DISCLAIMER: I own nothing - all the recognisable characters and places belong to their respective owners, I'm merely borrowing them to play with. Any translations and author notes will be at the end of each chapter.

All mistakes are my own - I don't have a beta.


"Marriage?!" They all exclaim.

"Oh yes. Marriage." Elijah purrs drawing out the 'es' sound, clearly enjoying his toying taunts at the glittery pains in the ass who had harmed his son's beloved. "Our Damon has been their Meili's husband of nearly how many years, son?"

"Celebrating our wedding centennial next month." Damon pipes in whilst looking in his wife's eyes, bringing her hand up to his lips and kissing the rings that symbolised over a hundred years of his unfaltering love and devotion. "I love you, my princess." He coos as he gets lost in the forest depths of his soul, the adoration he has and the love he feels for her so overwhelming that one didn't need an empath to know the depth of his emotions. It was very clear for all to see.

"NO!" The penny-haired Cold One yells, shooting up from his seat.

"As much as you are in denial, it is the truth. My daughter and Damon have been married for almost a hundred years and…"

"SHE LOVES ME! A love like ours… Sh-she said she could never love anyone like she loves me… She said… She said…" Everyone looked at the boy(?), shocked to stillness by his outburst.

"Edward." Meili sighs, one could hear the resignation and frustration in her voice.

"NO! No! You love me! You wanted to give me your soul! I'M your soulmate! You're mine! I mourned you! All these years! And you've been alive all this time and you didn't even bother to let me know! All this time I searched for you, thinking that it must be grief or something that wiped you from their collective minds! Why didn't you come to me?! Why didn't you try and find me?! How cruel can you be, letting me mourn you all this time?!" Edward accuses. Meili's green eyes darkened in anger at his words, words that he threw around with nary a care or it seemed thought to their effects. As usual, he was being selfish. Always about himself. His feelings. His wants. Understand him. Him. Him. Him.

"I'm cruel?! Me?!" The young Shen grits as she fights to control her anger. Her husband rubs his hands on her biceps in an effort to assist her. "You're right!" Everyone looks at her surprised though none of them say anything as they call see that she was not done, nowhere near even remotely a fraction of the way and they can all also see that this is going to be like one of those train wrecks – tragic to see but so hard to look away. The rustic-haired Cold One's head snaps up and his amber eyes meet hers, lighting up in hope. He opens his mouth but stops when Meili shoots her hand up. "I did love you. I did offer you my soul," He takes a step forward in eagerness only to be stopped by her shooting up from hers. "BUT," Her tone at the word sends a shiver down his spine, not the good kind and his hands suddenly itch to reach up and plug his fingers in his ear like a child not wanting to hear words they don't want to hear. "You also broke so many of your promises, Edward. Every single goddamn day I realised that we were together was a lie. I'm not sure if you realised it but as they say, hindsight is 20/20 and it wasn't until my real family came along and I was able to process everything that I saw it all. Our relationship was toxic. We were addicted to each other and I had lost who I was when I gained you.

I didn't contact you all this time because I moved on. You said a clean break was best and you were right. First love they say is hard to forget and I realise they are right but not for the romantic reasons that most tend to associate it with. It's hard to forget because it's also the first time you would experience pain. The kind of pain that you will remember all the way down the years because your heart won't let you as a lesson to be more careful next time who you entrust it with. Less than eighteen months we knew each other Edward and it wasn't even until the last few months of it that we were properly together. One and a half years compared to almost eleven decades that I have known my husband, married to him for ninety-nine years and eleven months of it?!

I do not know any other way to tell you this where it will not sound harsh or hurtful but someone has got to make you understand."

"Bella?" He all but whimpers as he turns his gaze upon the girl (woman now) he had stupidly left behind.

"With Damon, Edward, I found myself. I found who I am again and more. Contrary to what others may think." The young Shen's emerald orbs flicking towards Rosalie. "I was not aware of my true parentage and heritage until they finally came for me. Consequently, the same night you left." Meili drew herself to her full height, as inconsiderable as it was. "My name is Meili Donahoe Chen Salvatore. Daughter of Emperor Xuantian Shangdi, The Xuan Wu, Chinese God of the Arts and his late wife, Empress Emma Donahoe Chen, Princess of the Western Celestial Heavens. I am also the current heir and successor to the Western Celestial Heavens and soon-to-be crowned co-ruler of the Dark Northern Mountains. But most importantly, I am the soulmate and eternal wife of Damon Salvatore." The silence following her declaration was deafening, so quiet one would have heard a feather drop.

