A/N: There is a (subtle, I hope) reference to the 1986 film Stand By Me in here. I'd like to thank everyone who stuck with my story until the end, because this is it...sort of. After this, there will be a small epilogue and an afterword. I sincerely hope that you were entertained by this fic. I myself had a lot of fun writing it. Thank you for reading and commenting!

Chapter Thirty-Four

1 It was about fifteen minutes after Demetri carried Leah away that Bella and all the others found themselves in the resort's relatively small, but lovingly furnished dining room – wood panels, slanted roof, a leather couch, small wooden tables, chairs, big windows. For the next hour, they talked over the broader strokes of their new peace treaty. For that whole time, Bella said nothing and just listened. She took in every detail of the room. It was nowhere near as grand as the Cullens' erstwhile living area, but that was gone, now – burned to the ground. The Cullens were, apart from herself and Jasper, all dead. Jasper wasn't even one; he'd even gone back to using his actual last name instead of Rosalie's. Edward, whom she'd once believed to be her soulmate, was dead, and she hadn't even found it in herself to mourn for him. Carlisle and Esme were dead. Alice was dead, also un-mourned and un-missed. Rosalie. Emmett. Renesmee.

Bella was the last Cullen. It was a strange notion, to say the least.

So many people had died, many of them directly because of her, others indirectly. There was really only one name that popped up in her mind incessantly: Jacob. Oh, Jacob. Poor, poor Jacob. He was dead. He had loved her, and now he was dead. He'd been her friend. He'd nursed her back to health, if one could call it that, after her transformation. Now, he was gone forever, and she couldn't feel bad about it because she was chock-full of living human blood.

She was sitting on the couch, flanked by Jasper and Charlie. The twins, Irina, Chelsea, and Corin were occupying chairs. Caius was still unconscious; they'd placed him on the floor, to the side. The humans were there, too, as were Billy Black, Sam Uley, and the Children of the Moon. Bella herself wouldn't have taken a seat, but she'd been told to do so by Aro, and he was the boss. Aro himself was standing by the largest window – the one that looked out at the beach – facing everyone, seeming relaxed and good-natured and pleased with the overall situation. He was either really in touch with the human side of himself, or he was just amazing at faking it. Maybe he'd found a balance between uncontrollable misery and emotional numbness by never drinking too much blood; the way the vampires in Volterra fed, as had been explained to Bella a short while ago, sounded perilous. It must have some advantage, though. Why else would they make such an effort?

Most of the people present were positively enthralled by Aro, and Bella had to admit that he was an exceedingly charming person, but the wide-eyed fascination, borderline infatuation she saw on the faces of everyone except Charlie and the Children of the Moon was off the chart. Even Jasper, as a quick sideways glance confirmed, was watching him with visible fascination stamped all over his face.

That was impressive.

Bella's power, however, made her immune to this, because Aro's ability was mental, not physical.

Still, he was in charge. It would be wise to remember that at all times. "We are in agreement, then," he now said. "This is not just a truce, but the beginning of a new era of cooperation between our species."

"I still don't trust you," Sam objected, rather composed. He was standing a little apart from the others and leaning against the wall, arms crossed, looking and sounding weirdly apologetic. "No offense." He made a face, as if he himself couldn't believe what he'd just said.

"Demetri does," Blake, sitting on one of the chairs, said, looking at Sam with a calm expression on her severely scarred face. It gave Bella Emily Young flashbacks. Her countenance was just as ruined. "That's enough for me."

"This is…this is…I need to clear my head. I don't think I can trust a leech," Sam said, shaking his head. He rubbed at his temples as if he had a headache. "How can you-"

"I don't like to admit this, but we'd all be dead if it weren't for Demetri," the blond werewolf with the accent cut in. What was his name again? Didn't really matter.

"And now, during this whole catastrophe, did he do anything untrustworthy?" the Asian wolf girl said.

Bella couldn't remember her name, either.

"No," Sam admitted with obvious reluctance.

"That's the whole point of this meeting, isn't it?" Charlie said, from Bella's right. "Work out an arrangement everyone can live with. We're not all gonna be happy about it, but we can trust that this is the best deal anyone's gonna get out of this mess."

"I agree with Charlie," Billy said gravely, before Sam could protest again. "We got to learn how to leave each other alone." He looked up at Aro, who was watching him with a solicitous expression on his ageless face. "You people need to go back where you came from and never come here again – ever."

"More importantly," Sam said, frowning, "you need to clean house and stop leeches from murdering decent folks left and right." He motioned at Jasper with a nod of his head.

"Oh, please," Jasper said, snorted, and rolled his eyes. "Stop being so sanctimonious. It's boring."

