Notes: This is a sequel to "Home"...you don't have to read that to totally understand this, but it would probably help alot! Yeah, I know I sound like I'm begging for reads, but I'm just trying to be helpful! So go read "Home" if you get confused...And no, for the love of God I am NOT Stephenie Meyer! (But, that's no doubt obvious...)

Long Flight To Italy

Sean's POV:

I hate flying.

No, I REALLY hate flying!

I mean, it's not that I'm scared the plane's going to crash, or anything like that. It's just that being cooped up in a hollow, cylindrical piece of metal for hours on end tends to—unnerve me. And this trip, there was an extra treat—I was flying to Europe, so it would take even longer than normal. Yeah, thrilling. AND, I was baby-sitting. Well, at least since the plane was a 747, it was bigger...and more full of people—way more full of people.

I sighed as we trudged up the gangplank towards the plane. And then the greeting by the perky, phony-smiling stewardess, and her insincere "Welcome aboard! Thank you for flying with us today!"

I smiled slightly, and guided Felix to our seats. Of course, as predicted the plane was grossly full, and I could hear numerous babies crying already. Perfect. Too noisy, too stinky...why couldn't some people take showers before they got aboard planes for long flights? For the love of God, why?

I grimaced as I herded Felix down the aisle through a sea of humanity—people stowing carry-on's in over head compartments, standing in and blocking the aisles, laughing, talking in half a dozen different languages...yeah, did I mention that I hated flying? At least our seats were in the middle of a row, so I wouldn't have to constantly stand to let people past.

"Here you go, Felix old pal," I said as I guided him into his seat. "Let's just buckle you in there, so you're nice and safe." Although, I doubted he'd be hurt if he did get thrown out of his seat. But still, better to be careful—I didn't want him thrown around and then have to explain why he wasn't hurt. True that if that happened, many others would be thrown around as well, and maybe no one would even notice his lack of cuts, bruises, and other random injuries. But still…..

"Huh-huh! Shiny!" he said, grinning stupidly and trying to grab the buckle as I was strapping him in.

I sighed. "Yeah, it's shiny, Felix. Real shiny." I shook my head. Seventeen hundred years old, and I had to baby-sit a retarded vampire. Well, it was kinda my fault that he was retarded, but still. How humiliating. He started to bounce up and down on his seat, laughing stupidly. I frowned, and told him to stop. I didn't want to have to explain why he broke an airline seat either, which is what he was liable to do if he didn't stop.

When he was finally calmed down, I collapsed into my own seat. And I frowned as another thought hit me. What would happen if Felix got hungry while we were stuck on a plane filled with a few hundred people, 40,000 feet up in the air? Not good. I could probably stop him, but how would I explain it? Visions of crowds holding torches and pitchforks waiting for us when we landed popped into my head, and my frown deepened. Maybe I shouldn't have been so hasty in leaving. Maybe I should have thought it through a little better, and talked it over with Carlisle or something. Oh well...too late now.

Felix started to drool again, and stared off into space. I prayed that his quiet mood would last for the 24 hours the flight would last. Well, it wasn't really 24 hours. It was just that we were leaving Seattle at 7:40 am and getting to Rome at 7:30 am. Time difference and all, along with two connecting flights—one in Chicago, and the other in Milan. Then the trip through the airport, the time spent getting a rental car, and the drive to Volterra. Yeah...that could be real fun. Again, I wondered if I should have thought all this through better. And again, there wasn't anything I could do now but pray.

My glance fell on one of those magazines they have in the pockets of the airline seats. Picking it up, I soon found myself deeply engrossed in an interesting article about the Mob's ties to Las Vegas.

"Excuse us, but we need to get to our seats," said a voice next to me. I frowned slightly, wondering why whoever it was hadn't gone down the other aisle where they wouldn't have had to pass anyone. Still reading, I stood awkwardly, and let them pass.

"Thank you," the voice said. I just nodded. There were two of them, and they took the seats on the other side of Felix. Right next to him, in fact. And as soon as I settled back into my seat, I heard a commotion from their direction. Suddenly, another voice said, "Excuse us, please." Again I frowned, as two more people coming from the opposite direction wanted past me. Gah, what was it with people? The plane hadn't even left the ground, and I was already getting annoyed!

Muttering softly, I stood again, and let these two pass. One of them was a female, I noticed, as they sat down just to my left. Probably honeymooners on their way to Italy. Great, they'd probably be making out the whole trip. Sitting down yet again, I found my suspicions confirmed almost immediately when the girl murmured, "Honey, I love you so much!" To which the guy responded, "Aw Rose, I love you too!"

I glared at the magazine in front of me, and slouched lower in my seat. I tried to get back to the Las Vegas article, when I began to hear the sounds of kissing and soft moans coming from next to me. I groaned softly, and bashed my head against the back of the seat in front of me.

