#no deadlines. no change. no impending doom. just life. forever.

[neverpathia]

the fuck do you mean that I will officially be sixteen years old in fourteen days??

[yukiwrites]

A Perfect Proposal

Thank you so much for commissioning me again, @woomy-nah! Thanks for your patience!

Summary: Lumina and Tsubaki are ready to give the next step in their relationship, but both of them are too nervous to find the right time to. After drafting fifty different ways of telling Lumina how he felt, Tsubaki decides to take her for a ride...

Commission info HERE and HERE!

The land was Valla. Kamui's army finally managed to reach the homeworld of the true enemy of Hoshido and Nohr.

Every single day after they entered the Silent Kingdom had a heavy air of anxiousness dragging the army. They had to win, otherwise the world would end. They had to defeat Anankos or they wouldn't be able to go back home. They had to be successful, no matter what.

The atmosphere of urgency made everyone wear their nerves on their skins, the loom of tragedy and defeat hanging around their heads.

It was amidst this stressful situation that Tsubaki found in Lumina the only solace for his anxiety. They had started an awkward and shy relationship one year before entering Valla, their bodies slowly getting used to each other's temperature.

Since she hailed from the Ice Tribe, her skin was always colder than the normal person's, though the temperature would rise normally if she exercised or overexcited herself.

Being there whenever that happened brought Tsubaki immense joy -- her pale skin would redden to a boiling point, contrasting with her light pink hair.

The day they shared their first kiss, for example: She was so very nervous her entire body felt as hot as though she had a fever, making Tsubaki fidget in worry and carry her back to her tent, under protests.

"I-I'm not sick, you thick man! I'm just nervous! Kiss me already!" She blurted out, regretting it immediately as he put her back on ground.

He, too, widened his eyes and blushed as hard as her, the tips of his fingers getting cold with nervousness. "T-this is the one thing I could never practice, so forgive me if... I'm not perfect at it at first..." He gulped, losing his voice as their breaths intertwined before the kiss.

They flinched as their lips touched, unused to such strange and intimate caress, but soon their smiles widened and their bodies tangled themselves. They explored, played and lost their breaths, laughs being muffled inside their throats.

That had been the first of many, many more.

Lumina herself shared all, if not more, of Tsubaki's firsts. She had never held hands with someone and, due to her harsh upbringing, she never felt the need to.

Ah, the day they held hands for the first time! Tsubaki could pinpoint the exact moment her temperature skyrocketed from cold to fever-hot simply by the brushing of their fingers! To this day it still brings a smile to his face whenever he feels her hand warming up on his.

The nights they spent under the same stars, simply enjoy each other's presence and silence (despite Tsubaki deeply loving hearing Lumina's melodious voice); or the days they fought side by side; the mornings they trained together and groomed their mounts; the afternoons spent leisurely side by side... Every single day had been filled with one another, and Tsubaki wanted it to continue forever.

He wanted to do everything right with Lumina. His pride was still hurt from his failed confession, although his beloved always said it was a treasured memory; to watch him fail and comfort him.

Only by Lumina's side did Tsubaki learn to open up about his worries and anxieties -- about how burdened by perfection he'd always been and how very freeing it was to simply have a friendly ear and a loving hand to run through his hair whenever he felt down.

Only by Tsubaki's side did Lumina start learning the wide array of emotions people usually displayed in one-on-one relationships. For the first time, she laughed loudly after witnessing something funny (she kept apologizing for laughing, but watching him trip and fall on his face will always be funny) and felt so happy she felt like crying. The falcon rider worried every single battle, not about herself, no, but about her beloved. Her heart wrung with worry every single day, and was freed from preoccupation after each victory, succumbing in Tsubaki's arms to celebrate.

She wanted to do everything right with him. After finally experiencing what true happiness was; by simply staying beside someone she truly loved, she knew that the way she had lived until then was wrong.

She wanted to share all of these new experiences and build her future with Tsubaki.

She wanted them to start over; not their relationship, no. She wanted them to start over her life. The new Lumina who was born after experiencing love with Tsubaki wanted to accumulate more and more memories with him, for as long as their lives allowed.

After arriving in Valla, these thoughts were painted in a sense of urgency. They could be walking right into their deaths, and although prepared for it due to her training, Lumina's heart spoke to her for the first time... It wanted to spend more and more time with Tsubaki, not only during this war, no; especially after it.

What could she do to show him her devotion? The depth of her feelings? She wasn't one to express them very well, and usually only responded to his words. But no; this time she wanted to be the one to convey everything properly.

