Ok, Bela23, you can breathe now ;P and I can sleep :)

Alice threw herself forwards and knocked Bella to the floor, out of the sword's path just in time to see Nessie and Jacob race out of the cottage. They were joined a split second later by Aro and the rest of the Cullen family who had no doubt heard the agonising roar of the favoured son.

Bella scrambled to her feet and looked between Alice and Edward. Edward's burning gaze was locked with his diminutive sister's and the stolen sword was raised again, ready to deal any blow she would let him.

Alice on the other hand was still unarmed and stood with her fists clenched and raised as if they could stave off a sword-wielding attacker.

Carlisle stepped closer to his youngest children, probably with an idea of stopping them before any real damage could be done. But Carlisle had not been in Volterra with the others nor in the forest surrounded by rain, nor even in his study the night before, and he didn't know that it already had been.

"Stay back." Edward called to his father, stopping the man in his tracks. His gaze didn't waver and neither did Alice's as he steadied his stance, moving the sword into a more comfortable guard position. "This is between me and Mary Alice."

"Edward, I don't want to fight you." She ignored Bella's soft cry of dismay as she lowered her fists completely, holding a hand out to her brother. "We don't have to do this." He looked down at the hand she offered him and Alice could see a war waging in his eyes; a part of him wanting to take that hand and the rest wanting to cleave it from her wrist for daring to try and take Bella away.

She saw the moment the war was won and dropped her hand to her side with a disappointed sigh, waiting for him to speak.

"You're right, little sister. But I don't suppose that makes you any more likely to give my Bella back to me?" Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Bella look at her as if she was wondering whether Alice's loyalty to her brother could overrule any loyalty to the girl she called her beloved.

"Since I left here I realised something: for the past twenty years I've been a complete hypocrite. I've been telling you that Bella is not an object to be owned by someone when I had the sheer arrogance to believe I had a right to give her away. You see giving her away implies that one of us owns her and that's not true. So no, I won't be giving Bella to you because I haven't got her to give." Edward clenched his jaw.

"Then you were wrong; we do have to do this." He raised the sword above his head with a yell and brought it down with all the force in his long dead body.

Alice remained still even as wordless yells of panic and shouts of warning rang from her family's lips. Only a moment before the blade could connect she slipped out from beneath it, letting the very point caress a spike of hair. Her brother followed his failed slash with a lunging stab, putting his entire weight behind the hilt in an effort to drive the point between her ribs. Again she stepped delicately out of his way and offered nothing in the way of a counter-attack.

"Alice!" A shout rang from the crowd of vampires to their right and, as she stepped through another of Edward's attacks she looked over in time to see Rosalie throwing a sword her way. As it was flying she recognised it as one of the old swords from Carlisle's study; it had been lying around each of the man's studies for longer than Alice had been with them. She had no doubt that it was too blunt to break vampire flesh and she wasn't sure it could stand up to blocking her brother's blows for long. But it would serve. She smiled her thanks as she snatched the blade from the air, spinning in the same moment to look back at Edward.

The second uncut ruby connected with darkened gold, venom-worked steel bit into cold porcelain and Alice cried out in pain. Sludgy blood slipped down her arm as her brother pulled his stolen blade from the limb.

She looked at him with pure shock written across her face because, no matter the force behind his sword or the poison in his words, she had never truly believed that he would hurt her. He had looked so lost, so repentant when she had been stabbed by William back in Volterra. He had been so ready to wish it were he in her place. Alice had never in her darkest daydreams thought he would lay an angry blade on her.

For a moment he looked as stunned as she but a second later the blade was whistling towards her again.

"Alice!" Bella's scream echoed in her ears. This time, she raised Carlisle's blade to meet Aro's and let their song drown out the girl's voice. When the blade's parted a sliver of steel fell from the inferior steel of Carlisle's sword but it held firm as it intercepted a sweeping blow that aimed for her legs.

The blades sang of their meeting again and again but they were silenced by the hollow crack of Edward's foot connecting with Alice's stomach as she reach overhead to block his sword. She flew backwards and hit the floor hard, grateful for her inability to lose her breath but Edward was upon her before she could stand and he kicked Carlisle's blade from her hand before planting Aro's into her shoulder. She struggled briefly but white hot pain stopped her, she was pinned to the ground. He rested a foot against her ribcage anyway and put just enough pressure against it to draw out the creak of bone. Alice stilled.

