Before I could fall into a full on panic attack, Heidi shifted us so that she was sitting behind me, with her arms wrapped around my midsection. She gently instructed me to match her breathing, instantly calming me down. Once I had regained control of myself Sulpicia turned to me.

"Isabella, I know this will be hard. So if you do not want to be present in the throne room while they are here that is okay. We just want what is best for you."

I knew Sulpicia was genuine in her offer, and she was sincere in her reasoning. But, I also knew that she was hoping I would take her up on her offer because she did not want me seeing the Cullens and then deciding this was not the life I wanted. As much as her offer tempted me, and showed me how much they have come to love me in such a short time, I needed to face my past. There was no way for me to fully embrace Heidi, and my new family if a small part of me was desperately clinging to the past, and what could have been. I gathered my thoughts to voice this exact reasoning to Sulpicia.

"As much as I would love that mom, I can't stay here and hide from my problems. I need closure from my past, in other words, I need to face my demons." I was hoping that grouping the Cullens' in with Victoria would settle my mother, and it did. Even in vampire form I could see the slightest amount of relaxation ripple its' way through her form.

After conversing for another twenty-five minutes, it was finally concluded that I would come into the throne room with Heidi towards the end of the trial. This way I would only have to see Victoria a minimal amount, and the Cullens' too, if I so wished. I could also use it as a way to speak with them directly after, without it weighing on my mind and distracting me throughout the trial. All vampire eyes would be on the fidgeting human.

My parents assured me, from what they gathered of the case so far, through Edward and Alice's thoughts this matter would be largely straight forward. Victoria would be found guilty, the trial was just a formality at this point, to uphold the Volturi reputation. The part that had shocked me, was that it would be Heidi carrying out Victoria's execution. It was with that news that my parents left and I pondered this new information.

Sensing that I would want to talk about the last part of the discussion Heidi rearranged us once more. This time it was so we were facing each other criss-cross style. Looking into her eyes I saw the distraught there, I could tell she thought I was upset with her.

"I'm not mad at you or anything Heidi. I just do not know how to feel about you taking another person, or I guess in this case vampires, life."

Heidi nodded along with my explanation before starting her own. "Isabella, can I explain my side, before you jump to any conclusions?" She waited for my nod before continuing on. "I know we've been through this before, but my biggest asset in this is that I feel our connection more deeply than you, at this point. As a vampire, having our mate in danger and not eradicating the threat ourselves is seen as weakness, and often times a sign of not being true mates. I felt our connection the moment our eyes connected, you still don't fully feel it."

I moved to cut her off. To tell her I did feel it, and that I did want her, but she put her hand up and shook her head before asking. "Please, let me finish." Once again I merely nodded my head as a sign she could pick up once more.

"It's okay that you don't feel our connection as much Isabella, because you are human. The bond would destroy you, your body would not be able to handle the constant aches and pains of being separated, or not having twenty-four seven intimate contact, which is why the bond adapts in the case of a human. It is also why I have such a strong instinct to turn you, so that you may feel the bond in the entirety. Getting back on point though, because you are human, and I feel our connection on a more profound level than yourself, there is no other recourse for me when it comes to Victoria. She must die for putting you in danger, and still being a danger to you, and I must be the one to do it. Our bond demands nothing less than that, and Aro and Sulpicia understand that. Honestly, if we were not mated the responsibility would fall to them as your parents."

Heidi finished, and left me in peace for the next couple of minutes to soak up the information. She merely closed her eyes and leaned back against the bed, allowing me to think. Her explanation made sense, and I could only imagine what I would do to someone who had tried to hurt her now. It was unfair of me to think she was getting pleasure out of the killing, just for the sake of killing. We had just gone through that she doesn't even feed from a live source, and I had already doubted her again.

I took Heidi's hand and gently pulled her back into the sitting position so I could look her in the eye as I told her. "I'm sorry, as much as I think I understand this world, I keep realizing that I can never come to really comprehend it until I am fully a part of it."

A smile overtook Heidi's face as she leaned down to capture my lips in what started out as a chaste kiss. One chaste kiss turned to two and then three and before I knew it Heidi had my body pinned to the bed with her hovering over me. She had a hand on either side of my head and gave me a predatory look before leaning down to attach her lips to mine once more. We became so caught up in the moment that we didn't hear, or at least I didn't hear, Athenadora and Didyme entering the room.

Giving a fake cough as a warning, Heidi merely growled as she was upset over our moment being intruded on. Smirks could be seen on Athenadora and Didyme's lips as they took in the blush overwhelming my face. The room was silent for a moment or two before Athenadora had to break it with the news I was dreading, it was time for me to head to the throne room.