Looking at her hands, Lumina remembered an old-fashioned way to propose to someone and gulped, already feeling her cheeks reddening. Using their ice powers, the tribesperson would craft a flower that best represented their beloved, put it onto a pin and have it delivered to them. If the person wore the pin on the next day, it would mean that they have accepted the proposal, and a proper one was to be had in person later on.

Before, Lumina simply watched with apathy whenever people would get engaged at her tribe, but now that she was the one experiencing it, wanting to give the first step... She somehow sympathized with them.

Hah, look at her, sympathizing with people! Truly only the new Lumina could ever feel that way, thanks to her beloved Tsubaki.

Before that war was over, before they headed to their final destination, before they faced their impending doom... Lumina wanted to convey her true feelings. She set to work right away, her trembling and sweaty (!) hands getting the best of her.

On his side, Tsubaki had done everything he could to research the customs of his beloved's tribe -- digging his nose into old books at the Records Hall, asking Felicia in roundabout ways and even sneaking around ice tribe people to learn even the minimal details about Lumina's birthplace.

This time, he would do it perfectly! He already had a flower in mind for his beloved, however, due to his inability to control ice, he would need to manipulate glass instead.

That also led to another road of study entirely, but that didn't bother him. Losing a few hours of sleep so as to spend the day with Lumina and the night learning on how to make a perfect flower for her would all be worthy in the end.

He even had the day picked! One week before they reached Castle Gyges -- that was his deadline as well as the day everything would change, for better or for worse.

Their battles would become more fierce and their focus would need to be completely fixed on the war. But Tsubaki knew he wouldn't be able to give his all while he had such underlying question and burst of feelings inside his chest. He wanted to take Lumina as his wife! He wanted to scream to the world that she was the one who would spend the rest of her life with him!

He wouldn't, of course, but his chest clamored him to do so.

As the day approached, Tsubaki checked out all the perfect things he would do so as to lead to the big question. First, they would share a ride on his pegasus (the body contact was important! She couldn't bring her own pegasus!) as he led them to the tallest peak of that upside-down world, intent on watching the sunset in her presence.

He would ask to braid her hair the moment the moon came out (or rather, the moment it started shining its silver light, since that immense moon never left the sky) and would carefully place the pin at the tip, showing it to her after.

"Perfect, perfect..." He nodded to himself as he groomed his horse.

Oblivious to his intentions, and harboring the same sentiments in her heart, Lumina was nervous to the breaking point. She had finished the frozen Camellia flower a long time ago, but didn't know where to begin.

The day Tsubaki called her for a ride at the late afternoon made her heart skip a beat. It's gotta be now! She thought, clenching the pin by her pocket.

"How do you find such beautiful routes amidst all this fighting?" She asked, mesmerized by the sight in front of her: since Valla didn't have a proper 'ground', the sky engulfed everything the moment they flew out of a floating island. They could see the clear division as the sky darkened over them while still being illuminated under the pegasus' wings.

"Well, you know me. Perfect!" Tsubaki boasted, feeling confident that everything would go smoothly. He had rehearsed everything at least fifty times in the span of three days; there was absolutely no chance she would react in a way he hadn't predicted.

"Oh, right. I forgot." She sneered, leaning her head on his collarbone and closing her eyes to enjoy the breeze.

If her own heart hadn't been thundering inside her chest, Lumina would have been able to hear Tsubaki's own thumping heart. He was at the fainting point, honestly, but just being beside her made all of his worries melt away.

The royal retainer's shoulders sagged slightly, making his beloved breath out in contentment. She always loved when he relaxed. He was constantly stressed about keeping his image up, so Lumina was always more than happy to offer him a safe haven to just be himself.

She couldn't wait to keep doing it for the rest of her life.

"There it is. Do you see it?" Tsubaki nudged Lumina awake, pointing at a single island in the sky. The closer they got to it, the smaller it looked -- it truly looked as though a single cathedral had been blown up in the space, its remnants floating aimlessly around Valla's sky. The place they reached was but part of the ruins of what one day was the Cathedral of Gyges, though neither Lumina nor Tsubaki would ever know that.

The cold stone floor felt somehow lonely as they landed, the forgotten garden growing wildly due to lack of proper gardening. It had a strange beauty in and of itself -- a place where they assumed so many occasions were held, forgotten up in the sky... now belonged only to them.

Lumina walked slowly through the stones, committing everything to memory: the columns were filled with ivy and strange flowers; the floating fish relishing on the untamed flora.

As dusk fell, some of the flowers started shining their lunar light, illuminating the place as though thousands of multi-colored fireflies had taken flight at the same time.

