As requested I've tied up a few loose ends. Jules x

Epilogue

Edward

I waited for Carlisle but he never came and then a package arrived and inside, along with a note, was a box. A box filled with ashes, Carlisle's ashes. I put the box down with trembling hands and unfolded the note that was inside.

Edward,

I thought you might like Carlisle's ashes as he meant so much to you. I will never forgive what the two of you did to me, making me look a fool, leaving me in ignorance to love you and your mate as a wife and a mother. Perhaps one day you will understand what love and commitment really mean but somehow I doubt it. Now you can taste what pain feels like, loneliness and the ache of losing someone you thought was yours for all eternity. The difference is that when I lost my "mate" I had the added pain of knowing he had someone else, he would be in your arms instead of mine. At least you have the luxury of knowing there will never be anyone to take your place in his heart.

Esme Platt.

I sat looking at the box and the note, the centre of my world ripped away from me and I understood Esmes pain as she knew I would. I could go looking for her and kill her in revenge but it wouldn't make any difference to my pain, it wouldn't bring Carlisle back, nothing could do that, he was gone, my very reason for existing. When he had brought Esme into our family he explained her away as a mother figure for me but I think, at least in the beginning he really felt something for her. I felt him drawing away from me and that hurt. In retaliation I ran away for some time but I couldn't stay away, I couldn't bear to be away from him so I came back and tried so hard to fit into the new family. When Rose appeared I knew he was trying to find a female for me but we had nothing in common, I already knew it was him or no one. Alice and I were more alike but she had that misfit Whitlock with her. Even with him as the odd one in the family I still felt the outsider. Then Bella had walked into my life and suddenly Carlisle became less important, she filled my senses, her blood drew me to her and she loved me. Someone loved me to the exclusion of everyone else, although Jacob Black did try. I won her, wooed her, and married her, but by that time I knew she could never take Carlisle's place in my heart. I carried on because she offered me ultimate power over something, a chance to be a God in at least one persons eyes. But even that dream crumbled to dust, Bella got free and now she was beyond me, protected by Major Whitlock and her own gift. I would speak to the brothers although I doubted it would be news to them and I doubted they would allow me to do anything in revenge. All I had to look forward to was an eternity alone.

Esme

Everyone had been very warm and helpful and Rose and Emmett especially took me under their wing but there had to be more for me than an eternity as a nomad or a widow figure especially as my whole life as a vampire thus far had been built on a lie. I went to Denali for a couple of months but everything reminded me far too much of Carlisle and Edward and I knew if I were to stand any chance of a future I needed a clean break so I moved abroad, to Norway. I loved the architecture and started anew with an interior design business which really took off and with in a year I was employing staff to help with the workload. I had a couple of admirers but I shied away from any human relationships, they were just too daunting but I felt an aching emptiness. I wasn't meant to be alone, there had to be someone out there for me I just needed to be patient and wait for fate to deal me a new hand.

Bella

Jasper and I were finally together and not under any threats now, although we did keep an eye out for Edward even though the Volturi were unlikely to let him leave Volterra, even as a member himself. As it turned out he was even more of a coward than we thought and didn't even ask for permission. I would have liked to fry his ass too but I guess you can't have everything you wish for. Esme kept in touch and I knew she was doing fine with work but she always sounded lonely, that is until we got a letter from her inviting us to meet her mate! We flew out to Norway along with Rose and Emmett to meet this mystery man but it turned out he wasn't a mystery at all, at least not to the others. At first glance he was quite intimidating with his bright red eyes and constant scowl but I was informed it was just Alistair's way. When Jasper told me his history I understood why he was as he was but it seemed he'd finally found someone he could trust not to betray him as his father had.

Esme explained that she had been contacted by Alistair when he heard of Carlisle's treachery towards her and was shocked. He invited her to visit him in England and things had just happened. They were happy together and he agreed to buy a home in England for them, he just couldn't bring himself to move to America. We only stayed a couple of days but he was already becoming agitated, crowds made him nervous and we counted as a crowd in his eyes. Before we left Esme took Jazz aside to talk to him in private but once we were on the plane home he told me what she'd said,

"The Volturi sent a message of condolence to her, shocked to hear of Carlisle's death, and inviting her to visit Volterra. It seems Edward was pining for his family."

"What? He wanted Esme? I always thought he had a screw loose somewhere. What did she say?"

"Go to hell I think, but in the nicest possible way of course. She also told him that if he ever sets foot outside Volterra she will personally hunt him down and burn his sorry ass."

"I guess Alistair is good for her. I can't imagine the old Esme being so forthright"

"Oh I think it was always there, just hidden from Carlisle's eyes. He wouldn't have approved of violent threats, especially towards a member of his family"

"Do you think Edward will call her bluff?"

"Not if he has any sense at all, bearing in mind Alistair is an even better tracker than Demetri so Edward could run but he couldn't hide. I think he's stuck in Volterra now, a good punishment for him, especially as his mate is dead. Remember the pain of that will live with him as long as he continues to exist and the Volturi that are left will use any means to keep their latest talent, They can't afford not to."

Alice

So the story had a happy ending for the good guys and an unhappy one for the bad guys, just as it should be. I hadn't seen everything but enough to ensure Bella had the best possible chance at a happy eternity with her mate. Esme and Alistair made me smile, she was just what he needed a quiet loving mate who asked for no more than a loving and true mate in return. As for me? Well everything worked out the way it should, much as I had loved Jasper he wasn't mine to keep. There would be someone, I could see a misty outline already, I just had to be patient. For now I would keep an eye on Edward but it was purely cautionary and maybe I would contact Rose and Emmett again, after all they were still family.