derivation

by cupcakeriot

(noun) derivation. the obtaining of something from a source or origin. "All it takes is a touch," Bella says - and that is how she reveals that there is more to her than meets the eye. Little did she realize that she also had a derivative, one that she could scarcely predict. A Twilight Re-Telling.

13. twelve: june

twelve

june

---

If a June night could talk, it would probably boast that it invented romance.

- - - Bern Williams

---

o.o.o

The clock ticks over midnight, ushering May into June with a distinctly uncomfortable air in the Swan household. Still dressed in her the blue dress of swirling tulle, Bella finally grows fed up with the weird triad stand-off that has been held between Edward, Jane, and Charlie for the last half-hour. It's ridiculous and obviously she's going to have to be the tie-breaker.

Stepping around the Felix and Dimitri, she wades into the living room with her arms crossed over her chest and a no-nonsense slant to her hips, feet firmly rooted in ribbon-laced heels and positively aching from the angle of the shoe. She's tired and in no mood for any of this - she wants to release her hair from the complicated twist Rosalie had made, find loose clothes, and bury her head in her pillow with a sliver of dark chocolate on her tongue. And she can't do any of that if there can't be some agreement found in the immediate arrangements for the Volturi guard until she can decide what to do with them - which will be done as soon as she consults Jasper and Sam. And if she's going to do that, then she needs her rest so that all her wits are about her.

"Alright, here's how it's going to go," she announces abrasively, brows arched high. "The way I see it, there is only one instant solution - so, Dad, we're going to have houseguests for the foreseeable future. Edward, you're going to have to make peace with that. And you three, there will be no hunting in the Cullen territory. If you're thirsty, you can run to Tacoma, and for the love of God, make at least some effort to target criminals. Can everyone live with that?"

"Now, Bells, I don't know that I'm comfortable with this," Charlie says firmly, hands on his hips. "I know Aro sent them and all, but these people are strangers…and we don't have a guest room for them."

"They don't sleep," she counters flatly.

"I will personally guarantee that we won't be any trouble for you, Master Charles," Felix declares, still standing in the doorway of the kitchen with the wooden crate hanging from his large arms. "We have our orders."

"Exactly," Edward injects warily. "That is precisely my concern."

"Oh, please," scoffs Jane. "We are here to guard the girl, so we will be wherever she is whether you like it or not, mind-reader."

Edward steps forward minutely. "I can read your mind, Jane, and so I know perfectly well that you are compelled here only for-"

Jane's eyes narrow infinitesimally, but it is enough to make Edward cry out at the shock of pain, his knees bending at the sensation. Bella puts an end to that, quickly stepping in front of her mate's body and snapping, "Stop that!" She will realize later that she hadn't felt the pain of Jane's power, probably some off-shoot of her shield just the same way that she doesn't feel the electro-shock of Kate's power - just a surge of bone-rattling energy that she is learning to siphon off or block entirely.

Bella is concerned at Jane's blasé use of such a harmful gift, though - and she doesn't appreciate it being applied to Edward. Would she need to talk to Jane about proper times for use, after all? Bella had no idea, at that moment, that Aro often let Jane have free-reign with her power and she certainly couldn't have known that she would be the one to implement boundaries in his stead.

Jane harrumphs, a high, brief noise, and flicks her eyes away. "As you say, Mistress Isabella."

Even Bella can hear the grudging, facetious respect that Jane has laced into her tone; she wonders if it burns like acid on her tongue to be forced to speak the words and sighs. "Just Bella, please," she mutters, palming her forehead as if such an action can give her the patience she so longs for in that moment.

She completely misses the shock writ plain on Jane's face as she turns away to finish addressing Charlie and Edward's concerns. Now, it was true that they didn't have room for guests, but these aren't the average houseguests, either, and they were trustworthy by Aro's estimation and Bella wouldn't hear any arguments about their presence in her home - or around her person. Surely Aro had his reasons for selecting a tracker, a wall of muscle, and one of the witch-twins. If she weren't so tired, Bella was sure that she would already have outlined specific assignments for them, but as it is, she hadn't slept the night before in order to train with Eleazar and what Bella needs more than anything at the moment is peace and quiet so she can sleep. And so she continues negotiating the stay of the hand-selected Volturi guards with Charlie and Edward, drawing on whatever logic seems to have the easiest route to persuasion. Charlie's issue is with the suddenness and the awkwardness of having strangers in his house, something that is easily minimized by the capitulation that the guards would only be in the house when Bella was, which was increasingly less these days. Edward's issue is a bit more complex; he's leery of Jane especially, doesn't take kindly to the notion of a strange male vampire being around his mate near-constantly, and bucks against the notion that he wasn't enough to protect Bella.

And if she's honest, she's upset by the idea that she's not strong enough to protect herself, either, but once again her sensibility kicks in. She can't guard herself constantly and there was no telling when Victoria would strike as she grew ever-more unpredictable by the day. So she reaches for her mate's hand, flinging herself into his mental space with all of her reasoning laid out clearly for his perusal. She understands his hesitation and she hopes that he understands her complacency. Edward can't always be around, however much he wants to be; Mele kept to the shadows unless necessary out of personal preference and it was unfair to expect otherwise; and Bella, while still receiving training, had days of low and high energy that left her self-defense inconsistent. Having another guard at her back was a boon, not a slight.

And Aro would not send someone whose loyalty he doubted, she reminds him carefully.

Edward bows his head, squeezing her hand gently. I trust your judgment, he finally acquiesces.

And he does - but that doesn't mean that he trusted any of them. It was a deeply-ingrained instinct - the drive to protect his mate in whatever form that manifested. And yet Edward had learned to balance that with the respect Bella demanded. As much as he wanted to hide her away and protect her from the world outside of his arms, he had come to understand that her free will was immutable and her slow-to-anger nature should not be tested. And she, too, had learned to find a balance, to see his point of view, to take into consideration his feelings, all without compromising her ability to choose for herself. She was thankful for the openness in communication paved by her gift.

Bella's shoulders drop in relief. "Great. Well, if that's all, I think I'm going to sleep, now. Jasper's training with the wolves starts bright and early tomorrow, so you'll be able to assess our current strategy then," she says to the guards, even as she leans into Charlie for a hug, pressing a kiss to Edward's cheek in a farewell that would last only as long as it took him to store his car in the Cullen garage and run back to Bella's room.

"And until then, Mistress Bella?" Dimitri's deep voice rumbles lazily as he leans like a big cat against one of the shadowed walls of the living room.

She bites her tongue against correcting him, pausing at the foot of the stairs. Jane is already following her - as the lone female, it made sense that she would act as night-guard and probably followed orders directly from Aro - and Felix is still holding the crate. She sighs again. "You can just put that in the kitchen," she says to Felix and then more broadly, "Make yourselves at home for the next four hours."

"Four?" Jane questions placidly as she trails her on the stairs, expression like a stone mask. "I would have thought half-breeds needed more rest, just like humans."

Bella looks at her over her shoulder as she slips into her bedroom, gathering toiletries and pajamas even as she plucks pins from her hair to drop onto the desk. "Four hours is more than enough for me," she says plainly.

"Hn."

Swiftly washing her face and trading her dress for a cotton camisole and shorts, Bella runs her fingers through her hair and makes her way back into her bedroom; she can hear some low murmuring downstairs as Charlie holds a particularly awkward conversation with Dimitri and Felix about how they became guards in the Volturi. Felix is affable enough to entertain the question; Dimitri simply disappears outside, much to Bella's quiet amusement.

In her room, Jane is still statue-still near her bookcase, observing the room with shadowed vermilion eyes. It isn't until Bella has pulled her bedcovers over her body and placed a square of chocolate on her tongue that Jane says, "I have seen Mistress Sulpicia with those flowers."

Bella follows Jane's gaze to the porcelain-and-glass flowers that she has received from her grandmother over the course of her life, intricate pieces of artwork that are scattered around her room - desk, windowsill, nightstand, bookshelf. She isn't sure what to say about Jane's observation, though.

"They are very beautiful," Jane utters after Bella's stay of silence.

She smiles, laying back. "Yes, they are." Then, seeing that Jane has still not moved, she says, "You're welcome to sit at the desk or go downstairs, if you would like."

Jane stiffens. "I have no need of human comforts."

Well, Bella thinks with a restrained sigh. There's really no arguing with that.

She is tired enough that she is already on the cusp of sleep when the muted thud of Edward's arrival via her window filters into her ears - and then immediately following that is a series of hisses between Jane and Edward as each argues the other's presence. It goes on long enough that she tosses a small pillow from her bed blindly in their direction. "I don't care what Grandfather will say, Jane," she mutters into her sheets. "Edward stays with me while I sleep."

"It's improper."

"It's Jane's orders directly from Aro," Edward corrects irritably.

Half a world away and trying to protect my virtue - oh, my God! Bella rises onto her elbow with a huff. "Seriously?"

Jane smirks.

Bella drops down, face planted firmly into her pillow. She mumbles her mate's name and he must understand that he's being beckoned forward because as soon as he is close enough, her hand flashes out to seize his wrist, tugging him firmly down to sit on her bed. "I'm going to sleep, now," she declares into the pillow, forcefully tuning out whatever vampire battle of wills is taking place as she drifts into slumber.

She really hadn't thought her Prom Night would be so eventful.

Or at least - she thought it would be eventful in another way.

o.o.o

---

o.o.o

Bella wakes in the morning curled around Edward's back while he sits straight on the edge of her bed, her knees bumping against his thigh, stomach pressed against his spine, and her hands cuddling one of his against her face. She is receiving a steady flow of her lullaby from the crystalline chaos of his mind, along with a jumble of other sensory input as he realizes that she has joined the land of the living. Or the land of the quasi-living, as it were.

