A/N: Hi everyone! Once upon a time, I was writing the first version of this fic, then I didn't like it anymore and I started re-writing it. Then life happened, and I stopped. Now, I find myself with a lot of time of my hands, and I thought... why not? So here we are again. I didn't submit it as a completely new story, but I deleted the old chapters, so that if some of the old readers (yuhuu! you still there?) that had this story on alert would like to read it, they'll get notified.
My usual disclaimers: first, I own only the original characters, nothing more; second, I'm not an English native speaker, feel free to point out any mistake.
Enjoy!

1 – Before I'm dead

Epochs fly, reminds me

What I hide, reminds me

The desert skied

Cracks the spies

Reminds me what I never tried

The ocean, wide, salted, red

Reminds me what to do before I'm…

To see you

To touch you

To feel you

To tell you…

(Kidney Thieves – Before I'm dead)

Rain seemed to be a constant in the not-so-delightful city of Forks. And she should have known that. Given all the e-mails the kids had sent her about it, something should have gotten into that head of hers. But she had forgotten (not an easy task, for her, to forget something) of the little climatic detail of the Cullens' last known address, as usual. She had vaguely registered all the times they had changed their address, in the last ten years, without really paying attention: it would have been useless. She wasn't going to pay a visit. She wouldn't have had the time to do that. Wouldn't have had the stomach to see them again.

To see Edward, again.

But, now, she had to make time. She really needed to make time for a visit.

She wrapped her old dark cloak around her shoulders, while she ran through the forest, heading toward the last address Carlisle had given her, with a detailed list of directions. And, sure enough, here it was. She started to slow down when she was close enough. Close enough to be stopped by a kid smelling like a wet dog.

Oh, Christ, please tell me they didn't get some guard dog!, she thought, stopping a few feet from him.

"Who are you?", the kid almost growled, trying to look threatening. She sighed.

"Could you please be so kind as to call one of the Cullens, boy?" she asked, without answering his question.

"I asked you who are you!" he insisted, without moving an inch, still trying to look as threatening as possible and starting to tremble.

"Look, kid, I said please, and it's not something I usually do…"

"Are you one of them?" he growled.

"One of… who?" she asked, astonished by the fact that, in the meantime, no one had come to see what the hell was happening. She could smell almost all of them, inside, and some one new and… was that a heartbeat?

"Thos damned Italian voltures!" he spat.

Italian voltures? Ah, yes… she thought, lowering her hood, while the rain started to let down a bit.

"Kid, I think that there's a misunderstanding, here…"

"Relax, Jacob. She's one of us". Finally, someone came out. Emmett started to get closer to them

"But… she looks like them!" Jacob protested. He didn't look like he wanted to calm down, probably still think that she had been sent by the three old fools.

"That's because I am one of the Guards, kid", she answered, patronizingly, without moving. Jacob turned to face her, than looked at Emmett again. The look on his face was screaming 'See? I was right!'

Emmett chuckled. "Calm down, wolf-boy. I told you, she's one of us." Then, he looked at here. "You could have come in plain clothes, Laguna".

"Pft! Details", Laguna said, shrugging.

"Wait, wait, wait! Are you saying that… she is… her?" Jacob asked, eyes wide with shock. In the last few days, after a mysterious vision Alice had – or, at least, mysterious for them, but perfectly clear for the midget and Edward – she was the only topic of discussion in the house. Jacob, Bella and Renesmee seemed to be the only ones that knew nothing about her, while each and every one of the Cullens had a series of stories or anecdotes to tell about her. Some where hilarious, some seemed to come from a horror movie. What Jacob seemed to had got about her was that Laguna was older than Carlisle – and that was a lot – and that she had not just one extra ability, but two. If they had been in a role play, she would have been a Power Player. It was a shame that no one had thought to mention that old Auntie Lagu, like Emmett called her, was part of the Guard and that, no matter how much Emmett vouched for her in that moment, Jacob thought she smelled like trouble.

"Kid, according to logic, I am me, Emmett is Emmett, and you are you. And the Pope lives in Rome, except for a short period in Avignon, but that's not relevant. I don't know what stupid things you have been told about me. If you don't mind, I would like to get out of the rain", she replied, annoyed, moving towards the house, getting past Jacob and Emmett. "If you want me here, obviously", she added, turning towards them.

"Magdalena Eva Elizabeth Blake, who puts these foolish notions in your head? Of course we want you here!" hearing Esme's voice, Laguna turned again towards the house, to see Alice, Rosalie and Jasper, standing behind Esme. She was staring at her, hands on her hips, and the look of someone that is planning to scold and maybe even spank a naughty child.

