Twilight: The Question

Series: The Rebel and the Bodyguard
Rating:PG
Genres: Romance, Angst , Fluff
Pairing: Romance: Kate/Garrett
Spoilers: If you intend to see the film Breaking Dawn, Part 2 and /or read the book Breaking Dawn (much less any of the works before them), you should do so *before* reading this. It would hopefully increase your enjoyment to also first read the other fics in the "Rebel and the Bodyguard" series (see deviation description for links), but it's not strictly necessary.
Summary: While Kate's away, Garrett takes the opportunity to ask the coven a couple of things -- namely, what they think Kate's opinion is of marriage and weddings. But the very act of trying to find out how to make Kate happy may have the opposite effect ....
Length: Just over 3500 words.
Notes: Each section has a heading that lets you know whose point of view it's told from.
~ * * * ~ = Kate
##### = Garrett
Disclaimer:  Twilight, Garrett, Kate, Tanya, Irina, Bella, Carmen, Eleazar, Alice, Bella, Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, the Cullens, and the Denalis  © Stephenie Meyer/Summit Entertainment.

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"Tanya, when we say a pair of vamps are 'mated', what does the term mean to you and Katie?" Garrett asked Tanya, plucking idly at the strings of his guitar.

Kate had only been gone half an hour, and already he missed her. They hadn't been more than a quarter-mile apart, he reckoned, since Kate had come back from taking a human to the hospital a few months ago. He knew it was silly to expect them to be close every moment of every day, but they'd also had centuries without each other, and had almost been killed by the Volturi shortly after meeting. Surely it wasn't so unreasonable to not want to be separated anytime soon?

And yet he was the one who'd separated them now, by opting to stay home when she decided to make a trip to an art supply store. He'd tried to make it out to be no big deal, but there was hurt and uncertainty in her smile as she bid him goodbye. He hadn't offered an explanation for not wanting to go, just saying, "Nah, you go have fun." Thankfully, she hadn't asked why he didn't want to tag along. He couldn't think of a reason other than the truth, which would have defeated the whole purpose of staying behind: asking the rest of the coven questions he didn't dare ask Kate.

For instance, Kate had referred to herself and Garrett as being mated (as had he), but it had recently occurred to him: what if it didn't mean the same for her that it did for him? He didn't want to put Kate on the spot about it, so he was asking Tanya because, out of all the coven members, her thoughts were the most likely to echo Kate's.

Tanya looked up from her drawing in confusion, glancing at Eleazar and Carmen, who were playing chess nearby. The pair looked as befuddled as Tanya. "What do you mean? I think it's pretty self-explanatory, isn't it?" Tanya asked.

He focused on adjusting strings that didn't need it. "Well, amongst humans these days, I've noticed that their marriages don't always last forever -- sometimes they don't even last a year. And a vampire's 'forever' can be a lot longer than a human's, yet I've always been under the impression that mating is both like a marriage and supposed to be forever ...."

"Well, I wouldn't call myself an expert, having never had a mate myself, but my understanding, like yours, is that mating really is eternal, and I've never heard Kate suggest otherwise. Irina certainly seemed to feel that way about Laurent, that she wanted to be with him forever ...." Her eyes got a faraway look, and Garrett kicked himself internally for bringing it up.

"You're worried that Kate might not mean forever, and you don't want her to feel obligated to stay with you," Carmen said.

Garrett wasn't sure if she was asking or stating, but he nodded.

"Let me ask you something, Garrett," Eleazar chimed in, moving a piece as he did. "Did you consciously make a choice to be Kate's mate, or was it more a matter of realising that was what you were?"

"Definitely realisin'," Garrett replied without an ounce of hesitation. It hadn't been an immediate, instantaneous realisation, exactly, but he had never felt like he might not want to be with her, just feared that he might not be able to, for reasons outside of his control.

"That is as it was for myself," Eleazar assured him.

"And for me, and for anyone else I've heard speak on the subject," Carmen added, taking her turn. "So I find it unlikely that Kate would use the term without feeling that way herself, especially since she has never used it before, despite having been close enough to a few vampires to make us wonder if she was going to be mated with one of them. And if you're wondering, despite how close she seemed to them, we can see a marked difference between her relationships with them and the one she has with you. I said we wondered with the -- we do not wonder with you. We know you are mates."

