Disclaimer. All publicly recognizable characters, settings etc., are the property of their respective owners. The original characters, ideas and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. I only do this for fun.
Unbreakable Faith
A/N: Well, we're all caught up with where I left off before revising and reposting! Here's the new chapter unseen before today! I hope you enjoy it!
This story is written as an collaboration by both Xo Bella Italiana oX and DeathsQueen26, but the story idea came from Luckystar125. If you have any questions, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note at the bottom of the chapter. We hope that you enjoy the story and look forward to hearing your thoughts! - B
Previously...
(Faith's POV)
As soon as Bella and I both turned to sit in the chairs, I saw that we were not alone. Esmé had followed Edward and Jasper, and behind her the rest of the family filed in.
Carlisle sat down next to Edward, who sat at Bella's left and I on her right as Jasper was on mine. On the other side of Jasper sat Alice, then Emmett, Rosalie, and finally Esmé who had then sat next to Carlisle. Everyone took their seats in silence. Alice was grinning at the two of us, already knowing what was going to be said. Everyone looked curious, and Rosalie smiled somewhat tentatively.
Carlisle nodded toward us. "The floor is yours, girls."
Chapter 11
(Bella's POV)
I swallowed. Their gazing eyes made me nervous. Edward took my hand under the table. I peeked at him, but he was watching the others, his face suddenly fierce. I looked over at Faith and she gave me an encouraging smile. I guess I'm going first...
"Well," I paused. "I'm hoping Alice has already told you everything that happened in Volterra?"
"Everything," Alice assured me.
I threw her a meaningful look. "And on the way?"
"That, too," she nodded and paused, shooting a look toward Faith. "Well, except for the bit about Faith' reasoning for going, aside from helping us with Edward. I figured that that would be best coming from her."
Faith smiled and nodded. "Thanks."
"Good," I sighed with relief. "Then we're all on the same page."
They waited patiently while I tried to order my thoughts.
"So, I have a problem," I began. "Alice promised the Volturi that I would become one of you. They're going to send someone to check, and I'm sure that's a bad thing – something to avoid.
"And so, now, this involves you all. I'm sorry about that." I looked at each one of their beautiful faces, saving the Edward's for last. His mouth was turned down into a grimace. "But, if you don't want me, then I'm not going to force myself on you, whether Alice is willing or not."
Esme opened her mouth to speak, but I held up one finger to stop her.
"Please, let me finish. You all know what I want. And I'm sure you know what Edward thinks, too. I think the only fair way to decide is for everyone to have a vote. If you decide you don't want me, then... I guess I'll go back to Italy alone. I can't have them coming here." My forehead creased as I considered that.
There was the faint fumble of a growl in Edward's chest. I ignored him.
"Taking into account, then, that I won't put any of you in danger either way, I want you to vote yes or no on the issue of me becoming a vampire." I half-smiled on the last word, and gestured toward Carlisle to begin.
"Just a minute," Edward interrupted.
I glared at him through narrowed eyes. He raised his eyebrows at me, squeezing my hand.
"I have something to add before we vote."
I sighed.
"About the danger Bella's referring to," he continued. "I don't think we need to be overly anxious." His expression became more animated. He put his free hand on the shining table and leaned forward. "You see," he explained, looking around the table while he spoke, "there was more than one reason why I didn't want to shake Aro's hand there at the end. There's something they didn't think of, and I didn't want to cine them in." He grinned.
"Which was?" Alice prodded. I was sure my expression was just as skeptical as hers.
"The Volturi are overconfident, and with good reason. When they decide to find someone, it's not really a problem. Do you remember Demetri?" He glanced down at me.
I shuddered. He took that as a yes.
"He finds people – that's his talent, why they keep him. Now, the whole time we were with any of them, I was picking their brains for anything that might save us, getting as much information as possible. So I saw how Demetri's talent works. He's a tracker – a tracker a thousand times more gifted than James was. His ability is loosely related to what I do, or what Aro does. He catches the... flavor? I don't know how to describe it... the tenor... of someone's mind, and then he follows that. It works over immense distances. But after Aro's little experiments, well..." Edward shrugged.
"You think he won't be able to find me," I said flatly.
He was smug. "I'm sure of it. He relies totally on that other sense. When it doesn't work with you, they'll all be blind."
"And how does that solve anything?"
"Quite obviously, Alice or Faith will be able to tell when they're planning a visit, and I'll hide you. They'll be helpless," he said with fierce enjoyment. "It'll be like looking for a piece of traw in a hay stack!"
He and Emmett exchanged a glance and a smirk.
This made no sense.
"But they can find you." I reminded him.
"And I can take care of myself."