None of the vampires offered themselves as a 'ride' for me, sensing that I would want to take the long, human way there. The entire walk was silent, nothing like the one from the day before where there was copious amounts of smiling and laughing. Heidi held my hand tenderly, gently using the pad of her thumb to draw patterns on my hand as we walked. I was completely grateful for it as it calmed my nerves considerably.

As we approached the doors Athenadora turned to me. "Isabella, as we enter you must stay next to Heidi, and behind myself and Didyme. When the time comes we are going to place you behind Sulpicia's throne, okay?"

They didn't have to specify to me what they meant by 'when the time comes.' I nodded my head in understanding, before turning to Heidi to give her a reassuring smile. With this Athenadora and Didyme pushed the doors open, and even though I stayed behind them, as instructed, I could feel numerous pairs of eyes trying to look at me.

Once I got a good look at the throne room, I could make out Victoria in the center being held by Dimitri and Felix. Aro, Sulpicia, Caius, and Marcus were all by their thrones; looking down at Victoria with disgusted looks. Aro and Sulpicia briefly looked to me, as if needing to confirm for themselves that I was in their presence, and I was alright.

Scattered throughout the room was the rest of the elite guard. Most notably Alec, Jane and Chelsea were staring at Victoria, looking as though they were itching to tear her apart. Jane, in particular, had a most biting look.

Finally, in the far left hand corner of the room stood the Cullens. Carlise and Esme immediately stood out to me, as they were in the center of the people I once called family. They looked exactly the same as I had left them, and I didn't know why I was expecting any different. The two of them had turned their attention to me as soon as I had entered the room, and the feeling behind their eyes was one I was having trouble placing. Was it pity? Anger? Had they missed me?

Shifting my eyes over from them, and to their left, was Emmett and Rosalie. Emmett was an easy read, he looked as though he wanted to run across the room and envelope me into one of his bear hugs he used to give me. Rosalie, on the other hand, was proving to be just as difficult a read as Carlise and Esme. She almost looked, dare I say it, guilty? I immediately shook the thought away, it was impossible, Rosalie hated me. Right?

My eyes finally gazed over to Alice, who seemed to be almost bouncing from excitement, and Jasper. Jasper surprised me as well as he smirked knowingly at me holding hands with Heidi. Was this his version of approval? I took all of the conflicting feelings within me, and just channeled them into seeking comfort from Heidi. I safely tucked myself into her side, as she took the hint and wrapped her arms around me, holding me there.

I could make out that there was a conversation going on around me. Mostly between Aro and Victoria. He was giving her one last chance to explain why she had decided to go after me, after learning that I was not Edward's mate. At this my head immediately popped up. How had Victoria learned that Edward and I were not true mates?

Victoria answered that she had figured out that I was his La Tua Cante, and that draining me before he could would be a fitting punishment. Her explanation, as sick as it was, made sense. She wanted to take something from Edward as he had done to her. It was also clear that he was in love with the scent of my blood, ergo she would be taking something he loved. Aro did not seem pleased at this answer as instead of delivering a verdict he turned to Heidi and asked. "Heidi, would you do the honors?"

It took a few seconds for my brain to catch up with what my eyes were witnessing. In, what felt like all the same second, Heidi had placed me in Sulpicia's arms, turned around, and was now on top of a struggling Victoria, poised to deliver the killing blow. This happened milliseconds after as she twisted and ripped Victoria's head from her body as Dimitri and Felix each took an arm. Taking a zippo lighter from her pocket Heidi tossed it over her shoulder as she walked to me.

As Heidi came to my side, pulling me in once more, Victoria's body, or rather the pieces of her body, became engulfed in flames. Looking on I felt a weight being lifted off of my shoulders. The realization that I no longer had to worry about Victoria trying to hunt me down and kill me hit me like a ton of bricks. I turned to Heidi and gave her a chaste kiss as my thanks. She smiled at me and added one more kiss to my cheek for good measure. I noticed in that moment that all of the Cullens were studiously watching our interactions.

Before I could get into an internally deep analysis of what each Cullen's body language meant Aro pulled me out of my thoughts. "With the execution completed everyone sans the Cullen clan and the elite guard are allowed the leave."

The room thinned out considerably with this demand, and in the end it left a very awkward boundary in the room. On the one side you had the Cullens, and the other you had the Volturi. As for me, I was currently cuddled into Heidi's side trying to figure out how I was going to handle this next turn of events.

A/N: Not my best work, I was extremely tired when I wrote this. Now that Victoria is out of the way I can really get into the Cullens being added to this story. I hope you enjoyed it and sorry for taking so long.