Aurora Borealis

by Star-Of-Radiance

Bella's 'perfect slice of forever' slowly unravels, piece by piece. Months after the confrontation during Breaking Dawn, all the devastating consequences of crimes, both forgotten and overlooked, reveal themselves, and the criminal trials and sentencing of Edward Cullen and the Volturi unfold- along with its equally devastating aftermath. Think carefully before you choose to act...

56. Family Secrets and Forgiveness

To Ptool: Thank you.

Summary: Bella, Renesmee, Carlisle, Esme and Rosalie go to Edward's house in Chicago... and uncover some family secrets.

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"No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell."

Carl Jung

Chicago, Illinois, July 3rd...

Chicago was a big city, even bigger than Seattle, which was the first big city Renesmee had ever seen in person, although she barely saw it since it was nighttime by the time the Cullens had arrived and they left for the Old-World Coven the very next morning, without going around the city. She couldn't help but be in awe of it all. The feeling or ambience of the place, the way everyone went around their own business, going to work, commuting on buses, catching cabs, stopping over at breakfast bars and cafés to quickly pick something up, children going to school both escorted by adults on foot or on those yellow school buses she'd seen in film and TV.

Life existed everywhere- not just getting on with everything that needed to be done or whatever caught your attention and stopped you from getting bored, but life. These people had places to go, things to do, goals and dreams to accomplish someday. And Renesmee couldn't help but be in awe of it all, just as she did when she watched films and TV shows or read books. Unlike her mom's, her favourites were never about romances or the supernatural, but real life- or failing that, as close to reality as it can get. Aunt Rosalie and Aunt Alice may have loved reality TV shows and biopics, but her parents thought it was trash, as was the case of Edward, or boring, as was the case with her mother. Yet when they said that it seemed to lure Renesmee in even more to see and find out why her parents thought that way. She loved biopics even more though, about ordinary humans who achieved extraordinary things. And documentaries of all kinds. To Renesmee, it was a glimpse not only to another world- which her mom had once thought meaningless since the kind of world they lived in was already extraordinary and wonderful- but reality, which Bella also thought was dull and depressing and made Edward click his tongue in disapproval for being 'shallow'.

Was it because he didn't want her to get ideas to leave?

Suddenly she found herself at the centre of it all. A place where she'd only ever seen on TV and films, being a part of it seemingly- except she wasn't. She wasn't one of the locals, she wasn't going about her daily activities. She wasn't even sure she would have those anymore.

To distract herself from the uncertainty of the future ahead of her, Renesmee leaned forwards.

"Should be there soon," Carlisle promised her as he turned a corner. The shade of the trees hovered above, cool and welcome, although the sunlight shining through the gaps between the leaves were also welcome. Renesmee's heart pounded. She felt excitement, for the first time, even though she knew that she would also be in pain when reminded of Edward later on. But for now, she could enjoy this: seeing something and going somewhere new.

Beside her, Renesmee could sense her mother's eyes watching her and she sensed the guilt rising within. Renesmee tried not to look too eager, too interested, too excited, but before she knew it, they had arrived. She leaned forwards. Beside her, her mom did the same.

It was a tall, seemingly narrow house that looked as if it were constructed out of roughly hewn brown stones with these quaint antique arches opening onto the porch, half-hidden in shade, leading up to the front door. Terra cotta pots held greenery as did the wrought-iron gated square which flanked the steps. The house looked as if it were two of three storeys high.

Renesmee stood silently while Carlisle dealt with the realtors. Her earlier excitement had faded. Now, she didn't know what she was going to find. A sense of loss, pain and grief, seeing glimpses and clues of a father who had betrayed and possibly never truly loved her, and grandparents she had never known? Understanding maybe, as to how and what made Edward the way he was? Or will she feel frustration instead, since the few glimpses of the long-distant past would never offer adequate answers?

Or would she feel a sense of peace? A feeling that she can finally let things go and shut and lock the door firmly behind her after saying goodbye? Of closure, as Aunt Rosalie called it.

Renesmee didn't know. She felt dazed, almost, while Carlisle and Esme brought her over and produced official documents and papers to prove her identity. The agent blinked but smiled in greeting and showed her where to sign. After that, it was done.

They entered the house.

Bella was surprised. She was expecting empty spaces. Nothing even. Instead, there were dust sheets covering the furniture, armchairs and sofas. A cobweb linking the crystals of the chandelier. The floorboards, glass-faced cabinets, even the shelves, mantlepiece and the intricate woodwork above the entryway into the living room were polished hardwood. There was a layer of dust and silence. As if the ghosts of this place were currently asleep.

It was kept exactly the way Edward and his parents must've left it, nearly a century ago. Edward clearly hadn't bothered taking any of the stuff with him whenever and wherever he moved. This place had lain silent, unoccupied.

It had a lingering air of melancholy, of sorrow, yet also relief and gladness, as if it had been waiting for a long time for someone to return, and for this exact moment. Renesmee looked around. She tried to imagine the place when it was cleaner, busy, occupied. When the inhabitants of this place, Edward and his parents, had lived here. When it was bright and pristine and not covered in darkness and dust.

For a moment, she imagined a reasonably tall woman, her hair put up in a nineteenth century bun, reddish-brown like hers, with fair but not pale skin and green eyes, like Edward's when she last saw him before they turned black, walking calmly in a long dark skirt and a high-necked white lacy blouse with a chain and an oval cameo pendant through the living room before sitting herself down and opening a book. She imagined a man in an old-fashioned suit reading the paper while a cup of coffee cooled on the table in front of him along with a plate of breakfast food. She imagined a young boy, perhaps not as young as a child but still young, with reddish-brown hair tousled from sleep, sitting on the opposite end of the table, quietly eating breakfast and waiting to start the day and go to school.

Was this her imagination? Or was this a scene which must've happened in this household around a hundred years ago, perhaps more than once?

Unbeknownst to her, Bella too was imagining the exact same thing. Seeing scenes of a life she should have imagined or tried to visualise, when she genuinely believed herself to be in love with Edward and wanted to know more about him. Asking him instead, not of the vampire world and what it was like to be so strong and to have powers, or to be thirsty, but what his life was like as a young boy. How he grew up. What he learned, how he behaved, how close he was to his parents, who his friends and teachers were, how he did in school, what he liked to do in his spare time. Even what he liked to eat as a child, not what carnivores and herbivores tasted like to him now. Bella would've found out those things sooner or later- unless Edward somehow managed to trick her again into having his way. But she would never find out this.

What was living in this world and seeing other people like, back in the days before World War One, before the Great Depression and the Second World War, before the nineteen-twenties, back when the world was still old-fashioned, and women wore long skirts and took the other person's hand when they needed to step out of a car or a carriage? Back when they used parasols and feathered hats to shield themselves from the sun since tanning was not yet fashionable, instead of sunscreen and baseball caps, back before the feminist movement shouted slogans and put up protests and flyers on the streets? Before Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement? Did Edward feel sympathy or empathy with the African Americans, and the immigrants who were marginalised by society? Did he want them to succeed, or did he just think it was a normal part of life and walked past them on his way to school without seeing anything? Did he perhaps feel sympathy but only to a certain extent? Did he wonder what the fuss was about when women fought for equal rights, mutter condescendingly under his breath and shook his head before quietly walking away? Did he roll his eyes hard when Joseph McCarthy pointed fingers in senate accusing everybody of being communist sympathisers and spies? Did he ever laugh at all this?

Bella would never know. She never truly knew Edward. She knew the knight in shining armour, her guardian angel which she conjured in her imagination. Her living fairytale. She knew the vampire who hated and resented himself and his existence and wished he could move on, even if it meant he would be long dead by now. The vampire who went to enormous lengths to try and stop her from throwing her humanity away, whom she admittedly, to her shame, never listened to, even if he had to bend his own morals to do it. But she never knew Edward, not Edward Cullen or Edward Anthony Masen Junior. She didn't know why he was an only child in the end and his other siblings had died. Or why he took such an interest and passion in music. As a matter of fact, Bella hadn't taken much of an interest in music. Not even when Edward composed her a lullaby. She took his CDs, humoured him by receiving his music choices without ever asking for or taking an interest in them, and threw the pile in the trash to forget him after he'd dumped her. She never asked about his parents, his life as a boy in Chicago, his school. Yet she thought she knew him. Really knew him and loved him for who he was as opposed to what he was and what she thought him to be.

Bella heaved a sigh which seemed to stir the dust motes and cause it to rise again, grey and lifeless.

"Did Edward ever come back to use this place? Did none of you ever decided to live here?"

Carlisle shook his head dryly. "I think not. The sun was always at risk of shining if we appeared and stayed for too long." Only recently did Gabrielle supply them with a potion which would prevent their skin from sparkling in the sun but not harm them. Carlisle frowned. "But he never thought to sell this place. I supposed he couldn't let this place go, it was the last thing he had of his former life and childhood, his humanity." Carlisle looked saddened. No doubt he was wondering yet again how he could have failed Edward so badly, even though he had done what his mother, Elizabeth Masen, had asked him to do. "I suppose now that I see it- although I should have taken more notice of this, even though I understood- Edward was still haunted by his past."

Everyone looked at him. Carlisle sighed.

"He was haunted... Survivor's Guilt, I suppose that's what you'd call it. His parents had died, his mother had thrown away all her chances of surviving just to make sure Edward didn't die, efforts which would've been futile had she not persuaded me to save his life by turning him." Carlisle sighed again. "And his father..." He paused, frowning thoughtfully.

"I always wondered," Carlisle said slowly, "whether or not Edward resented his father for his failings. I know I did. It was useless for me to wish I could go back and confront him. But yes, I did resent him, once I had broken out of his spell and stopped trying to earn his respect and acceptance. Oh, I know he accepted me, acknowledged me as his son. But he and I were never close." Carlisle gave a rueful smile when Esme came and placed a gentle hand upon his shoulder. "Yet I always thought or imagined I could earn his approval someday, make him happy, if I worked hard enough for it, to prove myself worthy." He shook his head, still smiling with sadness and regret. "He was never happy, you see. But only now do I realise he wasn't prepared to be happy; he didn't want to be. It wouldn't have mattered what I did or achieved in his eyes. He was never going to be happy, not with me or anyone."

