Hello!

I'm sorry this epilogue is so late but the day I returned from vacation (with this chapter practically ready) a cousin of my father died. She was just thirty and had a two-year-old baby girl. She didn't felt well and when the ambulance arrived to the hospital she went into respiratory arrest. They couldn't bring her back even though she was so young; she was autopsied but it came back inconclusive... It was so unexpected... We've been dealing with the aftermath. Her parents and husband needed support and her baby girl needed to be entertained so until last week, things were kind of hectic.

Anyway, this is the end of "In the Shadows of Forever"; I want to thank all of you who read, reviewed, 'favorited' and alerted this story, for your support and patience. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The Twilight Series belongs to Stephenie Meyer. Everything else is mine! XD

Epilogue

Bella's POV

"Are we close already?" Edward huffed from the passenger side. I chuckled at his impatience and short temper. It wasn't because of the length of the trip, but because I was driving his car. Every bump in the road made him almost jump out of the car to see if it had been damaged, even though I was driving as carefully as possible. "I don't get it why I can't drive?"

"Do you realize how childish you sound? The car is fine, but once we arrive, I'll have a friend of mine who is a mechanic have a look at it. Just relax!"

"Relax, relax!" he scowled.

"Edward, my car has done this path hundreds of times. Have you noticed anything wrong with it?" That shut him for a while. but it would be just a matter of time or bumps until he started complaining again. It had been five years since the fight with Broderick and a lot had changed.

Edward and I went on our well deserved vacation; a two year trip around the world, just the two of us and it turned out to be everything we needed: time away from everything and everyone, just to reconnect and get to know each other again. He made me feel so loved that slowly I started to give him bits and pieces of my past. It was hard to remember some things, but he was always there to help me get back to the present. We shared beautiful things and strengthened our love and trust in each other. We erased all the insecurities that made us weaker as a couple; no longer did we believe we weren't good enough for each other, we were and even if we weren't, no one could do anything about it! We were meant for each other and nothing could get in the way of that. Basically we were stuck with each other forever, no matter what. After our trip we returned to Forks, to live with the Cullens and also allow me to spend more time with Jacob and his kids, before we had to move.

Catherine and Ian had gotten married in Italy, just nine months after they started dating, and he had changed her that same night, enjoying the privacy of their honeymoon to get Catherine's instincts under control. He figured it would be easier for her if they were alone, unbounded from any society rules or others, expectations. After just a year they returned to civilization and lived in Volterra for another year, so that Catherine was sure she could handle being around humans. About two years ago they moved to mine and my brothers' house. Attending Catherine's wish, I built them a small cottage on the grounds to give them their own house while still being close to her family and at the same time giving her a space to retire to when her control threatened to escape her. Now, she was more secure of it and could manage being around her family just as easily as me or my brothers. I had no doubt that Ian's unwavering support and confidence in her abilities helped her to gain control of her thirst so quickly, not to mention all the years she had had to prepare for her future.

As for my brothers… things had changed a bit too. Scott and Anna, the newborn we saved from Broderick, were together and happier than ever. She was such a good influence on him, so much that his resistance to mine and Edward's relationship was practically none, and they were actually starting to get along. I guess this newfound tolerance also came from the fact that he could now understand my feelings for Edward but, obviously, Scott's inability to deny anything to his mate also helped… a lot. Anna was a huge fan of classical music and adored hanging out with Edward which forced him to visit us in Forks, plenty!

Luke had found happiness with none other than Irina Denali. Everything happened a year ago when he had gone to Forks to visit me at the same time as the Denalis. To say that they hit it right off was an understatement; he spent the whole time of his visit hanging out with her, and when it came the time for the Denalis to leave, Irina didn't even hesitate in accepting his invitation to return home with him instead of her family. Ever since she had gotten together with Luke, I noticed a big change in her; gone was the quiet, uninterested girl I knew, instead she had become a sweet blonde angel, completely enamored with my brother. They looked really well together, and I couldn't be happier for them, even though my first reaction to the matter had been of pure surprise. My relationship with Irina had improved a lot too, since she no longer blamed me for Laurent's disappearance; she had thought he was her mate, and my quarrels with Victoria had led him away from her, but when Luke proved to be the real love of her life, she apologized to me. I just told her the past was exactly that, the past, and as long she made Luke happy, she would be very welcome in the family.

Kurt was enjoying life as always. He visited a lot, to be with me, Jacob's kids and Emmett. When those two came together… I didn't even want to imagine what'd be like living in the same house with both of them! Kurt was very dedicated to family and didn't have the need to look for his mate; he said that one day she would simply fall on his lap, like it had happened for most of us. And that was exactly what happened in one of his visits! One day he simply returned from a hunting trip with a black haired vampire on his back and from that day on they were together. It had been one of the strangest things I had ever witnessed. They met over a bear and got together; they didn't even know each other's names.

