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[Twilight] Rising Phoenix (Part One)
Oh, what's this? Am I continuing this series? Why, yes. I am. I'm not sure on the name right now, but it's stuck in my mind.
Title: Rising Phoenix (Part One)
Fandom: Twilight
Summary: Trouble appears in the form of a rogue Cullen child. Oddly enough, he's not that interested in the Cullens themselves...
Disclaimer: Twilight's not mine, but Leaf, Ayita Black, and the rogue Cullen child are. Please don't take~
o1.
How many years had it been since he had last seen the Cullen family? It had to be at least ten or twenty. No, no, sixty? He had left them so long ago. And for what? The ability to roam where he pleased, drink what he pleased, and generally govern himself?
...
It had been a long time. And as he stared down at the sleepy town of Forks, he wondered how long it would be before he would get a chance to see Alice Cullen's little pet human.
She looked interesting, just like that androgynous brother of hers and her friends. Why did the Cullens favor these humans' lives? It would be fun to test their limits. See how much trouble he could put them into without his former family noticing.
And the best part was? He wouldn't be blamed for any of this.
o2.
The last day of summer was supposed to be spent lounging around the house, double checking their last bits of homework, and maybe (maybe!) gorge themselves on that last piece of chocolate they'd been eying for nearly a week.
It was the real last day of freedom from the tryanny known as high school.
But if your best friend was Edward Masen? You could pretty much forget ever thinking of stuffing yourself, because his idea of a great last day of summer was exploring Forks on foot. (Oh, no. Don't take the truck, Bella! It's going to leave a big carbon footprint on the earth!)
Bella sighed, looking down at her hand intertwined with Edward's. These days, it felt like it was his strength that was giving her the will to live. Not every girl had a guardian angel that also doubled as their best friend.
She just couldn't help wondering. Why wouldn't he tell her anything about angels? About Heaven? He was living proof that a god existed, but he was oddly tight lipped on just about everything relating to him.
"Edward?"
He glanced over his shoulder at her. "Mm?"
"Why don't we head into that coffee shop? I'm getting tired."
He frowned slightly, as if to say 'Already?', but sighed and let her enter the coffee shop first.
o3.
Thank the heavens it was a cloudy day. Alice thought it was good fun to watch the people of Forks pass by. It was fun to make up stories about them, knowing fully well that they were all true (that was the downside of being a psychic).
Jasper had frowned when she had said that she wanted to go into town for her last day of summer vacation. (He had wanted to spend a little extra time before he had to clear out as part of their charade. Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper had graduated high school last spring and were now supposedly heading off to college.) Alice, on the other hand, had smiled all-knowingly and said that she had her reasons for going into town.
Edward Masen was an interesting blind spot in her visions. Alice prided herself on being able to see the futures of both vampires and humans, but... him? She couldn't see anything. Nor could she see anything on the little boy staying with Bella and Charlie. He was a peculiar odd spot, especially since he looked and felt human. She had thought he was a vampire at first, but his unusually dark skin and colorful brown eyes negated that possibility.
So, what was she doing here today? It was simple. She was waiting. If she couldn't see either Edward or Leaf (that was the little boy's name, right?), her next best possibilities were Jacob and Bella. And she knew that one of them would be coming here today.
The door to the coffee shop opened, and Alice rose as she saw two familiar figures.
"Ah, Edward, Bella! What a surprise to see you here!"
o4.
Edward raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms as he spotted the smiling Alice Cullen. It was true that he was on rocky terms with the vampire family (for he knew their secret, despite it not being vice-versa), but he had no idea why they were so interested in Bella. Weren't they "vegetarian vampires"?
"It's good to see you," He replied calmly, extending a hand to shake.
Alice pursed her lips, hesitating only slightly before she shook it in return. Edward shivered. It was a lot colder than he remembered it being. Letting go, he watched Bella out of the corner of her eyes.
She smiled warmly at Alice. "Funny that we'd see you on the last day of summer vacation. I thought you'd be spending a lot of time with Jasper before he left for Dartmouth."