"If you unleash your dog at me, Es, I don't know what to think", she said, closing the distance between them and getting hit on the head by Esme. "Ouch! Ehi, woman, you could get in trouble for that, you know? It's assault, and I'm an Official!", she laughed, dodging a second blow.

"So you're an Official, when it suits you?" Esme went on, trying to hit her again, fighting laughter.

"If I have to defend myself from you, Cristo sì!", replied Laguna, trying to defend herself from Esme, only to be hit by Alice, behind her, laughing. "Two against one is not fair!"

"You. Are. Mean", Alice scolded her, every word underlined by her finger hitting Laguna in the chest. She had stopped laughing and was looking at her frowning. Laguna sighed.

"Why am I mean, this time? And I have a few ideas…" Laguna asked, even if she knew that, probably, Alice blamed her for the long years of silence.

"I personally sent you an invitation for Edward's wedding, and you didn't come!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms on her chest.

"Wait, wait, wait! Slow down, Alice! I didn't get any invitation". Laguna shook her head, thinking about the mail she had got in the last months – or even years. No wedding invitation. "You know I would have gotten him a blender with a big, pink bow on it", she joked. Emmett laughed, Jasper grinned and Rosalie snickered at the idea. Alice's mood seemed to improve. "Where have you sent it? Maybe I wasn't at that address…"

"I sent it to all your addresses. Volterra included. Now that I think about it, Cory and Derek must have missed theirs too, given that I didn't hear from them about it…" Alice said, thoughtful. What is that possible that the mail in Europe was so terrible?

Laguna sighed. "If you sent it to the Volterra address, too, no one told me I had mail. Evidently, my sister's got lost too". She shook her head. "As soon as I get back there, I need to have a chat with Mario…"

"Who's Mario, now? Please, tell me he's your love! I can picture him: he's a plumber, and has a moustache!" Emmett said. Again, everyone laughed.

"Yes, and maybe he has a brother named Luigi and is obsessed with mushrooms", Laguna retorted. "No, Mario is one of the staff. He takes care of the mail, you know, bills, speeding tickets, wedding invitations… things like that. Oh, and Derek takes advantage of him for the laundry", she added, thinking about how many times her brother in law had terrified the poor man. Unfortunately, Mario didn't know that Derek was innocuous.

"And you have ignored my e-mails, texts, phone calls…" Alice continued.

"I wasn't home, Alice. Maybe I didn't have time to check…"

"For ten years?" she interrupted her.

Laguna sighed. "Can we please talk about it some other time?"

"After I had checked your bags. And I sincerely hope you have thrown out those horrible t-shirts you bought at some Metallica concert, and that horrendous Megadeth one, the one with newborns hanging from the clothesline…" Alice looked over Laguna, looking behind her for bags, trunks, even a backpack. "Ehm, Lagu? Where are your bags? Because you have bags, right?"

"Of course. Back at the hotel", she replied, shrugging.

In the meantime, Jacob, that had silently been watching, reached the house. He still wasn't so sure about her. That dark cloak meant trouble. He still looked at her frowning, tense, fearing an attack. How could everybody else be so happy and smiling, after what had happened only a few months back? And Alice had invited her to the wedding, sending invitations to different addresses, to make sure that she would be there! Those Cullens were crazy.

"What does it mean at the hotel?" asked Rosalie, eyes wide.

"Rose, honey, I never thought you would fit the stereotype of the stupid blond, why start now? I booked a room, in Port Angeles", Laguna replied. "I left my bags there, given that I'm staying only a week".

"But why?" Emmett protested. "Only a week? You have been away for ten years, and now you're staying only a week?"

"Em, it's the hard life that comes with my job", Laguna replied. "You don't really have time to stay with your family, you can be called any time. And I can't say no, given that those three pay my bills".

"You're saying that they pay you?" Jacob asked, surprised. "To do what?" he looked at her from head to toe, noting height and weight: could it be that tiny thing, just a little taller that Alice and not much bigger, really had done all the thing he had been told about?

"Well, that depends. Thievery, killings, executions, torture. Or simple warnings. But I'm usually sent to clean up messes, eliminate threats, like hot heads that build armies or communities that can be a menace. Whatever they need", she said, shrugging.

"Ok, now stop talking and we go get your bags!" Alice interrupted, pushing Laguna.

"Ehi! I booked that room for the entire week!"

"And you cancel! Really, why book a room?" Alice insisted. "We'll be back soon!" she added to the others.

"Do you really need to ask?" Laguna asked, glaring at Alice, while she pushed her in the Porsche. "Really, Alice. Do you really believe that I could… I don't know, make myself at home?" she added, while Alice started the car.