Garrett appreciated Carmen's bluntness, accepting it without qualm; he knew Kate had had many lovers, after all. It didn't matter one little bit how much she might have cared for those others, if he, Garrett, was the only one she'd ever called her mate -- obviously she hadn't cared for the others enough.

That brought him to his next question. "So then ... has Katie ever said anythin' about weddin's or such?" He wouldn't mind having a wedding, but he could just as easily live without it. He just wanted to do whatever would make Kate happy -- but was afraid she might agree simply because she would assume it was what he wanted instead of what she did.

"You know, she actually hasn't," Tanya replied, eyes still on her sketchbook. "I guess technically you don't need a ceremony, but if you want one, I don't think she'd be against it. Even if you wanted a religious ceremony rather than just a civil one, I think she'd do it, if it'd make you happy."

Just as he thought she would. "But it wouldn't be her preference?" he asked, reading between the lines -- not that it mattered, since he was neither particularly religious nor specifically interested in having a wedding beyond the notion of having a good time with their friends.

"Probably not, since our people are from a time and place of largely different gods than those typically revered here and now," Tanya reminded him with a grin.

"Well, if we did get hitched, would she want a ceremony like what she would have had back then?" he asked, curious.

Tanya shook her head. "We lost interest in a lot of things like that once we became vampires. I mean, to the humans, we were gods, you know?"

Garrett nodded thoughtfully. He hadn't been a very god-fearing man even before his death, much less after, and vampires were seen as devils rather than gods in his day, but he reckoned the principle was the same: the idea of deities and devils didn't hold so much sway over your life when you could be easily mistaken for one yourself ....

"Personally, I've always been of the mind that an excuse to party, to celebrate life and share happiness, should never be wasted. And neither should this wedding dress Alice insisted I design for Kate," she added, holding up her sketchbook without actually showing the page.

"It has just occurred to me -- this conversation is why you asked Kate if she might pick up something from the art store for you because you were purportedly too busy to go yourself," Carmen remarked.

"And it is doubtless why you asked us to stick around today, as well," Eleazar added. "Alice told you to make sure we were here."

Again, it seemed more like a statement of observation than a question.

"Alice called this morning," Tanya confirmed.

Garrett grinned, relaxing. Alice was a sweet girl, even if she could be a manipulative minx as well; it seemed to him that her machinations were never bad things anyway. And Tanya was right: they had a reason to celebrate and thus should do so -- it was a good part of why he'd been considering the notion in the first place. If neither of them were particularly interested in a formal ceremony, then there was no reason to worry about pressure or motives -- it was just a party! Even if they exchanged some sort of vows, there was no reason to fear that he was pressuring her, since they'd already realised and accepted that they were mates.

Now there was just the question of the proposal.

"Alice also told me to tell you that whatever way you decide to ask Kate about having a wedding, Kate will love it." Tanya assured him. "And whatever you plan for the wedding, you will be happy."

Garrett was going to have to remember to give the fairy-like woman a big ol' thank-you hug when he got a chance.

"She also said neither Kate nor Jasper would mind if you kissed her," Tanya added.

Garrett laughed. He would at that, then -- it was the least he could do.

His decision to propose made -- and he was going to propose in the sense of asking her to marry him, not just make the proposition that they have a wedding -- his next decision was the matter of a ring. Being a nomad until fairly recently, he had no money of his own, and while he was now a member, it seemed weird to use the coven's money. Never mind that they had plenty (more than even their well-off lifestyle suggested); it felt like using her money to buy her own gift, and that just didn't seem right. Besides, given Kate's own creativity, Garrett wanted to give her something from himself rather than pick out something someone else had made.

Gold, he knew, was the softest of metals. He might not really have any money of his own, but he did have some valuable souvenirs -- including a gold doubloon and a sapphire from a trip he'd made to check out a shipwreck. It wasn't too hard to come up with a design. He broke off a bit of the doubloon, then rubbed the fragment between his fingers at such a speed that the friction heated it, making it malleable, like clay. He formed some of the gold into the shape of a lightning bolt, the ends meeting to form a ring, then crushed the gem in dust and rolled the ring in it, embedding the tiny sapphire particles into the ring's outer surface. He studied the ring, an homage to when she'd first brought him to his knees with her power, with satisfaction.

