A/N: Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all find everything you're hoping to in the year to come, along with lots of love and laughter. I'm so grateful for each and every one of you:)

A Brand New Beginning

Between it being New Year's Eve and the sad fact that all of their new friends would be returning to the States the following day, the kings had agreed to the request from the guard to host a party. One of the castle's larger courtyards was decorated with simple twinkly lights, Felix and Demetri had set up a dance floor and speakers to play music, and Chelsea had arranged a pregnancy-friendly meal and a selection of snacks for their human friend.

Because all of the overseas visitors had come with very little clothing, Jasper, Bella, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett had driven into Pisa to do some shopping. It wasn't a formal event by any means, but they all wanted something at least a little more dressy than what they had. While Rosalie had opted for a dress, Esme had chosen dress pants and a thin sweater. Bella wasn't showing yet and with her morning sickness, she hadn't gained even a pound of weight, but she was already leaning hard into the whole 'dress for comfort' aesthetic of pregnancy. To that end, she'd chosen a pair of leggings and a soft cashmere sweater with a boatneck, and Rosalie had found her a pair of motorcycle boots where the buckles were actually silver daisies. Minus the daisies, they were an almost identical match to Jasper's boots, which made her smile.

By the time they got back to the castle it was nearly nine, so they all hustled back to their suites to get ready.

Jasper and Bella were in the shower, Jasper gently washing her hair, when he felt her melancholy rise. It had been there most of the day, but it was much less prominent than any of her other emotions. Not so anymore.

"Wanna talk about it?" he asked quietly as he moved her a little to rinse the shampoo from her hair.

Bella shrugged a little. "Not right now."

"Okay," he agreed easily and pulled her into his arms. "Can I maybe just hold you for a few minutes?"

Bella nodded and leaned against him, sniffling back a few tears. She let herself take some comfort for a little while from having her mate wrapped around her, which never failed to make her feel safe, but she didn't want to ruin their last night with their new friends, so she forcibly shoved her sadness away.

Jasper, feeling the effort she was making, smiled and leaned down to kiss her as he shut the water off. "I'm here if you need me, sweetheart."

"I know," Bella smiled. "And I appreciate you for it. I also appreciate you not pushing me to talk."

"Why would I push you to talk if you don't want to?" he asked, gently squeezing the excess water from her hair.

Bella had to blink back another few tears, though grateful ones, rather than sad. Edward hadn't believed Bella had a right to privacy when it came to him, physically or emotionally. If he wanted to see her, he climbed right in her bedroom window whether he was invited or not. If he wanted to know something, he badgered her until she caved out of frustration.

Through their friendship after the family left Forks, it hadn't escaped Bella's notice that Jasper was an altogether different type of person from her ex-boyfriend. He answered any question Bella asked and offered far more information than she'd ever even think to ask for, but had never pushed her to share more than she was willing to. She wasn't the kind of person to have a lot of deep, dark secrets so there wasn't anything important she was keeping from him, but if she was ever hesitant about any topic, he easily moved along to something else.

"You wouldn't," she smiled. "It's one of the things I love about you."

"What other things do you love about me?" he asked with a smile as he wrapped her in a towel.

Jasper hadn't tied his own towel around his waist yet, so she slowly looked him up and down. "Your big—"

Jasper cut her off with a loud laugh and a hard kiss. "If the next word outta your mouth is 'dick' I don't wanna hear it. I already know you love that."

"Heart," Bella laughed as she rolled her eyes. "I was going to say your big heart."

Jasper shook his head with a smile. "You're still a terrible liar, Bella Swan."

Bella just shrugged. "No one said I couldn't love both."

By the time the two made it to the courtyard, it was almost ten and most everyone had already arrived. Bella's eyes went wide seeing the amount of food waiting for her, but she was hungry so she just headed for the table to see how much of a dent she could make. Jasper sat with her, happy to just be beside her, and absentmindedly played with the ends of her hair while he did some people watching. They both smiled when the three kings joined them.

"Enjoying yourselves?" Aro asked.

"Very much," Bella nodded. "The food is delicious."

"I believe you have Chelsea to thank for that," Aro smiled. "We're going to miss you and your family when you're gone."

