1948. The First Time It Was Real.
I was shaking. The trees above me split the setting sun into fragments. My vision which kept dancing in my sight seemed just as lost on me.
"I'm coming Alice." I heard him say, and could see flashes of his decision to do so. I could even hear the sound of his feet hitting the ground. He was moving so fast, a whisper of wind accompanied the sound as he flew past bits of light and brushed passed falling leaves. Was it a dream? It seemed to make more sense to believe that, but he was too vivid.
Just like that, he was in front of me. His hands hovered around my face, scared to touch me for fear I'd recoil. I didn't know how I knew it, but I could feel his worry.
I opened my mouth to say something, to explain my panic. Yet, I couldn't think. I couldn't even begin to explain. I hadn't looked at him yet, not really. My eyes first attempted to focus on a spec of something on his shoulder.
I could see him nod, then a surge of...urgency hit me. It's him. I remember thinking. He didn't like seeing me this way. My breathing quickened to match his own as he finally connected with me, taking my face in his hands and lifting it up so my eyes would meet his.
Adrenaline showed in both of our faces as we locked together. His eyes were wide, and he focused on every detail of me, I could feel it even if I couldn't match it.
"I'm sorry." I said, somehow feeling breathless. I was frustrated that I couldn't string a thought together. I should be able to.
He was rigid, always so singular. He shook his head. "Don't. I'm here now."
At the sound of that, panic rose up again. Jasper seemed braced for this, but I was still so surprised at myself. He shouldn't be here if someone could hurt him again. "Someone is out there this time." I grabbed at his wrists, at his hands.
He didn't move, his hands remained unmoved from my face. He closed his eyes, and suddenly I knew what his face meant. He was working me over. Calming me down. Seconds later, I was practically limp in his arms. I tried holding on to him, but I was in such a haze that I couldn't stand on my own.
He must be setting me down. I could feel the grass bend underneath me, though just barely. I wanted to fight my exhaustion like it was a defeat, but as long as he was touching me it was overpowering. My thoughts became fluid and I could never fully grip onto anything. I could feel my chest rise and fall, I could still smell the forest around me. I couldn't feel Jasper anymore though. I couldn't smell him. The haze was lifting. Jasper isn't here.
My eyes opened, and as I looked around it was obvious he had left to go take care of whoever they had been. To remove the problem that made me so anxious. It was as if he had been going on an order I never gave.
I couldn't tell how long it had been since I was sitting up, but I could tell what had happened by his demeanor when he appeared in front of me. His eyes were dark. They calmed for me, though, when he saw me now sitting, shaking at the lost of his presence again.
"You're safe, Alice. You're safe. There is no one else but me and you..."
His voice was low and constant, giving me soothing words to latch onto. I just focused on him, I memorized every detail of his face. His hair was wind blown, but his eyes we're solid. I noticed a density to them that I had never allowed myself to see before. There was something in him that I didn't recognize, a thing I had never allowed myself to be. He had flecks of a darkening topaz now that did not remove from me. His hands that had felt latch around my waist we're palm up.
At some point, at some minute, I could see nothing but him. It felt like I sprang up, but he didn't seem surprised. I was in his arms then, my legs latched around him.
We didn't say anything to each other, I just held on to him. His arms around me we're my peace.
We would one day discuss those moments, deciding them as some of the best of our lives. At the time, though, I felt nothing but relief. Sometimes when I look up at him now I take a deep breath on instinct...and there it is. Relief. A revival of souls presumed dead.
2000. The Reminder of the First Time.
Jasper was a machine, completely fluid in every movement. The others didn't stand a chance apart from Edward. His scars seemed more defined than usual because when he fought, even just practicing, I could see every bite that made him this perfected. He was as good as someone who could see his choices before he made them.
I could hear Edwards growls. I laughed, knowing Jasper would be enjoying being the undisputed. I was sure Edward didn't have to work this hard to beat Emmett, and vice versa.
I cleared my throat. And the two of them stopped, realized one could not beat the the other one. Carlisle and Esme laughed uneasily, both impressed and a little nervous.
Edward and Jasper stopped at once.
"You sure you can't read my mind?" Edward asked, patting Jasper on the back.
Jazz laughed. "Practically."
My heart swelled at his confidence, his relaxed posture. He felt at home. I had seen it, but it was real now. I didn't have to wish it to be true anymore. Only here a week, and there was a glimmer of all the other moments I had ever foreseen.
Edward laughed too, shaking his head as he made his way back to Carlisle and Esme.
Emmett spoke up. "Let me try again! I think I've got you figured out now."
"Wait." I said, lifting my hand and walking slowly to the center. "My turn."