"On the contrary," Aro said, graceful as ever. "Mister Uley is completely right. We need to rethink our laws and how we carry them out." He locked eyes with Sam. "No-one in my coven kills humans for food. We-"

"Lovely," Blond Wolf cut in, and scoffed. "So you just kill them for sport."

"No." That was Chelsea. Her voice was strained, but she was clearly trying to be civil. "We have a law against humans being told about us, and a lot of the time, they can have their memories erased and don't need to be eliminated."

"A lot of the time," Asian Wolf said. She took Blond Wolf's mutilated left hand into her right one.

"It only works with people who have been minimally exposed to the supernatural," Jane said flatly. "We can't manipulate perceptions or emotions, and we can't replace memories."

"Can we focus on the present?" Corin said, and pointed at Irina. "She still has to deliver on the healing front. Caius is sick – very sick." She seemed to be the only one who was at all concerned about his well-being.

"One thing after the other, dear," Aro said, indulgent. He let his gaze wander across the room, focussing on every person present in turn. Outside, the wind howled. The storm had really picked up. Thick, dark-grey clouds were now starting to cover the sky. It smelled like it would rain soon. "Again, you are correct, Mister Uley. We are responsible for many people's deaths. This is why we need to reshape our judicial system, why we need to exert more control over all the vampires spread across the world. The murder of any sapient being will be outlawed. Turning humans without express permission will be outlawed. Making dhampirs is already forbidden, as are immortal children – vampire children, that is." He looked down at Billy. "This will be our contribution to peace: harsher laws and the cessation of all persecution of any kind of werewolf."

"There is no way that we can make you enforce these laws," Sam said, shrugged, and shook his head again. "How are we supposed to know whether you're keeping up your end of the bargain? How could we ever make sure?"

"Quite frankly, you can't," Aro said, sounding almost apologetic. "But I always keep my promises, and if that doesn't put your mind at ease, consider this: we are willing to let these humans here live."

"Thanks, buddy," June Cassidy's cameraman mumbled, and cleared his throat, pressing his fist to his lips.

Cassidy herself just comradely patted his bony shoulder.

"Also, we're well aware that we need your cooperation." Aro cracked a broad smile that lit up his whole face, making him look strangely appealing despite the fact that he wasn't particularly beautiful. That was weird. Most people in the room relaxed; even the terse set of Sam's shoulders melted away, amazingly. "You've got us on video." He waited, but no-one said anything in reply. "The world has changed. We can either change along with it, or we can die. You can call it the effect of globalisation, if you're so inclined. Going on like we have been for the past few millennia will not do. We need each other's cooperation."

"I'm curious," Jasper said, breaking the small silence that had suddenly arisen. Outside, the wind wailed and the ocean roared. "I know the humans present are part of our little deal, but what about those out there, in the wild? What if there's another pair of woefully self-absorbed and star-crossed lovers frolicking about, similar to our Miss Swan and the dear departed Edward Cullen?"

"Ah," Aro said, and gave him a slightly pinched look. "Yes. That is a problem. We'll have to work harder to make sure innocent people don't get involved, and we need to find better ways to wipe knowledge from their minds."

"I can help with that," Jasper said, straightening his posture. Bella wasn't looking at him, but she could hear the sureness in his voice – small wonder. He really was that good. He had every reason to be confident in his own abilities. "I did a little trick a short while ago and manipulated Bella's mother's perceptions and emotions, blurring her memories in the process. Whoever you have erasing unwanted memories from hapless human minds, I can make the process smoother."

"So I've heard. It's most impressive," Aro said, "and you will have ample opportunity to demonstrate your many talents. However, you will not be exempt from our laws."

"I wouldn't dream of it," he said, and patted Bella's left thigh, while Charlie just glared at him from her other side. "Miss Swan and I will play by the rules like good children, won't we, dearest Miss Swan?"

Bella nodded jerkily. "Yes."

Jasper smirked. "Won't be a problem at all."

Sam nodded, looking as if he'd just made the most profound of realisations. "I hate you."

"Get in line," Jasper replied nonchalantly, and shrugged.

"We can stay here all night, sniping at each other," Charlie said, tired, scratching around the healing gash on his forehead, "or we can make what Blake called a leap of faith. I think Aro over there is right: we need to cooperate with each other for the good of everyone." He leaned back, drummed on his legs with his fingers, shrugged, and harrumphed. "Call me naïve, but I believe this is the best compromise we can reach, and I'm willing to give it a shot."

"The alternative doesn't look all that pleasant," June said, and snickered nervously when all eyes were on her. "Charlie's testimony, combined with Sam's, combined with our research and the videos we're still gonna post, should get the feds off everyone's backs. We help contain this thing, now and in the future. You people do your part. It should work."

