Burning Star: A Twilight FanFic

Ch 19- Family

The door swung open to reveal a yellow haired Ace smirking at us. I hadn't realized she'd dyed it again.

Ace was my sister-in-law, and one part of the most unusual enemies to lovers stories I had ever heard. Technically, she was a war criminal and my brother was her prison warden. They'd met when she'd been captured by the Council while summoning a hoard of demons- a typical Tuesday night as she usually described it. Since her mind was being controlled, she was allowed to live, and placed in my brother's custody- her chains taking the form of a solid metal bracelet designed by Gavrila.

The two of them were constantly at each other's throats for over a year, and then somehow they ended up happily married. I was still in school at the time, so I'd missed what the gossips all called the "slow burn". The bracelet that allowed Chris to track her and control her magic had been switched out for the wedding ring form. That ceremony was complete insane, despite many people's best efforts.

"Wassup?" she asked.

I rolled my eyes. "It's nice to see you too. Would you mind moving out of the doorway?"

"I wouldn't, but that doesn't mean I'll do it," she quipped. Emmett snorted. I had a strong and worrisome suspicion that they were going to get along wonderfully. The trouble they'd get into was already giving me a headache.

"Ace, let them in," Chris yelled from somewhere in the house.

"Whatever you say, my dear ball and chain." She skipped away, and we walked in.

My mom's house was far from some of the opulent mansions many witches had. It was a two story farmhouse with a huge garden, something I'd created when I first started developing my magic. There were flowers from all over the world, all my favorites. Magic allowed them to grow in whatever environment I told them to. It had been an emotional project for me, so I made sure the flowers would never die no matter what happened. My brother added his own touch- the garden would always be warm, and no snow would fall on it. I was almost positive a large part of that was to annoy his ice mage wife.

The thing that really made it stand out was the strange art that filled the walls. My mom had always loved painting the most random things. She said too many people used cliché muses, so she wanted to choose unique ones. And when Ace moved in, she'd had taken up creating bizarre sculptures and glass pieces. I saw that in the two weeks I was gone, the two of them had already added a few new pieces. It wouldn't be long before the house would look like something from a psychedelic nightmare. Maybe it already did.

I turned to my guests. "The party's put back in the garden. We should go meet up with everyone there."

They all nodded and I focused my eyes on Rosalie. She was trying to hide it, but anyone could've seen the storm of emotions swirling through her. Nervousness, sadness, regret, hope, excitement, and most of all unrelenting love. Emmett wrapped his arm around her in mute support.

"Are you ready?" I asked her softly.

She took a deep breath. The soothing action was born out of human habit; vampires didn't need air. "I think I am."

After one last look into her eyes, I began leading them through the house. I held Seth's hand in mine, tugging him behind me. His warmth was comforting. I was filled with as much turmoil as Rosalie was. This was going to be a dramatic event, and it would effect our lives forever.

We stepped into the garden. There on a low, comfortable seat in the gazebo was my grandfather, tapping his fingers on his arm rest. All eyes turned to us. He gasped.

The siblings both began searching each others' faces, and I noticed that there were still some faint similarities. But there were obvious differences. Grandpa saw that his sister's beauty had grown. Her skin was much paler now. Her eyes were no longer the deep, violet blue they once had been. The same blue that he saw in my eye. Despite the changes and the years that had passed, she didn't look older than she had been when he last saw her. A bright smile broke across his weathered face as tears filled his eyes.

"It has to be you," he whispered shakily. "Rosalie."

She had already begun walking towards him, carefully moving at a human pace. As he spoke, she knelt beside his chair. I couldn't help slipping into her mind for a moment. I felt Chris doing the same. We shot a quick glance at each other. It was easy to forget how similar we actually were.

Rosalie's still heart was bursting. Though the Cullens were undeniably her family, so was he. I'd never met a vampire with human memories as vivid as Rosalie's. Those painful memories had burned themselves into her brain. Through all the years, she'd never once forgotten her human family, and she'd never gotten over leaving them behind. As she took in his white hair and wrinkled cheeks, she realized that she still had that family- and she always would.

Her arms reached up and caught him in a hug. "I've missed you," she told him. Vampires couldn't cry, but she wished she could. Just so some of the emotion would wash away.

Grandpa clung to her, shaking with silent sobs. My mother, Chris, and Ace, moved away, walking to Seth and I. Emmett had moved quietly to stand near Rosalie.

"Well," Mom said with a little clap, "why don't we go inside for a bit?"

Once we were in the family room, I pulled Seth forward a bit.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Seth Clearwater," I introduced. "He's my mate."

Seth smiled shyly. "It's nice to meet you all."

Mom beamed and rushed forward to hug him. "Welcome to the family, dear! My name's Allison, I'm Brielle's mother. I'm so glad that you two found each other. Oh! Why don't I show you her baby pictures!" She dashed off to get the photo albums. She was normally very calm, but when she did get excited, she was a giant ball of energy.

I turned to glare at my brother. Before I could tell him to keep his mouth shut, he smirked at me. "It's not so funny when it's you is it?" he said.

"Shut up," I groaned. I'd had fun watching Mom show off Chris's pictures. Karma was coming back to bite me.

He came to shake Seth's hand. "I'm Chris, her brother. Guess I'll be seeing you a lot from now on, considering we're not aging."

"I for one, am very happy about that. You wouldn't be nearly as bangin' if you were an old man. I like you better with your nice six pack," Ace called. She was inexplicably lying on the floor in the middle of the room. I'd never understand her. She lifted her head a bit. "I'm Ace, Chris's wife, and the funniest person in the family. If you ever want to do anything chaotic and reckless, please contact me so I can join you."

My brother and I sighed at the same time.

"Ace, can you please behave yourself?" Chris asked pointedly.

"You should know better than to ask such a pointless question by now, my precious walking prison cell."

Seth broke out of the shock that everybody felt during their first interaction with my sister-in-law. "It's nice to meet you guys."

My mom came back in with her arms full of colorful photo albums. We all sat down as she began showing them to Seth, making sure to tell every embarrassing story she could, ignoring Ace's random interjections. The entire time I could feel my brother's smug eyes on me. I really wanted to jump up and smack him. Maybe I'd just ask Ace to do it.

Within half an hour, my family had already firmly adopted Seth. And while we shared stories inside, I kept watch over the reunion outside. They would never have enough time to catch up, but now, they knew they could try. Rosalie and Jack Hale were finally able to be family again.