The three of us, Alice, Jasper and I had been waiting in the airport for about an hour now. I felt bad for Jasper, having to be so close to so many humans, but then I reminded myself that he'd volunteered to come. He was also the only reason I was at all sane right now. Not only was my mom in danger, but I was also apart from Edward and it was very nearly killing me to be in this situation.

My mind kept replaying the phone conversation I had had with James back at the hotel when Alice and Jasper were checking out and I was very, very seriously thinking about finding a way to ditch Alice and Jasper; the airport here in Phoenix was enormous and I had a slight advantage in that I had been here a few times before; I knew a couple palpable ways for me to escape. The hardest part would be to get out without having Alice 'see' me decide to go, but if I could manage that, I could almost relax knowing that Alice and Jasper would be scouring the airport for at least five minutes, giving me a chance to get into a taxi and get to the ballet studio as fast as I possibly could. It was definitely a long-shot.

"Bella," Alice warned, "I know what you're going to do, so don't even think about it."

I whipped my head around to face where she was seated, behind me now, due to my relentless pacing, "Alice, James…he called me before we left the hotel. He has my mom!" at this point, I was frantic. I needed to see Edward and make sure he was alright – despite Alice's reassurances, but I also needed to get to my mom before it was too late. Of course, I wasn't one hundred percent positive James even had my mom; I believed him because, quite frankly, I was terrified.

"It's going to be fine, Bella," Alice soothed, moving to wrap her cool arms around my shoulders and guiding me to the open seat next to Jasper, "I've already seen it. Edward, Carlisle, and Emmett's flight will land in five minutes and they'll be inside in another five minutes after that. Ten minutes, Bella. Calm down…please…?" Now Alice was rubbing by arms in an attempt to comfort me. I didn't miss the desperate glance she threw at Jasper, who was seated on the other side of me.

I felt Jasper's wave of calm. I couldn't resist it this time; the calm was too strong and Jasper was too close. I looked at him pleadingly, begging him to ease up a bit with my eyes. He gave me a sympathetic smile and I immediately felt the calm ease, but only marginally.

"Thanks."

Now that I was slightly calmer, I felt like I should make the most of it and actually relax. I shrank down in my very uncomfortable seat so I could rest my head against the chair's back and closed my eyes. I was envisioning Edward rushing at a fairly quick human pace, searching the terminal for me. I envisioned myself planting myself right at the gate and searching for him as well, just as frantically. I chuckled to myself at the fact that I was now imagining the clichéd scene when the two lovers are reunited and, to speed up the process, they run for each other in a desperate attempt to hold each other for the sake of being held. As much as I would have loved for this scene to play out, it simply couldn't given the fact that I could barely walk ten feet from my room at Charlie's to the bathroom without being in some kind of danger of tripping and getting a concussion.

For what seemed like the ten millionth time in the span of about three minutes, I opened my eyes to pull my phone out of my pocket and checked the time; 7:24. It had been approximately two minutes since I had last checked the time and about seven since Alice had informed me that Carlisle, Emmett and Edward would be walking through the gate in approximately ten minutes' time. Three minutes…I could do this…

Who was I kidding…? I sighed impatiently and thrust myself out of my seat and decided to begin making my way over to check the flight board to make sure the plane had in fact landed and then over to the gate. I stood directly in front of the entrance of the gate, hoping with every fiber of my being that the three vampires getting off the plane would be among the first to get off.

After a minute or so of me trying to crane my neck to see despite the fact that no one was getting off the plane yet, I began bouncing on the balls of my feet. I felt childish…hell, I felt like Alice. I chuckled to myself. Alice and Jasper, being vampires, heard my chuckle and made their way to where I stood, impatiently. The pair passed behind me and leaned against the wall to my left in an attempt to avoid looking like crazy people, like me…

"They're here," Alice's voice chimed. I glanced quickly at her and Jasper, noting that both of them had only shifted their weight slightly.