Carlisle sighed deeply, shaking his head at his internal regrets. "I fought for many years to gain his approval, his trust and respect. Slowly, he gained confidence in me, placed more responsibilities upon my shoulders, but I was never happy any more than he was, and it was never enough to satisfy him. I pretended I was always glad to do his bidding, his 'holy work' as he called it. But in fact, I was slowly dying inside. I didn't want to hunt and persecute others. My father had always taught me that those whom we burned on the stake- Catholics, 'heretics', and presumed or real witches, vampires and werewolves- they deserved everything they got. All the torture, the pain, the agonising ends. But even if they weren't all human, or if they were witches, vampires and werewolves... and if they were just ordinary humans, Catholics and Jews... They were innocent. I knew that in my heart. Yet my father believed and convinced me otherwise, forcing me to do what he felt needed to be done. How many Jehannes and Alexanders did we burn, drown, hang, crush and torture?" Carlisle closed his eyes in unspeakable sadness, shame and regret. "And despite knowing what I know now, I can never go back and confront him any more than I can bring back the dead. I can never ask that man, so filled with hate, if he ever had any room for the smallest ounce of love in his life, whether for me, my mother or anyone else. Whether he felt the slightest bit of conscience for the senseless slaughter of so many. Surely, somewhere deep inside, he must have known, as I had, that it was wrong. But he never acted upon it."

Carlisle opened his eyes. They looked grave. "At the same time... in spite of what he did... he was my father. And I know Edward had a better father than I had in my youth. Edward Masen Senior, at least, would have never expected, forced or wanted his child to murder countless others, even if he believed they were guilty. Edward Masen was away at work, most of the time, and never took the time to bond and connect with his son. To think about Edward's happiness, rather than his goals and ambitions for the family and Edward's future and legacy. Yet he worked hard to give his son the life he wished he could have had, and to ensure that someday, Edward and his children would want for nothing, just as he made sure the family had never lacked for anything. Yes, he thought of his son as an extension of not only the entire family, but the family's legacy and as a means to ensure he and his wife would also be taken care of when they reached old age, since there were no retirement policies then." Carlisle looked even sadder. "But I'm certain he must have loved his son.

"And Edward must have known it." He said quietly. "He must have known it and regretted... that he hadn't been closer to his father. That he had never managed to say goodbye to him. To thank him for everything he had done for him and what he took for granted. To apologise for anything, he might have done or failed to do. And most of all, he never had a chance to make his father proud, to be the man his father imagined and hoped he would be someday. The man Edward himself wanted to be, living the successful life, with a nice wife and happy children. The man who was able to provide for and protect them." Carlisle looked at Bella and Renesmee. "That's why I suspect he did what he did and went as far as he had: because deep down, he felt guilt and shame at not living up to his own standards and earning his father's approval and making his loving mother happy. Of living up to and being the man his father had instructed and expected him to be, and the one his mother raised, nurtured and imagined he would be. And also, the kind of man Edward himself wanted to become. He felt like he'd failed them all, and perhaps even caused his mother's death."

Bella bit her lip. It would explain so much. Why Edward went so overboard, not just trying to protect herself and Renesmee- which was undoubtedly also borne out of the guilt that he wanted the latter terminated before he managed to read her thoughts- but also trying to make sure Bella lived the kind of life he wanted her to live. The life he imagined his dream-girl would live, doing the things they would do together. It was no excuse, of course, for using her. For ignoring her wishes and using her as an art canvas to conjure his idea of the perfect woman to recreate the imaginary life and marriage he thought he would have had if only he'd remained human. But now Bella could begin to understand why.

He was haunted. Haunted by his parents' deaths, by the potential both he and they had felt he had in life but could never fulfil. The kind of life and man he once imagined he could live and would be, only he almost died and then was saved only to be frozen in time, at the age of seventeen, never being able to move forwards in life or achieve anything. How he had been so desperate, after feeling guilt at his mother's sacrifice and being unable to fulfil his promises towards his parents and to say goodbye, he had driven himself crazy trying to prevent himself from committing the same mistakes with Bella and later Renesmee, not realising that he had dishonoured his parents' memories and their teachings every time he stalked and trespassed by sneaking through her bedroom window, disrespected Charlie by his thinly polite and condescendingly superior attitude, disregarded Bella's opinions and feelings as unimportant and stepping over them, and plotted or wished to secretly violate her own body by forcing an abortion on their unborn child- his child. His parents' grandchild, the girl whom Elizabeth Masen would have wanted to pass on her jewellery collection to. He had gotten so caught up with his own self-hate and blame, so desperate, he had even tried to carelessly and callously throw away the life his biological mother had sacrificed and spent her last breath to ensure he had gotten- all because he had made the choice to hurt and then intrigue Bella by not only his allure while also trying to dissuade her by gaslighting, before then deciding to pursue a relationship with her and bring her into his world, only to cruelly dump her in the middle of the woods, and then kill himself because he couldn't live with the consequences of what he had done.

Bella took a deep breath. In the end though, she was just as guilty as him. While she had accepted her part of the blame, it was also time she stopped resenting him and Jacob.

She could also understand why Edward acted so... controlling towards her and Renesmee. Why he never saw or treated her as an equal. In hindsight, she had always known. Edward had grown up and froze permanently before the feminist movement, but unlike Carlisle, Emmett and Jasper, he seemed to forget that fact. Or he ignored it in his desperation to make her live the human life he imagined, with or without him, to keep her 'pure' and 'selfless' the way an inhumanly beautiful immortal vampire could never be. Her clumsiness must have also appealled to him as it made her look like a damsel in distress from some old fairytale or melodrama Edward's eyes, even though it didn't fit the image she and her peers had about what girls should be, which was why she hated herself so much. But Bella was never pure or selfless. She was never modest, just saddled with a critically low self-esteem and virtually no self-confidence. Her own actions, as evidenced by the way she used and led Jacob on yet refused to give him up, treated Charlie and barged into Edward's life by being nosy and refusing to quit bugging or investigating to find out what he truly was, was proof she wasn't selfless or pure. He was truly frozen in the phase of life and era he was in before he turned.

And so was she. But what did this mean for her, for her future? Bella had learned her lessons, or at least she thought she did. But did she truly?

A chill spread through her. Would she truly fall back into Edward's arms once he was released and his sentence was over?

Or should she be like Phil: smart enough to take all precautionary measures as to avoid falling into the same trap, even if Edward- like Renée- only had the best of intentions regarding her? She doubted that Edward and Renée could even trust themselves.

Bella bit her lip. She knew she had to file for divorce as soon as Edward was released. But since he was sentenced to be banished from her presence and Renesmee's for three more centuries, it felt like dishonesty. It might also bring complications in the divorce court. Yet, it might also be a precautionary measure, to ensure Edward had no opportunity to change her mind. Could Bella trust herself to stick with her decision?

"I want to forgive him," she said quietly "I know I should. I'm as much to blame as him and Jacob. But it's hard. At the very least," her eyes found her daughter's "we should understand why he was the way he was. But I know better than to shove everything he's done aside now."

Renesmee nodded. She took Bella's hand.

The family went upstairs. There was a room with white plastered walls, and the same polished hardwood floors and long linen drapes, securely tied by black and white tassels. There was a window-seat cut into the thickness of the curving wall on one corner where someone could curl up and read, watching the world go by. A large mirror dominated the wall next to another window. The antique light-fixtures and wall sconces had lamp shades covering them.

The bedroom had a massive double four-poster bed with a canopy. It was covered with dust sheets. "The master bedroom?" Bella asked, looking around.

Carlisle nodded. "Looks like it." Bella frowned. "Do you think... if the furniture's still here, then Edward Senior and Elizabeth Masen's things should be around here somewhere?"

"Look," Rosalie spoke for the first time. She pointed to a closet. They went close and Carlisle fished out something. It was an old-fashioned safe with a door bordered in gold paint. Carlisle's eyes widened. "Edward never mentioned this."

"Probably because he thought he'd collected all of his mother's jewellery." Rosalie pointed. "Maybe he didn't think there was anything of value left inside. Or he never learned how to open it."

"It's plausible," Carlisle said, frowning. He peered at it. "Wait." He pulled out his cellphone. "I'm going to contact Gabrielle. See if she knows how to magically open a safe."

Amazingly, after less than ten minutes, Gabrielle appeared. She looked tired but no less radiant and satisfied. "I've reversed one more imprint bond, adjusted two more and made sure that none of the other Wolves would... you know." She smiled. Gabrielle looked relieved. "They're going to be alright."

Instantly, it felt like a huge burden had lifted itself off of Bella's shoulders. She straightened eyes wide. "And Jacob?"

Gabrielle bit her lip. "Due to leave tomorrow night for Canada." She warned.

Bella's razor-edged teeth pressed itself against the granite-like texture of her lip. Once again, guilt and painful, heavy and unimaginable regret gnawed on her insides.

"So you wish this opened?" Gabrielle questioned, peering at the safe. Everyone nodded. Gabrielle got out her wand and pointed it at the lock. "Alohomora."

The lock twisted itself and the door magically swung open. Inside, it was dark. But there wasn't any jewellery.

No, Bella's eyes widened. They were photographs. Slowly, carefully, Esme brought them out. She inhaled sharply. Rosalie and Carlisle's eyes also widened as they peered into what she was holding.

It was the photograph of a man and a woman. They were dressed in nineteenth century fashion. The man carrying a top hat under one arm, in black pants and a tuxedo with tasteful tails. He had dark hair, and Bella thought he looked surprisingly like the photos she'd seen of John Wilkes Booth in history class, the actor who was Lincoln's murderer but was strikingly handsome, so much so she'd heard he'd been popular with the ladies and audiences. He stood straight with his arm extended towards the lady next to him. She was dressed in a white lacy gown with a lace-trimmed veil and flowers in her hair. Bella's eyes widened as she examined her features. She was beautiful. Not as inhuman and ethereal, but stunning, nonetheless, enough for Bella's shallow former self to be in awe of her should she have encountered someone who looked like Elizabeth Masen in her human life. Edward's biological mother had perfect, angular, chiselled features: high cheekbones, a strong but finely chiselled jawline, slim straight nose and full lips. Although the pictures were black and white, Bella now knew what colour her eyes and hair were.