Jasper smiled at them again. "You have an open invitation to visit whenever you'd like. Just because you didn't win the quiz doesn't mean you can't come see us in Montana," he said, then frowned a little when he felt the weird combination of emotions at that statement. "What's up? Is this about Edward? Did you read him?"

"I did," Aro nodded. Before he could say more, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett came and sat with them. "Good, I was just about to ask you to join us. I'll start by telling you all that Edward hasn't made many concrete plans as of yet. He's only come up with his opening move thus far, and there was no timeline in his mind. His desire for revenge, however, is high so I don't imagine he will wait too terribly long."

"What's the opening move?" Bella asked as she leaned against Jasper's side.

"He's going to contact an old friend of yours. A Jacob Black."

While most of the former Cullens looked a little worried, Jasper broke into a huge grin. "Holy shit, hang on," he laughed as he quickly pulled out his phone and called Peter.

"Are you fuckin' serious, asshole? I just got my mate back in my arms and you're gonna try to cockblock me just when I'm about to f—"

"Hey Peter. So I've got the kings here with me," Jasper smiled. Then smiled wider at the silence on the phone.

After a few more seconds, Peter cleared his throat. "About to finish a puzzle, was what I was gonna say."

"Okay, sure," Jasper scoffed. "So listen, I think I know why Edward's the catalyst to our peaceful future. Aro read him and he's planning on calling on the dearly departed Jacob Black. Wanna listen in on whatever else he learned?"

Peter laughed just the same as Jasper did at that news. "Yeah, let's hear it."

"Wait, what do you mean 'dearly departed'? Jake's not dead," Bella reminded him, then paused a second. "Unless you did something I'm not aware of," she added.

"No, I'd never do something like that without you knowing. I misspoke. He's the nearly departed. It's just borrowed time at this point, honestly," Jasper shrugged, then gestured for Aro to continue.

"Edward caught a stray thought in your mind during the brief period Jeremiah was away from Volterra," Aro explained. "It wasn't much, honestly. Simply that Mr. Black had done something you found unforgivable and that you were opening your home to two wolves who were formerly part of his pack."

"That's it?" Bella asked in confusion. "That doesn't sound like much of a revenge plan."

Aro smiled at her. "It's not. Not quite yet, anyway. As of the time he left here he was still debating how best to get them to do his bidding. Perhaps by telling the wolves in Washington that Jasper and the rest of your vampire family were holding you against your will, or that the two ousted wolves were trying to convince you all to attack their reservation in revenge. Those were the two options he'd come up with as of the time I read him."

"He just made our lives a little easier," Peter chuckled over the phone.

"How?" Bella asked.

"He's bringing the wolves straight to our door," Jasper smirked. "We don't have to bother with crossing onto their land or trying to lure them out. Edward's gonna hand them over on a silver platter."

"Which leaves the elders at home undefended," Bella nodded with a smile.

"Exactly," Jasper laughed. Feeling a little bit of frustration and uncertainty from Caius, he shook his head. "They're nothin' like true werewolves. They're just shapeshifters who happen to take the form of wolves. And the two who'll be living with us lost their whole lives just because they tried to do the right thing and protect Bella and her father," he explained, holding his mate a little closer when he felt her sadness spike.

Caius nodded his understanding. If they tried to keep safe the only human he held any regard for, they couldn't be all bad. And if they were willing to live with the vampires in Montana, they couldn't be as blindly rabid as true werewolves were against his species.

"What was it like being in Edward's mind?" Emmett asked Aro.

The king's face twisted into a sneer. "Disgusting. I'm fervently hoping he enacts this plan before those six months are up so I never have to delve in there again. I honestly don't know how you all put up with living in the same home as him for as long as you did."

"By escaping often," Rosalie said dryly while rolling her eyes.

"Not all of those 'honeymoons' were honeymoons," Emmett laughed. "Some were just to get away from the temptation of murdering Carlisle's pet favorite."

"Edward isn't known for his patience, Aro, so my guess is he'll put this into motion before you have to read him again," Esme assured him. "Did he really think he'd somehow managed to fool your gift?"

Aro laughed and nodded. "He seemed to think simply pushing certain thoughts to the back of his mind would keep me blind to them."

"What an idiot," Bella rolled her eyes with a huff of laughter.

"Quite," Aro agreed with a smile.

