Piper: Well, I would like to say that I'm very happy...BECAUSE I AM! This is the 20th chapter, and there are over 700 reviews. I want to thank all of you, with this chapter. I tried to make it longer, and I hope all of you are satisfied with what I write in this chapter, and for this story. I have a lot of ideas for it, so I hope none of you give up on me.

I don't own Twilight.

Chapter 20 - The Restoration of Balance

Caius Volturi

"So, she is better now?" Aro asked, tipping the lip of his cup towards his mouth, warm crimson overflowing its walls and entering his mouth. He let the cup back down once he had a nice taste of AB negative. His eyes pieced me, and Marcus also tilted his head my way, wondering about the brunette that had a special place in our palace, in our hearts.

I stared into my own untouched cup, and said in response, "It's hard to tell. I think that once we speak of her problems and why they are haunting her, I think we can get over a bigger part of her irrational depression. Once she begins to realize a few things, she will begin to strengthen once again."

Marcus leaned his head back, "I can't help but think about what our lives would be like now if Eleazar hadn't spoken Edward Cullen's name that night."

Aro shook his head slightly, "That is simple, brother. Bella would still be wondering, and becoming irritated with how we knew her past, and she did not. She would've gotten sick of being sheltered, and something else would have caused some kind of problem. It's simple to say that this was for the better."

"Like letting the Cullens stay here was for the better of her health?" I countered, staring at him with cold eyes.

He met my gaze easily, "She needs to fix her bonds with them, Caius. You know that as well as I do. Neither her, nor you for that matter, will have a happy life if she doesn't. She misses them, brother. They were her first real family. How could you ask her to just drop such ties, forget about them completely, when they were everything she had for such a long time? Carlisle will be here soon, along with his family. We need to tell them about this, no matter how much you may not like it."

I knew he was right, but I couldn't bring myself to like it. Bella was a big part of my life, despite how hard I tried to push that away and give up, she was. My own protective instincts and her needing sheltered brought this together, and now we were here, stuck between a rock and a hard place. The old Caius wanted to give up now, finding her emotions a big hassle on my part, but every time I thought of letting her go, my chest hurt. It was almost as if my heart would live again just to give me hell if I hurt her, and I knew that came with the bond we had made once we declared each other as mates. I couldn't let her go, no matter how much the old me wanted to. She gave me something I hadn't experienced before, and I loved it.

Love. My eyes widened at my memory of before Bella had teleported to the Cullens, shocked that I had forgotten her confession. Aro and Marcus looked at me, curious towards my small display of emotion. My mind began to twirl, and I thought to myself carefully; did I love her back?

Bella Swan

The sound of feet approaching the study made me put my book down, looking up at the door as I waited for who ever it was to reach their destination. My body tensed as the door knob twisted, and the door opened. My breath blew out of me when Rosalie entered the study, closing the door behind her silently. Her face was impassive as she looked up, meeting my blank eyes, "Bella, I want to talk with you."

I blinked as she continued to enter the room, and sat in my chair, the one next to Caius's. She looked down for a moment, before looking around the room, avoiding my eyes, "I was never kind to you when you were with our family, and I can understand your resentment towards me. What I can't understand, is your resentment towards the rest of my family. They treated you with nothing but kindness and you have ignored them and your own mate for the past two weeks."

My eyebrows furrowed, and a small fire stirred in my stomach, "It was an act of kindness when all of you left, Rosalie?" I asked, my emotionless mirror being tapped irritatingly by her remark.

She shook her head, her beautiful blonde hair spilling over her shoulders, "No, it wasn't, but right now this isn't about that. If you haven't noticed, my family is trying to make amends for leaving you, for breaking you like they did. Alice especially, because you were the younger sister she always wanted. They've tried to speak with you, as have the Volturi, but you've just walked around dead for the past two weeks like you've been through hell and back," She said, her face darkening.

My insides squeezed, and my mirror was tapped more persistently, "I've been confused these last few days. I don't understand what to feel about all of you being here. I just need some time-" She interrupted me.

"You've had two weeks, Bella, and not only have you mistreated my family by ignoring their attempts, but you've hurt your own mate with your little depression. You've acted like we have struck you just by being here. I understand how all of this can be for you, but you are strongerthen this, I've seen it. You are better then staring at a wall like you have no inkling of what emotion is," Rosalie hissed, "Yet you continue to mope around like your useless."

I drew back, as if slapped in the face, and my mirror cracked, a bit of emotions seeping out, "I'm not useless..." I protested quietly, my eyes darkening.

Rosalie shook her head, "Then quit acting like it. Talk with us, tell us how you feel and how we can fix it, because I know that you want us in your life, Bella. You may not want Edward as your mate, but I know you want for us to be your family again. I can see it when you look at us, that little light in your eyes that you try to hide. Just because you have made yourself comfortable here with the Volturi doesn't mean that you have to hide your feelings for us, Bella, it's not some kind of taboo for you to love us again," She said, her golden eyes piercing my crimson ones.

I shivered, and looked away. Rosalie stood quietly, and left the room, saying quietly as she left, "Just give them a chance. They really do want to fix things again, Bella."

Sitting there, I stared at the wall with a full mind for the next hour, until Caius came back. He stopped halfway across the room, noticing the frown on my face and the furrow to my brow. I looked up at him, and did something that surprised him. I smiled, happy to see my mate. I got up from his chair and sat in mine, watching as he continued across the room and to his own seat.

"Can we...talk now?" I asked quietly.

Caius turned towards me, and listened as I explained. I told him about how confused I was about the Cullens sudden appearance, and how I just took the easy way out, shutting everyone out. I apologized sincerely for how I had been acting towards everything, ready to take things head on now. I was uneasy, but this needed to be settled. And the closer we got the wing of the castle where the Cullens were staying, my stomach began to turn. I wanted to crawl under a rock by the time we got there, my feeling drowning me. But as I contemplated asking Caius if we could go back, Rosalie's little speech came to mind, and I banished the thought.

Caius lifted a pale fist, lightly rapping on the door to the library, where the Cullens could be heard, talking and most likely reading or, In Emmett and Jasper's case, rearranging the books from their neat alphabetical order to a total disarrays. It got quiet after Caius knocked, and Carlisle's voice floated to our ears, "Come in?" It was more like a question, this being the Volturi castle, but it only seemed polite that we knocked. Disturbing their peace wouldn't start a good conversation.

Caius opened the door, lightly guiding my in with his hand on the small of my back. I smiled weakly at Rosalie, who looked shocked to see me standing in the same room as her and her family.

"Hello," I said softly, before clearing my throat unnecessarily and asking in louder tone, "What are all of you doing?" My tone was as conversational as I could make it.

Alice's face lit up, seeing my attempt, and answered for her family, "We're waiting, there's going to be a thunderstorm so we're going to find a nice sized clearing in the forest to play in."

I hesitated, before an idea came to my mind. Before I could banish it, or regret it, I turned to Caius. He read my eyes, and instantly knew what I was asking. His eyes hardened for a moment, before clearing up and nodding once, placing his lips to my temple. I turned back towards the Cullens, already beginning to feel hesitant and scared of what may come, "Can we join you?"

Piper: Bella's trying, but she's beginning to feel very hesitant and probably a bit sick to her stomach by now. Some of you may think Rosalie was being bitchy, but I, personally, think that it might've been the push Bella needed.

I always wanted to write a vampire baseball scene...I'm kind of excited to write the next chapter, so hopefully that'll get me off my lazy butt so that I can write more.

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