Jasper tried to suppress his smile, but couldn't. "You sure?"
"Well someone's got to show them how it's done." I said, knowing he'd like the challenge.
Jasper huffed, his eyes never leaving mine. I could hear both the amusement and interest in Edward's voice when he leaned forward a little more and said, "Now this should be interesting."
Emmett was grinning from ear to ear behind Jasper, just as intrigued.
Someone who could see the future moves of a soldier who has fought a thousand battles. Interesting is right.
Jasper's smile was proud as he nodded my way. Your move, it said.
I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate. He was being careful. I couldn't see any concrete moves, so I made one of my own.
Making a poor attempt at grabbing him did what it was supposed to, forcing him to react. He took a step backward so my arms only grabbed air. He tried to do the same and I took a step back, making him laugh at how I mimicked him. I took a step to the side and he braced himself for the move he had already seen coming without any visions.
Without realizing it, we began to dance.
Moves and countermoves. Actions and reactions. We never got our hands around each other. I tried to get the best of him, which was the ability to wined and twist with precision and speed. Jasper leaned on his experience, and in a way I leaned on it too. He taught me how to fight. Everything he knew, I knew. It was my visions that tipped the scales in my favor almost every time.
If I could just get behind him...
I broke our rhythm by clearing four feet in between us, as if calling for a round two.
Jasper ran his fingers through his hair and nodded. He bend his knees a little, hands up slightly. Ready. I heard the others whispers, but was too focused to really pay attention.
I smiled a little. Ready to give them the real show?
In my peripheral I noticed Edward's reaction. "What?" He said aloud, thinking I was talking to him.
Jasper could feel what I felt, though. Confidence, anticipation... His mouth curved up. He knew.
His eyes softened and he gave me the stage.
I ran passed him and he missed grabbing me. I jumped up and used the tree behind Jasper as leverage to gain height. I pushed off with my feet and tried to grab him from behind. He was too fast. I saw the reaction but could do nothing about it. He grabbed me just in time, tossing me right above his head. I fell feet away, but got on my feet in a second, running at him again. He tried to knock me out again, but I could see the strike before hand, I moved out of his way, and importantly, slightly faster than him.
Everything else blurred except for him, though we were the ones bending and swerving. It was a strange moment where I could remember other times this had happened. A lack of equilibrium apart from my focus on Jasper. My playful confidence was quickly replaced with displacement.
He seemed to feel it too, or perhaps I was feeling what started with him. Our emotions could entangle like that surprisingly often. The first time it happened it felt singular...
Jasper's body was now in front of me, the realization of the fact that his hands had already gripped my small arms slowly dawned on me.
His lips brushed mine. I looked up from his chest to see his face, bright and victorious.
"Gotcha." He said, his teeth glimmering. It was a rare sight, and my smile matched his as if I was his mirror. I was still dazed, but I nodded. Touching his hand to signal my surrender, his fell away from me lazily, happy.
We walked over to the others. Emmett even started clapping. "Brava."
"Bravo." Rose corrected. She was glaring at her husband, but at the same time flashed a rare grin for the winner. "That was impressive. Here I thought Alice knew everything."
"Oh, she does." He said, eyes on the ground. "I think she gave it to me."
I looked up from that same spot on the ground his eyes had been on. He was eyeing me now. It was a look that always made me shiver. I didn't know everything, but I did know he was covering for me.
Esme and Carlisle hardly ever participated, and Rose wasn't in an outfit that should be ruined by a spar. It was time to go home, and I was grateful.
Jasper walked to me slowly, again, to give me a moment for the others to go ahead of us. He had that look again, the look I could feel even I couldn't see it.
"Did you get lost?" He said, knowing the rest were far enough away. He said it to ask a lot of things at once. Are you okay? Did you see something? Where did you go?
I nodded, smiling out of a kind of self consciousness. My ability made me feel even more invincible than most. Moments like this made me as if I had tripped, lost my balance in front of everyone.
There was just one whose attention I had kept, only one who noticed.
"See, I knew you gave it to me."
I smiled bigger, more naturally this time, though just as embarrassed as before. My eyes couldn't focus just yet, but I could see he had returned it. He was seemingly happy he had surprised me more than once today, first in the fight, then in waking me up a little. I felt his hands gently lift my face, then his face drew closer. The kiss was slow, paced, grounding.
It still took my breath, but I was grateful for the distraction. When held me against his chest I was glad I could feel him, because for some reason I couldn't feel myself.
Though he had already begun, he asked anyway.
My eyes shut. I nodded, and soon, I laughed against him, and could feel his fingers run through my hair.
"There you are." He said. Only then did I know where I was, only when I was able to trace the smile in his voice.