"Alright, enough talk about that boy. This is a party," Esme laughed as she stood up. "Now, which of you lovely gentlemen are going to ask me to dance?"

Marcus stood up and took her outstretched hand. "I'd be honored to dance with you," he said as he led her to the dance floor, the two remaining kings watching him with sad smiles.

"Can I ask a possibly inappropriate question?" Jasper asked them after saying goodbye to Peter, to which they both nodded a little hesitantly, making Jasper smile. "Why has Marcus never taken advantage of Corin's gift?"

Aro patted his arm. "That's not inappropriate to ask," he assured him. "He simply prefers to not be artificially content. In addition to the drawbacks of Corin's gift, it's a little too similar to Didyme's for his comfort. After she was killed by the Romanians, he instead asked Chelsea to use her gift to bind him to Caius and myself, along with Athenadora and Sulpicia. That gives him a few ties to the world while keeping his emotions and mind clear."

Jasper nodded his understanding. "Thank you for explaining something that's honestly none of my business," he smiled, then kissed Bella's temple and stood up. "Feel like doin' a little dancing, sweetheart?"

Bella looked at him skeptically. "Have you forgotten I have the occasional problem with gravity?"

"No," Jasper laughed. "I'll be extra careful, I promise."

"You should probably hold me extra tight just to be safe," she smiled as she stood up and took his outstretched hand.

"That I can do," he said softly as he led her to the dance floor.

"What do you say, Rose? Should we show 'em how it's done?" Emmett asked as he stood up.

Rosalie smiled at the man who still made her feel like she had a beating heart even after all their decades together. "Like you have to ask," she laughed as she stood up.

Aro and Caius watched them all with a smile. "I wasn't being untruthful, I really will miss them when they go," Aro said.

Caius nodded his agreement. "It's not often we get new faces here. It's been surprisingly enjoyable."

"It's been ages since we've traveled to the States," Aro smiled, then gave a little shrug when Caius laughed. "Montana does sound beautiful from Jasper's description."

"And it's the scenery that's making you consider a visit?" Caius smirked. "Nothing to do with a certain raspberry, soon to be grape?"

Aro laughed as he stood up. "I'll never tell. Now come on, let's show these young ones what dancing really looks like," he said, then the two found their own mates and joined the rest of their new friends on the dance floor.

As the clock ticked ever closer to midnight, Jasper felt his mate's sadness increase. When she started blinking back tears, he took her hand and led her inside, where he followed a seemingly never-ending corridor until it opened up at the bottom of a winding staircase.

"Trust me?" he asked quietly. When Bella just nodded, he scooped her up in his arms and flew up the stairs until he came to a small balcony. "Here, scoot a little so your arms and legs are around me," he said as he repositioned her arms. Once she was wrapped around him and he had one hand holding her close, he nodded. "Hold tight."

When he leaped up to grab the eaves above their head with his free hand, Bella squealed in surprise and hung on a little tighter. Jasper smiled as he pulled himself up and over the edge of the roof, which flattened out after only a few feet. Once he reached a spot where he didn't have to worry about his human mate rolling to an untimely death, he loosened her grip and set her on her feet, then sat down with his legs stretched out in front of him and patted the space between his knees. Instead of sitting with her back to his chest, though, Bella sort of curled herself up sideways in his lap so she could rest her head on his shoulder.

Jasper smiled and just held her close for a few minutes.

"You know there's not a thing in this world that you can't talk to me about, right?" he whispered.

Bella nodded and sniffled back a few tears.

"I'll never force you talk to me or make you feel badly if you don't want to, but part of my job in this whole mate partnership is to make sure you're safe and happy. I'll always listen if you want to talk, and I'll always be happy to just hold you if you don't."

Bella nodded again. "It's about to be a new year. And…"

"And it'll be the first without your mom and dad," he finished quietly when she trailed off.

Bella squeezed her eyes shut tightly to keep her tears from falling and just nodded again. Jasper shifted her a little so she was in his lap facing him and Bella wrapped her arms around his neck, then he cradled the back of her head when she tucked her face away from the world for a while.

They sat like that for a few minutes, Jasper just rubbing her back as she shook with sobs, his own heart feeling like it was breaking in two from his mate's grief.