She opens her eyes. It's still pre-dawn outside and it seems like nobody has moved a muscle since she went to sleep, with the exception of Charlie, who is snoring away in his bedroom; Jane is still standing where last she saw her, Edward is immobile, and she assumes that Felix and Dimitri have returned to living room, as vampires were generally not fond of kitchens.

Bella pats at Edward's forearm, silently requesting coffee, and he bends to press a kiss to her temple before jotting from the room with vampire-speed. She soon hears the tell-tale sounds of water and scooping coffee and the metallic tinkering of her thermoses being set out, one from the refrigerator and one from the cabinet.

She stands, stretching as she goes to the closet to select her clothes, content in the quiet morning as Jane observes her, shadowing Bella to stand outside of the bathroom door while she showers. Bella isn't altogether sure how much she likes having a guard and she suspects that Jane is irked to be reduced to actual guard-duty, but there is no tension in the air. Edward and Jane had, at some point in the night, concluded their stare-off without reservation. More likely than not, Edward had probably read something in Jane's thoughts that soothed his automatic distrust of the vampires that would now be following his mate, which could only be a good thing because Edward's hard-headedness could border on self-righteous and Bella was too stressed with the Victoria situation to also mediate her home-life. She did quite enough of that between the Cullens and the Quileute wolves.

Bella doesn't bother to dress for the weather, which has bothered her less and less since her change. Instead, she dresses for training and that means dark clothes in layers; black shorts with a black tank-top under a high-necked raisin-purple tank, a licorice-hued zip-up hoodie, tall slate socks, and her trusty Doc Martens with her wet hair piled firmly on top of her head. She scoots past Jane to snatch her canvas tote off the floor of her room, snagging a random book off her shelf to add to the one that she is almost finished with - Heart of Darkness - and then trots downstairs to the kitchen, doing her best to assume a sense of normalcy.

She ignores the curious gaze of the Volturi vampires as she fixes her coffee, which is half over-strong sludge and half bear-blood courtesy of Edward's last hunt for her kitchen stores. Edward ghosts around the kitchen, adding bottles of water to her bag and a few human snacks - oranges, apples, and bananas - should Bella be hungry at any point during the day, which they knew from experience she would be. The more energy she spent training, the more she would have to replace that energy - sleeping, food, and blood all in equal measure to be operating on her top level. Still, she would need fresh blood soon.

"We should hunt on the way home," she murmurs, the first break in silence of the morning.

Edward shoulders the bag with a nod. "Large game?"

She tosses him a wry glance. "Why, so you can keep your score over Jasper?"

"I would never have such an obvious ulterior motive, love," he insists, holding the back door open for her after she has scrawled a note to Charlie on the chalkboard in the kitchen. Gone training. Be back soon.

"Of course not," she snorts indelicately.

Edward reaches for her hand, twining their fingers together, and then they are off like a shot, running at near top-speed with three vampires on their tail. The baseball field is not more than a five minute run away from Bella's house now that she can keep up and when they arrive, the field is already crowded with the wolves on one side and the vampires on the other. Nobody looks shocked at the presence of Volturi vampires at their back, likely thanks to Alice, but neither do many of them - especially Jasper, Tanya and her sisters, and the wolves - look pleased to see them.

Bella doesn't stop running until she is in front of Jasper. She detangles from Edward, then holds her hand out palm facing upward, waiting for Jasper to receive the flux of her thoughts, which he does with a grimace. During the course of her run to the baseball field, she has been thinking of the best uses for each of them. "What do you think?" she asks, curling her hand away from the Major's.

He eyes them over her shoulder. "With their skills, I wouldn't suggest anythin' else."

She nods, then turns to face the three guards. Just because they are at her sole discretion in terms of deployment doesn't mean that the test isn't unnerving; she's painfully aware that each of her decisions will be related directly to Aro, Marcus, and Caius for evaluation. She doesn't want to make a single misstep and with that in mind, she straightens her shoulders and takes on a tone of authority. "So, to best utilize each of you, here's what's going to happen. Felix, because your strength is closest to a newborn, you will be assisting Jasper in getting the wolves and some of the others up to speed. Jane, I think it's best if you assist in the training of my gift. And Dimitri, you will take the place of Emmett and Rosalie in Seattle; they are keeping an eye on Victoria's movements and also liaising with a spy we have sent into the ranks, Laurent, who you will also be keeping tabs on. Here," she says, holding her hand out again. "This is what he looks like and all information we have on the situation to date."

A queer gleam enters his eye as he pauses for a moment - but then he settles his hand against hers and she understands. It was odd seeing such a familiar gesture of Aro's performed by someone else. Bella suppresses a smile as she pushes her thoughts forward, startling Dimitri for a moment. It was a good reminder that her two-way touch telepathy was decidedly unique to vampires unfamiliar with her. Bella gives Dimitri all of the pertinent information, then does a cursory glance about his mind, wondering at the sharp focus behind the bored façade, the scattering of Romanian still thick in his thoughts if not in his speech, the ability to-

And then she pauses with a frown.

"Bella?"

Her eyes open - she hadn't realized she closed them - and she looks at Edward with barely-restrained shock. Then she shakes her head, calling for Eleazar because she's certain that she has just found something in Dimitri's mind that had been overlooked for centuries. She doesn't release Dimitri's loose grip as she extends her other hand to Eleazar, tugging the retired guard into Dimitri's mind to show him that little cloister of untapped potential that lingered deep within the recesses of Dimitri's preternatural ability to find anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Did you know? She asks both of them.

Eleazar radiates amazement and Dimitri is broadly surprised.

Bella drops her hand, a dotty smile spreading across her face. "Maybe you should wait a few days before you go, Dimitri," she suggests.

"Why? What is it?" Jasper asks, eyeing him warily.

She shakes her head in bemusement. "He has a second gift," she says. "He's had it all along, actually."

"Yes," Eleazar agrees delightfully. "Or at least the potential for one. It's so insignificant that I missed it entirely."

"Explain," Jane orders coolly.

"I can hide my scent," Dimitri explains slowly. "I can…learn to mask it."

"Right," says Eleazar thoughtfully. "It's a wonder that Aro did not - ah. Well, of course he wouldn't have known if I didn't know. Aro can only read thoughts and I can only sense the way powers work. Dimitri's tracking ability is so dominant over the other that it escaped my notice entirely…But Isabella, you were able to see it…"

"I apologize." Bella drops her eyes for a moment. "I went deeper into your mind then I intended," she says to Dimitri.

Felix whistles lowly. "What is your gift, Mistress Bella?"

"Complicated," she laments with a sigh. "Way more complicated than we thought."

Jasper crosses his arms. "Is it offensive?"

Bella shakes her head, having already reached the conclusion that he is edging toward. She senses a tinge of copper in her nose, which she sniffles back before it can drip down. "No - it's not even defensive. Just there, a latent tangent from the absorption. I'll learn how to deal with that aspect after this is all over. Offensive abilities take first priority."

Edward runs a hand down her back, quietly supportive and surely sensing that she's unsettled by the depth of her ability - just now, in touching Dimitri, she obviously hadn't been in full control. She could have really hurt him. She's lucky that she had made a discovery rather than actually take some bit of his mind with her. Her gift being somewhat unpredictable in the face of new minds was more obvious with gifted vampires; she suspects that part of her is always seeking other gifts, trying to make them her own, while another part of her is actively preventing that from happening. Very troublesome, especially as her control wavered by the day, temperamental because of so many other factors.

"If that's the case…" Jasper says leadingly, obviously intent on militarizing the day.

Bella nods, grappling for the authoritative tone again at his prompting. "Right. Dimitri, it's your choice whether you go to Seattle now or work with Eleazar to unearth that new ability of yours. It doesn't matter to me either way."

And with that, the first Saturday of June begins in a flurry of activity as Bella continues training with Kate and Mele, as Dimitri starts honing his new gift with Eleazar, and as Jasper ropes Felix into assisting with fighting techniques against newborn strength, instructing both the Denali and Cullen covens and the Quileute wolves.

o.o.o

---

o.o.o

Perhaps because of his association with the Volturi - or perhaps because the latency of his secondary gift was easy to activate - Dimitri takes to masking his scent like a bird takes to the sky. Less than ten hours under Eleazar's guidance, something which was easy to give now that he knew what to look for after Bella had found it, and Dimitri is able to willfully hide his scent for long stretches of time.

It is somewhat illuminating to learn that in practicing this new skill, the disappearance of Dimitri's scent was more than once overwhelmingly distracting for Felix. And at first, Bella does not understand, not until a flash of fleeting thought from Dimitri's mind wells in the corner of her attention, an awareness that she had overlooked before when she touched him but that comes back in full-force now - and she has to suppress a smile. Of course Felix would be bothered by his mate's scent disappearing over and over, especially given how much vampires relied on scent.

And how very like Aro, perhaps even Uncle Marcus, to take subtle measures in ensuring that mates would stay together on assignment - because although Felix and Dimitri were far from obvious, now that Bella had been clued in, it was impossible to miss. They were kind of sweet, actually. Like a stone wall and the graffiti painted across it.

Dimitri departs to Seattle before the sun begins to set in the baseball clearing.

And now we wait, she thinks on the run home, bone-tired from the day of training with traces of blood crusted on her upper lip. She puts little to no effort in her hunt, taking down the first kill she can find and draining it dry. Fresh blood coursing through her system does something to fill the pit of anxiety fluttering in her stomach, as does the simple comfort of Edward's presence at her side, and later in her bed and under Jane's cold, watchful eye.

But still - Bella is terrified that there is a very real possibility that happening upon Dimitri's second gift was evidence that so much close contact with Eleazar had transferred aspects of his gift to her. Logic dictates that this possibility is far more likely than anything else. Eleazar's ability coupled with Mele's and paired with aspects of Aro's are now firmly within her grasp. She knows this, unerringly. The only question would be for how long Eleazar's shadow stayed within her reach - if it was temporary or not.