Her lustrous crown, of which strands had escaped from her elaborate, old-fashioned coiffure, was not curled, like Renesmee's. But the resemblance was unmistakable. Renesmee stared at the photograph of her biological grandmother, wondering whether she would have resembled her even more had both her parents been human.

"A wedding photograph." Carlisle said softly. They looked at the other pictures. There was Elizabeth, older and more mature, along with Edward Senior peering with laughing eyes towards a wrapped bundle.

"Edward?" Esme breathed, hand at her throat. Carlisle frowned. They noticed he was peering at the date written at the bottom of the photograph.

"No," he replied slowly. "Edward was born in 1901. This picture... is dated 1903."

Edward would've been a toddler by that point. Bella's breath hitched. "His sister."

Carlisle looked saddened. "It appears so." He flipped the photograph. "'Mr. and Mrs. Edward Masen at the Christening of their daughter Edythe Elizabeth.'" His eyes widened.

"So that was her name." Esme looked both pained and saddened. They all knew she had also lost a child. Both Bella and Rosalie took her hand, and Renesmee gave her a hug. Carlisle gave a sad smile.

"How did she die?" Bella found herself asking. "Since he never told me..." but Carlisle was frowning. "He never mentioned it to me, either. We never asked any questions. A lot of children died before reaching adulthood, Bella. Even more died before the age of five. It wasn't uncommon. Vaccines, pre-natal care and vitamins, and childcare were not as advanced as it was now."

Rosalie frowned. "I heard that Victorian baby bottles were actually toxic from somewhere. Why, I can't remember..."

Esme reached into the safe and pulled out a letter.

It was written on yellowing parchment in elegant, old-fashioned cursive. "'My darling Elizabeth,'" she read aloud.

"'I am incandescent with joy to receive your news. It seems the Almighty has never ceased to bless us, after Edward's birth. I received your photographs. Our darling boy has grown, and I greatly look forward to seeing him along with you. I hope that my case shall close soon, and to complete my assignments before the birth of our second child.

"'I reported to your aunt in Britain that you were positively glowing.'" Bella's eyes widened and she gasped out loud. She remembered the Volturi's trial. Her eyes flew to Gabrielle who pursed her lips. They remembered Edward had magical relatives in Britain, including those who could perform telepathy or legilimency. "'She is overjoyed to hear about the birth of our son but sadly confesses she has not informed your grandmother who refuses to listen to any news. But do not allow that spiteful old crone to darken your life and the futures we have built for us both and our children. Your aunt is right: all children are a blessing, regardless of whether they have magic like your relatives or they are like us.'" More gasps. "'And any child of yours is a treasure I shall cherish like no other in this world. It is their mistake should they refuse to see them as the blessings they are. For my part, despite the hostilities that have historically reigned between our kinds, I have no regrets. Our life in Chicago may be far removed from what we once had in Britain, and certainly from the ease of magic, but it is a good life.'"

Renesmee stared at Bella. "They came from Britain?" She blurted. "They knew about magic and that they had magical relatives?"

"It would seem so," Carlisle answered, stunned. "Does this mean that she knew what you were?" Bella whispered.

Carlisle froze. "It's possible." Esme read on. "'My darling, I wish only to build a happy life and future with you. Your cousin wishes to enter the British magical government and hopes to someday become Minister for Magic and finish what his ancestor has started before his mysterious illness.'"

"So they knew they were related to the Diggory family." Gabrielle sighed. "Eldritch Diggory- the ancestor of Cedric, the boy whom Edward resembled- was Minister for Magic in Britain in the eighteenth century. And I've checked his DNA. They're definitely related."

Rosalie picked up another photograph from the safe. It showed Elizabeth Masen, in a long, full dark skirt and white lacy blouse, a chain around her neck with an oval cameo pendant. She was cradling a swaddled baby in her arms and looking tenderly down at both the baby and the small child standing by her knee.

Renesmee blinked. "Who's that girl?" It couldn't have been Edythe since she died as a baby.

"That's not a girl." Carlisle smiled. "It was the custom of those days to dress even small boys in frocks, usually with lace, to make changing diapers and cleaning them easier, until the time came for them to be 'breeched'. They did not have the convenience of modern diapers and baby clothes, or washing machines and dryers. That's Edward."

Bella blinked. Edward in a dress... she thought she would never see it. But in fact, she noted the toddler had a strong resemblance to Renesmee, at least as she was months ago right before the confrontation with the Volturi. She gave a small smile, but didn't laugh.

The writing read: Mrs. Elizabeth Masen and her children, Edward (aged two) and Edythe (four months).

Esme picked up another yellowing letter. She frowned, a little puzzled, when she felt the parchment beneath her fingers was less like parchment paper and more thick... medieval. She blinked when she noticed the crest which the parchment had been stamped on. "Look at this."

Gabrielle's eyes widened. "That's MACUSA's seal." Indeed, it was similar to the American Eagle emblem with its stars and the escutcheon which the president's office and the White House used, but the bird reminded Bella more of a phoenix than an eagle, at least pictures of it. It was a circular emblem, and the bird looked like it was rising from flames at the bottom, was coloured almost entirely in blue and the escutcheon was not only larger, but it was also placed at the eagle's breast and was vertical. The crest, the talons, the thirteen-leaved olive branch, the thirteen arrows, and the scroll with the motto, however, were conspicuously absent.

"What reason should they have to be contacted by MACUSA?" Gabrielle breathed. "The British Ministry of Magic, perhaps, since they had relatives in Britain. But MACUSA? This was at the height of Rappaport's Law."

At the Cullens' confused looks, Gabrielle explained, "There was a severe breach of the International Statute of Secrecy in the late eighteenth century, caused by a foolish empty-headed witch named Dorcus Twelvetrees, the daughter of Aristotle Twelvetrees the Keeper of Treasure and Dragots, the equivalent of the Secretary of the Treasury for No-Maj Americans. She had been enticed and attracted by the charms of Bartholomew Barebone, a handsome No-Maj who was actually the descendant of one of the Scourers, those traitor witches and wizards who were responsible for the Salem Witch Trials and a great deal of persecution at the hands of those ghastly Puritans." Carlisle cringed. "When she revealed to him what she was, he stole her wand and proceeded to set traps at the entrance of MACUSA and Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Esme and Rosalie gasped. "But luckily for us, his ran out, and he ended up attacking a group of No-Majs when he mistook them for wizards and was arrested. After this, in 1790, President Emily Rappaport introduced Rappaport's Law which absolutely forbade witches and wizards in America- not just citizens and permanent residents, but visitors to the nation- from ever befriending, marrying or in any way associating and interacting with their non-magical counterparts- at least, any interaction more than was necessary to perform their daily activities and on American soil. The punishments for breaking these laws were harsh. This was a policy of strict separation between the magical and non-magical sides of the United States."

Esme frowned. "But if they knew Elizabeth was a witch or the non-magical relative of a witch and her relatives were in Britain..." she began hesitantly, but Gabrielle was shaking her head.

"They would have still insisted on her husband's memories being modified, erased of all knowledge and memory of the existence of magic and the supernatural. Even if they would have had to make them believe that their families were and always had been non-magical." She stated flatly. "If Elizabeth Masen had married a No-Maj, lived in their world and her husband knew... well, MACUSA would take no chances. Even today, after Rappaport's Law was repealed in the nineteen-sixties, they're still very meticulous not to leave any loose ends. And her British relatives- well, the ones who stayed in contact with her, anyway- would have had no choice but to allow MACUSA to exert their authority and that of their laws regarding the non-magicals in their home territory. It might have caused a fuss among the international magical community, at least just in Magical Britain, but it would have been an extremely rare circumstance for the ICW to have intervened and forced MACUSA to allow both Masens to keep their memories of magic as one knowing is risk enough."

The Cullens all looked at each other.

Esme read the letter aloud. "'Dear Mrs. Masen. We have received and considered your appeal, but even though we have read and considered the points of your argument, it is nonetheless my sad duty to remind you of the dangers that exist in the United States of America- far different from those of your native Britain. While in Britain the dangers of Scourers and their descendants are practically unheard of in the modern age, and it has been long since witch-hunters have proved to be a serious concern, I must remind you that in the United States, the threats are very much serious and real. A magical child living among No-Majs in the United States is likely to attract the attention of the ever-present and persistent Scourers, especially since underage children, particularly very young ones, are susceptible to Accidental Magic. A child has no control over his or her emotions, therefore they have little or no control over their innate magic. Already, suspicions have been raised among your neighbors, all of whom the Federal Bureau of Covert Vigilance and No-Maj Obliviation-'" the Cullens blinked while Gabrielle explained it was the department of MACUSA responsible for erasing and modifying the memories of No-Majs and ensuring that any potential information of magic, its practitioners and other supernatural entities did not spread "'-had personally dealt with. Already, in less than two months we have had to modify the memories of no fewer than five No-Majs who should not have and must never be permitted to know about the existence of magic. It has even drawn the attention of a certain Scourer descendant-" Esme's eyes widened and Rosalie, Bella and Renesmee gasped while Carlisle groaned "-whose memories we have also had to modify just as he was making plans to abduct, and quite likely, murder your youngest child and, quite possibly, your eldest. To reiterate, I must be clear: your daughter's life is in grave danger. We do not know for how much longer and whether we will be able to protect Edythe's life should she remain in the non-magical world-'" at this the Cullens gasped while Gabrielle moaned "'-but we cannot continue to ignore this threat not only to her safety but to the safety of all magical children, particularly those born in the non-magical world but who have yet to learn of their abilities and status as witches and wizards. If you would like, you may send your daughter Edythe to be fostered and raised by your relatives in Britain. Or else you and your husband may agree to meet with existing magical families who may put themselves forward to be your daughter's guardians and, if you permit, her official adoptive parents." Rosalie and Bella gasped again, while Esme inhaled sharply. "Either way, you and your husband will be permitted to choose your daughter's foster family and home, her living arrangements, and whether she would go to Ilvermorny, Hogwarts or any other school of magic, or to be permitted to be educated at home by the family of your choosing.

With sincere regret,

Adsila Sizemore,

President of the Magical Congress of the United States of America.'"

