All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Furthermore, I am not a historical expert. I've taken the Pompeian culture, and mashed it together with the Athenian culture to make things more exciting. But please understand, this is fiction, and I've taken a fuckload of liberties with the past...

Welcome to chapter one, everyone who made it through the prologue... enjoy ;)

Vocab:

Temple of the Public Lares: A temple where people would pray to the household gods, generally ancestors, to keep them and their families safe.

Forum: The political, economic, religious and social heart of Pompeii; the most important buildings in Pompeii will all be found here, with the exception of, for example, the theatre.

Thermopolai: an inn/tavern/restaurant

Chapter 1: 365 Days Retold- BPOV

Mother, if you're listening, I just want to thank you. Pompeii is beautiful, and I love it here. I can look out of my window over the Bay of Naples, and the water is beautiful. I know you're looking out for me, somewhere, and I know you won't let any harm befall me- I love you mother, even if you had to leave us.

As I knelt in the Temple of the Public Lares, my mind was overcome with thoughts of my mother. Her beautiful smile, and the way she smelled as she kissed me on the cheek each night; the transformation she would undergo every time she hosted a luncheon or Charlie had friends round- I would watch her change from my lovely mother, to a strikingly beautiful, older woman. It was transfixing to watch.

But my mother would never again kiss my cheek, or attend a party on Charlie's arm. At 36 she had fallen pregnant again, and childbirth had claimed both her life, and the life of my baby brother. My father Charlie had been devastated to lose her, but it was a possibility from the very start of her pregnancy, due to her advanced age; and when it happened, we had both made our peace with her.

I missed my mother greatly, and that is why I make time most days to visit the Temple of the Public Lares, and to pray to her, and ask her to watch over me. I only hope that she hears, and knows she is in my thoughts.

I sighed, standing up and turning towards Alice- my maid and much more importantly, my best friend. She accompanies me when I leave the house, along with Jacob, my fathers' manservant. I linked my arm with Alice, letting her gently guide me towards the door to the temple, following her blindly. The further I moved away from the temple, the more I became myself again, but thoughts of my mother often saddened me greatly, and there's only so much my bright, bubbly Alice can do.

"Bella, where to now? Are we heading home?" Alice questioned me quietly, as Jacob and her wait at the exit to the temple for my decision.

I had no jobs to do in the Forum, so made the decision to simply head home- to me this seemed the wisest option. I was tired from the hour or so I had spent kneeling on the hard wooden paved stones in the Temple of the Lares, and I knew that Alice had chores that she needed to do, and I could only help her if Charlie was not in- at this time of day he would still be at the baths, so if we hurried, we could complete her chores and have the rest of the day to ourselves.

"Home, I think, would be the wisest option, Alice," I winked at Alice after making sure Jacob was not watching, and she covertly winked back, sticking her tongue out at me too.

I laughed to myself, before starting on the route home, knowing Alice and Jacob would be one step behind, as appropriate in public.

Alice was my godsend, she was there for me when my mother died, to be a shoulder to cry on, and she was there too when Charlie withdrew into himself for a while, leaving me to care for myself. She helped me to bring him out of his shell, and she helped me to deal with being removed from everything I knew and loved, as I was deposited here in Pompeii.

This was Charlie's idea of a fresh start, but my memories of my mother never faded, but neither did I want them to. To date, the favourite memory I have of my mother is shortly before she fell pregnant. It was one of the last times I remember her and I leaving the house together- when the pregnancy was discovered she was confined to bed rest.

"Bella! Bella! Where are you!"

"I'm here mum, what are you shouting me for?"

I ran into my mother's arms, as she opened them wide and embraced me. Her comforting lavendar scent infused the air, and the huge smile on her face told me that she had something planned for just the two of us.

"Bella, I've had the best idea ever. Come with me!"

Mom took me to her room, somewhere I was not normally allowed, at least not when Charlie was home. But he was out on business today, in the close-by town of Herculanium, just a little farther up the slope of Mount Vesuvius.

"Come here Bella, today we're going to do something special."

Mom had Alice fetch her two finest togas, lying them out on the bed. She held them up against me- one, and then the other, before muttering to herself "definitely the blue one."

She carefully helped me to pull on the garment, wrapping it around myself in the fashion of the time, the style letting the garment hang a tad lower on me than I was used to. She did the same for herself with the brown toga, before repositioning her own neckline dangerously low. Mom loved to attract attention to herself.

She sat me on the bed, before draping me in jewels- rubies and diamonds. Two different gold necklaces around my neck, a circlet on my head, cushioned by my hair, which she elegantly piled into a messy up-do. Rings on my fingers and toes, and heavy gold bracelets almost up to my elbows on both wrists.