"Edward." It was their father's voice that stayed his hand but the bronze-headed boy didn't move. "Stop this." He shook his head, no. "Stop this now, this isn't our way. Remember who you are."

"I know who I am, Father and who I am wants to kill my sister for stealing my wife away." Alice could just see her father's blonde head out of the corner of her eye and he was flanked by Esme and Emmett. Rosalie must have been restraining Jasper, or possibly even the other way around. Aro was no doubt keeping his own council as he waited to know whether he would need to step in or not.

A blur of chocolate and ivory stole her attention and Edward was tackled from above her. Bella punched her husband in the face, hard enough for a splinter of his marble flesh to fall away, and still she reared back for another blow.

Carlisle was calling out to Bella now because Edward wasn't fighting back against Bella. He was lying still in the damp grass letting his wife leave him splintered and broken in the mud.

Alice squirmed, letting the cracking sound of her brother's flesh motivate her as she reached across to the blade embedded in her shoulder. She bit into her lip as she drew the bloodied steel free with her unpinned arm. Another crack sounded, louder than the others, or maybe her injuries had heightened her senses, and she forced herself to her feet.

Bella was straddling Edward's hips, tears of venom slipping down her cheeks as her fists kept hitting him albeit it with less and less force. Not that force was needed anymore; Edward's face was a myriad of cracks that intersected and surrounded each other like a web. Carlisle was kneeling next to them, trying to talk Bella into calming down probably, although Alice couldn't really hear his words as he took Bella's fists in his hands and smiled kindly at her.

Alice stumbled over to where her brother lay and looked down at him, dark blood beginning to stain the handle of Aro's sword from the arm that still held it loosely. She had forgotten she was holding it as she looked into Edward's eyes. He was speaking to her softly; she could only just pick out the words but she could tell that Bella and Carlisle were listening, as could the rest of their family who had crowded around them, identical looks of terrified grief on their faces.

"Stop me." His dark eyes seemed darker surrounded by the cracks in his skin. "Stop me now or I'll just keep coming back." She gripped the sword tighter. "You need to kill me here or I won't stop until I've killed you both." Alice shook her head as tears finally escaped from her eyes.

"No." He gave a single jerky nod, only half watching as Carlisle helped Bella away from him. The pair joined the circle of spectators around Alice and Edward and watched them silently.

"Prophecies have a nasty way of coming true, no matter what you do about them." She raised the sword, half blinded by tears and with her brother's voice in her ear. "You should stop me here while you can."

"No."

"Kill me now, Alice. Before I kill you." His eyes flickered closed but Alice couldn't see past the venom in her eyes. "Before I kill Bella." Her howl of grief mingled with Edwards yell of pain and victory as she drove the point of the venom-worked blade directly into Edward's heart, knowing that that would be enough to kill him.

Strong arms wrapped around her shoulders but she didn't quiet, she just continued to howl until her voice failed her and she was lead inside by hands she recognised but didn't care to place.

/

Alice was left alone before long; Bella had been dragged away so Carlisle could examine her cracked hands and everyone else was obeying the Cullen patriarch's orders. Alone in her old room she cast a sweeping glance around and saw a small envelope resting on the windowsill. She snatched it up, curiosity pulling at her features, and tore it open.

It was Edward's handwriting.

'Dearest Alice,

I am sure, by now, that you know of my plan and I can only hope that Jacob's presence stopped you from learning it too soon. I hope that I am dead. And I hope that it was by your hands.

You told me that I was destined to kill our Isabella should she choose you over me, and I, like a fool, did not believe you. But then you told me that she had kissed you and the monster in my breast has not quieted since. I fear that that destiny of mine will still hold true. I pray that you have the fortitude to kill me before this happens.

If I am dead then my plan was enough and I thank you. I only hope I did not do you too much injury in the process. Better I am dead than the murderer of loved ones.

Do not blame yourself; I have made my choice and you must trust that it was the right one.

Do not doubt, no matter what I will say that I love both you and Bella with my whole heart. Goodbye, Alice.

Your Brother

Edward.'

Yeah, there were a few ways I wanted to end this bit but this one was my favourite. I guess I like the idea of Edward martyring himself this way better than the whole Volturi deal of his.

Oh and boo? Nice to see you again, I kinda missed you last chapter :)