So far, she hadn't seemed to absorb Kate's gift, but maybe that was because Kate's gift was purely offensive, whereas Bella's own gifts - the absorption, the shields - were relatively neutral in nature. And if she had absorbed Edward's, for his was the only other contact that remained prolonged, then she was largely unable to tell, given the default settings of her own. Without experimenting with Alice or Jasper - who she had not touched for more than a flicker of a second in the entire time they'd known each other - could a definitive answer be reached?

She didn't know. She didn't think there was a way to know for certain - not without entire lifetimes to reach a conclusion.

o.o.o

---

o.o.o

"So, we're fucked," is what Emmett says by way of greeting the next morning once everyone - except for the wolves, who were scheduled to patrol for another hour - has arrived to the baseball field. He is still in the clothes he left in and if he has any surprise to the new companions at Bella's side, then she must give credit where it is due because nothing in his expression gives it away. It is too easy to relegate Emmett to the position of jester when it is clear his comic relief is a smokescreen for his bluntness. His is a presence not easily ignored in the clearing, equally as large and intimidating as Felix and probably nearly as strong.

Rosalie, statuesque and stunning, flips her hair over her shoulders, brows furrowed in discontent. "The newborns have grown in number. Pushing twenty when we left, but that number could change. A few were still turning and the warehouse they're all holed up in is a breeding ground for violence. Every time a newborn is killed by another, she goes and bites a human."

"'Course, that patterns been changing," Emmett intones darkly. "Now, one dead newborn equals two fresh humans burning through the change."

"Christ," Jasper curses in a growl, prowling on the edges of the clearing. Even without Edward's long-range telepathy, Bella understands that Major Whitlock is altering plans at high speed. It's evident enough from the way Alice seats herself on a rock, forehead pressed against her palms, surely roving the future for other things her visions have missed. "Haven't heard numbers like that since the damn Southern Wars."

"Neither have I," Jane chirps, oddly bright. It takes a moment for Bella to put two and two together and conclude that Jane is looking forward to the fight numbers like that promises. Just the notion of it turns Bella's stomach; to welcome the opportunity of violence is deeply disconcerting for her, who would only resort to the actions in her near-future for the sake of protecting her mate and her family.

Carlisle appears greatly perturbed. "How can one sire manage so many newborns?"

"A partner," Mele responds promptly from the sidelines.

Bella hasn't had time to look through the detailed records Sulpicia had sent from the Volturi logs, although she has moved the crate to the foot of her bed and intends to sort through the leather-bound books as soon as possible. But because she is still largely ignorant, she looks to Jasper. "Wasn't that how the Southern Wars were managed? A few senior vampires over many fledglings?"

He nods, curly blonde hair shivering in the drizzling breeze, face tilted downward in shame. "That was my role - and I had a Lieutenant for myself, too."

"Well, did it look like Victoria had a Lieutenant?" Bella asks the returning vampires.

Emmett snorts. "You mean aside from Laurent?" He holds his hands up in response to Irina's scathing hiss, backtracking to clarify. "I mean, he's doing exactly what you asked him to, playing second fiddle to Victoria's crazy. I think he's only turned one - saved her, actually, from being dinner. It was a mercy. She doesn't leave his side, though, and she's too young and small to be dealing with other newborns."

"There is another," Rosalie says. "But she stays in the shadows, for the most part. I get the sense she's the devil on Victoria's shoulder, but I don't understand why. She keeps to herself. Laurent doesn't know much about her, so neither do we."

"Have you see her?" Edward asks, head tilted in attention.

"Briefly," Rosalie responds, seeming to pull up an image from her memory banks so Edward could see.

Bella watches his face for any trace of recognition, but he just frowns. "I don't recognize her," he says and because of his ability, that means that he hasn't seen her in the eyes of his coven-mates, either. Or if they had seen her, it was possible that they didn't realize she was a vampire and so hadn't paid attention; or perhaps they just hadn't thought of her in Edward's presence. The possibilities - the limitations - were endless.

"May I?" Bella holds out her hand and Edward's mind opens beneath her touch, already offering the image that he had plucked from Rosalie's memory.

To be fair to the fuzziness of the image, Rosalie had been too far for even vampire eyesight to get a clear view and obviously too removed to catch any meaningful scent, especially in a city as clogged as Seattle and in such a location so near the briny docks. What is clear, though, is the rich tan that had managed to shine through the ashen tone brought on by the change, a swirl of dark hair, and a slight body with a fairly obvious scattering of scars over one side of her face, half of her right eyebrow thinned into a permanent inquisitive arch. The memory is of the female vampire disappearing into the back entrance of the warehouse; it was nothing more than a lucky glimpse and obviously something Emmett had missed.

"Well," Bella sighs, pulling her hand away but leaving it raised with her palm open. "One of you might be able to recognize her. Who wants to go first?"

Carlisle sets a good example, quickly followed by Esme, and both shake their heads to the negative. Carmen is next. Then Eleazar and while he pauses for a moment, digesting the image, he ultimately decides that the vampire is unfamiliar to him. Bella feels frustration wafting from Jasper's direction, potent enough that it begins to affect the group - and so she thrusts her hand in his direction -

And Alice gasps -

And then Jasper curses a blue streak after catching the image, growling like thunder as he streaks over to Alice protectively.

Bella snatches her hand back, pulling her sweatshirt sleeve over her skin, and then looks up at Edward in bewilderment. "What? What is it?"

Edward blinks, a slightly dazed cast to his eyes as he follows the rapid-fire of Jasper's thoughts. "Maria," he mutters after a moment, lip curling in a dark expression of vitriol. "He never thinks about her, not often, but I should have recognized her. I might have if that scar on her face wasn't so new…"

Bella shakes her head. "I don't understand. Who is Maria?"

"His sire," he explains lowly.

Oh. Well, that at least explained the reaction. She would have to get the full story later - the most she knew about Jasper's past was his role in the Southern Wars, but not any details that meant anything. She'd only just learned that day that he'd had a Lieutenant.

"Either calm yourself down or I will do it for you," Jane snaps at Jasper, apparently fed up with his vampire-quick muttering tirade and the feral outpour of emotions from his gift.

Jasper snarls at her, but is soon soothed by Alice's hands running through his hair. He closes his eyes, gathering himself. "It's no accident that Maria is with Victoria," he says eventually. And having everyone's attention already, he continues to extrapolate, using his experience with his sire to paint a very terrifying picture that was entirely plausible. "Maria could care less about Victoria's vengeance. My best guess is that she wants the Olympic territory - the Cullen territory, and then the Denali's and any other covens in between - to get a foothold in the North and start a new era of vampire warfare to relive the good old days in the South. Never sat right with her that she couldn't make the wars move higher than Oklahoma."

And just like that, all the plans that she and Jasper and Sam have made begin to crumble. Because there's no way that they can fight the same way when there was an experienced war-mongered vampire on the opposing side. All of their planning had hinged on the idea that Victoria was unpredictable, that she was uncharted and therefore easier to trick. But with Maria, everything must change. Jasper's loose battle strategy, Sam's wolf formation, even Bella and Edward's psychic-sanctioned lure - none of it was adequate.

They weren't up to snuff.

And now it was more apparent than ever that they were running out of time to prepare.

o.o.o

---

o.o.o

The first Sunday in June is dedicated to recruitment. Everyone is putting in calls for aid - Carlisle to various covens he knows around the world with Esme and Edward's assistance, Eleazar to the myriad of vampires he has met, the Denali sisters, Emmett, and Rosalie to nomads they have befriended, and Jasper to his old Lieutenant with Alice's thin arms wrapped around his torso for support.

Bella, too, places a request for aid - for official aid that she is almost positive she is entitled to request. She instructs Jane to call the Volturi through the direct line all guards have and is met with a droll stare. "You might want to be specific, Mistress," says Jane pitilessly.

Bella bites the inside of her lip, turning in a circle. She looks up and catches Mele's eyes - and then she remembers, through the hot ball of slow panic building behind her sternum that she is and always has been sensible. Logical. What would Sun Tzu do? What would Aro do? What would Bella Swan do?

"Request whoever has the most powerful long-range gift," she instructs firmly. "Someone who can take down as many as possible at one time."

Jane smirks, but there is a glint in her eye that smacks of approval. She places the call, blurring into the tree line in a swath of black cloak as she utters into a slim black phone that she pulled out of thin air.

Bella looks at Felix, one brow arched in askance and wincing at the hesitant question that tumbles out of her mouth. "You guys do have someone like that, right?"

He laughs.

o.o.o

---

o.o.o

Sitting for her exams passes in a series of autonomous moments - she reads the questions, pencils in the correct answers, and promptly forgets that she had even taken a test. There's so much to think about, things that are actually important. She sits in the classrooms at Forks High, gazing at all the oblivious teenagers, and feels the weight of their safety on her shoulders. Their ability to continue to live their lives, to have futures, is her responsibility.

If Bella failed, if she misstepped even once, then where would any of these humans be in a month? In three months? In a year?

She doesn't understand how the Volturi can be so removed from this, whiling hours away in their Italian castle and waiting to be solicited for assistance - all while knowing that there are vampires with malicious intent just circling humans like sharks smelling blood in the water. Unimaginable, really. How will their world-order look when there are more hybrids, when the barriers between mortal and immortal have been removed?

It's the first time Bella has put that kind of responsibility into any context. She feels it more acutely because of the measures she has taken recently, embracing her place as Aro's granddaughter and consulting on battle plans as if she had any real authority in the matter. But she can't deny what she's known to be true the moment Aro and Sulpicia breezed into the Cullen living room over winter break.

