Jasper came running through the trees at warp-speed. It took all the strength I had in me not to run up and hug him and tell him how much I'd missed him. He looked over at us, mostly me, and his eyes widened. I smiled shyly at him, and he slowly walked over to us, tasting the atmosphere around him. Aro looked at me, and I nodded. Jasper was still coming towards us. His eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly open. I would have laughed, had the circumstances been different. He finally reached me, and he took my face in his hands.
"Alice? Is that you?" he asked. I bit my lip and nodded. "I've been looking for you, and now that I've found you, it seems that I've lost you again." I panicked. What did he mean by that?
"What do you mean? Please don't go." My voice rose to octaves at least. He wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me off the ground.
"Don't think for one second that I would ever leave you," he whispered into my hair. I nodded.
"I need to talk to Aro."
"Ok. Take as long as you need." He set me back down on the ground and I walked over to Aro.
"Aro, can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Of course Alice."
I sighed. "Ok, I don't know how to start..."
"Just tell me Alice," he pressed gently.
"I want to leave. May I do so?"
"I will discuss it with the others. In the meantime, go somewhere private."
I nodded, and walked back to Jasper. I took his hand and sat down on the ground. He followed suit. I leaned against his side. He chuckled.
"I would have never thought..." he trailed off.
"Thought what?" I asked, looking up at him.
"I would have never thought that my Alice would have wound up in the Volturi."
I frowned. "Me either. And now, they may not let me go."
"If they don't leg you go, then I'll join them so I can be with you. I would certainly be of use to them."
"No. I don't want you to ruin your life. Oh, and by the way, just how are you alive?"
He chuckled darkly. "When Maria came, she quickly killed one of her guards to make it look like it was me. Then, they drug me away and she told me that she would let me go if I agreed to serve her for two years.
"So, I did. I've been looking for you four a year, and now I found you," at this, he smiled triumphantly. "So," he continued. "How did you end up in the Volturi?"
"Well, when I thought you died, I had no reason to live anymore." He flinched at my words. "So I went to the Volturi and asked them to kill me. But, instead, they wanted me to join them. I thought that perhaps it would be a good opportunity to find Maria and kill her. But I was wrong. I found you instead."
He took me into his arms and cradled me to his chest like a child.
"I'm so sorry Alice. I had no idea," he whispered. We stayed like this for a few moments, savoring each other's company. Aro came over after a period of time.
"We've decided to led you go," Aro began. "However, there are two conditions. One, you cannot rejoin the Cullens. You must start a new life by yourselves. Second, you cannot come back to Italy for any reason. We will be leaving as soon as we get the problem with the Cullens settled. So, we don't want any trouble. Agreed?"
"Yes," Jasper and I both said in unison.
"Very well," he said and walked off.
