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Couple Months Later...
The sunlight entered gently through the balcony shining directly at the blonde girl. She sat peacefully in the white chair with a fluffy white cat sleeping in her lap she gently petting it causing him to purr which was the only sound besides the clocks ticking that was filling the silent room.
In between her and the other matching chair that was facing the balcony stood a small table with a single cup filled with tea with its steam visibly lifting into the air. The cup itself was white with golden flexes appearing in some places.
Obviously, the cup of tea wasn't for her but was waiting for someone that hasn't come yet. Natalia smiled as the sun shined directly on her face, she couldn't feel the warmth radiating off it but it still felt good.
The house was never this quiet. It would usually be filled with Ace's and Seth's snarky comments towards each other with Jeremy's input from time to time and of course Althea's comments about how tired she was from all of them.
Of course, those comments that would be shared between the vampire and werewolf weren't actually harmful, in some sense, you could say they acted like siblings towards each other. Whenever Natalia asked Ace about it he would roll his eyes and say definitely no I can barely stand the dog. But Natalia could see right through him, he always wanted to act like this cold-hearted man but there was good in him, whether he liked it or not he cared about the people around him.
The reason why they had gotten so close might have been because Ace had older brothers in the past but their relationship was always cold, it was more like they were roommates rather than brothers. And with Seth, he has an older sister that he loves dearly but it's different, a good different. So Seth and Ace becoming so close more so came from the need for this brotherly love that they both lacked but could get from the other.
As of right now Jeremy and Ace took Seth for a 'boy's day out' Natalia didn't even ask where they would be taking the boy because she knew better than to ask. She was thankful enough that the boys were taking him out. He hasn't been completely him since they left Forks. He tried to smile in front of Natalia and show her that everything was great but the blonde knew better than to believe it. His smiles weren't fully there, his normally happy smile with big dimples on both sides of his cheeks was replaced with a sad one with his eyes showing how much he had missed Christina.
Suddenly the gentle sound of someone knocking on the door made Natalia look away from the sky and be thrown out of her thoughts. It sounded like whoever was knocking on the door was nervous, rethinking their decision. Natalia being a vampire was still able to hear the knock and already smell the incoming person knowing already who it was. Natalia's eyes scan quickly over the clock that's hanging on the wall and she chuckles lightly.
"She's late... you're getting old Alice..." Standing lightly from the chair Natalia gently took the cat off her lap and placed the still-sleeping cat on the chair and calmly walked in the direction of the door. Natalia, of course, was expecting this 'unexpected guest per se' Alice had called her a couple of days ago telling her in advance that this would happen.
Grabbing gently onto the big double door handles she opened the grand white doors. She would be lying if she said she didn't take inspiration for these doors from the ones she saw in the Volturi castle. The doors didn't look exactly like the ones in the Volturi castle, they were at least three times the size of Natalia and painted fully white with flecks of red and gold in different places around it giving you an intimidating look when approaching the building.
As Natalia pushed the grand doors open the person standing in front of her turned around so she could finally see her face. Natalia's face softened as a smile framed her face from the sight in front of her. Christina stood in front of the blonde clutching onto her coat with a slight crease over her brows just showing the blonde how anxious she was feeling, how emotional it was for her to travel there.
"Natalia I...." The words were so quiet and quivered and before Chris got to open her mouth again Natalia brought her into a hug. As Natalia wrapped her arms around her shoulders and pulled her close, gently rubbing her arm the heaviness in Christina's stomach, fluttered at the feeling as she sunk into the warmth of Natalia's side, appreciative of the simple gesture. The hug felt like she was hugging her brother and it's exactly what she needed right now.
"I know, it's all going to be alright... Come on in." Natalia pulled away slowly letting Christina apprehensively walk in clutching the bag that was slung over her shoulder as she looked around the house overwhelmed.
The house was indeed impressive, with wooden panels along the corridors, ornate chandeliers, big windows causing the sun to enter from all possible sides and oil paintings that were definitely painted by Natalia herself. The stairs led down into a tall galleried room with a rug spread out over flagstones and a balcony big enough to park a car in.
When Christina felt Natalia's hand on her shoulder she turned her head around to face the blonde with an uneasy look.
