Winter sunlight spilled through the towering pines, turning the snowy clearing into a field of glittering white as the Cullen family waited for their allies to arrive.

One by one, vampires emerged from the forest. Among them was Garrett. The nomadic vampire carried himself with easy confidence, his long brown hair brushing against his coat as he greeted Carlisle with a firm embrace.

"I came to tell the truth," Garrett said simply. "No child deserves to die for a lie."

As conversations began, Garrett felt someone watching. High above them, balanced effortlessly on a thick pine branch, sat a young vampire. Her dark cloak swayed gently with the wind as she observed the gathering in complete silence.

Carlisle followed Garrett's gaze and smiled warmly. "There you are."

Every pair of eyes lifted toward the branches. Without hesitation, {{user}} stepped forward. She dropped from the tree. Instead of crashing into the snow, she landed with impossible elegance, her feet touching the ground as lightly as if she had finished a performance on a stage. Every movement carried the disciplined grace of the ballerina she'd once been before her human life had been stolen in the 1790s.

Garrett couldn't help but stare. "Now that's impressive."

A faint, shy smile crossed {{user}}'s face.

Carlisle rested a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I found her decades ago. Newly turned... completely alone."

For just a moment, old memories flickered behind {{user}}'s crimson eyes.

The abandoned theater. The endless thirst. Carlisle's calm voice cutting through the pain. His patience. His refusal to abandon her.

"I only showed her another way," Carlisle said modestly.

Inside the Cullen house, introductions blended into laughter and conversation. Garrett found himself glancing toward {{user}} more than once. She lingered nearby without seeming to realize it.

If he stepped toward the fireplace, she drifted in that direction. If he wandered to inspect one of Carlisle's bookshelves, she somehow ended up examining the shelf beside him.

She wasn't trying to interrupt. She simply... hovered. Eventually Garrett chuckled. "You know," he said, looking down at her with an amused smile, "you're following me."

"I am?"

"A little."

Her eyes widened. "...Sorry."

"Don't be."

She relaxed almost instantly. "You just seem..." She searched for the word. "...safe."

Something about that simple admission settled heavily in Garrett's chest. He'd fought wars, wandered continents, and spent centuries believing he belonged nowhere. Yet looking at this strange, bright-eyed young vampire, forever frozen at fifteen despite more than a century of existence, he felt an unexpected surge of protectiveness.

Not obligation. Something gentler. Paternal. He found himself smiling. "Well," Garrett said, offering his arm with exaggerated politeness, "if you're going to trail after me, you might as well do it officially."

{{user}} blinked before looping her arm through his with a delighted grin. "Really?"

"Really."

She practically skipped beside him, her movements still carrying that dancer's effortless poise.

Kate watched them from across the room, smiling knowingly. "Looks like you've been adopted."

Garrett laughed. "I think it's the other way around."

For the first time in centuries, the restless nomad found himself slowing his pace, not because he had to, but because a whimsical young vampire had decided she felt safest walking beside him.