A/N: Wow. I wish I'd updated sooner, but you know. Stuff happens. Sometimes life just kind of ties you up and holds you hostage for a while making you do all kinds of boring crap. Anyway, thanks to everyone who's been reviewing the story so far.

Speaking of reviewing, I need some input from all of you. I've got a few potential ideas of where to take this story. Two involve Bella being turned, and one involves her…not. All of them involve somebody in some sort of trouble. Assuming I don't forget what they are, those are the options.

Rose

Disclaimer:I finally own Twilight and New Moon! Okay, just kidding. They're not mine. Neither is Edward. Or any other Twilight/New Moon character. tear

Bella's POV

It took about an hour to reach Port Angeles, where our flight was leaving from at 8:00 this evening. I was dreading the plane ride. Somehow, Carlisle and Esme had found a nonstop flight to Sovicille, Italy. From there, we'd have an hour drive to reach Volterra. First I'd be stuck on the plane for over 30 hours (A/N: Don't even ask. I went through hell to figure that out. No, There are no flights leaving from Port Angeles to Sovicille, according to ANY online ticket things I've used. But there's an airport in both places.) , then I'd have to deal with being stuck in a rental car for another hour. So far, this whole rescue mission idea kind of sucked. But I needed to know why Edward left. Again. He had to have a reason behind it. Didn't he?

"Bella?" Esme's voice startled me out of my thoughts. She sounded concerned. I stared at her for a minute, confused, before she continued, "Bella, aren't you hungry? You didn't eat any breakfast before we left, and it's nearly 1:00. Don't you need to eat something?"

Of course. Food. Humans did tend to need that, and since I was still regrettably human…I hadn't even considered eating. After we'd gotten into the city, we'd checked ourselves into a hotel, to wait out the day. I'd been spending so much time today thinking about the flight, and about what we might find once we got to Volterra, that I hadn't noticed my stomach's now-insistent growling. "Oh, uh, right. I ought to go get something," I stammered, heading for the door. I slipped out before either Esme or Carlisle could object. They kept telling me that they'd pay for whatever I needed during the trip- including food. But I knew the plane tickets had been expensive, and along with the hotel here and in Volterra, they'd already spent a small fortune on me. Rich vampires whose 'daughter' could predict stock trends or not, I wasn't going to let them spend any more money on me than absolutely necessary. I grabbed some food from a dingy-looking McDonald's and ate it on the way back to the hotel.

I needed something to distract me. If I went right back to the hotel room, I'd spend another 5 hours sitting in relatively strained silence with Carlisle and Esme, all of us trying to avoid mentioning Edward, and I didn't think I could handle it. Getting closer to the hotel room, I glanced around at the shops and buildings on the sides of the street, looking for something that could distract me for an hour. Or five. The hotel was in sight, and still no diversions. I gave a small defeated sigh. Then I saw what I was looking for. A small bookstore sat on the other side of the street, nestled between two tall office buildings. I could definitely spend a few hours in a bookstore.

I finally emerged from the bookstore hours later. I'd managed to kill almost all five hours of downtime I had. I'd also managed to scrape together enough cash to buy a few books. Maybe they'll help keep me from getting restless on the long, long, long, long plane ride ahead. I doubted it. I got back to the hotel room, and I thought I heard voiced on the other side of the door. Of course, it made sense that Carlisle and Esme might talk to each other while I was gone- I was gone for a long time- but why were they whispering? I pushed my ear to the door to hear better.

"I'm sorry. We had to." Esme's voice held a pleading note to it, like she was trying to get Carlisle to believe her about something.

"How could we not tell her? After what she's been through? She asked. You can't blame Esme. Bella was desperate," Carlisle was pleading, too. Wait…It didn't make any sense anymore. They were both pleading for each other to understand? There was a pause in the conversation, before Esme resumed speaking.

"What do you want us to do? It's all been planned. We've got the flight; we have to head to the airport soon. We can't keep her here. She'd be furious if we cancelled the flight." There was a bit of anger in her voice now, like she was tired of arguing.

Then it hit me, and I realized I should've figured it out before. They were on the phone, trying to reason with whoever was on the other end. It had to be Edward they were talking to. Nothing else made sense. Without hesitation, I swiftly shoved the key card into the lock and threw the door open. "I want to talk to him." The strength of my voice surprised me. I'd expected to start breaking down, thinking of being able to talk to him. Instead, I was just pissed off. He left me, and now he's trying to get Esme and Carlisle to keep me away from him?

Esme and Carlisle looked shocked. They simultaneously glanced at Carlisle's cell phone, which was laying between them on a table, on speakerphone. There was no sound on the other line, and I thought he'd hung up, until I heard him speak. "Don't come, Bella. Please." The phone went dead.

His voice had sounded smooth; velvety. Just like I remembered, only better, after having not heard it for so long. But he'd hung up on me. I wanted to hear his voice, now more than ever, and he didn't want to speak to me. I was crushed. Letting out a small, choked sob, my legs gave out and I fell onto the carpet of the hotel room. Esme was at my side in a second.

"Bella, are you okay? Are you sure you can handle this, after all? If you need to, we can cancel today's flight. We can get you back to Charlie, and if you feel like you're up to it some other time, later." Her voice held nothing but concern and good intentions, but I knew better. She was trying to do what Edward had wanted them to do. She was trying to discourage me from going. I shook my head violently, disagreeing completely with her.

"I'm going, Esme. I don't care what Edward said to you, asked you to say to me, I'm going," I announced in what I hoped was a decisive tone. I glanced over at the clock sitting on the table that held Carlisle's cell phone. It was already 6:45. "We should get going, if we plan on getting past airport security in time to board the plane." Grabbing my duffle bag, I marched out the door and towards the elevator. I didn't wait for them to follow. If they were still coming with me, and I was sure they wouldn't let me walk into Volterra on my own, they'd catch up with me well before the elevator got to our floor.