"Tsubaki, this is amazing..." Lumina blurted out, turning to look at her beloved.

The moment she did, she lost her breath: He was kneeling on the floor, holding up a small box. Inside of it lay both a ring and a glass Lantana flower. "T-Tsubaki...?" She placed one hand over her heart, trying to discern dream from reality.

When did she fall asleep?

"I may have skipped a step or two, but I couldn't miss this moment: illuminated by the flowers, under this silver moonlight... I ask you, Lumina of the Ice Tribe, to marry me. Will you do the honor of being my wife?"

Her golden eyes wide, the wind lifted hair and clothes alike, putting her blushing mien in evidence. "Is- Is that a Lantana flower? Do you know what that means?" She stuttered, covering her face in embarrassment.

Thinking her reaction cute, Tsubaki only tilted his head to the side. "I know it is not the best one, but 'Rigor' was the first thing I thought about you when we met -- how you looked strict and hard to approach. The Lantana flower has a bright yellow and light pink variation, which perfectly reminds me of you and your adorable features-"

Lumina crouched, too embarrassed to speak, covering her face with both hands. "Oh, gods... You didn't mean it... in that way...?" She started trembling.

Panicking, Tsubaki stammered. "Uh, I- Forgive me, love, but I- I don't understand your reaction." He froze. The way she acted was in no way close to all the fifty expected reactions he drafted throughout the week.

"Pfft... heehee... hahaha!" She giggled, then laughed, her body trembling due to mirth, not from shock or whatever dark thought crossed Tsubaki's mind at that moment. "You silly goon!" She sat on the ground, her legs weak due to the laughter.

Drying her eyes with one hand, Lumina took something out of her pocket and presented it to Tsubaki: the frozen Camellia pin.

Opening and closing his mouth, Tsubaki was unable to move due to the shock. "I- I still don't understand your reaction..." He couldn't process the happiness yet, Lumina's laughter throwing his heart into a turmoil.

That question set her off again, making her entire face redden as she giggled. "I-it's a very old custom in my village, but back when my grandparents were courting each other, the Lantana bouquet meant... that they wanted t-to have a s-sexual intercourse t-together..." She choked on some words, not being able to look up to her beloved.

One second passed. Then another. Then two more.

"OH GODS, I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" He cried out, flopping on the floor. "Everything was simply perfect, PERFECT! How could I mess this up so- so INDECENTLY?!" He sniffled, hiding his face between his arms.

"Haha! I missed this!" Lumina laughed, her heart beating so fast her vision started to blur -- oh, those were tears. "I love you!"

"Surely you don't want to marry this perfect pervert..." He cowered, holding his knees.

"You're so silly-" She sniffled, yet again crying of happiness. She reached out to his clenched hand and took the small box out of it, immediately putting the pin right over her heart. "Of course I'll wear your pin with pride... Away from my tribe, that is, pffft."

"Nooo!" He laughed, nervousness finally shaking his body. "I'll do everything right next time! Could you give it back?"

"No way! I like this one. Besides..." She looked away, quickly shoving the camellia pin over his chest, "it's not like it... IT... won't happen, anyway, so..."

"L-Lumina..." Tsubaki covered his face with one hand, his entire body heating up.

"I'll regret saying this so much, so please, just put this ring on me, okay? I wanna hide in a hole." She lifted her hand without looking up at him, too embarrassed to even process what she had just implied.

Trembling, Tsubaki gulped, unable to find the right words to describe that moment. A weak 'alright' left his throat as he slowly slid the ring on her finger -- a perfect match, at least -- and felt his eyes burn with emotion right after.

His wife.

She had accepted! Lumina would marry him!

"I won't mess it up next time, I promise you, my darling... wife." He huffed, slowly lifting her chin so their eyes could finally meet.

Her plump, pink lips invited him in, her teary eyes making her even more endearing than usual.

"M-my husband." She replied, closing her eyes for the impending kiss. "I won't mind if you mess up next time, either. I'll love you regardless." She whispered after their lips touched, opening her mouth to welcome his caress.

Oh, but I won't mess it up. Not THIS. He thought with conviction, wrapping his arms around her waist.

For their future happiness!

[gaysparklepires]

12. Time

“I have foreseen…,” Alice began in an ominous tone.

Edward threw an elbow toward her ribs, which she neatly dodged.

“Fine,” she grumbled. “Edward is making me do this. But I did foresee that you would be more difficult if I surprised you.”

We were walking to the car after school, and I was completely clueless as to what she was talking about.

“In English?” I requested.

“Don’t be a baby about this. No tantrums.”

“Now I’m scared.”