Silence reigned before Renesmee broke it.

"Adsila Sizemore... Isn't that the name of the lady who..." Gabrielle nodded.

"An ancestor." She informed her. "Adsila- the one you've met- is the fourth Adsila in the prominent Sizemore family. Her ancestor Adsila was one of the most successful presidents of Magical America, the second Adsila was equally famous although she was involved in a scandal, and the third Adsila- whom you may someday meet or hear about- her great-aunt, is a famous wand-maker, also known as Adsila Sizemore Quintana, after she married Thiago Quintana, another noteworthy wandmaker."

Gabrielle sighed. "So, it seems his sister did not die, as Edward was led to believe." She mused.

"They didn't tell him?" Esme whispered.

Gabrielle shook her head. "They couldn't." She stated flatly. "Even if they didn't modify his parents' memories. Besides, it would have been easier for Edward to believe his sister had died when he was younger than the fact that she was taken... or that she was 'special', and he wasn't. Or a freak. Either way, there was a risk he would fear or resent her. Or both. And this might have led him to do something."

Esme inhaled sharply. She made a strangled sound, and Carlisle shook his head forcefully. "He would never-" he began but Gabrielle shook her head.

"Gabrielle," Rosalie whispered "he hated being a vampire. He wouldn't have wanted-"

"Don't think about the Edward that you've grown to know over many decades, the one that was already a vampire," Gabrielle warned. "He must have been a very different boy living in a very different world, not just in terms of time and how they behaved, but what they believed and thought, and how they viewed the world around them. Don't underestimate what kind of impact the environment of a person's upbringing has on them and the way they think and act. Or how different the world and its people were back then to the ones we see and interact with today. If he hated himself, hated being a vampire now, and had a negative association with and being one of them in general, what do you think he would have thought about witches back when he was a regular human schoolboy?"

Bella cringed. Gabrielle nodded grimly. "Never underestimate how a person's views, beliefs and ways of thinking and how they act are influenced by the world around them during the formative years of their development." She muttered.

"Also, I doubt he would be too pleased now, either. The Edward you know had not only had a taste of the supernatural, but was forced to exist as a permanent, unchanging seventeen-year-old schoolboy, hiding in the fringes of non-magical human society with the very real threat and fear of discovery hovering over his and his family's heads every single day and night, drinking blood from either sentient humans or unsatisfying animals, without the most minimal respite of sleep, and was forced to watch every time as his schoolmates grew up and moved on with their lives for nearly a century." She stated flatly. "But wizards and witches are not vampires. They can grow up and move on in life. They can go to school, graduate, work, marry and start a family, get promoted and rise in status, and live in and retreat into a society and a world of their own where they could relax and feel safer from the prospect of being discovered by non-magical humans and have no need to pose as one of them to blend in, when they are decidedly not. They don't have to hide twenty-four seven. We have our own law enforcement and governments, which are decidedly nothing like the Volturi, whom we can trust, at least for most countries. We don't have to pretend to be anything other than ourselves or to watch as our peers move on with their lives in envy." She looked grim. "And yet we are part of an extraordinary magical world. Can you seriously say that the vampire Edward Cullen or any of you would not have envied and resented that kind of freedom or safety before you became acquainted with any of us? Or the opportunities our citizens have to make a life and a name for himself without having to hide? Or that the human Edward Anthony Masen Junior, or any of his school friends, would never envy his sister's extraordinary yet blissfully normal life?"

No one spoke. "Or would he have feared her? If he hated what he became once he'd turned, a vampire, would he not have feared and hated witches and wizards as a young boy, even more, especially if he wasn't acquainted with the supernatural yet and had only heard stories with negative connotations?" Gabrielle pressed. She looked sceptical. "Edward can't always have been the way he was today. No one springs out like that, with all these issues, out of nothing. He may have stayed the same in some respects, but others..." she looked sadly at them. Then her eyes turned to Bella. "You wanted to be part of his world too, once. It must have seemed extraordinary."

She did. Bella bit her lip. She knew that to be the truth. It was only now she was starting to envy others for being normal and having ordinary, uncomplicated and boring lives. After wasting months nagging, begging, pleading, throwing childish tantrums, shouting, stomping her foot, bursting into tears and lying or avoiding her parents and anyone who might've known her as a human once she'd turned, all because she wanted to keep the secret and Edward refused or put off turning her into an immortal until it became a matter of life and death and there was no other alternative, the irony was not lost on her. And the frank, brutal truth was, had they not come into contact with the Vampire Confederation along with wizards and witches, Bella would have had to face eternity as a high school and college student, moving from one small town to another, hoping never to get discovered yet fearing its inevitability, surviving on a diet of disgusting animal blood while watching her peers, like Jessica and Angela, grow up, graduate from college, enter the workforce, and maybe one day find success and even fame, marry and possibly start families, after which at one point, they would have settled into a blissful retirement, surrounded by a loving family with children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren... All the while Bella endlessly listened to classroom lectures and achieved useless and increasingly meaningless college diplomas on subjects she had long-since memorised to the letter and could have earned vast fortunes by, except she feared even entering the workforce full-time and going on to achieve something with her life, even if she had believed herself capable of it, in case she aroused suspicions and they were eventually discovered. So Bella would have resigned to be settled into a dull, endless limbo of unendingly completing the same homework assignments and exams, which she had already done for centuries, if not decades or millennia. Rinse and repeat. Fearing but waiting for the day when either the non-magical humans discovered their existence, panicked and sought to wipe them out from the face of the earth using biological weapons or weapons of mass destruction, or until all human life and civilisation had been wiped out from the face of the earth, either by natural disasters caused by climate change, or other phenomenon, even alien life, that could also wipe out all animal life from the planet leaving vampires with nothing and no one to feed on until the sun expanded and the planet imploded.

Or maybe humanity had by the developed the technology to leave planet earth behind and find other homes in the galaxy or the other corners of the universe. Who knew whether vampires would be able to smuggle themselves aboard a spaceship for the exodus, or they would have been forced to stay or been wiped out entirely by then? Either way, once the rosy glow of fairytale romance had faded from her vision, Bella would have had to face the prospects of a future that was both bleak and grim, just struggling to survive, with or without her new family, daughter and Edward with no choice but to keep going, without rest. And now she couldn't believe she was stupid enough not to think things through.

"The grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence." Gabrielle gestured to the other letters. "But I don't think they modified their parents' memories, at least not Elizabeth Masen's. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to keep this in her safe."

That was also true. Esme fished out more letters and photographs. She inhaled sharply again. Bella and Renesmee leaned forwards with Rosalie, and everyone saw that some of the pictures looked like they were moving.

The moving photos were black and white, but the subject was very clearly an adolescent girl, around eleven years old. She had such a striking resemblance to Edward and Renesmee that Bella's heart twisted at the sight. One showed her smiling the same dimpled smile her daughter possessed, as opposed to Edward's crooked one, but with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. She was surrounded by a group of smiling, laughing schoolchildren, two girls and a boy, all of whom were dressed in robes fastened with what looked like a golden brooch shaped like some sort of strange symbol, an intertwining knot with three loops.

"A Gordian knot," Gabrielle informed her, seeing Bella's quizzical expression. "The school uniform for Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in America. They wear blue and cranberry-coloured robes fastened with a gold Gordian knot, in honour of a brooch which belonged not only to the school's founder, Isolt Sayre, but also her mother Rionach who once lived in the original cottage named Ilvermorny in Ireland, before it was burned to the ground and her parents were killed by treachery." She frowned. "It seems Edythe was sent to Ilvermorny in the United States instead of Hogwarts in Britain." Her frown deepened.

"Why though?" Rosalie asked. "Wouldn't it mean that her parents could go visit her over there? Or did Magical Britain have similar laws?"

Gabrielle shook her head. "Magical Britain had long since relaxed their policy involving wizard and Muggle interactions, but I don't think that was the problem. Edward Senior did mention that his wife's aunt refused to have anything to do with her or Edward. It's possible that even if Elizabeth Masen wasn't a Squib but she married and had a child with a Muggle or a No-Maj anyway, then members of her family would prefer to pretend that both she and her son didn't exist." Rosalie and Esme gasped, and Renesmee and Bella's eyes widened. Carlisle looked completely aghast. "Back in the day, before, well, I discovered the reason why non-magical parents could produce magical children and magical parents children who sometimes possessed mere traces of magic but could not use it, for a family to produce such a child of the latter category, a Squib, was considered something shameful. Humiliating. It seemed to hint that there was something wrong with the family, with the parents in general. That they were weak. Unhealthy. It was considered shameful because, well, for one, who would ever want their son or daughter to marry and have descendants with a 'weak' bloodline, even if they married the magical sibling of a Squib, for fear the resulting offspring would have no magic? And to be unable to use magic in the magical world is the equivalent of being unable to use electricity or any kind of electronic device, access the media outlets, along with being physically handicapped as well. No child could receive a magical education and someday work in an industry which uses magic as a necessity, if they can't even wield it. Before I connected the dots and published my findings- no doubt shocking the entire world-" Carlisle smiled and Rosalie smirked at that "-the magical governments didn't even register Squib births. They were not considered full citizens of whichever magical nation they were a part of, as I've mentioned. The kindest thing for the families to do would be to send them to non-magical schools and encourage them to integrate and intermarry with the local non-magical community. Of course, there were others." Gabrielle sighed.

"Like the Scourers who turned traitor and weeded out the children they had with No-Majs who showed signs of inherited magic, many families, Pure-Blood elitists or supremacists we call them these days, could also make their Squib children disappear. Some killed them and made their deaths appear to be accidental." Bella hitched in a breath, while Rosalie made a sound of fury and Esme's hand flew to her heart. "Others kept them hidden, locked up in secret rooms imprisoned inside their own homes. Others still found more ways to be rid of them- at least one wizard from Britain turned all seven of his Squib sons into hedgehogs." Nobody laughed. Gabrielle continued gravely, "and that's if you were discovered to be Squibs. There were also witches and wizards who were disowned and disinherited, even ostracised from their communities, if not outright killed when they fell in love with and married No-Majs or Muggles. Poor Elizabeth Masen," she shook her head "ignored, disowned and punished by her own family for being born as something she did not choose."