This was her destiny. She's said as much to Edward, knowing that her declaration would drag him along with her despite his mistrust of the vampire governing body. And she's all but sealed her fate with her actions, which is why she feels the value of these human lives so keenly.

It is all very daunting.

But she pushes on, trudging toward the inevitable finish line as the days lap over each other, the first week of June passing in a series of strategic meetings with Jasper and Sam at night, her time after school vacillating between Eleazar's training and hunting. Her only reprieve in the day is school, which is the only time she and Edward can find each other - and now that has been taken away, too.

Because Bella is graduating.

And when the day of the ceremony dawns in the middle of June's second week, she strangely feels that she is more than graduating high school - she's graduating from her human life, too.

It is very much like prom in the sense that Bella's attachment to the event isn't whole. She goes through the motions for Charlie, her mind a million miles away. Renee and Phil are unable to make the ceremony, which is probably for the best considering Bella's aesthetic alterations. She wears a truly hideous maroon cap and gown, poses for the pictures, and waits for her name to be called after the valedictorian make his speech; she should have been speaking on that stage, but she'd rejected the offer and the student with the second-best grades got the honor instead. She didn't care. All that really mattered was Charlie being able to see her trot across that stage, shift the dangling tassel to the other side of the cap, and take her diploma. It was a human memory that she was giving him, even if her heart wasn't in it the way it should have been.

Charlie seems to understand her dissonance. He hugs her after the ceremony, his mind ripe with a cleansing coolness that feels an awful lot like permission - to move on, to grow up, to become the person that she was always meant to be and the person that she was well on her way to being already.

She holds onto her father with a flare of desperation, a renewed sense of urgent apprehension in her mind, in her gut.

Charlie was another life that was depending on her decisions, now.

Bella isn't Atlas - and yet there is the weight of the world all around her, beating in the hearts of a thousand humans, present in the ghosts of people killed in Victoria's senseless vendetta.

She removes her cap, twirling it slowly between her hands as she trails Charlie to the cruiser. He's taking her to The Lodge for a celebration dinner of blue steak and twice-baked potatoes. Somehow, over that dinner, her constant anxiety over the situation hardens into steadfast determination.

She's tired of planning - tired of waiting for that other shoe to drop.

Bella is going to tear that shoe off herself and throw it directly into the fire.

It's time.

o.o.o

---

o.o.o

As if her new sense of preparedness had flipped some cosmic switch, the rest of the second week in June is a vortex of events that quickly swirls into an inability to truly track the days in the face of everything going on.

The first thing that happens is that Leah Clearwater does the previously-impossible and phases into a werewolf, breaking every rule of Quileute legends as they were understood. And she's an angry wolf, fierce and vibrating with resentment. She hates Sam. Edward thinks that she has good reason to and Bella is inclined to agree, because nothing about the love triangle between Sam, Leah, and her cousin Emily was handled well - not that it's any of Bella's business. But she files away Leah's rage, wondering if there was something she could do to help in the future. For now, it is enough that Leah is more than eager to rip into enemy vampires and she picks up Jasper's training more quickly than any of the wolves, pinning Felix on her first day.

Bella tells her that she is glorious and Leah, in her wolf form, huffs in some semblance of agreement bolstered by confidence that came with the knowledge of being completely lethal.

The second, third, fourth, and so on things? Those are dedicated to the arrival of a total eleven vampires willing to throw down for the Cullens and Denalis - and all who are strangely wary of the Volturi guards that are ever-present with Bella. Not for the first time, she wonders at Aro's sense of power, more and more certain that he has severely overestimated how much influence he has. Another thing to fix when she had the time.

The Irish coven - Liam, Siobhan, and Maggie - along with the European nomads - Alistair, Charles, and Makenna - all arrive on the same day with a good-natured conversation on who had run fastest from the airport in Portland that still continues even as they unerringly find the Cullen house deep in the woods. All with the exception of Alistair, of course, who while exceptionally good-looking and with a physical age close to late-teens, seems rather droll, almost dour as he droops in the background, staying in the shadows with a cynical edge that keeps him remote from everyone. The excitement of the other's is effective enough to distract attention from him and Bella promptly allows her eyes to pass over him without additional comment. She is intrigued by the gifts of Maggie and Siobhan when she learns of them and is entertained by the way Makenna seems to gravitate toward Rosalie as if the two are old friends.

She almost forgets completely about Alistair until Edward stiffens with surprise at her side. Instead of asking out loud and drawing attention to them, she brushes her fingers over his knuckles, then bites her lip to retain her surprise. Oh. It hadn't been Alistair that caught Edward's attention - it had been Jane. Jane's thoughts, which linger with a familiar obsession as she watches Alistair from afar. An obsession that Bella knows well, actually.

She doesn't say anything, though she does hold Edward's hand and wait for Alistair to notice Jane's covert attention. He never does, too cloistered by his own company and too busy snapping at Carlisle about this or that topic that seems to be an extension of some old argument they have been having for ages.

Bella looks at Jane beneath her lashes, considering the situation. A third thing to fix, then.

The American nomads - Mary, Randall, Garrett - arrive next and each express their wariness about newborn armies. While they had not seen the Southern Wars themselves, they have each heard of them; and Garrett in particular has a long history of self-imposed responsibility taking out orphaned newborns who can't be taught control. He is drawn to Kate without reservation, seemingly enthralled by her ability to take him down with nothing more than a touch. He laughs and asks her to do it again, much to her bafflement.

The single reinforcement called by Jane turns out to be her twin brother, Alec, who is only scant inches taller and has a sardonic air that rivals the sadistic twinge of Jane's general disposition. To Bella's discomfort, he makes a show of bowing to her, lips twisted as he calls her Mistress Isabella. Unfortunately, unlike Felix and recently Jane, she doesn't have any luck in getting Alec to refer to her informally - not even a little bit - though she also has the sense that his refusal is for his own entertainment. She soon learns that Alec's gift is not all that different from Jane's, simply the opposite side of the coin; while Jane can inflict the illusion of pain, ramping senses to a violent level of awareness, Alec's ability is a total sensory deprivation and, as it turns out, both long-range and widespread. Frightening, but very, very useful.

However, he doesn't endear himself to anyone when his first comments are idle complaints about the stench of the wolves and to express his incredulity that their allies would be ravenous beasts because apparently Caius of the Volturi would not stand for such a slight. Bella is quick to reprimand him. "I'll remind you that I am the niece of Caius," she says sharply. "The wolves are off-limits, but I will be more than happy to deal with any fallout that should occur with my uncle."

Alec appraises her with a tilt of his head, but says nothing in return, which is probably for the best.

Later, Sam will thank her for extending her political protection to the Quileute wolves, to which Bella will respond with a wave of her hand. It was nothing more than what she owed them, after all. Half of the teenage boys on the reservation were experiencing high tempers and worrying growth spurts and Sam hadn't made it a secret that it would become a serious issue if this vampire thing wasn't dealt with sooner rather than later.

The last to arrive is Peter, the old Lieutenant of Jasper's, and his mate Charlotte. Peter is nearly as scarred as Jasper and while Charlotte's scars are less in number, Bella has the sense that the sweet-faced female vampire is not to be contended. With their arrival, the air at the Cullen house returns to tension as just the sight of Peter is enough to remind Jasper of the reason they have all gathered.

Just by looking at the military precision of the trio's posture, Bella is also reminded. This is no friendly reunion.

o.o.o

---

o.o.o

In the days that follow, Bella pushes her abilities with a stalwart determination. "I can go again," she huffs, locking her knees so as to not fall down from this strange sense of mental exhaustion that is running rampant over her awareness. She turns her serious gaze to Eleazar, who is hesitating.

He has been working with Bella with control of her secondary shield as both she and Jasper had agreed that with Alec's arrival it was more of a priority to keep their side safe from his power, especially since they were asking him to subdue what is currently a count of twenty-three newborn vampires, something that Alec had reluctantly admitted was a bit more than he was used to. It was a good plan, though, if Bella could just extend - but it goes against everything in her to make that shield bubble outward. Like ripping hair from her roots one stand at a time.

She grits her teeth, looking at Kate instead. "I can," Bella insists, holding her elbow out again. The exercise was a simple one. Kate would turn on her shocking ability and then attempt to lower her hand to Bella's skin; the goal was for Bella's shield to nullify the electricity by the time Kate touched her.

Simple in theory, not so simple in execution. With Bella forcefully locking away her natural ability to absorb Kate's energy, she is leaving herself open like a raw nerve every time Kate touches her. Bella is essentially trying to juggle and tap-dance at the same time - shut down one gift, expand the other. Very hard.

Mele shakes her head from the sidelines, an uncharacteristic furrow of concern on her brow. "You need a break, mtoto."

"Not until I get it right," Bella snaps stubbornly. "Kate. Again."

Kate grimaces, but does as she is bid, wincing when Bella falters as she fails - once again - to extend the second shield out from her skin. Bella pants, her teeth aching to sink into something hot and coppery to soothe the weariness in her bones, in her body.

"Oh, for the love of Selene," Jane gripes from the side, dropping her cloak onto the ground as she marches forward to glare down her nose at Bella. "It can't be that hard. You're just not properly motivated."

And then Jane does the unthinkable - does the expressly forbidden. She turns her devilish gaze onto Edward, who is watching Bella's training tersely beside Eleazar, and sneers in pain-riddled contempt.

Edward snarls in agony, dropping to his knees, effectively drawing the attention from the entire clearing to him - to this scene that will be forever burned in Bella's memory for in the next moment, something in her mind, some barrier that she has been too hesitant to release, snaps. And like breath punched out of her lungs, her second shield springs forward around her mate as she hisses through her teeth.

Edward's pain stops. Bella barely restrains herself from reaching for Jane's hand and draining her to the core. It is a very near thing.