“So you’re—I mean we’re—having a graduation party. It’s no big thing. Nothing to freak out over. But I saw that you would freak out if I tried to make it a surprise party”—she danced out of the way as Edward reached over to muss her hair—“and Edward said I had to tell you. But it’s nothing. Promise.”

I sighed heavily. “Is there any point in arguing?”

“None at all.”

“Okay, Alice. I’ll be there. And I’ll suffer through every minute of it. Promise.”

“That’s the spirit! By the way, I love my gift. You shouldn’t have.”

“Alice, I didn’t!”

“Oh, I know that. But you will.”

I racked my brains in panic, trying to remember what I’d ever decided to get her for graduation that she might have seen.

“Amazing,” Edward muttered. “How can someone so tiny be so annoying?”

Alice laughed. “It’s a talent.”

“Couldn’t you have waited a few more weeks to tell me about this?” I groaned. “Now I’ll just be stressed that much longer.”

Alice frowned at me.

“Beau,” she said slowly. “Do you know what day it is?”

“Monday?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes. It is Monday… the fourth.” She grabbed my elbow, spun me halfway around, and pointed toward a big yellow poster taped to the gym door. There, in sharp black letters, was the date of graduation. Exactly one week from today.

“It’s the fourth? Of June? Are you sure?”

Neither one answered. Alice just shook her head sadly, feigning disappointment, and Edward’s eyebrows lifted.

“No way! How did that happen?” I tried to count backwards in my head, but I couldn’t figure out where the days had gone.

I felt like someone had kicked my legs out from under me. The weeks of stress, of worry… somehow in the middle of all my fretting over the time, my time had disappeared. My space for sorting though everything, for making plans, had vanished. I was out of time.

And I wasn’t ready.

I didn’t know how to do this. How to say to Charlie and Reneé… to Jacob… perhaps to being human.

I still wasn’t positive of what I wanted, and I was out of time to decide.

In theory, trading mortality for immortality would solve so many problems. After all, I could stay with Edward forever. And then there was the fact that I was being hunted by known and unknown parties. I’d rather not sit around, helpless and delicious, waiting for one of them to catch up with me.

In theory, that all made sense.

In practice… it meant letting go of nearly everything I knew. Of my friends, my family, of Jacob… of being human. That future was a big, dark abyss that I couldn’t know until I leaped into it.

This simple knowledge, today’s date—which was so obvious that I must have been subconsciously repressing it—made the deadline I’d been nervously counting down toward feel like a date with the firing squad.

In a vague way, I was aware of Edward holding the car door for me, of Alice chattering from the backseat, of the rain hammering against the windshield. Edward seemed to realized I was only there in body; he didn’t try to pull me out of my abstraction. Or maybe he did, and I was past noticing.

We ended up at my house, where Edward led me to the sofa and pulled me down next to him. I stared out the window, into the liquid gray haze, and tried to find where my time had gone. Why was I panicking now? I’d known the deadline was coming. Why should it frighten me that it was here?

I don’t know how long he let me stare out the window in silence. But the ran was disappearing into darkness when it was finally too much for him.

He gently put his cold hands on either side of my face and fixed his golden eyes on mine.

“Would you please tell me what you are thinking? Before I go mad?”

What could I say to him? That I wasn’t ready? That I was a coward? I searched for words.

“Your lips are white. Talk to me, Beau.”

I exhaled in a big gust. How long had I been holding my breath?

“The date took me off guard,” I whispered. “That’s all.”

He waited, his face full of worry and skepticism.

I tried to explain. “I’m not sure what to do… what to tell Charlie… what to say… how to…” My voice trailed off.

“This isn’t about the party?”

I frowned. “No. But thanks for reminding me.”

The rain was louder as read my face.

“You’re not ready,” he whispered.

“I don’t know,” I admitted reluctantly. I took a deep breath, and let it out. “But I have to be.”

“You don’t have to be anything.”

I could feel the panic surfacing in my eyes as I mouthed the reasons. “Victor, Jane, Caius, whoever was in my room…!”

“All the more reason to wait.”

“That doesn’t make much sense, Edward.”

He pressed his hands more tightly to my face and spoke with slow deliberation.

“Beau. Not one of us had a choice. You’ve seen what it’s done… to Royal especially. We’ve all struggled, trying to reconcile ourselves with something we had no control over. I won’t let it be that way for you. You will have a choice.”

“Will I?”

“You aren’t going through with this because a sword is hanging over your head. We will take care of the problems, and I will take care of you,” he vowed. “When we’re through it, and there is nothing forcing your hand, then you can decide to join me, if you still want to. But not because you’re afraid. You won’t be forced into this.”