An hour later, we'd made it through security and boarded our flight. I'd been right in my assumption that Carlisle and Esme wouldn't let me leave alone. They seemed to want me to forget about what happened in the hotel room, with Edward's phone call; not having mentioned it since we left the hotel. I wasn't going to make the flight difficult for them. They hadn't forced me to stay off the plane; hadn't shipped me back to Charlie, so I supposed I should let it go. But my thoughts kept straying to Edward's last words to me on the phone. His only words to me.

"Don't come, Bella. Please."

(P)O(V) (S)H(I)F(T)

A/N:(I lied. I'm most definitely going to do POV shifts more than 'once')

Edward's POV

I called Carlisle as soon as the news of Bella's plan reached me. She couldn't come here! It would ruin everything. I thought that if I'd been easier on her this time- when I left her- she'd never come looking for me. I'd told her I was leaving as gently as I could. I tried to get her to understand that I had to leave. She just couldn't accept it! And I knew that she wouldn't accept it, but I went anyway. It was for her, though. Always, everything; for her. If she came here, everything would be ruined, and she could be hurt. I remembered when Aro gave me the news that Bella was coming. (A/N: insert fun flashback music and fade in)

My cell phone rang, and Aro snatched it up after the first ring. He'd been expecting Alec's call to come soon. Alice wouldn't tell me how Aro seemed to know exactly when to expect the phone call, but she knew I suspected that she'd had a vision and told him. She even managed to keep her thoughts about it quiet when I was around. I couldn't figure out why she would tell Aro that Bella would come here. If Bella came, everything would go badly.


"Yes?" Aro's voice was eager; waiting for the news he knew he would receive.

Alec's voice on the other end was loud enough through the phone that I could pick up his words, "She's coming."

"Excellent." It seemed that Aro could barely contain his enthusiasm. He snapped the phone shut and clapped his papery hands. "I have wonderful news, Edward! Bella is on her way here to see you!" He laughed gleefully, finding nothing but pleasure in this rather expected turn of events. He could see that I didn't share his amusement, though. Immediately, his smile faded away, "What's the matter? Don't you want to see your Bella again?" Of course. I supposed that I should be at least a little happy, to see her again, but I couldn't make myself smile. I knew what could be in store for her when she arrived.

But no matter how I tried to explain the situation to them, Carlisle and Esme wouldn't listen to reason. They kept telling me how exquisitely determined my Bella was to come to Volterra. To find me. I might've been able to convince them to talk her out of it, though, if she hadn't come bursting through the door demanding to talk to me. She had to have been listening outside the door. I hadn't been ready for that. There was no way I was prepared to hear her voice again. It sounded the same as it always did, and yet it wasn't. There was something new in her voice. Confidence and determination. She didn't sound like my meek, unsure little Bella anymore.

I needed to get my mind off of Bella. I hadn't been able to convince Esme and Carlisle to rethink their plans, so there was no way they'd convinced Bella to go home. But maybe…Maybe they did manage to convince her. Just as quickly as the small hope bubbled up inside me, my cell phone rang. I picked it up hesitantly. Glancing at the caller ID, a low growl escaped my throat. Alec. "What?"

"Be nice," Alec's voice was smooth and sinister on the other end. He really didn't like me. Not that I liked him much, either. "She's coming, still. Boarded the plane. Out of my reach. Thought you'd like to know first." He hung up as another growl tore from my throat.

Grudgingly, I passed the news on to Aro, though he'd already found out, thanks to another of Alice's visions. Once Aro dismissed us, Alice pulled me aside.

"I'm sorry, Edward."

"What for?" I pulled away from her arm angrily.

"You know what for. Edward, I came with you because I knew it would help. And our presence here has helped. Bella's still okay."

"She won't be when she gets here!" I snarled, turning to face Alice. I saw a hurt expression flit across her face, thought she quickly arranged her expression into a calm, indifferent mask.

"Edward…" Her sweet voice was a whisper now, though I could still hear her perfectly. "Everything might still turn out all right. They might change their mind." She gave me another small hurt look and walked away, towards her room. I caught her thoughts as she left. I hope they'll reconsider…If we can get them to see reason before anything happens. If I can get them to…tweak…their decision…Just a little bit.

I knew what she was thinking, and I roared down the hallway at her, "NO! There'll be none of that, Alice! I don't want you to say ANYTHING to them about it!" Not waiting to hear her response- verbal or mental, I stalked away in the direction of my room. No one would do anything to Bella if I had any say in the matter. As I slammed my door, I smiled ruefully. I had no say in the matter. If I did, I wouldn't have come. I can't protect her forever, and if she refused to stay safe in Forks, there wasn't much I could do for her now. It was out of my hands. And I hated it.

A/N: So? That wasn't too too painful, right? I'm hoping I got Edward, Alice, and Aro about right. Okay, so I don't care too much about Aro. He's…Well, he's Aro, so it's all good. And if I got a bit too out of character with Edward, sorry. It's 10pm here, and I'm exhausted. But I don't think I did too badly, considering that he needs to be tweaked just a BIT out of character for the purpose of that last few lines. He was being a bit of a defeatist, though, and no matter how much I yelled at him, he wouldn't change his attitude.

I need opinions. About Bella. Should she change: Yes or no?, if yes, what powers should she get?(gotta be something mental here, people, I think. Like everyone totally won't find out tomorrow when the book comes out. I'm 98 sure Bella's gonna end up a 'leech' by the end of the book. Got to. And she'll probably be changed under the planned circumstances for this story. Assuming the popular opinion is to change her.)

Rose