Chapter 1

Bella's Point of View

The Volturi hadn't been seen near us or anywhere out of Italy at all for that matter since our confrontation about Renesmee. Since we beat them and they couldn't face themselves. So why now? Nearly a year later they had decided to come visit us again. But why?

Our family had been living in peace that entire year, Edward and I finally settled down and spent our lives helping Renesmee through what was left of her childhood. No big confrontations had come of that year. Renesmee's growing was slowing each day. There was no need for the Volturi here.

Alice had seen them coming about 2 weeks out. She said she would have seen them earlier but they were visiting Canadian nomads and they weren't sure when they would be done their so their decision of when to come here was spur of the moment, whenever they were done with the others.

We braced ourselves when we heard the news. Ready at that moment to fight, once again, for whatever we had "done wrong" in their eyes. When Alice announced the news Edward grabbed my hand and quickly scooped up Renesmee. He was still tense from our last confrontation, we all were. Even though I was nearly indestructible now Edward still protected me with his own life (even if it was an immortal one). As for Renesmee, ever since the fight my maternal instincts have grown, including the one to protect her. I felt like I too should wrap my body around her at even the mention of the name Volturi to protect her from the unseen danger, the danger that only a mother could see.

But Alice assured us that their meeting was a peaceful one and so instead of bracing ourselves for a fight we sat. We sat like sitting ducks, waiting to go to be slaughtered.

Chapter 2

Two weeks later, just as Alice had predicted, we heard them. Emmett and Jasper volunteered to go with Jacob about 5 miles out to warn us when they were drawing near, so that we wouldn't be completely surprised. But Alice still assured us their meeting was peaceful. After a couple hours of waiting the three watch guards came back. They were coming. And now we had to be ready, because they were.

Edward and I both reached for Renesmee. Nobody would ever harm our baby. There was no human or immortal way possible. Edward and I would both die before any of the Volturi hurt her. Peaceful or not, the Volturi had come last time to kill and there was hardly any reassurance that this time would be different. Edward let me hold her and went to stand by the door, guarding both Renesmee and me. I watched as he crouched low, an easier position to strike.

I stiffened as much as I could while holding Renesmee, ready to defend her. Renesmee reached out her hand and touched me. She still preferred to communicate this way. Into my head she put an image of the Volturi guard. I nodded once. So she did remember. We never talked about the Volturi or the clearing confrontation, when they had wanted to kill us all. Edward and I hoped over the years that her memories of the Volturi would be erased and replaced with new ones but they hadn't yet and here we were starting the whole process over again.

Renesmee reached out again, this time showing an image of Edward about to leap, ready to kill. It was a question, would this be a fight? "I hope not," I whispered. Jacob, who was in human form up till this point went into an empty corner (It used to hold Edwards piano but we had put it in our home) and morphed into his wolf form. He tensed himself too, ready to defend Renesmee just as much as Edward. I got ready too. I had been practicing with my shield for a while, since the Volturi had been here last, and I could extend it over the whole group easily.

Even Alice, who was assured that it was a peaceful meeting, moved slightly and we all knew she was getting ready to strike at a second's notice. Rosalie came to stand next to me and absentmindedly began to stroke Renesmee's hair. Her face was serious and I could tell her mind was elsewhere. It helped that I had to focus on my shield; it kept my mind from wandering to what might lie ahead.

Finally Edward threw up one hand, the signal that he heard their thoughts. He focused intently, reading minds was the easy part, he was trying to tell how many minds.

"At least three," he whispered, "No four. Aro, Marcus, Caius and Demitri, I think. One guard, Demitri, but that's it." His body relaxed a bit, "They seem peaceful, like they want to talk. But about what, I can't tell."

"Don't let down your guards. It may be a trick. They know our powers, they know the loopholes," Carlisle demanded.

I started breathing heavier, Edward was right, it was a luxury. I could see my shield waver a bit. NO! I couldn't let down my guard because I was nervous, because I didn't know what was going on, that's what they wanted. I looked down at Renesmee (would it be the last time?) and handed her over to Rosalie. I couldn't stand in the back again. Last time there had been more of us. True there were only four of them, we thought, but my mind raced through all the possibilities, even the foolish ones. Were others hiding out of distance of Edward's power? Were they in a plane ready to jump out and ambush us? I thought of this all when a quiet knock came at the door.

1 quiet knock.

Chapter 3

Carlisle answered the door. It was his house after all. And there were 4 of them, just four that we could see. Their hoods were down, it was odd to see them without their hoods, and their faces hauntingly beautiful in a way that made you want to shiver. I'm sure that if I was still human I would have. Demitri, the guard, was muscular, but the rest were thin. They looked like porcelain, indestructible porcelain.

Aro was in front, obviously the leader. He reached out his hand. "Carlisle, good friend," he said, "It hasn't been nearly as long." He looked peaceful but looks could be deceiving.

"Yes, I wouldn't expect you for years Aro," Carlisle responded. He grasped Aro's hand and shook.

"My visit is a bit rash and under any other circumstances I would have notified you beforehand but…," Aro stopped, "Perhaps we should just begin at the beginning as all good stories do.

"We traveled back to Italy after the misunderstanding about the child." He glanced at Renesmee quickly. "A few weeks after our return we received three visitors, two vampires and another, not human not vampire and not even half-blood as yours is. The two were Russian nomads. We had never before encountered these nomads, they were very solitary. The two were a couple, Olga and Nicholas. They had heard about your way of life and adopted it themselves. They were what you call vegetarian vampires. They too believed that you should only turn others to vampires to save them.

"So one day they found a boy who was starving and very badly injured and very near to death. So they knew that they should save him. They… well went through the process to turn him into a vampire. But he experienced no pain. They figured that he was too dead to become a vampire, that he couldn't be saved. They thought he was already dead.

"But a few days later he woke up! His appearance did not change and his scars from the injuries were still there. He had not changed at all. He knew nothing about where he came from or what he now was. Yet he still had all the powers of the vampire, he was strong, fast and indestructible. It was if part of him was a vampire and part of him was human. But not quite like your child. Slowly his scars began to fade, just that day. But something else was different about him also.

"He didn't feel the longing for blood. Nor did he feel the need for human food. He needed no sustenance what so ever. Olga and Nicolas brought him to us and we began testing him, his abilities, his strengths and his weaknesses. He is like nothing we've ever seen. But what we discovered astounded us. His body somehow is a rejection to vampires, like he is almost a cure for being a vampire. Eventually we discovered that if a vampire were to drink his blood, they would be returned to their human state. His blood is very enticing, I have only smelled one more enticing." His eyes flashed to me.

"Now I am not a religious man, Carlisle, you know that. But some of those who reside with me are. They believe this boy, Fredrick they call him, is a sign from God. God wants us to drink his blood because God is displeased with vampires. That is why his blood is so delectable, they say. Now these who are religious want to take his blood, want to return to their human state. So I thought that since we were letting all vampires have their own free will we must open the option to all. Do you want to return to being human?"