Title:　Amor Vincit Omnia – Love conquers all

Disclaimer: Twilight and the characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer.

I only own the plot.

Chapter 1 The Magician

Characters: Alice, Jasper, Bella, Edward, Kathryn (Kitty, Kit-Kat)

Alice POV

I met my best friend, Bella, my junior year in high school. She moved from Phoenix to live with her father, the chief of police, in Forks, Washington. After high school, we both went to university in Seattle. During our senior year, on Spring break, we went down to LA to watch my boyfriend Jasper's band play live at a bar there. This gig was very important to them. There were a few people from the record label coming to see them, as they were quite popular at bars in Seattle.

Before they performed, Bella and I dropped by during their rehearsal to say Hi, and wish them good luck. When we showed up Stephen, the vocalist, showed interest in Bella, and they started to chat and instantly hit it off.

This was the beginning of the whirlwind romance between Bella and Stephen. Sadly at that time my intuition never kicked in, and I had no idea that in a few years the romance would come to an end.

Today Jasper and I was flying from LA to Chicago, to hold Bella's hand as she buries Stephen to rest in Chicago, where his parents also rested. My heart was heavy and I was also angry.

I just couldn't understand why so much misfortune fell on Bella. Only 4 years ago Jasper and I flew with Bella, Stephen, and Bella's father Charlie to Phoenix, to lay Bella's mother Renee and Phil to rest after a fatal car crash had taken their lives suddenly. Just 3 years ago Jasper and I flew from LA to join Stephen and Bella to lay Charlie to rest, in Forks, after losing Charlie when he was fatally shot on duty during a convenience store robbery.

Bella and Stephen were so happy that they were expecting their first baby in 3 weeks, but the shock of losing Charlie had caused Bella to go in labor 3 days after we laid Charlie to rest.

With Stephen gone, Bella was now alone with no other relative, just herself and her 3 year old daughter, Kathryn. My upbeat self had no energy left, and I had no clue what to say or what I could do for Bella, to get her through this.

"Alice, are you almost ready? We need to leave in half an hour for the airport," Jasper called to me from my living room, while I finished checking to make sure I had all things packed for the trip. I bought a one way ticket since I had no idea how long I needed to stay in Chicago for Bella.

Before I had a chance to reply to Jasper, he came behind me and hugged me tight, and kissed me on my forehead to assure me that everything would be okay.

"Sweetheart, I promise we will do everything in our powers to help Bella get through this," Jasper softly whispered into my ear trying to calm me down.

"Jasper, I don't know what to do this time, I don't know what I can say or do for her, she has lost everyone, I am so scared to even see her, I don't know if I can even comfort her without breaking down myself," I cried to Jasper.

"Sweetheart, I was thinking maybe we should try to convince Bella to move to LA, to be near us. You can't drop everything and stay in Chicago too long. Even Bella, she only moved to Chicago so that Stephen could be with his brothers in Chicago while he was being treated for cancer. Now that he's gone, there's no reason for her to stay in Chicago, no reason for her to move to Seattle nor Forks nor Phoenix, since there are no one there for her. We are all she has closest to family," Jasper said to me.

I really had no energy to think anything through, and when Jasper made his suggestion, I suddenly saw a little light of hope that maybe there was something we can do for her, that maybe Bella will take our suggestion. "Wow, Jasper! I hadn't thought of that. I really think that would be a great suggestion to Bella, and something she would consider. By her moving to LA we can help her raise Kathryn. Even Emmett and Rosalie could also help out now that they are both living in LA near us. Maybe even Edward could help out as soon as he moves to LA, and considering that he's a pediatrician it might come handy," I replied to Jasper with a glimmer of hope.

