alice's smooth fingers tracing another scar, and he began to explain, "1933. Peter had recently left with Charlotte, and without him there to help the newborns were more out of control than I was used to. They were hungry, but we had strict orders from Maria not to hunt yet, which the newborns didn't like. Some revolted against her - they wanted to overthrow her so that they could be free to do what they wanted. I got bitten defending her."

Alice looked up into Jasper's eyes now. "Maria is the reason for all these scars." Jasper frowned, but Alice continued, "I wish you hadn't suffered through all that. I wish Maria hadn't been the one to change you. I wish I'd been there to come and save you."

"You weren't even alive." Jasper said, "Your parents weren't even alive."

"I know, but..." Alice trailed off, "I was born in 1901, and I was changed into a vampire in 1920. You didn't leave Maria until 1938."

"What could you have done? We hadn't even met." Jasper said. Alice shook her head.

"You might not have met me, but I had met you." She told him, "My first memory, my first sight as a vampire was of you. I knew right from the start that I would love you and that we would end up together. And still, it was more than twenty years until I really met you."

"And you did save me." Jasper assured her

"But I wish I'd come sooner." Alice told him, "I mean, what if I'd come and found you as soon as I'd seen our future? I could save spared you eighteen years with Maria."

"Stop it." Jasper said

"Stop what?" Alice asked

"Acting like all of this is your fault! Acting like you could have stopped it somehow!" Jasper said, "It had all started before you were born, and it ended before we met. There's nothing you could have done. And sure, it was bad back then, but it doesn't matter now. It wouldn't have mattered if I'd found you ten years earlier, or fifty years earlier; you saved me and you've been saving me ever since."

"I hate her." Alice growled

"Who?" Jasper asked

"Maria." Alice said. Jasper laughed.

"You never met her." He said

"I didn't have to." Alice said, "She took advantage of you, and she hurt you, and-" Alice broke off and stared into Jasper's eyes protectively, "I'm never going to let anyone hurt you ever again."

Jasper laughed and smiled down at his little pixie, "I don't think you need to worry about that, darlin'"

"I'm serious Jasper!" Alice said, a low growl growing in the back of her throat, "I'll kill anyone who tries."

"I don't doubt that you're serious." Jasper said, kissing the top of her head lightly, "But I don't need protecting."

"Everyone needs protecting sometimes." Alice said, sighing as she looked up at the ceiling of their bedroom, "Just some more than others."

"Nothing bad is going to happen to me." Jasper said, taking Alice's hand in his, "Or you. I won't let it. I promise."

"I know." Alice said, "I can see the future, if anyone even thinks about trying to hurt us, I'll hunt them down and-"

"Alice." Jasper cut her off with a laugh. "I don't think we need to prepare for battle just yet."

"No, we don't." Alice said, a smile pulling at her lips. After a moment of silence, she spoke again, "You saved me too, you know."

"You were fine without me." Jasper said with a laugh, "Bushy tailed and golden eyed when I finally met you. You'd made your own way in life, found control and even stopped feeding on humans, all with no one there to help you. You didn't need saving; you saved yourself."

Alice shook her head, laughing lightly, "That's not what I meant. You didn't save me when you met me that day in the diner. You saved me long before that. You say I had no one there to help me? I had you; the whole time. As soon as I woke up as a vampire, I saw you. I knew you. And I knew that I had to do this - to control myself - for you. If it hadn't been for you...I don't know what I would have become. One of them. I woke up with no memories of who I was or what I was - I had to depend on what I saw in the future, not what I remembered from the past. And what I saw in the future was you. And then later, of course, Carlisle and the others. But they wouldn't have been enough to save me. I couldn't feel anything except thirst and desire for human blood, but when I saw you I could feel love. It gave me hope; knowing that it would end, that I would start feeling again. Knowing that somewhere out there, you were waiting for me, without even knowing it. Knowing that one day we would live together happily, and that all the pain I was feeling would be long forgotten."

"You know, you may not be scarred like me, physically," Jasper said, "But I think mentally, you're just as scarred as I am."

"You might be right." Alice said, "Maybe it's why we're so perfect together; we can understand each other in ways that the others can't. They all had Carlisle to guide them through their newborn years, so they can't imagine what it's like to do it alone. They just think your past is dangerous and dark, they don't see the pain and suffering you went through."

Jasper's eyes lingered on Alice's for a second, "Didn't you ever think that?"

"Hmm?" Alice asked, distracted as she found more scars along Jasper's stomach.

"Didn't you ever think my past was dangerous and dark?" Jasper asked. "When you saw me - saw the scars..."

"When I met you, I didn't know anything about your past," Alice reasoned, "But I knew hundreds of years into your future. I could see all the good that you would become, and how could someone that good have a bad past? You must have had good in you all along. For decades I had known you, loved you, and trusted you. A few scars weren't going to change that." Alice looked up at Jasper's eyes, and she saw the doubt there. "I think they're beautiful. Each one is like a medal of bravery."

"You're amazing, Alice." He said softly, "You see the world like no one else; with love and hope."

"That's because no one else has as much to love, or as much to hope for." Alice said, kissing the corner of his mouth, "I have you."

"Always." Jasper said, pulling her into him to kiss her properly, quite intent on never letting her go.

So, what did you think of Alice's and Jasper's pasts? I think I got all the technical details right, but most of it's just made up :) Pleeease review! :) :) :)

Next update soon...