“But graduation,” I mumbled, still not completely appeased. “It’s right around the corner. It’s literally just a week away. Even if I don’t… change, I’ll still have to leave. Probably start running.”

“It will be fine,” he said in a sure voice. “You won’t have to make any decisions until you’re ready,” he leaned forward and kissed my forehead, “and definitely not while you feel threatened.”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t have it in me to argue; I couldn’t seem to find the will.

“There.” He kissed my cheek this time. “Nothing to worry about.”

I laughed a shaky laugh. “Nothing but impending doom.”

“Trust me.”

“I do, Edward.”

He was still watching my face, waiting for me to relax.

“Can I ask you something?” I said.

“Anything.”

I hesitated, biting my lip, and then asked a different question than the one I was worried about.

“What am I getting Alice for graduation?”

He snickered. “It looked like you were getting us both concern tickets—“

“That’s right!” I was so relieved, I managed a small smile. “The concert in Tacoma. I saw an ad in the paper last week, and I thought it would be something you’d like, since you said it was a good CD.”

“It’s a great idea. Thank you.”

“I hope it’s not sold out.”

“It’s the thought that counts. I ought to know.”

I sighed.

“There’s something else you meant to ask,” he said.

I frowned. “You’re good.”

“I have lots of practice reading your face. Ask me.”

I closed my eyes and leaned into him, hiding my face against his chest. “You don’t want me to be a vampire.”

“No, I don’t,” he said softly, and then he waited for more. “That’s not a question,” he prompted after a moment.

“Well… I was worrying about… why you feel that way.”

“Worrying?” He picked out the word with surprise.

“Would you tell me why? The whole truth, not sparing my feelings?”

He hesitated for a minute. “If I answer your question, will you then explain your question?”

I nodded, my face still hidden.

He took a deep breath before he answered. “You could do so much better, Beau. I know that you believe I have a soul, but I’m not entirely convinced on that point, and to risk yours…” He shook his head slowly. “For me to allow this—to let you become what I am just so that I’ll never have to lose you—is the most selfish act I can imagine. I want it more than anything, for myself. But for you, I want so much more. Giving in—it feels criminal. It’s the most selfish thing I’ll ever do, even if I live forever.

“If there were any way for me to become human for you—no matter what the price was, I would pay it.”

I sat very still, absorbing this.

Edward thought he was being selfish.

I felt the smile slowly spread across my face.

“So… it’s not that you’re afraid you won’t… like me as much when I’m different—when I’m not soft and warm and I don’t smell the same? You really do want to keep me, no matter how I turn out?”

He exhaled sharply. “You were worried I wouldn’t like you?” he demanded. Then, before I could answer, he was laughing. “Beau, for an incredibly intuitive person, you can be so obtuse!”

I knew he would think it silly, but I was relieved. If he really wanted me, even if I did have to change, maybe even if we were running for the rest of my life… I could get through it. I could appreciate his feelings, I could understand feeling selfish.

“I don’t think you realize how much easier it will be for me, Beau,” he said, the echo of his humor still there in his voice, “when I don’t have to concentrate all the time on not killing you. Certainly, there are things I’ll miss. This for one…”

He stared into my eyes as he stroked my cheek, letting his finger run down my jaw, along the line of my neck, until it rested on my collarbone. I felt the blood rush up to color my skin and he laughed gently.

“And the sound of your heart,” he continued, more serious but still smiling a little. “It’s the most significant sound in my world. I’m so attuned to it now, I swear I could pick it out from miles away. But neither of these things matter. This,” he said, taking my face in his hands. “You. That’s what I’m keeping. You’ll always be my Beau, you’ll just be a little more durable.”

I sighed and let my eyes close in contentment, resting there in his hands.

“Now will you answer a question for me? The whole truth, not sparing my feelings?” he asked.

“Of course,” I answered at once, my eyes opening wide with surprise. What would he want to know?

He spoke the words slowly. “You don’t want to marry me.”

My heart stopped, and then broke into a sprint. A cold sweat dewed on the back of my neck and my hands turned to ice.

He waited, watching and listening to my reaction.

“That’s not a question,” I finally whispered.

He looked down, his lashes casting long shadows across his cheekbones, and dropped his hands from my face to pick up my frozen left hand. He played with my fingers while he spoke.

“I was worrying about why you felt that way.”

I tried to swallow. “That’s not a question, either,” I whispered.

“Please, Beau?”

“The truth?” I asked, only mouthing the words.

“Of course. I can take it, whatever it is.”

I took a deep breath. “You’re going to laugh at me.”

