Chapter Text
Rose felt the deep-seated satisfaction and relaxation in her body, even as she sat up on a tree branch watching her sister, mate and southern brother. She couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her lips as she watched her little sister wrestle with her mountain man of a mate, under the tutelage of their military leader brother. She could never have imagined being able to watch this kind of scene without feeling an intense burning jealousy, but the fact Bella made Emmett so happy brought her nothing but joy. Before she’d changed Bella, it would have been a huge surprise to learn that Bella even wanted to be trained how to fight, but they’d gotten close since Bella’s change and it made perfect sense now. Just like she had never wanted to feel helpless again and had asked Jasper to train her, Bella felt the same and Rose had seen that, so suggested it. Edward hadn’t exactly been happy, but after all they’d learned he wasn’t in any position to do anything but give Bella what she wanted. She let her mind cast back over the past six months.
Rose hadn’t known what to expect when Bella awoke to this life, she had feared a little that Bella would resent her, and she’d been prepared to accept that. Truly, Bella’s awakening had been rough. Rose had stood just outside of her parent’s room, so she didn’t crowd Bella and so she wasn’t a target for any rage her newborn vampire sister might feel. She was reasonably sure Bella had come through the change just fine, but she needed to make sure. The moment Bella’s heart had stopped, and her eyes opened, revealing their new crimson red color, she’d felt relief. That relief had stayed but become tempered with concern when Bella had still been in pain from the broken mating bond. Rose had nearly taken Edward’s head off when he didn’t immediately try and reassure Bella that he did love her and apologize to her.
It had shocked Rose when Bella asked her to take her for a hunt, she had been sure Bella wouldn’t want much to do with her. Jasper and Emmett had joined them, once they checked with Bella that this was okay. Rose had to explain she was happy to take her but going alone just the two of them was playing with fire. They were rather isolated here, but they still ran into the occasional human and Rose was pretty sure Bella did not want to hunt humans. They had all assured her it was much easier to resist the pull of human blood when you didn’t know what you were missing. Bella hadn’t spoken much during the hurt, letting Jasper and Emmett guide her in what she was doing. Emmett wanted Bella’s first hunt to be a bear, but unfortunately bears were in hibernation, so it wasn’t possible. He decided a wolf was acceptable and had sourced her one, after that Bella was a natural and though her prey tore up her clothes, she had not wasted any blood.
Even after Edward finally pulled his head out of his ass and assured Bella of his love and that he was sorry for leaving her, Bella was mistrustful of him, wary, and insisted he had only come back because he felt guilty, certain in her belief that he didn’t love her. Even though it caused her a lot of pain to deny him, she continued to do so, Edward wasn’t giving up though, even when Bella asked for space. No one could understand why, though they tried to respect Bella’s choice. Eventually Rose decided to try and find out why Bella was so insistent on the fact that Edward didn’t love her. When Bella had almost emotionlessly told her what Edward had told her, and how he had left her alone in the woods, she clenched the pillow she’d been holding onto too tightly and it exploded in a shower of feathers. She had been ready to turn her claws onto Edward, but surprisingly Alice beat her to it, flying down the stairs and launching herself at Edward. Emmett eventually had to pull Alice off Edward as Jasper was too angry and trying to stop himself from taking out retribution on his brother.
Carlisle had hit the roof, in all her years with her father, Rose did not think she’d ever seen him look so furious as he had been in that moment. His low quiet growl had frozen all of them, even Alice thrashing in Emmett’s arms had gone completely still as he’d asked them all to leave the house. Rose had no idea what had occurred between Edward and their father, Alice refused to look, and she truly didn’t actually want to know. Carlisle had always seemed the closest to a human, the most in control of his monster, sometimes it was hard to remember he was just as much of a vampire as the rest of them; right then there was no mistaking that their father was every inch a vampire. When they were finally allowed back Edward was extremely subdued but a lot more respectful of Bella’s wishes.