Now, how should he give it to her ...?

~ * * * ~
Normally, Kate's trips to the art supply store were enjoyable, spent looking at all the new products, as well as bonding with Tanya and, lately, Garrett (at least since learning  to handle being around humans for short periods without his thirst overpowering him, largely thanks to the "hold your breath" technique Bella had cleverly come up with). This time, though, Kate's heart wasn't in it -- seeing as Garrett was her heart and he'd decided to stay home. Now, instead of her mind being on the items before her, she was wondering if she'd done something wrong. She told herself it was silly to be so paranoid -- there came a time in every relationship where a couple grew, if not sick of one another, at least comfortable enough to bear separation, the "honeymoon" period ended. Had they reached that day already? A petulant part of her pointed out that they hadn't even had a honeymoon -- not one like Bella and Edward had had, anyway, or like Rosalie and Emmett purportedly took every time they renewed their vows.

Suddenly, Kate got an idea.

Picking up what Tanya wanted and a few other odds and ends, Kate then made a special stop at another store -- and then sat in the car for a bit while she worked with her latest acquisitions. When she was finally satisfied with the result, she started the car and headed home.

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Garrett tried to tell himself it was good that Kate was taking longer than he would have expected, since it had given him time to plan. He was done, now, though, had been for a while, and so paced anxiously, waiting for her. He reminded himself that Alice had confirmed that things would turn out all right, so it wasn't like something bad had happened to Kate to delay her. (As if there was much of a chance of that in any case!) Still, a little part of him worried that she'd taken offence at his decision to stay home. Just because he knew they would be getting married didn't mean there wasn't a chance he'd made her temporarily unhappy; while he understood that it was probably impossible to avoid heartache indefinitely, he still wanted to try to avoid ever hurting her!

When he heard the sound of the garage door opening, he hurried into the garage just in time to see the car screech to a stop in its usual place. Kate barely made it out of the car before he lifted her off her feet  in a tight hug. (He would have swung her around, but he imagined she would zap him good if he scrapped the paint in her car with her own boots.) He was relieved when she returned his embrace with equal force.

"I missed you!" they said in tandem, then laughed as he set her down.

"Jinx!" she said.

"Well, I'm guessin' ya don't want a soda ...." he remarked, brow arched in bemusement.

"I'm sure you'll think of something," she replied cheerfully as she gathered her shopping bags.

"How's this?" he asked as she turned back to him, kissing her deeply.

"You read my mind," she said coyly when they finally stopped.

"Well, then, let's tell Eleazar I have a talent after all!" he laughed.

"Many talents," she corrected, kissing him again.

It was a while before the actually made it back into the house.

~ * * * ~
They didn't stay in the house long.

Garret complained that he was thirsty, and Kate realised she could use a drink herself, so they went hunting together. On their way out the back door, she noted Eleazar and Carmen chatting in the kitchen, and could have sworn they'd had identical, amused gleams in their eyes.

She'd already stopped fretting over why Garrett had stayed home -- if he had been angry at or annoyed with her at all, his kiss proved he was over it. Now, though, she was intensely curious as to what had been said in her absence that had Eleazar and Carmen reacting so to her.

She considered asking Garrett as they left the house, but decided against it, in case it was something that might either embarrass him or ruin a surprise. If she were meant to know, sooner or later she would; otherwise, satisfying curiosity wasn't worth putting anyone in an awkward position.

At least, that's what she told herself as she hunted alongside her beloved, trying to focus on her task and not scratch her mental itch.

When the third animal slipped free from her grasp, Garrett gave her a worried look. "You all right, Katie?"

"Yeah, just ... distracted, I guess."

He cocked his head. "By what?"

"I don't know; you tell me!" she demanded, trying not to sound as exasperated as she felt.

"Huh?" He seemed genuinely confused.

Okay, so maybe there was no surprise? "It's just that Eleazar and Carmen were acting kind of funny when I got home -- I thought maybe you knew what was going on with them, but I guess not. I'm sorry I snapped at you!"

