Disclaimer: Don't own any recognizable characters from Twilight.

Jasper's POV:

There was no escaping the guilt. It radiated from every member of my family, my precious, loving family. It came from Esme, sweet, kind Esme. It came from Carlisle. It came from Emmett. Even Rosalie. My darling Alice was afflicted with the crushing guilt each of us suffered. It came from Edward; he had become the embodiment of grief, rue, and sorrow. And I, a supposedly gifted vampire with the abilities of an empath, did nothing. Could do nothing. Nothing would ease the pain. Nothing would stop the flow of sorrow. Nothing could erase the guilt. No distractions could draw away the guilt. My gift was nothing. It would do nothing. Nothing but make me feel the pain, the sorrow, the guilt.

As I looked around the room, a new emotion was seeping into the room. Surprise. Belief. Trust. Hope.

It was as if a weight was being taken from my shoulders. The negative feelings were becoming increasingly easier to bear, as if the optimism helped me gain the strength I desperately needed. Subtly, using my gift, I increased these new feelings. This new hope. The mood in the air became lighter. The feelings of hopelessness began to abate. I sighed and drew Alice into my arms. Immediately, Alice began to radiate a different emotion: love. I kissed the top of her head, smiling into her hair.

We had moved into the living room. I sat on the couch. Alice quickly sat at my side.

"We have to start somewhere," Emmett said, settling Rosalie onto his lap.

"Yes," Carlisle agreed, nodding his head. "We must start somewhere."

"So we should just pick a town at random?" Alice asked. My eyes widened at her question. At random.

I chuckled slightly under my breath. Alice turned to look at me, a question in her eyes.

"Not at random," I said, smiling. Alice's mouth, her beautiful mouth, opened in an "O" shape.

"But I can't see Bella in my visions!" Alice protested.

"Exactly," Carlisle said, smiling.

"What-"

"Alice, you can predict the future. You can see which towns Bella will not be in," I began to explain.

Alice frowned. "But I can't see Bella in my visions. How am I supposed to know if-"

"If you can't see Bella-"

Alice laughed. "Assuming our futures disappear with Bella's, the town that I am not able to see our futures in will be the town where Bella is!"

"Exactly," Carlisle repeated.

"Do you have a list of possible towns and cities Bella might be in?" Alice asked, her words rushing together in her eagerness.

Carlisle laughed, a true, real laugh, and nodded. He stood and said, "Follow me."

Alice grinned and happily complied.

Esme smiled, her eyes laughing. I focused on Esme's emotions to find her happy and full of hope. I smiled. It was not unlike my emotions.

Perhaps when we found Bella, I could apologize. I could apologize for wanting to drink her blood. I could apologize for almost attacking her on her birthday. I could apologize for allowing my family to leave with one of its members missing. I could apologize for so many things.

In an instant, I felt the emotions in the room plummet. Edward.

"It's not going to work," Edward said, his tone emotionless.

Though Edward hid his emotions from the rest of our family, he could not hide his true feelings from me. I almost cried out at the mix of emotions he was emitting. There was sadness, and loss, and pain, and despair, and guilt, and desperation. But no hope. No optimism. No happiness. Just pain.

"It will," Esme said quietly, her voice trembling with hope. She had to hope. It was all she had left. The only chance for her daughter. Hope.

"It can't." Edward's face was blank. His voice betrayed nothing. "It won't."

I felt Esme's hope wane. Edward's sadness was quickly spreading. As if it were a disease.

"Edward," I warned.

"It-"

"Just shut the hell up," Rosalie said darkly, glaring at Edward. I turned to her in surprise. "Just shut up. This is our chance. This is our one chance. This is our one chance at a whole, complete family. This is our one chance to get rid of this awful misery that settled itself on our house. This is our one chance to get you back. You've turned into something that I don't even recognize. I've known you almost as long as Carlisle and Esme have, and I don't recognize you. This is our one chance. Don't ruin that."

Rosalie's emotions were a mix of anger, frustration, and hope. She was being sincere. She was being Rosalie.

"It can't possibly work because she is dead," Edward said emotionlessly, as if Rosalie had never spoken. "She is gone. She's not coming back. She's gone. Don't raise your hopes."

Rosalie glared at Edward, a low growl in her throat. Edward said nothing. He simply returned to his bedroom.

"Stubborn moron," Rosalie muttered.

"Well I think we're going to find her," Emmett said reassuringly, holding his wife closer. He emitted love, and hope, and doubt. He wanted to believe, but he couldn't. Bella's death had shaken Emmett deeply. It had taken him a long time to convince himself that she was truly gone. And now she was back? It was understandable that he would have some trouble grasping such a turn of events.