"It will work, my dear," Aro told her, his smile broadening when she got red in the face. "We will make it work."

"Then, by all means," Chelsea said, relaxing a little, "let's write it all down and sign our names to it. Anyone got a legal pad on them?"

2 It took them nearly all night to hammer out the details, but finally, the contract was formulated, copied, and signed by everyone present. There weren't any legal professionals to make it binding, but it was binding nonetheless, and they all knew it. The more time went by, the more weary and irritable the humans and werewolves got. Finally, though, the paperwork was done, and the non-vampires all went to pick a room and get some much-deserved sleep. The vampires stayed in the dining room. Caius was moved to the couch before Irina bit him in order to hopefully cure him. Bella, after getting permission, went out into the corridor. She was followed by Jasper.

"Aren't you glad you don't have to turn your father?" he said, stepping up behind her and putting his arms around her.

She leaned her head against his shoulder and breathed in the sweet, cinnamon scent of his skin. "I'm still thinking about it. In a few decades, he'll die, and I'll never see him again."

"That's the price we pay, darlin'."

"It doesn't have to be."

"It's his choice," he said quietly, strangely serious, and leaned his cheek against her hair. "You do not want to take that away from him; believe me."

"Since when do you respect other people's choices?" Her voice was flat and didn't convey her astonishment because she wasn't making an effort to emote through speech. That could get so tiring, at times.

"I don't. I don't care either way. You do, though. You care about him, in your own self-centred, charming, idiosyncratic little way. Do you really want to put him through what you went through? Do you want him to hate you for eternity? No, scratch that. He's too much of a goodie-two-shoes to hate anyone. But do you want him to be forcibly rid of everything that makes him human? He might not end up hating you, but he'd definitely end up hating himself."

"I don't want any of that." She twisted in his arms, turned around, and looked up at his beautiful, unique face. "But I'll miss him…and my mom."

"Only if you choose to." He looked down at her thoughtfully. "I never did, but like I said, I won't tell you what to do. You need to make your own choices, Bella." The corners of his mouth twitched a little. "Like you did when you threw your offspring into the fire. That was impressive."

"Demetri thinks I should've jumped after her and ripped her head off when the fire didn't do the trick." She pressed her rubbery lips together for a moment. "I can tell that he thinks I only did what I did for selfish reasons."

He snorted with pure, unadulterated derision. "Who cares what that dullard thinks? We're on the same side, now, and we'll work together, but we're never gonna be friends. You shouldn't let him tell you what to do, either, or what to think. This is your life. These are your decisions and motivations, not his."

"I agree." She cupped his face and made herself smile. "It really is working out the way we planned, isn't it?"

"Oh, isn't it just?" he said, smirked, and lean in to kiss her.

That was when Bella heard a beating heart close by, as well as the rush of blood being pumped through living veins. Someone's steps approached, and the person in question harrumphed. It was Charlie. "I want to speak to my daughter in private, kid, so scram."

Jasper let go of her, stepped away, tipped an imaginary hat, said, "Of course," and ambled back into the dining room.

Turning to face her father, Bella saw that he'd stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He was dishevelled, unshaven, and looked like he was about to fall asleep on his feet. "I need to talk to you, Bells."

"Okay," she replied dully. Her throat was burning faintly, and the sound of his beating heart wasn't exactly making it easier to ignore. She crossed her arms and reminded herself only to breathe when necessary.

Charlie cleared his throat, glanced down at his shoes, and then raised his head again with visible effort. "You with that boy, now?" She only nodded curtly. "I see. Well, I don't like it. Don't like him. The other one wasn't any better, though. Whatever." Again, she said nothing, and he snorted. "You're the one who has to like him, not me." He scratched his neck, half-raised his right hand to the gash on his forehead, but decided otherwise. "Anyway, I wanted to say goodbye to you."

It felt strange, hearing him say that – like a bucket of icy water to the face. Old Bella, human Bella, would have thrown a tantrum of epic proportions. She would have whined. She would have stomped her foot. Vampire Bella just stood there, petrified, having to make a conscious effort to say anything in reply, because she was at a loss. Finally, after fishing for an appropriate response in her mind, she ended up saying, "I never wanted you to get hurt."

"Didn't think it through, though, did you?" The muscles in his face tightened. "The lies, the selfishness, your callous disregard for life…you didn't think any of this through. Now look at you. Look at you." He rubbed at his bloodshot eyes and blew out a heavy breath. "Doesn't matter. What's done is done. I just hope that being…being this is everything you hoped it would be."

