Temporal Tide

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, nor any of its characters or franchises, I am not making money for this, so please don't sue me.

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Chapter 13

Bella

Tanya's lips were warm and smooth.

Her kiss was tentative, firm but slow. She gently laid her fingers on my waist and pulled me closer. The sweet scent of raspberry almonds filled my senses as I gradually pulled away, my head buzzed with warmth as I peered into Tanya's face to gauge her reaction.

The smile she graced me with was full of fervent affection. Her eyes traced my features as she stroked my cheek.

"Is this our first kiss?" Tanya asked in a hushed murmur, her face suffused with soft joy.

I nodded shyly, more than a little speechless.

Leaning forward, she laid her forehead against mine, our noses touching slightly as we breathed in the same air.

"It's even better the second time around."

I blinked.

"Have we kissed before?" I asked in a stunned manner. After all, I'd kissed her on an impulse; it hadn't even occurred to me that I might have done it before in my future – the past.

Tanya grinned at me through half lidded eyes as she gently bit her bottom lip.

"Among other things." She answered with a seductive quirk of her lips.

Flustered and a bit conflicted, I wasn't sure how to react. On one hand thinking about those 'other things' caused a tingle of desire to start low in my belly. On the other, I felt uncomfortable with the implication that I wasn't in control of my future.

Like it was already set in stone.

Tanya must have seen the unease on my face, because she was suddenly hastening to reassure me. Fortunately, she seemed to have misread the source of my discomfort.

"I mean, our first kiss was great; but I'm afraid I bumbled it up a bit." She replied with sheepish mirth.

Quirking my head slightly I gave her an inquiring look.

"I –ah, had a clumsy moment." She said trailing off with a mildly embarrassed expression.

"You had a clumsy moment…" I repeated slowly, trying to wrap my head around what she was telling me.

She nodded.

"As a vampire." I reiterated.

Pouting slightly, Tatyana again nodded.

"How is that even possible?" I asked, choosing in that moment to ignore all the times I'd stumbled and slammed into things in my second life. All of them had happened as I was fading in or out, so in my opinion they didn't count.

"I was showing off… and got a bit careless."

Laughing lightly, a slow grin inches across my face.

"Mind explaining how that happened?" I teased, unable to suppress a mocking tone.

"And ruin the surprise for you?" Tanya huffed playfully, brushing her nose against my cheek as she leaned in for another kiss. Every small caress of her lips sparked a cascade of tingles down my spine.

Before I knew what I was doing; I pressed further into Tatyana's embrace. Slipping my arms around her neck, I deepened the kiss, a move that Tanya ardently reciprocated. One of her hands came up and cradled the back of my head, nails gently scratching the nape of my neck, and I felt myself melt.

A soft purr rumbled in my chest, and I felt Tanya pull back with a small laugh. Sighing quietly, I nuzzled into the crook of her neck and breathed deeply, enjoying the way our scents were beginning to mingle on my skin.

Neither of us spoke for several long minutes.

"We should probably get back." Tatyana murmured, making no move to release me from her arms.

"Probably," I reluctantly agreed.

"Five more minutes?" she implored, gently kissing the sensitive spot behind my ear.

"Five more minutes." I conceded with a happy sigh.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. Moments later; Tanya's cellphone decided to blare an obnoxiously upbeat pop song.

Groaning with disappointment, I reached into Tanya's pocket and withdrew her phone. Peering at the call screen, I was greeted by a picture of Alice laughing and sticking her tongue out at the camera as the phone rang.

Unable to suppress a huff of amusement, I shared a glance with Tanya, before I tapped the answer button and brought the phone up to my ear.

"Belllllaaaa," Alice's chime-like voice immediately floated over the speaker. "We don't have time for you and Tanya to dawdle in the forest for hours! We can't finalize a battle plan until you both get back. Two minutes ladies!"

The distinct click as she hung up the phone had us both staring at it, nonplussed.

Regretfully hanging up the phone, I sighed exasperatedly before handing the phone back to Tanya, who looked as disappointed as I felt.

"I feel like we should just start ignoring her calls." I muttered under my breath, instantly warmed by Tatyana's melodic laughter.

"Maybe when we aren't in the middle of a war." She replied with a mischievous grin. "Come on, sooner we get back, sooner we can get this over with."

The run back to the manor was short, and before I knew it we were both climbing the front porch into the entranceway.

As I passed into the living room, I noticed that in our absence another vampire had made their way into the house.

Everyone was gathered around the dining room table, pouring over what appeared to be various maps of Washington. The new addition was leaning into Peter; eye's glued to a topographical map Jasper was gesturing at. I could only assume that this was Charlotte.

She was petite, only a few inches taller than Alice, with wild silver hair and doll like features. I always thought that Alice was the most delicate looking vampire I'd ever seen, but this woman was so finely boned she looked like the slightest touch might break her to pieces.

I only had a moment to soak up the atmosphere before Alice was dragging me toward the table.

"Bella!" she chirped, guiding me forward with her usual enthusiasm. "I want you to meet Charlotte, she's a superb geologist and cave diver. This amazing woman was the first vampire to ever swim the Mariana Trench!"