"He's not leaving for another week," Alice grinned back. "So we'll be fine for a while. Are you guys excited about school?"
"Hardly," Edward laughed. "School's going to be hard. At least we're juniors?"
Bella giggled as she corrected, "Seniors. We'll totally rule the school!"
"It'll be fun," Alice admitted, crossing her arms as she looked over at the display case. "... In any case, I hope I'm not in between you and your beloved coffee, Bella."
Shaking her head, Bella responded, "Not at all! Ed, could you order the usual for us? I wanna sit and talk with Alice longer!"
Edward sighed (probably because of the nickname), heading over to the coffee cart.
BAM!
And then the redhead stared at the blonde who had just collided into him.
o5.
It wasn't like Edward to be clumsy. Bella nervously looked from her surprised friend to the newcomer. She'd seen the girl plenty of times around school. Rosalie Hale. Everyone knew she was the prettiest girl in school, hands down. No one wanted to admit it, though: she was so icy that it was lucky if she even uttered a single word to you.
Edward was never one for rumors, though. He offered a hand to Rosalie, smiling as she (coolly) took his hand without a word of apology. Instead, Edward found himself apologizing to her.
"Sorry," He replied good-naturedly. Rosalie gave him a look before motioning for him to follow as she walked over to Alice and Bella.
"Carlisle wants you back," She replied, ignoring Bella and Edward completely. "Victoria and James want to express their thanks from last spring."
(Wait, the Cullens actually had houseguests? Them? The mere thought boggled Bella's mind.)
Alice curtly nodded, rising from her seat. "I'm sorry we had to cut this visit short," She replied, bowing slightly before waltzing out with her older sister.
"Something's up," Edward muttered, sighing as he looked over towards the two Cullens. "The Cullens don't normally have houseguests."
Bella leaned on him. "Being overprotective again? Edward, you suspected a squirrel of wanting to kill me."
"It had beady eyes," Edward insisted with a pout. "And little paws that squirmed." He paused, looking over at her with a grin. "... Did you really think I was serious about the squirrel?"
She slowly, hesitantly nodded. Edward laughed, ruffling her hair.
"Chin up," He replied. "If I think something's bad, nine times out of ten, it usually is. Unless it's Pokemon. And then I'm usually wrong six times out of ten."
Bella stuck her tongue out. "Not my fault you suck at foreshadowing."
He rose from his seat, still grinning as he went to go buy them coffee. "All right, all right. I guess we'll have awesome tutoring this year?"
She nodded, giving him the thumbs-up. "Yeah. Maybe this year won't be so bad after all!"
o6.
"You know, you didn't have to drag me out of there. I knew you were coming."
Rosalie sighed, turning the music up just a little louder as she watched Alice from the mirror beside her. The drive home wasn't long at all, but she had a feeling this conversation wasn't going to go anywhere. Sighing, the blond responded, "Why were you talking to those two anyways? They're both human."
"I'm not sure Edward is," Alice replied with a casual shrug. "I can't see him."
Rosalie nearly stopped the car. "W-what? You can't see him?"
"It bugged me at first," Alice sighed. "But he spends so much time around Bella that I look for her whenever I need to see what he's doing. It... works sometimes."
She ignored the scenery, choosing to lean back in her seat. "You know why Carlisle called us?"
Rosalie shrugged. Alice immediately pounced on her chance, responding, "... Victoria saw pictures of Kenneth and asked about him. To be honest, I'm not really sure who he is."
"That's because... Carlisle doesn't like to talk about him," Rosalie pursed her lips together. "I'm surprised there's still pictures of him in the house."
"It'll be interesting," Alice remarked. "Watching the past be drudged up. I'm personally curious in hearing about our rogue older brother."
Rosalie didn't reply for the rest of the ride. Alice knew then that she had hit the mark right on the nail this time. It would be painful for them - for Carlisle, Esme, and Rosalie - to remember their former family member who chose human blood over them.
o7.
Jasper was sitting outside the front door when Alice and Rosalie came home. Noticing him there, Alice immediately fluttered over to him and gave him a hug. "You all right?"