With Alice's announcement, I began to feel myself getting worked up; all I could think about was Edward and being in his arms again and then the six of us quickly finding the fastest way to the ballet studio. I prayed to God it wasn't too late. The people began pouring into the terminal and I felt the tears welling up in my eyes at the thought of it being too late to save my mom from James. I had been too preoccupied in my pessimism to see Emmett, then Carlisle and the Edward rushing through the gate almost too quickly for a human.

"Bella," I felt his cold strong arms wrap themselves around me before I registered Edward's angelic voice saying my name. I had enough time to wrap my own arms around Edward's waist before his hard lips came crashing down on mine. For half a second, I was able to lose myself in his kiss. Everything was almost alright when I was in his arms after being away from him for, in my opinion, far too long.

The kiss was filled with passion and I could feel Edward's desperation and it matched my own desperation, but all too soon, Edward pulled away, pulling me closer to him. He took a second to gaze into my eyes, probably trying to read my mind and failing.

"Edward," Jasper urged. I hadn't realized that the rest of my family had already been waiting several feet away.

Alice must have told Edward through her mind what she had seen James doing through her mind because Edward's grip around my waist tightened slightly and then he released my waist and took my hand into his as we began to make out way very quickly out of the airport.

Alice, Carlisle and Emmett were already waiting next to two taxis. Edward, Alice and I piled into the first and Emmett, Carlisle and Jasper climbed into the second.

"Scottsdale, please," I muttered. The cabbie turned around and looked at me like I was insane for having him drive that far, "I've got the money," I said with conviction. The cabbie gave a slight nod and we were on our way out of the airport...At a snail's pace…This was going to be a long twenty-five-minute cab ride. I groaned when I realized there was a fair amount of traffic on the road as well. We were never going to get there in time.

"Please hurry," I heard Edward tell the cabbie, "I don't care how fast you go, but we need to get to Mimi's Ballet Studio ASAP." I leaned closer to Edward, burying my face into his chest and muttering my thanks through the soft cotton of his t-shirt. I knew he heard me when I felt his lips kissing the top of my head. I vaguely heard him whisper something about everything being alright, too.

Now, in the cab ride to Mimi's and to James and my mother, the tears of desperation and fear I had been trying so hard to suppress were beginning to spill over. I hadn't notice how much I needed this release until I heard myself practically choking for air. I pulled my head away from Edward's chest and noticed a significant wet spot of salty tears in his dark cotton t-shirt.

"Ed-Edward…h-he has m-my m-mom," I hiccupped uncontrollably, more tears streaming down my face.

Edward's hand gently brushed hair away from my face, soothing me, "Shhh, everything is going to be ok, Bella. Nothing bad will happen to your mother, I promise you, everything will be fine."

"He has my mom…" was all I could manage as I curled myself close to Edward again, practically in his lap. I felt Alice, who had been silently watching the dark Arizona landscape pass in the window of the cab, place a comforting hand on my arm and begin to move her hand up and down in another effort to soothe me.

After about ten minutes more of me sobbing inconsolably into Edward's shirt, the tears began to finally dissipate and I began to pull myself more upright in the seat, sniffling a bit.

Edward pulled my chin gently to get me to look him in the eye. He studied me for a second, gazing into my eyes, as if to will me to be as positive of the situation as he and his sister, "Bella…" he said gently.

"I'm going to be ok," I answered softly, already knowing what he was asking. I managed to smile weakly as I saw traces of my favorite crooked grin appear on Edward's face, effectively cheering me up for about two minutes.

We rode in the cab in silence for another ten minutes with me constantly looking through the back windshield to make sure the others were still in the cab behind us. I wasn't half surprised to see Emmett at the wheel. He must have paid the cabbie really well to convince him to let him drive. This being said, I knew for a fact that our cabbie was driving much, much too slow for any vampire's liking, let alone Emmett's. Edward chuckled faintly too, when he saw that I had noticed who was driving the cab behind us. I was touched by Emmett's sense of urgency and loyalty to his 'little sister'.

My thoughts were thrust back to our own cab in an instant when I heard Alice gasp in shock and then I heard a soft growl erupt from both Alice and Edward's chests. I looked at Edward and then at Alice and back to Edward, hoping they would tell me what it was Alice had just seen.