"It's not." The words were out before she knew it. That was happening again? How annoying. "I don't know who I am, what I want, what's right and wrong. I'm still trying to understand so many things."

He gave her a pointed look. "You should know what's right and wrong, and I do kind of blame myself for how you turned out. You rushed into this situation without having any idea what the consequences would be for yourself and for the people around you. You wilfully turned yourself into a murderer. Did that even occur to you? Did it occur to you that you would break your mom's heart…that you would break my heart?" He took a few deep breaths and shook his head. "In the end, though, it's your life, and, like your boyfriend just said, your decisions are yours – as are your mistakes. My and Renée's parenting might've been sub-par or not. I don't know. Point is, you're old enough to know what you're doing and you're definitely old enough to shoulder some responsibility."

"I'm sorry I hurt you, Dad." She was too well-fed to be able to connect to the pain she should be feeling. Maybe she'd wished too hard to be able to disconnect from her humanity. Maybe she still needed to learn how to wish for things only after making sure that she knew exactly what she was actually wishing for.

"I'm sorry about a lot of things," he said, tried to smile, and failed. The result looked like a grimace. "Anyway, I, uh" – Again, he cleared his throat – "I really hope you get to be happy without killing any more people."

Briefly, she wondered whether he would turn her over to the authorities if he had the power to do so. Probably not. He'd undoubtedly try to convince her to turn herself in, though. It made sense to assume that despite his obvious affection for her, he'd never forgive her for the things that she had done.

"Thank you. I hope you get to be happy, too."

"Yeah. I'll, uh…I'll talk to your mom, explain that we found out how you really died." He scratched his neck again. "Don't worry about her. She's a lot tougher than you give her credit for – always has been." Briefly, he locked eyes with her, added, "I'll always love you, honey," turned around, and marched off.

Bella just stood there, petrified, watching him leave.

3 Leah woke up slowly, gradually. She had no hurry, because her sleep had been deep and black and dreamless, and there was something about reality she remembered not wanting to return to. Still, she woke up despite her wishes, slowly but inexorably. Finally, she found herself back in her body. She was lying in a bed, and sunshine was shining onto her face. Everything hurt, but it wasn't nearly as awful as it had been last evening.

That was when she drew in a tremulous breath that had her chest sting like there was broken glass in there. "Ow." There was a knock on her door. She blinked, meant to answer, but her voice was broken. After clearing her throat, she managed to croak out, "Come in." It wasn't too hard to guess who that would be.

True to form, Yuppie Vamp stepped into the room gingerly, closing the door behind himself. "How are you feeling?"

Despite her discomfort, smiling was not hard. "I'm better." Again, she cleared her throat. "Can you help me sit?"

"Of course." Carefully, he propped her up, piled up all the pillows available, and helped her lean back again. "If you're comfortable with it, I'd like to check your burns and your chest wound."

Her eyebrows shot up almost to her hairline. "Do you honestly believe I care whether you see me naked? You already have – multiple times. No need to make a production out of it."

"Actually, I was thinking about how stubborn you are about accepting help," he said, looking amused.

Pain or no, she had to snicker at that. "Sorry. Snapping at people is a force of habit."

"It's not a problem." After scrutinising her for a couple of seconds, he said, "Let me get you a glass of water."

"I need a shower, too. I must be so gross right now."

He went into the bathroom and came back in a flash, said, "You're not, and I don't care," handed her the glass, and sat down at the edge of the bed. "The peace treaty has been negotiated, written down, and signed." The corners of his mouth curved up in a subtle smile. "It's over."

"It's over," she repeated idly, sipped some water, and took another painful, deep breath. "Can't believe our little scheme worked."

"It did, and better than I thought it would." He shook his head, not even trying to mask his incredulity, and wiped a strand of his dark hair from his smooth, pasty forehead. "There's a cure for dhampir infection, now. I can hardly believe it."

"Oh, so Albino Asshole actually got cured?"

"He did, and in case you're wondering: he will have to answer to the crimes he committed once we're back home. I don't know what it'll entail, but it won't be pleasant, and it'll take a good long while until Aro is willing to pardon him. As one of the two co-leaders, Caius should've known better, and now, an example will be made of him."

"Good. He deserves it." Her stomach panged. There was the question she was afraid to ask, the question she really wanted an answer to. Gathering all her courage, she said, "How's Seth?" timidly. The tone of voice sounded weird coming out of her mouth, even to herself.

Again, he nodded. "It worked with him, too. He woke up and couldn't remember anything that happened for the past week. He's sleeping now." After a small pause, he added, "He asked about you."

