Third and final chapter of the day - the meeting with Aro... just what will you find out. Enjoy!

Chapter 21.

Jasper was waiting in their room; staring at the door to the bathroom that Bella was dressing in. He was thinking about what she'd said just a few minutes ago; despite what he'd said to her he was now considering what it would've been like; there was a part of him that wanted to have had the chance to experience that with her. After his initial distaste for her he'd quickly got closer to her and had accepted her into the family; he'd had the opportunity to get a lot closer to her in Phoenix and his feelings during that time had markedly changed. He shook his head; it wasn't the time to be thinking about this and it was a moot point anyway; it would never happen and he needed to focus on what they were going through now; he turned his thoughts towards to the last few hours; it had been a good few hours and he wondered if the next few would be as good. There was a knock at the door and he walked to it, opening it to find his brother standing on the other side; a large grin on his face. He sighed softly because he knew he was going to have to tell him what they were about to do. "Em."

"Rose and I were wondering if the two of you wanted to come hunting with us? We know you've been busy with other things for a while…" his smile grew further, if that was at all possible. "The acoustics in this place are fantastic, aren't they?" He added, winking at his brother.

Jasper would've blushed if he'd had the ability to and he couldn't help but smile at Emmett, "I'm just making up for all the times you've both made me suffer over the years."

"I'm glad for you, bro. It's time you started smiling a little more. So, you up for a field trip?"

"We went hunting earlier… we've got a field trip of our own planned."

"Oh yes? More sexcapades for Jasper and Bella."

"Hardly. We've got a meeting with Aro."

The smile fell from the larger vampire's face. "Do you want us to come with you? I'm sure mum and dad would want to be there."

"I don't think any of you have an invite." He said quietly; he turned and saw Bella walking out of the bathroom. "Aro wants to meet us both. I'm not sure what he has planned but it's probably just a getting to know us meeting. We'll be fine."

"I'm not sure I like this, Jazz. What if he wants to do the first trial?"

"If he did, he'd have invited you all. You need to be present. Really, I don't think there's anything to worry about." Even to him the words sounded like a lie; he was worried, not so much about Aro but more about the other vampire's who'd be there. Jane had obviously taken a dislike to them and he didn't want the situation to get out of control. He was fairly certain he was going to need to use his gift during this little summit they had to attend.

"Are you sure?" Jasper nodded to him firmly. "Okay, well we won't be long. If you need us, just call."

"We'll come to see you all when we're done, okay?"

"Sure."

The corridor was empty just seconds later and Jasper turned away from the door; knowing the discussion probably wasn't over. He found Bella standing just behind him, staring into his eyes. "You okay?" she asked him; tilting her head to one side.

"Yeah. Just trying to reassure Emmett that we aren't walking into a trap. I don't think he was happy so I guess dad, at least, will be here shortly." He relaxed slightly as he felt her lips softly brush against his in a tender kiss. "Are you feeling better?" he asked her. She nodded and then her eyes flitted over his shoulder and he turned to see Felix back at their door. "I guess it's time." He said taking her hand in his and walking them both out into the corridor. Felix pivoted and began to walk back in the direction of the room they'd been in earlier that day.

The door to their parent's room opened just after they walked past it, "Jazz, Bella." It was their father and he sounded concerned. "Would you like us to come with you?" he asked as they turned to face him.

"This is something we have to do on our own dad. We'll come to you when we're done. Everything will be okay." Carlisle didn't look like he truly believed him but he reluctantly nodded his head in acceptance.

Slowly he stepped to them and kissed them both on their foreheads and pulled them into a tight hug. "We'll be waiting for you here when you get back." He whispered.

It was difficult for both Jasper and Bella to pull out of the security of his arms but they had to because Felix was growing impatient behind them. "We'll see you soon, dad." Jasper said softly; taking Bella's hand in his and squeezing it gently; watching his father for a few steps before turning to follow Felix down the corridor. Their journey was too short and neither of them knew what to expect when they entered the room for their meeting. Felix opened the door for them and ushered them through it; closing the door behind them. Bella looked around the room and realized it was only the two of them and Aro present. She was surprised there was none of the guard there. It seemed to contradict everything she'd heard about him.