"She's not there," Alice said, her voice and eyes distant, "James doesn't have your mom, Bella,"

With that I allowed myself a sigh of relief, but then immediately wondered why the both of them had growled in response to such good news.

"Then why…?" I began.

"Because he knows you're on your way there," Alice answered.

My heart sank again, my mind moving a million miles a minute, "Does he know I'm not alone? How did he know I'd come? Is the other female with him? Alice, what is he planning?!" I was frantic again. I vaguely noticed myself clinging onto Edward's hand for dear life. If Edward were human, I'm pretty sure I would have at the very least given him significant bruises on his poor hand.

"He doesn't know we're with you and it will stay that way if we can help it," Edward growled even louder than before at this, "Edward," Alice stated firmly, "if he knows we're with her, he'll form another plan to get her alone and in doing so, he'll run, making it that much harder for us to end this once and for all."

Alice's logic made sense and I could tell Edward knew it despite the fact that he most certainly didn't like it.

Now Alice's attention was back on me, "James is a tracker, Bella, meaning he is far better at luring his prey away from safety, that's how he knew you'd meet him; he's very confident in his ability," Alice paused, stealing a glance at Edward as if you verify something silently. I didn't see any kind of response from Edward, though, vocal or otherwise, he just sat there tensely, still in the cab, stroking my hand soothingly, "And no, from what I can tell, Victoria is still near Forks. Esme and Rosalie are watching over Charlie, just like Edward told you earlier." Alice tried to sound happy now. At least there was some good news.

The cab had lapsed back into silence and I still had no idea what had passed between Edward and Alice earlier. I doubted Edward would tell me and Alice definitely wouldn't with Edward right there. I knew we were getting close to the ballet studio, though. I could still make out my surroundings in the growing darkness.

"How are we going to do this?" I asked to no one in particular, "I mean, he wanted me to show up by myself…" We were about five minutes away now, fairly close to my house, actually.

"Pull over here, please," Edward demanded gruffly.

When the cabs came to a stop on the side of the shoulder, everyone exited. I stood nervously waiting for instruction as to how to get to James now that we had sent the taxis away; Edward couldn't give me a lift up to the doorstep and it was still too far to walk.

As soon as Alice finished telling Emmett, Carlisle and Jasper what was going on, Edward turned to me, pinning my arms to my sides gently to get me to look at him, "Emmett is going to run you to your house, that's within walking distance of the studio and James doesn't know Emmett's scent, so he won't suspect anything."

"What are you – ?"

"We're taking a more round-about route. You'll be fine. I promise you nothing will happen. We're going to end this tonight," With that, Edward pulled me in for a desperate hug and a chaste kiss. I was beginning to muster up some confidence for myself, but I didn't like Edward's desperation one bit. It was as if he was still trying to reassure himself that everything was going to go according to plan.

"I love you," I searched Edward's eyes for another long moment, trying to convey just how much I truly did love him, regardless of what he thought of himself.

"I love you, too," he answered. I now noticed that Carlisle, Alice, and Jasper had vanished; probably getting a head start on the 'round-about route'. Emmett was waiting for mine and Edward's moment to be over so he could get me to my house safely, "Please, when you're walking, try not to hurt yourself." With that, Edward released me, retreating in the same direction the cabs had brought us. Edward's topaz eyes held my gaze until the darkness appeared to swallow him.

"Ready?" Emmett asked, seriously.

I sighed and nodded, allowing him to lift me onto his back before taking off at vampire speed in the direction of my Arizona home. Alice must have told him which way to go.

It was a matter of minutes before Emmett had come to a stop on my doorstep, "Okay," Emmett started, "this is your stop. We'll see you there in a few minutes and please don't fall on your face or anything…from what I can sense right now, that really would not be in anyone's best interests, especially yours…" Emmett tried to lighten the mood with a smile.

I chuckled half-heartedly, "Is falling on my face ever in my best interests, Emmett?"

"Hmm, I guess not, Bells. Good luck," Before I could even blink, Emmett was gone and I was alone. I wasn't alone for long, but I was still alone and that thought alone was terrifying to me.