A/N: For those of who who don't know what this is, it's a sequel to my story "An Emerald Amongst Rubies". I suggest you read that first, so you know what's going on :) This story is exclusively about Maia, and her journey away from the Volturie. Ok, I just couldn't wait to post this! I love this story (what I've written so far) so much and I wanted to share it with you. I hope that those of you who enjoyed "Emerald" will enjoy this story just as much (if not more!) Thanks to Clairehasdimples for encouraging me to actually post this and for REVIEWING EVERY CHAPTER! *hinthint* Let's get started!

Stephenie Meyer owns all Twilight. No infringement intended

I sometimes wonder how different life would have been if I wasn't born a half-vampire. Not that I didn't like the lot in life I was given, I loved it. Everything was so simple in my life. Everyone bought my clothes, the finest fabrics and most decadent designs. My memory was perfect and I was almost as smart as my dad, Aro (which he would probably disagree with). I had a beautiful garden where I could coax any flowers into being. And I had the unending love of dozens of immortal vampires, my friends and family, and my boyfriend, Felix.

But I still wonder, what would I have? I guess, at the age of ten, I would still be small, and probably stupid. Maybe the next-door-neighbor and I would throw rocks at each other, while our parents exchanged knowing glances. And maybe I would struggle in school, getting average grades because I'd rather throw rocks than study. My clothes would probably be less fancy, more practical, for the small village life of a ten year old girl. Even though, to most, that life sounds sucky compared to what I have, I probably would trade mine for it any day of the week.

The day I stopped growing was the day the trouble started. It was like the slight rumble that turns into an earthquake. When I awoke the next morning, I saw that Savio was arguing with my dad, a very rare occurrence. Nobody, except maybe Caius or Jane, ever argued with Aro, so seeing Savio yell at him was just… wrong. I didn't really understand the argument, neither of them said names. Eventually Savio made his point, he wanted to leave. Aro wouldn't let him, and he stormed off. I think that's about when I started to feel the nerves start in my stomach.

Felix told me to ignore it. I listened to him, he knew better than me. I mean, he had been around for at least two hundred years longer than me, I assumed that this kind of grumbling happened from time to time. I was wrong, of course, nobody in the Volturi ever wanted out of it, ever. But of course, why tell me that? I'm not important or anything.

The rumbling stopped when trouble with some Indian vampires arose. Felix and Demetri had tried to settle the conflict rationally; they had been there for weeks. Felix came back quickly one night, a month before my tenth birthday, much to my happiness.

"J!" He rushed into my bedroom, where I was reading Madame Bovary and pulled me into his huge arms. I was so happy I couldn't do anything but give a small squeak of joy. We had never been apart for more than two days, and it had already been a month. "Oh J, I missed you so much!" He pulled me back and kissed me lightly on the lips. I giggled like a four year old, mainly because his kisses left me a little speechless.

I recovered in time to say, "What're you doing in my room Felix? My dad would kill you if he knew you were in here!"

"Well how's 'bout we just don't tell him then." Felix winked and pulled me down more on the bed, so we were lying down. He kissed me with more passion, his loneliness becoming apparent. His hand started to move up my chest and I pushed him away.

"Whoa there partner! That's enough of that!" Felix chuckled and pulled away, moving to lie next to me. I was glad that he respected my boundaries, which were between my shoulders and my knees. He took my hand chastely in his and kissed my fingers. We sat in silence for an hour, gazing goofily into each others' eyes.

"J, I want to talk to you about something serious." I was suspicious; Felix slid off the bed and stood next to me.

"Go ahead."

He took a deep breath before he began to speak. "We've been best friends since the day you were born, basically. And these past three years, they've been the best in my life." I beamed at him; it was the same for me. "You've changed me so completely, J. I was this notorious flirt before, always trying to get into everyone's pants. But you changed that. You made me respect women and- and especially you. I… I really love you J. I know we have an eternity together, and I guess I just want to make sure I never lose you." He sunk to one knee and I gasped. I shot up, standing in front of Felix. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a black velvet box. My eyes began to water and my hands covered my gaping mouth.