Blinking in astonishment, my jaw drops a little as I politely shake her hand.

"Wow, that's amazing! What's it like down there? I don't think scientists have ever actually reached the bottom."

Charlotte smiles indulgently.

"It's beautiful, dark, sometimes oppressive, and if you get down far enough; filled with magma." Her voice is soft and mild; but there's a spark in her red eyes that makes me think I'd have to revise my wispy first impression of this woman.

"Sounds a little scary. I know we don't technically need to breathe anymore, but I'm not sure I'd have enough courage to do something like that unless my life depended on it." I remarked, blinking owlishly.

"Courage in your new abilities comes with age and experience Isabella, I'm sure one day such a feat won't even phase you." Charlotte chuckled.

I didn't get a chance to continue the conversation however, because Jasper cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Now that we're all here, I would like to know what plans, if any, have been drafted to deal with the Newborns in Seattle."

Tanya, who appeared to be examining the maps of major roads and landmarks of the area, sighed and slipped her fingers through her hair.

"So far, we've managed to negotiate a temporary truce with the Quileute's, as well as wrangled a mutual promise of cooperation against the coven in Seattle. We've only just arrived in Forks, so we haven't had much time to make plans."

"Jasper mentioned that the one responsible for creating the army in Seattle is a vampire called Victoria?" Peter interjected, sliding an arm around his mate as he looked over the assembled faces. "If she's the one in charge, we should stage a concentrated strike as quickly as possible. The longer we wait the more time she has to shore up her numbers. Don't get me wrong, I realize the majority of us are seasoned fighters, but even we have our limits."

"That sounds sensible to me," I murmured, leaning into Tatyanas space to help calm my nerves. "But how are we going to take the fight to them in a city like Seattle? It's got a pretty big population from what I can recall, and people are definitely going to notice a bunch of vampires and wolves tearing up the place."

"There will definitely be a lot of human casualties." Tanya murmurs, biting her lip in thought.

"We could minimize deaths and exposure by drawing them out. There's gotta be somewhere in the surrounding land that we can use." Kate hums as she points at several mountainous regions. "Maybe one of these areas? Somewhere we can set up a pre-emptive strike that won't endanger the residents."

Inserting herself into the discussion, Irina waves Kate's hand away from the table.

"What we need is a trap. What do we have, that we know Victoria will not be able to resist?" Everyone's eyes simultaneously turned to me and I got a sudden sinking feeling in my gut. "I think at this point, a chance at killing Bella or Edward would be the only things that could tempt Victoria from giving up the home advantage in Seattle."

"Absolutely. Not." Tanya snarls in Magyar, making the others around her flinch slightly. "Nobody's going to use Mari as live bait; and there's no way I'm trusting Edward not to mess everything u-."

"I think the idea has merit." I interrupted, tilting my chin up slightly as I obstinately met Tanya's scowl. "If it is successful in drawing out our foes with minimal loss of life, it's not a plan of action we can dismiss off hand. However," I begrudgingly conceded. "that doesn't mean I like my odds against 20 something newborns on my own. If we do decide on this, what's the plan for making sure I don't get ripped to pieces?"

There was a brief silence around the table before Alice sighed and chimed in.

"Look everyone, time is of the essence, but don't hesitate to throw out any idea you have. My gift will help us weed out the bad ones, and who knows maybe we'll have unexpected luck with an unconventional idea. My point is, we don't have to wait for them to make decisions. We can plan our own and adjust it accordingly."

Kate smirked and crossed her arms. "I guess we all kind of forgot about our clairvoyant secret weapon."

Alice preened a bit under the attention and I couldn't help but roll my eyes with fond exasperation.

"Alright, so what do we have?" I asked, making eye contact with my coven mates. Irina was the first to speak up.

"Well - history, and personal experience, favors guerilla tactics when a small force is faced with a larger enemy. We could slowly whittle down their numbers."

"A worthy plan if this was a normal coven." Jasper drawled, absently brushing his hair back with his fingers. "Unfortunately, this is a newborn army, Victoria doesn't value her members. They hold no strategic value. They're just cannon fodder. She'll replace them as fast as we kill them."

"The civilian population would also suffer greatly as she upped newborn creation." Charlotte amends. "As you know, newborns are insatiable when it comes to blood, but the first few weeks are especially bad."

"Okayyy" With a groan I rub my hands against my face as I try to think. "So guerrilla tactics are out. What else do we have?"

At that moment, Tatyana – who had been tapping her lips in thought – suddenly paused; a devilish gleam shined in her eyes.

"I agree that long term guerrilla tactics won't be effective in this case; but a quick surprise attack, followed immediately by a retreat into an ambush would be perfect."

Kate seemed to immediately grasp where Tanya was going with this, because she broke into a bloodthirsty grin.

"Tanya's right. Newborns have little, to no, impulse control. After being suddenly attacked in their own territory, none of them would have the wherewithal to resist giving chase. If we were to lure them away from the city and have The Wolves wait in ambush..." she trailed off.