The revelation of what Edward had done to Bella had made everyone a little extra protective of Bella. To her own surprise Rose found herself feeling incredibly protective of her little sister; if it wasn’t for the fact that she knew Bella and Edward were true mates and that the pain her sister was in would never go away until they sorted out their differences, Rose wouldn’t allow Edward anywhere near Bella. As it was, all of them were very close and within easy hearing distance whenever the two did have time together, alone time was out of the question, not even Esme would allow that.
Everyone knew eventually Bella did need to be able to forgive Edward, so they made sure to spend time helping Bella sort through her feelings. They made sure to make it clear they were absolutely on Bella’s side and that they respected her feelings and that, no matter what she chose in the end, they loved her. It very much went against Rose’s instincts, but she facilitated most of Edward’s attempts to prove to Bella he was sorry, and he loved her. Bella had seemed most comfortable with her in the beginning, closely followed by Jasper. It had been confusing until Bella explained that Rose and Jasper had never lied to her, never claimed to love her and then abandon her.
It brought home to all of them that, although it had been Edward’s decision to leave, they’d all been dismissive of Bella’s thoughts and feelings as she was human. It made them all put a little extra effort into proving to Bella that she belonged with them. Perhaps that was why they had bonded so much more closely, or maybe it was just Bella, Rose personally thought it was a mix of both. Edward’s choice had left deep changing marks on all of them, it was impossible to imagine what would have been if it hadn’t happened. Rose knew she herself would have struggled a lot more to ever be able to accept Bella into her family and she highly doubted they would have the closeness they had now. Either way, it appeared Alice had been absolutely correct in saying that Bella was their missing piece, not just Edward’s.
Part of the needed healing, for all of them, was Bella’s explanation of that month. She hadn’t been eager to share what she had gone through, but with their support she’d been able to tell them; though only after Rose had told her holding onto that and keeping it to herself would make her bitter and resentful. Reluctantly, Bella had explained what she’d gone through that month, the pain she’d felt from the hole where her heart should have been. She’d known logically there was no physical hole, but she still felt very much like there should have been one. She confirmed for them that she physically couldn’t eat, food had turned to ash in her mouth and even when she forced herself to eat something – for Charlie’s sake – she’d ended up vomiting it back up. Even in sleep there had been no escape from the pain, as even when she was able to actually get to sleep, she was plagued with nightmares that would only end when she woke up screaming. Nightmares of searching desperately for something, though in her dreams she didn’t know what, but never finding it, just being surrounded by darkness and never-ending nothingness. She told them how she knew her mind was breaking, she knew logically when she saw Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Emmett, and Jasper that they were hallucinations, mental wish fulfilment so she could say goodbye, though it took a while for her to understand this. As she got physically weaker from lack of nutrition, she knew she was dying, that she was going to die, and she didn’t care, she wanted it. Death meant the pain would end and if she’d been able to feel anything but pain, she might have even tried to end it herself. She lived partly for her hallucinations, desperate to see them all, but wishing for just a little longer with them.
It was extremely painful hearing Bella talk about this, but they had needed to hear it, Edward especially. It allowed them to rebuild their family on better, stronger foundations. Carlisle took a firmer role as their father, finally accepting that though they were all practically adults they did need guidance; he’d already been the perfect father figure, but now he took a more active role. Esme was already the doting mother, but she came into her own more as Carlisle’s second, their coven leader’s mate. Jasper, Emmett, and Edward bonded as brothers, they had been closer than Rose and Alice, but now that Edward was less broody and serious, he was able to join in their fun. Rose, Alice, and Bella had become almost unimaginably close. Rose would have never had believed anyone if they’d told her she’d have been this close to her sisters eight months ago; then again, she wouldn’t have believed anyone telling her she’d see Bella as a sister.
Edward did slowly regain Bella’s trust. In Rose’s opinion Bella forgave him far too soon, but she had to admit to herself that it truly didn’t matter when Bella forgave him, it would always be too soon in her mind. Bella was not nearly as vengeful as she was, much more forgiving, even becoming a vampire hadn’t taken that away from her. Still, Rose had made sure that Edward knew very well that Rose would not allow him to ever hurt her little sister again, and she knew Alice, Emmett, and Jasper had similar conversations with their brother. Rose wasn’t sure if Bella knew about these warnings, but if she did, she said nothing.