My brother, Emmett, who is 7 years older than me, and his girlfriend, Rosalie, had recently moved to LA to be near Rosalie's parents. She wanted to be near them, and Emmett secured a position to coach football at the local high school. Rosalie, with some financial help from her parents, opened a spa in Santa Monica. Rosalie's parents owned a chain of boutique hotels throughout the world. A year ago, with Rosalie's parents' assistance, I also opened a small boutique in one of their hotels in Santa Monica. Now all I had to do was to come up with a great idea, to convince Bella to move to LA. I needed to do some serious brain storming on the flight to Chicago. I needed to come up with a plan using Bella's selfless nature to lure her into living near me.

"Sweetheart, what's going on in your little pretty head? That evil grin on your face is scaring me," Jasper said narrowing his eyes towards me.

"I think I just came up with a brilliant idea that will aid in Bella moving to LA," I told Jasper.

"What's your evil plan, Tinkerbelle?" Jasper asked with fear in his eyes.

"I need a little more time to solidify this idea. My first priority is to just be there for Bella and then once I am able to get her back on her feet by then I should have everything in order so that she won't be able to weasel out of moving to LA," I replied back to Jasper and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

Bella POV

I had Alice to thank for helping me back on my feet, but how did I get sucked in to moving to LA? I now stood in line with my daughter, Kitty, in her stroller, with my laptop bag swung around my shoulders. I rolled my carry-on trolley behind me and waited to get our boarding passes to fly from Chicago to LA. It was snowing really hard outside. There was an announcement that one of the planes skid off the runway during landing, and that at the moment all flights were delayed or cancelled to fly out of O'Hare. Grrrr! I had a bad feeling that I was going to be stuck here in O'Hare for several hours.

I needed to call Alice soon to inform her that I had no idea when I can get out of O'Hare. Knowing Alice, she probably already knew of the situation here in O'Hare, and probably was on top of securing another flight out of O'Hare for Kitty and me by now. The attendants at the counter started to announce that the flights out of O'Hare for the next three hours were cancelled. We were told to listen in for further updates regarding the situation as to when the earliest available flights were going to be. As soon as I heard the announcement I called Alice to let her know what I just heard. She told me that she called her travel agent to secure us a flight 5 hours from now just in case it took more than 3 hours to clear the runway.

I couldn't be more thankful as there were thousands of people crowding around the ticketing booths. Many had their cell phones to their ear, and were probably calling their travel agent to book another flight later in the day. I had faith in Alice that somehow she beat everyone, and her judgment on securing a flight 5 hours from now was going to be the earliest flight out of O'Hare.

I decided to just relax and go with the flow. There really weren't much I could do in this situation. There were people yelling and screaming near the ticketing counter, and Kitty started to stir in her sleep. I definitely wanted to avoid her waking up now so I quickly went to search for an open seat in the waiting area near the counter. After circling around several times near the waiting area I was finally able to secure one seat that I could sit down, and just keep Kitty in the stroller. I decided to flip through the magazine that I just bought at the kiosk, and snacked on the sandwiches I bought on the way to the airport.

I didn't get to catch much sleep last night. We checked into a hotel near the airport. All our furniture and belongings were already with the movers. Alice made all the arrangements with the movers before she left last week. She left before us so that she could be back in LA, and make sure we could move into our apartment as soon as we got into LA.

Jasper secured us an apartment on a different level of the apartment complex he lived. The apartment that became available was previously occupied by one of his friends so it was easy for him to secure it for us. It was a two bedroom apartment so I won't be able to have a guestroom, but it was the best option considering the fact that Jasper lived in the same complex. Alice's condo was only ten minutes drive away, and according to Alice, her oldest brother Emmet and his girlfriend, Rosalie, only lived half an hour away from the apartment also. Alice had 2 older brothers. I only met her oldest brother, Emmett, a few times, but never met her brother, Edward. Both of her brothers were much older than us. They were already out of college by the time I moved from Phoenix to Forks, during my junior year in high school.

An hour after I flipped through my magazine my eyelids felt heavy, and it was a battle for me to stay awake. Kitty was fast asleep in her stroller so I wasn't too worried. She was a deep sleeper, so I was sure that even if I fell asleep for a little while she would still be asleep when I woke up.

