Stephenie Meyer is the genius behind Twilight!

Redirection

Edward and I entered the house, resolved that we would stand together in our decision. We could tell by the looks on everyone's faces that Alice had already informed them. Emmett, I think, looked the most displeased. Tristan and Trevor looked disappointed. Carlisle and Esme, on the other hand, looked somewhat relieved. Edward smiled at Carlisle, knowing that he understood why we made our decision. He respected us, and knew that we needed to do what would make us most happy. He truly had our best interests at heart.

The rest of the family weren't too upset about our decision. Jasper and Alice were content to follow either path. Rosalie didn't have a strong opinion about it. I wondered why she didn't share Emmett's feelings. Edward saw me watching Rose, so he helped me find the answer. It surprised me. Rosalie did not want to be in a position that would draw too much attention to her. She recognized this as a weakness. She knew how easily it would be for her to become obsessed with wanting attention and adoration. She has always longed for it, but it never made her happy. She had decided that she wanted to focus on other things that would bring her happiness, like developing her talents, and being with the people she loved, and who loved her for who she was. I was so impressed with her. She looked over at me and I smiled, hoping she would somehow know how I felt. She gave me a shy smile, then walked over to Emmett to comfort him.

Emmett wasn't really that upset. He had that strong desire to be in a powerful position, not for glory, but for all the action it could bring. He wanted to be an enforcer of justice. He could see himself, with Jasper at his side, calming and bringing peace to unhappy, or unruly vampires. He didn't want to use force, but he also knew there was a good possiblity that he would have to use it sometimes. He had mixed feelings about that part. Maybe he could just humor people into submission. I laughed out loud when I heard him think that. He looked over at us, suspiciously. I was thinking that he could very well do that.

"So, we still have some business to take care of. The sooner we do it, the sooner we can focus on finding people worthy to lead." Carlisle regained our attention. "If Tristan can locate Caius, through his network, we should probably start there. The last place we will go to is Volterra. It will be the most protected. Hopefully our numbers will be greater by the time we arrive there. Tristan," he was looking earnestly at him, "can you find out approximately how many are in the guard in Volterra?"

"That shouldn't be a problem, we have two of our guys in the guard. I will send them a message asap." I could see Tristan and Trevor getting more excited. It was finally going to happen. I felt very comfortable relying on our united efforts. Together, with our gifts, powers, love, and support, I was confident that we could do it. I also had a feeling that we would be able to help set up some type of governing body that could lead our vampire world. Edward slipped his arm around me. We all sort of broke away from the group as we waited to hear from Tristan's contacts in Europe.

"What would you like to do, while we wait?" his brows suggestively rising as he spoke. I rolled my eyes in response.

I faced him, hooking my finger under the front collar of his shirt, and pulled him towards me as I walked backwards. "I have an idea." I was trying to sound seductive. It must have worked because his eyes now burned with excitement. When we got outside, I ran to the car and got into the drivers seat. Edward stopped outside the car, looking puzzled. When he finally got in and sat down, I leaned over and pecked him on the cheek. "Let's go say hi to Charlie!" I saw the disappointment flash across his face, then a smile replaced it, knowing how happy it would make me to see my dad.

I drove like a... vampire, I was so excited to see him. We drove past the station, but his new cruiser was not there. We went by the house, and it was there, parked in the driveway. I pulled in and jumped out quickly. Edward was standing in front of me before I closed the car door. He leaned into me, pushing me against the car. His arms slid around my back. He stared into my eyes, erasing all my thoughts. I waited for him to do or say something. When he didn't, I grabbed his face between my hands and pulled it down to meet mine. I was kissing his mouth, but he was too busy smiling to kiss back. Then, finally, he responded. His lips moved with great fervor, matching mine. My hands clutched his hair, keeping his head as close to mine as possible. He was excited, very excited. I finally slowed myself down. He grudgingly slowed down too. When we separated our lips, I started to giggle.

"Why don't you go in first, I'll be in in a minute." Edward needed to calm down a little before he saw Charlie. I just laughed as I walked to the front door. I knocked and a few seconds later Charlie opened the door. It took him a second to realize and believe it was me standing there.

"Bella! Hi. What brings you home? Is everything okay? Where's Edward?..." He had more questions, but I stopped him short with a hug. He sighed and squeezed back. "I'm so happy to see you, are you alright?"

"Yes, dad, I'm fine. Edward is in the car, he'll be in shortly. How are you?" I wanted to get him talking until Edward came in and we could coordinate our story of why we were here.

"How is Dartmouth? Sounds like you are having a ball. I'm so proud of you. I hope you don't mind, I kind of talk about you all the time, to, well, just about everyone." He looked proud. I would make it all true one day.

"Dartmouth is great. I've made some new friends. Lots of excitement on campus. The scenery there is incredible. Lots of wildlife. We'll be very busy when we get back." I felt like I was being as honest as I could be. I felt relieved when I saw Charlie's eyes focus on something behind me. The smile that crept onto his face made me love him even more. Charlie stepped forward to welcome Edward in with a handshake.

"Good to see you Edward. It's great to see both of you. So, what brings you back? Didn't the term just start?"

"Yes, but we had a small family emergency. Don't worry, everything will be fine and we'll get back there soon." Edward had answered as we all slowly walked into the living room. I watched as Charlie's face showed concern.

"Is everyone alright? Who... had the emergency? I heard that Carlisle left suddenly and took emergency leave. I didn't have a chance to find out why. I figured you would have called or sent a message if there was a problem. You would let me know if someone was hurt, wouldn't you?" He seemed really worried now. Edward let me know what he was thinking. I smiled.

"Don't worry, Alice is fine." He looked startled when I said that. "I mean, everyone is fine. It's just some... relatives in Europe who are having trouble. Carlisle and Esme might be going over there to make sure everything works out. We just came to send them off. If things go well, we might join them as soon as the term is done. I can hardly wait to see Europe." That was sort of the truth. I didn't really see Europe the last time I was there. Charlie seemed content with my explanations.

Edward's phone rang. He excused himself into the kitchen to answer. I saw in his mind what he was hearing. Tristan received confirmation on the location of Caius, so we would be leaving today for France. I waited until Edward came back into the room.

"Looks like we got a flight out today." Edward announced reluctantly. "I'm sorry we didn't have more time to spend with you. Don't worry, though, we'll be back." I stood up next to Edward. Charlie walked us to the door. I turned around and hugged him again. He pat Edward's shoulder and wished us good luck.

"Study hard! Don't let yourself get caught up in all the distractions of college life." He yelled out his advice as we got into the car. I waved as we drove away.

"Distractions. If only he knew." Edward smiled at my remark. "I hope I'll get to see some of France before the excitement begins." Edward squeezed my hand.

"I'd love to show you around France. Maybe when this is all over, we'll spend some time there." I closed my eyes to think about what it would be like to tour the world with Edward. I could hardly wait until it was all over so we could start to live.