Jane lowers her gaze after a moment. "There," she says. "Now you can do it."

And while her method is completely shitty -

Bella can do it now. She knows, instinctively, that her second shield is never going to have another problem again in doing what Bella demands of it. Still, that doesn't stop her from lividly hissing, "Leave my sight now."

And for the first time, Bella understands that if she wants to be, she can be truly dangerous - because Jane blurs away without a moment of protest, disappearing from view in a nanosecond, and even Mele backtracks from her approach. Bella wonders what she looks like as she shifts to Edward's side. Her eyes must be crazed and wide, her hair a wreck as she cups the sharp angle of his jaw between her palms, quietly assessing his wellness.

I'm uninjured, love. I'm fine, Edward thinks soothingly - and in his mind are memories of his own fretting over her, something so driven by instincts to protect mate, something that he had been feeling for months in the face of the uncertainty. He has already forgotten the feeling of pain that had poured acid-hot over his nerve endings. Edward kisses the corner of her mouth, thinking, I'm fine in repetition until it truly sinks in for Bella.

He's fine. Of course he is. Jane's ability is an illusion of pain. That doesn't make it any easier to witness, though it does make it easier to reconcile.

Jane hadn't really hurt her mate - and so she is forgiven for her actions in short order. They had served a purpose and so this time it is okay. There is no guarantee that Bella would be so quick to understand Jane's motivations.

Still, as ever, Bella is sensible. She stands again, rolling her neck, aware of all the eyes trained on her with apprehension as she turns her focus to Alec. "Begin," she orders sternly. "Try to get as many as possible."

Alec acquiesces - and Bella shields everyone, easy as a thought.

o.o.o

---

o.o.o

Later, she finds Jane listening to EDM music up in a tree - rather shocking, actually, that Jane would enjoy Freezepop - and thanks her for her intervention. Jane watches her with a vermilion gaze, then nods stoically.

"It had to be done," she says, then almost carefully adds. "Most people would be enraged - most are enraged - when I target their mates."

"Oh, I was," Bella says flatly, not bothering the hide the flare of the insidious shadow lurking in its cage, just waiting to be unleashed, and feeling a thrill of sick glee when Jane responds with a moderate leeriness in her posture. "I could have killed you, really, and I might if you ever dare do that again without provocation."

"Yet you didn't retaliate," Jane observes.

"No, I didn't. Because you did me a favor in your own twisted little way and I can appreciate cunning when I see it."

Jane stares at her with bemusement. "You truly are quite a lot like Master Aro."

"I am," Bella agrees with a casual shrug. And then she points out that Alistair hadn't been able to take his eyes off of Jane's retreat, smiling inwardly at the way Jane scowls in embarrassment.

And maybe it's because Bella sees something familiar in Jane, something of herself, but she can't help liking the other vampire. She's pretty sure that Jane likes her, too, which is probably rare for Jane who has had centuries of holding herself away from the world - of living day in and day out with a darkness in her mind that Bella feels in herself as well.

She will understand later that this is the start of a certain kind of enduring friendship.

o.o.o

---

o.o.o

"We're agreed, then," Jasper intones several nights later, arms crossed over his chest as he stands - with Bella and Sam - in the middle of the baseball clearing with the assortment of their allies gathered in a loose formation around them, all ears trained on clarifying the final details.

They have been discussing the final version of their plan, a bait-and-switch variety that played directly into enemy hands. A straight-forward plan, but flexible enough that it was almost certain that they would be successful. All of their information was up to date with Dimitri's frequent reports to Bella - the newborn army had settled at an uneasy twenty-six vampires and Victoria seemed to grow more restless by the day. It was time.

Sam, in his human form, shifts on his feet, his scent catching on the wind. She does her best not to wrinkle her nose because she respects Sam and he can't help that he smells like rangy, wet dog to vampires - and even hybrids smell like overly-ripened fruit to the werewolf nose. He catches her reaction though, the corner of his mouth kicking up in amusement. "Sunday morning," he confirms.

"We'll have cloud cover and a thunderstorm over the Olympic range," Bella reiterates. "Weather won't be changing, according to Alice."

"And the lure?" Jasper asks.

They all ignore Edward's displeased hiss, Bella with a bit more difficulty. She plucks at her flannel shirt. "We'll send this off with Irina in about an hour," she says, then looks over her shoulder at the vampire in question.

Irina nods, stepping away from her sisters. "I'll take the shirt to Laurent," she continues, confident in her role. "As far as Victoria and Maria will be concerned, I have defected from your ranks to be with my mate - and I will pass along the information that all of the vampires will be in this clearing on Sunday, saying nothing of the wolves."

Sam speaks up again, taking the torch as they all take turns relaying this plan. "The pack will be on the south side of the clearing, beneath the mountain."

"Alec and Jane on the west end up in the trees, the covens gathered toward the north side waiting for my signal," says Jasper.

Bella sighs with a self-effacing smile. "And Edward and I leaving a trail of my scent from the east to bait the newborns right where we want them."

The plan is a good one. Everyone is satisfied; everyone has a role to play. Well, everyone aside from Edward, who was not best pleased at all that Bella would be used as bait. It had been a long discussion between them as they both sought logic over his innate drive to keep her safe, out of harms way. Even if he knew intellectually that Bella was strong enough to take care of herself, to protect herself, it was still a tough pill to swallow - and she felt the same way, wanting him as far away from the action as possible, even though with his telepathy Edward was one of the most skilled fighters they had on their side. They were both needed to end this once and for all. It helped, perhaps, that Felix and Dimitri - when he returned from Seattle the next day - would be at Bella's back the entire time.

That was the plan. That was the compromise.

It had to work.

o.o.o

---

o.o.o

Bella calls Aro and winds up leaving a voicemail that rambles through the plan with her tongue tripping over itself to betray her nerves. "Don't - there's nothing to worry about, Grandfather, we do have a plan. But there's so much I'll need to tell you to explain in person and - I'll call you afterward, okay? I love you."

She stares down at the phone after she hangs up.

There's a pinch of anxiety in her stomach and a dull burn in her throat. She needs to hunt, to sleep, and to get through the next twenty-four hours with all of her allies and loved-ones intact. And it seems like these are needs common to everyone as mates and covens disappear into the Olympic territory to prepare themselves for war - many of the human-drinkers, including Jane and Alec, running down to the south of the Washington to solidify their strength - because it is a war that they are about to fight.

No room for error.

"Mountain lion sounds really good," she mutters to herself, slipping from Carlisle's office in search for her mate and the unavoidable presence of Felix, who stuck to her more firmly than glue. Maybe she could talk him into trying the vegetarian diet…

o.o.o

---

o.o.o

There is, of course, a few loose ends. Their top priority is to protect the people of Forks, which is why Carlisle, Esme, Eleazar, and Carmen would be stationed around the hospital and highway just in case any stray newborns got out of the pocket Bella intended to trick them into.

For Bella, though, her father is her main priority in terms of safety. Charlie is stronger than the average human, sure, but he would not stand up to a newborn and they smell similar enough - according to the everyone - that it was possible that a newborn would become confused and seek out the police station or the Swan household, instead.

And so with that in mind, Bella pulls her father aside. "Dad," she says seriously. "You need to be in La Push this weekend until all of this is over. I'm asking Mele to guard you and the rest of the reservation at the treaty line with Leah Clearwater."

Charlie wants to balk, she can tell. It must be terribly emasculating to receive orders from his own daughter, but he must sense that she will entertain no arguments about this, because he begrudgingly agrees. "But you'll call me as soon as the smoke clears?"

Bella wonders if he knows that he is not speaking in metaphor - then nods, because it was a small request to fulfill, especially after she has asked him to forsake his duty as Chief and trust in vampires to take care of the citizens of his hamlet town in his stead.

"I promise, Dad," she whispers, pulling him into a fierce hug. "As soon as this is all over, you're the first one I'll call."

o.o.o

---

o.o.o

The night before the battle sees Bella at the Cullen house, admiring the roses of the wrought-iron bedframe he has just finished putting together - a piece of furniture that dominated the room both physically and the implication with how it might be used. She fights down a flush rising on her cheeks. Edward hadn't bought the bed for that - well, for only that. And he'd already endured more than enough ribbing from Emmett when it had arrived that she didn't wish to add any misapprehension.

Edward bought this bed for her - so she could sleep at the Cullen house, more specifically so she could sleep in an area permeated with his scent rather than the spring-cloud linen of the guest room. She appreciates the gesture and says as much as she helps him pull ecru-hued sheets over the mattress, soon followed by a luxurious down comforter in harvest gold with golden metallic geometric print pressed into the silken fabric. That the bed more comfortably fits two bodies than the double-mattress at Charlie's house is beside the point.

Or maybe the exact point, she mentally corrects as Edward zips around the room, cleaning up cardboard and plastic packaging with an abashed bearing to his shoulders. There's a nervous energy to him that she can't quite place - although she knows it isn't because of what will happen within the next twelve hours. Something else has riddled her mate's mind with anxiety. She's patient, though, and she trusts that he'll clue her in when the time is right.

Bella goes to his bedroom door, greeting Felix and Dimitri - who had returned not an hour earlier - with raised brows. She doesn't try her luck in inquiring to where Jane or Alec are, trusting that Jane had relegated Felix to personal-guard for the time being, maybe because Jane had learned to listen when Bella spoke or because she had something else that required her attention. Right now, it didn't matter to Bella so long as the witch-twins would be at their post come dawn; now, if only she could effectively shoo her other guards away.

Not likely, as much as it pains her to admit it.

"Honestly, you need to hunt," she says to Felix, still a bit baffled that he'd refused even the idea of animal blood earlier in spite of his eyes being so dark they might as well be black cherries set inside his skull. Dimitri isn't faring much better. "Run to Port Angeles for a snack, or something. I'll be fine here."

