Hey guys!!! Here's another chapter. It's a bit shorter than the last, but it's still not terribly short.

Kate's POV:

Two weeks. That's all we had. Two. Everyone was in high panic mode. The only time I ever felt even remotely relaxed was with Garrett. He and I hadn't talked about what happened in the woods that day, but things were never awkward between us.

I was helping Bella train, so that she could use her gift to its fullest ability. Garrett was the only non-gifted vampire at the training sessions, and it struck me that he was there not because he wanted to see Bella's gift, but because he had never seen mine. He and I had never talked about being gifted, simply because it never came up. After my first training session with Bella he came over, and I already had some idea of what he'd say.

"So," he said, "You do the shock thing?"

"Yeah," I replied, "Carlisle believes that we all have a 'gift,' but that some are more obvious than others. For example, Edward must have been very good at reading faces, so the next step was reading minds."

"Well," he said with a smirk, "I don't need electricity to make other vampires fear me."

"No?" I raised an eyebrow, "That's probably because they fear your poor sarcasm and unbearably slow wit."

He rolled his eyes, saying, "Tsk tsk tsk, Katie, has no one ever taught you your manners."

"I save my manners for gentlemen," I replied.

"Well, since none want to get within a 10 mile radius of you your manners must be rusty."

"It's spending time with you that drives gentlemen away," I said with a smirk.

"You wouldn't know a gentleman if he hit you in the face," he said.

"Well, that just shows how little you know of gentlemen, they don't hit ladies."

"Good thing you're not a lady then," and he flashed his smirk.

"Now, now kids," said Emmett, grinning broadly as he walked by, "Play nice."

We both rolled our eyes.

During my fourth training session with Bella (we'd been having them every day since the first) she finally made some progress. All of the vampires present (again, Garrett being the only one without a gift of his own) were extremely impressed. I felt very proud of myself, until Edward decided I was too threatening, and that Zafrina should take over. Zafrina blinded us all and asked us to raise our hands as our sight returned. I was one of the first who got sight back, and I rose my hand, looking around. Garrett, who was nearest to me, still had his hand down. Edward was muttering to himself about how the 'umbrella,' as he called it, worked, and I listened intently. He seemed to be right in saying that I could have shocked him once we both were under her protection...interesting. Garrett's hand came up and he grinned at me as his sight returned. We both turned to watch Bella, who was struggling. Soon she lost it, and I was blinded once more, but only for a fraction of a second, before Zafrina lifted the darkness.

As everyone began to wander off Garrett approached me, calling, "Kate!"

"I wouldn't, Garrett," Edward cautioned. I felt like I knew what he was going to ask. It was so like him...

"They say you can put a vampire flat on his back," he said with that infuriating smirk he got when he thought he could outlast something...well, this was one thing he couldn't.

"Yes," I said, with my own smirk, "Curious?"

"It's something I've never seen. Seems like a bit of an exaggeration..." he trailed off, still wearing his trademark smirk.

I put on a face of mock-thought, "Maybe. Maybe it only works on the weak or the young. I'm not sure. You look strong though. Perhaps you could withstand my gift..." He knew that I was mocking him, and he hated being mocked. I smirked, and extended my hand, feeling the electricity flow through me.

He gently touched his finger to my palm and, within a millisecond, collapsed. His knees buckled and he fell backwards, his head hitting a piece of granite. I immediately felt guilty; however, when he came up smirking, I knew he wasn't mad.

"I told you so," Edward muttered, but it didn't wipe the smirk off Garrett's face.

Garrett's POV:

"Wow," I said softly...she had put me flat on my back....what she didn't realize was that she didn't need her gift to do it.

"Did you enjoy that?" she asked skeptically, extending a hand to help me up.

I took it and stood, as I said, "I'm not crazy," and we both laughed, "But that sure was something..."

"That's what I hear," she said with her playful smirk. I loved that smirk, the confidence behind it...I saw Edward roll his eyes, and I was pretty sure it was at my thoughts, but I didn't much care. As if to prove I was right he gave me a small nod. He knew something...I was sure of it.

