Disclaimer:

All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Based on the characters created by Stephanie Meyer, in her Twilight Saga series of books.

WARNING: This story will contain scenes of domestic violence, strong language and other forms of physical violence, up to, and including death.

Chapter 27

The Lightness of Joy

Time seemed to stand still as the two were drawn together. Their eyes were locked as they slowly moved toward each other. Their fingertips were the first to touch. The jolt that passed through them reminded Jasper of lightening, grounding him to her forever. For Alice, it was as if a part of her soul was transferred to him, and his to her.

"I'm Alice," she whispered to him.

"Yes ma'am, you certainly are," Jasper couldn't stop grinning. The happiness emanating from Alice was almost overwhelming, considering the pain and fear of his past.

Alice giggled as she latched onto his hand and pulled him toward the door. Despite her visions, she was still too nervous to do more than giggle at the hansom Texan holding her hand. Jasper turned away from her and looked back at the occupants of the nearly empty diner; the cook back in the kitchen, the waitress behind the counter, the truck driver enjoying his coffee, and the secretary on her lunch break. They all looked and smelled just fine to him.

"Don't you think we should grab a bite before we leave?" he asked, nodding back to the diner's patrons.

"Oh goodness, no," Alice laughed. "I've got something better in mind for you." She pulled Jasper out into the pouring rain. Her sheer joy was too much for him to overcome. All he could do was smile and follow. They walked down a couple blocks until Alice was sure it would be safe, then they sped off out of the city and back into the mountains of Pennsylvania. "Run faster, Jasper," Alice laughed at the sheer bliss of having Jasper running with her at last. "It's really not all that far."

"Where are you taking me?" Jasper couldn't help but laugh at Alice's elation. He didn't know how long they had been running at such an accelerated pace, but he was getting very hungry.

"Just to central Pennsylvania," Alice said, as she came to a sudden stop. She twirled in a circle, her arms spread wide as if for balance. "Look around you, Jasper." Her eyes were closed and her grin spread from ear to ear. "Smell the world."

Jasper looked around. They were at a high point, and all he could see were the tops of trees. Back to the east and south he could see and smell the storm they had just run through. To the west was sunny skies, and the smell of heated earth. Directly over them there and to the north was light cloud cover, but nowhere close did he smell humans; not a single one. He neither smelled blood, nor heard the sounds of dying soldiers or the creaking sound of vampire heads being ripped from a body. It was nature, and it was peace. Being late summer, the trees had not yet begun to turn colors, but the thought of coming back in October did interest him. He turned to Alice...

"Yes, of course we can, and it will be so beautiful around the end of September."

Jasper gave Alice a strange look as he thought for a moment. He knew some vampires had special abilities. He himself was able to sense the emotions of others, and influence those of groups or individuals.

"Are you...?"

"Yes."

"So you can..."

"Yep."

"Do you think you'll ever let me..."

"Probably not."

They both fell to the ground laughing.

"Telepathic or..."

"Clairvoyant." She leaned into Jasper. "I've waited for you for so very long."

"Were you..." Alice opened her mouth, preparing to reply, but Jasper held up his finger. "You will have to learn to let me finish my sentences, darlin'," he warned her.

Alice huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Alright. Go ahead."

"Were you clairvoyant as a human?"

"I don't remember," Alice said quietly. It was the first time Jasper had felt sadness from her.

Jasper wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her tightly to his side. He spoke into the top of her head and gave it a small kiss. "Can you explain that to me?"

"I have no memory of my human life. When I try to remember anything from before, all I get is darkness. I woke up alone in the dark. I had a bag with some things in it, and the name on the bag was Alice. There were some other things, but I have been going on visions I've had both in the dark and since. I've learned what to do from them."

"Wait a minute," Jasper twisted Alice around to face him, anger beginning to crawl up his spine like a long legged spider. "Who is your Sire?"

"My what? Oh yeah, I remember. My Maker. I don't know." Alice shrugged her shoulders as if it meant nothing. Jasper wrapped both arms around Alice and pulled her tightly to his chest, as he worked to calm himself.

"It's a miracle you survived," he said as he laid his cheek on her head and loosened one hand to rub circles on her back.

"That feels so good," Alice purred to him. Her feelings of happiness and contentment filled Jasper as nothing had filled him before. The pain and sorrows of his past faded into dust as the joy that emanated from Alice began to filter into him. They sat in silence for quite some time, both filled with the contentment of simply being together. Eventually, Jasper felt he had no choice but to break the silence.

"I'm sorry darlin', but even your neck is beginning to look mighty good. Now, you did promise me a nice juicy lunch, did you not?"

Alice looked up into Jasper's smiling face. She raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Yes I did," she said as she jumped to her feet. She offered her hand to Jasper and skipped off down the hill, with Jasper in tow once more.

