A Little Bit Stronger

Author's Note: Again I thank you all for joining me on this journey of Alec and Bella's. I am sad to see it come to an end but it was fun while it lasted…be sure to check out some of my other stories…quite a few people seem to like Starting Over so give that one a look and let me know what you think it's a Carlisle/OC story…but the OC has a definite tie in to the Twilight cast. Also check out Twisted…a lot of people seemed to like it as well though I know I could've ended it better…I got writer's block at that point and couldn't think of a better ending LOL. Also check out What Hurts the Most based on the Rascal Flatts song…made a few people cry with that one. Let me Love you is also sure to make you cry though it has no reviews…it's kind of my hidden treasure so my friend Anthony likes to say. Thanks again ya'll…it's been a pleasure…and now? The epilogue!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight though if I did I would definitely steal Carlisle from Esme…he's such a sexy character and I have a teeny weeny obsession with Peter Facinelli. What can I say? HE'S GORGEOUS!

Epilogue

Bella's POV

After the battle Alec, Carlisle, the brothers and I went to check out what kind of damage our crowd attained and we were highly upset at what we found. Jake, who was trying to help me save Alec, felt that it would be best to wait to tell me the bad news until we knew if Alec would be ok or not.

The first people that caught my eye when walking out to the battlefield were a naked Paul and Quil lying on the ground motionless. I let out a strangled sob and looked to Jake for confirmation.

"Jake…please tell me they are just resting…please tell me they are ok." I sobbed.

"I wish I could Bells…"Jake said as tears threatened to spill from his eyes. "They were hit by the two male rogues that went after you before they turned on you. They started shooting something like fire from their eyes as they were flying over us. Jane tried to push Quil out of the way and lost her arm, we found it across the field, not completely burned…Afton lost his hand, which burned, trying to push Paul out of the way but the damage was already done to them both."

"Oh my god! No no no….Quilly, Paul!" I cried, venom tears burning my eyes but not daring to spill. "Please tell me no one else got hurt. Are Jasper and Peter ok? I know they got hit pretty hard with the wings of those male rogues."

"They are fine…pretty beat up from it but they healed pretty quick from it." Jake said avoiding my eyes.

"Jake, what are you not telling me?" I asked.

"Um…"he said looking down.

"Carlisle? What is Jake not telling me?" I asked turning to Carlisle who wore a frown on his usually smiling face. If there was any one of the Cullens I could trust, besides Alice who was was second best friend to Jake, was Carlisle.

"We lost another of our family members today." he said and I had the sneaking suspicion that I was not going to like what came next. Before he could tell me who I caught a glimpse of Jasper out of the corner of my eye on the ground cradling Alice in his arms, half of her body was as black as charcoal. I immediately fell to the ground, I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe that my best friend in the entire world, besides Jake, was gone. I sobbed loudly as Alec dropped to the ground beside me and held me close as I sobbed unshed tears for my best female friend.

"Carlisle, can you fix her? Please say you can fix her!" I wailed.

"I wish I could…she was too badly burned from one of the rogue's fire balls. It all happened so quickly that she didn't even have time to react. It was before they dropped down into your line of view, before they broke through the barrier…they were still flying when they got Alice, Paul and Quil." he said. "But Bella, she would be proud of you…you saved everyone else from suffering the same fate that she did."

"I know she would, Carlisle but it still doesn't help ease the pain of losing her." I sobbed and Carlisle kneeled down beside me and pulled me in for a fatherly hug.

"You have to think of this as a small price to save those that she loved…and she loved every single one of us…including you and the wolves…and even the Volturi." he said. "She still lives on in our hearts."

"I know." I said. "What about my parents…are they ok?"

"Actually Bells, you would be proud of your dear ol' dad." Jake said. "He was the one that finally ended Angelina."

"Really? Where is he?" I asked.

"He went back to the castle to inform Sue of Paul and Quil so that she could call the proper people to be at the airport in Seattle when their bodies arrive." he said looking down again, the loss of his friends weighing heavy on his mind.