Feeling a little bit of fear rise up in her, he softly shushed her. "I'm here, sweetheart. I'll always be here," he assured her in a whisper. "I'm sorry you keep losing people you love. That's not a worry you have to have about me. I'm awfully hard to kill and there's not a single being on this earth who could make me leave your side."

Bella took a few deep breaths to get her tears under control. "I know," she nodded. "Logically, I do know that."

"You know it's okay if you can't quite believe that yet. Sometimes it just takes a little bit of time for that fear to dissipate. And time is something I have plenty of," he added with a smile. "All the time in the world, in fact."

Bella untucked her face from its hiding place and smiled at him. When she leaned in to kiss him, she let him feel everything inside her, the whole big, jumbled-up mess - the love and hope and fear, the uncertainty and grief and gratitude, she let him feel it all.

Jasper just wrapped her up a little tighter.

When Bella pulled back a little bit and slipped her warm hands underneath his sweater, giving it a gentle tug, he lifted his arms up without a word so she could pull it over his head. When she scooted back so she could pull off his boots and unbutton his pants, he leaned back and lifted his hips up so she could pull them off.

If she needed that connection, he'd never deny her. He'd probably never deny her anything, to be honest.

He watched her as she quickly stood up to pull off her own sweater and then toed off her boots so she could push down her leggings and step out of them. She stood still for just a moment as she looked at him, and he smiled that there was no embarrassment inside the girl at all. She was entirely comfortable with him and that made something inside him glow with contentment.

When she stepped closer and leaned down to kiss him, he slowly guided her back down until she had her arms and legs wrapped around him again and was sinking down on him. Being surrounded by her wet heat would never not feel like the very best thing on earth, and the moan that rolled out of him had her smiling. When he tilted his hips just a little to slip even deeper inside her, he smiled when she let out a low moan of her own.

Bella curled her fingers in his hair and pulled his lips to hers, and they moved together as if they'd been moving together for years.

Jasper completely lost track of time, but just as Bella threw her head back and her back arched, and her ecstasy sent him soaring over the edge with the woman he loved, fireworks erupted above them, signaling the end of one year and the beginning of another. Jasper thought those moments of bliss, when he and his mate were perfectly in sync right on the cusp of something brand new, were the perfect fuckin' beginning of a new start for both of them.

The previous year had been filled with too much pain and heartache and loneliness, and Jasper was determined that the two of them would make the coming year one filled with love and laughter and family.

The Volturi kings were kind enough to offer their new friends the use of one of their private jets for their return trip to the States. They'd make a stop in New York, so Esme, Emmett, and Rosalie could go close up their house in Ithaca, packing what they wanted to bring to Montana and putting everything else in storage. Jasper and Bella would continue on to Montana, where Peter would pick them up at the airport.

Chelsea offered to be one of the drivers to take them all to the airport, so Bella, Jasper, and Esme were in her car. While Chelsea and Bella were chattering away in the front as if they'd been friends for years, Esme and Jasper were mostly silent.

Of all the vamps who'd made the trip to Italy, they were the two whose lives had changed the most. Esme had been married to Carlisle for nearly a century, and Jasper had learned just how deeply he'd been betrayed by the woman he'd been married to for well over fifty years, a boy who was supposed to be his brother, and his former coven leader. It was a hell of a lot of eye-opening in just a two-week period.

Jasper was staring out the window, lost in thought, when Esme reached over and gently took his hand. She let him feel her unconditional love and her concern for him, and he turned to give her a smile.

"I'm alright," he nodded. "I want today to be a fresh start for all of us, but it's…" he trailed off, not sure what he was trying to say.

"It's a lot," she said with a soft smile.

He laughed lightly and nodded again. "Yeah, it's a lot. I just… Do you think all this is karma reminding me that I can't ever escape my past? Or that there's something wrong with me that—"

Esme cut him off. "No," she said firmly. "There's nothing at all wrong with you, darling. You know one of the things I've taken away from this? None of this would've happened if you weren't the wonderful man I've always known you to be. Alice set all this in motion because she didn't want to lose you. If there was something wrong with you, some inherent flaw in your character, she wouldn't have fought so hard to hold on to you," Esme assured him. "Charlotte and Peter didn't hesitate to make a trip across an ocean to be at your side when you felt in need of allies. In a place all of you had feared since your time with Maria, I might add. Would they have done that if they didn't think you were worth it?"