His eyes flashed up to mine, shocked. “Laugh? I cannot imagine that.”

“You’ll see,” I muttered, and then I sighed. My face went white to scarlet in a sudden blaze of chagrin. “Okay, fine! I’m sure this will sound like some big joke to you, but really! It’s just so… so… so much!” I confessed, and I hid my face against his chest again.

There was a brief pause.

“I’m not following you.”

I tilted my head back and glared at him, embarrassment making me talk to much and too fast.

“I’m not that boy, Edward. I never imagined I would ever be married, let alone right out of high school. Even if we didn’t have to worry about judgement or backlash, people just don’t get married at eighteen! Not smart people, not responsible, mature people! I wasn’t going to be that boy! That’s not who I am… I’m not Reneé and Charlie… They loved each other so much and somehow being married ruined everything…” I trailed off, losing steam, and feeling the threat of tears in my eyes.

Edward’s face was impossible to read as thought through my answer.

“That’s why?” He finally asked.

I blinked. “Yes.”

“It’s not that you were… more eager for immortality itself for just me?”

And then, though I’d predicted that he would laugh, I was suddenly the one having hysterics.

“Edward!” I gasped out between paroxysms of giggles. “And here… I always… thought that… you were… so much… smarter than that!”

He took me in his arms, and I could feel that he was laughing with me.

“Edward,” I said, managing to speak more clearly with little effort, “I don’t even know if I want to be immortal. And if I do, there’s no point to forever without you. I wouldn’t want it unless I had you with me.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” he said.

“Still… it doesn’t change anything.”

“It’s nice to understand, though. And I do understand your perspective, Beau, truly I do. It’s only natural that you’d have an aversion to marriage considering your parents. I see that now.” He ran his hand through my hair. “But may I ask that you just listen and try to consider mine?”

I’d sobered up by then, so I nodded warily.

His liquid gold eyes turned hypnotic as they held mine.

“You see, Beau, I was always that boy. In my world, I was already a man. I wasn’t looking for love—no, I was far too eager to be a soldier for that; I thought of nothing but the idealized glory of the war that they were selling prospective draftees then—but if I had found…” He paused, cocking his head to the side. “I was going to say if I had found someone, but that won’t do. If I had found you, there isn’t a doubt in my mind how I would have proceeded. Even then. In that time. I was that boy, who would have—as soon as I discovered that you were what I was looking for—gotten down on one knee and endeavored to secure your hand. I would have wanted you for eternity, even when the word didn’t have quite the same connotations.”

He smiled his crooked smile at me.

I stared at him with my eyes frozen wide.

“Breathe, Beau,” he reminded me, smiling.

I breathed.

“Can you see my side, Beau, even a little bit?”

And for one second, I could. I saw myself in a fine dark blue suit and my hair slicked back on my head. I saw Edward looking dashing in a light suit with a bouquet of wildfowers in his hand, sitting beside me on a porch swing.

I shook my head and swallowed. I was just having Anne of Green Gables flashbacks.

“You do make a compelling argument,” I sighed in a shaky voice, still reeling from the picture Edward had painted in mind. “It’s just… scary for me, Edward.”

“More so than becoming a vampire?” He smiled gently. “More so than running for our lives?”

“Maybe not that much,” I conceded. “It’s just a lot, I guess.”

“A lot for you to think about,” he laughed, “and I have no opposition to you taking your time.”

I couldn’t help but smile just a little, as I slid into Edward’s strong, marble arms.

But time continued to move too fast.

That night flew by dreamlessly, and then it was morning and graduation was staring me in the face. I had a pile of studying to do for my finals that I knew I wouldn’t get halfway through in the few days I had left.

When I came down for breakfast, Charlie was already gone. He’d left the paper on the table, and that reminded me that I had some shopping to do. I hoped the ad for the concert was still running; I needed the phone number to get the stupid tickets. It didn’t seem like much of a gift now that all the surprise was gone. Of course, trying to surprise Alice wasn’t the brightest plan to begin with.

I meant to flip right back to the entertainment section, but the thick black headline caught my attention. I felt a thrill of fear as I leaned closer to read the front-page story.

 SEATTLE TERRORIZED BY SLAYINGS 

It’s been less than a decade since the city of Seattle was the hunting ground for the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history. Gary Ridgeway, the Green River Killer, was convicted of the murders of 48 women.

  And now a beleaguered Seattle must face the possibility that it could be harboring an even more horrifying monster at this very moment.