"He left you in the woods?!" Two of the three blondes from the other vegetarian coven exclaimed.

"Y-es. Seriously?! Out of everything that I just said, that what you focused on?!" Meili asks incredulously.

"I left her on the trail!" The Cold One whines. All of them save his family make derisive and disgusted noises and in the case of the Denalis, even their mental voices we're condemning him to the deepest pits of hell. "Why can't I hear your thoughts?!" He questions to the Originals as well as the Shen.

"Because we are more powerful than you can only dream to be. Now that my daughter has said what she needs to say. We need to get on with this, as important as this discussion is, some of us do have other duties we need to attend to, so if you can please, we have an idea of who is who but I believe that we need to clarify. We all know what assuming does, do we not?" Xuan Wu indicates to the blonde who seems to be their leader.

"My name is Carlisle and this lovely lady here is my wife and mate…" He starts.

"None of you except for Eleazar and Carmen are mated. Do not bandy that word around so haphazardly, Carlisle Cullen. It is insulting and improper." Marcus interrupts. All the Cullens look at him with surprise.

"Uhh…" Carlisle struggles to keep his composure. "As I was saying, this is my wife Esme, Rosalie is our daughter and the young man holding her is her husband Emmett. Behind them is Jasper and next to him is his wife, Alice. And of course, over there is Edward. We are the Cullen family currently residing in Rochester, New York." He stammered out, each member nodding their head in acknowledgement of their names. The former Volturi guard steps up.

"I am Eleazar and this beautiful creature next to me is my mate, Carmen. The strawberry blonde is Tanya, next to her with the guinea gold curls is Irina and last but not the least, Kate. Of the five of us, only Kate and I are gifted. I am able to discern the talents in others and Kate is a electrokinetic. We are the vegetarian coven from Denali, Alaska and we consider ourselves kin to the Cullens as we share the same diet." His hands wave towards his coven mates who acknowledge with either a smile or a movement as they are introduced. Once the introductions were over both coven leaders sat back down beside their respective partners and all patiently waited for what is to happen next.

"Tell me Eleazar, aside from Edward who has obviously outed himself as a type of telepath, are any of the other Cullens talented?" Kol asks, his dark eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Alice, Lord Kol is a type of seer – her future telling is based on the outcomes of decisions made. Jasper is an empath, he is able to feel and manipulate present emotions, he however cannot manufacture them." Gasps of outrage sound from the lips of said kin as he informed them of their powers. "Though the other four present no visible or obvious talents of their own; Carlisle as you may already be aware is known as Stregone Benefico, the pioneer of the animal blood diet and has extra-ordinary control over his bloodlust to the extent that he has worked in the medical field as a doctor for almost two centuries. Esme herself is known to be very compassionate, Emmett seems to have retained almost all of his newborn strength and Rose's beauty can be rivalled against the Volturi's Heidi, otherwise known as the Fisherman."

"Thank you Eleazar. You have been most helpful, more so than can be expected of others." Niklaus thanks him, casting a near obvious glance over at the Cullens.

"Before we get further into this, I believe we should get down to the unpleasant business of questioning the Romanians first?" Caius interjects.

"Excellent suggestion, brother dear!" Aro exclaims excitedly. "This way, we have more time to devote our energies into asking the proper questions and getting the honest answers we desire, no?" The bone-chilling smirk that appears on his face has the Cullens flinching visibly. Elijah was about to start when two people suddenly appeared before the dais steps; a pale young man with black hair and golden eyes dressed in an all-black suit and a young woman with forest green hair and jade green eyes dressed similarly but in a skirt instead of pants. They looked around and once they caught sight of the Dark Lord, immediately made their way over and kowtowed before him.

"Wansui, wansui, wanwansui." They chanted while keeping their bodies bowed and foreheads touching the floor.