"I don't smell a human for miles." Jasper could feel the rise in Alice's anxiety, as she pulled him along. "And they're back the way we just came from."

Alice stopped tugging on Jasper, took a few unnecessary deep breathes, and walked calmly beside him. She held on to his arm with both hands and leaned her head on his upper arm.

"You know how you feel the last moments of your kills emotions? The fear. The sadness and loss. The pain."

Jasper's body tensed and he began to emit sadness of his own. "Please don't."

Alice stopped and turned to face him. "It doesn't have to be that way." She reached up and placed her hands on either side of Jasper's face. "Please take them out."

"Them?"

"The contacts. I want to see the real you."

She smiled shyly at him as he took out his blue contact lenses. Alice was shocked at the reddish-black color of his eyes that clearly showed his hunger.

"As a human, my eye's were blue." Jasper seemed to be lost in thought for a short moment. "Your turn," he said, smiling down at her.

"I'm not wearing contacts," she told him, as she gently held her lower lip with her teeth.

"Your eyes are...," he started to laugh in a disbelieving manner, but then he turned her from side to side, studying her eyes, "...real!" he announced in amazement.

Alice giggled at him. "Yep. According to Carlisle, it has to do with the vegetarian diet."

"Who's Carlisle!" Jasper snapped, feeling sudden rage, then surprise at the intensity of his reaction.

"Not to worry my love," Alice answered sweetly. "I've learned a lot from him through my visions. He and Esme, his mate, will be like parents to us."

"Oh," he thought for a moment shaking his head in disbelief. "You tell me these things as if they've already happened. It's going to take me a while to get a handle on this clairvoyant thing. And as for a vegetarian diet? I'm not digging..."

"No, not that kind of vegetarian. We just don't eat humans. We eat animals." Alice skipped off ahead of Jasper, who was beginning to think this beautiful, pixie-like, spiky haired, energetic woman that he was falling in love with was completely insane.

"Wait, Alice," Jasper quickly caught up with her. He found her crouched behind some thick brush. Alice quickly grabbed his hand, shushed him, and pulled him down next to her, all at the same time.

"I've kept an eye on these two. There's no babies; that's one of Carlisle's rules. You don't kill a mother or mother to be. I've listened for the sounds of fetal heartbeats too, but nothing. So, which one do you want?" Alice was very excited again.

"Which one what do I want?" Jasper was confused.

"Which bear. I realize they're just little black bears, but we'll get into bigger game as we move north." Alice's sparkling amber eyes studied Jaspers. Her smile began to fade.

The bears caught their scent as the wind shifted. Jasper watched as Alice leapt from the bush, growling and hissing at the angry bear approaching her on it's back legs.

"They may be small compared to some others, but they're still a lot bigger than you, my darlin'," Jasper mumbled to himself as he followed Alice into the foray. He heard her laughter, as she grabbed her bear around the neck, and pulled herself onto it's back. Her now bare heels kicked it into its sides and hung on, while her hands gripped the thick fur around it's neck, and she reached around and sank her teeth into the beasts throat.

Jasper held his bear by the scruff of the neck, as it clawed his clothes to shred's, while he watched in awe, as Alice drained and droped her bear. She took a seat on the side of the bear, as she wiped her mouth with her hand, then licked off the blood on the back of her hand. She giggled as she watched Jasper hold his bear at arms length.

"Are you going to eat that, sweetheart, or just play with it a while? You could just let it keep clawing your clothes. I never liked that shirt, and I just love what's under it. Anyway, there are new clothes in the car by the pond. By the time we get there, it will be safe for us."

Jasper was completely confused, but he reached over and bit into the throat of the bear anyway. Alice giggled at the look on his face as he drained the bear and let it drop.

"That was quite possibly the worst thing I've ever tasted." He looked down at the bear with scorn.

"Oh, my love, just wait until you taste deer. The predators are much better. The big cats are the tastiest. So are the larger bears." Alice began to dig a hole to bury her bear. "I had a Puma once, in Alabama. It tasted much better than this bear." After covering her kill she stood and looked at Jasper, who was standing over his kill, looking at her and still debating her sanity. "Even with animals, we need to hide our kills," and she smiled as she looked from Jasper down to the dead bear, then back up to his eyes. Jasper rolled his eyes as he began to dig a hole to hide his kill.

"You have this all figured out, don'tja sweetheart."

"Yes I do." Alice smiled and swayed in a half circle, her torn skirt flowing with the breeze she was creating.

"Well darlin', I have to say that I do like the way that bear clawed at your dress. Just wish he'd managed to work at it a bit more." Jasper grinned and Alice nearly melted.

