Thank you readers! This has been a wonderful journey!

Epilogue

BPOV

I faded in and out of consciousness for two days following the fight. I was aware of very little other than I was in a room with Seth across from me in a matching twin bed, and that Edward had not left my side. Every once in awhile I heard the reassuring murmurs of Carlisle and 'Ola, likely conferring over protocol for patients who had died and returned by mystically forces. I felt myself smile as I floated.

I awoke sensing Edward's absence and feeling 'Ola's hand on my forehead, check for fever. I blinked up at her wise, wrinkled face. 'Ola truly was old as dirt and it showed in her now arthritic hands – her own healing abilities not able to keep up with the march of time. She smiled down at me, her face crinkling in laugh lines, her eyes squinting with that smile. I reached up my hand slowly, and she wrapped both of hers it.

An odd feeling surged between us as I felt the stiffness of her knobby fingers. Instinctively I forced on this sensation…this deep knowledge of her hands. Light flickered between her hands and then glowed brightly. She gasped softly and remained still until the light faded away. I felt a wave of weakness. Moving her hands from mine, she easily clenched and unclenched them, experimentally flexing her fingers.

"Bella, it's amazing. I now understand why your mark changed."

"Huh?" Yeah, I wasn't all back yet.

She pulled down my blanket to reveal my upper arm. "Whoa." I said as I ran my hand over the mark. Gone was my thunderbird mark. Instead it had been replaced with a raven. Jared was going to love that I was marked with an animal that had a rep for being a trickster.

'Ola nodded sagely, "Bringer of the light. Raven stole the light from the Sky Chief and gave it to the people. In your case, the light heals. You have been twice blessed, child."

"So 'Ola, are there any end of the world scenarios associated with the raven?" I asked softly.

She chuckled and patted my head affectionately, "No, I think that time has passed. The raven signifies change."

"Yeah, I expect a lot of change coming."

Carlisle was next to visit with Edward at his side. He was intrigued with news of my new ability but cautioned that I go easy until it was better understood. Edward frowned slightly as I recounted the experience, likely reading between the lines that it had taken more energy out of me than I'd let on.

"How's Charlie?" I asked.

"I told him Seth and you have a very bad case of influenza and needed to be quarantined." Carlisle explained.

I shot a guilty look at Edward. It felt heartless using a cover story with an illness that had killed his family and made him a vampire.

He smiled gently understanding my concern, "Carlisle was going to mention you both had mono but Alice said that wouldn't be wise."

I snorted and shuddered, "Yeah, Charlie would have immediately thought that Seth and I were swapping spit."

Seth contributed retching sounds to the conversation. I giggled and threw a pillow at him, "Shut up."

He snickered and threw it back at me.

Carlisle raised an eyebrow at our unsanctioned physical behavior. I sighed, "How long do we have to be cooped up in bed?"

He smiled, "Two weeks."

"Two weeks!" I whined and Seth groaned out, "She's going to go bat shit crazy and take me down with her."

Besides Seth and me, no one had been seriously injured in the battle. All newborns had been destroyed, and the only outside world notice was Mrs. Mallory's frantic call to Charlie about the "raging" wild fires on the res, which where explained as controlled burns.

Towards the end of the first week, I took advantage of Edward's hunting time and sat on Seth's bed recounting how Emmett and I had made his weight conditioning class streak with tiny, pink towels when I heard Alice and Jared. I quickly shuffled back to my own bed and pasted an innocent look on my face.

With the end of the world as we know it behind us, Alice had quickly enforced shopping time with the poor fool.

Alice sashayed in and yelled, "We have presents."

Jared followed behind and gave me a smile and wink. Oh, so the shopping must not be too tortuous.

Presents turned out to be PSP and DS portable gaming systems along with a ton of games.

Jared said, "Jasper and the guys set up wireless, so you and Seth can battle."

"Sweet!"

"Your butt's mine, Clearwater!"

"In your dreams, Cullen!"

Alice sat down next to me as Jared got Seth set up. In an unguarded moment, I saw concern and sadness on her face.

I reached out and placed my hand on her forearm, looking at her closely.

I whispered under the happy chatter of the guys, "Alice, what's wrong?"

She quickly brightened, "Oh, nothing. Just thinking about what to pack for the trip."

"What trip?"

"Most of us are going to Volturra. We need to close up the Volturi strong hold and deal with any unfinished business there."

"Expecting danger?"

She shook her head and sighed, "I'm worried about Jasper. I had a vision that he will have a horrible experience with the emotions from the underground prison we'll find."

Underground prison. Fuck.

"But he refuses to stay behind." I guessed.

"Yes, he insists that he needs to see what the Volturi became. He needs to fix it and never become that."

I nodded. Jasper still struggled with guilt from his Texas days, and now he was one of the most powerful vampires in the world. He'd want to temper that power within himself.

I squeezed gently, "Let him do this. We'll take of him when he gets home."

She gave a small smile. "You're a good sister, Bella."

"You too, Squirt. Now give me a hug before you go."

We didn't hear anything from the Cullens in Italy until Emmett called near the end of our enforced bed rest.