"Jasper… Isabella… Thank you both for joining me. Please come over here and let me see you properly."

Jasper wanted to laugh at his choice of words; as if his eyesight was anything less than perfect; the truth of the matter was this was anything but a laughing matter so he kept quiet. They both walked slowly towards the elderly vampire; Jasper could almost taste Bella's reluctance with each step she made and he squeezed her hand a little tighter. Once they were close enough he chose to break the silence; "Aro, we'd like to thank you for seeing us; it's an honor to be present before you."

Aro smiled at him and held his eyes, "Jasper Whitlock, as I live and breathe, I never thought I'd get to see the day where you'd be standing before me. You've been in the memories of many people I've encountered over the years; including some of my guard and I somehow think it should be me that should be thanking you."

He was taken aback by his words, "Thanking me?" he asked; disbelief in his voice.

"Why yes; over the years you've removed some of the more powerful vampires that were around; with ease I might add. Thanks to you this world is a better place."

"I'm not sure I did it for the reasons you're assuming I did. I certainly didn't do it because I thought it would be beneficial to you." Aro was only making him more pissed off; each time he spoke it brought back old memories; ones Jasper didn't want to remember.

Aro stared at him intently; his smile growing as he absorbed the young man's words. "Jasper Whitlock, when I spoke to your brother he mentioned you'd be who he was going to invoke this bond to; I was intrigued he would think that highly of you; from the things I've seen of you it doesn't seem something you'd want to do. I hadn't realized until I spoke to Edward that you were in Carlisle's coven; I never would've thought someone of your standing within our world would switch to his diet so easily."

"It hasn't been easy." Jasper growled.

Aro held out his hand towards him and quirked an eyebrow as Jasper waited before placing his hand in the ageing vampire's. Bella watched Aro's face as she saw it from where she stood next to her love. She could see the flicker of his eye's behind their lids. He was much scarier looking up close than he'd been when she saw him earlier; and he'd been plenty frightening then. His skin was pale; almost translucent in color and it made him look almost fragile – something she knew he wasn't. She inhaled sharply as his eye's shot open and he looked at her quickly before turning his attention back to Jasper. "I can see how you've struggled over the years. Your gift is remarkable and would be a welcome addition to my guard."

"I'm not interested in doing that; that part of my life is over and it's not something I want to revisit."

Tension appeared in the room and Jasper didn't try to remove it; the minutes passed and the two men stared at each other; sizing each other up in a battle of wills. Finally Aro spoke, spinning to face the other direction and moving back to take his seat. "As you wish, Jasper." His head turned and he looked directly at Bella again. "Isabella…" he said softly.

"My name is Bella." She said earnestly.

His head tilted to one side and he frowned slightly as he looked at her. "I saw several occurrences of Jasper calling you Isabella. I'm sorry, my dear, I do not mean to insult you."

"No insult taken. Only Jasper gets to call me my full name."

He was standing before her again in an instant; moving so fast that neither of them even saw him move. He held out his hand to her this time, "May I?"

"You can try but I should warn you, Edward's gift didn't work on me so you may not see anything." Again the room was silent and the two of them watched as the frown from earlier deepened on his face; making him look a lot older in a matter of seconds.

His eye's shot open. "Remarkable." He said; his voice barely a whisper. "I don't see anything at all. I've encountered vampires with the gift of shielding before; we have one in our guard but this is something new. It's the first time that's happened in all my existence and it's something I'd like to investigate further." He sounded almost excited by what'd happened.

"And how would you intend to do that?" Jasper said; his voice harsh and bordering on rude.

"Jazz…" Bella murmured; her voice barely a whisper.

"I would need to consult my library but I'm sure there are some things we could try."

The last thing Jasper wanted was for the Volturi to start doing tests on his girl; his Bella. A growl erupted from his chest and he didn't try to stop it. "Maybe we should turn our attention to the reason we've made this journey." He suggested.