He slowly nodded, wrapping his hand around her arms as he looked up into the sky. "The house feels horrible," He softly said. "At least Carlisle and Esme had the sense to keep themselves together until Victoria and her coven left."
"Yeah," Rosalie nodded. "Good thing they found us during our baseball game last spring, or else we'd risk a repeat of what happened to Peter and Charlotte."
Alice and Jasper remained silent for a while. How could they forget what happened last spring? Some humans had been exploring the forest the same time that Peter and Charlotte had. No one was sure how those humans managed to escape with their lives, since the scent came as a total surprise to the two vampires. (Surely they'd been injured trying to get out! But... those that were injured hadn't been found. Their blood were the only traces that remained from that winter day.)
"Thank goodness," Jasper finally remarked. "... Now I just hope that Carlisle and Esme will be all right."
"They will," Alice reassured him. "This won't get them down. ... Though I do believe that unless I hurry, I won't be able to see pictures of the elusive Kenneth Cullen." And with that, she kissed him on the cheek and darted inside.
Rosalie frowned softly to herself, crossing her arms as she watched Alice disappear into their house.
"I wonder how Bella and Edward can stand her," The blonde remarked.
Jasper smiled in return, rising as he stood next to his foster sister. "Maybe because she's Alice? Rosalie, I can sense your jealousy again."
Rosalie humphed, hurriedly walking inside. Jasper sighed, looking back at the sky. "... It's no good to be jealous of a human. Even if her life's supposedly a lot happier than yours is."
o8.
While the Cullens were busy angsting about their rogue older brother, Leaf had last minute plans of his own. He left the Swan household next week to visit his family. Leaf, like the good Samaritan he insisted he was, said that his family had gotten on the bad side of a mama bear protecting her cubs.
But the Masens knew better. Elizabeth had gone with him, citing that she didn't think it was safe for a kid to go to Seattle by himself. (Leaf was secretly grateful. He had gotten quite attached to his second mother over the summer.)
They had gotten settled into their hotel, explored the town, and were now walking towards the hospital. Elizabeth smiled at her charge. "How are you feeling, Leaf?"
He smiled in return, "Fine, thank you." Their conversation immediately lulled into pleasant silence. While it felt a little awkward, Leaf wasn't going to speak. He smiled just thinking of his family. It had been so long! And now they were better! (Well, his brother and sister were all right. His parents hadn't lived in the United States for years.)
"I'm glad Ephraim and Ayita have finally recovered. But did you ever hear from your brother?"
Leaf shrugged. "He's probably working in the sky again. He always recovered more quickly than my sister and I."
"Leaf?"
"Yes?"
"Your accent's slipping."
Blushing, Leaf rubbed his arms and made a sharp turn into a dark alley. Elizabeth hurriedly followed after him, ignoring the disappearing alley as the two ran into the black pool of smoke that lay at the end, disappearing into the darkness.
o9.
There was a reason the Cullens hadn't found the victims from last spring: they had resided in another world all together. Leaf sighed, staring up at the clear blue sky above him. It was still weird to think that two worlds coexisted on the same plane of existence - and on the same planet, nevertheless.
"It's been a while since I've been in our realm," Elizabeth murmured, staring around her as animals walked on two feet, angels floated on above, and pale-skinned teenage girls exchanged spell recipes. If she hadn't seen this with her own eyes, she would've sworn that she was dreaming it all.
Leaf nodded in agreement, keeping his eyes on the path in front of him. "It hasn't changed."
"Our kind is adverse to change," Elizabeth remarked, stopping in front of a tall, brick-colored building. The glass doors opened automatically, allowing the two to pass into the hospital.
Leaf immediately ran to the counter, hurriedly gestured to the patient list, and came back to Elizabeth moments later with a slip of paper in his hand. Grinning, he led her wordlessly to the elevator and pressed the button for the fifth floor.
Elizabeth barely got a chance to breathe. Leaf was so excited that he practically flew to the hospital room and jumped into the arms of a dark skinned woman. "Ayita," He happily cried, letting himself be enveloped into her arms.