"Poor Elizabeth indeed." Esme murmured, looking horrified. Carlisle shook his head furiously. "Pure-blood elitism was worse in Britain back during the twentieth century than it was in the United States, despite Rappaport's Law and the dangers the Scourers possessed." Gabrielle murmured, gazing curiously towards the picture of Edythe Masen and lightly fingering the edges of the photo. "The Second Wizarding War was instigated by Voldemort and his followers, all of whom were once notorious pupils of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where their dark and hateful vision of the future began, and it ended during the last decade. In fact, the very final battle of the war took place within the school building and grounds itself. Ilvermorny had been founded not only by a Pure-Blood witch but by a No-Maj, her husband James Seward with whom she had two daughters and raised two adoptive sons with, the latter of whom were both wizards. In contrast to Hogwarts, Ilvermorny has a reputation of being one of the most democratic and least elitist schools in the magical world, even today. It wouldn't surprise me if Elizabeth Masen would rather her daughter grow up and go to school here if she had grown up shunned by her own family in Britain, especially since the Pure-Blood elitism really took its toll on Hogwarts students' living and learning environment and safety. In fact, some claim that the concept and ideology of Pure-Blood supremacy may have originated in Hogwarts, long before Voldemort was even born, but it's difficult to be completely certain. It was definitely a breeding place for radicals and dark wizards." Her ethereally beautiful face turned grim. "Look at Cedric Diggory, Elizabeth and Edward's relative. And he had an all-magical family, simply dying because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

A sickening silence descended upon the Cullens. Gabrielle knew that the Weasleys and Potters would be upset and hurt to hear Hogwarts described like this, same as all of her British friends, but quite frankly if they thought Durmstrang had a dark reputation in the magical world, the frank truth was that Hogwarts' reputation wasn't any better, especially once the war was over and many findings came to light. At least, for all the flaws of the staff and the school bullies, no one had ever died on Durmstrang grounds, and they expelled Grindelwald and his followers instead of turning a blind eye to any suspicious activities.

"I'd say being forced apart from your child by Rappaport's Law is worth ensuring that she can grow up in safety and also live happily, completely accepted by her community, as opposed to being discriminated against and possibly even killed."

"Of course it was." Esme stated bitterly. "But it's still terrible. She lost so many of her children and was forced to part with another. Was it any wonder she would rather sacrifice all her chances of surviving for the smallest chance that Edward could survive? That she was willing to give her last breath to make you promise to give Edward a second chance at living, even as a vampire?" She asked her husband.

Carlisle was silent, and they all knew why. Edward had spent the majority of his immortal life, granted on the dying wish of his mother, regretting and resenting his existence, squandering the second chance she had spent her dying thoughts and attentions on granting to him, filled with bitterness, misery, ingratitude and self-loathing. Did Elizabeth and Carlisle make the right choice? Bella wondered.

She felt pity for Elizabeth Masen. Not only was she forced to surrender her daughter and lost her husband to the influenza pandemic, she'd been treated as a shameful secret and disowned by the majority of her family through no fault of her own, shunned and humiliated as an outcast by the world she was born into, and then she had given up her chances of survival to futilely struggle to nurse her son back to health, before making a desperate last attempt with a dying request filled with desperation and hope for the one child, the last family member she had left, only for that child to bitterly resent and throw his second chance at living, her final gift to him, away the first chance he got for a mistake he had been responsible for, and belittle not only her but his adoptive parents' sacrifices at every opportunity, like it was all nothing more than garbage.

Bella bit her lip. Was it any different to how she treated Charlie and all he'd ever done for her? She did threaten to choose Edward over him if the latter didn't accept their relationship. Unlike Elizabeth Masen's grandmother and whoever else in her family that had cut ties with her, Charlie never did. She marvelled at how brave this woman must have been... And how, like Charlie, she deserved so much better.

Gabrielle smiled ruefully. "Does not prejudice exist in the non-magical world? Otherwise, would there have been a Civil Rights or Abolition movement?" The Cullens grimaced, with the exception of Renesmee who was staring at the photo of her recently discovered aunt in silence.

"But it begs the question as to how and why MACUSA permitted Edward Masen Senior to retain the knowledge of magic." She murmured. "His wife, I can understand: Squibs are a grey area, and she was born in Magical Britain even though she did not possess full citizenship, and she still kept contact with at least a few of her relations. Of course, some presidential administrations apart from the Sizemore administration would have still insisted on her memories being modified, but having family from overseas would have kicked up quite a fuss that just doesn't seem worth it for one or two individuals, even if the majority of her family had cut ties with her. The world was rapidly changing, and many people were growing tired of the old hostilities and prejudices even if some were willing to fight and kill for them. But it doesn't explain why her non-magical husband was permitted to be aware of the existence of magic when he lived and worked in the United States. Unless..." she trailed off and the Cullens' eyes widened.

"You don't think-" Esme's eyes shot towards her husband and back to Gabrielle. "Him too?!"

Gabrielle shrugged. "Who knows?" She stood. "I might be able to make a visit to MACUSA headquarters in New York to check. Also, I might be able to check if Edythe Masen is still alive, even if she has a different surname." She pointed.

They stared.

"Witches and wizards can live for centuries," Gabrielle stated bluntly "if she was born in 1903, it's not only possible but likely that she's still alive. I might be able to check her genealogy in MACUSA records, as the president then definitely knew that Elizabeth was related to witches and wizards in Britain, and I can also find out why Edward Senior's memories weren't modified too."

Carlisle nodded his eyes distant. "But if Elizabeth knew..." he said slowly "would she have truly wanted me to turn Edward?"

Gabrielle hesitated. "It's possible that Elizabeth Masen had never met vampires before. Apart from a few social gatherings and business dealings, which usually take place when a few individuals enter our world, vampires mostly keep to themselves. Even though they have the protected status and legal rights of beings, rather than beasts. The vampires of the Confederation know better than to prey upon our kind. But they would have been a rare sight in both Britain and the United States. Amelia did build the New-World Coven which is located in New York, not far away from MACUSA headquarters, but they don't hang around with American witches and wizards too much. And Elizabeth Masen, even if she had ever seen a vampire, had likely never encountered one of your species before."

"So... she might have mistaken me for something else?" Carlisle whispered. "A different kind of being?" He looked agonised. Gabrielle sighed and gave him a sad and weary look.

"Carlisle," she said sternly "Elizabeth Masen, were she alive now and if she could speak to you from beyond, has no reason whatsoever to blame you. Not only did Edward make his own choices, which he is solely accountable for, your one mistake was that you may have ignored some warning signs and let him get away with certain things since you didn't think it was too serious or perhaps it was understandable, like scheming to force an abortion because he feared for her life, but how many other parents were able to spot warning signs of troubled minds and delinquency in their children? Including, say, the parents of the shooters of the Columbine School Massacre?" The Cullens were silent. "Or Jeffrey Dahmer the serial killer? Besides, Elizabeth did make you promise to save Edward no matter the cost: to do for her son what you could not do for anyone else, so that Edward would be able to have a second chance at life- which you did." She insisted, then shook her head. "It wasn't your fault he ended up squandering and rendering his mother's loving sacrifice and yours meaningless every chance that he received." Her lovely face darkened. "You followed your promise and her dying wish to the letter."

The Cullens winced, with the sole exception of Renesmee who was emotionless and pondering just how much Edward had wasted his second chance and squandered his mother's sacrifices, but they did not dispute her words. Gabrielle departed from the room. Outside, they heard the faint popping noise that indicated that she had gone.

Renesmee picked up another picture of Edythe. She was eating ice cream, licking the treat from a waffle cone while her friends did the same thing. Another showed Edythe on the beach in an old-fashioned swimsuit with some friends. There were still photographs as well, of Edythe and Edward as babies and small children. But only Edythe's pictures moved after the still photographs showed Edward on his own. First in old-fashioned lacey white frocks, then in shorts and sailor suits with Peter Pan collars, his hair immaculately combed. In a swimsuit on the seaside, with a bucket in one hand and a child-sized trowel in the other, on a sailboat with his parents, his mother in a white dress with a matching parasol while his father showed him how to row the oars, being taught his letters by his proud and beaming mother, posing with a teacher outside a classroom and outside the gates at his first day of school wearing his new uniform. Playing the piano while a man instructed him, and another one where his mother was beside him. Doing homework. Flying a kite. Surrounded by a pile of toys and books on a rug. Sitting on his mother's lap as he and his family posed for a photograph in a garden or a park with a group of other people while they had a picnic. Being tucked into bed and read to by his mother.

His father was present for a number of the first ones, Bella noted. But slowly, he started to disappear, particularly once Edythe had left the picture. Jasper was right; Edward did seem to have a more distant relationship with his father. She wondered, especially since Edward Masen Senior's letter to his wife spoke about his toddler son in such loving and glowing tones, whether the loss of his daughter might have impacted and caused him to withdraw from his sole remaining child, seeing him as a painful reminder of the daughter he lost. Perhaps he feared losing him too, she thought. He certainly must have piled on the pressure for Edward to be highly educated and capable of success, Bella remembered what Carlisle had said about Edward and his biological father. Whereas Elizabeth must have reacted to the separation from her daughter and the miscarriages and stillbirths of her other children by showering her son with love and attention and treating him like the centre of her universe, clinging to him for fear of losing him as well.

Pity for Elizabeth rose within Bella. She didn't think Edward's mother would be happy if she saw how his life had turned out, how he'd reacted to the second chance she gave her last breath to ensure Carlisle would give to him. But now Bella could finally understand him, could know and see Edward for who he was, as opposed to what he was and what she thought him to be. She could understand why he had been so controlling, to the point where he was willing to manipulate her, Renesmee and other people, to get them to do what he wanted. In part, because he didn't want to fail them, the way he felt he had failed both his parents by not being the man they had raised, taught and expected him to be all his life. But also because of the era he had been born into, Bella realised, gazing at the black-and-white pictures of demure-looking ladies in long, floating gowns, large hats and parasols, stern men in formal suits and baby boys in lacy frock-dresses. The least formal ones showed them smiling. The more formal ones did not, and Bella remembered reading or hearing from someone or somewhere that people in old-fashioned photographs thought it was 'unseemly' to smile when posing.