The police are calling the recent rash of homicides and disappearances the work of a serial killer. Not yet, at least. They are reluctant to believe so much carnage could be the work of one individual. This killer—if, in fact, it is one person—would then be responsible for 39 linked homicides and disappearances within the last three months alone. In comparison, Ridgeway’s 48-count murder spree was scattered over a 21-year period. If these deaths can be linked to one man, then this is the most violent rampage of serial murder in American history.

The police are learning instead toward the theory that gang activity is involved. This theory is supported by the sheer number of victims, and by the fact that there seems to be no pattern in the choice of victims.

From Jack the Ripper to Ted Bundy, the targets of serial killings are usually connected by similarities in age, gender, race, or a combination of the three. The victims of this crime wave range in age from 15-year-old honor student Amanda Reed, to 67-year-old retired postman Omar Jenks. The linked deaths include a nearly even 18 women and 21 men. The victims are racially diverse: Caucasians, African Americans, Hispanic and Asians.

The selection appears random. The motive seems to be killing for no other reason than to kill.

So why even consider the idea of a serial killer?

There are enough similarities in the modus operandi to rule out unrelated crimes. Every victim discovered has been burned to the extent that dental records were necessary for identification. The use of some kind of accelerant, like gasoline or alcohol, seems to be indicated in the conflagrations; however, no traces of any accelerant have yet been found. All of the bodies have been carelessly dumped with no attempt at concealment.

More gruesome yet, most of the remains show evidence of brutal violence — bones crushed and snapped by some kind of tremendous pressure — which medical examiners believe occurred before the time of death, though these conclusions are difficult to be sure of, considering the state of the evidence.

Another similarity that points to the possibility of a serial: every crime is perfectly clean of evidence, aside from the remains themselves. Not a fingerprint, not a tire tread mark nor a foreign hair is left behind. There have been no sightings of any suspect in the disappearances.

Then there are the disappearances themselves — hardly low profile by any means. None of the victims are what could be viewed as easy targets. None are runaways or the homeless, who vanish so easily and are seldom reported missing. Victims have vanished from their homes, from a fourth-story apartment, from a health club, from a wedding reception. Perhaps the most astounding: 30-year-old amateur boxer Robert Walsh entered a movie theater with a date; a few minutes into the movie, the woman realized that he was not in his seat. His body was found only three hours later when fire fighters were called to the scene of a burning trash Dumpster, twenty miles away.

Another pattern is present in the slayings: all of the victims disappeared at night.

And the most alarming pattern? Acceleration. Six of the homicides were committed in the first month, 11 in the second. Twenty-two have occurred in the last 10 days alone. And the police are no closer to finding the responsible party than they were after the first charred body was discovered.

The evidence is conflicting, the pieces horrifying. A vicious new gang or a wildly active serial killer? Or something else the police haven’t yet conceived of?

Only one conclusion is indisputable: something hideous is stalking Seattle.

 It took me three tries to read the last sentence, and I realized the problem was my shaking hands.

“Beau?”

Focused as I was, Edward’s voice, though quiet and not totally unexpected, made me gasp and whirl.

He was leaning in the doorway, his eyebrows pulled together. Then he was suddenly at my side, taking my hand.

“Did I startle you? I’m sorry. I did knock…”

“No, no,” I said quickly. “Have you seen this?” I pointed to the paper.

A frown creased his forehead.

“I hadn’t seen today’s news yet. But I knew it was getting worse. We’re going to have to do something… quickly.”

I didn’t like that. I hated any of them taking chances, and whatever or whoever was in Seattle was truly beginning to frighten me. But the idea of the Volturi coming was just as scary.

“What does Alice say?”

“That’s the problem.” His frown hardened. “She can’t see anything… though we’ve made up our minds half a dozen times to check it out. She’s starting to lose confidence. She feels like she’s missing too much these days, that something’s wrong. That maybe her vision is slipping away.”

My eyes were wide. “Can that happen?”

“Who knows? No one’s ever done a study… but I truly doubt it. These things tend to intensify over time. Look at Aro and Jane.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“Self-fulfilling prophecy, I think. We keep waiting for Alice to see something so we can go… and she doesn’t see anything because we won’t really go until she does. So she can’t see us there. Maybe we’ll have to do it blind.”

I shuddered. “No.”

“Did you have a strong desire to attend class today? We’re only a couple days from finals; they won’t be giving us anything new.”

“I think I can live without school for a day. What are we doing?”

“I want to talk to Jasper.”

Jasper, again. It was strange. In the Cullen family, Jasper was always a little on the fringe, part of things but never the center of them. It was my unspoken assumption that he was only there for Alice. I had the sense that he would follow Alice anywhere, but that this lifestyle was not his first choice. The fact that he was less committed to it than the others was probably why he had more difficulty keeping it up.