Edward POV

When I got to the airport it was flooded with crying children, yelling and screaming adults, and people sat everywhere on the floor of the airport. Then I heard the announcement that one of the runways was closed due to an accident. The priority at the moment was to land all the planes that couldn't be diverted to other airports. I decided to call my sister, Alice, to ask for help. She was the "go to" person when you needed something done. I hadn't told her I was flying in today to LA. I wanted to have a few days to myself before the ball of energy bounced back into my life. I loved my sister dearly, but sometimes she was just too overwhelming for me. I needed a moment of peace, and get settled into my new apartment in LA before all family reunions started. I loved my family, but for the past few years I didn't interact much with my family. Due to this accident here in O'Hare, the only way for me to get out of this airport, was to seek help from Alice.

"Hey Alice, it's Edward. I need your help," I said as soon as she answered her phone.

"Edward? Hey, I'm really busy right now, can I call you back?" she replied, but I quickly retorted.

"Alice, it's an emergency. I really need your help. There was an accident at O'Hare, and I'm now stuck here. My flight to LA was cancelled, so I need your help to secure me another flight few hours from now. Please help me Alice," I begged her.

"What? What do you mean you're at O'Hare, Huh? When were you planning to tell me you were moving to LA today from Chicago? Were you planning to tell me after you moved into your new apartment? How could you? How could you keep this a secret from me? How dare you think I would help you find another seat for you on a different flight? My best friend is also stuck in O'Hare and…"

I cut Alice mid sentence and said, "Alice, please. I'm really sorry, but I really need your help. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you I was moving today. Could you or Jasper please help me out?" I begged her again.

"All right, Edward. My hands are tied trying to help my best friend out at the moment but I'll ask Jasper to sort something out for you. You owe me big time, brother. I'll have Jasper call you soon." She replied back to me in a very annoyed and stressed out voice. She must really be in a pinch. Alice was always in control and this situation in O'Hare must be something that even she couldn't do much about.

"Thanks Alice, I really appreciate it. Let me know later what I can do to make it up to you," I tried to sound as sincere and thankful as best as I could.

15 minutes later my phone buzzed. When I checked the caller ID, I was thankful to see that it was Jasper. "Hey! Thanks so much for calling me back".

"No problem mate, but you're gonna have to hang in there a little while longer. We know the situation at O' Hare right now. For the past hour or so Alice has been on the phone trying to sort out a ticket for her best friend, Bella, to secure a seat on another flight. We'll try to get you a seat as soon as we secure Bella's. Alice thinks that the departure flights will start 5 hours from now. They are saying that they've cancelled departure flights only for the next 3 hours, but Alice thinks it will take longer. You know how she is with her intuition. You never bet against Alice." Jasper said and chuckled.

"Bella? Her college roommate she's been friends since Forks high school?" I asked Jasper.

"Yeah, that's her. Her husband passed away few weeks ago. Ally persuaded Bella and her baby girl to move out to LA since Bella has no family left," Jasper answered with sadness in his voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry her friend is going through a tough time and that she's also stuck here in O'Hare. It must be horrible being here with a child in this chaos. Do you want me to try to locate her? Would that maybe put Alice's mind at ease?" I asked Jasper.

"That crossed my mind. Thanks for the offer, but I think the situation there is too chaotic for you to locate her. Last I heard Bella was able to find somewhere she could sit comfortably with her daughter. Since you've never met her, Bella is quite shy and I don't think she will feel too comfortable meeting you in this circumstance. Thanks for the offer though. I'll let Ally know you offered assistance to help Bella out. Maybe that will earn you some brownie points for what you've just pulled. That was really low of you moving to LA today without her knowledge. I realize Ally can be a bit pushy and overwhelming, but she was quite hurt when you called earlier. She realized if this situation in O'Hare didn't happen you were going to be here in LA and wouldn't have heard from you until you settled in first. She planned on picking you up at the airport and host you a welcome party. Now you've crushed her plan. Be afraid. Be very afraid of the wrath of Alice, big brother," Jasper said and laughed.