"I know I didn't say I was coming in advance It was just... I just couldn't take it anymore..." All Natalia did was shake her head with a smile in response before leading the younger girl into the room she was just minutes ago.
"No need to explain Christina, Alice told me you would be arriving. I also suspected you would come." The redhead cursed at herself in her mind at the thought of Alice. Of course, the girl would have gotten a vision of her, she should have known better.
But suddenly the realization of what the blonde said made Christina's eyes widen as they entered the room and Natalia sat down on the chair while placing the cat back on her lap. As the realization hit her it caused her hold on the bag to loosen which ended up with it falling to the floor giving the cat a light scare and jumping off Natalia's lap and out of the room. Natalia's eyes traveled to the ginger head girl confused by her reaction as Christina opened and closed her mouth a few times.
"Christina hun are you alright? You look quite pale." Christina shook her head coming back before sitting down on the chair in front of Natalia before speaking up.
"Does he know too? Does Seth know?" When she said that it was almost like everything had finally clicked in her head causing Natalia to laugh lightly before shaking her head.
"No, no I haven't told him. I didn't know if you would have wanted that. Besides, your decision could have changed from the time that Alice told me. I couldn't risk telling him that you would be arriving only to later tell him you wouldn't." The news that Seth didn't know seemed to ease the girl's nerves as she became more comfortable in her seat while letting out a sigh.
Seeing the girl's reaction Natalia smiled as she lifted the cup of tea she previously made and handed it over to Christina.
"Here have some tea, it's lavender. It will calm your nerves." The still slightly shaken-up girl thanked Natalia before taking a small sip and smiling over at the vampire girl.
"Thank you, you have always been so nice to me... But, how do you think Seth will react to me being here..." The uncertainty in Christina's voice made Natalia laugh loudly.
"Oh, believe me when I tell you that Seth will be beyond happy to see you here. Now I don't know how Romeo will react to your presence but he will just have to survive somehow because your room is all ready for you to use." At the mention of the other male and Natalia already having a room prepared for Christina, it made her cheeks bright red matching her hair.
"No, no I couldn't. I'll just stay in a nearby hotel and then I'll just figure something out-"
"Nonsense! Neither I nor Seth would let you stay in some hotel. We have more than enough rooms for you here." Christina felt a little uneasy with the fact that she would be staying here taking in mind Natalia barely knew her, this was only the second time that they had spoken after all. But then again it brought some sort of comfort over Christina that she wouldn't have to worry over the fact that she would need to be searching for a place to sleep in.
The girls stayed in this silence for a few minutes as Christina sipped on her tea letting it take away all the nerves, the cat has even returned back onto Natalia's lap.
But the silence is short-lived before an unknown to Christina's voice is heard in the house. The redhead looks over at Natalia who seemed to know this person very well because she rolled her eyes as a teasing smile came onto her face.
"You will never guess what happened to me!-" As the witch walked into the room looking like she was about to kill someone she had to stop in her steps at the sight in front of her. She had expected to only see Natalia and not practically two of her.
"Now this I didn't expect... Did you clone yourself or something? Because something must have gone completely wrong because the hair is a different colour." The bluntness and the way the witch held herself made Christina a little self-conscious about this situation.
Natalia couldn't help but roll her eyes at her best friend's behaviour. "This is Christina, the doppelganger. I told you about her before remember?" Althea nodded keeping her eyes on the redhead as she placed her bag on the desk.
"Oh yeah, yeah I remember now... I guess I'm just still surprised by how much you two actually look alike. Put a blonde wig on her and she's you." What Althea said made Natalia roll her eyes sighing and when she looked over at Christina who was sitting in her chair now slightly uncomfortable it made Natalia turn her head back to Althea with a raised eyebrow.
"So what was it that you wanted to tell me so badly when you walked in?" Natalia knew that the best way to take the attention of Christina and make her comfortable again would be asking Althea a question on a different topic because if she didn't Althea would have been able to continue talking about Chris for a very long time.
Althea was a talker...
Something clicked in Althea's head and her eyes sparkled lightly showing that she just remembered the whole reason why she even walked into her best friend's house. The witch quickly moved around to the other room before coming back holding a chair causing Christina to watch the girl with wide eyes and slightly amused. Althea placed the chair in front of the two before sitting down while slumping.