Shifting her weight uncomfortably, she said, "Oh." Wow. Eloquent. She only just refrained from rolling her eyes at herself.

The look he gave her was sympathetic. He reached out to touch her shoulder, hesitated, but then did it anyway, if only for a brief moment. "I'm not saying that the cure magically took care of the issues the two of you obviously have, but the corruption caused by Renesmee is gone. He's back to being a regular teenager."

She snorted dry laughter and grimaced. "Ouch, that hurt." Even she didn't know precisely whether she only meant the physical kind of pain. They just sat there in silence for a while, looking at each other. Finally, she said, "So…everyone's just gonna go home and go on about their business as if nothing happened."

"No. There's the punishment for Caius, for one. You'll also be pleased to hear that Aro decided to outlaw the killing of any sapient creature for any reason other than self-defence."

Again, she arched her eyebrows. "Really?" When he nodded, she exhaled sharply. "Wow. That's, truth be told, a lot more than I expected."

The expression on his face grew shrewd. "It was more than I expected, as well, but there simply has to be an upside to Jasper not getting torn to pieces and thrown into a fire."

Chuckling sardonically, she said, "Yeah. That. You just had to go and remind me of that, didn't you?"

The sun had disappeared behind a cloud when he'd walked into the room. It came out again now, shining in through the window; every inch of his skin that was exposed – face, neck, throat, hands, wrists – exploded in a million bright sparkles. He clearly saw her squinting, said, "Oh, I'm sorry," and meant to stand up to pull the heavy curtain shut.

"No, don't," she said, grabbing his wrist with her free hand. "You don't have to hide yourself – not from me."

"It's no big sacrifice. The sparkling is stupid, anyway."

She let go of him and crossed her arms. "It's part of what you are, so don't say it's stupid. Anyway, you may have to hide it from the world out of necessity, but not from me. It's totally okay to just, you know, be yourself when you're with me." Chuckling awkwardly, she added, "As schmaltzy as that might sound."

"It doesn't sound schmaltzy," he said. His smile returned. "And thank you."

4 After Caius woke up and was back to his usual hateful and paranoid self, without showing any sign of being infected, Irina needed a moment alone. She headed outside, to the beach, and just stood there in the sunshine, looking out at the ocean. Corin and the twins had cleaned up the place, removing all remnants of last evening's events, pulverising them and dumping them in the water. The crisis was solved. Everyone who was still alive would end up walking away. Leah's cynical little comment was a little off the mark, though: not everyone got to live. They'd got there a little too late, didn't they? Irina and Aro? She didn't get to help Renesmee. Now, the girl's remains were floating in the water, crushed into a trillion atoms of ash and dust.

Looking down at her sparkling hands, Irina searched for signs of corruption and found none. Her own infection had taken a little while to cure itself, but in the end, it did. She was free. Well, she was back to the way she'd been before all this madness started, at least, which was much more than she had expected. That was something to be truly grateful for, and she was. Also, she could now finally, finally do something useful instead of just raining death and misery on everyone she cared about. She could actively contribute, make the world a little bit better through her actions, and not worse.

Laurent. Vasilii. Lyubomir. All dead. All gone forever.

She let her hands sink again, closed her eyes, and breathed in deeply the heavy, humid, salty, cold sea air. No, Irina Horváthová had never been a nature person whilst she has still been human. Things changed, though. Everything was constantly in motion, shifting. She hoped that even frozen in time, even undead, she would be capable of changing, too. That was when she heard steps approaching.

"I really wanted to save Renesmee," she said quietly.

"You can't save everybody," Aro said, sounding genuinely kind. "The sooner you understand this, the less you'll get your heart broken in the future."

"I know," she said, opened her eyes, and turned around to look at him. "Thank you for letting me help. I originally came here with revenge on my mind, and that was so, so selfish. My whole existence as a vampire has been a parade of self-centredness. During the past few weeks, I've learned to understand how horrible my behaviour used to be – how destructive. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to turn my life around."

"I'm the one who's grateful, dear," he said, smiling. It was radiant, outshining the sun-induced sparkling of his skin. "You don't know how valuable your contribution is. I really hope you'll choose to stay with us permanently."

She stared at him out of wide eyes, baffled. "You'd allow me to leave once you made sure that the cure for dhampirs doesn't wear off?"

For a moment, he just returned her look thoughtfully, but then simply said, "Yes."

Her sisters came to mind. Of course she wanted to see them again, to hear their voices, to just be close to them. However, she now had the chance to be useful, to save lives. After all the lives that she had taken, she owed it to the world to actually be a force for good; she owed it to herself, as well. She returned his look, felt warm despite the air's chill and despite her un-beating heart, and decided that her drive to be a better person wasn't the only reason she wanted to move on. It was time to let go of the past, of the pain, of all the sadness. She wasn't a part of nature anymore, but that didn't mean she couldn't have a meaningful life. It really was time for Irina to start living – really living.

