Alice
Jasper and I talked all night long. In all the visions I'd seen of him, he'd never laughed and rarely smiled. Now, he only frowned once. I had been wondering what the next few hours would hold. "Jasper I'm going to take a look ahead." I warned him. I looked for several minutes. Nothing major. No one was coming near until dawn. I checked a few hours into the next day as well. I saw myself telling Jasper about the Cullens. I decided to watch his reaction, but another vision came unbidden. Jasper was going to shake me, rather vigorously. Why would he do that? When was he going to do it?
Suddenly, I was pulled from my vision. Jasper was shaking me, trying to bring me back. I was relived that the shaking wasn't going to be out of anger. I didn't know why he was doing it but it wasn't anger. I clutched his hand and he stopped immediately. His face became horrified "I'm sorry" he offered quietly. His sincerity could not be doubted. "I forgive you" I offered, equally sincerely "But why did you do it?" He hung his head, obviously ashamed. Reaching up on tiptoes, I placed my hand under his chin and lifted his head so that he was looking into my eyes.
His voice came out in a tormented whisper "You were gone so long." I turned my head to the side "Were you lonely?" I asked "No" he said, quickly and a bit too loudly. He sounded slightly offended "I would never shake you over something like that." he said firmly "And I'll never shake you again" he vowed. "Then why?" I asked again. His chin pressed against my hand: without realizing it, he had begun to hang his head again. He opened his mouth but couldn't find words.
I sat down, leaning against a tree. He sat down as well. I was hoping that the relaxed setting would help. I wasn't angry, but I wanted to know. He wouldn't look into my eyes. "Please tell me" I begged.
Jasper
I didn't want to talk about it, but I had to. I'd shook her with a good deal of force and I deserved to face the consequences of that. I still couldn't believe I'd done it. She deserved what feeble explanation I could give. "I was scared. You were gone so long." How could I explain the feeling? Maybe I was a bit lonely but I was more scared for her. What if she was seeing something bad and couldn't come back? She looked so lifeless. She touched my hand "Does it frighten you?" she asked. I nodded, looking down at my feet.
"Should I only look while you're not around?" she asked. "No" I said quickly. It came out a bit harshly. I didn't want her in that trance when I wasn't around. What if someone came and I wasn't there to protect her? "I can handle it. I won't shake you again. I won't do anything." I just had to tough it out. Her emotions weren't angry, but they weren't happy either. "We just have to figure this out. There has to be a way." She insisted. I sighed. She wasn't going to give up. "What if you were holding my hand? You seem to like that better." Now that she mentioned it I did like to touch her when she was looking into the future. At least then I knew she wasn't just a dream.
Her emotions were becoming increasingly frustrated. "Are you ever going to look me in the eye again?" She demanded. It was difficult, but I raised my head. I still couldn't believe I'd shook her. I knew better. I apologized again. She waved her hand "It's alright. It made sense given the circumstances. We'll work through this. It'll be OK." I didn't deserve her forgiveness, but I was grateful.
Alice
Should I tell him now or should I wait? I didn't know how Jasper would react to meeting the Cullens. I couldn't wait much longer. I was fairly sure that they would be good for both Jasper and I, and we would be good for them. I couldn't be sure that they would accept us until they decided, but I had been watching them and I knew their personalities.
Esme would be the most likely to accept us. I already thought of her as my mother. Sometimes, when no one was around to hear, I would watch her future and call her mom. Carlisle would be interested in Jasper's and my abilities. Emmett would be fairly accepting, but might try to fight with Jasper. Rosalie would be wary at first, but Jasper could calm her fears until she got to know us. Edward was the one I couldn't predict.
Edward was a gentleman. Perhaps that would make him inclined to hear me out. He could red my thoughts, so he would know I had good intentions. But he also had a temper and he liked his personal space. He was protective of his sister and mother. Perhaps it would be best to have Jasper well prepared. I would tell him now.
Jasper
"Jazz?" Alice asked. I laughed quietly and the name she had come up with. "Is it alright if I call you Jazz?" She asked. I put my arm around her shoulder "Be my guest." She was quiet for a long moment. "I want to go visit some other vampires. Is that OK?" I didn't let her see my worry. She had every right to visit her friends. "Of course." I looked into her eyes. She was hiding something. "What is it?" I asked.
