A/N: First things first, thank you ZeeWee and ChaoticDear for reviewing, I hope you stay with me. Second, in this is took Aro's 'gift' and made it a little bigger, but it's still roughly what it used to be. Please review and tell me how you like it so far and let me know if I make any mistakes.

A/N2: I just fixed this chapter because I did some research and found some things I didn't know existed. Anyway, here's Aro's misfortune, rewritten a little.

A/N3: I don't know who Debbie Hicks is, but please, can you explain what that was that you reviewed? I didn't understand it at all.

Chapter 2: Unexpected Guest

"Renesmee! Renesmee!" Carlisle and Renesmee looked up from where they sat on the floor, looking at old medical journals.

"What, Mom?"

"Come on, sweetheart. Jake's here! He wants to take you for a ride."

The young girl turned to look up to her dad, who was also in the room. "Is it alright if I go, Dad?"

Edward Cullen smiled. "If your mother agrees, I don't care."

"Besides," Carlisle added, "if I was Jacob, I'd be more afraid of your mom, then of Edward."

Renesmee giggled, kissing her grandfather. "Can we finish tomorrow, Grampa?"

"Of cour—" The kind-hearted vampire cut of with a frown, his eyes turning to the large bay window of this library.

"What is it, Carlisle?" Edward asked, worry spreading across his face. Renesmee glanced back and forth between the two, waiting for her Grandad to answer.

"Someone's coming." He answered. "I can hear the Wolves." Edward frowned, closing his eyes to better concentrate, as he tried to determine who was invading their territory, uninvited.

Suddenly his eyes flashed opened and he jumped to his feet. If he hadn't already been as pale as a ghost, he would be now. "It is Aro!" He exclaimed. He took his daughter's hand and with his father, they ran down the stairs.

"Bella! Esme!" The three burst out the door and onto the porch.

Esme frowned, going to her mate. "What is it, Dear?"

"It's Aro. He's coming."

"What?!" Bella gasped, followed by exclamations of anger and fear from the rest of the family.

"Why, Carlisle, why?" His mate asked.

He shook his head. "I have no idea. Edward?"

The young vampire was staring hard, off in the distance. "He's hurt." He whispered. The other's looked at each other in surprise. How could a vampire be hurt? "He's in pain, but I can't tell how. He's coming for you, Carlisle. It looks like he wants to talk, but…I can't tell, he isn't focused." Edward looked to his wife, then to his adopted father.

With utter calm, the eldest vampire, held up his hands. "Don't attack unless he does. Don't touch him. And don't let him anywhere near Renesmee." Bella, and Jacob joined Edward at the teenager's side immediately. There was no more time for private talk however, because at that moment, the leader of the Volturi stumbled to a stop on the driveway.

Though he stood before the Cullens with grace and poise, he looked winded, weary, and a little lost. Carlisle frowned slightly, as he studied his long-time friend. If his eyes were any darker, they'd be a black hole. Around his eyes were dark bruises, making him look like a sleep-deprived human. His shale-like skin was as pale as ever, but much to Carlisle's worry did not shine as brightly as it ought to in the sun. His hair wasn't pulled back in the usual half braid, falling about his face in unkept, but still beautiful inky waves and he robes looked dirty and worn.

"Peace," the newcomer spoke with ease, holding up his hand. "I do not come on the business of the Volturi. All that happened those five years ago is forgiven." He waved his hand away, keeping a pleasing smile on his face. "The child has grown beautifully, but my business is not with her."

"Then whom do you come for?" Carlisle asked, keeping his voice cold. He saw, in Aro's eyes, when he spoke with such cold, a hint of fear. What could cause Aro to fear so? Why would he come all the way to Forks alone? How could his eyes possibly be as dark as they were, and he hadn't even batted an eye at the hybrid?

"Why, you, old friend. I wish to talk."

Esme frowned. "Don't talk to him, Carlisle! It is a trap!"

Carlisle shook his head. "I will speak with you." Then he turned to his mate. "It's alright, Esme. Nothing is going to happen to me."

With a soft kiss to the forehead, Carlisle beckoned the vampiric lord into his house. "Come, then. Let us speak as old friends."

"The child has grown quite remarkably." Aro leaned back against the couch. The house was empty, save the two of them, the rest of the family remained on the porch, unable to hear anything, but close enough to be of help, should Carlisle need it.

"You said this wasn't about her." Carlisle answered coldly, and again, he saw Aro falter.