Ayita smiled apologetically at Elizabeth, allowing her into the room. A man sat in a wheelchair, his green-blue tattoo on his wrist pulsing as he wheeled over to the two. Leaf blinked, staring down at the man with pity.
"Ephraim," Leaf sighed. "It was that bad?"
He blinked, staring down at his broken leg. "Oh, this? No, I'm afraid I just fell down the stairs last week."
The room became silent.
After what seemed like forever, Leaf leapt out of his sister's arms and whapped Ephraim on the head. "That's for worrying your brother-in-law," He muttered. "I thought you were still hurt from the vampire bites. You know how dangerous they are to humans."
"Ah," Ephraim smiled. "But you forgot I'm not human."
Leaf blushed, turning to a magazine, and began to hurriedly change the subject. The three adults laughed, letting themselves get pulled into the conversation. The family had finally been reunited. There was no way they were going to get anything depressing get in their way.
1o.
The first day of school was never magical. Even if it was her last year, Bella still couldn't shake the feeling that she really didn't want to be here. (But if she weren't here, would she still be in Phoenix? Where the sun ruled over every other element?)
At least she had Edward. Bella giggled to herself just thinking about that. Last winter, he had been the last person she would turn to. He had been her fly on the wall, the nuisance that would never go away. And now? He was her best friend. Ed and Bells and Jake.
That was the way it was supposed to be, with little Leaf as their brother. Life was magical in its own way. High school wouldn't be as troubling with her solid family.
But you know, she still had a few questions to ask. "Edward," She called, walking beside him as they went to their next class. "Let's compare schedules."
He nodded, unfolding his schedule and holding it against hers. "Sure," He replied with that familiar smile on his lips. "... Looks like we've got English and Calculus together."
She grinned. "Really? That's awesome."
He ruffled her hair, letting her walk into the classroom first. "I know," He responded, walking in after her and taking a seat just as class began.
"... It's nice to finally finish school," He muttered to himself, leaning back in his seat as roll was taken. "I never did get past junior year."
Title: Rising Phoenix (Part One)
Fandom: Twilight
Summary: Trouble appears in the form of a rogue Cullen child. Oddly enough, he's not that interested in the Cullens themselves...
Disclaimer: Twilight's not mine, but Leaf, Ayita Black, and the rogue Cullen child are. Please don't take~
o1.
How many years had it been since he had last seen the Cullen family? It had to be at least ten or twenty. No, no, sixty? He had left them so long ago. And for what? The ability to roam where he pleased, drink what he pleased, and generally govern himself?
...
It had been a long time. And as he stared down at the sleepy town of Forks, he wondered how long it would be before he would get a chance to see Alice Cullen's little pet human.
She looked interesting, just like that androgynous brother of hers and her friends. Why did the Cullens favor these humans' lives? It would be fun to test their limits. See how much trouble he could put them into without his former family noticing.
And the best part was? He wouldn't be blamed for any of this.
o2.
The last day of summer was supposed to be spent lounging around the house, double checking their last bits of homework, and maybe (maybe!) gorge themselves on that last piece of chocolate they'd been eying for nearly a week.
It was the real last day of freedom from the tryanny known as high school.
But if your best friend was Edward Masen? You could pretty much forget ever thinking of stuffing yourself, because his idea of a great last day of summer was exploring Forks on foot. (Oh, no. Don't take the truck, Bella! It's going to leave a big carbon footprint on the earth!)
Bella sighed, looking down at her hand intertwined with Edward's. These days, it felt like it was his strength that was giving her the will to live. Not every girl had a guardian angel that also doubled as their best friend.
She just couldn't help wondering. Why wouldn't he tell her anything about angels? About Heaven? He was living proof that a god existed, but he was oddly tight lipped on just about everything relating to him.
"Edward?"
He glanced over his shoulder at her. "Mm?"
"Why don't we head into that coffee shop? I'm getting tired."
