Chapter Six
Return and Voyage
Grace Cullen-Swan

I reached the cliff line and searched for Bella along the coast, hoping I had gotten there before her jump. I couldn't find her anywhere along the shore, and so in my desperation I dove into the water after her. Without the need for air, I quickly swam the entire length of the enclave, diving deep and searching every possible square inch of water for her. I became more and more panicked the longer I went without a trace of her ever being in the water.

Finally, I caught the scent of her blood against some rock and frantically pushed myself deeper towards the bottom in a pleading attempt to find her in time.

She was nowhere to be found.

Defeated, I sloshed my way back onto the shore, and while a numb feeling settled into my bones, I hacked up water from my lungs as I questioned what to do next.

I could break down and scream and cry and mourn my sweet daughter like I so intensely wanted to, but that would solve nothing at the moment. I could go back to the Clearwater's, but I couldn't face Charlie not having found Bella in time. Or, I could run home and think clearer in a safe place.

The shapeshifters suddenly let out a long howl, breaking me out of my panicked thoughts, the piercing sound gave me the feeling I was about to be hunted down for my defensive actions against them. So, without really thinking, I started running towards home.

I thought Alice might be there already, so I could hopefully reconvene with her and get some idea where Bella had ended up. I might be able to convince the pack to let me go retrieve her body for the sake of Charlie, but the thought alone threatened to send me spiraling out of control.

My sweet daughter couldn't be dead, I refused to believe she would do such a thing. This had to be some horrible horrific nightmare.

As soon as I approached the house, I spotted Carlisle's car in the driveway, and my dead heart sunk deep into my ribcage. I climbed up the steps to the door, still dripping large drops of seawater as I entered the house, preparing myself to find Alice and possibly other members of the Cullen family there ready to ask me questions.

Instead, I found Bella, perfectly alive and happily talking with Alice as they sat on the couch in the living room.

"Bella!" I cried out in absolute relief, sinking to the floor on to my knees as I thanked God, sobbing from joy.

"Mom?!" She gasped, getting on the floor in front of me. "What's wrong?" She worried over me.

"How could you try to kill yourself?!" I growled angrily at her as I wrapped her into a tight hug, tears streaming down my face from my gift overwhelming me. "Did you not think about your parents that love you more than anything? You would've killed us along with yourself." I scolded her, all while hugging her lovingly.

"I misread the situation!" Alice blurted out, but I refused to look at her and continued to smother Bella. "I saw her jump off of the cliff and disappear, so I assumed she was dead. Apparently, Bella thinks diving off of cliffs is recreational fun." She pouted per usual.

"I hit my head on a rock and Jacob pulled me out of the water." Bella told me. "I was an idiot for not listening to him and going without him. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm so sorry, mom." She apologized, crying with me a little bit.

"I'm just so glad you're okay." I sighed, relief still flooding through me as I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her forehead. "Your father couldn't survive burying two people he adores in the same week." I sighed.

"Two?" Bella questioned me as we climbed to our feet.

"Harry Clearwater passed away today." I told her. "He went with us to go hunt down the wolves and dropped to his knees from a heart attack on the way back."

"Dad must be so upset." She sighed deeply. "Is he okay? Where is he and-"

"They're fine." I cut her off, not wanting Alice to know anything about Elizabeth if she didn't already. "He'll be okay, he and Billy seem to have mended things so I think he'll get through this." I nodded, my heart hurting for my sweet husband.

"Okay, if you're sure." Bella nodded. "Alice thinks she's figured out why she can't see me. Apparently, Jacob and the rest of the guys at the reservation are werewolves." She explained, as if I didn't know.

"I know." I frowned at her in apology. "And the technical term is shapeshifters."

"You knew?!" She gasped.

"So does your dad." I nodded and she cried out in frustration. "They told your dad about me being a vampire before they ruined our first official date, so yeah, he's known for awhile." I huffed.

"You two decided to not tell me that my best friend is a freaking werewolf?!" Bella cried out.

"Shapeshifter." I corrected her. "We didn't want to worry you unnecessarily." I tried to calm her down. "I didn't know Jacob had phased already, I thought it was just the five other boys. Regardless, even if I had known, I wouldn't have told you with the state you've been in. I'm sorry, but it was the right thing to do." I sighed.