"I'm really sorry. I'll apologize to her as soon as I'm in LA. I guess I'll go and find somewhere I can settle down and wait for your call," I said and thanked Jasper.

I walked to the boarding gate where my original flight was supposed be, and looked for an empty seat in the waiting area. I circled around a few times, and just as I was about to circle again a seat opened. I quickly made a dash and sat down. Once I put my luggage down and sat in the seat, my eyes caught a beautiful young mother asleep across from my seat. She slumped over a stroller with her hair sprawled over the top shade of the stroller.

In the stroller was a little girl, maybe two or three years old. She had beautiful brown hair like her mother with a breath taking marine blue eyes I had ever seen. The little girl looked almost angelic. While I continued to stare at the little girl fumbled with the buckle that kept her secure in the stroller. When she finally unbuckled herself from the stroller, she went face flat onto the carpeted floor. Her mother was deep asleep, and did not even stir. I was afraid the little girl would start to cry as it looked like she skinned her knee. Contrary to what I imagined, all she did was scrunch her nose and looked around to see if anyone saw her. Then she caught me staring at her. She blushed and giggled. She then wobbled across and before I could do anything she climbed on to my lap. She gave me the most beautiful innocent smile I had ever seen.

As a pediatrician, I was used to being around children, but her action took me by surprise. Most kids her age were not as bold or independent. Then the little angel opened her mouth and said to me, "Hi. I'm Kitty. You have pretty green eyes. Like lime Jello," she said and giggled.

Now that was a first. I was used to being complimented about my green eyes, but most of the time the compliments came from women trying to hit on me. They usually compared my eyes to emeralds and never a lime flavored Jello. I chuckled and in reply said, "Well nice to meet you Kitty, I'm Edward, and your eyes are beautiful, it's almost the color of the ocean."

She then dug into her pocket and pulled out a small leather photo frame. "This is my mommy and my daddy and me," she said with a big smile on her face. I quickly recognized that her eyes were the same as her father's. Then my eyes were drawn to the young woman in the photo. At the moment her mother was asleep and looked beautiful, but in the photo I was able to see her eyes, and I was instantly mesmerized by her beauty.

"You all look really beautiful and very happy," I told her and smiled back to her.I froze when I saw the little angel's eyes filled with tears.

She spoke again and said in almost a whisper, "my Daddy is in the clouds with my grandpa and grandma," she said and a single tear fell down her cheek.

At that very moment I quickly hugged the little angel tightly to my chest, and she snuggled into me and sighed. I soon realized that she must have lost her father very recently as the dress she wore in the picture was identical to the one she wore today. In my line of work I constantly saw devastation of parents over the loss of their child, I rarely witnessed children mourn over the loss of their parent. It was something I was not used to. I felt my heart ache for this little angel. I gave her a little kiss on her head and rubbed her back. I gently rocked her to try to soothe her. She sobbed for a little while, but her breathing slowed down and soon she fell asleep.

I looked across from me to see if her mother woke up yet, but she was still fast asleep. I debated whether I should carry her and buckle her into the stroller or not. I decided to just hold her till her mother woke up. The warmth that emanated from the little angel relaxed me and soon I struggled to stay awake.

Bella POV

I felt something move in the back pocket of my jeans and realized that it was my phone. It was Alice calling me. "Hi Bella, I've got good news for you. I was able to get you two business class seats three hours from now. It's been two hours since your flight was cancelled and according to my source they tell me that the first direct flight from O'Hare is this one. Let's hope that no other delays will be made and that you could get on this new flight I booked for you," she said excitedly as she was able to secure me a seat despite there were only few available seats on other flights left even before this chaos started. "It's a direct flight so once you board the plane all you have to do is get off the plane. Jasper and I'll be there waiting for you when you come out of the arrival exit. Oh, I miss you and Kitty. I can't wait to see you two," I felt the excitement through her words.