He frowned slightly, as if to say 'Already?', but sighed and let her enter the coffee shop first.
o3.
Thank the heavens it was a cloudy day. Alice thought it was good fun to watch the people of Forks pass by. It was fun to make up stories about them, knowing fully well that they were all true (that was the downside of being a psychic).
Jasper had frowned when she had said that she wanted to go into town for her last day of summer vacation. (He had wanted to spend a little extra time before he had to clear out as part of their charade. Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper had graduated high school last spring and were now supposedly heading off to college.) Alice, on the other hand, had smiled all-knowingly and said that she had her reasons for going into town.
Edward Masen was an interesting blind spot in her visions. Alice prided herself on being able to see the futures of both vampires and humans, but... him? She couldn't see anything. Nor could she see anything on the little boy staying with Bella and Charlie. He was a peculiar odd spot, especially since he looked and felt human. She had thought he was a vampire at first, but his unusually dark skin and colorful brown eyes negated that possibility.
So, what was she doing here today? It was simple. She was waiting. If she couldn't see either Edward or Leaf (that was the little boy's name, right?), her next best possibilities were Jacob and Bella. And she knew that one of them would be coming here today.
The door to the coffee shop opened, and Alice rose as she saw two familiar figures.
"Ah, Edward, Bella! What a surprise to see you here!"
o4.
Edward raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms as he spotted the smiling Alice Cullen. It was true that he was on rocky terms with the vampire family (for he knew their secret, despite it not being vice-versa), but he had no idea why they were so interested in Bella. Weren't they "vegetarian vampires"?
"It's good to see you," He replied calmly, extending a hand to shake.
Alice pursed her lips, hesitating only slightly before she shook it in return. Edward shivered. It was a lot colder than he remembered it being. Letting go, he watched Bella out of the corner of her eyes.
She smiled warmly at Alice. "Funny that we'd see you on the last day of summer vacation. I thought you'd be spending a lot of time with Jasper before he left for Dartmouth."
"He's not leaving for another week," Alice grinned back. "So we'll be fine for a while. Are you guys excited about school?"
"Hardly," Edward laughed. "School's going to be hard. At least we're juniors?"
Bella giggled as she corrected, "Seniors. We'll totally rule the school!"
"It'll be fun," Alice admitted, crossing her arms as she looked over at the display case. "... In any case, I hope I'm not in between you and your beloved coffee, Bella."
Shaking her head, Bella responded, "Not at all! Ed, could you order the usual for us? I wanna sit and talk with Alice longer!"
Edward sighed (probably because of the nickname), heading over to the coffee cart.
BAM!
And then the redhead stared at the blonde who had just collided into him.
o5.
It wasn't like Edward to be clumsy. Bella nervously looked from her surprised friend to the newcomer. She'd seen the girl plenty of times around school. Rosalie Hale. Everyone knew she was the prettiest girl in school, hands down. No one wanted to admit it, though: she was so icy that it was lucky if she even uttered a single word to you.
Edward was never one for rumors, though. He offered a hand to Rosalie, smiling as she (coolly) took his hand without a word of apology. Instead, Edward found himself apologizing to her.
"Sorry," He replied good-naturedly. Rosalie gave him a look before motioning for him to follow as she walked over to Alice and Bella.
"Carlisle wants you back," She replied, ignoring Bella and Edward completely. "Victoria and James want to express their thanks from last spring."
(Wait, the Cullens actually had houseguests? Them? The mere thought boggled Bella's mind.)
Alice curtly nodded, rising from her seat. "I'm sorry we had to cut this visit short," She replied, bowing slightly before waltzing out with her older sister.
"Something's up," Edward muttered, sighing as he looked over towards the two Cullens. "The Cullens don't normally have houseguests."
Bella leaned on him. "Being overprotective again? Edward, you suspected a squirrel of wanting to kill me."
"It had beady eyes," Edward insisted with a pout. "And little paws that squirmed." He paused, looking over at her with a grin. "... Did you really think I was serious about the squirrel?"
She slowly, hesitantly nodded. Edward laughed, ruffling her hair.