"The right thing to do?" She laughed at me.

"How could I tell you that your best friend is a shapeshifter after you had just lost your vampire boyfriend? It might've sent you spiraling all over again, Bella." I pleaded with her to understand my actions. "I will never hurt you like that." I swore to her.

"I know." She nodded, calming down. "I'm sorry." She apologized, stepping forward to give me a quick hug. "You're really wet. What happened?"

"After Alice called me and I couldn't find you on the shoreline, I dove in after you." I explained. "I was obviously unsuccessful." I smiled wryly.

"Why don't you go change? Then we can sit and catch up?" Alice pleaded, but I still refused to look her in the eyes.

"Sure." I nodded, speaking in a short tone purposely with her, before climbing the stairs to the bathroom.

In the brief ten minuets I had showered and changed clothes, chaos somehow managed to show up in my absence.

The moment I opened the bathroom door, I heard Bella screaming at someone in the kitchen, and so I quickly rushed downstairs.

"What is going on in here?" I asked, quieting down the room. Jacob stood at the landline while Bella looked like she was ready to punch Jacob at any moment. Alice was nowhere to be seen. "Speak, someone." I ordered.

"Bella! It's Edward! He thinks you're dead. Rosalie told him why I came here!" Alice cried out, rushing into the kitchen from the backdoor, still looking dazed from her vision.

"Why would you-Why wouldn't you let me speak to him!" Bella screamed at Jacob, launching herself towards him, and I quickly caught her in a hold to keep her from getting herself hurt.

"He didn't ask for you!" Jacob yelled back at her.

"Do not speak to my daughter like that in my home." I growled at Jacob, getting his anger to subside enough to relax his defensive posture.

"I don't care!" Bella cried. "You should've let me talk to him!"

"He's going to the Volturi." Alice announced. "He wants to die too."

"No." I stated firmly. "No, that is not happening." I shook my head rapidly, my hands shaking as I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Marcus.

"Grace? I haven't received a notice you were in our territory." He answered quickly, in the same bored but still slightly interested tone he's always had with me.

"I'm not." I told him. "I have a crazy favor to ask."

"It's granted." He assured me and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Edward is on his way there to confess a crime to you and your fellow leaders. Marcus, he's going to ask for death. You can't let Aro-"

"Grace, I assure you Edward will leave here unharmed. I'll send him back to you." He spoke soundly. "However, if he attempts to make a scene within our walls I'll have no defense for him." He sighed.

"Thank you." I told him earnestly. "I'm coming to get him. I owe you greatly for this, old friend." I added before we said our goodbyes. "Alice, I might need backup." I sighed, hating to have to ask her help.

"I'd be going with you regardless." She swore to me. "I'm so sorry, Auntie Grace." She pouted, and I knew she would be crying if she could.

"I know. It's okay." I nodded at her, pulling her in for a quick hug.

Alice was like a daughter to me, especially after our trip to find her human past, and so I couldn't stay mad at her. Especially since I knew it had been Edwards decision that forced her visions to change. I may not be mad, but I'm certainly not thrilled to have to reconcile so soon. As we pulled apart from our hug, Alice tensed up while her eyes glazed over, and I braced myself for the next problem she was about to reveal.

"He's not going to believe us." She shook her head. "The moment he hears our thoughts he's going to cause a scene in the square. The Volturi won't have a choice but to stop him." She explained quickly.

"Then I'm going too!" Bella gasped, looking as panicked about Edward as I felt about her earlier disappearance.

"No, absolutely not." I ordered. "I feel badly enough about the potential risk I'm putting my vampire niece in, but my defenseless human daughter? No, you're staying here to help your dad."

"But he'll believe I'm alive if he sees me alive!" She pleaded. "I'll have two, maybe three, vampires looking out for me. I'll be fine! Let me go!"

"She's right." Alice nodded, coming out of another quick vision. "She's the only way he'll believe us."

"Fine." I growled through my teeth, knowing I'd have a lot to answer for later with Charlie. "Get a bag packed. Hurry." I stressed to her, and she bolted up the stairs. "And grab my emergency backpack from the hall closet!" I called up to her before going to the notepad by the phone I keep for a grocery list.