Suddenly we heard voices from the front yard...someone else had come. As we started to move into the house I noticed that Katie still held my hand, but I wasn't about to change that. We arrived in the front hall to see two newcomers, older than most of us, by far. We watched their arrival wearily...now that they had arrived there were 29 of us total, plus all of the werewolves. Maybe we could win this fight. I glanced at Kate, and could tell she was thinking the same as she watched the Romanians.

Kate's POV:

A few days after the Romanians arrived Garrett and I had gone hunting again. When we returned we found everyone in the front hall and at first I thought it was another newcomer, until I registered the shouting. Alistair had left. Now everyone was in a panic, as Amun threw horrible accusations at Carlisle, igniting all of our fears. He stormed out of the house when it was over, and everyone began to talk in whispers.

"I hope it doesn't come to a fight," I said to Garrett.

"Well," he said, "It's nice to hope that, but I think it likely it will."

"If more people say they're willing to join the Volturi," I said, "We really don't stand a chance."

"Now," he said, "What type of attitude is that?"

"A realistic one," I said, getting a little angry.

"No," he replied, "There's always hope."

"Hope fools the wise and kills the fools," I said.

"Well," he replied, "Good thing I'm neither wise, nor a fool." I had to laugh at that, something I hadn't done in a long time. It wasn't until I laughed that I realized that most everyone was listening to the Romanians, and Garrett and I turned to them as well.

As they came to their decision to fight everyone tensed. Tia and Benjamin were the first to declare they would fight, and it didn't surprise me in the slightest when Garrett stepped forward, his eyes sparkling with the thought of the adventure, his tone teasing, as he said, "This won't be the first time I've fought to keep my self from a kings rule," he clapped Benjamin on the back and said, "Here's to freedom from oppression."

Tanya spoke for our coven, well, our family really, and she was right in saying that we would stick with Carlisle, and fight with him until the end, but it wasn't only Carlisle I was sticking with anymore...

As the declarations of loyalty finished and everyone turned to leave, Garrett said, "That was quite interesting, wasn't it?"

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help smiling, he never seemed to be able to take things seriously, "Aren't you even a little bit worried?" I asked, still smiling.

His face became serious as he said, "Yes, but there's no point in dwelling on it, is there?"

"I guess not," I said with a sigh.

Garrett's POV:

I knew it was wrong to try and fish into Katie's mind, but I couldn't help it...I really wanted to know what she was thinking. As the battle drew closer, and we found ourselves with only one week left, I swallowed my pride and decided to ask Edward.

"Hey Edward!" I called, as I saw him, thankfully alone, crossing the back yard.

"Absolutely not, Garrett," he said.

"Please, Edward," I replied, "I really need to know this!"

"So go ask her," he said, "It isn't any of my business what goes on between you two, and it isn't any of your business what goes on in her head."

"So, there is something going on in her head?" I checked.

"Why don't you ask her?" he asked, pointing behind me. I turned around to see the horrifying sight of Kate was walking down the porch steps.

"Ask me what?" she asked as she reached us.

"Just if you were training with Bella or if we could go for a hunt...I could use one." I replied swiftly.

"Oh," she said, "Well, Bella and I were just about to start, actually, but if you want--"

"No, that's alright," I said, cutting her off, "We can go later."

"Okay," she said, as Bella was arriving.

Edward and I walked off together, and when we reached a safe distance he said, "What happened to 'needing to know?'"

"Not at that price," I replied. I was too embarrassed to say what I knew he could hear in my head anyway...she didn't think of me that way, and I was terrified of loosing her as a friend. I'd never before been nervous at the thought of saying what I thought...until now.

So, I hope you liked this chapter...I covered a lot, so tell me what you thought. I'm a little disappointed, because so many of you have this story on alert and favorited, and I only have ONE review....so sad. PLEASE review and tell me what you thought, even if it's just "I HATE IT!" (though more helpful comments than that would be appreciated...)

XOXO

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