I listened as he spoke with Edward, his voice more serious than I'd ever heard.

"Edward, nothing could have prepared us for what we found here. Not even Alice's vision. Prisoners who have been tortured, turned, starved for blood until they are nearly crazy. To think this is what they had planned for Bella. I want to kill something." He finished in a growl. He paused and then continued, "Alice is bringing Jasper home in a cargo plane. He's nearly a vegetable and keeps saying that the walls are alive."

I frowned in alarm. Fuck. Poor Jasper.

Several hours later we got a frantic call from Alice. "As soon as we arrived in town, Jasper ran off into the forest. I can't catch up with him."

Edward replied, "I'll find him."

I crawled out of bed, swaying slightly. Damn, should have taken that exit a little slower.

"I'm going with you." I declared at Edward's frown.

"Bella, love, you're not well enough to run as needed."

"Well, I won't need to run."

I whistled loudly, and Jake appeared. "Jake, I need a ride."

"You got it," and shifted. I climbed up, leaned down along his back, and wrapped my hands in his fur.

"We'll follow your trail," I explained to Edward and he took off at his full speed.

Jake gave a short bark as he raced after him and I said, "Yeah, he's fucking fast."

It took a couple of hours to locate Jasper. His emotional torment was radiating out as we neared – terror, pain, and absolute humiliation. Jake whined and flattened his ears the closer we got. I patted his neck and slid off his back.

"Stay here, Jake." I advised.

I slowly walked forward, bombarded by the horrible emotions. I gasped at what I found, both Edward and Jasper in fetal positions on the ground. Damn. They must have gotten in a mind reading and empathic overload loop again.

I struggled to reach Jasper and lay down next to him, wrapping my arms around him, and pressed my face into his blond curls. Tears flowed down my cheeks as I focused on his pain. I closed my eyes and squeezed him tight as if by sure force of will I was going to fix my dear brother.

I woke up a day later. "What… what happened?" I asked, looking up at Edward. God, I love him.

He gave a shaky sigh of relief and said huskily. "You healed Jasper. Through my mental connection, I experienced everything he did. It was amazing…indescribable. You've been out until now. I was so worried you'd die again."

I murmured, "I'm sorry."

He smiled gently, "'Ola has an interesting theory about you."

Soon Seth and I were back in action … and back in school. Leading a dual life became stranger as the Cullens and I finished high school and worked with Carlisle to establish a new vampire world order. After the battle, vampires started approaching the family, no longer under the oppressive boot of the Volturi. So many things were going on at once – establishing vampire law, talks on the veggie lifestyle, and a blood bank was set up. A vampire who had been one of world's most brilliant scientists eventually created synthetic blood.

There were still fights, and pack members often traveled with the Cullens.

Edward decided to attend college one final time. After four years of pre-med together, we got married again. I let Alice run the whole show, and I wore a beautiful dress – she had hidden all my jeans.

Edward and I honeymooned in the Swiss Alps. On our final day, I wondered around the bedroom in a robe talking to Edward, who listened from the bed.

"Spoke to Jake while you were out hunting. He said Morgan's already crawling and getting into stuff." Jake had meet and married a wonderful girl from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and was now a proud papa. I was honored that her middle name was Isabella.

"He also said that Paul's been following Rachel around like a lost pup. Looks like Paul might finally settle down." With my cousin, no less.

I paused in confusion, "I swear I left out panties when I packed."

Edward chuckled, and his foot emerged from under the sheet, my panties dangling from his big toe. Shit this man was hot, and those toes were so cute.

I felt a sense of déjà vu as I mock whined, "It's so unfair. You have the cutest toes."

His eyes darkened as he gave me a wicked smile.

I dropped down to my knees on the floor at the end of the bed, and liberated my panties from his toe.

I wiggled each toe as I said, "This little piggy went to market. This little piggy stayed home. This little pig had roast beef. This little piggy had none. This little piggy went wee wee wee all the way home."

I sighed, blowing warm breath over his foot. I muttered to myself, "So adorable. Want to kiss them."

Edward freakin' purred in response. That settled it. I placed a gentle kiss on his pinkie toe and worked my way to his big toe.

I paused and gave him a smirk, "I'm going to bite this big, naughty toe."

I gave him a nip and then climbed up on the bed to straddle his legs. I gave him a sassy grin, wagged my eyebrows, and asked, "How about a game of peek-a-boo?"

He replied huskily, "I may be up for that."

And I squeaked happily, as he swiftly pulled me up his body so that he could kiss me. "I love you, Edward." I breathed against his lips.

"I love you always, Bella."

We graduated from med school and on the very sad day that 'Ola left this world, I became the tribe's healer. Edward and I settled in a house deep within Quileute land. The rest of the Cullens were scattered across the United States, but we saw each other regularly, and Edward worked from home, which was equipped with the very best communication technology possible. The Cullen family had tech that the government hadn't even dreamed of yet and computers that would have made Bill Gates cry.

By now, we had figured that 'Ola's theory was true. I was as before- I had a heartbeat, I ate, slept, etc. but I didn't age at all. When Edward had been told I would breathe until he was ashes, I had become frozen in time just as he was. There was great joy and peace knowing that we would always be together.