Like Rosalie, Edward had had a good life, and looked as if he might also have a good one had he been left to grow naturally. Not like Bella who had a depressing childhood and possessed no hope for a bright future from the get-go, until she discovered what Edward was. Bella gazed at the happy scenes. She was worlds away from him, and it might as well be in terms of space as well as time. In those days, a little clumsiness would have had some appeal like a damsel in distress in a romantic melodrama, opera or theatre play, although too much would have undoubtedly made her a subject of even more scorn and derision, as well as mockery, had she been alive back then. She could not imagine her human self as Edward had, sitting daintily, nibbling and sipping instead of eating as she normally had, wearing long dresses that no one else seemed to trip over, carrying heavy parasols and wearing large hats with feathers, or corsets restricting her every breath. Or following the kind of strict etiquette and mannerisms they followed in Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, or even Mark Twain. Or the kind of expectations she was sure to flounder had she been alive during those times, the kind of expectations that lingered in the kind of world that Edward had been born into, and which he'd tried to recreate in his own little bubble which she and her daughter also lived. Why else would he insist on having his way and treating her like a fragile porcelain doll or a daisy?

Bella's insides tied themselves into knots. Could she not see, back then? Was she truly that blind? Every time Edward had brushed aside her feelings and opinions- although to be fair, some of them were childish and petty, like her self-centred reasoning for not wanting the Denali sisters at her wedding- every time he acted like she was irrational or silly or childish or unreasonable, and treated her opinions and wishes like they were something to be stepped over with ease, like his insistence on taking her to the prom by coercion and trickery was any better. Or how he humoured her feelings instead of truly respecting them by promising he only rented the Mercedes Guardian which he brought as an engagement gift, which she didn't want since it made other people stare at her too much, only to get her a Ferrari for a wedding present, which never occurred to her to even use? Every time he insisted she was pure, she was selfless, and that she was the most beautiful woman in the world, even when Bella herself knew better, seen her own reflection daily, and knew everything she had done, thought of and even said out loud (which Edward himself had often used against her to make Bella feel guilty into capitulating to his whims, as was the case about her feeling insecure with the Denali sisters present, so he must have heard them) often acting careless and unthinking for other people's safety and feelings?

Charlie was right: they were living in two different worlds, using each other while they thought, made plans, heard and listened to seemingly entirely different conversations even while they were talking to each other. And Renesmee was right too: that wasn't Bella Edward was focusing his attention on, whenever he took her out in his Aston Martin after being treated like a dress-up doll by Alice and opened the car door for her whenever he took her out to a fancy, expensive restaurant. That Mercedes Guardian and the Ferrari wasn't for her. Those music CDs, filled with his favourite tunes, weren't for her since she barely listened to music anyway. The birthday party wasn't for her. Those were all for his ideal girl, or, more accurately, for Edward himself to indulge in his fantasy.

She was nothing more than the empty canvas which he could paint with whatever he liked from his imagination. How could Renesmee and Charlie spot this when she couldn't, and she spent more time with Edward? He had tried to recreate the world he lived in and the life he imagined he would have lived with the girl of his dreams, or the romance he read about and seen in his old-fashioned books and plays, only he never discovered that Bella wasn't suited for those kind of roles, nor for the kind of world he imagined they'd be living in, because he refused to see it.

And for the first time in weeks, while reflecting on all this, Bella didn't feel resentment or anger towards Edward: she felt pity. Pity since Edward, like her, had been so caught up in his dreams and his hatred for himself that he forgot how to live in the real world and see all the blessings he had taken for granted and carelessly threw away. Pity that, unlike her, Edward was still trapped inside and could not see it for what it was: an illusion, much less learn to be happy in the real world. And Edward did not have the benefit of a biological father who accepted and loved him for who he was and didn't expect anything from him in return who was still alive and whom he still had time to mend things with. He was forever haunted by the ghosts of his past, which included his parents and their perceived perceptions and expectations of him which he appeared to fail. All of which might have been why he was equally determined to bury his true past, his self and the life he lived, as he was to reconstruct his once-lost future in his imagination, in the life he later lived once Bella had arrived in the picture. She no longer felt awe or dazzlement for his seemingly wondrous, even miraculous nature and existence, and his beauty. She no longer felt disgust, anger or resentment for being used and controlled, and being taken advantage of by her weak and cowardly nature. She felt nothing but pity, shame and remorse.

So this is how it ends, Bella thought. Just over two months shy of their first wedding anniversary, while the papers might not have been filed, their fairytale story had ended. And they didn't go onto their perfect piece of forever and live happily ever after. It ended with pity, guilt and regret.

---

"Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family."

Anthony Brandt

The grave of Elizabeth Masen, Edward's birth mother, was located right next to her husband's and two empty graves. A pair of cenotaphs, one engraved with the name of Edward Anthony Masen Junior, his date of birth and presumed date of death, along with Edythe Elizabeth Masen's tombstone etched also with her birthdate and her presumed date of death.

Maybe someday, the Masens could at least reunite with Edythe if they hadn't already, Bella thought as she placed the flowers on Elizabeth and Edward Senior's graves. Renesmee did the same from beside her, as did Esme and Carlisle, and Rosalie. She thought about Lady Laima and how the Vampire Queen admitted she had had two sisters and brothers along with a mother and a father she didn't know, how she would never see any of them ever again, nor even the place where she was born and grew up in, if she even remembered or could locate where that was on a modern map. How anything left of the people she had seen and interacted with during her everyday life as a girl was nothing but broken pottery and bits of weapons and other things, along with unidentifiable skeletons sitting in museum storages.

What had she taken for granted and jumped into, without fully knowing or understanding when she did it? Bella wondered painfully. Would she ever, at least, be able to say goodbye to Renée and Charlie? To make up for how she'd treated them, particularly her own father?

Bella's face twisted in anguish as she imagined visiting Charlie and Renée's graves in the future, saying her goodbyes. If it had to take a lifetime, she would do it, she decided.

The problem was where and how she would even begin.

How could she ever begin making it up to Charlie after all that she'd done?

They left Chicago and returned to the Carpathians. Bella spent her time with Renesmee sorting and examining the photographs of Edward, Edythe and their parents, along with the letters from the safe.

"Look," Renesmee showed her one letter.

Bella read aloud, "'Dear Elizabeth,'

'I am happy to report that Edythe is doing very well. She has recovered from the severe bout of Mumblemumps-'" Bella frowned at the unfamiliar word and guessed that this might have been a magical disease "'-and has been talking rather animatedly in trying out for the Quidditch or Quodpot teams at whichever house she gets sorted once in Ilvermorny.'" Again, Bella didn't know what that was, but judging from what the sender wrote it was supposedly a team sport "'- Please rest assured, although your concerns are valid, the Ilvermorny dormitories have enchantments placed upon them which prevents boys from entering the girls' rooms and vice versa.'" Emmett who was listening nearby, snorted. "'Besides, Edythe is a well-behaved young witch, and too smart to engage in such foolish activities (of which I have had her word that she would steer clear of such bad behavior and anyone who shows or encourages such things), and the staff are diligent. Class presidents and student body presidents are equally watchful and diligent for any form of bad behavior exhibited by any of the students and the pukwudgies never let them get away with anything.'" Bella and the rest of the Cullens blinked at the unfamiliar word. "'I confess to being rather relieved that you chose to allow your daughter to remain in the States, rather than sending her to Britain to be educated in Hogwarts. I am sure that one of the world's oldest, if not the oldest magical institution has a deservedly fine reputation, and it is of incredible significance to not only Magical Britain but the rest of the Wizarding World besides, particularly in terms of historical significance (not least of which is because Ilvermorny was initially modelled after Hogwarts), but I have had increasing reports, remarks and comments from visitors and students in Ilvermorny who have relatives and acquaintances who attend Hogwarts that the elitism there is an increasing cause for concern, as is the incredibly hostile atmosphere between students, both due to house rivalry and certain individuals targeting those whom they perceive to be weaker than they.'"

The atmosphere in the room turned grave. "So Gabrielle was right." Rosalie murmured.

"'Worse still, is that the teachers, headmaster and the rest of the staff, as well as the prefects along with the Head Boy and Girl (their equivalent, I am told, of class and student body presidents, respectively) are seemingly blind towards the increasingly dark and hostile environment among their students, so long as they put up a good front while in class, completely ignoring the potential and existing harm, both internal and physical, done upon their pupils. I fear that any parent who willingly sends their child to Hogwarts may not receive them on their return, whole and healthy (if they do return at all. Who knows what kind of depravity those teachers will allow their students to get away with next? We have heard the most terrible and ghastly rumors). Edythe shows signs of being a brilliant and diligent student, eager to learn and to try new things. She is more than happy to make friends, and rest assured there will be little bullying and elitism, and even if there were, those would be severely dealt with by the Ilvermorny staff. As soon as Edythe has turned seventeen, we will arrange for a trip to Europe so the three of you may meet.'"

"'Three'?" Rosalie blurted. "I take it Edward was never going to meet his sister?" She asked incredulously. "Or know about why she'd left and her death had been faked?"

"Rappaport's Law, remember," Carlisle sighed. "If Edward still intended to reside and work in the United States, he couldn't ever be allowed to know. And they didn't yet know the connection between Squibs and magical children born to No-Majs, so they had no reason to keep track of him and his family line."

Silence reigned as they remembered that Edythe was two years younger than Edward who himself was seventeen when they became sick, and both of his parents had died of the Spanish Influenza. Edward Senior and Elizabeth Masen never saw their daughter again.

Bella looked down at the letter. "The letter's signed by someone named Andromache Alden." She looked at her family. "I think that's the name of the woman who raised Edythe."

Rosalie, Esme and Carlisle peered at the letter, as did Emmett and Jasper. "So she was sending Elizabeth regular updates about her daughter." Carlisle murmured, thoughtful.

Esme picked up another sheet. "'Dear Elizabeth,'" she read aloud.

"'Edythe has arrived in Ilvermorny, and has written to me that she has been sorted into Thunderbird House. She has also received her wand: Applewood with a core made from White River Monster spine, made by Thiago Quintana.'" The Cullens all blinked in bemusement and fascination at the description of the composition of a witch's wand. "Applewood?" Emmett blinked in amusement. "Wasn't expecting that. Maybe something like Elder or Yew, but apple?" He grinned.