Once I got off the phone I looked in the stroller to check on Kitty and froze. My little girl was no longer in the stroller. Panic rushed through me. I quickly scanned the area for Kitty. I was shocked when I saw Kitty asleep in the arms of a pale man with messy bronze hair across from where I sat. Kitty was always shy and never the type to leave my side or go near a stranger. I had no idea what happened or what prompted her to be in the situation she was in. For some reason I did not feel fear when I saw her asleep in the arms of this stranger. He looked peacefully asleep just like Kitty. I debated whether to wake them up or not. I realized there was an open seat beside him so I quickly gathered my things and moved across to sit beside them.

In about half an hour Kitty stirred and woke up. She slowly slipped out of the stranger's arm and crawled into my lap. "Kit-Kat, why were you sleeping in this gentleman's lap?" I asked her.

"You were asleep. I was bored. Edward is my friend now. Mommy I'm hungry," she said as if sleeping in this man's arms were nothing out of the ordinary. I wanted to thank him for taking care of my little girl, and gently tried to wake him up, but he was dead asleep. I didn't want to leave without thanking him so I pulled out a notebook out of my bag and ripped a page out. I wrote a note to thank him for taking care of my little girl.

Thank you very much for keeping my daughter safe. Please give me a call so that I could thank you properly.

Isabella

I signed my name as Isabella instead of Bella since I didn't know this man. I also wrote my cell phone number and email address, and tucked the note in his shirt pocket.

The folded paper was not very small so stuck out of his pocket. I was sure he would find it when he woke up. Once I tucked the note we left the waiting area to go to the food court to grab something for Kitty to eat.

Edward POV

When I woke up I felt my heart ache when I realized that the little girl and her mother were gone. I wasn't sure what happened. When I stretched I noticed a big piece of folded paper sticking out of my shirt pocket.

I know I didn't put it there so I pulled it out and found that it was a note written by the girl's mother. The handwriting was rather messy, but it was sincere, and she left me a number to call her so that she could thank me properly.

I longed to see the little girl again and her mother so that I could see her beautiful eyes, but I decided that it was best to leave things as is and not call her. Her thank you note was more than enough. She could have just left without the note, but the fact that she took the time to write the note in itself was more than enough. I wasn't very good at socializing with strangers. It would be out of character and I wouldn't be able to say anything coherent.

While I contemplated whether to make the call or not I got a call from Jasper. "Hey mate, I'm sorry to tell you, but Alice was only able to secure a seat for Bella and the next available direct flight from Chicago to O'Hare is 5 hours from now. The other option would be flying to Las Vegas from O'Hare, and driving from Vegas to LA. That flight would be available in 2 hours. Which option would you rather take?" Jasper asked.

I sighed. "I really don't want to be stuck here any longer than necessary. Driving from Vegas to LA and catching some zzzzs there sounds like a better option. Do you think you could book me a night at Bellagio or Caesar's Palace and sort out a rental car for me?" I asked.

"Tell you what, I'll do even better. Let's have a boys' night in Vegas. I'll call up Emmett and see if he would join me on the drive out to Vegas. We'll pick you up at McCarran. I could use a night out since Ally is probably going to be preoccupied for the next few days settling Bella and Kit-Kat in," Jasper replied with excitement in his voice.

"Thanks Jazz. Now I have something to look forward to. Book me on the flight to Vegas and give me the hotel details later. I hope Emmett doesn't drive you crazy on the way to Vegas" I chuckled.

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A/N

Thank you for reading my story. Please take a moment and leave me a review. It's possible to leave a review even if you haven't signed up since I have anonymous review enabled. Reviews help me write faster and better. I realize most people leave a review when they stop reading the chapters, but if possible when something struck your attention or you enjoyed in a particular chapter it would be great if you could leave a review for that specific chapter so I could know. Thank you!