An old woman peered over it, yelling at me in Italian. I sighed, and leaned back, closing my eyes. Someone kicked the back of my seat, knocking my head forward slightly. The sounds of kissing and moaning next to me were getting louder. I ground my teeth together, and swore in Gaelic. Why couldn't the kissers have been sitting next to Felix? I didn't know if I'd survive the whole trip with people making out next to me the entire time.

Then a chuckle sounded from my right, and a vaguely familiar voice spoke. "What's wrong, Sean?" It asked. "Jealous? Are you missing Alice already?"

My eyes flew open, and I turned to see Edward sitting next to Felix, grinning. And next to him, Jasper nodded at me. "What are you two doing here?" I asked, somewhat annoyed. And yet I was a bit glad at the same time. Maybe between the three of us we could handle Felix better if he got hungry.

Edward laughed. "You mean the five of us," he said, nodding past me. I turned the other way, and discovered that the kissers were in fact the huge one and the blonde...uh, Emmett and Rosalie, I think their names were. And yeah, they were still kissing. Seriously? Gross.

Edward laughed again. "Yes, those are their names!' I turned back to him and glared. Damn mind reader, I thought. Keep out! He just smirked, but I know he heard me.

"You didn't answer me," I muttered. "What are you all doing on this flight?"

"Well, Carlisle wasn't thrilled with the idea of you going off all by yourself to face the Volturi." Then he grinned again. "And neither was Alice! Ha, she barely kept up the charade of you going alone. See, we planned all this while you were busy on the phone getting the tickets for your flight."

"Hmm...So that's what all the whispering was about," I said.

He nodded. "Alice had a vision of you dying, and couldn't handle it. So we hatched a pretty fast plan for some of us to go with you. Then Alice had another quick vision, showing that it would work."

His comment intrigued me. I really couldn't die in any way that even they could understand, so I wondered just exactly what her vision showed her. Then I wondered if she actually had a vision at all, or just lied to get them to go with me.

He frowned at me. "You can read minds, too" he said. "I'm surprised you didn't pick up on it yourself." Then he smiled again. "Or did you have something else on your mind at the time?"

I did, actually. I was trying to think how I'd apologize to Alice. Then she went and knocked me for a loop by kissing me, and finally everything had made sense—except..." Jasper, what are you doing here?" I asked. "I thought you were heading to Alaska?"

He smiled. "It's a favor to Alice. She wants me to keep your sorry butt safe so you can get back to her." He shrugged. "Besides, when this is all over, I'm heading up to Denali, so I won't be flying back with you all. And it's the least I can do for Alice." He seemed somewhat sad, and I decided to get to the bottom of what was really going on...later. I turned my attention back to Edward. "And what about you? How in the world did Bella let you come on what most likely will be a dangerous trip?"

Edward smiled. "Bella trusts Alice. They're best friends, AND just like sisters. When Alice has a vision, Bella believes it. We all do. I guess you'll have to get used to that, and trust her yourself."

"What about them?" I asked, jerking my thumb at the lovebirds next to me.

Edward smiled and shook his head. "They just like to go on vacations to romantic places. And you can't get much more romantic than Italy! Besides, if there's a potential fight, Emmett will be the first in line. As for the others, Alice, Bella and Esme are getting ready for the wedding, and Carlisle has his medical duties."

Then he leaned closer, and spoke even more softly. "Do you have a plan, or were you just going to burst in there and take them all on?"

I shrugged. "Pretty much the bursting in part. What can I say—I'm Irish. When we get mad, we get REALLY mad, and sometimes we don't think straight." No, make that we never think straight.

Edward nodded thoughtfully. "That's kind of what we all thought—well, the part about you not having a plan. We knew that you were mad at the Volturi, and feeling awkward around us—especially Alice." He smiled again. "But don't worry. We do have a plan. And according to Alice, it will work."

He leaned back in his seat, and I returned to my Vegas article. But I'd lost interest in it. All I could do now was think—think about Alice. And I smiled, remembering the feel of her lips against mine. But my missing of Alice was not helped by the sounds of frantic kissing and moaning which still emanated, rather loudly, from the seat next to me.

The old woman who had most likely cussed me out (at least they sounded like curse words. My Italian isn't very good), peered over the seat at Emmett and Rose and sighed, then mumbled something about "amore", before glaring at me once more.

I sighed again. Why wasn't the old lady babbling her angry Italian rants at them, for heaven's sake? I decided to watch a movie, and had just gotten absorbed with the movie when the old lady decided to recline her seat, hitting my knees rather sharply. Of course, again she glared and swore at me in Italian. WTF, woman—YOU hit MY knees, and you swear at me? Not to mention I couldn't see the little movie screen anymore.

It was definitely going to be a long, long flight.