She said, "I don't want to leave. I want to stay with you."

In a flash, he was standing right in front of her. Slowly, carefully, he reached out and brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. When his fingertips brushed her earlobe, he beamed at her. "Then let's go home and do some good."

5 It was important that things be wrapped up as quickly as possible, and that the vampires return to Volterra. Still, Demetri asked that they wait a day or two until Leah was able to get out of bed; she knew this because he'd told her so. She'd moved from the resort to her mother's house, along with Seth. All the vampires except Demetri went to stay at the Port Angeles hotel. Everyone else stuck around for the nonce, keeping a low profile. Seth recovered from his ordeal remarkably well, and no worse for wear. Thankfully, he couldn't remember trying to murder her; at least that was what he claimed, which was just as well. He seemed embarrassed by his antagonistic behaviour toward her, and he should be; both of them agreed on this. Well, in the end, she really was just glad and grateful that he was okay, because all this time, she'd been so sure, deep down, that he'd suffer the same fate as Jacob.

Ah, Jacob. Maybe they could've saved him, too. Maybe the imprint had made it impossible to cure him, either way. They'd never know. Leah knew that it was pointless to brood over this, because back in Tijuana, no-one could've foreseen that there might be a cure for dhampir infection on the horizon. Still, she couldn't help but wonder. Poor Jacob. Poor, poor Jacob. He'd been a brat, and he could be quite insufferable, but despite all his flaws, he'd just been a little kid with way too much responsibility on his shoulders. He'd deserved better than to get his brain melted by a half-vampire monster baby from hell.

Two days after Renesmee's death, Leah was almost healed, and it was impossible to keep her from getting out of bed. Therefore, it came as surprise to no-one that she offered to drive Demetri to Port Angeles, herself, when his time came to leave.

First, though, he wanted to say goodbye to the Children of the Moon.

They all stood by Leah's mom's car – a dark-brown 1998 Subaru Forester – not exactly looking at each other, every one of them a little at a loss.

"So," Blake said, smiling warmly at Leah. It was a beautiful sight. She held out her hand. "It was an honour to meet you and yours, Leah Clearwater. You're the only one we actually got to know a little, but if the other Quileute wolves are even half as brave and loyal as you, then you've got one hell of a pack."

None of Sam's pack were Leah's anymore. The thought just hit her. It was…oh, it felt like being high on sunshine. She laughed. The sound of it was carefree and young and full of life; she couldn't recall the last time she'd laughed like this, like she didn't have the weight of the world weighing her down anymore. The best part was, she didn't. Her body was still mending itself, and she was still hurting, but she'd take burns and a punched-through chest over being emotionally miserable any day. "I'll be sure to pass along the compliment. You were awesome, too. I'm so glad to know that there are other werewolves out there, kicking ass and taking names."

"Mostly, we just go to work, pay our bills, and grow wolfsbane," Ariel said, looking serious but sounding good-natured. He had an arm around Grace's shoulders. "But yeah, we do kick ass and take names, as a matter of fact."

Grace pinched his waist. "I like it when you're silly," she told him, and held out her right hand to Leah, who shook it gladly. "Let's stay in touch. I think we could really profit from a closer friendship, your people and us."

"I think so, too," Leah said, fished the car keys from her pocket, and unlocked the car. "But until then, I hope you guys have a great life." Without waiting for a reply, she hopped onto the passenger seat and pulled the door shut. She leaned her head back, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and giggled – honest-to-God giggled. Incredible.

A minute or so later, Demetri joined her, took the keys from her, started the engine, and pulled the car out of the parking spot. "I'd ask you what's so funny," he said, glancing at her, "but I'm still too surprised that you chose to ride shotgun of your own volition."

She tilted her head to the side, smiling broadly. "I already have the return trip to look forward to. I'm also still healing, and you don't get tired." Before he could reply anything, she added, "Besides, everything turned out so awesome, I promised myself two things: one, I refuse to be bitter about the fact that Creepula and Bell-Bell got off scot-free; two, I'm so surprised at my own survival that I won't throw myself into the jaws of death all the time anymore. Who knows, maybe I've even learned not to trample my fears and unwanted emotions down and face them, instead."

"Hope springs eternal," he said, glancing at her again. The sky was overcast; it started drizzling. "I got to say, I'm a tiny bit wistful that our adventure is over."

