"I can't believe I missed the whole fight," Emmett was grumbling when I joined the family circle. "I was really looking forward to using Joham as a punching bag."

"Trust me, it wasn't fun," Edward grimaced, wrapping an arm around me protectively. "I still don't understand why the rest of you came. We had a codeword for 'it's safe to fight them,' and I didn't say it for a reason–you could have all been slaughtered."

"Miranda called us about a minute after you left," Alice started to explain. "She said she was on her way, and wanted to know what was happening."

Edward raised his eyebrows, looking over at Miranda.

"I couldn't stop thinking that you were underestimating Joham," the brunette elaborated. "He always has a card up his sleeve. I wandered around for maybe twenty minutes, wondering whether I'd ever hear from you again, remembering what it was like to spend decades alone… and then I decided I had to do something. No matter how good or bad your odds were, if there was a chance I could make a difference, I needed to be there to try."

She still looked a little surprised by her own decision. I was surprised too–I'd never imagined she'd be brave enough to deliberately face Joham. She continued, "I started running, as fast as I could… it almost wasn't fast enough. Eventually I realized I should call, to make sure I wouldn't mess up your plans or stumble into an already-lost battle. I was terrified that nobody would pick up–or worse, that Joham would pick up–but thankfully, it was Alice on the other end. She explained that you two had gone in to talk, and she had your conversation on speaker phone."

Jasper picked up the thread of the story. "We all heard Serena's power described as 'temporary all-encompassing amnesia,' and that sounded pretty bad. We couldn't see what she was doing, though. Would we still be able to fight, and just not remember why we were doing it? Could she affect all of us at once, or just one at a time? Did she have to touch you to apply it, or could she work within some range? I was prepared for the worst, but Emmett"–he glared at his brother–"said I was too pessimistic."

"Hey, I may have been wrong this time, but I still think you're a worst-case thinker," Emmett defended himself. "This was really low-probability; almost nobody has a power that devastating. I'm half-convinced that you all went for this 'reconnaissance' plan because you were too curious to kill Joham before finding out what the hell he was doing, and not because it had much tactical value."

"We were going to wait for your say-so, Edward," Carlisle broke in, ignoring Emmett's accusation. "But when they attacked you, we had to make a choice. We knew the two of you couldn't survive against the five of them for long. And we could hear that both of you were fighting, so whatever Serena was doing, it couldn't have been too devastating." He shook his head, regretting the mistaken logic. "We didn't account for Bella making so much progress in the space of minutes."

Unlike the others, Alice sounded confident in herself, despite her impaired foresight. "We made a plan as we ran," she said. "We thought coming in from several angles would give us the best chance of getting to Serena quickly–and if she could disable multiple people, we wanted to be spread out to make it as hard as possible for her. We didn't realize that we would be making it harder for Bella to help us, too." She beamed at me, clearly not the slightest bit resentful that I'd failed to keep her shielded. "Alternatively, if we had misestimated the situation and we were going to lose, keeping the fight spread out and confusing would help us last as long as possible, until Miranda could arrive."

I shook my head. "That's a very wishy-washy plan. I don't like you all taking such big risks for me."

Alice waved her arm dismissively. "You would do it for us."

Emmett didn't even see the issue. "What's life without taking some risks?"

Carlisle put up a hand to stop me from protesting further. "We all made it through. What's done is done. For now, we should decide what to do with the half-vampires. Is it safe to let them go?"

Everyone turned to the family mind reader for his take on the matter.

Edward kept one arm locked around my waist, holding me close, as he spoke. "The sisters are much closer to each other than to their father," he reported. "Joham was not a particularly kind parent. Maysun and Jennifer had their differences with him over the years. Anna–whose power gave her additional insight into his character–refused to even live with him, and chose to reside among humans instead. I believe Serena is the only one who will really miss him. The rest help him out of a sense of duty."

"Then we should spare their lives," Carlisle concluded. He held Esme's hand tightly, but otherwise gave no sign that he was bothered by our near brush with death. "I know it was a mistake for us to leave Victoria alive before, but it doesn't sound like Joham's children will be motivated to seek revenge."