It was difficult to miss the disappointment on Aro's face as he swept away from them again. "If you insist. I assume you've read the information I sent your brother?" he asked of Jasper.

"Yes, although it doesn't look as if Edward had time to do so."

"Nevertheless he has invoked this law and regardless of his knowledge about what it involved; it still stands."

"Can I ask why it's necessary?" Bella said quietly.

Both men turned to look at her. "That's an interesting question you ask, Bella. This law was created several hundred years ago; before Carlisle was even born as a human; it came about when my brothers and I were still trying to ensure our hold over this world was in place. All we've ever wanted was for our kind to be able to live the lives they wanted and deserved; safe in the knowledge that as long as they kept our secret from humanity they had nothing to fear. About four hundred and fifty years ago our coven was much smaller than it is now; there was little need for the guard we have now because we rarely came across vampires that would go up against us. The story really starts a few decades before then; it was a time when things changed quickly; back when we were still establishing control over certain areas of the world; a member of our family and his mate were separated after he was sent to deal with a vampire causing trouble in North Europe and ended up being killed. Our family mourned the loss of our cousin; much as you're all feeling the losses of Edward and Alice but as time passed we began to heal. Then one day we received a visitor to our home and it was the vampire who'd killed him; our cousin's mate was drawn to him and it pained us all when she took his side against us and chose to leave our family. She'd been with us for almost two hundred years at this stage and we never thought it would be so easy for her to leave. My brothers and I discussed the situation and we were determined something like this couldn't happen again in the future; we wouldn't lose someone else from our family so we brought in the law and word spread throughout our world of its existence. It was enough for people to stop trying to take what was ours; we became strong again and as the years passed the law was forgotten."

"How does any of that relate to us?" Bella asked.

"I understand from Carlisle's memories that it was this vampire James that bit you." She nodded; her eyes lowering to the ground as the memory of what he did hit her again. "As such he has a certain hold over you that you'd be unable to resist. The vampire that started all this was the sire to our cousin's mate and that was why she was able to leave us so easily."

"So how does the bond work?" Jasper asked; now more worried than ever about losing Bella.

"There is some ancient text we had created; it took some very knowledgeable vampires to work it so it breaks the bond between a vampire and their sire. It took years for them to get it right; there were times when we never thought we'd be able to protect our own from that happening again but eventually we did; we became strong again." His voice was filled with pride at what he and his brothers had done.

"So this will stop James from tearing me away from my family?"

"Yes." He said. "It's not as simple as that though. It requires a pure love between two vampires and strength of character in both of them. That's why we created the three tasks to be undertaken; if you can survive those then you'll be strong enough for the bond to hold and worthy of having the ceremony performed. There are no guarantees though; you won't know for sure until it's tested; by James."

"Are there any other restrictions?" Jasper said.

"Yes. The bond has to be put in place within the first six months of the bond between mates being broken; after that time nothing will work." Bella gasped and looked at Jasper quickly. "Your family; the whole of your coven have to be present for all the tasks you'll face and the bonding ceremony or it won't hold; their love for you both will help strengthen the bond put in place." He paused and looked at them; a serious expression on his face. "We've made it as difficult as we could for this ceremony; we didn't want people to misuse the law. This shouldn't be entered into lightly and it isn't too late for either of you to back out of this. You don't have to do this. I know you don't trust me completely, Jasper and I know why; you're probably right not to but I don't want to cause your family any more pain than you've already been subjected to. You can leave now without any further pain being caused."

"And when James turns up in a couple of month's time? How do you think we'll feel when he takes Bella away from us? We can't lose her; not now. I can't lose her." His words sounded desperate and his last sentence was barely a whisper. "We have to do this; I need to do this."

TBC

A/N: So there you go - the reason why Edward invoked the law in the first place and why Alice agreed to it. There will be more information still to come but next chapter (tomorrow) will cover how the family deal with what they've found out. Will this change things? Please review. What do you think about the history of the bond?