At any rate, I’d never seen Edward feel dependent on Jasper. I wondered again what he’d meant about Jasper’s expertise. I really didn’t know much about Jasper’s history, just that he had come from somewhere in the south before Alice found him. For some reason, Edward had always shied away from any questions about his newest brother. And I’d always been too intimidated by the tall, blond vampire who looked like a brooding movie star to ask him outright.

When we got to the house, we found Carlisle, Esme, and Jasper watching the news intently, though the sound was so low that it was unintelligible to me. Alice was perched on the bottom step of the grand staircase, her face in her hands and her expression discouraged. As we walked in, Emmett ambled through the kitchen door, seeming perfectly at ease. Nothing ever bothered Emmett.

“Hey, Edward. Hey, Beau. Ditching?” He grinned at me.

“We both are,” Edward reminded him.

Emmett laughed. “Yes, but it’s his first time though high school. He might miss something.”

Edward rolled his eyes, but otherwise ignored his favorite brother. He tossed the paper to Carlisle.

“Did you see that they’re considering a serial killer now?” he asked.

Carlisle sighed. “They’ve had two specialists debating that possibility on CNN all morning.”

“We can’t let this go on.”

“Let’s go now,” Emmett said with sudden enthusiasm. “I’m dead bored.”

A hiss echoed down the stairways from upstairs.

“He’s such a pessimist,” Emmett muttered to himself.

Edward agreed with Emmett. “We’ll have to go sometime.”

Royal appeared at the top of the stairs and descended slowly. His face was smooth, expressionless.

Carlisle was shaking his head. “I’m concerned. We’ve never involved ourselves in this kind of thing before. It’s not our business. We aren’t the Volturi.”

“I don’t want the Volturi to have to come here,” Edward said. “It gives us so much less reaction time.”

“And all those innocent humans in Seattle,” Esme murmured. “It’s not right to let them die this way.”

“I know,” Carlisle sighed.

“Oh,” Edward said sharply, turning his head slightly to look at Jasper. “I didn’t think of that. I see. You’re right, that has to be it. Well, that changes everything.”

I wasn’t the only one who stared at him in confusion, but I might have been the only one who didn’t look slightly annoyed.

“I think you’d better explain to the others,” Edward said to Jasper. “What could be the purpose of this?” Edward started to pace, staring at the floor, lost in thought.

I hadn’t seen her get up, but Alice was there beside me. “What is he rambling about?” she asked Jasper. “What are you thinking?”

Jasper didn’t seem to enjoy the spotlight. He hesitated, reading every face in the circle—for everyone had moved in to hear what he would say—and then his eyes paused on my face.

“You’re confused,” he said to me, his deep voice very quiet.

There was no question in his assumption. Jasper knew what I was feeling, what everyone was feeling.

“We’re all confused,” Emmett grumbled.

“You can afford the time to be patient,” Jasper told him. “Beau should understand this, too. He’s one of us now.”

His words took me by surprise. As little as I’d had to do with Jasper, especially since my last birthday when he’d tried to kill me, I hadn’t realized that he thought of me that way.

“How much do you know about me, Beau?” Jasper asked.

Jasper stared at Edward, who looked up to meet his gaze.

“No,” Edward answered his thought. “I’m sure you can understand why I haven’t told him that story. But I suppose he needs to hear it now.”

Jasper nodded thoughtfully, and then started to roll up the arm of his ivory sweater.

I watched, curious and confused, trying to figure out what he was doing. He held his wrist under the edge of the lampshade beside him, close to the light of the naked bulb, and traced his finger across a raised crescent mark on the pale skin.

It took me a minute to understand why the shape looked strangely familiar.

“Oh,” I breathed as realization hit. “Jasper, you have a scar exactly like mine.”

I held out my hand, the silvery crescent more prominent against my cream skin than against his alabaster.

Jasper smiled faintly. “I have a lot of scars like yours, Beau.”

Jaspers face was unreadable as he pushed the sleeve of his thin sweater higher up his arm. At first my eyes could not make sense of the texture that was layered thickly across his skin. Curved half-moons crisscrossed in a feathery pattern that was only visible, white on white as it was, because the bright glow of the lamp beside him threw the slightly raised design into relief, with shallow shadows outlining the shapes. And then I grasped that the pattern was made of individual crescents like the one on his wrist… the one on my hand.

I looked back at my own small, solitary scar—and remembered how I’d received it. I stared at the shape of James’s teeth, embossed forever on my skin.

And then I gasped, staring up at him. “Jasper, what happened to you?”