Once we were shown where we were going to be staying during the short visit, I left Izzy in Jasper's care and went in hunt of Aro to get this shit taken care of sooner rather than later. I was directed to his study and after getting permission to enter, I opened the door and went in. Aro was at his desk with Caius sitting opposite him. When he looked up he gave me that half assed smile of his, "Captain. I hope your room was to your liking. As I said before it has been many years since we had a newborn of your mate's age here for a mere visit, so we were unsure as to how to prepare for her."

I shrugged a little, "She has a nasty temper, so when she breaks something I'll take care of it."

He looked at his forearm where the scar from her teeth was beginning to set and nodded, "That she certainly does. However, I am positive with your extensive experience with newborns she will learn to control it soon enough."

I snorted, "I doubt it. She is as stubborn as a mule, and don't listen for shit unless you get rough with her. It's gonna be awhile before she settles on her own. That is actually what I wanted to talk to you about, if you have the time to."

He nodded and waved a hand to the empty seat next to Caius, "Of course, Captain. Have a seat, Caius and I were just about finished."

Sitting where I was told to, I got comfortable while the two brothers went back to the conversation they were having, ending with Aro's signature on a piece of paper and Caius leaving the two of us alone. Once it was just us, Aro scratched his brow and waved me to begin, "You have the floor, Captain."

I put my chin in my palm and smirked at him. I haven't been called Captain this much in over 70 fucking years. Letting it go though because I knew he wasn't going to stop with that, I got to it, "I wanna know what it was that changed my girl from the one Jasper described on the way here, to what she is now. To make this clear, there ain't shit wrong with my Sugar but something changed her and I wanna know what it was."

He tilted his head to the side a little and closed his eyes, "The young lady has not exactly had the best time of her life for the past few years, Captain. That would change just about anyone. You will need to be a little more specific in your inquiry."

Specific in your inquiry? Fucking high horse riding jackass. I despise noble talk. No matter how it is said, it always sounds like you are being talked down to, and that never fails to annoy the shit out of me. Grinding my teeth so I didn't snap, knowing that was just how the fucker talked because of the time he came from, I took a deep breath and let it out slowly before speaking again. "How 'bout this. How much of her was changed by the abandonment of the coven, and how much of it was the redhead?"

He tsked, "Ah. I would say it would be about 30-70, the latter being the redhead. Victoria was very good at her job from what I saw, however, as a human your mate had a very strong will to live. I honestly do not know how she survived much of what she faced over the years.

"If I had to put a time to her personality change from what I saw in Edward's memories to the one she has now, I would put the start of it about a year after the Cullen coven left her to her own devices. Of course, you cannot expect a human to remain wearing rose colored glasses when looking at the world around her when recovering from the hands of a vampire. By the time you found her, she had nearly died seven times over the course of time and each one was worse than the last."

He shook his head a little, "She is a very strong willed young lady, but her mind is fragmented, balancing on a sword's tip between brokenness and insanity. Something unknown to us, something small and insignificant to anyone but her can give her mind that push to one direction or the other and can destroy everything she is trying very hard to maintain.

"Before when I said she was doing well under the circumstances, I was not speaking of her lack of memories. I was speaking of her balancing on a very dangerous edge that not many stand on long without falling. She is trying to understand the world around her, but the lack of understanding and bridges to the past are driving her mad. She wants revenge but does not know why. She wants vindication, but does not know from whom. She wants answers, but does not know the questions. She wants to understand what is going on, but cannot get her mind to connect certain dots that she knows it used to."

I took in everything that he said, and once he was done I looked him dead in the eye, "Then don't take Jasper away from her." One brow slowly slid to his hairline, but before he could say anything, I did, "He is not only a link to her past and can help her make some of those connections, but she trusts him as well, something that newborns are not usually known to do in such a short time.

"You just said that something small and insignificant to us could break her completely and, while we know the rules and consequences for breaking them and those fifty years before the mast isn't a big deal, to her, it's everything. If you take him and she breaks, that's wholly on you, and in that instance, you will have to deal with me," Then I smirked at him, "something we both know you don't want. Jasper wouldn't follow any order to go against me, and the rest of your guard is scared shitless of me. You break my mate, I break you, and there wouldn't be anything you could do to stop me since harming someone's mate is also against the law.

"I am not saying that he does not deserve to be punished for breaking the law. He fucked up, he knows he fucked up. Jesus, Mary and my own dead mama knows he fucked up. I'm not asking for a pardon on his part, he can do that himself. All I am doing is looking out for the best interest of my mate. So, here is what I propose. Jasper leaves with us and once my mate is older and more comfortable in her new life, whatever time is left on his sentence he returns to serve on your guard. If it takes her his whole term before she is no longer in need of him, so fucking be it, but I am not willing to take any chances for her to lose it completely. I give you my word that the moment she doesn't need him anymore, I will put his ass on plane my damn self with a big red bow around his neck."