"Wasn't Quintana the married surname of one of the other Adsila Sizemores?" Rosalie questioned, remembering. "The third one who Gabrielle said is a famous wandmaker?"

Carlisle agreed. "She also said that the third Adsila Sizemore's husband, Thiago Quintana, was a noteworthy wandmaker in his own right." He blinked. "I wonder... would Adsila Sizemore's great-aunt... if possible..."

"It's possible," Esme agreed and continued. "'She has become acquainted with several students, although I must admit it is likely too early to say whether they are already firm friends. It is not unknown for new and younger students, especially once far from home to come together for companionship and comfort, as you likely know, and this has not yet even been a week. However, it is more than likely with her warm and personable nature that she will draw others to her, and they will enjoy her company as they will find her insight and brilliance in her studies helpful should they require her assistance. She has mentioned that she enjoys the company and likes a few individuals, two boys and a girl, and quite possibly another girl. Rest assured, the students of Ilvermorny's houses, including the Thunderbirds, are not above socializing and even closely befriending pupils from other houses, unlike those of Hogwarts.'" "It's that bad?" Jasper murmured, brow furrowing in concern. "It would seem so," Carlisle said, frowning. "Or at least it was then. Remember, they already fought two wars. It's possible that, as Gabrielle mentioned, they've moved on."

Esme continued, "'However, she is slightly peeved that first years are not permitted to bring or purchase their own broomsticks, even though she has already flown several times on a practice broom in our back yard." Emmett's eyes widened and he and Jasper smirked. "'As predicted, Quidditch and Quodpot tryouts would have to wait until her second year. However, I can safely say that she excels in Charms, Potions, and even Transfiguration, as tricky as it has been known to be particularly for new students, although she dislikes Herbology and has no patience for it. She will start Defense on Thursday, so she has yet to make an opinion of that, but I suspect she will enjoy it. I am happy to report that Edythe appears to be absolutely glowing with radiance from her letters. She is overjoyed to be in Ilvermorny and it seems she has been looking forward to starting school for so long.'"

"Looking forward to boarding school?" Emmett was dumbfounded. Bella, Jasper and Rosalie were the same. "Well, it's magic school." Carlisle pointed. They shrugged or nodded. That was understandable. "'I will update you as soon as I receive her next letter. For now, please find the photographs I have attached to this letter of Edythe in her new school uniform on her eleventh birthday just before she departed.'"

Esme looked up towards her family. "It sounds like they were caring parents," she said softly. Edythe Masen- or whatever her surname was once she entered the magical side of America- sounded like a bright happy child who thrived both at home and at school. She could only imagine how this would have gladdened and pained Elizabeth and Edward Senior's hearts in equal measure. There was no indication that, even if she did know, Edythe's life had been lacking in any way.

A thought occurred to Esme. "Do you think that she knew about her birth parents and brother?" She questioned aloud.

Carlisle's brow furrowed. "If Edward didn't... it's equally possible that Edythe didn't know either, or at least they weren't planning on telling her until after she came of age and could be trusted not to enter the non-magical side of America and look for her parents and brother, particularly without supervision and since it was against the law."

"The witch who wrote the letter said they were planning on arranging a meeting with Edythe in Europe once she was seventeen," Bella murmured "why seventeen, though? Not eighteen?"

Emmett shrugged. "Either way, we won't ever know. Do you think they told her after the Masens had died? Or did they think they ought to spare her the pain of knowing she'll never meet them or her brother?"

"Edward didn't die in the eyes of the people, at least not yet," Carlisle confessed "we put it out that he had a guardian, a relation whom he was going to stay with after his parents died while he was still in recovery. Once he was past his newborn phase, he came to claim his inheritance and then left with me. We claimed that Edward wanted to get away from the memories- which was also true- and later made it known that he had died and sent an empty casket to Chicago to rest beside his parents in an empty grave. Then Edward would come, under a different name, claiming to be a relative and officially inherited his all parents' property, and this cycle would be repeated from time to time."

"Edythe couldn't have known that if she did know or found out about them eventually." Rosalie said quietly. "And neither would her adoptive or foster parents. Interactions with non-magical people- No-Majs- were kept at a strict minimum, remember? Neither they nor their government would have investigated Edward's supposed death, and probably never tried to claim any of the Masens' property under her name, either. Why should they? She's been declared legally dead in the non-magical world, and she had to leave because it wasn't safe for her to stay there with so many 'No-Majs' who could spot her if she accidentally used magic." Like Alec and Jane, the words were unspoken but clear, nonetheless.

"So, it's more likely that her adoptive parents decided to spare her the pain and she never even knew she was adopted." Rosalie finished.

Esme sighed rubbing her face with her hands. "What a mess. What a tragic mess."

And Edward couldn't know about this, not until he had been released from prison. Hopefully, Edythe would still be alive, but would she want anything to do with him? Bella wondered. After what he had done and caused? Would Edward, who barely mentioned his past to Bella and tried so desperately to forget his biological parents, even to the point of throwing away his mother's sacrifice so he could have a second chance, rather than honouring her, ever want to make contact and connect with a sister whom he long believed to be dead but was probably not only living but had lived a life which Edward, in his eternal adolescence, could only envy? What if Edythe had married and had children, grandchildren, maybe even great-grandchildren or great-great-grandchildren by now? Would this not cause Edward pain, envy and resentment, especially since Bella and Renesmee had both left and all but completely cut ties with him?

Bella could tell Rosalie and Jasper were worriedly thinking the same thing. Their eyes caught one another's. Rosalie and Jasper, along with Emmett, Carlisle and Alice knew Edward better than she did. Bella may have been familiar with Edward's habits, just as Edward's had been familiar with hers- enough to use them against her- but in the end, only they could answer this question. Bella doubted that Edward himself could answer whether he would welcome and be glad about the opportunity to meet his long-presumed dead sister after so long.

It brought something else to mind, another puzzle: Edward seemed determined to stay in the present and completely- or almost completely- forget about his past, or at least details of them, like his family and what kind of life they had together, or who he was as a young and growing boy. Apart from gifting Bella, and reportedly Esme and Alice, his mother's jewellery... well, Edward didn't seem too hurt when Bella instinctively clenched her hand into a fist when he presented her with his mother's ring. He barely mentioned her, apart from those small instances, and never in detail. It was as if he wanted to bury and forget about her, his father and the life he had led entirely. Maybe it caused him too much pain, Bella decided. She wondered though, how this could be and yet at the same time, Edward seemed determined to recreate the past world he lived in and live the life he once dreamed he'd have, to the point of treating Bella and Renesmee like the head of the house in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, whose sole and ultimate authority, which he wielded, was law. Bella knew he would never have been able to keep an eye on her and Renesmee otherwise, but he controlled their every movement, constantly pulling them to his lap or behind his back at the slightest gust of wind, dictated where they would go and who they would see, what they would eat, and used Alice to make them wear things they wouldn't normally wear, and make them agree and capitulate to everything even when they both wanted otherwise. What was the reason for this contrasting behaviour, she wondered. The past might have been painful, but his desire to live the future life he once thought he'd have must have been overwhelming. Still, she wondered how and why he would disrespect his parents' memories to such an extent if he wanted to live up to their teachings-

And then it hit her. Edward resented them. Edward resented his birth parents.

Of course, Bella thought. It made sense, but he probably didn't even know it. The memory of Charlie informing her that counsellors were trained not to spot signs of the supernatural, but to help sort out the feelings and emotions she didn't know she had, came to the forefront of her mind, as did the memory of the realisation that she had unconsciously used Jacob's presence and cheerful attitude, forced as it was, to try and cope emotionally, so neither he nor Edward would think of her baby as a monster for causing her distress on top of pain. Edward resented his parents for not only leaving him but leaving him with a mountain of guilt at their passing, and his inability both to live up to those expectations they had engendered in him, that they'd even sacrificed so much of themselves to give to him without consulting him, and to leave without giving him the opportunity to say goodbye. Both his second chance at living, which had Elizabeth fought so hard to give and eventually died for, and the successful adulthood of a late-nineteenth-early-twentieth century man they both gave their all to give to him but ultimately proved worthless. Bella's insides twisted with sympathy.

Would it have helped, she thought, if he had access to counselling then? He'd used Bella unconsciously similar to the way she used Jacob during her pregnancy: as a means to cope and move on in life, to fulfil those expectations his parents had had, and the ones he felt about himself but was frustratingly unable to fulfil. He wanted to forget and cast off the chains that were holding him back, not just because of his unresolved pain and guilt, which he would have been expected to shoulder the way men were expected to do, but because he felt they'd placed him in an impossible position with their expectations and the life his mother had died to give to him.

But even if he had problems, it would have never occurred to Edward to admit them, Bella thought. If she was uncomfortable with counselling and therapy sessions, not only because she didn't want the risk of being seen as crazy and institutionalised as well as accidentally exposing the Cullens and their world but also because she didn't want the humiliation of admitting even to herself that there was something wrong with her head, she could only imagine how Edward must have felt. Bella imagined Edward grinding his jaw and clenching his hands into fists at the suggestion. Especially once Alice had come into the picture, knowing what kind of electric-shock therapy and lobotomy treatments were available during the early twentieth century and how ineffective they really were, and what they did to her. Especially now that she knew how he had been brought up as: an extreme version of a stoic Alpha Male instead of a sophist Equal Rights supporter. An Edwardian gentleman, like the musicians who played on the Titanic to calm the hysterical doomed crowd, or the ones who chose to stay behind as the ship sank, complete with the stiff upper lip. Bad enough, Bella thought, that he was stuck as a seventeen-year-old schoolboy for all time. He didn't need any reason to feel less about himself than he already had. Which brought her to another startling conclusion: Edward, who appeared so confident, was secretly insecure.

Now, Bella finally found something both she and him had in common with each other; only it was far too late and not a good thing. Besides, she didn't even think to look when they were still together, just as she never thought to ask the other Cullens details about Edward's history or his personality without them opening up to her first.

Bella sighed and told Carlisle and Esme of her suspicions. The two of them looked grave, and the very air of the room, already mournful and grim, was downright sombre.