She sighed. "Is it alright if I haven't met them yet?" I stared at her, feeling bewildered. She talked casually now "They drink animal blood. I learned by watching their futures. I want to live with them. You'll like them." She promised. "You've been watching their futures like you watched mine?" She nodded. "And you want to just walk up of a couple of vampires and introduce yourself?" She nodded again "Five. There's five of them" Five! I'd had bad experiences with large groups of vampires. We'd be outnumbered.
She squeezed me. "It'll be OK. Trust me. Please" She was practically begging me. It would take a miracle to walk up to random vampires and get along well with them. But then, meeting Alice was a miracle. Perhaps we had another in store. I looked at her pleading eyes. She really wanted this. I gave her one sharp nod.
She threw her arms around me "Thank you. You'll like them." I looked into her eyes "You don't see any danger?" I asked "Well, I can look now. I couldn't until you decided." She grabbed my hand. "Are you ready?" I nodded without much enthusiasm. This time was slightly better. With practice I would be fine. She came back and started talking excitedly "Yes it's going to be fine. They'll be surprised of course but they won't attack. Do you want to get married before we go or after?"
This little vampire was astonishing. Less than an hour ago, I had laid hands on her, giving her a glimpse of the monster I'd become while I was with Maria. Now Alice wanted to know whether we should get married or walk up to meet five strange vampires. Maybe there was something really wrong with her. I looked into her eyes. It was hard to think of her as unstable. If this was unstable, unstable couldn't be that bad.
"If we wait they can be in our wedding party." She pointed out. Her emotions became so happy at the idea that I couldn't refuse. "If that's what you want." We looked deep into each others' eyes. The feelings of hope I'd experienced when she took my hand the first time had been growing stronger in me. "Are you ready?" she asked. I nodded and kissed the top of her head. An instant later she was up and skipping away. "You can buy the train tickets" I was glad we would be on a train. There would be time to talk on a train. I loved talking with Alice.
Jasper and I talked all night long. In all the visions I'd seen of him, he'd never laughed and rarely smiled. Now, he only frowned once. I had been wondering what the next few hours would hold. "Jasper I'm going to take a look ahead." I warned him. I looked for several minutes. Nothing major. No one was coming near until dawn. I checked a few hours into the next day as well. I saw myself telling Jasper about the Cullens. I decided to watch his reaction, but another vision came unbidden. Jasper was going to shake me, rather vigorously. Why would he do that? When was he going to do it?
Suddenly, I was pulled from my vision. Jasper was shaking me, trying to bring me back. I was relived that the shaking wasn't going to be out of anger. I didn't know why he was doing it but it wasn't anger. I clutched his hand and he stopped immediately. His face became horrified "I'm sorry" he offered quietly. His sincerity could not be doubted. "I forgive you" I offered, equally sincerely "But why did you do it?" He hung his head, obviously ashamed. Reaching up on tiptoes, I placed my hand under his chin and lifted his head so that he was looking into my eyes.
His voice came out in a tormented whisper "You were gone so long." I turned my head to the side "Were you lonely?" I asked "No" he said, quickly and a bit too loudly. He sounded slightly offended "I would never shake you over something like that." he said firmly "And I'll never shake you again" he vowed. "Then why?" I asked again. His chin pressed against my hand: without realizing it, he had begun to hang his head again. He opened his mouth but couldn't find words.
I sat down, leaning against a tree. He sat down as well. I was hoping that the relaxed setting would help. I wasn't angry, but I wanted to know. He wouldn't look into my eyes. "Please tell me" I begged.
Jasper
I didn't want to talk about it, but I had to. I'd shook her with a good deal of force and I deserved to face the consequences of that. I still couldn't believe I'd done it. She deserved what feeble explanation I could give. "I was scared. You were gone so long." How could I explain the feeling? Maybe I was a bit lonely but I was more scared for her. What if she was seeing something bad and couldn't come back? She looked so lifeless. She touched my hand "Does it frighten you?" she asked. I nodded, looking down at my feet.