Felix's lips stretch into a lavish smile. "Principessa, that is exactly my worry - that you will perhaps be too fine," he teases.

She rolls her eyes with a long-suffering sigh. "I thought you were under my orders right now?"

"Yes," Dimitri agrees placidly. "After, of course, direct edicts of Master Aro's are observed."

"Believe me when I say that I have no immediate plans of compromising my virtue," she says pointedly.

"These things are never planned," says Felix.

She ignores him and the burning in her cheeks. "Consider this a new order, then," she tries, gripping the door handled a touch too hard when she hears Edward's muffled laughter from inside the room. "I demand that you both be well-fed for the upcoming battle, so I am sending you away under threat of some kind of punishment that I will be more than happy to invent! Your orders from my Grandfather will just have to be satisfied by a certain psychic in the house who I'm sure would have no trouble at all breaking up any improper moments between myself and my mate."

Felix pretends to hem and haw for a moment, but she knows that she's got him. It helps that sending him away with Dimitri also ensured they had time to reconnect after Dimitri's absence, something which they could not do if they were busy babysitting Aro's half-breed granddaughter. And obviously, with at least ten other vampires in the house, and another six in the immediate surrounding area, there wasn't exactly enough privacy or opportunity to do anything untoward with her mate. Unfortunately.

Dimitri bows his head. "As you say, Mistress. We will make ourselves scarce for the time being."

Bella waits until they have disappeared from the third floor before she closes the door, leaning against it as her head tilts backward with a thud against the wood. Edward is smiling at her as he loiters near his music collection and she wrinkles her nose at in in mock-distaste before grabbing her overnight bag and easing into his bathroom, leaving the door partially open as she swiftly changed into pajamas and braided her hair. Because she has been well-sated by frequent hunts and Esme's cooking of the blood-laced recipes Bella is fond of, all she needs is a good night of sleep to be fully prepared and on top of her game the next day. Though, of course, easier said than done, as she soon discovers that while Edward's new bed is remarkably comfortable, she is too keyed up to sleep if he continues to insist on meandering around his room instead of joining her.

After a half-hour of this nonsense, she sits up and pats the bedding beside her in silent beckoning. Thankfully, he doesn't make her beg for his presence out loud; she can only imagine what Emmett would do with that as cannon-fodder, as if Emmett needed more material to tease anyone with, let alone the only virgins in the house at the moment.

As he settles next to her, Bella turns onto her side to place her head over his sternum, listening to the whisper of breath passing in and out of his lungs beside his eternally-quiet heart. She traces the knuckles on the hand he has placed over his stomach, eliciting a low murmur of pleasure at her touch even as his mind blooms - open, chaotic, utterly beautiful - to her own.

They're all fascinated by the idea of you, he says after a moment, mind echoing with a hundred different sentiments marveling over the existence of a half-human, half-vampire anything, let alone one that is gifted and seemingly completely functional. The best of both worlds by the estimation of some of their guests.

She taps the backside of his hand. Do they even realize what it takes to make someone like me exist in the first place?

Liam suspects and Tanya has already asked Esme, he admits freely. But Alistair has put it together himself and the idea is disturbing to him…

It's disturbing to me, too, Bella confesses - because it is still true that sometimes her dreams are haunted by the memories she has taken from Aro and Sulpicia's minds, those etchings of human women screaming as their babies claw out of their stomachs, like an actual scene from that horrible Alien movie, or something. And maybe her relatives hadn't cared, but Bella did, and perhaps that was the mark of her humanity in spite of her birthright. Then, thinking again of Alistair, He trusts the Volturi less because of this, doesn't he?

He doesn't trust anyone, not even Carlisle.

Bella weighs the gravity of that, suddenly saddened by the very thought of not being able to trust even those who were closest to her. But then again, she has a built-in guarantee about truth, doesn't she? Just like other telepaths, or Maggie - and something that Alistair, who had an unspeakably violent introduction into his eternal life, was severely lacking. He was suspicious by nature, more so when confronted with change. Then this thing with Jane…they are mates, right?

They could be happy. They compliment each other.

Bella represses a snort at Edward's diplomatic way of saying Alistair is just cynical enough to tolerate Jane's severity. But was it enough? The magnetism mates feel toward each other aside, neither had made any overtures toward each other. Bella wasn't even sure that Jane and Alistair had shared a word, let alone a conversation.

Alice isn't worried and neither should you be, Edward continues placatingly. You can't fix everything, love, although I know you want to try.

Bella suppresses her flinch at the realization that she hadn't been nearly as subtle with her concerns over the future of Volturi rule as she'd thought. She doesn't sense anything negative from Edward, though, just a curiosity toward her reasoning. And so it isn't difficult to show him memories she'd pulled from Aro's mind - the outline for a new world order that took all of human potential into consideration.

Aro's vision for world peace isn't a bad one, she asserts gently.

No, it's not, Edward agrees. He curls his arm tighter around her back, pulling her more firmly against the side of his torso until her thigh bumps over his knee, bent just enough that most of her is pressed against most of him. Intimate, but not necessarily sexual.

He can't do it by himself, though, and it's clear that my Uncles aren't going to be helpful. Their ways are outdated.

And your motivations are noble, Edward concedes. But is it truly a good idea?

She sighs. We can live in secrecy for only so long, considering the rapid expansion of technology and the billions of humans that outnumber vampires…Don't you get tired of the dark? I don't want eternity hiding from the sun. With revelation will come equality and peace. I believe that.

I believe in you, he thinks as he presses a sweet kiss to the crown of her head. His hand plays over her fingers, lingering over a particular one for long enough that his mind unwittingly flashes with an image of a particular ring - and then Edward steels himself. I adore you, Bella…

Wait! She thinks, sitting up in one fluid movement to brace herself over his chest, her eyes wide as she stares down at him. His heavy brow knits together and she knows that he is trying to stave off the hurt that radiates from her apparent rejection. Bella shakes her head, pushing bronze hair away from his face with a lighthearted smile. Save it, she tells him. Don't taint your proposal with this uncertainty hanging over our heads. I want to remember the way you ask without it being marred by all this stress.

Edward's hand skims up her arm to curve around the base of her skull, dragging her into an impassioned kiss even as he thinks, I can't wait to marry you…but I can wait to propose.

I can't wait to say yes.

o.o.o

---

o.o.o

June 19th.

Even before her eyes have opened to fully greet the morning sun beyond the clouds, she knows that the day will be an important one - monumental, even, in her life journey. The kind of day that people look back on with a sense of wonderment and the ability to definitively say, "That right there - that's the day that made me who I am."

A parenthetical feeling follows her throughout the motions of her morning ablutions. Comb the hair into a twist to keep the length from being used against her; dress in clothes that fit tight to the skin so her momentum won't be compromised; sturdy shoes; clean teeth. It's June 19th, an important day.

And the feeling continues, like a slow build of inertia that is just waiting for impact. She greets her guards and her family and the new people she might call friends, drinks her coffee-and-blood, kisses her mate - and still, it is June 19th, an important day.

Bella runs with the rest of the vampires to the baseball clearing, taking the long route at the last minute so that she enters from a strategic angle, leaving Felix and Dimitri and Edward to find the clearing by themselves as she nicks her thumb on the prick of her distended fang over and over - a pattern of cut, drip, heal as she makes an irresistible bread crumb to her eventual location. She is still sucking the residual blood from her thumb when she ambles at human speed into the clearing, catching everyone in their places exactly as they are meant to be. She cannot see the wolves and the witch-twins are equally as hidden. Before she can take more than two steps into the clearing to find her own place next to Edward and near to Jasper, Felix has already fallen in line behind her.

It is June 19th and everyone is uncommonly solemn, playing at skirmishes to make it look like they are indeed training - just as the enemy has been led to believe by Irina. They purposely have their backs turned to the east so as to "be surprised" and Bella is closest to the center, all of it predetermined, none of it by accident. Several times, her eyes stray to Alice only to receive a shake of the head. Not yet. The day is important, but it hasn't started yet - not really.

This time, though, the waiting game is not a long one and soon enough, there is the rustle of leaves beneath two dozen feet far off in the forest. Bella shivers with awareness when the footfalls stop, slowly turning on her heel to see her self-declared enemy.

Victoria has the gaunt, broken-strings bearing of a vampire with a lost mate, all untamed firebrand curls, dirty skin, and black eyes set into a glaring snarl as she digs her toenails into the damp earth beneath her feet, roving and growling and prowling at Bella and the allies. By all appearances, Victoria could care less about the seething, hungry newborn army behind her, but that appears to be par for the course, as the newborns - with the exception of one college-aged male - don't appear to care about their would-be sire, either. Instead, the scarred, now-familiar face of Maria is the one that cows the newborns into submission as she stands with power despite her small stature with her hand held high, as if waiting to give a signal.

At the sight of Maria, Jasper growls from Bella's side, a frothing sort of hatred and resentment that billows from his pores and is not tamed by Alice's brief touch to his shoulder. In response to the outpour of Jasper's empathic ability, the allies shift and stifle growls of their own - with the exception of Bella, who is too busy centering herself, toying with her shield to stretch like rubber from away from her even as she tangles her hand with Edward's. She taps into his telepathy and reaching mentally for both Laurent and Irina, who are both standing protectively in front of a tiny teenager with chin-length black hair.

Dive left, she tells them - right before all hell breaks loose.

Everything happens very quickly. As per the plan, from the trees Alec releases his ability on the unsuspecting arm of newborns, focusing on the newly-bitten with unlimited strength with as much precision as possible. It is immediately evident when it happens, as terrified, rage-fueled screaming rips into the air; several of the newborns begin to thrash in panic, taking each other out. Maria, Victoria, and the one blond male notice and slip away, stepping further into the field - and then the college-aged male vampire is down, writing under Jane's power.