Carlisle sighed. "It makes sense." He gave Esme a sad and weary look. Bella knew what he was thinking- what they were both thinking of. "It's not your fault," she said slowly, noting for the first time how she truly meant and had reason to say this as opposed to simply putting up assurances to make someone feel better. "Edward was a product of his time and upbringing- as was Elizabeth and Edward Senior and everyone else who lived back then. The two of you actually did a better job than most people.

"You called him out for what he did," she reminded "when we visited him in prison. I never did that until I was forced to confront what we both did- and Jacob. You would have encouraged him to be open about his problems and to solve things together as a family rather than dealing with his issues by ignoring them or solving whatever problems we had all by himself without anyone else's input, like he normally did. It's not your fault Edward refused to open up to you when he didn't even open up and be honest with himself. He felt if he couldn't be a man physically or be seen as one by everyone else, then the least he could do was to act like a man, or what he thought a man was or should be." Bella paused, thoughtful. "Only that Edward's idea of a man was twisted and warped by his own feelings of regret as well as the ideals of the time, which I don't think anyone could actually meet. No one's perfect after all." She paused again. "But Elizabeth and Edward Senior both saw him as perfect, or at least they thought he had the potential to be perfect. Just as I thought he was perfect too."

Bella remembered how she'd gone to Edward to prepare herself for the Volturi's upcoming arrival, by teaching her how to fight. But Edward avoided every opportunity he had to even land a hit, and ultimately gave up, smiling and reassuring Bella- and most likely himself- that the Volturi would be made to listen, and it would not even come to a fight. Well, Bella thought grimly, he was wrong. It wasn't because Aro listened to reason that the Volturi backed from the fight, but because they were cowards. Just as he was wrong about the Volturi only being seen as heinous and evil by criminals. If Alice, Jasper and Kachiri hadn't found or arrived in time with Nahuel and Huilen, there would most certainly have been a fight- and Alice couldn't even see hybrids, so she must have been looking for black spots in her vision in South America. If they weren't ultimately successful in finding and persuading Nahuel and Huilen to come to Forks and arrive on time, and if she hadn't turned to Emmett, Kate and Zafrina for help, Bella would have had to face the Volturi unprepared and helpless.

She sighed unhappily. "And he drove himself crazy trying to fit the idea we had of him." She pursed her lips. "Just as I drove myself crazy tearing my hair out every time Edward openly professed his love for me only to express his discontent and even dismay about our relationship, even though it was because he was a vampire and being together would either put me in danger or force me to give up my human life. Especially since I started seeing turning into one as being an easy quick fix to just about every problem I had. Or maybe the only solution." Bella felt disturbed just remembering it. "That's not the sign of a healthy mind. Or a healthy relationship."

No, remembering just how much she actually believed being a vampire would solve every problem she had was a disturbing thing, Bella thought. As much as it was embarrassingly stupid. It seemed as if every obstacle she encountered, every problem she faced during those times, especially after she and Edward got back together, could easily be solved by turning her into a vampire. Never mind that vampirism came with its own problems, she thought, feeling appalled. Only now after she actually became one did she think about what the future had in store for her and what kind of life she'd have to live and experience. Feeling as if she'd thrown all her choices out the window by making this one choice, this trade-off, her freedom and family along with humanity, to continue existing until the rest of the world, including her parents, were dead and gone or they were ultimately discovered and wiped out. A chill spread through her as she remembered Aro's words during the confrontation at New Year's Eve. Twisted and dubious his words might've been, Bella had to admit he might've been right when he said their only safety was to stay hidden and allow humans to believe they were nothing more than myth; scary stories to tell around a campfire or something in horror movies, because humans were sure as hell now able to develop weapons that could kill them if they could use nuclear bombs and other chemical weapons to level entire cities. If Edward hadn't gone to Volterra, would they have gained the safety that being part of the Confederation and allies to magical people gave to them? How long would they have been fighting to survive for?

All these problems and unresolved issues were easily ignored by her naïve teenage and besotted newborn vampire self. Poor self-esteem, plain looks, clumsiness and lack of confidence and being uncomfortable around other people? The daily drudgery of house chores as well as schoolwork, and getting herself in danger often, especially when all she wanted was to be with Edward? Not being able to connect with her human classmates? Being noticed and gossiped about for being the Chief's long-lost daughter who later went crazy because her boyfriend dumped her? Having other people protect her while simultaneously putting their lives in danger? Feeling caught between two worlds, one ordinary and completely un-magical and the other supernatural and extraordinary? Turning into a vampire seemed to be the only solution for everything in her head. And it disturbed her now, looking back.

Once again, Bella could only shake her head at how stupid she'd been. How shallow she must have been to believe that by being a vampire all her problems would be easily solved, and her own self-hatred would dissipate when she became, as she was supposed to be, someone better than the one she was. But she wasn't, Bella thought grimly, remembering the meeting with Leah at the cottage. Even if she looked different, she still caused problems. She still caused hurt. That wasn't her being a human or being unlucky. She wasn't a better vampire than she was a human.

Bella swallowed the lump in her throat and looked at her adoptive parents. "I can forgive him," she whispered "just as I've already forgiven Jacob. Because, in the end, we all hurt each other. I was never any better. And now I understand."

She sighed heavily.

"It's time to move on." She whispered.

---

About Edward's biological parents and siblings:

Edythe is the name of Edward's gender-bent counterpart in Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined. I didn't pick it up, but it seemed to fit if Elizabeth Masen ever had a daughter, she might have named her that.

A semi-canon source mentioned that Edward wasn't as close to his biological father as he was to his mother, whose universe he was the centre of. I did wonder why Edward was an only child, whereas Jasper, Rosalie, Alice and Emmett were not (Esme's status as either an only child or one of siblings is unknown). Carlisle's mother had died giving birth to him, which wasn't uncommon especially the further back in time you went, but infant and child mortality rates were equally heartbreaking. Keep in mind that, as Rosalie stated, there were no retirement policies back then, so it was seen as more sensible for couples to have as large a family as they could possibly have, because a large brood of children meant that the whole family, including younger children, parents and grandparents, could be fed and cared for by as many working hands as possible. It's terrible, but that's how it was done back then, especially since we also have to keep in mind that birth control was an inaccurate science and often seen as taboo, and abortions even more so, especially since aborting a child was equally likely to end with the pregnant woman dying. It would make more sense if Edward was the only child the couple managed to have that survived into adolescence, which could also explain the extent of Elizabeth's attachment to him, as well as Edward Senior's emotional distance. Was it simply because he was a workaholic, and Elizabeth was a stay-at-home mother? Or did Edward Senior withdraw within himself after the losses of either one other child or so many, fearing to hope that this last child would survive, yet piling on the pressure on this last surviving boy to grow into a man and succeed so he could look after himself as well as the entire family, so that their fears for Edward's future would dissipate?

On a different note, Gabrielle explained how nations within the Wizarding World and the non-magical one differentiate from one another. Wizards do not recognise the authority of non-magical governments, including heads-of-state like presidents, prime ministers/chancellors and monarchs, meaning that unlike what's seen in many fanfics (as well-written as they are), the British monarch and his/her government has no legal authority over the citizens of Magical Britain, even if the Prime Minister and Minister for Magic do keep in contact with and regularly update one another.

Semi-canon and canon sources indicate that Liechtenstein and Luxembourg had considerable power within the international magical community, while Transylvania was an independent region set apart from Romania and Hungary, since it was mentioned separately from them. Judging by that logic and what we already know from canon, the British Ministry of Magic undoubtedly had authority over Scotland, England and Wales, but it is likely that the whole of Ireland was an independent nation, despite sending their youth to Hogwarts, along with Hawaii and Alaska since it makes absolutely no sense if they were a part of Britain and the United States respectively, since witches and wizards, both in Britain and America, weren't interested in controlling overseas territories, even just across a tiny ditch from mainland Britain, especially since Irish witches and wizards had a strong national and cultural pride and identity. While judging from the logic that we know about uncontacted tribes living in the Amazon rainforest in real life, it would be equally likely- since wizards and witches in Europe and the Americas were mentioned as knowing about each other long before Columbus ever set sail and made contact with anyone- that people of magical ability within the Aztec, Mayan, Incan and other indigenous pre-Columbus civilisations and societies within Central and South America would have split and hidden from the rest of their peoples from the conquistadors and European settlers, especially since European witches and wizards and their northern counterparts would have felt some strong empathy and common cause in wishing to evade the authority of the fanatical No-Majs/Muggles. In other words, many great Pre-Latin civilisations still thrived in this world, despite the presence of colonialist Muggles and witches and wizards of European descent. Brazil's school of magic, Castelobruxo, looks like it was set within a perfectly preserved temple, so maybe they weren't keen on destroying artefacts, writings and architectural marvels of cultural significance for the sake of 'heresy', unlike Muggles. But human sacrifice is another thing entirely, and the rest of the international magical community- which must have been recongised and accepted for them to join in on the International Statute of Secrecy- would not have tolerated it. Ever.

While prejudice is a big issue in the Wizarding World, racism and sexism is not. Only one person was mentioned as being sexist and that was Corvus Lestrange, Leta's father, but not even members of his family were, as evidenced by the way Bellatrix seemed to dominate the scene and other individuals apart from Voldemort, even when it included her husband Rodolphus and his brother. Blaise Zabini was treated as an equal by Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson. The Kama family, of Senegalese descent, appeared to be a part of the glamorous elite in Paris in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the sexist Corvus Lestrange had no issue with obtaining Lorena Kama so she could be the mother of the child that was supposed to be his heir, and at least two witches served as acting presidents of MACUSA, one of whom was confirmed to be black, and a few as Ministers for Magic in Britain, long before the Muggle feminist movement. Narragansett and Wampanoag students were mentioned as being among Ilvermorny's first pupils, and Martha Steward, Isolt Sayre's daughter, married a member of the Pocumtuc tribe which is considered extinct in the real world, but since magical America had completely separated from its non-magical inhabitants, thanks to the Salem Witch Trials, they not only likely still exist there but all the indigenous tribes would have separated from their non-magical counterparts and been hidden away and spared of the horror known as the Trail of Tears, and other instances of being displaced, abducted and slaughtered. Yet, mysteriously, the Quileute tribe were never mentioned as being wizards...