"What if Serena holds a grudge?" Jasper disagreed. "She's the most threatening of the bunch. I mean, her power is absurdly strong. She could wipe all of us out single-handedly if Bella weren't around–and it wouldn't be that hard to find a time when some of us are separated."

Edward considered it. "She's a loving person," he assessed, "Much like Esme. I don't see any hints of vengeance in her thoughts–she's just hoping that her sisters will make it out of this mess alive."

Most of the family nodded along with Edward, but Jasper still wasn't convinced. "You didn't think Victoria had it in her to come after us, either," he reminded his brother. "You don't get a perfect sense of someone's motivations from reading their mind once. Sure, it would be better to spare Serena if we could, but we cannot risk her wiping out our whole family."

"We can't just kill her in cold blood, either," Miranda argued. "She's committed no crime, except to fight against us when we came to kill her father."

"What does it say about her that she gets along well with that jerk, though?" Emmett asked.

"He's good at hiding his true colors," Miranda insisted. "For all we know, he's been manipulating her memory to paint himself in the best possible light. And from what Edward said, the other sisters care for her–would we have to execute them too, to ensure no one is left with a grudge?"

"Well spoken," Carlisle praised. "If we murder anyone who has reason to dislike us, we are no better than tyrants. Even Joham, I would wish to spare–except that I do not believe he will let Miranda go peacefully."

She nodded emphatically. "I don't like violence… but he needs to die."

No one had any objection to that.

The nine of us gathered the pieces of Joham's body into a makeshift pyre. I continued to stick by Miranda's side, just in case Serena got any ideas. Two chunks of the stony flesh we were collecting wriggled toward each other, trying to reassemble into an arm. I stamped down on them, crushing the jagged edges of muscle and bone, and threw them onto the pile.

When we were certain we weren't missing any body parts, I held my lighter out to Miranda. "Would you care to do the honors?"

Her eyes widened. She stared at the tool in my hand, then down at her dismembered tormentor, then back again. For a moment I thought she would refuse–it was one thing to want someone dead, and quite another to pull the trigger when they were helpless in front of you. But then she looked at her wrist, tracing the seven bite scars with her fingers. Resolve hardened in her eyes.

She snatched the lighter from my outstretched palm, and with a sharp flick, set Joham aflame.

The daughters shuddered at the sight, but none voiced a complaint.

"Go talk to them," Edward nudged Jasper. "Get a sense for their emotions. If you still think they're a threat, we'll discuss it more."

Jasper nodded and jogged over to them. Carlisle went with him, which was probably for the best; the blond doctor had centuries of experience dealing with grieving families tactfully.

The rest of us stayed with Miranda, who was staring into the fire, expressionless. I wondered whether she was feeling some guilt over Joham's death–misplaced, in my opinion–or simply wanted the closure of watching until the very end. She was so completely motionless that I didn't realize she was using her power until Edward spoke.

"Verrrrryyy kiiiiiiinnnnnd offfff yooooouuuu," he commented quietly, trying to keep his words slow enough that she would be able to understand them through the time dilation.

Huh? Did she find it so unpleasant to watch Joham burn that she needed to hasten through the experience? But then why would Edward say that was kind? It was only when I flicked my shield out, trying to feel for the edges of her perception-warping effect, that I understood: she was speeding Joham up too. Her final gift to him was that his disembodied head would not have to feel the full agony of its transformation into ashes.

When the fire had burned itself out, most of the family went to join Jasper and Carlisle in talking to the half-vampires, but Edward stayed where he was.

"You're not going with them?" I asked.

He shook his head, and I was momentarily distracted by the movement of his perfect bronze curls. "Jacob is waking up," he informed me. "I know you'll want to speak with him, and you shouldn't face a disoriented werewolf alone."

To say that my best friend was displeased by my new appearance would be the understatement of the century.