The Quileute wolves - Sam, Jared, and Paul - charge out of the forest, snarling as they each lunge onto the nearest newborn. And then Jasper races forward, thus inciting the signal for the rest of the allies to crowd the overwhelmed newborn army. Bella remains focused on her shield, holding it in place over select vampires even as they rip limbs from torsos, which is certainly more challenging than she had assumed, even with all of her practice. Her nose begins to bleed by the time she notices that the newborn army has been cut down by half in the space of three minutes.

A shriek echoes through the clearing as Jasper tears Maria's head from her body, his back guarded by Alice and Peter-

Victoria laughs manically and darts into the trees -

"No!" Bella shouts and that is when she stops really thinking. She drops her shield and races after Victoria with Edward at her side, hands still clasped together. That is the only reason she registers that her diversion from the plan hadn't landed any of the allies in hot water; as soon as he realized that Bella had dropped her shield, Alec had immediately stopped his ability and he and Jane waded directly into the fray while Dimitri and Felix took Bella's cover, keeping any newborns from following her and Edward.

She has never run so fast in her new life as she did just then - she is certain that more branches bow under the force of she and Edward's speed than ever before as they follow Victoria. It's a challenge, because something about Victoria's gift for evasion makes Edward's telepathy faulty. That is, until Bella snarls with exertion and forces her mind into Victoria's through Edward's range, unheeding of the fresh rivet of blood that drips from her nose and down her chin in response and studiously ignoring the flare of pain from her mate's mind as he grits his teeth against what is a gross intrusion of his ability. She's already forgiven for it the second she does it, though. It's more important that Victoria not be allowed to escape -

They bypass Leah Clearwater at the treaty line. They don't even slow to offer an explanation. It wasn't necessary. Leah would have followed Victoria herself, but only she and Mele were protecting the people of La Push and it wasn't clear if that red-haired bloodsucker was the only leech to come through - and then Bella and Edward appeared right on Victoria's tail and it ceased to matter.

Victoria flies over First Beach, carried by some instinct that allows her to remain unseen by any curious humans - and thankfully they are all very, very fast to the human eye, just in case any Quileutes decided to defy the edict to stay indoors. The tall cliffs that divide Second Beach are climbed with alacrity and then quite suddenly, Victoria has nowhere to go. She skids to a stop at the end of the tallest cliff, bare feet kicking stones down, down, down into the roiling ocean below.

Bella releases Edward's hands as they separate, one at each of Victoria's angles of escape. Victoria's black eyes, shadowed by heavy rings of purple and below a maniacal, rabid grin, roll between them at dizzying speed.

"Victoria," Edward says carefully -

"You killed him! You killed James! Jamie, Jamie, my James!" she screams as she stabs her finger at him.

"And you killed a lot of innocent people," Bella responds flatly.

"Innocent?" Victoria echoes. "No, no, no, not innocent - they're going to help me get my James back! They agreed! You killed him and I'm going to kill you! She promised!"

"I hate to break it to you, but Maria is dead and so are all your little helpers," Edward says.

"You're next," Bella quickly adds, advancing on Victoria with measured steps, her hands held out as Edward mirrors her pace by pace. "All it takes is a touch."

It's a challenge - and a forewarning that Victoria honestly doesn't deserve for all the untold damage she has caused, for all the lives she has ruined.

Victoria rears back, a jerk of her head and a tilt of her eyes as she flicks her eyes backward to the ocean below. And Bella knows exactly what Victoria is planning to do before she even reaches the decision herself - which is why when Victoria flings herself off the cliff, Bella is only a second behind, followed by Edward's roaring protest.

It's June 19th and Victoria can't be allowed to get away.

The ocean current is strong. If she'd still been human, Bella would have been taken by the undertow or even the admittedly frigid temperature. As it is, she's always been a strong swimmer and no matter how dark and excessively deep the water is, Victoria's fiery hair is a beacon that cannot be hidden by its salty depths.

Bella's hands close - hard, unforgiving claws - onto Victoria and she doesn't hesitate -

She lets that shadowy, hungry, insidious thing in her mind out of its cage, mouth full of ocean as her eyes roll back in her head - an undeniable sensation of pleasure, of satiation as she unleashes the beast of her nature of Victoria's unsuspecting mind. Drinking in all that energy, all that agony. Relishing in it. Shuddering as she floats to the surface with her fingers sunk deep into ashen, immobile flesh - full for the first time in her life, it seems.

Nothing can beat that sensation, that level of fulfillment she has just obtained by draining the life from Victoria's body - absorbing everything that Victoria was or would ever be. Not blood, not food, not water. Not even sex, she's betting.

Bella's head surfaces, followed by the loll of Victoria's lifeless body still in her grasp. She kicks her legs to keep herself afloat, trying to gauge how far from shore she is - and then Edward's water-logged hair pops up beside her, his eyes wide as he assesses the situation. He nods to himself. "We have to burn her," he says, helping Bella tow Victoria's body to shore, where he sees to the dismemberment as Bella gathers logs for a fire.

Victoria's head goes in the flames first. Bella thinks that Edward might enjoy the sight just a bit too much, but she doesn't say anything. How can she when it's so clear that she is the real monster in this situation? She thinks that the heinous thing she has just done - for the right reasons - might haunt her for the rest of her life. And even now while Victoria's body burns, she wonders if she hadn't just unleashed the beast in her mind for good because it feels too easy that it had went back into its cage so easily.

Not important at the moment.

It is June 19th and it is an important day. It is the day that Bella committed murder, a crime she would never be tried for and an act that took her one step further away from the humanity she'd been losing since she hit puberty, since James bit her, since she was born - part of her humanity that she will never get back.

Bella hunches in on herself, arms wrapped tightly around her torso as if to contain the thrumming vitality that has just bloomed in her. Soaking wet as she may be, she's almost certain that the influx of Victoria's energy has flushed her skin to an even more human appearance. Edward, done with his task, comes up behind her, pulling her firmly against his chest with his chin over the top of her head. They watch the driftwood flames, dancing blue and green, lift into a plume of sweet smelling deep purple smoke and they wait until the embers burn themselves out.

Bella exhales. "Is it over?"

Instead of answering, Edward's head turns to greet the figure of Leah Clearwater as she jogs up the beach to their location dressed in a checkered sundress that contrasts sharply with her russet complexion and short-cropped hair.

"Think I can answer that for you," she says by way of greeting, nodding at them grimly before launching into a full run-down of the battle as told from the pack-mind perspective of the wolves, scowling any time she is forced to mention Sam's victories. All newborns, except for the one called Bree that Laurent had sired as a means of mercy, are dead and accounted for. Then Leah adds, "That glary little blonde leech is scary as fuck - took down two that were edging on some emo-looking bloodsucker just like that."

Despite herself, Bella smiles at the mental image. "Yeah," she agrees fondly. "That's probably why she's my grandfather's favorite."

"Maybe not anymore," Edward observes wryly and Bella is forced to agree with him. Aro didn't have a single guard in his collection that could kill as efficiently as she could - and that made her more valuable than she cares to admit.

Bella closes her eyes.

It's June 19th and she will never be quite the same again.

o.o.o

---

o.o.o

Dear Grandfather,

Although I have already called to inform you of our sound victory, I feel it prudent to include the exact details of the battle so that it may be recorded and incorporated into the Volturi records - you will find the attached debrief on the next page.

I should like to inform you that I am also attaching the itinerary for my planned trip to Italy next month so that you will know when to expect me. We have a lot of things to discuss - about me and about the future. Nothing to worry about, I don't think. But I'm sure you will have a different opinion in light of what I have to say. It is possible that I will be pushing my luck as your blood, but that is left to be determined for another time.

Please know that the danger has passed - and I am returning your guards to you in one piece. Thank you for the loan of their expertise, but Grandfather, you'll find that I am decidedly not thankful for some particulars of their interference, when I have learned is your doing. We will also have words about that!

All my love,

Your Granddaughter Isabella

o.o.o

---

o.o.o

The send-off of the guests is anti-climatic for the most part.

The Irish coven is the first to depart, quickly followed by most of the nomads - except for Alistair, who has concluded that he is not willing to leave Jane now that he had realized the draw they felt toward each other was not, in fact, some kind of interference from one of the gifted vampires. Bella later learns that Alistair had primarily suspected Siobhan of willing a mating bond into place, apparently something that a paranoid mind would believe.

The Denalis are the last to leave and they wander off with an addition to their coven. Young Bree Tanner, the progeny of Laurent, and now an adopted daughter to the coven, has turned out to be gifted with a sense of evasion, as well; though apparently, she can also detect safety and has rightly identified the Denali coven of being her safe harbor as she is ushered into this new life.

Surprisingly, it is somewhat difficult to see off the Volturi guard who have been at Bella's beck and call for nearly three weeks. Bella passes Jane the letter she has written for Aro, surprises Jane with a hug, and then wrings out a promise that Jane would show her around the sights in Volterra that girls their age would be interested in. Jane agrees in her stilted way, then drifts over to Alistair; Alec follows after dropping into a deep bow that makes Bella grit her teeth because she knows definitively that he only pays her such respects just to be annoying. Remarkably, Felix and Dimitri seem reluctant to part ways and they are only convinced to leave once Bella reiterates that she would be following them to Italy come July for a long-awaited visit.

But the hardest of all is Mele's decision to leave. "For the moment, mtoto, you do not need me. But should you ever require me, I will feel your call," she says as she presses a firm kiss to the center of Bella's forehead.

It is probably a good thing that Edward is there to support Bella's emotional state once the Cullen house is empty of everyone except for the Cullens - because she struggles not to cry at the departure of people who have become very dear to her in so little time. For Bella, who had never been particularly close with anyone, it is most alarming to be so bereft by such peaceable departures - but then, she had cried when Aro and Sulpicia returned to Italy, had she not?