"Are you?" Leah pondered making a joke, but thought better of it. No, being dismissive would not do – not here, not now, not with him. Their little adventure really was almost at an end. He deserved better than awkwardness-masking sarcasm. "I am, too."

For a moment, they just drove on in silence.

At length, he said, "What are you going to do now? Generally, I mean."

That was an interesting question. She looked out the window, raised her right hand, and traced the trails of raindrops on the glass with her fingertips. "I'm gonna leave La Push," she said, after a while. "I went back because I was told that I was needed, and I'm pretty sure that I was. The thing is – and this will probably sound selfish – I want some time off. I want to find out what I need – you know, get some distance, some perspective."

"It's not selfish. You do enough for the sake of others. You shouldn't keep running yourself ragged, and you really shouldn't keep running away from yourself. Believe me, your problems will always catch up with you."

"You're weirdly insightful; you know that?" She sat up straight and looked at him again. "And you're always right."

He smiled subtly. "It's a gift and a curse."

Snorting laughter, she said, "I'm sure it is."

6 Demetri drove onto the hotel's car park, pulled into a free parking space, and turned off the engine. "It's time…unless you want to come in and say goodbye to the others."

Leah made a face, snorted derisively, said, "I'll pass," and got out of the vehicle rather nimbly, considering her condition. At least it had stopped raining in the interim.

He did the same. "Are you sure you're fit to drive? I could-"

"Stop worrying. I'm fine. Everything's good." She circumvented the car and planted herself in front of him. One thing was for sure: she looked happy. Yes, she was paler than usual, there were dark rings under her eyes, and she had definitely lost weight, but she looked so much more contented than when he'd first met her. In fact, she couldn't stop smiling. It was a beautiful sight – kind, warm, and full of life. She was a beautiful person in every sense of the word, wasn't she?

"I believe you." He meant it, too.

"Hm," she made, crossed her arms, looked down at her shoes, and cleared her throat, before squinting up at him again. "You know, this doesn't have to be a permanent goodbye. I'm not just saying that because I had a moment of perfect clarity and decided to take some time off to find myself. I mean it. Maybe we can stay in touch – you know, help each other out. Team up in case you do find a different kind of vampire lurking in the shadows that doesn't sparkle in the sunshine, just like I found a different kind of werewolf. Stuff like that."

With all the huge changes going on in the supernatural world, it was a wonder that her words still managed to surprise him. Not for the first time, he wished he had a heartbeat. It was so much easier to understand one's own emotions when those emotions were expressed by physical reactions. Memories surfaced, playing before his mind's eye: Kalamata in the summertime, warmth, summer, family. With a friend like Leah, it was almost possible for a vampire to feel human again. Of course, he wouldn't say that to her without preamble. He'd never embarrass her on purpose, and she did have a somewhat strained relationship with her own feelings.

Instead, he said, "I'd like that."

"It's not like you don't have my number," she said, grinned, and shook her head, presumably at herself. "It's actually Irina's number, but I think she forgot that she gave me her phone, and I crashed mine against the tiles in Charlie's kitchen." Her good humour was contagious.

"I won't tell her if you don't. It'll be our little secret."

"Yes, it will." Her grin turned into a subtle smile. "Take care of yourself, Yuppie." Before he could say anything in reply, she placed her right hand on the side of his face and briefly, lightly kissed him on the cheek. "Take really good care of yourself."

For a few seconds, he just looked back at her, pensive, but then he smiled. It was a strange, unknown sensation, what he was feeling right now. Could a person be at the same time happy and melancholy? There was an expression for that, he remembered – a human expression: this was bittersweet. "You, too." With a heavy heart, he added, "Goodbye, Leah."

Clearly, she caught some of what he was feeling on his face, because she looked a little wistful, as well, all of the sudden. "Goodbye, Demetri."

He turned around and started walking away, but stopped and turned when she called him back. "Yes?"

A smirk – youthful and mischievous – lit her up her face. "I'll see you around."

Despite the tinge of sadness, he couldn't help but smirk right back. "Not if I see you first." He watched her get in the car and drive off, before he walked into the hotel to meet up with his own people. This was it. The adventure was over. It was time to return to real life.

7 They were in the beautiful, modern, sleek private jet, heading to Italy. It was somewhere over the North Atlantic – Bella had no clue where, exactly – when the sun started to set. It cast a fiery, orange glow over the sky and ocean – a beautiful sight, to be sure. She sat by a window facing north, and looked out into the dusk thoughtfully. Jasper was at the back of the jet, chatting with the twins. He was in a good mood, and for good reason, too. Despite his scheme blowing up in his face, the gamble had paid off. He was part of the vampire government, now. Sure, he wasn't allowed to murder indiscriminately anymore, but if Bella had learned anything about him, it was that he was highly adaptable and that he had a true gift for survival. He'd do fine. He'd probably even do great, if given half a chance.