"Shangsheng." Xuan Wu sighs before crossing his leg over the other and waiting for them to straighten themselves up. They rose only to look towards Meili, bowing to at their waist, with one fist against an open palm. She waves her hand dismissively as does Damon when they repeated the gesture to him.

"Jade, Gold, Bai Hu's hair will turn black before you deliver your message. We are on the Earthly, you do not need to follow the entire Celestial protocol." Xuan Wu drawls effectively putting a stop to the show just as they were turning to bow to Simone. Both scramble to right themselves in front of him.

"My Lord. A thousand apologies for interrupting but a situation has arisen at Fuyang in the Anhui province. Lord Er Lang who had initially gone to assess the situation has returned and asked us to retrieve you." The young man explained. Glances were exchanged between the five Shen before the Dark Lord nodded.

"Understood. Go back to Er Lang and tell him we will go there directly. I will contact him to gain the exact location. Dismissed." At his words, both saluted again before disappearing as suddenly as they appeared. Xuan Wu turns to the brothers. "Well, it looks like this will have to be postponed to a later date, Aro. We will be in touch."

"Of course, My Lord. If you can kindly keep our Romanian friends in their current state and under your supervision until your new business is finalised, we would be most grateful. Also, before you depart, what would you wish us to do with the Cullens?" Aro asks.

"They are free to go. Locating them for later will not be a problem as we now have their mental signatures. Short of setting themselves on fire or taking a trip down to the hell side of Hell, there is not a place on the Earthly that we cannot find them and it is not as if they can enter into the Celestial." He shrugs. With those words and a last look at the coven in question, he disappears from the spot. The rest of the Shen stand from their seats, the Mikaelsons following. Both parties turn and make their farewells to the brothers, promising visits when they are free. The last to leave were Meili, Damon and Elijah.

"Well Aro, it was great seeing you lot again. Do try not to get into too much trouble." Elijah taunts as he shakes hands with the brothers. The guard snickers while the rest shake their heads.

"We will try our best, Lord Elijah." Caius laughs as he pulls Meili into his embrace, causing Edward to wince at the sight of a red-eyed Cold One, not to mention, a red-eyed king of the Cold Ones embracing his love. She returns the favour before linking hands with her husband.

"As Daddy said, we'll be in touch." She reiterates before holding out her hand palm up to the brothers. It glowed extremely bright for a moment before fading and in her palm sat a black disc the size of an Australian twenty cent coin. She held it up to Aro who took it and placed it carefully into the pocket of his suit jacket.

"Many thanks, Princess. We look forward to seeing you at your centennial and of course there is your sister's wedding." Meili smiles before turning to her father-in-law. "Are you coming with or are we meeting you at your home?"

"An apocalypse could not keep me away, my dear." He laughs and before Edward could even formulate the thought to stop her, the three of them disappeared. He stood up and raced towards the doors, intent making his way over to China only to be stopped by the guards who to his surprised surpassed his prided speed.

"Where do you think, you are going, young Edward?" Marcus questions him as Felix and Demitri frog march him back.

"To go and stop Bella before she gets herself hurt. She seems to be under the illusion that she can go and do something dangerous…" He started only to let out a squeak that was quickly silenced when Caius lunged forward and grabs him by the throat, his fingers slowly clenching close.

"You will address the Princess Meili properly as is her due! She is the ultimate authority over all of us here in the Western Earthly Plane as well as being the wife of the ruler of all vampires. Her actions are none of your concern!" He snarls into the face of the mind reader, making all who heard it flinch in fear. The Volturi brothers and their guards look over the boy in disgust as they all wonder how he was able to handle their strong and fearless princess. They surmised that it had to have been because she was still technically human when they interacted and had been so innocent and naïve of the world.

"Lord Xuan Wu may have been generous in not having you detained, unfortunately for you we are not so generous and as the kings to whom you have vowed fealty to we have every right to detain you and question you about your very obvious breaking of the law. You not only exposed yourselves to a human but you had treated her so deplorably that you make the monsters we met today look like angels in comparison!

