Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am making no financial gain from this, either.
Chapter 10
"What does it say?" Edward interrupted Carlisle's worries, his voice strained, pained.
Carlisle closed his eyes once more. He took in this moment, the one he knew to be the last peaceful, moderately happy one in a long time. Half a second later, his eyes shot open. There was no time, and he was wasting the little amount that they actually possessed.
"War," he summarized gravely, not daring to look at his family. "That's what it says."
Silence.
"What do you mean, war?" Esme demanded, the first to break the stillness. "Why?! Even if they think that Renesmee is an immortal, how does that possibly justify a war?"
"Creating an immortal child is one of the worst offenses," Carlisle reminded her. "The Volturi believe we have been hiding it from them, and that doesn't exactly help. Of course Bella acting all maternally when it comes to Renesmee can easily be misinterpreted, too. Especially since Aro has no access to her thoughts."
He finally turned to look at his family. "It makes sense. At least in their logic."
"Still," Rosalie hissed. "Why doesn't anybody that doesn't have a shield go there and show them what's been going on? Surely they wouldn't fight against an innocent coven."
Rosalie, Carlisle thought. Sweet, innocent, naïve Rosalie.
"It said in the letter that they believe that the entire Coven has had a minimum of knowledge of this law breaking," he told her. "I've lived with them, Rosalie. I know their ways, their lifestyle, their way of hiding the lethal threat behind a more politely, seemingly not dangerous one. If they say all of us at least knew, what they're really saying is that in case we're innocent, we failed to notify them of the reality of the situation before a conundrum like this could arise."
He gave his copper-headed son a small affirmative nod, sensing his fear and remembering its likely origin.
"And that is a crime since when?" Emmett replied.
"Since Renesmee is one of a kind," Edward answered him, staring Carlisle directly in the eyes. "And in their opinion, it was our duty to inform them. Notification in case of novelty. It's one of their laws."
Jasper gasped. "Are you telling me...?"
"That either way, there is no way we are innocent in their eyes? Yes."
Silence.
"You fucking idiot, Edward!" Alice roared. "Why the fucking hell didn't you tell them? For God's sake, you could have just called up their damn secretary! Two minutes, and this bullshit would have been done with!"
"Yeah," Emmett hissed. "What the fuck, man?!"
"Children," Carlisle said, instantly quieting them down. "Please. This will do us no good. If you must know, I made the decision together with Edward. We wanted only the best for Renesmee and wanted to prevent a misunderstanding to occur if they ever did lay eyes upon her." He sighed. "But what does it matter now?"
"Nothing," Rosalie whispered. "Nothing at all. Because we're as good as dead, anyway."
Carlisle gulped. He detested himself for proposing what he was going to propose, but deep inside, he knew it was the only way for them to stay alive.
"Not necessarily," he said.
"How long has it been now, Aro?" Bella asked anxiously.
She was worrying sick about what possible decision her old Coven would make, garstly afraid of the safety of her own child. Afraid of what would happen if they looked behind her façade. Afraid of what would happen if the Cullens actually chose to accept Renesmee's hypothetical death in return for their own lifes.
No, she told herself. They loved Renesmee. They would never allow her to walk into her certain death.
Or would they?
"It's been twelve hours since Demetri gave them the letter, my dear" the mahogany-haired king answered.
Bella looked away, out of the window and into the Tuscan landscape. This was all too much to bear for her.
"My mate," Aro whispered soothingly into her ear. The caring action took her by surprise, obliterating her worries for the moment. "Your daughter will not be harmed. I promise you this."
And for a moment, she actually got herself to believe it.
Then common sense kicked in.
"So, in summary," Alice inquired terrifyedly, "Either we hand Renesmee in to the Volturi, which, in the real world, is equal to a death sentence, or we all die?"
"Yes," Carlisle nodded. "That is exactly what I was saying."
"Do not even think about it!" Edward yelled. "Renesmee is my only child. She will not be brutally murdered only so that we can take the 'easy way out' of this problem!"
"We all love Renesmee," Jasper said. "But Edward, if it's either just her or all of us-"
"NO!" Edward screamed. "Absolutely not!"
"SHE DIES EITHER WAY," Emmett hissed aggressively. "I see why you're doing this, and it's noble, but really? Your daughter dies one way or another. We don't."
"You bastard!" Edward roared. "You damned, idiotic bastard! May you burn in the deepest pits of he-"
"Edward," Carlisle interrupted him. "Please try to think rationally."
"Et tu, Brute?" the vampire in question sneered. "How selfish can you be...?!"
"Daddy...?" a high, childlike girly voice sounded from upstairs. All went silent. "Where's Mommy? I can't sleep. Why are you fighting?"
"Renesmee-" Alice began, but Edward cut her off.
"LEAVE HER IN PEACE!"
"Edward please, we must be hones-"
"I SAID-"
"Daddy," Renesmee called from upstairs, "What's gotting into you? Why are you mean to Aunty Alice?"
"Nessie, come down here" Esme coaxed. "I'll make you some warm milk."
Reluctantly, the little girl complied.
Within the course of a minute she was sat on her usual spot on the living room couch, a comfortably warm glass of white liquid in hand. Her entire family was sitting around her, smiling a little forcedly down at their very own little time bomb.
It was heartbreaking.
"Renesmee," Alice said. "What I wanted to say earlier-"
"ALICE!" Edward interrupted her. "Stop it, you foul, backstabbing pixie!"
"Daddy!" Renesmee complained. "Stop being mean to Aunty Alice. You're scaring me."
Alice shot her a thankful glance.
"Aunty Alice, what did you want to say?"
Little Renesmee was just being polite. She was taking the knowledge of what she had learned on how to behave around others from her Mommy and Daddy and applied it to reality in the best way she could. Little did she now that with this one sentence, she had given her Aunty the permission to change everything.
Alice had been invited to speak. And so she did.
Renesmee listened, at first boredly, but with every second more she was taken by terror and fear. Fright took hold of her. This went by far beyond anything any person should have to decide. Especially any child.
But not once did Renesmee stop her. She neither cried nor screamed. From the outside, everything was normal. She was broken on the inside, but she did not dare show it.
Because she knew that every sign of weakness that she showed, it would be harder for her family. And she loved them. She would do anything for them, those flawless, perfect, loved creatures.
Anything.
"I'll do it," she whispered.
Author's Note: Just as prohibitory measure, a friendly reminder — the Volturi are not killing Renesmee if she goes to Volterra, but of course the Cullens don't know that.
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