We sat there, in the living room. It was an anxious silence. Each one of us was nervous and excited to hear Alice's prediction, or rather lack of one. Eventually, Carlisle and Alice returned.

"She's in Forks," Alice said, beaming. She looked radiant. As always.

I went immediately to her side. "Forks," I repeated.

"Forks," Carlisle said in a satisfied tone. "I've ordered the plane tickets. We'll be there in a few hours."

"How will we convince Edward to come?" Esme asked, standing close to her husband.

"I'll go and talk to him," Alice said, her mouth set in a determined line. She immediately marched into Edward's room. I followed close behind, a hand on her slim waist.

"Edward, we are going to Forks," Alice proclaimed, entering the room.

Edward said nothing. Instead, he stared blankly at the wall in front of him. He was as still as a statue.

"Bella's in Forks," Alice said, trying to prod Edward from his immobile state. "Your one true love is practically in your arms."

Edward said nothing.

Alice sighed, but continued. "All you have to do is board a plane. We'll find her. And you can be the first to see her, Edward. If that's what you want. You can be the first to embrace her, to hold her, to see her, to convince yourself that she is truly alive."

Edward said nothing.

"She's so close. All you need to do is come with me. You're so close," Alice pleaded.

Edward said nothing.

"The point is, what do you have to lose?" Alice asked.

"There is no point!" Edward roared. Alice shrank back into my arms at his outburst. "There is no point to living, because she is dead! There is no point to breathing, knowing I will never smell her sweet scent again. There is no point to opening my eyes, for I will never see her again. She is dead! There is no point! There is no point in searching for an angel. She's gone."

"You are a stubborn fool," I said quietly, holding Alice gently in my arms. "We all saw her. She is alive. She is out there. She is in Forks. She is real. Come with us."

"I will not chase after-"

"A dream? A hallucination? A figment of your imagination?" Alice mocked him. "She's real, Edward. Come with us. We'll show you. She's real."

"She is not real," Edward muttered.

He was feeling a new emotion. Doubt. He was obviously reading both our minds. He was seeing the sincerity of our belief. And he was shaken. He was shaken and confused. Logic was, no doubt, telling him that Bella could not possibly be alive, yet his heart was telling him otherwise. Doubt.

"Edward, trust me. She is alive and we can take you to her," I said gently.

I felt Edward's internal struggle. He was battling hope, trying to outweigh optimism, wishing he could choose cynicism. But he could not. He could not give up his love. Not again. He could not.

I smiled. "You have made the right decision. I know that you will not regret it."

Edward exhaled loudly. "I hope." The last word came out strangled.

Our family stood before a modest, yet large house. Alice had narrowed Bella's location to this home. Edward's emotions were not apparent from his facial expressions. Yet he couldn't hide his true feelings from me. He felt doubt, and frustration, and the tiniest sliver of hope, longing, love.

Alice quickly strode up to the door and knocked briskly.

Seconds later, a girl with pale skin and auburn hair opened the door. The girl that had been accompanying Bella. I felt frustration and anger roll off her smoothly. Her topaz eyes rose and she gasped as she looked at Edward. Her emotions suddenly changed, now surprised and furious. Her gaze turned hostile.

"You," she said accusingly. She quickly stepped out of the house, closing the door behind her. "Are you Edward Cullen?"

"Yes." Edward's voice was emotionless. His face revealed nothing.

Faster than a human eye could see, the girl leaped at Edward, snarling with rage. Emmett quickly tore the girl from our brother.

"It's you!" the girl shouted angrilly, glaring at Edward. "You're to blame! I should have realized it sooner."

"To blame for what?" Emmett asked, confused as the rest of us were. Emmett unconciously loosened his hold on the girl, and she tore herself out of his arms, snarling.

"Why don't you see for yourself, you fucking mind-reader," the girl shouted. She closed her eyes. Her emotions changed suddenly from rage to extrodinary sadness.

Edward gasped and collapsed to the ground. His emotions were overwhelming. I gripped Alice's hand tightly.

Overpowering depression.

Fierce sadness.

Horrible desperation.

Pure love.

Author's Note:

I love these author's notes. I really do. They give me such a great opprotunity to express what I was trying to get at when I wrote each chapter, because a lot of the time, there are some things that need explaining. This chapter, there were a few things that I felt needed clearing up. For example, Alice can't see Bella in her visions because Isa is debating wether or not to, to put it bluntly, kill Bella. This may come up in a later chapter in Isa's point of view, but to clear up confusion, I'll tell you lovely readers now. Also, Alice and Jasper's theory of their future's disappearing along with Bella's may be a bit flawed, but it really was the best I could come up with. I think the next chapter will be in Edward's point of view, so the images Annabel showed Edward will be revealed soon.

Thanks for reading!