Chapter 11 – The Volturi

Bella's Point of View

"Ah, Bella!" Aro rose from his seat as I entered the room. Caius and Marcus were his only companions, sitting on either side of him. They both looked equally unexcited.

"My my, you have taken to immortality quite well."

"Thank you, Aro." I spoke politely.

"But why have you come all the way out here? Surely you must have known we would come and visit you." I did.

"I decided to save you the trip. Why fly all the way to British Columbia when it was clearly my responsibility to take up this bargain?" I decided to play it friendly.

"Yes, I see. Why indeed. But I thought you were in Washington?"

Oops. I hadn't planned on telling him we had moved.

"We moved shortly after my transformation. Many people in my town know who I am, my changed appearance would have caused suspicion." It was as logical an answer as any.

"Quite true, quite true." He paused slightly. "Well, Bella, it seems that we have no more business to attend to, so I wish you a very safe trip back home."

I started breathing again, realizing only then that I hadn't been.

I started to turn to leave when Aro interrupted.

"Wait." I held my breath again and turned towards him.

"I am merely curious..." Aro held his hand out towards me.

I could tell what he was curious about. He wanted to know if he still couldn't hear me. His gift of reading a person's every thought through their hand was one that hadn't been able to break through my private mind. After my transformation I assumed that, since Edward couldn't hear me, Aro wouldn't be able to either.

I held out my hand for him.

Aro grabbed my hand and held it close to him, waiting for some revelation that wouldn't come.

"Fascinating." He paused for a moment and let go of my hand.

The two of us stood staring at one another for a moment, until Aro finally spoke.

"You wouldn't be interested in joining us, would you, Bella? We could use a powerful shield such as yourself." I had expected this.

"No thank you, Aro."

"But of course your mate could come too."

"Thank you for the offer, Aro, but we are not interested." I made sure to show no hesitation.

"So be it." He turned and sat back down in his chair. He looked mildly irritated.

"Please, Bella, do say hello to Carlisle for me. It's been so long."

"I will."

And with that, I turned and walked back through the door the same way I came.

I didn't know whether I should have expected something more from my meeting with the Volturi. In my mind I was almost imagining them kidnapping me, forcing me to work for them, forcing me to tempt Edward into coming too. I half expected them to change their minds, deciding to kill me anyways so that my family would learn a lesson. I guess I never expected the Volturi to be so diplomatic, especially after all my nightmares about them.

On my flight back to London, I couldn't shake this suspicious feeling. Perhaps my thoughts of the Volturi were playing with my mind. I couldn't believe they would just let me go.

Carlisle was waiting for me in London with my return ticket home. He didn't seem surprised that I came back in one piece. I guess he knew the Volturi better than I did.

"So, Bella, how did it go?"

"The same as we talked about, Carlisle. They questioned why I came and asked if I would join them."

"And Aro?"

"Took my hand, like we expected."

"Good. There's no need to be afraid anymore, Bella. You are safe. Renesmee is safe."

The flight home couldn't have gone any slower. I couldn't wait for the moment when I could finally hold my husband and daughter in my arms. To pass the time, I put a CD of Edward's compositions in my Walkman and put the headphones in my ears. I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes, wishing I could sleep.

Although the trip went flawlessly, I still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Something that was obvious, that slipped through the cracks.

I didn't have much time to think about it, because the plane had begun landing.

My whole family was waiting for us at the airport. Renesmee reached out to me and I took her in my arms. With one touch to my face she showed me how much she missed me.

I looked down at her, smiling. "I missed you too."

I was finally home.