Emmett laughed, and reached across the table toward his brother, extending his fist. "Excellent plan, my brother," he said with enthusiasm.
Edward stretched out his arm to smack Emmett's fist with his own.
"No," Rosalie hissed.
"Absolutely not," I agreed.
"Nice." Jasper's voice was appreciative.
"Idiots," Alice muttered.
Faith just sighed and rolled her eyes as Esmé glared at Edward. I straightened up in my chair, focusing. This was my discussion.
"All right, then. Edward has offered an alternative for you to consider," I said coolly. "Let's vote." I looked toward Edward this time; it would be better to get his opinion out of the way. "Do you want me to join your family?"
His eyes were hard and black as flint. "Not that way. You're staying human."
I nodded once, keeping my face business-like, and then moved on.
"Alice?"
"Yes."
"Rosalie?"
She hesitated, biting down on her full, perfect bottom lip. "No."
I kept my face blank and turned my head slightly to move on, but she held up both her hands, palms forward.
"Let me explain," she pleaded. "I don't mean that I have any aversion to you as a sister. It's just that... this is not the life I would have chosen for myself. I wish there had been someone there to vote no for me."
I nodded slowly, and then turned to Faith.
"Me?" She looked startled.
"Of course, dear," Esmé agreed. "You're a part of this family, too."
Faith smiled happily at Esmé before looking up at Jasper with that same joyful smile. He gave her hand a squeeze, leaning forward to kiss her forehead. Everyone smiled at the love so obviously displayed by the couple who had only just met before Faith looked back toward the table.
"I have to vote 'yes' but with stipulations." She announced, causing me to scrunch my brows in confusion.
Jasper quirked a brow down at Faith. "Stipulations, darlin'?"
She nodded. "I believe that Bella should have every right to decide her own future, whether it be turning into a vampire or staying human. But I don't think that it should be for the wrong reasons. I don't think that she should turn into a vampire because of the Volturi. It should be on her own time line with her own conditions and for the right reasons. If she is only doing it because of the Volturi, then I vote no." She turned her head to look at me. "So, Bella, I vote 'yes' that you should become a vampire if that's what you want, but I vote 'no' if you are only either rushing into this or doing this because of the Volturi."
(Faith's POV)
Silence echoed on after my vote as everyone silently exchanged glances between themselves. It wasn't until Bella finally nodded, sending a smile in my direction before flickering her eyes towards Jasper.
"Jasper?"
"I vote yes," He answers. "I think it's the safest way to protect Bella and Faith, however, my stipulations match those of my mates." He smiled down at me, wrapping a proud arm around my shoulder and pressing a kiss to my temple before looking back over at Bella. "It would be nice not to want to eat you all the time." He smirked, causing a few of us to smile in amusement.
Bella momentarily looked surprised before quickly suppressing her reaction and moving on.
"Emmett?"
"Hell yes!" He grinned "We can find some other way to pick a fight with this Demetri."
I could feel Didyme rolling her eyes at his antics, though I could feel her sadness from the way that the Cullen's seemed to view her family, the Volturi. 'Is that really what my family have become in my absence?'
'I don't know, Didyme. But whatever the issue, I'm sure we will fix it.' I promised her.
Bella was still grimacing at Emmett's enthusiasm when she looked at Esmé.
"Yes, of course, Bella. I already think of you as part of my family. But I have the same views on this matter as Faith. You should change because it is what you want and what you feel in your heart is the right decision because it is the path that you truly want to take. Not because someone is pressuring you to."
"Thank you, Esmé," Bella murmured as she turned to Carlisle.
But Carlisle wasn't looking at her.
"Edward," he said.
"No," Edward growled. His jaw was strained tight, his lips curled back from his teeth.
"It's the only way that makes sense," Carlisle insisted. "You've chosen not to live without her, and that doesn't leave me a choice."
Edward dropped her hand, shoving away from the table. He stalked out of the room, snarling under his breath.
"I guess you know my vote." Carlisle sighed.
Bella was still staring after Edward. "Thanks," she mumbled to Carlisle.
An ear-splitting crash echoes from the other room, causing Jasper to push me slightly behind him as he stood in front of me protectively.
Bella flinched, and spoke quickly. "That's all I needed. Thank you. For wanting to keep me. I feel exactly the same about all of you, too." Her voice was jagged with emotion by the end.
Esmé was at her side in a flash, her cold arms around her. "Dearest Bella," she breathed as Bella hugged her back.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Rosalie looking down at the table, and I realized that Bella's words could be construed in two ways.
"Well, Alice," Bella said when Esmé released her. "Where do you want to do this?"
Alice stared at her, her eyes widening with terror as we all looked at Bella in surprise.
She wanted to do this now?
"No! No! NO!" Edward roared, charging back into the room.
