Another one-shot, again from Edward's POV.
How would Edward have acted in Volterra as he prepared to ask the Volturi for death? My thoughts on what might have been going through his mind at the time.
xoxoxo
As I arrived in Italy, a small part of my mind was remembering every moment I had ever shared with my Bella. I happened across the conversation Bella and I had had after watching Romeo and Juliet on her birthday, so many moons ago. Of course, I remembered everything about it; her exact words, the expressions on her beautiful face, everything. And that only made it more difficult for me to relive.
***
I told her that I had had to think about my own contingency plans, when she was taken away from me as we tried to track down James, the one who was hunting her.
"Well, I wasn't going to live without you," I had thought that that much would have been obvious to her, and rolled my eyes. I then went on to tell her about the Volturi.
"Anyway, you don't irritate the Volturi," I had concluded. "Not unless you want to die.
I almost grinned as I remembered the realization draw over her face, which had quickly turned to horror and then anger.
"You must never, never, never think of anything like that again! No matter what might happen to me, you are not allowed to hurt yourself!"
***
I sighed to myself. I knew that she wouldn't want this, but my path had been set before me as soon as Rosalie had uttered those three little words. It was like there was no conscious choice left for me now; this was my fate...my destiny.
Bella. Is. Dead.
Separately, the three little words meant nothing. They were not important. Insignificant. Together, they signalled the ending of my entire being, my entire world. I had become so attuned to Bella's heartbeat during the time that we had spent together during the summer vacation that it had become the most significant sound in my world. Nothing was more important to me. That little sound told me that Bella was still alive. Now, as the realization dawned on me that I would never hear it again, never see her blush, feel her warmth, or smell her intoxicating blood, I felt lost.
Arriving at my destination, the tower where the Volturi resided, I took what would hopefully be one of my last unnecessary breaths, and stepped inside.
The friendly receptionist, a human girl, Gianna, led me into one of the side rooms to await the arrival of Aro, Caius and Markus. If I was honest with myself, the girl was lucky that I was in too much pain from my grief to notice that she smelt extremely appetising to me; it had been too long since my last hunting trip. It made me feel so angry that this insignificant girl was free to live, whilst knowing about my kind; that her heart still beat, while my Bella's life had ended.
Moments after the girl had left, Aro, Caius and Markus entered the side room, accompanied by two of their guard, the twins Jane and Alec. I recognised them from Carlisle's memory of his time with the Volturi, and so I knew all about their powerful gifts which made them such an important part of the Volturi guard. As I thought of Carlisle, part of me wished that I could have seen all of my family members one last time; but I knew that this was the best way for all of them, especially for Carlisle and Esme.
"Mr. Cullen," Aro stepped forwards, holding his hand out to me. "And to what do we owe this pleasure, my son?"
"Edward, please," even with the imminent death I was hoping that the Volturi would grant me, I did not want to seem rude. I took his outstretched had, knowing from what I had seen in Carlisle's memories that, the moment I did so, the Volturi leader would hear all of the thoughts that had ever crossed my mind. Including the ones which had brought me into his presence today.
"Ah," he sighed, releasing my hand. "My dear Edward, I am so sorry! It is indeed a sad day when any one of us loose our mate."
"Thank you, Aro. Although I'm afraid that it's not your pity that I wish to receive."
"Ah, Edward! But what a pity to loose one of our kind as fine and talented as yourself, over something so trivial!"
"Thank you. But, as you can clearly see from my thoughts, I do not wish to carry on my existence without her."
"Indeed, indeed," Aro's thoughts, however, were not in line with his words. We cannot possibly grant him what he seeks, not over something such as this... He seemed to remember my 'talent' which he had spoken of, however, and blocked off this train of thought. I frowned slightly as Aro turned to Caius and Markus.
"It seems we have much to discuss, my brothers," he turned back to me, his mind blank and his expression unreadable. "If you will excuse us, young Edward, we will discuss the matter."
"Of course, thank you," the larger part of my mind was already formulating plans for forcing the Volturi's hand, but it was easier to simply pretend that they would give me what I wanted.
"Feel free to hunt, but we ask that you do so outside of our city," Caius added, no doubt noting the colour of my eyes.
"That won't be necessary, thank you."
"In that case, feel free to explore our wonderful city. We only ask that you do so...inconspicuously."
"Of course," I repeated, leaving their presence.
It calmed me amazingly well, knowing that, one way or another, this would be the last day that I was have to survive without seeing the face of Bella Swan smiling back at me. If Carlisle's theory was right, all I could do was to hope that we would both be reunited in the next life...if there was such a thing for a creature like me.