She dressed herself in a similar fashion, before pulling out her cosmetics draw from her dresser.

She started with a layer of white, lead-based foundation, smearing it lightly all over my face and neck. She then moved on to a powdery substance which I knew to be red ochre. She rubbed it into my cheeks and lips to rouge them. Once she was satisfied with this, she moved on to my eyes, outlining them with kohl. She did the same to herself, nearly twice as quickly, before shouting for Jacob to bring us the large mirror that normally hung in Charlie's tablinum. I didn't know at the time, but on our journey to Pompeii it would shatter into thousands of peaces as it fell from the cart and onto the road. We left it there, abandoned and jagged, very much like our still-raw souls felt.

Jacob brought the mirror to us, and presented us with it. Reflected in the mirror were two women, stunningly beautiful, and delightfully similar. If it weren't for the age difference, and my mother's piercing blue eyes, we could have passed for identical twins.

Mom took me out- first to the most expensive thermopolai in town, and we drew stares on the street as we walked. Two unaccompanied women dressed up to the nines would normally be prostitutes, but mom, as always, didn't give a shit about what people thought of her- as long as she was having fun.

After we ate, we went to the baths, and we spent the entire day relaxing, and just talking to each other, until we headed...

I hit the ground with a muted thump, catching most of the impact on my wrist. I gasped in pain, but also in shock, as I caught sight of what had sent me flying in such an ungainly manner.

The most beautiful boy I had ever seen was dismounting his horse and lowering himself to the ground to kneel worriedly next to me, his face the picture of concern. I took a second glance at his face, and corrected myself quickly- this was not a boy, this was a man.

"Miss, I am so dreadfully sorry, you have my most sincere apologies, I was not watching where I was going, and now I've knocked you over. Are you injured? Do you need a doctor?" His voice was like bells in my ears, it was beautiful and melodic, and it caused a strange reaction in me, a sort of tingling sensation that I couldn't understand.

I allowed him to help me to my feet, by placing one hand on his arm, and I was shocked at the electrical current that sparked where we touched. Our eyes met in what seemed to me to be mutual surprise, and I noticed that his eyes were a stunning shade of pea-green that I had never seen before.

Everything about him seemed to strike me at once, as I stood much too close to him- something that I dare say was quite obscene between two such strangers, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I was too captivated by his strong jawline, and the beautiful mess of copper locks that perched on top of his head in such a disorderly fashion. He was easily the most handsome man I had ever seen, by a long shot, and I felt a tingling between my legs, as he spoke again, his voice washing over me.

"Miss, are you injured? That was a nasty fall you just took... Snowfire's a big animal, and your collision with her sent you straight down."

Remembering the ungainly fall I had just taken brought back to me where and who I was. I immediately gasped and jumped away from this beautiful, perfect stranger.

"I'm so sorry sir, this entire mess was my fault- I was lost in thought, and my brain must have been on autopilot, because I was completely unaware of where I was and what I was doing. I'm so very sorry to inconvenience you, but I assure you, I'm absolutely fine. No damage done, either to myself, or to your horse I hope." Oh god, I was starting to babble with nerves and awkwardness. I decided fleeing the scene was my best option, in order to save face.

"I do apologise, but I must be on my way. Thank you for your concern, and I'm very sorry for not watching where I was going."

Without letting him get another word in, I fled; briskly marching away. The further I walked, the more I noticed a throbbing pain in my wrist. I glanced down at it to see it already swelling in size. Determined to ignore it, and create even more space between myself and the devastatingly handsome stranger, I carried on walking, only to gasp in pain when Alice grasped my wrist to slow me down so she could catch up.

"Oh my god, Bella, your wrist!" Alice was shocked, and her eyes quickly welled up. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realise you were hurt. I thought you said to that man that you were fine?"

"I am fine, Alice, don't worry. Let's just get home, then you can fuss, okay?"

Alice smiled at me, acquiescing and accepting my decision. She still held on to my arm for another second or so as she lowered her voice and whispered in my ear, "you may have got off now, in public, Bella; but later I will be asking you all about that man we just met, and your rather interesting reaction to him!"

I shook Alice off, dreading the privacy we shared, as I knew that as soon as she got the opourtunity to quiz me, I would never hear the end of it... damn Alice and her all-to-perceptive self. She could read me like an open book, and she knew just as well as I did, that I had never reacted to anyone in that way before...