"Chin up," He replied. "If I think something's bad, nine times out of ten, it usually is. Unless it's Pokemon. And then I'm usually wrong six times out of ten."
Bella stuck her tongue out. "Not my fault you suck at foreshadowing."
He rose from his seat, still grinning as he went to go buy them coffee. "All right, all right. I guess we'll have awesome tutoring this year?"
She nodded, giving him the thumbs-up. "Yeah. Maybe this year won't be so bad after all!"
o6.
"You know, you didn't have to drag me out of there. I knew you were coming."
Rosalie sighed, turning the music up just a little louder as she watched Alice from the mirror beside her. The drive home wasn't long at all, but she had a feeling this conversation wasn't going to go anywhere. Sighing, the blond responded, "Why were you talking to those two anyways? They're both human."
"I'm not sure Edward is," Alice replied with a casual shrug. "I can't see him."
Rosalie nearly stopped the car. "W-what? You can't see him?"
"It bugged me at first," Alice sighed. "But he spends so much time around Bella that I look for her whenever I need to see what he's doing. It... works sometimes."
She ignored the scenery, choosing to lean back in her seat. "You know why Carlisle called us?"
Rosalie shrugged. Alice immediately pounced on her chance, responding, "... Victoria saw pictures of Kenneth and asked about him. To be honest, I'm not really sure who he is."
"That's because... Carlisle doesn't like to talk about him," Rosalie pursed her lips together. "I'm surprised there's still pictures of him in the house."
"It'll be interesting," Alice remarked. "Watching the past be drudged up. I'm personally curious in hearing about our rogue older brother."
Rosalie didn't reply for the rest of the ride. Alice knew then that she had hit the mark right on the nail this time. It would be painful for them - for Carlisle, Esme, and Rosalie - to remember their former family member who chose human blood over them.
o7.
Jasper was sitting outside the front door when Alice and Rosalie came home. Noticing him there, Alice immediately fluttered over to him and gave him a hug. "You all right?"
He slowly nodded, wrapping his hand around her arms as he looked up into the sky. "The house feels horrible," He softly said. "At least Carlisle and Esme had the sense to keep themselves together until Victoria and her coven left."
"Yeah," Rosalie nodded. "Good thing they found us during our baseball game last spring, or else we'd risk a repeat of what happened to Peter and Charlotte."
Alice and Jasper remained silent for a while. How could they forget what happened last spring? Some humans had been exploring the forest the same time that Peter and Charlotte had. No one was sure how those humans managed to escape with their lives, since the scent came as a total surprise to the two vampires. (Surely they'd been injured trying to get out! But... those that were injured hadn't been found. Their blood were the only traces that remained from that winter day.)
"Thank goodness," Jasper finally remarked. "... Now I just hope that Carlisle and Esme will be all right."
"They will," Alice reassured him. "This won't get them down. ... Though I do believe that unless I hurry, I won't be able to see pictures of the elusive Kenneth Cullen." And with that, she kissed him on the cheek and darted inside.
Rosalie frowned softly to herself, crossing her arms as she watched Alice disappear into their house.
"I wonder how Bella and Edward can stand her," The blonde remarked.
Jasper smiled in return, rising as he stood next to his foster sister. "Maybe because she's Alice? Rosalie, I can sense your jealousy again."
Rosalie humphed, hurriedly walking inside. Jasper sighed, looking back at the sky. "... It's no good to be jealous of a human. Even if her life's supposedly a lot happier than yours is."
o8.
While the Cullens were busy angsting about their rogue older brother, Leaf had last minute plans of his own. He left the Swan household next week to visit his family. Leaf, like the good Samaritan he insisted he was, said that his family had gotten on the bad side of a mama bear protecting her cubs.
But the Masens knew better. Elizabeth had gone with him, citing that she didn't think it was safe for a kid to go to Seattle by himself. (Leaf was secretly grateful. He had gotten quite attached to his second mother over the summer.)
They had gotten settled into their hotel, explored the town, and were now walking towards the hospital. Elizabeth smiled at her charge. "How are you feeling, Leaf?"
