AN ~ And here we are...the end of the line. A fic I started writing I don't know when. My first serious fanfic. Easily my most epic. Naw I'm gonna cry now. I'm afraid that, for now at least, this concludes my writings on Twilight. I hope you have enjoyed this one and I welcome requests for Doctor Who, Supernatural, Sherlock, Marvel, Disney, I mean try me, I'll have a go, because I love all you guys and your readership has meant a lot to me. Thanks so much. Enjoy.

Epilogue – Six Months Later

Esme:

Carlisle was bent over his desk as I entered his study. The shelves were slowly being emptied as we prepared to leave Forks. The only things that remained now were a few religious volumes, an eclectic collection of small paintings and that big, old wooden cross. And whatever it was that my husband was so enthusiastically working on.

I sidled up to him and leaned over his shoulder, and saw that he was scraping away at a lump of metal with what looked like some kind of tooth pick, or perhaps a very small scalpel. He was carving our crest into it. I smiled.

"I wanted to give it to Bella before we left," he explained, answering my silent question as he deftly outlined the hand of justice. "It just seems right that she should get it while we're still here, where she joined the family. I've been thinking about it for a while - what exactly she would prefer - but time has snuck up on me."

Alice's delicate ribbon choker; Rose's flashy pendant; my small, dainty bracelet - where the crest was drawn in tiny little bubbles in glass - were thoughtfully designed to suit our stylistic preferences. Bella's style remained an enigma for all of us. One that would quite possibly never be solved. Nevertheless, that left us with the problem of trying to decide which form we - Carlisle and I, as the coven leaders - were to provide her with an official, material symbol of belonging.

I looked at the options before me: Carlisle had laid out several ring bases, bracelets and necklaces of different sizes, styles and metals.

"The crest is silver," he informed me, holding it up by his ear, already knowing I was critiquing the situation. Suddenly, it came to me. Not wanting to lose the vision, I batted Carlisle aside and set about adapting the basic jewellery to suit my design. I removed a plate of gold from one of the rings and carefully melded the crest to it, creating a thin golden frame around the outside. With the addition of a clasp at the top, I examined my craftsmanship.

"Do you think we'd be allowed on her bracelet?" I asked, glancing at Carlisle who was watching with a benign, amused expression. At my comment, he squeezed his eyes shut.

"Of course! I didn't think of that." He chuckled and searched through a nearby stack for the perfect box. "Best give her a chain, just in case." He picked up a golden necklace chain with small links and clipped our pendant to the centre before slipping it into the box.

The doorbell rang at that instant, and I heard the gurgling laughter of my beloved granddaughter as she stumbled across the floor and up the stairs to her grandpa's study, insisting all the while in a sophisticated voice that she didn't need help. I crept over to the door and opened it when our little cherub gave a push - she wasn't quite high enough to reach the handle yet, being almost one year old with the height of a three year old. She caught me flitting back to Carlisle's side and frowned. I smiled innocently, pretending I hadn't been anywhere near the door. Nessie was a very independent little girl. With parents like Bella and Edward, it wasn't really a surprise. Eyes still adorably suspicious, Nessie grinned and skipped up to Carlisle and I.

"Come on, old man," she encouraged, prodding Carlisle's knee with a tiny finger. In the other hand, she grasped one of my fingers: she didn't need any more of a grip to know I'd answer to her every whim. Carlisle, meanwhile, was making a show of struggling to get out of his chair: he found it highly amusing to act out the nickname Jacob Black had so kindly graced him with - and, it seemed, his granddaughter felt the desire to carry on. Nessie pouted - an expression stolen straight from Alice's face - and moaned.

"Come on, Grandpa."

Carlisle laughed and his youth returned: he leapt to his feet and swung Nessie off hers in one smooth movement. She shrieked with laughter as he swung her up onto his shoulders, pecked me on the cheek, and took off downstairs.

I gathered up the last of Carlisle's things and dropped them into a box, which I brought downstairs with me on one hip. I was on my way out to the car - no, cars - no, fleet - waiting outside when Carlisle pulled the box from my grasp and, dumping it on the corner of the table, hauled me into the living room.

"Will you do the honours?" he invited, passing over the small, green, velvet-covered box that held Bella's pendant. The others all looked on in confusion. Well, except Edward, of course, who grinned knowingly to himself as he so often did. Even I was a little flustered at Carlisle's offer: I had always considered the family crest our gift to give, but he had always been the one to bestow it.

Nevertheless, I took the box from Carlisle's hand and turned to the rest of the family. Realisation dawned, most obvious on Bella's face, as I cleared my throat and began to formulate a speech. I'd never been one for great speeches - I always got nervous and seized up - but words came easily this time.

"Bella." I couldn't help infusing my voice with the smile that I felt while keeping my expression straight. This was a serious proposition. "Isabella Marie Swan Cullen...I met you a shy, insecure, clumsy but beautiful and caring young woman. You brought a spark to Edward's eye that not even his beloved piano ever could." I winked at my son, whose smile widened, before continuing.

"But it was not just his life you changed. I don't think you realise what you've done for the rest of us, especially Carlisle and I." Bella smiled awkwardly from her seat between Alice and Nessie on the couch, and I knew she felt our connection through that intrinsic family bond. We had never shared a moment of such intimacy, such powerful silent interaction. I fingered the box I was holding, reminding myself to go on.

"The first time Carlisle mentioned the smart, perceptive, suffer-in-silence girl Edward saved from a van, I knew you'd be special. I was right. Over the short time we've known you, your powerful devotion to our son, to our family, has astounded both of us. In fact, you became one of us when you first stepped through our door, again when Edward was granted your hand, and again when his venom transformed you. You are still our Bella, just a little less fragile." I smiled for a moment at the running family joke, but my straight face returned as I opened the box and passed it to her.

"You may have noticed that all of us wear this. The Cullen crest. It is a material symbol of the ties that bind us. We feel that those ties have enveloped you too, so we would like to offer you the crest. Do you accept?"

Bella, who had been staring in awe at the contents of the tiny box, looked past it at me. For a few seconds, there was no response. I inclined my head and smiled shyly. Suddenly, Bella's face lit up with joy.

"Are you thirsty, Esme?" she asked, smiling widely. "Of course I accept!" She sprung out of her seat and - as Carlisle stepped discreetly aside - threw her arms around my neck.

"One thing," she amended, stepping back. "This is where you belong." She unclipped the pendant from the necklace and fastened it to her ever-present charm bracelet, symbolising her loves: a wolf for Jacob, a crystal heart for Edward and recently, an amber butterfly for Nessie. And now, us.