Disclaimer: Alice and most of her background belongs to Stephenie Meyer. No money is being made from this work and no copyright infringement is intended.
Memories
When everyone had settled into a sofa, Carlisle continued. "You say you have been searching for us?"
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"How did you come to hear of us?" Carlisle asked. He was looking at Jasper, so he was the one who answered.
"Well, that really is Alice's story." He looked at me, and five other pairs of eyes followed.
"It is somewhat of a long story," I warned.
"That's fine," Carlisle soothed.
"Well, to start," I paused, thinking. "I don't remember anything of being human."
"Anything?" Rosalie interrupted, shocked. Her expression was a little pained. "You don't remember anything at all?"
I shook my head. "Nothing."
The Cullens all wore expressions of shock, confusion, and interest. "Not even the pain?" Edward asked.
"No," I shook my head, remembering the many times I had tried to remember anything earlier than when I first woke up. "The first thing I can remember is waking up in a forest, alone."
"The person who changed you wasn't there?" Carlisle asked.
I shook my head again. "Actually, the first person I met was Jasper, and that was a while after I first woke up."
No one said anything, so I continued. "After I felt the thirst for the first time, I didn't know what to do, or what it was, so I ran. I ran into a lake, where I had my first vision."
"Vision?" Emmett exclaimed. "As in, of the future?"
I nodded.
"Wow." Their faces were all slightly awed now.
Carlisle recovered first. "What did you see?" he asked.
I pulled out the memory of the vision. "I saw us," I answered. "All of us — sitting in a room similarly laid out to this one, but not the same furniture. We were all happy, listening to a story Emmett was telling." I glanced at Emmett.
"Was it a good story?" Emmett asked.
"We all seemed to be enjoying it."
Emmett grinned and nodded appreciatively.
I continued my story, telling them about how I somehow knew I would one day be a part of their family. I told them about how I learned to feed off of animals because of the vision I had of them hunting, about my first encounter with human blood and the vision I had that stopped me. I then told them of my visions of Jasper, how I longed to be with him and how I knew I needed to help him.
I told them about my journey after I had decided to go search for Jasper and the few human encounters I had. Then I told them about meeting Jasper, and how fulfilling it had been to finally be with him. I talked about the humans who had invaded our spot, and the vision I had of everything gone, nothing the way I had longed for. But then I told them how I managed to change that, and began to teach Jasper about the alternative to human blood.
And then I told them of the vision I had of our first encounter, and how that prompted me to set out to search for them.
"And now we're here," I finished.
A short, thoughtful silence followed, and Emmett was the one to break it. "After all that trouble, we'd better let you stay," he joked.
"What Emmett means," Esme started, throwing a stern look at Emmett before turning back to us. "Is welcome to the family." She gave us a warm smile and stood up to come over to Jasper and me and hug us both in turn.
"Thank you," I said sincerely with a wide smile.
"You are very welcome," she said, and retook her seat next to Carlisle with a very satisfied smile on her face.
"There is something you should know first," Carlisle said, looking meaningfully at Edward.
Edward nodded and looked up at us. "I can read minds."
Read minds? As in, hear what I'm thinking right now?
Edward nodded.
Jasper and I were silent for a long moment, processing that. And then I realized that Edward could hear our processing.
"I can," he answered my unspoken question again. "I can also see what you see in your head." My mind went immediately to my visions. "I believe I can see those, too," he answered. His eyes flickered over to Jasper, who began to speak.
"I also have a sort of gift, though not nearly as impressive as Edward's or Alice's."
They waited, intrigued.
"I can feel and manipulate the emotions of people around me."
Emmett's eyebrows rose and there was another thoughtful silence as they took it all in.
"So you can feel what I'm feeling now?" Emmett asked.
"Yes." Jasper's brow furrowed in slight confusion. "You're feeling envious of something. But I can't tell you why."
"Emmett," Edward said incredulously.
"What, I'm not allowed to feel envious?" he replied in mock outrage.
Edward rolled his eyes. "Not about that."
"Would anyone care to explain to the rest of us?" Rosalie asked, slightly peeved.
"Emmett's jealous of us having special talents," Edward explained. And then he groaned. "Emmett!" He dropped his head in his arms.
Emmett chuckled. "I'm not that jealous," he replied, wiggling his eyebrows.
I had no idea what was going on, but the look on Edward's face made me not want to know.
I glanced at Jasper and saw amusement in his eyes. Maybe I would ask him about it later.
"Alright, that's enough," Esme said in a stern voice. "What must they think of us now?"
"It's just a bit of fun," Emmett replied, grinning. It seemed like there would be a lot of fun with Emmett around.
"Well, why don't you have fun showing Alice and Jasper around the house?" Carlisle asked. "I need to get to work."
"Where do you work?" Jasper asked.
"Down at the local hospital," Carlisle replied.
"The hospital?" Jasper asked, bewildered. "How do you manage that?"
I hadn't had an initial reaction to where Carlisle said he worked, but then I remembered what a hospital was. It was where sick humans went to heal, and there was often times a lot of blood; open and even more potent than usual.
Carlisle gave us a small smile. "Centuries of practice," he answered, then paused a second before continuing. "If I had never practiced, none of us would be here right now."
Jasper's eyes went wide. "You changed everyone?"
Carlisle nodded and gave us a small smile. "But that is also," he glanced at me, "somewhat of a long story." He stood up. "But I would be more than glad to tell it when I get home, unless someone else would like to," he looked around at the others.
No one said anything, and Edward shrugged. "Whatever you choose," Carlisle continued, "I will be home in a few hours. Jasper, Alice," he stopped in front of us. "It was so nice to meet you, and welcome." He smiled and extended his hand for us to shake in turn, and we voiced our thanks avidly.
Carlisle left the room, and I wondered if I would ever have the restraint necessary to change someone like he did, or even to help a bleeding human like he does every day.
But I stopped thinking about it, and Jasper and I were welcomed entirely into the Cullen family, where we spent over fifty years happily together with each other and without much change.
Until that day, fifty-five years later, in that dreary little town in Washington.
But you know that story already.
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A/N: And it's over. Thank you to everyone who stuck with me this far, and gave such encouraging reviews. You have my awed gratitude.