Edward had to work hard to regain the trust of the rest of them. Esme was naturally the first to forgive him, though Rose had overheard Esme giving Edward the kind of dressing down only a disappointed mother could give. Emmett, who normally didn’t know how to hold a grudge, was actually the one who held out almost as long as Rose herself did, she knew it was because of how much Emmett cared for Bella. Emmett would not allow anyone or anything to hurt his little sister again if he could help it.
Rose knew Jasper had still felt extremely guilty, blaming himself for Edward’s decision and Bella’s pain from that. She had been trying to work out how to broach the subject with Bella, hoping to get her to at least talk to Jasper and try to forgive him. She wasn’t sure if she would be successful, Bella had yet to feel the temptation of human blood, so she couldn’t even begin to imagine how Jasper felt. It turned out Rose hadn’t needed to worry; Bella had picked up on Jasper’s guilt herself and had talked to him. Rose didn’t think Bella had known she was there, but she had been extremely impressed with her little sister. Bella hadn’t let Jasper hold onto any misplaced guilt and had truly put him in his place, even pointing out something none of them had considered before. Thirst was a feeling, so it made sense that Jasper struggled more with their diet; especially as they forced themselves to go as long as they could without feeding and spent a lot of time in close contact with hormonal teenagers whilst feeling thirsty. Jasper almost constantly took on the thirst of six additional vampires including his own, anyone taking on that amount of thirst would slip more often. Though of course she had at first tried to apologize for bleeding, which still made Rose chuckle, so typically Bella to apologize for something like that.
Being the main one Bella had wanted to hunt with had been uncomfortable at first, but as their bond grew Rose found she was comfortable hunting with Bella and Alice. Now she was happy to go on hunting trips with her sisters and mother, even found them quite fun. The female bonding time was almost as good as their shopping trips, she wasn’t sure Bella would care too much for their shopping trips, but she knew she’d join them anyway, once she was allowed to be around humans.
They had lots of plans for when Bella was finally safe to be around humans, things to do, places to take Bella and family friends to meet. So far, the only friends Bella had met were the Denalis, it had been a little bit of a tense meeting. Tanya had previously been rather focused on Edward, specifically on pursuing Edward. Bella hadn’t forgiven Edward at that point, but her vampire instincts would still recognize him as her mate. If Tanya triggered the protective instincts they felt for their mates, newborn Bella wouldn’t be able to control herself and could attack. The worry had been for naught though, they’d all been completely welcoming and full of congratulations for Bella and Edward finding each other. In a private moment Tanya had confessed it was the challenge of rejection that had caused her to pursue Edward, she had no deep feelings for him, and she was simply happy he had found his other half. The surprise came from Eleazar, according to him Bella was an extremely powerful shield, which was why Edward couldn’t read her. Eleazar himself couldn’t really get a read on Bella and amusingly that was how he knew what she was.
Working with Bella’s shield led them to spend a lot of time with the Denalis, as she could block Kate’s gift, until Bella realized there was a thicker layer to her shield – as she described it. With this thicker layer she was able to block Jasper and Alice and completely block Eleazar so he could feel nothing from her. Now no one needed to feel pain for Bella to work on her shield, she could work on blocking Jasper from sending people emotions. It was easier for her to block Edward and Kate, the thicker layer of her shield was harder to manipulate, but she wanted complete control of her gift. Jasper and Bella spent a lot of time together, helping her learn everything she could about her shields. Now she could even lift it off herself to allow Edward to read her mind, though that was even harder than manipulating the thicker layer; according to Bella it felt completely wrong to separate the shield from herself. Jasper and Eleazar speculated that part of it was the lack of a shield left Bella feeling vulnerable and as a newborn her instincts would not like feeling vulnerable; they believed it would get easier for her with age.