We do not plan on judging you today. No, the whole of our world needs to know of your deplorable actions and the Princess Meili deserves justice. Therefore, in front of the Denali coven as witnesses, we the Volturi are detaining the Olympic coven for an indefinite amount of time such until that the victim, the Princess Meili of the Dark Northern Mountains is able to formally press charges against them." Caius grits as he reluctantly throws Edward over to Demitri who quickly locks the mind reader's head between his wrists whilst Felix pulls his arms behind him. A small struggle from him would result in his head and arms being torn off his body, having read this from their minds he stops struggling, he wasn't a big fan of pain.


Meili and the rest of her company appears beside her father. They were standing at the mouth of what looked like a cave at Fuyang in the Anhui region of Mainland China.

"So, what's the situation?" She asks as she walks towards the Dark Lord. Looking around she notices that it's only her, Damon, their fathers, Niklaus and Bai Hu present. It doesn't escape her notice that those present where those whose skills are more suited towards eliminating more than anything else.

"As you know, His Celestial Majesty has tasked Er Lang with looking into the reports of missing small Shen. Er Lang said he was following a lead when he spotted what looked like an actual kidnapping in progress. He tracked them to this cave and when he tried to enter, he was rejected. After thoroughly scouting the area he said he noticed that the energy signature coming from the cave is not dissimilar to ours and he thought that perhaps we might be able to give it a try and see if we can get in." Xuan Wu explains.

"What's the plan after we get in?" She pointedly asks as she can clearly see that her venerated sire hadn't actually looked that far ahead. Most likely because he jumped into this head on after meeting the Cullens. The look he gives her lets her know that her assumptions were correct and she lets out a sigh.

"You've had over a hundred and ten years and some to get over this, Daddy. If I have, I think you can. Now let's focus on this and see what we can do, then after you and I are having a talk." She returns with a look of her own. She flicks a loaded glance over to her husband who simply shrugs before standing protectively over her; the action speaks of their almost a hundred and ten years of being together – at this point, they instinctively just know the other's needs and thoughts. Trusting that both her father and husband have got her covered, Meili takes another deep breath before reaching into herself and centring her energy centres. Once she has them aligned she lets go and soon finds her astral-self gliding toward the entrance of the cave. She is surprised to learn that Er Lang was indeed correct – the energy in the cave does feel a lot like her family's and it doesn't take her long to be able to convince it to let her through. Once in, she races down the tunnel, following the feeling at the pit of her stomach. She reaches her destination and it was all she could do not to vomit at the sight before her – not that she's aware if she can actually do so in this form but the roiling feeling in her abdomen says it's a very real possibility.

In a cavern about the size of a football field, rows upon rows of smaller Shen – full and half alike were laid out on beds with tubes stuck to them, draining them of not only their blood but also their very essence – their Shen. Swallowing back the bile in her throat, Meili forces herself to continue on past the cavern and through the entrance on the other side. Here she stumbles upon what looks like the lab slash store room set up in an ante chamber a quarter the size of the cavern. Eight massive fridge/freezers stand along two walls, holding bags upon bags of blood and Shen essence. The opposite walls contain tables full of medical and what looks like chemistry equipment. Meili walks over to where there were a stack of charts and quickly peers at the one on the top. She gasps as the information on them shocks her to her very core!

The Shen in captivity were being drained of their blood and Shen essence for two reasons – the first is to obtain both life forces for both experimental and consumption reasons and the second is so that they can then replace them with demon essence in an effort to try and recreate the process her mother, Emma went through years before her birth! Having seen enough and knowing she has to get her father in here, she wills herself back into her body. She opens her eyes in time to duck as a sword sings its way towards her neck.

"Mei!" She turns and sweeps her attacker on his back before pulling out her dagger and stabbing him, making him explode all over her. She twists just in time to avoid the demon essence from landing on her front and face. Flipping up she looks around and assesses the situation they were in. Her father, husband and the rest of their company were fighting off what looked to be about two nests worth of male soldier Mothers; the odds were at least two to one. Thinking quickly, she returns her dagger to her boot and pulls out the Destroyer. She moves through the melee, her blood-thirsty sword slashing left and right almost on its own as it senses her permission for it to wreak havoc upon their enemies. She can feel the thing's giddiness at being in a fight twice within twenty-four hours, a rarity it treasures as it's not often allowed to kill or maim at its will. About twenty minutes after her return, they have finally managed to get rid of all the soldier Mothers who had come almost out of nowhere and attacked.