He was in her face before she had time to blind, bending over her, his expression twisted in rage, resulting in Jasper backing us up further and tightening his arm around my back, molding my form to his backside.
"Are you insane?" he shouted. "Have you utterly lost your mind?"
She cringed away, her hands over her ears.
"Um, Bella," Alice interjected in an anxious voice. "I don't think I'm ready for that. I'll need to prepare..."
"You promised," she reminded her, glaring under Edward's arm.
"I know, but... seriously, Bella! I don't have any idea how not to kill you!"
"You can do it," she encouraged. "I trust you."
Edward snarled in fury.
Alice shook her head quickly, looking panicked.
"Carlisle?" she turned to look at him.
Edward grabbed her face in his hand, forcing her to look at him. His other hand was out, palm toward Carlisle.
Carlisle ignored that. "I'm able to do it," he answered her question. "You would be in no danger of me losing control."
"Sounds good." Bella mumbled distortedly; it was hard to understand her clearly the way Edward held her jaw.
"Hold on," Edward said between his teeth. "It doesn't have to be now."
"There's no reason for it not to be now," she said, the words still coming out distorted.
"I can think of a few."
"Of course you can," she said sourly. "Now let go of me."
He freed her face, and folded his arms across his chest. "In about two hours, Charlie will be here looking for both you and Faith. I wouldn't put it past him to involve the police."
"All three of them." But she frowned.
This was always the hardest part for Bella; Uncle Charlie, Aunt Renée. Now Jacob, too. The people she would lose, the people she would hurt.
"In the interest of remaining inconspicuous," Edward said, still talking through his gritted teeth, but looking at Carlisle now, "I suggest that we put this conversation off, at the very least until Bella finishes high school, and moves out of Charlie's house."
"That's a reasonable request, Bella," Carlisle pointed out. "Not to mention, you have to remember that Faith would need to be changed at the same time or at the very least have to leave town with us since we wouldn't be able to remain here, especially with a newborn, and it's not fair to ask her to be changed or uproot her life here if she's not ready because you're impatient." He raised a brow at her, giving her a suggestive look.
"Wait, does she even want to be changed?" Rosalie reminded them. I smiled at her gratefully, as it was rude of them to assume that this was what I wanted.
Jasper immediately turned around completely, cupping my face with both of his hands. "Would that be something you would want, darlin'?" He asked, his eyes shinning down at me.
"Forever with you would be a dream come true." I admitted. "But I'm not ready." I told him, knowing that there was still some things that had to be taken care of before I could make those kinds of plans. I didn't know what would happen do Didyme if I were to change first. I had to make sure that she would be okay if I went through the transformation, or what separating us would entail. "I would like some time. There are still some things that I have to do, first."
Jasper smiled tentatively and nodded. "That's perfectly reasonable, sweetheart." His thumb stroked across my cheek and he leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to my lips.
When we separated, we turned to look toward the rest of the group.
Bella pursed her lips and nodded. "I guess that's fair."
Edward relaxed, his jaw unclenched.
Carlisle cleared his throat, bringing our attention towards him. "Alright, now that that's taken care of... Faith, I believe you had something that you wanted to discuss with us?"
I nodded thoughtfully, trying to think of the best way to tell them all about Didyme and what had happened with me in Aro's office with him and Marcus.
"Wait a minute!" Edward interrupted my thought process as if he had just had a miraculous revelation. "That's it!"
"What's it?" Bella asked, looking up at him with befuddlement.
"You don't have to be changed! The answer to this was staring us in the face the whole time!" He grinned.
Alice rolled her eyes. "Edward, whether the Volturi are going to be a problem or not, it's still Bella's decision on whether she is to be changed or not."
"Wait!? The Volturi aren't going to be a problem?" Jasper asked in confusion, his eyebrows scrunched down towards his nose.
"How do you figure that, dear?" Esmé asked him.
"Because of Faith!" He revealed.
"Huh?" Emmett tilted his head, still completely puzzled. I knew where he was going with this, but I still agreed with my stipulations. Even if the Volturi weren't going to be a problem regarding Bella's change, it should still be her decision. "How in the hell is Faith the answer to our problems with the Volturi?"
His answer was simple, though I knew it was going to raise more questions then answers for them at this point. At least until I told them my story.
"Because of Didyme."
A/N: So, there you have it! What do you think?! What will the Cullen's and Jasper's reactions going to be when they learn about Didyme?! Why does Edward think that Faith is the answer to their problems?! What about Bella? What will she think of Edward's solution?! Will their votes change?! Review!
If you have any questions or comments, post them in my reviews and I will answer them in my next Author's Note!
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- Bellisma -
Xo Bella Italiana oX