Author's Note: This isn't the last chapter, but it's close. And I can safely say I know where this story is going. I will finish it within the next few days. And like I said in my previous update, I'm not sure if I even have any readers left, but I don't think it matters. I'm doing this for me. :) But If you are reading, please let me know what you think. I'm curious as to what I could do better. :)

Carlisle

In that moment, when Bella's desperate cry sank into my ears, I seemed to remember who I was.

"Enough!" I echoed with more power, throwing my arms into the air. I felt every pair of eyes in the room turn towards and fall on me. The temperature seemed to drop a good twenty degrees. I looked down; Caius' severed arm rested between the tips of my fingers. Preston and Jane burned somewhere close by; the sickly scent of it hung heavily in the air. Aro and Alec cowered beneath various members of my family. Emmett barred his teeth, mouth set in a sneer. "This…" I began quietly "this was not why we came. And this…" I trailed off, lost in the thought, suddenly overcome by sadness, by despair, I was unable to make the words come. I could hardly believe what we'd done.

"This is not who we are." My wife finished for me. I turned towards her, locking my eyes with hers. I'd never felt more grateful for her, I've never felt more connected to her, and I'd never loved her more. Her words gave me the strength I needed to continue what I'd begun.

"We did not come here seeking revenge or retribution. We did not come here to destroy the Volturi. Arielle came here to protect us from Preston…from you. And we came to protect her from the same. Somewhere along the way emotion got the better of us…I think we all, myself included, forgot ourselves."

Aro looked at me cautiously. I leaned over, extended him my hand. Not only to help him up, but also because I knew it would allow him to see the sheer truth in my words. He clasped onto it like a drowning man would a life preserver. After I pulled him to his feet, steadied, I continued to speak.

"I, for one, have no desire to destroy the Volturi. We need them to ensure order; to protect our secrets. And I know I, at least, have no desire to take their place. I don't want to be responsible for the policing of our kind…But…"

"None of this would have happened at all if those that are responsible for the policing hadn't allowed the power of their position to corrupt them!" Seth interjected. "If you hadn't kidnapped my sister; hadn't held her against her will for years, we'd have had no cause, no desire to attack!"

I crossed to the boy I'd known for years, but only recently had begun to call son, and braced a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Although Seth could have phrased that more eloquently, his point certainly remains valid. We don't want to overthrow the Volturi Aro, but something has to change if we don't. And I think only you can decide what."

I waited patiently as Aro opened his mouth and began to speak.

"Carlisle, we've known each other for over three hundred years. And looking at you now, I can say, without a doubt, you've changed over time. Which makes me acutely aware of the fact that I've changed as well. But where I can look at you and know that you've become something immeasurably better, you've grown into something infinitely greater, I fear I've developed into the antithesis. Corrupted, undoubtedly, by a combination of my status and time.

"Recognizing the problem is the first step in correcting it." I responded easily. "The question now is, what, exactly, do you plan to do about it."

"I don't know for sure." He admitted honestly. "All I know for certain is that I'm not ready to die…so I guess that only leaves me with the option to change. And I can't say how successful I'll be in doing so. But I am willing to try."

I glanced around the room, trying to gage the reactions of my family to this. One by one, albeit, some with obvious reluctance, they began to nod.

"Trying is enough. To ask for more would be inhumane." I couldn't help but snicker at my word choice. "I mean, if we were to ask for more than your best efforts, we'd be no better than you. There is no such thing as perfect, and we'd all be wiser if we could remember that more often."

"I think we forget," Rosalie added, "that immortality, that physical beauty, does not equal perfection. We get lost, I think, in the benefits of our being, and forget our flaws."

Aro nodded. "And we, that is to say, the Volturi, have certainly forgotten our purpose. We exist in order to protect the secrets of our kind. But I'm remembering that purpose now. And I'll not be forgetting it again anytime soon."

The fire I'd started what seemed like forever ago continued to rage on around us, was beginning to threaten the structural integrity of the building. The stone made an eerie creaking sound as it began to splinter and crack off in places. "We need to go." I announced, realizing that if we didn't, we'd soon find ourselves buried beneath tons of ancient castle wall.

"We wish you luck Aro." Bella whispered, eyes strong and purposeful. And she turned on her heels and was the first of us to leave.

Outside, the various members of my family basked in the light drizzle falling, gulped in the fresh air, and celebrated escaping intact. But I only had one thought, more important than air in my lungs: Arielle. I scanned the crowd, blind to, and terrified of, the world around me, seeking her desperately.

And it's funny, because then she was there, fitted like a puzzle piece between my arms, and although I closed my eyes once I had her, shut out the world around me, I could finally see clearly. I inhaled her completely. Lips fused together, I drew her in deeper. Wrapped my arms around her waist, pulled her closer than I knew possible.

"God," I shuddered "Don't ever leave me again."

"I don't know how I did to begin with."

And I didn't care suddenly that we were surrounded by the whole family. I knew, subconsciously, that this too, was out of character for me, but I couldn't seem to make myself care. I lifted her swiftly, silenced her concerns she began to vocalize about all the eyes upon us with my mouth. And I carried her as fast as I could to the nearest vehicle. Catcalls abounded behind us, I was vaguely aware Emmett was leading the cheers. "Don't you have your own wife to kiss?" I called back, unable to resist? "Why are you so focused on the fact that I can't keep my hands off mine?!"

"Good point!" I heard him yell, just before I started the car and drove Arielle off, heading towards our still unknown version of perfection, of forever.