Bella turned around in her seat to look at him. "You told me once that I was worth it. Do you remember?" she asked, and Jasper nodded with a smile. "Well I think you're worth it, too. We both know I was shocked to find out you were my mate, but there was never any hesitation in me to accept our connection. No hesitation or fear or uncertainty. Why would I not be glad vamp fate, or whatever's in charge of mates, tied me to you? And do you think I would've asked you to be the raspberry's daddy if I had any doubts at all about your character?"

"Plus he's hot," Chelsea stage whispered, making everyone smile.

"Yep, there's that too," Bella laughed. "It's been a brutal two weeks on the tail end of a rough year for all of us. But mixed in with all the darkness since we got to Italy have been so many sparks of light. We found each other, we found out I'm baking a brand new human, we found out which friends and family would stand by our side through thick and thin, we made some wonderful new friends… Remember, when it is dark enough, you can see the stars. You were one of my stars when things looked the darkest. And when things look darkest for you, I'll be one of your stars. We all will be. That's what family is for. And what else are we but one slightly weird, mixed-up family?"

Jasper looked at her for a long moment, gratitude and relief and happiness welling up inside him. Without saying a word, he reached forward to unbuckle her seatbelt then yanked her over the seats, making her squeal with laughter, and kissed her while letting her feel everything inside him.

It took him a second to realize the car had stopped, and when he forced himself away from her lips, he looked around to see that they were pulled off on the side of the road. Then he glanced at Chelsea, who was giving him a very disgruntled look.

"What?"

"Jasper, that's my pregnant human friend. Driving while she's without a seatbelt isn't very safe," she said disapprovingly as she shook her head.

Jasper smiled and nodded. "You're right, thank you for the reminder," he said, and set Bella right in between him and Esme and buckled her in. "Better?" he asked.

Chelsea nodded as she pulled back on the road. "Better. If you're going to have a human for a mate, though, you may need to read up on road safety before transporting her anywhere."

Jasper bit back a laugh, not wanting to offend her just for being concerned about Bella. "Thank you, Chelsea. I'll make sure I do," he reassured her.

When they parked on the tarmac and Bella and Esme got out, Chelsea gestured for Jasper to wait a moment. "I'm certain we'll talk before then, but I'll be arriving in the middle of June. If you find out anything about Edward Cullen or Jacob Black before then, please let me know. I'm confident the kings will send some of us out to give you aid if you need it."

"Thank you," Jasper smiled. "I'll keep you all informed of anything we learn. And thank you for lookin' out for Bella right from the start. I know you didn't do it for me, but you still have my gratitude."

"It's been fun making friends with a human!" she laughed. "I haven't had a real human friend since I was a human myself. I know the various receptionists at the castle but I don't befriend them. It's never certain whether they'll be changed or eaten so it's best to not grow too attached. At least with Bella I know she'll never be food, thus she can be a friend."

"No, she'll definitely never be food," Jasper laughed as they got out of the car and he grabbed the two small bags he and Bella had with them.

Chelsea pulled Bella in for a gentle hug. "Email me and let me know you arrived safely please," she said as she let go and took a step back.

"I will," Bella nodded. "Thank you for everything, Chelsea."

"You're very welcome," she smiled, then bent down so she was at eye-level with Bella's stomach. "Bye, Lily. Try to let your mommy have that life without vomit her mate promised her," she said, then stood up and gave Jasper a playful glare.

"That's not my fault!" Jasper laughed. "My gift is useful in an awful lot of situations but morning sickness doesn't seem to be one of 'em."

"Hey, at least you can make sure I get proper sleep every night," Bella smiled. "A vomit-filled life would be way worse if I was exhausted all the time."

"Are we about ready?" Rosalie asked as she walked over with Felix.

Jasper nodded and quickly hugged Chelsea goodbye, then shook Felix's hand. "We'll talk to y'all soon."

He led his mate up the stairs of the plane and got her settled comfortably with her book, a pillow and blanket, and some ginger hard candy before stowing their bags and sitting beside her. As the plane started taxiing down the runway, he glanced out the window to see the two Volturi guards still standing beside their cars - Felix's arm wrapped around Chelsea, who was leaning against him - watching the plane take off that would carry their newest friends back across the ocean.