"Should I only look while you're not around?" she asked. "No" I said quickly. It came out a bit harshly. I didn't want her in that trance when I wasn't around. What if someone came and I wasn't there to protect her? "I can handle it. I won't shake you again. I won't do anything." I just had to tough it out. Her emotions weren't angry, but they weren't happy either. "We just have to figure this out. There has to be a way." She insisted. I sighed. She wasn't going to give up. "What if you were holding my hand? You seem to like that better." Now that she mentioned it I did like to touch her when she was looking into the future. At least then I knew she wasn't just a dream.
Her emotions were becoming increasingly frustrated. "Are you ever going to look me in the eye again?" She demanded. It was difficult, but I raised my head. I still couldn't believe I'd shook her. I knew better. I apologized again. She waved her hand "It's alright. It made sense given the circumstances. We'll work through this. It'll be OK." I didn't deserve her forgiveness, but I was grateful.
Alice
Should I tell him now or should I wait? I didn't know how Jasper would react to meeting the Cullens. I couldn't wait much longer. I was fairly sure that they would be good for both Jasper and I, and we would be good for them. I couldn't be sure that they would accept us until they decided, but I had been watching them and I knew their personalities.
Esme would be the most likely to accept us. I already thought of her as my mother. Sometimes, when no one was around to hear, I would watch her future and call her mom. Carlisle would be interested in Jasper's and my abilities. Emmett would be fairly accepting, but might try to fight with Jasper. Rosalie would be wary at first, but Jasper could calm her fears until she got to know us. Edward was the one I couldn't predict.
Edward was a gentleman. Perhaps that would make him inclined to hear me out. He could red my thoughts, so he would know I had good intentions. But he also had a temper and he liked his personal space. He was protective of his sister and mother. Perhaps it would be best to have Jasper well prepared. I would tell him now.
Jasper
"Jazz?" Alice asked. I laughed quietly and the name she had come up with. "Is it alright if I call you Jazz?" She asked. I put my arm around her shoulder "Be my guest." She was quiet for a long moment. "I want to go visit some other vampires. Is that OK?" I didn't let her see my worry. She had every right to visit her friends. "Of course." I looked into her eyes. She was hiding something. "What is it?" I asked.
She sighed. "Is it alright if I haven't met them yet?" I stared at her, feeling bewildered. She talked casually now "They drink animal blood. I learned by watching their futures. I want to live with them. You'll like them." She promised. "You've been watching their futures like you watched mine?" She nodded. "And you want to just walk up of a couple of vampires and introduce yourself?" She nodded again "Five. There's five of them" Five! I'd had bad experiences with large groups of vampires. We'd be outnumbered.
She squeezed me. "It'll be OK. Trust me. Please" She was practically begging me. It would take a miracle to walk up to random vampires and get along well with them. But then, meeting Alice was a miracle. Perhaps we had another in store. I looked at her pleading eyes. She really wanted this. I gave her one sharp nod.
She threw her arms around me "Thank you. You'll like them." I looked into her eyes "You don't see any danger?" I asked "Well, I can look now. I couldn't until you decided." She grabbed my hand. "Are you ready?" I nodded without much enthusiasm. This time was slightly better. With practice I would be fine. She came back and started talking excitedly "Yes it's going to be fine. They'll be surprised of course but they won't attack. Do you want to get married before we go or after?"
This little vampire was astonishing. Less than an hour ago, I had laid hands on her, giving her a glimpse of the monster I'd become while I was with Maria. Now Alice wanted to know whether we should get married or walk up to meet five strange vampires. Maybe there was something really wrong with her. I looked into her eyes. It was hard to think of her as unstable. If this was unstable, unstable couldn't be that bad.
"If we wait they can be in our wedding party." She pointed out. Her emotions became so happy at the idea that I couldn't refuse. "If that's what you want." We looked deep into each others' eyes. The feelings of hope I'd experienced when she took my hand the first time had been growing stronger in me. "Are you ready?" she asked. I nodded and kissed the top of her head. An instant later she was up and skipping away. "You can buy the train tickets" I was glad we would be on a train. There would be time to talk on a train. I loved talking with Alice.