When Jasper had finished covering his kill, Alice grabbed his hand and began pulling him down the hill to a small pond. Through the rocky wall behind the pond, a thin, gently moving waterfall fed the large, deep body of water. From there, it widened out until it was close to a perfect circle. The excess water left the pond through a narrow stream at the other end. Back in the trees, away from the pond but next to the stream, Jasper saw Alice's car. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he recognized the 1947, Series 62, blue Cadillac convertible. As he stood and admired the beauty of the car, and then the clear, clean pond, Alice began building a small fire under the cover of some of the thickest tree branches. Next to the trees where she worked, Jasper caught sight of a knapsack that was packed full to the point of overflowing. After she had a small blaze going strongly, Alice ran to Jasper's side.

Jasper felt that Alice was feeling suddenly shy. She took one of his hands in both of hers, as she slowly led him to the fire. She pulled him down next to the fire, then pulled her shredded dress around her, strategically covering certain areas. She stared into the fire as she worked up the nerve for the next part of the day. Jasper noticed how she had pulled both her hands into her lap, and twined her fingers together, then pulled them apart, over and over. Finally, he reached for one of her hands and held it firmly in his.

"You can tell me anything, darlin'. No need to be afraid, or shy. Not with me." Jasper couldn't get a read on why she was feeling the way she was. He didn't want to use his ability to calm her even though her emotions were all over the board. She seemed to be working out something, and he wanted to allow her the chance to do it on her own. But it did leave him confused and worried about her.

"Talk to me, Sweetheart."

"I don't remember my human past." Alice started quietly, but stopped.

"Yes, you told me that. It must be hard, missing so many experiences."

"Yeah," Alice huffed, her mind still in a jumble, as she worked out how to say what she wanted. "I knew you were out there." She flashed a look into his eyes and paused again,.

Jasper was a patient man. He would give her as long as it took to tell him what she needed him to hear.

"I knew you were coming." Her hand gripped his harder, while the other fiddled with a tear in her skirt. "I knew you were for me." The last part was only slightly above a whisper.

Jasper felt her emotions suddenly rise, fear climbing to the top of the pile, with anxiety close behind. He placed his free hand on her cheek. His palm grazed her face from her temple to her neck, then brushed back up again. "What has you so frightened, Alice?" He looked deep into her now golden eyes.

"My visions aren't always right. It all depends on the decisions people make. Choices you make. Choices I make. Even the weather. Unexpected turn of events can cancel out an entire vision."

"No one's perfect, darlin'," Jasper chuckled softly. "I think that makes me feel better—to know you're not entirely perfect. But, that's not what has you so scared, Love. Tell me."

"That's it!" Alice nearly yelled. "That's exactly it. You see. I know how I feel. I know what I'm feeling. And I know what my visions say you feel. But they could be wrong. What if they're wrong and all of this is wrong." The words came out so fast, even Jasper had trouble keeping up with her. She had tried to bounce up several times, but each time Jasper pulled her back to his side. He could not bear to be parted from her. Not right now. Not while she was so confused and frightened.

"Baby, please tell me what's wrong. What is it you feel that you're afraid I don't?" Jasper begged her to answer him. Alice suddenly jerked herself away from him and leaped across to the other side of the fire.

"What if you don't love me the way I love you!?" Alice was unable to stop the sob that ripped from her throat as she watched Jasper smile and rise to join her. "NO!" Alice pointed at him. "You just stay there."

"No!" Jasper quietly responded as he made quick work of catching Alice and holding her in his arms. "It's so obvious that no one has told you a thing about our kind," he whispered into her spiky black hair. "We love at first sight. We don't always recognize it as love, but it is instantaneous." He felt Alice bury her face in his chest and slowly begin to relax, as he held her tightly against his chest and spoke calmly to her. "The moment I saw you in that diner—I knew you were mine. You are mine and I am your's. Together we complete each other; we are one."

He felt Alice's arms creep around his waist, then up his back. He loosened his hold and allowed her to lean her head back, as her hands came around to his chest. Where her skin touched his, through his nearly non-existent shirt, he felt a burn that brought to life desires long forgotten. As her hands wrapped around his neck, he lowered his head and whispered into her ear.

"Yes, Alice. I love you-just as much as you love me. We are mates, and today we will become complete." His lips brushed against her neck as they made their way to her lips. Alice leaned her head to the side to allow him better access, but when his lips touched hers, fireworks went off in her head. Visions of every kiss he would give her. Every touch they would share. The flashes went by quickly, then were gone, and she was left with the passion of their first kiss.

I'm having a lot of problems keeping the use of my right hand, so typing is becoming more difficult, That by no means, means I plan to stop. Still a couple more chapters to go. No way I'm giving in to some pain and stiffness. Just please be patient. It may take me a while, but I'll get there.