"I swear... some people just love to test my patience..." Still confused by what she meant Natalia looked between the two girls before asking a question.
"Who? Jeremy? Did he do something again?" At the mention of the boy, a little smile made its way onto Althea's lips as she sat up. Althea quickly shook her head showing the blonde that this time she didn't come to rant about the boy.
"No, not this time, this time it was Vanessa and her little girlfriend again! I swear to god I keep on telling this girl every day that the walls in the building are thin but do you think she listens to me? Noooooooo I haven't had a good night of sleep for a good week!" Vanessa was Althea's apprentice, Althea would take care of the teenager and train her in magic. The teenager lived alongside the older witch, Althea always seemed like a cold-hearted person on the outside but she cared deeply about Vanessa, she was like her little sister.
When Christina heard Althea say that her cheeks flushed slightly pink embarrassed from what she heard, but hearing Natalia laugh on the chair beside her made her look at the vampire confused not understanding why she was laughing.
"Don't get so heated about it Althea, they are both young and in love. Besides, you don't pay for her phone bill so them talking all night isn't really your problem and if it's such a big problem just soundproof the rooms." Christina's eyes widen when she realizes she completely misunderstood what the witch said and the redhead lets out a little laugh because of it making Natalia smile happy that she was becoming comfortable in their presence.
Althea opened her mouth to speak back up but she was interrupted by the sound of laughter coming from down the hall. Natalia and Althea looked at each other with knowing facial expressions because they recognized the laughter right away while Christina looked between the two older girls not recognizing who was laughing.
As the younger girl looked over in the direction from where she heard the laughter coming from she saw two vampires walking in pushing each other in a teasing manner. Looking back at Natalia and Althea, Christina saw the witch ware an amused expression as she looked at her boyfriend while Natalia raised an eyebrow looking between the two with her arms crossed while looking between the two.
"And where is Seth? Please don't tell me you did it again... Don't tell me Althea has to erase someone's memories because of you again." When Natalia finished her sentence the two boys started to laugh remembering what had happened two months ago, Christina looked between everyone in the room confused not knowing what happened but by the look on Althea's face she realized it was better that she didn't know.
After Ace had composed himself he walked over to his mate placing his arm over her shoulders while looking down at the blonde lovingly. "Nahh Love, Althea doesn't need to go all bibbidi bobbidi boo on anyone and the Kid is alive buuttt he did smell little Miss Doppelganger over there and was too nervous to come up." Right when he said that concern flashed over her eyes and as Natalia looked over at Christina she saw the pain that was in her eyes. The red-haired girl sat back down on the chair with her head in her hands feeling terrible.
"Oh, I knew it... I knew that me coming here was a stupid idea... God, he won't even look me in the eyes... It's best if I just leave-" Natalia was about to walk over to the human girl and try to console her but before she was even able to move closer to Christina, Ace had spoken up with an emotionless voice while he looked down at the younger girl.
"Not so fast Red, take this from me, someone that once did leave. It's not worth it, it's never worth leaving someone you love." Natalia looked up at her mate with wide eyes not expecting him to act this way but then again some part of her wasn't shocked, Ace did treat Seth like he was his younger brother.
Christina lifted her head from her hands and looked up at the dark-haired vampire who looked down at her with a stone-like expression sending some chills down her spine, the fact that he also had red eyes didn't help."How would I even know if I love him...What if I don't even love him what if I just love the idea of being in love with him..."
This was the first time since Christina started speaking that Ace had let a small smile make its way onto his face as he shook his face. "Take my word on this, you really do love him, you wouldn't be standing here in New Orleans if you didn't love him, hell you wouldn't be reacting this way if you didn't care about him. If you want to leave, then go, you know where the door is but if I were you I would go over to the garden and talk to him. Learn from my mistakes, because unlike me, you don't live forever." Jeremy and Natalia looked over at Ace with proud smiles for the fact that he was being somewhat nice while Althea just rolled her eyes at the vampire.
"I... Your right... Thank you..." Christina stood up and smiled between Natalia and Ace while he rolled his eyes and pushed her slightly in the direction of the door.