"No," Carlisle's eyes widened at the sudden softness of Aro's voice. As close as they were now, he also caught the ruggedness of it, as though his throat hurt him, which wouldn't be a surprise at all, based on his eyes. "No, I do not come for the child."

Sensing Aro's need for aid, Carlisle leaned forward. "What has happened?!" He asked. "You sound as weary as an old human."

Aro sighed, truly feeling that weary. "If I asked, old friend," he murmured, never looking into Carlisle's eyes, "would you end my existence?"

Carlisle leapt to his feet. "What?! Absolutely not! What could have possibly brought this on?!" He ignored them, as his family's attention turned on him. He dropped to the ground before the old vampire. "What has happened?" he begged softly.

Aro sighed, dropping his head into his hands, in a very undignified and unvampiric manner. "She is gone," he whispered, "she exposed herself. She ended her existence!" Suddenly all the anguish and anger he'd been holding in exploded. "SHE LEFT ME!"

At this, he lost control, in such a display of hidden power, his vampiric gift burst forth, instead of feeling the thoughts, memories, and emotions of others, he projected his own onto Carlisle Cullen and his family, on the other side of the windows. With feral cries of pain, he fell to his knees, clutching his head, as if he had well and truly lost his sanity.

"Aro! Aro!" Carlisle watched in awe as Aro's life passed before his eyes, knowing, by his loved ones' faces, they too saw it. "Aro, peace. Calm yourself—" He cut off as Sulpicia's death played through. His own, tender heart, cried with pain as the beautiful vampiress met her end to a screaming mob of Italians.

"Oh, my friend! I am so sorry!" To lose one's mate in a vampiric fight for dominance was one thing, but to lose it to a mob of humans, was the worst possible way to lose a loved one, especially when they had been together for as long as Aro and Sulpicia had.

The images faded away, leaving a broken vampire on the floor, at Carlisle's feet. "She wanted it," he whispered, never noticing the entrance of the rest of the Cullen coven. "I read her, just before she passed. She wanted to end."

Carlisle knelt, wrapping his arms around the normally powerful creature. "There is nothing to be done, old friend. To know you would still come to me, in a state of weakness, gives me great faith in our friendship. Now have faith as well, when I tell you, you may very well find another to live for…or not die for, as we aren't alive."

There was a brief pause of silence, before Esme spoke up. "We all saw," she said softly, "and we will all keep it to ourselves."

"Speak for yourself," Emmitt muttered, but a solid glare from Alice silenced him. "Oh, alright, we keep it to ourselves."

Aro didn't react to any of this. Carlisle looked down to the vampire in his arms. "When was the last time you fed?"

"I do not—oh, yes," he murmured, "the girl in Ireland."

"And when was that?"

Aro looked up. "I don't remember. Two—three—four weeks. No," he shook his head, "longer—or not. I do not…remember." His eyes went even darker, if that was possible. The hold Jacob had on Renesmee suddenly tightened as Aro suddenly looked at them, a feral look on his face as he stared at the hybrid.

Bella's eyes widened with fear. "Jacob, get her out of here. NOW!"

Aro leapt out of Carlisle's arms, only to be tackled by Bella, who's maternal instincts had kicked in, making her even stronger than normal. They crashed through the furniture of the living room and out through the bay windows. Caught in the frenzy, Aro disregarded everything, jumping to his feet and running for the hybrid as they sped away on Jacob's motorcycle. He got no further than a few hundred feet before Edward took him down in a tackle, followed quickly by Emmitt and Bella. He snapped and snarled like a wild animal as the three vampires held him back.

"Aro!" Carlisle skidded to a stop. "Aro stop this! I know you to have more control then this!" Carlisle spoke fast, as he could see in both Bella's and Edward's faces, they would not tolerate the way he'd just gone after their daughter.

"Well, my love," Esme broke in, coming to a stop with Alice, Rosalie, and Jasper. "Not even Bella would be able to control herself, if she went as many as four or more weeks without anything, especially if because he drinks human blood."

Carlisle spared her a smile. "No, indeed. However, Bella wouldn't go after her own daughter."

"Well, if we're doing that, Nessie isn't Aro's daughter, so it doesn't matter to him." Alice cut in, a small hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Emmitt growled. "This is all lovely, but he's strong! Can we handle the situation?!"

Carlisle nodded, laying a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Aro, my friend, listen to me." At the absence of available blood, his frenzy faded slightly, and his eyes met Carlisle's. "I have some O negative at the house. We do not usually drink it, but for you, an exception can be made. Peace, my unfortunate friend, we will care for you."