-B-

I awoke to see Alice's face filling my entire line of vision, a most disconcerting sight to wake up to, and one that she knew frightened the living daylights out of me. After we had got my scream, and the two or so minutes she had to give me to recover my breath out of the way, she dragged me around the room, quickly preparing me for the day.

As she sat me down to do my hair, she first inquired about my wrist, but after ascertaining that it felt much better today, she started on the topic of the mysterious, handsome stranger.

"So Bella, this man, you were standing very close to him, don't you think?"

"Alice, he was helping me up, he has to stand close to me to help me up."

"But you remained standing close to him for quite a while, don't you think? Much longer than appropriate, one might even say..."

"Alice, I'm not sure what you're imagining, but we spent the requisite amount of time standing next to each other in order for him to steady me after helping me to my feet."

"But Bella, don't you think that he was extremely handsome?"

At this, my shackles raised for a reason that I couldn't quite identify.

"Yes, he was very good looking Alice, do you have a crush on him then?"

Alice merely laughed at me, "oh please Bella, he's so not my type. Much too mysterious and brooding for me!"

Now that I had assured myself that Alice was not lusting after this stranger, I felt better and was more able to join in with her jokes.

"So what is your type then Alice?" I teased.

"I'm not quite sure yet, but I will definitely know when I see him," she replied.

"Come on Alice, you must know a little more than that!"

Alice paused to think for a second, closing her eyes and stopping the gentle tugging at my scalp that always occurred when she pinned my hair into place.

"He'll be blonde, with beautiful blue eyes, and..."

Suddenly her eyes opened, and she sighed. "What was I saying?" she asked me.

"You just said your ideal man will have blue eyes and blonde hair," I replied, slightly confused.

"He will?"

Alice seemed frantic at this, pulling my to face hers and look into her eyes.

"Gees, Alice, calm down. That's what you just said..."

Alice sometimes got like this, she'd say odd things and then ask me for confirmation of what she just said, as if she didn't remember. It was odd, but I loved her for it- she was like my sister, I loved everything about Alice, her little quirks included.

"He's going to be perfect," she sighed romantically, very much like a girl already in love.

I rolled my eyes, letting Alice have her moment. The truth was that her chances of meeting someone were very little. As a slave, which is what Alice truly was- despite the fact that we tried not to acknowledge between us, the simple realities of life were that when I was married off, she would come with me. Chances were she would be taken advantage of by someone in the household, possibly even my husband, and fall pregnant. Her child or children would all grow up to be slaves too, and she could never marry.

Alice's only hope was to be made a freedman, which was almost unheard of for a woman, and no matter how much I had begged Charlie, he had always refused to even consider this. Alice was much too valuable to our family for him to let her go just like that. My only other hope was that my husband would free her for me, but considering that Charlie was the most lenient man I knew, the chances of this seemed minute.

No, Alice was doomed- but then again, my life would be very similar.

As soon as Charlie found someone who would marry me, someone who would be beneficial to the family or to the business, I would be married off. The only reason I was not married already was because Charlie could not find anyone willing, or so I could only assume. I was plain, nothing special to look at, and thus my marriage prospects were relatively low.

Charlie would probably find someone in the end though, and the happiness that I have known in his household would be gone, and I would be there to fulfil the every whim of another man. A complete stranger.

No, true love does not exist. You can grow to love someone, like Charlie and Renee did; but they were one of the lucky few. I was merely hoping for a man who did not demand too much of me physically- many men forced their wives to bear them an heir as often as they could, and it was thought to be one of the biggest causes of death in women.

No, this was surely not too much to hope for? A man who would simply leave me be- my idea of heaven.

A knock on my door interrupted my musings, and I gestured for Alice to go see to it.

She re-entered the room, to tell me that Charlie wanted to see me in his tablinum, at once.

I walked briskly over to my father's study, where I found him reclining on one of the couches artfully laid out around the room.

"Bella, I just thought you might want to know- we will be having company for supper. Carlisle and his family will be joining us- he has a child around your own age, and I think the two of you will become... friends."

Charlie smiled at me, and then rose to his feet, pulling me into one of his rare hugs.

"I love you baby girl," he whispered in my ear.

"I love you too daddy," I assured him.

A/N: Hope y'all are still with me? No? Okay *sad face*
No, seriously, I'd really appreciate a little review or two, letting me know that you're actually enjoying it, and this isn't just a bunch o'crap... I've even made it triply easy on you, all you have to do is copy and paste one of the faces below! Please?

:) :D :/ :( D: ;) :-{ [-'.'-]

Just pick one, and click that little button below... you know you want to ;)

-Scar x