When Jacob first woke up, surrounded by the scent of vampires, he scrambled to his feet in an instant. The movement was unnaturally graceful. He glanced around, seeming to realize that we weren't the same as his captors, and recognition dawned in his eyes when he saw Edward. Then his gaze fell on me. His eyes widened.

"Bella?!" Jacob hissed. As he sized me up, his whole body started vibrating in anger. Edward held out a cautionary arm, preventing me from stepping any closer.

I held up my hands reassuringly. My werewolf friend flinched back, and I realized too late that I had moved inhumanly quickly.

"Jacob, it's okay," I said softly. I tried to use the rougher, human voice I'd practiced on the phone with Charlie. The more I reminded him of my previous self, the better. "You're safe now. We killed the man who was keeping you prisoner."

"It is not okay," he growled, still shaking with rage. "Do you have any idea what you've done to yourself?"

"I'm still me, Jake," I insisted. I had to refill my breath after that, and my face twisted at the awful odor, slightly belying my statement.

He sized me up, revulsion apparent in his eyes. "No," he said flatly. "You're something different now. Bella was kind and sweet and clumsy and blushing. You're creepy and, and, wrong."

I pulled back, stung. "I didn't consider my clumsiness to be a core personality trait. I thought you were my best friend, no matter what."

"You replaced my best friend with a bloodthirsty monster!"

I crossed my arms. "I'm a vegetarian monster, thanks. And you're not such a tame human yourself."

"I had no choice!" he spat. "I hate what I am, but it's in my blood!"

"I had no choice either," I returned harshly. "Victoria was going to kill me if I stayed human. Not to mention, if I were still mortal, you'd still be captive to a vampire who wanted to wipe out your entire species."

"Is Victoria the red-headed bloodsucker? Why couldn't he protect you?" Jacob demanded, eyes flicking to Edward. "Couldn't he and his family deal with this Victoria, instead of turning you into a filthy leech?" I tried to interrupt, but he was on a roll. "Isn't it bad enough that he abandoned you–did he have to come back and destroy the rest of you?"

Edward flinched. The memories he was seeing in Jacob's head must have painted an ugly picture of my life after he'd left; I was grateful that Jacob at least hadn't witnessed me in zombie mode.

"The Cullens weren't the ones who turned me," I clarified as soon as I could get a word in edgewise. I could see why everyone kept assuming that, but it was really getting old.

"We would have kept her safe if we'd known, but we were thousands of miles away. I'm sorry, Bella–you should never have had to go through that." Edward added regretfully. "Leaving you was the biggest mistake of my life."

I squeezed his hand in reply.

Jacob crossed his arms, seething. "How touching. I suppose those words make up for months of Bella screaming in her sleep. You know those shadows under her eyes aren't just from the vampirization? Do you–"

"Stop it," I hissed. Edward looked like someone had poured boiling acid down his throat and forced him to swallow. I was inclined to cut my best friend a lot of slack for what he'd just been through, but this was going too far.

The werewolf rolled his eyes. "Typical of you to forgive him." His tone was contemptuous, but he was no longer literally shaking with anger–I counted that as progress. "So how'd you become a vamp, then, if it wasn't Prince Charming here?"

I mimed zipping my lips and throwing away the key.

Jacob's eyes narrowed at me. "It was that dark-haired leech, wasn't it? The one you met in the woods?"

My eyes widened. How did he know about that? Please don't say more, I thought desperately–but I couldn't think of a way to tell him to shut up without making Edward even more suspicious.

"How did you end up here in Canada?" I switched topics quickly.

"No, go back," Edward insisted, snapping out of his misery. "She met a vampire in the woods?"

Jacob ignored my frantic head shaking. Some friend you are. "The pack had been following his scent. We caught up to him in a meadow, but then we saw Bella there, talking to him. Sam insisted we wait to attack, in case he was one of your lot–he didn't want to violate the treaty." He said the last few words in a mocking tone. "At first it looked to me like this vamp was going to kill Bella, and I was this close to charging in,"–he held up his thumb and index finger a hair's width apart–"but it must have been a joke, because they kept talking and parted ways amicably." He slammed his fist into a nearby tree, and it quivered with the force. "I should've ripped the damn bloodsucker apart when I had the chance."