"Will you marry me, Maia?" He opened the box and a huge diamond caught my eye. I knew quite a bit about jewelry, my mother's fault, and this one was over-the-top. It must have cost the same as the annual budget of Andorra. Felix smiled at my shock. "You deserve the best, baby." I held out my hand and he slipped the giant diamond onto it. Before he did, I noticed the inscription on the silver band, per sempre, forever. I giddily examined it, throwing my arms around his large frame afterwards.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" With each word, I kissed his cheeks, lips, forehead, anywhere on his face.

With a booming laugh he shouted, "She said yes!" I heard cheers erupt around the castle and my cheeks burned red. My father ran into the room, smiling even wider than I was. He didn't speak as he tore me from Felix's arms and hugged me fiercely. I was surprised by his happiness; he didn't exactly hide his dislike of Felix and me together. Maybe he was just excited that Felix wasn't going to shamelessly flirt with everyone anymore. Whatever the reason, Aro made the face he made when he cries without tears. I patted his cheek and pulled myself from his arms. As soon as I was free though, Felix swept me into his arms and carried me to the tower.

Awaiting there was the whole guard, cheering and clapping and singing and generally acting like buffoons. Felix set me down to allow the throng of well-wishers to attack me. I gave him a glare before Sulpicia pulled me into her arms, but he only smiled. Sometimes, he could be truly evil.

Then again, I was used to attention. Growing up in the Volturi was not exactly an isolated lifestyle. For one, I was the only one growing, so there was that. And, every member of the guard seemed to want to observe that growth at every moment. They relished being able to stare at me for an hour and actually see my hair grow. I thought that once all of that stopped, when I finally reached my full immortal body, they wouldn't be so fascinated. I was wrong, of course.

"Oh you'll be the most stunning bride, darling!" Sulpicia examined the stone then kissed my cheeks in joy. I forced a smile for her; after all she was my mother. Sort of. I never told her, and I didn't plan on telling her, I never really thought of her as my mother. She was my father's wife, someone who I cared about deeply, but she just wasn't my mother. Since I had found out that she wasn't my flesh and blood, if you will, I couldn't let my mind think of her like that. Aro knew how I felt, and I think it secretly made him happy. He enjoyed the idea of being my only parent, and I didn't mind it much either.

The crowd of happy vampires began to dwindle as the novelty of hugging me and grabbing my left hand wore off. They wanted to pump me with champagne to celebrate, but I declined. They tended to live vicariously through me, mostly by getting me drunk. Eventually I stole away from the room at the instant nobody was looking. I found myself on a balcony, over looking our Italian countryside. I leaned against the balustrade and put my head in my hands. I wanted to think.

A slight tap on my shoulder interrupted my about to be pensive thoughts. Aro, of course. I knew he'd want to talk to me. He mimicked my position and watched the hills as I did.

"Caramia," he said softly, taking my hand in his. "I'm so very happy this day has come." I saw in his thoughts that this was true. But of course it was, my dad never lied to me. "Felix came home and asked my permission; I was only too joyous to oblige." He turned to me and smiled. I smiled back, his happiness made me happy, too. "The thought of you all in white, ahh, you'll truly be an angel, mia. And Sulpicia is so excited to start planning it."

"Whoa, what?" I pulled back and stood up. "Start planning it? Now?! I mean, it's gonna be awhile before we get married!" Felix came onto the balcony as I spoke, and his face was crestfallen. Apparently, they were on a different track on this whole wedding thing than I was.

Aro was definitely startled by my reaction. "Of course we're going to start planning now! How else will the wedding happen in the fall?"

"THE FALL!" I shrieked. "Whoa, whoa, whoa there! I'm not getting married anytime soon! I mean, just cause we got engaged doesn't mean that the wedding has to be soon." I looked at Felix, who seemed to be on the verge of tears. "We have a whole eternity, right? I may not look it, but I'm only ten years old, definitely not ready to actually walk down the aisle. Maybe we could wait a year, or two?" Or ten or twenty. It wasn't that I didn't want to get married, obviously I would have said no if I didn't want to, just that this year seemed so sudden. One moment I'm just a regular-Jane-half-vampire, and the next I'm Mrs. Felix Volturi. Mrs. Maia Volturi. Well that did have somewhat of a ring to it, but that's not the point.