"Mei, are you ok?!" Her father asks as he beats his son-in-law in reaching her, his eyes, even the Inner one sweeping over her, checking to make sure she's ok.

"I'm fine but we have bigger fish to fry. Between you and me, we should be able to take down that barrier so that others can get in and we need to do it now! At the end of the tunnel is a cavern roughly the size of a football field and in that cavern are hundreds, almost close to a thousand small Shen being drained of both their blood and their Shen essence essence! Whoever is behind this, Daddy… they're trying to re-create what happened to Mommy before!" At her words, all her companions' eyes, most especially her father's and uncle's widen in horror. Without another word, the Dark Lord turns towards the entrance and holds his hand out to his daughter.

"While you were in there, I looked over this barrier and found a weak spot. One large burst of combined Chi and Shen from the both of us should bring this barrier down. Bai Hu, I need you to contact Er Lang, tell him what Mei had found and get everyone he can down here to help transport these Shen to the Celestial. Also, get Guan Yu to get the rest of the thirty-six down here, as well as the Heise and Jin units. The more protection we have the better. Get Simone and Michael in on what is happening and tell them they need to let His Celestial Majesty, Zhu Que and Qing Long know what is happening – they will need to organise a lot of healers up there as well as hold the fort. If you can get a hold of the Monkey King and Na Zha, get them down here as well – they will be useful." Bai Hu's eyes were already glossing over before the last words were out of Xuan Wu's mouth. Satisfied that he's covered all the bases, he turns with Meili – Niklaus, Elijah and Damon standing guard at their backs – and faces the barrier. As one, his energy joins with his daughter's and they use all that they have and give the weak spot he had found one big push. It was like glass shattering as the barrier first flexes then heaves in before blowing out again, a huge gust of wind accompanying the escaping energy – the three Shen threw up small energy barriers to help them and the three Originals stay put and not get blown away.

Once the dust settled, they all checked on each other. After assuring themselves that they were all fine, they turned back towards the cave entrance. With the barrier gone, the Originals can now hear the sound of as Meili had stated close to a thousand hearts beating as well as the beeps of the machines.

"We will have to wait until our reinforcements arrive. As much as I would like to be down there, the best and safest way for us to get everyone to safety is to wait." Xuan Wu advises. As hard as it was for Meili, she knew her father was right so wait they did. Thankfully they didn't have to wait long as within minutes, those they had called started arriving. With the arrival of Na Zha, the Monkey King and the thirty-six, the Dark Lord finally gave the order for them to move in. They quickly made their way down the tunnel, senses all in high alert as they followed Meili's lithe form. Gasps of horror and anger rang throughout the cavern when the rescuers came upon the cavern. They worked swiftly – freeing the Shen on the beds, feeding them small bits of energy that they hope would be enough to help get them through the stress of being carried back to the Celestial.

The others went all the way to the ante chamber, gathering all the equipment and information they deemed significant. Once everyone was done with their tasks – those in the rescue team started the process of sending up the incapacitated Shen in small groups. It was then that they discovered that those who had been injected with more than two bags of demon essence cannot be sent up because as soon as they hit the Celestial air they exploded – having too much demonic presence and not enough Shen to counter it to be allowed in. Meili took their unfortunate discoveries the hardest as majority of the Shen that didn't make it were those who were half-Shen. It was like seeing her sister or Michael exploding over and over again. Damon did his best to support his wife and help her get through the mission, vowing that as soon as they were back up home in their palace at the Celestial that if he had to, he would chain both Simone and Michael to their bed if it's what it would take to make her feel sane again.

When the last of their charges were finally sent up – Xuan Wu with Bai Hu and Na Zha started throwing Chi balls everywhere, effectively destroying everything that was left behind to ensure that this was not restarted up again. Once they were satisfied that nothing important or significant was left behind, they started carrying themselves back to the Celestial to assist with getting the injured Shen taken care of or looking through the mountain of data and equipment that they had taken.