There was also sadness as I watched others around us age. It was particularly difficult when Charlie had a heart attack. I hadn't seen him in a number of years, a complication of my non aging. I snuck into his hospital room and sat next to him as he slept. My hand hovered over him, seeing the damage to his body. A tear ran down my cheek. He was in bad shape.

I started as he rasped out, "Hey, Kiddo. Don't cry."

I met his surprisingly alert gaze. "Dad! I'm so sorry." Sorry for so many things.

He gave me a small smile. "So am I. I want you to know that I'm so proud of you, Bella. I love you. I always knew you were special."

"Dad…"

"It's okay. I understand that you couldn't tell me."

"How…?" I thought I'd been so careful.

"Did you think I'd miss the large concentration of animal prints coming and going from our yard?"

"Shit."

He chuckled, "Not as dumb as I look."

We spent the next few days swapping stories and memories. I loved hearing about his time with Mom. He died shortly after that.

Uncle Billy stepped down from tribal council for Jake to represent the Black family. One of the first votes was for me to become an elder too.

The relationship between vampire and the Quileute remained strong. Emmett took his "uncle" duties very seriously. Remember that saying "It takes a village to raise a child"? Well, Emmett's version was it took a tribe and a coven of vampires.

It started out with Cody and some of the other kids spending time with the family in Alaska in the summer and turned into Camp Cullen, where Quileute and other Nations' kids could ride horses with Jasper, do arts and crafts with Esme, learn fashion tips from Alice. Bree had been adopted into the family and was in charge of swimming and water sports. The older kids learned hunting and fighting techniques from Edward, Emmett, and Jasper and auto mechanics from Rose. Carlisle and I taught classes on wild plant identification for eating and medical uses.

We watched Cody grow from an adorable little boy to a confident young man. And yes, he became a grizzly. It turns out that as kids from other tribes associated with the Cullens, the shifting ability became much less rare.

I watched in amusement as Esme gently corrected a young beaver who was cheerfully chewing through a leg of a dining hall table.

"Mark, let's find a nice tree outside." She encouraged.

A large ruckus caught my attention, and I ran outside. Morgan was on a boy twice her size, giving him a pounding. "You, asswipe! Leave Ryan alone!"

Emmett appeared, and we separated the kids and gave them a stern lecture. Morgan left with her arm draped protectively around her younger cousin. Ryan took after Rachel rather than Paul, and was shy. But since Rachel had managed to tame Paul with her gentle strength, I had high hopes for Ryan.

Emmett laughed and clapped his hand on my shoulder, "That's why I sometimes call her 'Bella Jr.'"

Morgan definitely was like the younger me in many ways, spirited, fiercely protective, and she knew what she wanted. Morgan had confided in me that she loved Cody and that he would marry her some day, he just didn't know it yet. The seven year age difference didn't matter to her. Given that I was married to a man over a century old, I understood that age was relative.

When Cody and Morgan were too old to attend Cullen Camp as campers they joined the staff. I was happy that Cody returned each year, even as he completed college and started a career in teaching.

If I was happy, Emmett was ecstatic. He and Cody were very close – and loved to wrestle. They were out in the forest when Cody got shot. It took everything in Emmett's control not to kill the hunter responsible. The area they were in was private Cullen land. Jasper drove him to the sheriff's to be dealt with. Morgan and I rushed out to them. Cody was very near death, but I was able to stabilize him enough that he could be moved back to the camp.

Morgan stayed at his side, as I continued to heal him over the next week.

I was on my way to check on him, when Edward stopped me in the hall. He shook his head and whispered close in my ear, "Morgan is giving Cody some TLC."

I raised an eyebrow and Edward smiled.

A few weeks later Emmett and I watched protectively but at a distance as Cody ambled along in bear form. A beautiful russet brown she wolf trotted out of the woods and walked patiently at his side, matching his slower pace.

Emmett laughed and turned to me, "Why is it that the women in your family all seem to have odd ball relationships?"

I paused as I hadn't really thought about it that way. My mom, me, Morgan, and Rebecca was completely in love with a vampire from Spain.

I snorted and punched his arm, "Yeah, what was Rachel thinking? I mean Paul? Come on!"

We laughed as we walked back to camp.

Cody and Morgan got married after she completed college. Emmett smirked and said Cody hadn't stood a chance once Morgan set her sights on him.

Over the years we experienced many joys. I thrived as tribal healer and took on the role of historian, working hard to preserve our stories and traditions.

We gathered together on the cliffs to celebrate Ancestor Day - a holiday we had actually made real, and I told of a time when vampires were enemies and of an unusual truce formed with the Cullens. The young people looked surprised. All they know was peace, so had their parents and grandparents. I looked around at the faces of my vampire family and smiled.

Peace was a good thing.

A/N I have received a number of requests for a sequel. This is the end of Bella's story but am considering writing Morgan and Cody's story. I've been writing for over a year now so will probably will take a break before starting another large story. Be sure to put me on Author alert. ;)