After assessing the damage and after I gathered enough strength to stop dry sobbing over my friends, we threw the bodies of the rogue angels in a pile and lit them on fire before carrying the bodies of Paul, Quil and Alice back to the castle. Aro insisted that we buy nice coffins for the wolves since they also had become part of the Volturi family during their stay at the castle. The wolves stayed until after Alice's body was burned, part of her ashes were kept in a container, along with a few hairs from both Quil and Paul to be sent to a special diamond maker in Milan that specialized in making diamonds out of the ashes and hair of loved ones. Aro insisted that the diamond maker make enough charms for each member of the guard, the Cullen family, the Denali coven as well as for the wolves and the families of the fallen wolves. It was a token of those lost that day. Everyone but the families of Paul and Quil got diamonds made of a combination of the remains of Paul, Quil and Alice in memory of this day. Each diamond was worn on either a chain or a bracelet. I had my little piece of Alice, Paul and Quil on my charm bracelet that contained the little wolf charm Jacob made me, the heart diamond that Edward gave me, and the only thing I have to remember him by, and the little celtic knot charm that symbolized love and eternity that Alec gave me as a birthday present right before our wedding. The little blue diamond in the shape of a cross, which was what Aro requested, fit in nicely with the other memories on my charm bracelet.

After Alice's cremation, the wolves all headed back to La Push to bury Quil and Paul, to which myself, the Cullens and the members of the guard present during the fight, were all invited to come and were in attendance as they buried them on the island that contained the Quileute chiefs and warriors that had passed on. Old Quil wouldn't have it any other way. Aro, who came with us to the funeral along with his brothers, extended his gratitude to the wolves for their help during this battle and offered them shelter and a job if any would ever want to come to Italy. It was no surprise when Leah, Embry and Seth asked to leave the pack and La Push to move to Italy. Embry and Leah couldn't stand to be away from their imprints and it was their imprinting on Jane and Marcus that swayed the votes of the council, allowing them to come to Italy. They allowed Seth to come because Sue had decided to move to Italy to be with Charlie who didn't want to leave.

Jacob also opted to move to Italy and leave the pack, which the elders also agreed upon, for Angela was offered a job on the Guard due to her fighting skills. I was happy to have him there with me, I needed my brother.

Charlie made a name for himself in Volterra and after defeating Angelina, Aro asked him to stay on with the Guard as his right hand man under Alec and Jane. Charlie happily accepted. Phil was also made part of the Guard, and Renee had a job similar to Heidi's in that she helped lure humans into the feeding chamber for the human drinkers.

As for the wolves, after Embry, Seth, Leah and Jake left, quite a few new wolves phased and Sam and Jared stopped phasing to grow old with Emily and Kim. They had a bunch of kids, who later grew up to be wolves themselves. They couldn't be more happy with their decision to stop phasing.

The Cullens moved on after the death of Alice, eventually splitting up but still keeping in close contact with each other as well as with Alec and I. Rosalie and Emmett found a little island that they bought off the coast of Greece that had plenty of room and wildlife and they visited often. Carlisle and Esme moved to Denali with their cousins. As for Jasper, Peter and Charlotte? They stayed in Volterra and became part of the Guard. Jasper and Peter became powerful assets to the Volturi because of their leadership skills, and were very valuable when it came to training to guard members and newborns. Jasper never got over losing Alice, but instead of dwelling on it he focused his time and energy on training and his old love of music. He even started a band in his downtime with a few of the musically gifted Guard members, they became quite popular around Europe and parts of the US. They called themselves 1000 Monkeys.

Finally, Alec and I enjoyed out time together…and FINALLY went on our honeymoon to a little island on the outskirts of Rio, not far from Isle Esme. Alec liked to call the island "l'isola di amore" which means "Island of Love". We really didn't want to leave the island, which was a wedding present from Alec to myself, but the world awaited out return. Alec and I remained happy like that for the rest of eternity.

THE END