By the Light of the Moon I Will Always Love You

Three years later

Carlisle smiled at himself as he heard the high pitched laugh of little Rosie Uley drift from outside the house. Setting down the newspaper he was reading, he walked quietly towards the open front door, leaning against the door-frame to look outside.

The two year old stumbled slightly, her bum hitting the ground but she didn’t cry, instead another toothy grin lit up her face and she grabbed several of the autumn leaves in her chubby fingers, and proceeded to eat them.

Carlisle laughed as a tall, dark skinned man rushed towards her, picking her up with ease and extracting the leaf pieces from the toddlers mouth. He scolded the child gently, but a smile was on his face and his eyes danced when he looked down upon his goddaughter.

Jacob Black seemed content with the child in his arms, and he rocked her back and forth slowly so finally Rosie’s eyes began to droop and in the familiar arms of her uncle, she fell fast asleep.

Reneesme came up beside Jacob then, and peered down onto Rosie’s face with a tender gaze. She allowed her finger to graze the baby’s cheek and then Carlisle’s grandchild turned to capture Peter’s hand in hers and continue their walk through the forest.

For indeed, Peter had continued to live with the Cullens, though it was hard for him to remain hidden from his family and the people who knew him in his previous life. He and Reneesme had recently moved to Seattle, where Edward and Bella had bought a home together, and they were on one of their many visitations. They both had grown up in Forks, and both couldn’t remain away for long. But Reneesme was happy with Peter, and he with Nessie, and Carlisle could see them having a future which was both very long and happy together.

Jacob stood alone, his face had wandered towards the river, and the sky which was endless. There was a faraway look in his eye, as if he were thinking about somebody, missing someone who wasn’t with them. He looked suddenly lost, lonely.

Carlisle sighed but then felt Alice’s presence by his side and looked down, to his pint sized daughter. She smiled up at him, her golden eyes twinkling and he knew what she was saying. Alice wandered down to Jacob with a thick blanket, taking Rosie from his arms, wrapping her in the blanket so Alice’s stone cold skin couldn’t wake the sleeping baby.

Jacob appeared confused at first as to why Alice insisted on taking Rosie but then he heard a small cough. He looked around, and immediately his face was lit up by a pearly grin and he ran towards the small figure that stood in the shadows of a nearby tree.

Jacob lifted Ariel into his arms, swinging her around so she threw her head back and laughed. He set her down gently, and then cupping her cold face in his hands, he kissed her deeply.

Ariel kissed him back, closing her eyes and savouring the taste of Jacob on her lips. It had felt like too long. After the incident with Vic and the other Volturi vampires, Ariel had gone back to school, full force, sat her SAT’s and was now in the university of Alaska following her father’s footsteps in medicine. But it meant being away from Jacob for several months at a time, and though it was hard, they got through it.

Jacob arms wrapped around her, and she closed her eyes as she pressed her head against his chest, loving his strong heart beat vibrate through her ears. Jacob pulled her head up so he could look at her again, and kissed her once more tenderly on her pale lips. He then traced the raised, silver, crescent shaped scar that was present beside her right eye. The terrible scar could have been disfiguring on others, but on Ariel, it seemed to make her more beautiful, more unique. Ariel smiled, knowing later as they lay together, his lips would trace the jagged scar through her stomach, and the other that had ripped through her shoulder. She was a scarred vampire now, much like her beloved Jasper, but with those scars had come gratitude to her family, lessons learned in love and loyalty and the knowledge that she never walked alone.

Clasping Jacob’s hands in hers, they walked towards the others that waited inside the house, and Ariel fell into her family’s arms, happy to be home. This was where she was meant to be, the place she would always return to.

No-one knew where exactly the future lay for any of the Cullens, but Ariel knew, that she would always be with them. Maybe when she and Jacob settled after she completed her degree, and when the diamond on her finger was completed by another silver wedding band, they could ask Carlisle for help in investigating of the possibility of a family. They didn’t know if Ariel could conceive or carry a child that could be half vampire, half wolf, but so many other things were extraordinary about her species, it was always an option.

But for now, as Ariel looked back at Jacob, whose brown eyes twinkled and mirrored her own silver ones, she was content being his, and knowing she had found the person she was meant to be with for eternity.