Whilst Jasper focused on teaching Bella how to protect herself and assist in protecting their family, Emmett had taken it upon himself to teach Bella ‘how to be a vampire’ to put it in his words. Bella was a natural at being a vampire, like she was always supposed to be one, but it was clear she loved the vampire lessons too much to even think about putting a stop to them. It made Rose even more grateful to her little sister for indulging her mate in this, Emmett treasured the time she would spend with him, and Rose always found herself drawn to it. She didn’t have Jasper’s ability to feel emotions, but she didn’t need it to see just how much joy they both found in each other. Jasper was often close by as well, drawn like a magnet to the sheer happiness and innocent joy the two of them felt playing together. He shared the feelings with Rose once and she’d flown to her sister and hugged her for all she was worth. She’d been full of thanks for Bella, but Bella had surprised her by thanking her for changing her, for saving her life.
Bella’s delighted and only slightly gloating cheering as she won this latest mock fight brought Rose out of her reverie. Bella was good at this, Emmett was no slouch as a fighter, but Rose knew he’d never go full out against Bella, against his little sister. She stifled a laugh as the mock fight training session dissolved into a wild wrestling match. That was how the actual training had started, Bella and Emmett had dissolved into wrestling matches over almost anything. It had started off as arm wrestling, where Bella’s newborn strength allowed her to beat Emmett soundly. Once Emmett had finally admitted he wouldn’t ever be able to beat Bella at arm wrestling until her newborn strength faded, he demanded all out wrestling. After more than a few broken pieces of furniture and one Emmett and Bella shaped hole in the wall, Esme had put her foot down and banned any wrestling inside. It was during one of their outside wrestling matches that Rose had noticed the intense concentration on Bella’s face and had wondered if there was more than just determination to win going on. She approached Bella and had questioned her and Bella confessed to her the utter helplessness she’d felt when Edward left her, how defenseless and helpless his abandonment left her. Bella explained how desperately she never ever wanted to feel that kind of weakness again and Rose had instantly suggested she ask Jasper to help her, recalling her own determination not to be a victim again.
They all spent more time together now, which Rose was happy with. Previously she had kept herself on the outside of her family, absorbed as she was by hating what she was, rejecting any reminders of how she wasn’t human, and that included her family. Now she knew she was a vital member of her family and was attached to each of them for herself. Even when doing their own things, they preferred to be in one another’s company. They still fought on occasion, they were six teenaged vampires all with strong personalities, it would be weird if they didn’t have disagreements, but they were small arguments. They were even engaging in a family prank war, no one was safe. Emmett and Jasper had occasionally played these games, especially when Peter and Charlotte came to visit, but Rose had never even considered joining her mate in the childish antics. Now she was having fun playing along and planning amusing pranks against her mate, brothers, sisters, and even her parents. Carlisle and Esme had joined the prank war and all of them were rather in awe of how diabolical Esme could be.
The wrestling match looked to be drawing to a close. “My bet’s on Emmett,” Rose told Alice and Edward.
Edward smiled from his place leaning against the tree, though he couldn’t bring himself to size Bella up as an opponent, even for the purposes of teaching her how to fight, he didn’t like to be far from her. “I’ll call you, Bella can take him,” he grinned.
Alice didn’t even look up from her spot on the branch below Rose, her hand still moving swiftly over the page of her sketchbook as she worked on Rose’s next wedding dress. “Stakes?” She asked.
“Winner helps the loser plan the next prank against their mate?” Rose suggested. They didn’t bet money on things, there was no point. They had more money than they could ever spend, so they made up the stakes, often it was acts of humiliation or favors that could be called at any point.
“Deal,” Edward agreed.
“Bella wins, she’ll get the pin,” Alice declared, pausing for only a second to see the outcome.
Rose sighed and jumped down from the tree, she wanted to claim her mate for some private time. She was leaving for another girl’s hunting trip soon and wanted to engage in Emmett’s favorite pastime before they left.
Edward had been thinking along similar lines to his sister and looked at her. “I need to thank you, again, for saving my Bella for me. I know you didn’t do it for me, but I’ll be forever grateful to you.”
Rose looked at Edward understanding his seriousness, then at Jasper, carefully watching the wrestling pair, her eyes flicking to Alice, still sketching the wedding dress, her gaze landing next on Esme and Carlisle, watching on fondly, before finally falling on Emmett and Bella, as Bella pinned Emmett just as Alice had said she would. She turned her attention back to Edward looking at him seriously. “I will always do anything for family.”