More Than My Own Life (Twilight Fanfiction)

Neither Crazy nor an Orphan

Carlisle led the way down the stairs, and I slowly made my way down behind him. Jacob walked directly beside me, despite my sluggish pace. I was regretting agreeing to meet with the rest of the family, and Jacob's hand on my shoulder was the only thing stopping me from bolting back upstairs. Realistically, I knew that I was in no danger. I was just so, incredibly nervous. My hands were shoved in my pockets to hide their shaking, and I was breathing through my mouth in an effort to hide my gasping breaths.

Once we reached the living room, Carlisle gestured for me to sit. I immediately plopped down in the love seat, pulling Jacob down next to me. At least now, nobody else could sit next to me... unless Emmett decided to sit on the arm of the loveseat, which I wouldn't put past him. Hopefully Esme would also be here, since I had seen her berate him for the "misuse of furniture" several times.

I startled towards Jacob as the entire Cullen family suddenly flashed into the room. My head smacked into his chin, and I was worried that I had hurt him. He just rubbed my head, making sure I wasn't bleeding. Apparently, wolves didn't have to worry much about their own physical damage.

All eyes were on me.I tried to be brave and meet everybody's gaze, but I quickly looked down again, leaning even closer to Jacob. I wished that I had brought my eagle feather down with me. I decided to use Jake as my form of strength instead. Reaching out and grasping Jake's hand, I reminded myself that I was a warrior. 'Jake's little warrior'. He had said so himself. Warrior or not, though, I was not going to be the first one to speak.

Carlisle was the one to start the conversation, as was to be expected from the All Mighty and Fearless Leader. "As you have all been informed, Renesmee has regained a few of her memories. There was a new memory that she brought to my attention- None of us were in it." I glanced up just in time to see several of their faces fall. I decided not to bring up that I could still hear Bella's voice from my dream. 'I love you...More than my own life!' I clenched my fists, willing the memory away. I noticed Edward staring at me, his mouth hanging open slightly. I quickly shifted my attention back to Carlisle as he began to speak again.

"But she remembers, vaguely, the Volturi attack." There were several gasps, but Bella's was the loudest by far. When my eyes flashed to her face at the sound, I found her staring at me with distressed eyes. Undeterred, Carlisle continued, "And it seems that we finally know what happened. Renesmee and Jacob ran for so long that she grew tired... remember, she was incredibly young when all of this happened. Renesmee let go of Jacob and hit a tree, causing her to lose any memory of us. And though Jacob did turn back for her, he simply could not reach her before a pair of hikers did. Renesmee was transported directly from the hospital to foster care. The reason that I could never find records of her was because she was not listed by name; she was filed as a Baby Doe, an unidentified child. They only used the name on her locket after she entered care."

Before I could react, Bella lurched forward and pulled me to her. My eyes were wide as she hugged me. Her entire body was trembling, which seemed strange. I had grown used to vampires being very still when they were upset. My body was twisted at an awkward angle because I was still holding onto Jacob's hand with all of my might. "I'm so, so sorry, Ness. I'm so sorry, baby" Bella sobbed into my hair. I stood stiff in her embrace, not hugging her back, but also not pulling away. Finally, Edward gently grabbed his wife and tried to pull her away from me. Bella hissed, scaring me, and batted his hands away. Edward, though, was not afraid. "Come on, love" He murmured, grabbing hold of her shoulders again. "You're making her uncomfortable. She's not going anywhere." Bella reluctantly allowed Edward to guide her away from me. Jacob pulled me back to him, and this time, I sat so close to him that I was basically in his lap, holding onto him tightly. Nobody would be able to pull me away from him again.