"You know, you're right J," Felix said, putting his large hands around mine. "We can wait, right Aro? No need to rush into things. Let's savor the engagement for awhile." I blushed because I knew exactly how he'd want to "savor" our engagement. Aro cleared his throat and smiled. It was forced, I could see that easily, but I didn't call him on it. I could see determination in his eyes. I also could see that he was going to get his way. Oh well, I figured I could just pretend that I was in control of my wedding date.

Aro clapped Felix on the back and left us on the balcony. Felix's expression turned somber, unusual for him. "What's wrong? I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings it's just-" Felix stopped me mid-sentence with a breath-taking kiss. I could get used to that kind of interruption. I was really getting into the kiss when he pulled away.

"J, I have to go back to India in two days."

I breathed out my surprise and a few expletives. Felix nodded and pulled me in closer to him, resting his chin on my head. I thought that a month without him was torture, but to be reunited and then torn apart again was way worse. "You can't," I whined. I tried to stop the fire hot tears from coming, but they were already half-way down my cheeks and on his shirt before I noticed them. He adjusted his head and kissed the top of mine with force. It was a little comforting to know that he'd be crying if he could.

"I don't want to, you know that. But Demetri and I couldn't fix things. I came back to get the rest of the guard. There're a lot more newborns than we thought and we can't control all of them." I nodded into his strong chest and let him pull his arms tighter around me. "I'll be back as soon as possible, I promise."

I muttered, "Ok," into his chest. We stood in our embrace for an hour, until I thought I was going to fall asleep on my feet. As I started to pull away, he automatically knew what I needed, and he lifted me into his arms. He carried me to my room, one hand stroking my hair and the other supporting my body. My hands wrapped around his neck and I snuggled into his sweater, enjoying his smell. All too soon, we were at my room, and he set me down on my bed. He kissed my forehead and then my lips, and made to leave.

"Don't go, please don't go." He turned back and smiled brightly. He climbed into my bed with me, pulling my covers around me. His cold hand moved my shirt slightly in the process, and he rested his fingers on my bare stomach. I didn't gasp from the contact; I was more than used to the cold skin of vampires. But I shivered in delight and formed my body into his. I fell asleep instantly.

The next morning, Felix was still there, as close to sleep as a vampire gets. His face was in my hair, his eyes closed serenely. I turned my head and he sat up slowly.

"Good morning, J. How'd you sleep?"

"Great, seeing as you were there." I smiled and kissed him, even though I had morning breath. It figures, of all the human traits to keep, morning breath was one of them. I pulled myself from the bed and went to change. I wanted to work in my garden, so I picked out my grungy jeans and dirt covered t-shirt. I left the room, barely noting that Felix had left, and ran down to my escape.

I turned the giant key in its lock and pushed open the heavy doors easily. In the morning sun, my flowers looked particularly dazzling. I smiled at them and their dew covered petals. I got to work immediately, but slowly. I could have done all of my usual morning tasks in about two minutes, but I preferred to enjoy the time with them. I smelled each one, taking in its specific smell. I moved around the garden for an hour, stopping to smell the roses, if you will. Then I heard voices coming from the castle.

I left the gate to my garden open and I ran out of it. Savio was embracing Aro, a bag at his feet. He's leaving, I thought. I couldn't say that I was exactly heartbroken about that. Savio never seemed to like me, no matter what I tried. If he was so unhappy in Volterra, he should leave. He didn't deserve the happiness that was here if he was going to complain. I watched Savio run swiftly away. Aro suddenly looked at the ground and picked something up.

"Savio, you forgot your passport!" Aro called quietly, knowing Savio could hear him. But the vampire didn't respond. Aro turned towards me and smiled, then took off into the forest after him. I turned and went back into my garden. I was almost finished watering the plants, but I didn't want to go back inside yet. I wasn't sure how the others would take Savio's departure. I wanted to let them settle before I came back. I continued with my tasks in the peaceful sun, but I heard screaming.

I swept from my garden again, to see Aro dragging a female vampire with him. She screamed and screamed, and strangely, she called Savio's name. I made to follow them, but I realized who it was. The woman who used to haunt my dreams and nightmares. The woman who I had never actually met. The woman who was supposed to be dead.

My mother.

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