"Oh!" He was suddenly bashful and sheepish -- and entirely endearing. "Well, truth be told, I guess I do know -- and I promise what has them acting weird is a good thing. And I will tell you about it! But let's feed first, okay? And then I wanna take you somewhere, if that's  all right." Lips curled softly in a sweet, gentle smile, he held out his hand in invitation.

His warm, golden eyes meeting hers, her worries melting away under their heat, she happily accepted, lacing her fingers in his.

Once they fed, Garrett led her to the top of a nearby glacier, one that offered a fantastic view of the surrounding wilderness, which included still-snow-covered mountains. They had been there before, camped there even -- and apparently were to do so again, as their tent, she saw, had been pitched already.

It was close to sunset when they arrived, and as if on cue, the clouds parted, revealing the gold orb. Painter that the sun was, the sky, snow, and ice were streaked with fiery pinks, oranges, and yellows, while shadows took on shades of blue and purple. Garrett had become a canvas for the fading light as well, but there was just enough brightness to also hint at the diamond-like quality of Garrett's skin. Kate desperately wanted to capture the scene before her on a canvas herself, and did her best to commit it to memory, lovingly tracing her beloved's features with both hand and eye, while he did the same.

He slid his arms around her and faced the world. "Look at that, Katie, how this glacier slowly dances with equally slow mountains. They move so slow that you can't even see them move -- not while you're lookin'. But turn away long enough, and when you look back, they have moved, and changed. There's always somethin' new to see, plants and animals livin' and dyin' in their presence, leavin' their marks. The sun rises and sets every day, but never does it in quite the same way, clouds formin' and fading around it. The same with the moon. That's us, Katie. Eternal, seemin' unchanging, but there's so many new things to see around us, and so many ways to see ourselves reflected in the world. Our life will never be dull so long as we continue to look, at the world and each other -- and keep finding new ways of lookin'."

He turned to her and lifted her hand, placing it palm-to-palm with is. He slid his palm down and away, until one fingertip alone touched the center of her hand.

And then he fell to his knees.

"Did I zap you?" she asked, holding her hands up, remembering the time he'd tested her power with such a touch and similarly fell.

He grinned at her, shaking his head and reaching for her hands, taking them. "You don't even need to use your power in order to bring me to my knees, Katie," he said, seeming like a worshipper kneeling in supplication. Part of her enjoyed the adoring expression he bore towards her, but she also felt uncomfortable -- she wanted them to be equals, not find herself on a pedestal!

Before she could protest, he reached into a pocket then, and held an object up to her. "Katie, I know we've already declared each other mates, but a gentleman always asks, and I never want to take your presence in my life for granted. I present this ring, made by my own hands, as a token of my love for you, yours to have regardless of your answer what I'm about to ask. I would never see you shackled, and will accept whatever you wish to give me, whenever you wish to give it, and for however long you want me to have it. With that in mind, will do me the honour of being my mate for as long as you'll have me, and marry me in front of our friends and family, so as to let them share in our happiness?"

Wide-eyed, Kate took the ring, studying it as she turned it in her fingers. It was a thing of beauty, one rivaling the natural beauty around them -- she'd had no idea that Garrett had that kind of talent! Proof that there would always be new tings to find see in one another and their relationship, just as he'd suggested. She grinned at the design; on her finger, it would be a warning not just that another had laid claim to her heart, but also of her talent, which she fully intended to use towards anyone who didn't respect that she had given her heart to Garrett.

She dropped to her knees, bringing them closer to an equal level, even if he was considerably taller. Keeping the ring in her left hand, she pulled something out of her pocket with her right, holding it up to him. It was a ring, fashioned by her own hands to resemble a drop of blood that wrapped around the finger. Embedded in its surface was red ruby dust fading into amber at the drop, a symbol of how he'd changed into a "vegetarian" for her sake.

"I accept," she told him, "on the condition that we are equal in all things -- meaning you don't treat me like a goddess."

He looked at the ring, then at her, his expression unreadable. "But I can't, Katie," he told her, inexplicably smiling even as he said it.

She sank further onto the ground, stunned.

He brought himself level with her, cupping her hand in both of his. "I mean I can't treat you as any less than what you are. So I'll just have to work to be a god alongside you," he finished, grinning.

She laughed in relief. She supposed it was okay to be put on a pedestal if he was up on it with her.

~FINIS~