Bella wasn't so sure that the same thing would apply to her.

At some point, someone took a seat next to her. It was Aro. "Why so glum?"

She sat up straight and shifted her weight in order to be able to face him. "I'm just trying to work through some things…you know, in my head."

"Hm," he made, nodded slowly, and then offered her a subtle smile. "Our memories being as they are, I remember what being new-born felt like. It was just so hard to find a balance between drowning in a maelstrom of emotions and being completely detached from humanity."

It wasn't necessary, but she blinked at him in confusion all the same. "Are you sure you can't read my thoughts?"

The remark elicited a little chuckle. "You see, my dear, I've always been quite talented at reading people by simply observing them. That ability has not gone away." He went serious. "When we are turned into vampires, we all go through the same process; you're no exception. The trick is finding the middle ground between emotional and sensory chaos and, on the other end of the spectrum, sensory clarity and psychopathy. I imagine you've been dabbling in both, trying to find out who you really are."

"Yes," she said quietly.

"Well, you don't have to choose between one extreme or the other. You'll never stop being a vampire, but you can choose to both protect yourself from guilt and be a decent person. For example, your near-sacrifice as you ran through the flames to kill your daughter was a decent act."

Human Bella would've blushed furiously at that. Vampire Bella just stared back at the emperor, expressionless. "Thinking back on it, I understand that my motivations were less than selfless. They always are."

"Nonetheless, it was a decent act," he said, sounding kind. "Focus on that. That's the person you can be if you choose it."

"I assume your restrictive diet helps you find balance?"

The smile returned; it was halfway between a smile and a smirk, actually – good-natured and almost boyish. "You assume correctly. Naturally, we'll have to find a way to keep you from killing humans. You do understand that?"

"I do," she said, and nodded. "And I'll manage. I don't want to be useless, anymore. I want to make my own decisions, and make them for the right reasons. Maybe that way, it will all have been worth it."

He gave her a curious look. "Even if this life is not exactly how you imagined it." It wasn't a question.

"Yes," she said, and looked out the window again. Charlie's goodbye came to mind. Charlie. Renée. They were lost to her forever. Maybe she'd learn how to mourn that fact properly, in time. Maybe she'd learn to miss them the way that they deserved.

8 "…and so, we uncover the amazing, convoluted, so-absurd-it-must-be-true story behind the Cullen crime ring, the death of Isabella Swan, and the fate of Charles Swan, her father."

June and Jerry were watching their Cullen-special on TV. With the help of Charlie Swan, Maria the Mexican Vamp, and Sam Uley, they constructed a very good story that relied mostly on circumstantial evidence and testimonies of those involved. Of course, Charlie's interview had been cleared with the FBI, first. The press didn't owe the feds anything, but neither June nor Jerry were in any way interested in legal troubles that might potentially arise. Also, cooperation was the flavour of the month, anyway, so why not go the whole nine yards and cooperate with the authorities, as well? It made their work easier, for one.

Currently, they were in his Brooklyn apartment, sitting on his ancient, frayed, and most awesome leather couch, watching their as-of-yet most popular video being sampled and commented on, on national television.

"Wow," he said, mouth half-full with the sandwich he was eating.

"I know."

"Look at us, all famous and shit."

She shook her head in incredulity. "Six million subscribers and counting."

"Also, we helped save the world."

"We did." She picked up the remote control from the little, yin-yang plastic coffee table, turned the TV off, and leaned her head against his shoulder. "And it was awesome."

"Next time you get any bright ideas, I'll tie you to the bathroom radiator," he replied, deadpan.

Laughing, she said, "Of course you will."

"You just watch me."

As they did so often, they spent the next few minutes in comfortable silence.

She didn't even have to switch the TV back on in order to remember her closing statement: "…and this is all we know about these amazing, incredible events. The mysteries of this particular conundrum might've been uncovered, but – to put it in lovely purple prose – the story is never over. The world keeps on turning, and something exciting and beautiful is always waiting around the proverbial corner. Whatever it is, and no matter how crazy it might get, we'll be there. We'll keep you all posted. Thank you so much for watching, and don't forget to subscribe!"

Right now, though, it was time to disconnect, switch off, and unwind. The world had been saved. Everyone had earned themselves some time off.

She took the empty plate out of his hands, placed it on the coffee table, and snuggled up against him. He put his arms around her and leaned his head against her voluminous hairdo. For now, the adventure was over. The story had been told. She closed her eyes and relaxed. Life was good. It could only get better.