"Damon, once we arrive there, take your wife home and get her to rest. That's an order." Xuan Wu commands. Damon lets out a quiet sigh of relief as he knew that his stubborn little princess would have insisted on helping even though she was in no condition to do so. But since her father handed down an order, he knew that she would have no choice but to comply.

"My Lord." He bows as he wraps his arms around his wife and carries her to their home. They land in their foyer and at once, servants come out and greet them.

"Shisun, please prepare a bath for us. Sunsun, have a meal made – nothing too heavy though. Your stubborn mistress used too much energy. Again." Damon orders sending both servants scurrying to do his bidding. With those two out of the way, he sweeps his almost fainting wife into his arms and makes his way to their private quarters.

"You are too good to me, zhangfu."^ Meili murmurs as she lays her head against his shoulders, her entire body aching from having expended that much energy to break the barrier and assist with transporting the injured up to the Celestial.

"No more than you are to me, amore."^ Damon responds as he enters their room. He doesn't stop until he reaches their bathroom and after dismissing Shisun, he places his exhausted wife onto her feet so that he could undress her. Once all her clothes were off, he then lifts her back into his arms and gently lowers her into the steaming pool. He quickly undresses and joins her, taking the time to carefully wash her delectable body of all the grime, dirt and demon essence. It takes him a few times draining and re-filling the pool before he is satisfied that she is completely clean and spends the last turn laying back and enjoying the warmth with her.

It wasn't long before she finally stirs enough to really take in that they were in their bathroom in the Celestial and that everything her mind was conjuring during her 'zone out' was very real. Meili's body starts to shake uncontrollably as the horrors and anguish witnessed and felt during their little reconnaissance-turned-rescue mission finally catches up with her. Damon simply holds his wife's body close to his, rocking her gently as she cries her big heart out onto his shoulder. When her crying fit is over, Damon stands, Meili's body cradled against his in a bridal hold, and gets out of the pool. He makes his way out of their bathroom and into their room, not stopping until he reaches their bed, leaving wet tracks across the tiles. He sits her down at the edge before hurrying back and grabbing the heated towels off the warming rack. He dries both of them up before he scoots her further up their bed until his back is against the bed head while his wife is cradled on his lap.

It was a long while before she resurfaces again and when she does, Meili turns in her Damon's arms and kisses him for all she's worth, pouring all the love and every other emotion she feels for her husband in the kiss. Always ready for her, Damon responds immediately, eagerly even, his craving for his wife never waning, in fact, over the years, have actually grown exponentially. Soon they are both lost in the throes of passion, Damon reacting to Meili's silent plea to make her forget everything except him, except their love and as always, he complies as he never wants his Dark Princess to ever have any reason to doubt, any reason to question the depth of his feelings for her, that her very happiness is his happiness.

Hours later, Damon is once again seated, leaning back onto their bedhead, one arm behind his head while his other hand is gently carding its fingers through his beloved's luscious locks as she lay sated and sleeping with her head pillowed on his thighs, her arms wrapped tightly around him as if even in her sleep she feared letting him go. He uses the time to think about what's happened and what it all means. Finally, the time for his Meili's justice has come and he was at last going to be able to punish those who had hurt his princess. He also takes the time to think about what they had discovered in Fuyang, he hasn't forgotten the tales his wife and his family-in-law had recounted to him and his family; the horror they went through when the Dark Lady Emma was experimented on in the same way. It was during this time that she had lost her and Xuan Wu's first child, the demons who had captured her had drained her far too much of her Shen, not leaving enough to sustain the child and when they began to transfuse the demon essence in, she ended up losing it as the demon essence reacted badly with the child's presence, literally melting the babe in her womb. Though she eventually did recover, all feared that another child of the Dark Northern Heavens to be born would not come to be. But fate it seemed had plans as two years after the incident, Lady Emma became pregnant with Meili. The pregnancy was not without its complications but nothing that wasn't easily handled until the day she went into labour. As the birthing commenced, a great commotion occurred over at the Leifeng Pagoda – a large storm suddenly blew in, so powerful that it started to cause the pagoda to topple. A flash of lightning hitting the roof just as the Dark Northern Mountains' Second Princess was born.


A/N: Translations marked (^) below

^Zhangfu – Google Translate from Chinese (Simplified): husband

^Amore – Google Translate from Italian: love