"Alright, alright enough of this go now before he goes crazy down there." Christina nods very quickly before running out through the door leaving the two couples alone. When the girl had left the room Natalia turned around in Ace's embrace so she was looking up at him with his hand on her hips.
"That was very nice of you..." A slight groan escaped his lips when he saw the smirk that was evident on Natalia's and Jeremy's faces.
"No, I just didn't want the kid to be mopping around the house anymore... it was driving me nuts." His response made Natalia roll her eyes knowing better, a part of it might have been because he was starting to get annoyed by the shapeshifter but most of it came from the fact that he indeed did care.
"You can say what you want.. but you and I both know you were being nice...you should let people see the good in you more often." Ace's face scrunched up at the idea of being nicer to other people. Sure the boy did care about the ones close to him, even Althea who annoyed him the most. They are his only family and he cares about them, but she doesn't care at all about anyone else that exists.
"Yaa uh I think I'll pass on that thanks, Darling."
Natalia raised an eyebrow confused looking up at him"Why?"
"Because when people see good they expect good... And I don't want to live up to anyone else's expectations except yours." Ace's eyes completely softened when he finished his sentence while looking down into her eyes. The two were so caught up with each other that they didn't notice the scoff that escaped Althea's mouth which was accompanied by an eye roll.
"More like he is trying to sound inspirational and romantic right now, but don't be fooled, girl. He's just trying to get on your good side so he could get something out of it." Jeremy started to laugh at his girlfriend's comment and the groan that escaped Ace's lips only caused Jeremy to laugh harder before pressing a soft kiss onto the witch's head.
"Young, old, gone, or even asleep. Will, you ever not be a pain in my ass Althea?" Ace said as he turned around to face Althea while one of his arms was hanging on Natalia's shoulder. He wore a completely annoyed look while sighing.
Althea smirked while shrugging her shoulders. "No all the other options are taken, and I like this one too much."
Ace rolled his eyes as the rest laughed but he couldn't help and let a barely noticeable smile come onto his lips. When Natalia had stopped laughing she looked between everyone present in the room and she couldn't help but smile at the sight. Even though the Cullen's weren't there with her it didn't mean she wasn't surrounded by her family. And in some way and though she felt guilty by this feeling she even felt more at home than she did when she lived with the Cullen's. Yes, she still loved them and will always be there for them and treat them like family, but she can truly say that only now she really feels happy and like she belongs.
While looking away from everyone in the room Natalia couldn't help it but glance over at Seth and Christina from the balcony, and the sight caused her to smile. The two teens were in each other's embrace and Natalia could see some tear stains on Christina's cheeks. Whatever the two spoke about must have been very emotional but that didn't matter in the end because it still ended with both of them having a smile on their face.
But that was just life.
Natalia knew from the beginning that life wasn't plain nor easy, but crazy and full of unexpected events. One of those unexpected events for her must have been the fact that she became a vampire, but if being a vampire meant that she would live a life in which she is surrounded by the people who love her and she loves as well she would choose this path in life over and over again.
And even though she doesn't know what she should expect in the future she doesn't mind. Because life is an unwritten book.
Everyone gets to be the star of their own story, crafting it day by day, interacting with loved ones who are the stars of their own stories.
The highs and lows keep the reader enthralled, but most of life's joy is found in the quiet passages, in the rich detail and in the savouring of moments. It is in the realization that happiness is a quiet emotion, and as such is not easily stored in long-term memories like the troubles and the triumphs, yet it is the very ink in our quills.
So is this really 'The End' of the book? But don't the characters still live on in our imagination? Is the moment you take your last breath and die the end of your journey? But doesn't your memory or soul live on?
There is a lot of ways to end something but this isn't the ending. No, no this is just where I stop telling you the story but it doesn't mean it all just completely ended. So there won't be a 'The End' at the bottom or the clique 'And they lived happily ever after.' This is just a goodbye, for now, because who knows, I might end up reopening the book to tell you my story again, I'm not sure I can't tell the future like Alice.
So goodbye, for now, and may we meet again.
Love, Natalia Cullen / Leighton / Vaccaro
A/N
I'm not 100% sure about when the bonus chapters will come because I'm going on holiday to another country for a week but they are definitely coming!