"What are you doing?" Alice asked me.

"Writing a note for Charlie." I sighed. "If I call him, he'll freak out and probably guilt trip me into staying. So, while this is going to upset him more, it gives us our best chance for success."

"Great." She chirped, not knowing what else to say. "I'll start calling airlines." She nodded, drifting out of the door to the car.

"Bella!" I called upstairs for her. "Let's go!"

In a fraction of a second, I was in the drivers seat of Carlisle's car while Alice sat in the passenger seat trying to get us tickets. My heart lurched at the smell of almonds and honey, Carlisle's scent that was a near match to my own, just more masculine. I wished I could call him for a moment, until Bella slammed the door behind her and jarred me from my short daydream.

"He left you Bella! He didn't want you anymore! Remember?!" Jacob stormed after Bella as she approached the car, and I knew he was trying everything he could think of to get her to stay.

"I'm not gonna let him kill himself out of guilt." She shook her head, throwing our bags into the trunk before slamming it shut.

"What about your dad?" He asked her, trying to get into her head again.

"I'm 18, I'm legally free to go and I left a note." She shrugged. "Plus, my mom is with me so he can be mad at both of us."

"Oh, I'm sure he will be." I sighed, and Alice couldn't help but giggle at my expression.

"Please Bella, just stay here. For Charlie. For me?" He pleaded with her as she got into the car.

"Goodbye, Jacob." She told him before shutting the car door behind her and buckling herself up. "Let's go." She nodded at me in the rear view mirror.

With my speeding, we arrived just on time for our flight. We had a long flight and a layover ahead of us, which meant that I would most likely be forced to talk with Alice while Bella and the other passengers slept.

"Here, sit in the window seat." I directed Bella. "You should sleep, it's a long flight."

"I don't think I can." She shook her head as I sat next to her, Alice sitting on my other side. "Too much to think about."

"I'll help." I nodded.

Once we took off and got into the air, the captain announced he was turning the compartment lights off, and so I used two of the blankets the flight stewardess had provided to wrap Bella up and brace her against my side. I rubbed soothing circles on her arm while I hummed softly to her, resting my head on top of hers. It was a sweet moment. I had a chance to finally calm myself down and reassure myself that she was alive and safe with me.

"You're a natural." Alice spoke quietly, much too quiet for human ears, when Bella finally drifted off to sleep.

"I better be by now." I laughed humorlessly.

"You've gone through hell, haven't you?" She frowned sadly at me.

"Yeah." I confessed, still resting my head against Bella's. "We all have."

"I'm so sorry." Alice cried. "I should've listened to you. I should've fought harder for my visions, for myself, and for our family. I can't believe I had a part in hurting you, Bella, and Charlie like I did. I'm so sorry I-"

"Shh." I hushed her, using my free arm to reach over and grasp her hands tightly in mine. "I know, Alice. It's alright." I assured her. "Everything is going to be okay."

"I haven't seen much of you three, humans get blurry the longer we're apart, but I have picked on you at times." She confessed. "I just want you to know that Carlisle has been a wreck without you. All he does is talk about you and ask about you. Esme just sort of drifts around without you there. We've all felt like there's been a death in the family." She revealed.

"I've missed all of you as well." I nodded, careful not to show the intense hurt I was feeling. "But it's going to take a lot of time to heal what's been broken." I stated.

"I know." Alice sighed. "I just want you to know that we're really going to try, all of us, to make it up to you three."

I wanted it to be as simple as that. I wanted an apology for myself, Charlie, and especially Bella for the hell my family had put us through. I wanted some time to heal before slowly knitting ourselves back into one big family. But, we weren't "you three", like Alice said, we were four now and I couldn't be so careless concerning such a rare child as Elizabeth.

"I wish it were as easy as that, Ali." I sighed, a pang of longing for Charlie and Elizabeth shooting through me. "I really do."

"I know it's a lot of work, but we're family and Cullens fight for family." She assured me.

"Yes, we do." I smiled softly at her, looking her in the eyes for the first time since her return. "So let's go fight for our family."