They had remained silent for a few minutes, while the scenery flew by their windows.

"It's not true that you didn't check your mail, electronic or traditional. Am I wrong?" Alice broke the silence. Laguna didn't answer. "I know you read all my e-mails. And Emmett's. I'm sure you deleted those that Edward sent you without even reading them. But you have read Carlisle's, or else you wouldn't have found us, right?"

"I could have had Mario or one of the staff find the address for me. After all, your furry friend… don't look at me like that, do you think I wouldn't have recognized a shape-shifter from the wet dog smell?" she asked, answering Alice's look of surprise. "I was saying, your furry friend, that kid, had me understand that the Wonder Trio has moved their wrinkly asses from Volterra and came to the New World. What made them come here? To you?" she asked. "And why I didn't know anything about it?" she added, more to herself than to Alice.

"You don't even know that we came to Volterra, do you?"

Laguna jumped on her seat. "How, where, when and, most of all, what the hell were you doing in Volterra?"

Alice shook her head. "No one told you? Really?"

"No! Alice, may I?" she asked. Alice nodded. Laguna closed her eyes, focusing on Alice's mind. Sometimes, she hated her power. She hated being able to get into people's mind and see their memories. And she hated not being able to forget hers. She sighed, looking at Alice's memories. Throughout the years, she had practiced enough to being able to rapidly get to what she was looking for, especially if she had some reference points. Even better if the person she was 'peeking into' was conscious of what she was doing and helped her. And Alice was being very helpful.

"Your brother is an idiot", was all she said. "But I understand why I wasn't told anything of his suicidal tendencies. They were afraid I could satisfy his wish".

"You sure?" Alice smiled. "And… did you see the rest? Their visit?" she asked.

"Yes", Laguna sighed. "And, again, it's weird I knew nothing about it. It was a tip on an Immortal Child. They usually send an executioner, nine times out of ten they send me, Alice", she explained. "Maybe they wanted to spare me the suffering of having to kill my family, or they were afraid that I could have sided with you… I don't know", she sighed again. "And, honestly, I don't want to know".

Alice laughed, and was serious again in less than a second. "If you had gotten the invitation, would you have come to the wedding?"

Laguna remained silent, watching out the window. Would she have gone? Could she have been there, for Edward?

"No", she said, closing her eyes. "I wouldn't have, Alice. Maybe I would have sent some horrible gift, I don't know, some anthropomorphic lamp or some bed sheet with a print of sad kangaroos, but I wouldn't have come".

Alice sighed. "I thought so. Can I ask you why?" she asked, parking outside the hotel.

"You can ask. But I don't know the answer", Laguna replied, getting out of the car.

"How can you not know the answer?" Alice insisted, while Laguna got to the desk, informing the clerk of her change of plans.

"I don't know, Alice", she whispered.

After having taken care of her reservation, with Alice's help under the form of some green papers with the face of some president on them, that Laguna pretended not to see, they reached Laguna's room, to get the bags that Alice was dying to inspect.

"You ran to us", Alice said, sitting on the bed and opening one of the bags. "And you brought that horrible t-shirt!" she added, taking the Megadeth t-shirt out of the bag. Laguna smiled.

"Alice, do you really want to check my bags? I thought that was an excuse".

"It is", she said, still rummaging through the bag.

"For what? We have already established that I would not have come to your brother's wedding. And I don't have an answer as to why".

"It wasn't only that. Bella knows." The small vampire was still examining Laguna's bag, frowning at every t-shirt.

"Bella…? Your brother's wife knows? Knows what, Alice? Your statement is ambiguous. As far as I know, Bella could know the secret ingredient to Granma's apple pie…" Laguna pretended to joke, knowing all too well what Alice was talking about.

"You know what I'm talking about". Alice closed the bag, not happy with what she found.

"And now you know why I booked a room. How do you think it would be possible for us to be in the same house without incident?"

"Pfft! Relax, Bella is not like that!" Alice waved her worries. "She's a lover, not a fighter".

"She could be, but…"

"Don't worry your pretty little head".

"She could break, my pretty little head, Alice. It hasn't been a year since she changed. Technically, she is still strong enough to catch me by surprise".

Alice raised an eyebrow. "You? An Official and instructor?"

This time, Laguna smiled. "Alice, you defeated an army, a few months ago. And a lot of them were mine, so…" she said. "Are you sure it's not a problem…?"

"Relax! Now, we pack your beautiful Aston Martin and we go back home".

A/N, again: from time to time, Laguna would say something in Italian. Don't worry, I'll always add the translation at the end.

Cristo, sì = Christ, yes