*Flashback*

Edward was playing the piano, and I was sitting outside the house awaiting Kurt's return from a hunting trip. Finally he appeared in the tree line with someone on his back. Edward was by my side instantly when he noticed the scent of an unknown vampire in the vicinity, and we both watched as Kurt stopped a few feet from us and let the girl slide from his back. He gave her a kiss and pulled her to his side, draping one of his massive arms around her shoulders. She had long black hair pulled up in a messy bun, orangey eyes and wore blue shorts and a green tank top; she was barefoot.

"Hey Bells! Playing my sister's bodyguard again, Edward? Tsk, tsk." Kurt commented jokingly, taking in Edward's protective stance.

"Hi, Kurt! Who's your friend?" I asked, still a bit surprised.

"Oh…" He looked at her and then back at me. "Uh…" Suddenly Edward started laughing; I felt tempted to read Kurt's thoughts but then decided against it, wanting him to tell me instead.

"I'm Juliet!" The girl said excitedly. "It's nice to meet you."

"Juliet… That's a nice name!" Kurt commented.

"You like it? My mom was a huge fan of Shakespeare. My dad didn't like it very much, but he couldn't deny her anything so…"

"Cool! Come on, Juliet; let me be your Romeo!" And they just danced inside the house settling in the living room, all cuddled watching a movie.

"What just happened?" I asked Edward, still dumbfounded.

"Looks like your brother found his mate!"

"What?"

"Yep. From what I've gathered, they just met but neither of them seems very bothered with it. They're together."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, love. I'm surprised too, but for them it's the most natural thing in the world. They met, liked each other, so they got together, all in a matter of a couple of hours, but… I guess they're just that uncomplicated."

*End of flashback*

From that day on they had been inseparable. As it turned out this Juliet was nothing like Shakespeare's, and she was exactly the kind of person I could see with Kurt. They were the most carefree and crazy couple I had ever met, but they were happy. They never fought; it appears that when they didn't agree on something, they simply agreed to disagree and it was it. Nothing ever bothered them much. They just were; their life was as easy as the way they had gotten together – no complications.

David was still single and also the one who still harbored more ill feelings against Edward. However, with time, he had grown used to the fact that Edward was, indeed, with me to stay and had become more tolerant. Apart from Edward, his relationships with the other Cullens were perfect, and he especially enjoyed Carlisle's company, which brought him to Forks more often than not.

The members of my guard, except for Ian, were still with the Volturi. I visited often, but now in Edward's company. Over the years, Henry and I had gone back to being close. The time separated did us good and, even though his attitude towards Edward was still very much like David's, we had mended the broken strings of our friendship and moved on. He still enjoyed teasing Edward, but I guess it was because he loved to hate him.

Finally, everything was going well, and we had been blessed with a peace that I had wished for so long.

"Are you here, love?" Edward asked waving a hand in front of my face and snapping me out of my reverie.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about all the things that have changed in the past five years."

"And between today and tomorrow a couple more are going to change." He mused.

We were currently driving to my house. Our time in Forks was up, and Carlisle had been thinking about where we'd move to when I suggested that we moved in with my brothers and the Jones for a while. The house was certainly big enough, and I missed seeing my brothers every day. We didn't even have to put it up to votes because everybody agreed immediately.

Edward had been curious to see the house where I had spent the eighty years I was away from him, but this car trip was driving him insane.

"If your property is as big as you say, why don't you have a place to land a jet or something?"

"We actually had one, but we decided to destroy it since it kind of ruined the homey feeling we wanted to give the house. It used to be some kind of training facility for the Volturi guard, hence its humongous size. We did a big renovation and turned it into a home, so the landing place had to go." I explained.

"Still… did we have to take this bumpy road?"

"We could have taken a better one, but the trip would be longer. Everybody uses this one, and our cars are just fine so stop whining about it! Sometimes I think you love your car more than you love me!" I pouted.

"I don't! You are the most precious thing in my life, and I guarantee you that I love you more than I have ever loved anything or anyone else."

"Don't spend all your words, or you won't have any more to say tomorrow."

"Worry not, fiancée, I already know exactly what I'm going to say on my vows…"

"If you say so…" I smiled. Ever since Edward and I had settled a date for our wedding, and my brothers had accepted to let us hold it in our house, I had been deliriously happy. It wasn't a big deal for me, I didn't need a piece of paper to know that I belonged to Edward, but it was important to him, and I didn't exactly dislike the idea of being tied to Edward in every possible way.