Aro snorted at that, something I don't think he has ever done before. He crossed his arms and we entered a staring contest for a few minutes before he nodded. "Very well, Captain. However, I will be checking in on her progress, personally, once a year to see how she is doing. Once I am convinced, and you agree, that she is able to be without him, he returns with me for whatever is left of his sentence. Once you consent, no amount of begging on your mate's part will sway his leaving, so make sure she knows that." Curiosity then entered his eyes, "Tell me, Captain. How do you feel about having another male being the one to help your mate?"

I shrugged, "I don't give a shit. This ain't about me. This is about my Sugar and her well being. It's my job to ensure that she's taken care of to the best of my ability, and if that means that I have to sit back and let my brother help her in ways that I can't, I ain't got a problem with it. Would you not do the same for your mate if you were in my position?"

He hummed a little as a smile graced his lips as the mention of his own mate. After a minute he nodded, "I concede to your point, Captain. It is our prerogative as males to do what is ever necessary for our mates; I will give you that. I suppose it does help that you are so close to the Major. I doubt very much you would be lobbying for anyone else to assist in this."

I snorted, "Fuck no. Any of the others from that god forsaken coven wouldn't have gotten close enough to her for her to become attached. As it is, if we are still here when they arrive, keep them the fuck away from her. I won't stop her anymore from following her instincts to fuck someone up, whether she knows the reason behind it or not. She is owed her justice and I won't be the one to keep her from getting it."

Then, because I'm an asshole, I snickered, "You gonna make them Cullens switch diets while they serve their sentence?"

He got this really nasty gleam in his eyes when I asked that, "I am yet undecided on that. I do have a question for you, however Captain." I cocked a brow knowing what he was getting ready to ask, "Did you know of the human version of you mate?"

I shrugged, "Yup. But, it doesn't really matter now does it?"

He sighed as he shook his head, "No, I just wanted to see if you would tell me."

I held out a hand to him, "I ain't got shit to hide. I was never told her real name nor did I ever even see her as a human. If I had, shit wouldn't have gone down like that."

He waved my hand away, "I don't doubt that, Captain. I was merely curious."

There was a tap on the door drawing Aro's attention away from me to it. He called for them to enter, and Felix poked his head in. "Forgive the intrusion, Master Aro." Then he turned to me, "Heidi has returned with your mate's meal, Captain."

I nodded to him then looked at Aro. I might be a might disrespectful but I was raised not to leave without being dismissed. It's an army thing. He nodded at me knowing what I was waiting for, "Dismissed Captain."

Giving a half hearted two finger salute, I left the room and followed Felix to the first basement of the palace where Izzy was attacking the humans like it was days since she ate, and not only a few hours. I glanced up into the rafters where Jasper was lazing about keeping an eye on Izzy while she ate. Jumping up to the one next to him, I hunkered down and snickered when my girl back handed a guy that tried to punch her. Idiot.

Looking over at Jasper from the corner of my eye a moment, I focused back on Iz but spoke to him, "You are coming with us when we leave. The beginning of your sentence is to be served helping me raise that baby up right."

His head snapped to look at me, "What?"

I nodded, "Yup. I just had a right nice chat with Aro, and convinced him not to take you away
from my Sugar right now."

His jaw dropped a little, and I smirked. It wasn't easy taking him off guard like that. He blinked before shaking his head, "You didn't have to do that. Fifty years of service on this guard is fucking cakewalk in comparison to the last army I served in."

I kinda glared as I looked over at him, "I most certainly fucking did have to do that. Ya'll fucked my girl up, and it is your fucking responsibility to fucking fix it. I was told a bit about her mindset, and I gotta tell ya Jazz, I'm 'bout ready to kick your fuckin' ass. I won't deny you might not have fucking known about the fuckin' hit bitch, but the fact remains that you did in fact have a part in her being the way she is, and I swear on every fucking thing sacred you hold dear, you are gonna fix it."

His confusion to that could be seen by a blind man, "what are you talking about? What did Aro tell you?"

I glanced at my mate a moment before looking back at him. Now I was glaring, "We ain't gonna talk about that right now, ya hear? I'll fill you in on that later. All you need to know is you fucked up my girl in ways completely unbecoming of the southern gentleman you claim to be. The red headed little whore was the end to it, but YOU started the ball rolling and because of that, YOU are the one I will be holding accountable if she breaks completely. You better brush up on your baby raisin' skills, cuz until my girl is all better, you're her fucking shadow."

He looked away a minute before looking back at me and nodded.

Before he said anything back however, Izzy called up to me. Turning to her with a smile, "Yeah, Sugar?"

She was covered from head to toe with blood, her head cocked to the side with an innocent look on her face, "You alright?"

I nodded, "Perfect, Sugar. You all done?" She didn't look convinced but nodded to that so I dropped from the rafter I was on, Jasper following suit, and went over to her. Once again picking at her hair, "Did you actually eat anything, Sugar; because it looks like you're wearing four humans worth of blood, Darlin."

She giggled a little and shrugged her shoulder at me, "I ate three of them. This is because that fat fuck tried to hit me. I just played with him."

I sighed and shook my head. Infants. "Did you have fun?"

She giggled a little more and nodded, "uh huh." Babies, I swear.

But with her I was nothing if not indulgent, "Good then. Come on; let's go get you cleaned up. At the rate you're going, I'm not sure if I brought you enough clothes."