He smiled in return, "Fine, thank you." Their conversation immediately lulled into pleasant silence. While it felt a little awkward, Leaf wasn't going to speak. He smiled just thinking of his family. It had been so long! And now they were better! (Well, his brother and sister were all right. His parents hadn't lived in the United States for years.)
"I'm glad Ephraim and Ayita have finally recovered. But did you ever hear from your brother?"
Leaf shrugged. "He's probably working in the sky again. He always recovered more quickly than my sister and I."
"Leaf?"
"Yes?"
"Your accent's slipping."
Blushing, Leaf rubbed his arms and made a sharp turn into a dark alley. Elizabeth hurriedly followed after him, ignoring the disappearing alley as the two ran into the black pool of smoke that lay at the end, disappearing into the darkness.
o9.
There was a reason the Cullens hadn't found the victims from last spring: they had resided in another world all together. Leaf sighed, staring up at the clear blue sky above him. It was still weird to think that two worlds coexisted on the same plane of existence - and on the same planet, nevertheless.
"It's been a while since I've been in our realm," Elizabeth murmured, staring around her as animals walked on two feet, angels floated on above, and pale-skinned teenage girls exchanged spell recipes. If she hadn't seen this with her own eyes, she would've sworn that she was dreaming it all.
Leaf nodded in agreement, keeping his eyes on the path in front of him. "It hasn't changed."
"Our kind is adverse to change," Elizabeth remarked, stopping in front of a tall, brick-colored building. The glass doors opened automatically, allowing the two to pass into the hospital.
Leaf immediately ran to the counter, hurriedly gestured to the patient list, and came back to Elizabeth moments later with a slip of paper in his hand. Grinning, he led her wordlessly to the elevator and pressed the button for the fifth floor.
Elizabeth barely got a chance to breathe. Leaf was so excited that he practically flew to the hospital room and jumped into the arms of a dark skinned woman. "Ayita," He happily cried, letting himself be enveloped into her arms.
Ayita smiled apologetically at Elizabeth, allowing her into the room. A man sat in a wheelchair, his green-blue tattoo on his wrist pulsing as he wheeled over to the two. Leaf blinked, staring down at the man with pity.
"Ephraim," Leaf sighed. "It was that bad?"
He blinked, staring down at his broken leg. "Oh, this? No, I'm afraid I just fell down the stairs last week."
The room became silent.
After what seemed like forever, Leaf leapt out of his sister's arms and whapped Ephraim on the head. "That's for worrying your brother-in-law," He muttered. "I thought you were still hurt from the vampire bites. You know how dangerous they are to humans."
"Ah," Ephraim smiled. "But you forgot I'm not human."
Leaf blushed, turning to a magazine, and began to hurriedly change the subject. The three adults laughed, letting themselves get pulled into the conversation. The family had finally been reunited. There was no way they were going to get anything depressing get in their way.
1o.
The first day of school was never magical. Even if it was her last year, Bella still couldn't shake the feeling that she really didn't want to be here. (But if she weren't here, would she still be in Phoenix? Where the sun ruled over every other element?)
At least she had Edward. Bella giggled to herself just thinking about that. Last winter, he had been the last person she would turn to. He had been her fly on the wall, the nuisance that would never go away. And now? He was her best friend. Ed and Bells and Jake.
That was the way it was supposed to be, with little Leaf as their brother. Life was magical in its own way. High school wouldn't be as troubling with her solid family.
But you know, she still had a few questions to ask. "Edward," She called, walking beside him as they went to their next class. "Let's compare schedules."
He nodded, unfolding his schedule and holding it against hers. "Sure," He replied with that familiar smile on his lips. "... Looks like we've got English and Calculus together."
She grinned. "Really? That's awesome."
He ruffled her hair, letting her walk into the classroom first. "I know," He responded, walking in after her and taking a seat just as class began.
"... It's nice to finally finish school," He muttered to himself, leaning back in his seat as roll was taken. "I never did get past junior year."