Edward had saved my wedding dress, and against Alice's wishes and complaints I had decided to use it. Alice, of course, had begged me to let her take care of everything, but Edward made clear that the wedding was going to be exactly like he and I wanted! We decided on an intimate ceremony in the backyard with our families, the Denalis, Jacob and his family, my guard and Aro. All in all, nothing too fancy.

Edward was thrilled with the wedding, and I couldn't fool anyone saying that I wasn't, but as the date got closer, he also got more anxious. I noticed the way he had looked at me the past few days… like he was afraid I'd disappear. I decided it was as good a time as any to talk about it, maybe it would take his mind off the perils his car was going through, I mused.

"Baby, what are you so anxious about?"

"What do you mean?"

"Look, I noticed you've been more nervous than usual. I know this irritability isn't all because of your car, and I've seen the way you look at me… as if I was going to evaporate at any given second. What has got you so worried? Is it the wedding?"

"It's irrational you know… but I just can't help thinking about the last time… You were taken right from under my nose. I just can't help it! What if something happens; what if we just aren't meant to get married?"

"It's not as irrational as you think, but I can assure you that nothing is going to happen, and tomorrow around this time I'll be Mrs. Edward Cullen. Don't forget that I'm not human anymore. No one will stop me from marrying you tomorrow!"

"I know but everything has been so… perfect these past few years. I guess I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"The shoe isn't going to fall anywhere… at least not for now. And I think we're entitled to our share of perfectness after all we went through. But if the shoe does drop, we'll face it together, and that's all I want because I know that if you are by my side, I can handle anything fate throws at me."

"Even Alice?" He joked. Alice had been insufferable with the wedding talk. I thought that a simple intimate ceremony would be easy to prepare, but for Alice a wedding was a wedding, and everything had to be taken care of to the smallest detail.

"Even our dear sister." We entered the property and a couple of minutes later were parking in front of the house. As predicted, Alice was waiting for us, along with Ian and Catherine.

"Finally! I was starting to think you'd never arrive!"

"Well, if I didn't have to stop every ten minutes, so that your brother could assess the car's condition, we'd have gotten here sooner." I complained.

"That road was completely improper to drive in with my Volvo."

"Enough of this… There're still a lot of things to take care of if you want to get married tomorrow!"

"We are getting married tomorrow, Alice. Whether everything's ready or not!" I replied.

"Bella!" Kurt bellowed from the door, running to hug me. "I can't believe you're moving back! I've been on Juliet's last nerves since yesterday."

"Somehow I find that hard to believe… She's the most tolerant person in the world when it comes to you." I commented.

"She is, right? So you can imagine how I've been…" He smiled mischievously.

"Poor Juliet…"

"Come on, people! We have a wedding to prepare! We need to get the flowers, the chairs… there's some tulle to be hung in several places of the garden…" As Alice droned on and on about the final preparations, Edward and I followed her through the house, nodding and making all the appropriate sounds.

I no longer feared forever… the shadows were gone, and all I saw was a brilliant future with Edward and our friends and families by our side. The rain had come to pass, and the clear day stretched in front of us, bright and full of promises.

"Things don't go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up.

They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be."

Charles Jones

THE END

Any thoughts? I'm sorry if I disappointed anyone by not writing the wedding... it seems to be a habit of mine... I'll just have to write one in my next story XD

Leave a REVIEW, a last one! Again, thank you for all the support, love, suggestions and constructive criticism, for sharing your thoughts with me and helping me improve. It was a pleasure to share this story with such dedicated readers as you! HUgs

I'm going to start posting, right away, my new story 'Awakened' so if you're interested check it out!

Extended summary: A new student is moving to Forks and enrolling the city's High School but nobody knows anything about her. Isabella Swan isn't a mythical creature the Cullens have already encountered. She has lost everything she held dear and now roams the earth, hiding from those who destroyed her family and almost annihilated her species. She settles in Forks, hoping to spend some time in the quiet town before having to move again, but she has everything but calm times ahead of her. When she finds the one she supposed to love above everything else, among the species of her enemies, will she stay in town long enough to realize that the Cullens are different? Will she give in to the forces that attract her to Edward Cullen or die, trying to stay away? Bella isn't a vampire or a werewolf or anything you've heard of before. ExB

One last thing, before I let you go! I'm going to participate in Breath-of-twilight's 2011 Holidays Countdown. It's a compilation of one shots written by several authors with a collab story in the end. The one shots are anonymous and the readers are dared to find out who wrote it. It sounds very promising so follow the link www . fanfiction . net/s/7348457/1/ and put it on alert. Let's see if you can identify mine... XD

TO THOSE WHO WILL READ THIS STORY AFTER IT'S COMPLETE: please leave a review. Just because the story is over it doesn't mean that I don't ant to receive reviews for it. So please leave your opinion. Thanks.