Perhaps she has been underestimating her emotional capabilities for all this time.

And maybe for that reason, she doesn't need to worry about that shadow caged in her mind - not if she can feel this deeply for so many different people.

o.o.o

---

o.o.o

Bella takes stock of her body as she stands alone in her room for the first time that month, wiggling her fingers, stretching her limbs, tracking the thrum of vitality that swishes through her body with every heavy thud of her singular heartbeat.

She feels good. Too good.

She hadn't slept the night before - even though she was surely do for some kind of rest by now, nearly a week after the battle. But there is no sense of fatigue, no exhaustion in the lag of her steps or the blink of her eyes. She's still pumped full of energy - and she knows why. The force that is keeping Bella going right now isn't blood or food or sleep.

It's the trace of Victoria's energy that is sustaining her now.

Bella feels sick and vertigo strikes her hard enough that she slumps down onto her bed, wrapping her arms tightly around her body - something she'd been doing more and more as the unnatural energy still shook with vibrancy in her cells.

I'm a monster, she reflects numbly.

Emmett had been right - Bella was essentially a psychic vampire, too.

Oh, God.

How does she deal with that? And how long was this energy going to last until she needed another fix - would she need another fix? Six days going strong and before that there had been an inkling, an itch in her mind as that insidious shadow moved and salivated - but it had been manageable. Hadn't it? It acted only in defense, right?

More importantly, though, was the question that was philosophical in nature - was Bella the monster or was she the host of the monster?

No clear, immediate answers come to mind. What to do, then? Science would say observe; fiction would indicate the same. Self-observation it was, then.

She stands and rifles through her desk in search of a blank notebook, which she locates easily enough along with a pen. And then she starts writing - beginning at the very start of last August, she jots down everything pertinent to the evolution that is her existence, keeping to the exacting facts so that she can understand the progression. She leaves nothing out.

And that is how Bella Swan begins a somewhat neurotic habit of journaling every night at exactly nine.

In retrospect, journaling is the reason that she reaches any kind of healthy closure after such a series of traumatic events.

Of course, as with most things in her life, that's just a theory.

o.o.o

---

o.o.o

"That boy is going to propose," Charlie says conversationally one afternoon toward the end of June. He's been following Bella around for fifteen minutes as she matriculated around the house as she finished readying herself for a date with Edward. Her father has a misty glittering to his eye as he watches her pin her hair away from her face with a mother-of-pearl pin that Sulpicia had sent her last year.

"Yes, I know," she mumbles around a matching pin that she has bitten between her teeth as she fusses clumsily with her hair. She's not very good at styling her tresses in anything that didn't involve a hairband; bobby pins, even fancy ones from her grandmother, were just beyond her scope. She huffs and pulls the first one out of her hair, starting all over again.

Charlie shifts against the bathroom doorway. "And you're going to say yes."

"I am," she agrees, successfully placing one of the pins and then the other, effectively sweeping one side of her hair away from her neck to better show off the Peter-pan collar of the mulberry floral dress she has selected for the occasion. She's just as observant as Charlie, and after all, Edward really couldn't hide much from her without putting a lot of effort into it - she's known what this night would entail for the better part of a week and has talked herself off the ledge of nervousness twice already. Which is probably why her mate hadn't bothered to hide his plans, now that she's thinking about it.

Clever, thoughtful boy.

"You're all grown up, Bells."

She turns at the wobble in Charlie's tone, taking in the vast expression of emotion on his face - and does not hesitate to fold herself into her father's embrace. As hard as this year has been for her, it's been just as hard for Charlie, maybe even more difficult considering the fact that finding her place in the world effectively removes her from his. She's immortal, graduated, and now she's about to be engaged. It's a lot to handle for anyone. For a father, it must be something like the seventh circle of hell - but he's being a good sport about it all, content to let her make her own choices and walk her own path.

"Daddy, I want you to know that I really did try to grow up slow," she utters into his shoulder.

He squeezes her just that bit tighter. "I know, kid. I know."

The thing was that Bella had already grown up before any of this happened - she was ready with fate beckoned her with an idle hand. She hoped that fact made this easier for Charlie in the long run.

He releases her with a gruff clearing of his throat, eyes darting down to her feet, his mustache pulling into an amused twitching smile. "You really going to wear those shoes on a day like this?"

Bella blinks down at her wheat-brown hiking boots and port-wine socks and then up at her father with her eyes widened in incredulity. "Dad, are you giving me fashion advice?"

He badly muffles his chortles, too entertained by half. "Maybe you should have Rosalie or Alice pick out the wedding dress, kid."

"Unbelievable!" she calls at his quickly-retreating back, fighting the urge to stomp her foot childishly. "Just for that, I'm making you dance twice!"

"The horror!" Charlie guffaws from downstairs.

Bella laughs until her stomach aches and mirthful tears gather in her eyes.

o.o.o

---

o.o.o

The onset of summer weather, while still moderately cloudy and certainly cooler than a June in Arizona, has ripened the blooms of the meadow in a full spectrum of richly hued and magnificently fragrant wildflowers. They have run hand-in-hand to this place that signifies the beginning of their relationship, relaxed and at peace with the world beneath the sunset seeping through wispy clouds on the horizon. The sun that does peek through is a stunning cardinal red, the clouds dyed in shades ranging from canary to violet to tangerine.

She has always loved him best in the sun. The sight of Edward shimmering in the setting sunlight is nothing short of breathtaking, the light refracting against the vivid verdant of the surrounding meadow just right that - for a moment - his eyes appear bright apple green rather than the honeyed sunglow that betrays his immortality and it is almost as if he is human. Just for a second. Just long enough for Bella to remember how painfully beautiful he sometimes is. Funny how a trick of the light can manage a feat so extraordinary.

"You seem nervous," she observes with a delighted smile after they have watched the entirety of the sunset. Bella is snugly secure with her back against his chest as he sits in the direct center of the meadow, legs splayed on either side of her hips, his hands tapping an unnamed melody against her cardigan-covered wrists.

Edward pauses, shifting minutely beneath her weight. "Well, I am about to put my ego at risk."

Bella cranes her neck as she twists around to better view his face, the unsettled clenching and unclenching of his jaw as he visibly gathers himself. It's positively adorable. Her most feminine inclination is to thrill at his obvious nerves, even as they both know the purpose for this moment and how significant it is. She will always marvel and be humbled by how thorough his regard for her is, how she can make him feel just as overwrought as he makes her feel.

"Is that supposed to be a joke? I must be missing the punchline - or for a vampire, you have a remarkably poor memory," she razzes fondly, reaching up to trace the jittering shape of his lush lips with the barest touch of her fingers before smoothing her palm in an upward caress from chin to temple, ending with her hand carding gently through his tousled hair.

Her touch seems to have performed some magic, taming the edginess from his demeanor. Edward leans into her hand, smiling with a boyish charm and a twinkle to his eye. "Now you really are wounding my ego."

"Imagine all the pain you could avoid if you would just ask the question," is her mellow response.

"Isabella Swan, I promise to love you every moment, forever," he murmurs, looking at her from beneath his lashes, gaze soft. Edward takes her left hand tenderly with his own, carefully straightening each of her fingers before reverently sliding a platinum ring onto her finger. His mother's ring fits as perfectly as kismet with a long, oval face and a cluster of slanted diamonds that is timeless and demure. Even as she studies the ring, heart throbbing with painful clarity, she registers the way Edward's mind wonders over the way it looks on her hand - her lips twitch at the proprietary edge to his thoughts that mingle so sweetly with his adoration. "Would you do me the extraordinary honor of marrying me?"

Her answer is a soul-searing kiss and a resounding, fiercely joyful yes.

o.o.o

---

o.o.o

That is June

---

A/N: Yes, the proposal is both a reference to that one part of New Moon (book) and the actual proposal from Eclipse (movie, but since I haven't and won't watch it, I had to go hunt it down on the Google). As the proposal is pretty important, I didn't want to screw it up by even attempting to write it myself so there it is. I borrowed. Shameful, isn't it? (And only now have I realized that I didn't post a disclaimer anywhere on this damn story. Shoot. Don't sue me!)

A big thank you to a certain someone for giving me advice about particular characters in this chapter - you know who you are, dollface. And to another certain someones for keeping me going online - darlings, you have my undying gratitude, for I'm certain I would have rushed important scenes and skipped out on details in my haste to write this more quickly.

To get a jump on the question of "Why did you include Maria?" - to be perfectly honest, you guys, it never made sense to me that Victoria would be able to create a freakin' newborn army all by herself. I mean, not that we know much about her character in the first place, she always struck me as sort of craven and crazy so it didn't seem realistic that she would have sired twenty vampires all by herself. Even Maria had partners at first. Also, I just don't freaking like Maria and it did seem plausible that she'd be looking to troll the world with another series of wars, this time in the North rather than the South; also, how rude was it of SM to not give Jasper that closure of killing Maria in the first place? I mean, come on, she kind of dicked Carlisle out of retribution too, now that I think of it…

For anyone who cares, I am very much aware that I've been spelling Dimitri's name different from canon; let me assure you that is completely intentional, mostly because I wanted him to be Romanian because why the hell not? Plus, I just like the spelling better. Although, if anyone is interested, based on the etymology of Demitri in the canon-spelling, it's pretty likely that SM might have meant for him to be Greek, as that is the earliest form of the name. Also, apparently he was sired by Amun? The more you know!

Also, I'm kind of really super disgusting with peanut better - if you can conceivably dip it, I've dunked it into my personal jar (labeled with chicken-scratch Sharpie) at least once. And let me tell you, my jar of natural crunchy has been traumatized by the writing of this chapter.

As always, be brutally honest. I can take it.

~cupcakeriot