Edward's fingers curled into balls. I prayed he wouldn't figure out who my accomplice was. I knew he was picking additional details out of Jacob's head, but hadn't he said before that the wolves' memories distorted everything?

"You weren't the ones who told Bella about Victoria, were you?" Edward asked keenly.

Jacob shook his head. "Bella and I haven't spoken since I first transformed. Sam told me to stay away from her." He pulled at his hair roughly, seeming surprised when his fingers ran out of hair after only an inch. Then he looked back at me. "I should've found a way around it. If I could have just talked to you, maybe you wouldn't have done this to yourself." His teeth clenched around the words.

Edward turned to me, furious. "So. Dark hair. Knows both you and Victoria. French accent." He must have gotten that last one from Jacob's mind. "I don't buy for one second that hunting you was a joke. Were you ever going to tell me that Laurent almost killed you?" His eyes flashed in anger.

There was no point denying it now. "I promised not to tell anyone."

"Wait, so he was going to kill you?" Jacob asked, outraged. "Why would you keep a promise to a murderer?"

"You have no obligation to fulfill an oath made under duress," Edward agreed in a deceptively quiet voice. "Why would you lie to me, Bella?"

I wasn't sure I could explain it. Even in my head, the words sounded weak. "We struck a bargain. My life plus a vial of venom, in exchange for my silence and one future favor." I scrambled to articulate my overwhelming gratitude for the deal. "He didn't have to help me become a vampire. I know he only did it because he saw something in it for himself… but still, he saved me, and he gave me the means to save you. I can't be anything but thankful."

Edward hissed, pacing from side to side. "You won't owe him a favor once I'm done scattering his ashes."

"No!" I snarled. I grabbed his chin and forced him to meet my eyes. "You can't just kill anyone who so much as looks at me threateningly!"

"Planning to kill you is much worse than a threatening look!" he exploded back at me. "He joined our cousins–became a member of our extended family–and we can't even trust him not to murder you at the first opportunity? Give me one reason I should leave his head attached to his body!"

"He thought it would be a kindness," I snapped back. "He knew what Victoria planned to do to me, and he was going to make it quick instead. I may not have been on board with that plan, but it wasn't a cruel impulse." I looked Edward in the eyes. "Most vampires spend centuries murdering humans. We disagree with their morals, but we've made the choice not to pick fights with them all."

"Speak for yourself," Jacob muttered under his breath.

"Laurent is at least trying the vegetarian lifestyle, even if he doesn't always stay on the wagon," I continued. "I know how hard that is, now. You yourself almost killed me many times over. How can you blame him for being tempted?"

This was the wrong approach–reminding Edward of his own weakness seemed to make him even angrier. He stalked off toward the rest of the family.

I sighed and turned back to Jacob, who was watching me with his arms crossed. "Look, I get that this"–I gestured at my new body–"is quite a shock. I'm sorry. You have every reason to hate vampires, after what you just went through. But the Cullens aren't like that, and I won't be like that. Isn't there any way we can be friends?" I pleaded.

Jacob looked doubtful, so I hastened to add, "Keep in touch over email?"

He frowned. "It's not as easy as just forgetting that you look different. The hatred between our species goes back for generations."

"We've got a real Montague-and-Capulet-level rivalry, huh?"

"I hate to break it to you, Bells, but a rose by any other species most certainly does not smell as sweet." Jacob wrinkled his nose at me to make the point.

I burst out in surprised laughter. He smirked back at me. "We're reading Romeo and Juliet this month in class. I figured I should pay attention, so fewer of your references would go over my head."

Suddenly, I knew Jacob and I were going to be okay.

2024-12-28 A/N: This story now has over a hundred reviews; thank you all so much! What a great Christmas gift! I plan to post next week's chapter on Wednesday.