My eyes flickered to Tanya, who was examining a part of the map intently.

"What about here? Chester Morse Lake," she said, pointing at a small spot on the chart. "It's about an hour drive southeast of Seattle, secluded, and only accessible by small or private roads. Chances are good that it will be deserted."

Jasper leans in to peer at the spot she indicated.

"From what I can see from this terrain, a vampire would be able to run there in about 15 minutes if they were sprinting in a straight line." He said, tracing the route with his finger.

"That's a lot of time." Kate muttered, glancing worriedly around the room. "It's never good to engage in a race with a newborn for extended periods. They are generally stronger and faster, and their mood swings make it hard to guarantee they won't get sidetracked. Especially if we are relying on their impulsiveness to get them to follow."

Tilting my head, I peered at Alice who seemed to have lapsed into a vision.

"It seems to work right up to the ambush, but then it goes blank. I'm not sure if that's because something bad happens or because of the nature of the Quileute. Either way, it's a very close thing. Away from the city, they start thinking clearly, and gain ground faster.

Plus, a few of them begin to break off the chase. We cannot have any of them escaping if we want to avoid attention by the Volturi."

"Is there some way we can distract them, maybe keep them clumsy and unfocused?" I asked, eyes darting from face to face.

"It would certainly make springing a trap on them easier." Kate muttered, crossing her arms with a sigh.

"Well," I began hesitantly. "I know, without a doubt, there is one surefire way to distract a newborn. Blood. What if we hung blood bags from trees at certain intervals, and have the bait for the trap pop them along the way? It would keep them feral, and probably also keep them from wandering off."

Everyone stared at me as if I'd just suggested we all drench ourselves in gasoline and light a match.

"Bella, that's brilliant!" Alice chirruped, jumping on my back in her excitement. "Of course we would have to take precautions so that we don't fall prey to the same instincts, but the idea definitely has merit."

"A facemask stuffed with crushed cloves should do the trick." Tatyana drawled, mouth twitching with mirth. I could only imagine how silly we looked with Alice dangling from my back like a monkey. Thankfully, any embarrassment I might have felt didn't last long, because the pixie soon rejoined her husband. "It came in handy during the Plague when all you could smell in nearly every city, town, and village was rotting flesh."

I scrunched my face in horror at the thought of ever having to experience that sort of thing.

"Speaking of scents…" Eleazar interjected, stepping closer to the table and examining the map more thoroughly. "If we are going to set a trap involving the Quileute's, we will need to find a way to mask their scents. Quite frankly, blood crazed or no, I don't think there is much that could keep a newborn running toward a scent like that."

"I agree. We'd need to situate them down-wind and get them bathed with the scent masking shampoos the poachers I eat like to use." Peter contributed, "Otherwise this whole plan is shot to hell."

"So you're saying we're gonna have to give the mutts a bath?" Kate drawled, flashing a grin at the room.

We all chuckled a little.

"There's still another issue regarding the wolves." Irina spoke softly, garnering everyone's attention. "While the lake does give us an advantage of keeping prying eyes to a minimum, it does present a significant risk for the Quileutes."

"How so?" I asked, puzzled.

"The lake itself will be the danger. If a vampire manages to wrestle one of them into the water, it would take very little effort to keep them there until they drowned. We no longer need oxygen; they do."

"Should we choose another location?" I wanted to keep the risk to the wolves as low as possible.

"No. It's the best possible location in a short distance from Seattle. The wolves will just have to be careful and watch each other's back." Kate sighed, shaking her head.

"Alright, speaking of watching each other's backs, shouldn't we call the Quileutes and let them in on the plan?" I asked, looking to Tanya.

"It's technically part of the truce we just worked out." Irina interjected, trailing off when no one immediately volunteered for the job.

"I would do it, but my phone is broken." I spoke up.

"I'll do it." Irina sighed, as she pulled out her phone and moved into another room.

"If you can provide an anticoagulant, we'll take care of the blood." Charlotte piped up with a disturbingly sinister smile. I felt sorry for her future victims.

"It shouldn't be too difficult to get our hands on some EDTA. My sisters and I use it for the blood we store when we travel." Tatyana mused, stroking her chin. "I'll go pick some up now; and wish you good hunting when I return." Her seemingly casual attitude while discussing murder was a little concerning.

"Coming Mari?" She asked, tilting her head to look at me. The way her eyes and mouth softened with affection would have sent my heart hammering in my ribs had I still been human.

"O-Of course!" I stumbled to reply, trying to avoid sounding breathless.

I think from the way Kate and Eleazar smirked, I wasn't entirely successful; but the happiness that spilled across Tatyana's features was more than worth it.

"Lets go." I murmured, slipping my hand into hers.

Our fingers entwined as we walked out the door.

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A/N: Thanks to everyone who kept messaging me and encouraging me to continue this Fic through the years. You all inspired me to finally get off my ass and post this chapter. Life has been busy, and I hardly feel like I have time to write anymore. However, im going to make an effort to get back in the habit.