A/N: Thank you everyone for all your lovely reviews. I am so happy that there's 100+ reviews so that you to everyone who took the time to write something. I really appreciate your thoughts. Here is the next chapter. I hope you like it! :-)

Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all Twilight Saga and characters.

Duilio

I caught her scent leading towards the beach so I ran in that direction. It didn't take me long to find her. I saw her sitting on a large piece of driftwood, crying. I walked up to her slowly, making noise so that I didn't catch her off guard. She grunted when she saw me and looked away to try wipe her tears. Her aura became a embarrassed and angry as if she was ashamed that I saw her cry. I was the one who was ashamed and I didn't even know how to start to make things right again.

"I'm sorry." I told her. Her head snapped towards me. Her eyes were like flames.

"I'm sorry? I'm sorry?! You were monstrous to me! And then you come here and act like a completely different person! You joke around with my grandmother and then that little act with Emily. Oh you're so beautiful Em, your cooking as amazing, Em. GOD! You are such an asshole! Am I so completely disgusting to you that all you can do is treat me like crap?!" She screamed at me, her voice full of sadness.

"Don't talk about yourself like that. You are anything but disgusting." I told her in a soft voice, trying to calm her.

"Shut up! I don't want to hear your stupid lies anymore!"

"I'm not lying. What you saw in there, with Emily, was the real me. This is is me trying to be that man for you. I just don't know how to be myself around you after what I did to you. I swear that I really thought it was the only way to protect you. I didn't mean any of those horrible things I said." I told her. She scoffed at me and looked away again.

"I get it. I own several mirrors so I know I got the short end of the stick when it came to looks. Everybody else in my family is beautiful except me. Even Emily with her scars is more beautiful than me. You've made that very clear so don't patronize me or lie to me." She was so angry and hurt. I didn't even know how to begin to make it better. I sat next to her and I saw her body tense. She wouldn't even look at me. She just glared angrily at the sand trying not to cry.

"What I said before, I said to make you want to leave Volterra. I wanted you to hate me. I needed you to reject me yourself because I needed to keep you safe. That's all. I didn't actually mean any of it. In fact, its the opposite. I think you're amazing."

"I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm not going to cry about getting my dad's masculine looks or even the fact that I am big and bulky. I've learned to live with my less than conventional looks but to hear you, of all people, say that I'm… Gosh! I can't even fucking say it!" She said frustrated and she dropped her face into her hands.

Fuck! Dad was right. I dug myself into a very deep hole. I should have known better than to say those things to her. She has had body issues since she was a little girl. That was the deepest hurt I could have caused her without having to physically touch her. It probably would have been easier to forgive if I had hurt her physically. I never hated myself as much as I did now.

I was a little surprised to hear her swear and yell. I always imagined her as a sweet shy little girl based on Mac's descriptions and my reports so it was a little shocking so hear her yell at me. I found myself preferring the yelling. I saw the self-loathing vibrate strong through her and having her yell at me made me feel better. But it also made me wonder if this was the reason why she was yelling. As if subconsciously she knew I needed her to yell at me. I knelt in front of her and took her hands away from her face so that I could look into her eyes. I saw a mix of anger and pleasure when I touched her.

"Sweetheart, the truth is that I … I love that you take after your father. I think it would really weird for me if my mate looked like the woman I consider to be my sister. Your body is big and strong because you are a warrior, an alpha, a queen and your body represents the power that lies inside you. If you think that I would ever prefer anything less than that, then you are mistaken. Frankly, I find your body sexy as hell. If you don't believe me then consider that I am Marcus's son. He raised me to want power, so is it any surprise that I desire it in my mate." She really was magnificent. I just needed to convince her f it. She snatched her hands away from mine and got up to step away from me.

"You're just saying that because you are in deep shit with everyone, especially my mother. You're never going to love me are you?" She paused but before I could answer she shook her head. "You know what. Don't answer that. Frankly, I don't care anymore. I just need to be near you, I don't need to be with you." I heard the pain in her voice and saw how it matched the pain in her aura. The insecurity flared loudly and brightly in her soul but it wasn't just her self-insecurity, she was also insecure about me. She didn't trust me.

"I told you before. I've known you were my mate from the moment that I saw you. I've always loved you but the day that I saw you, the day you and Mac were attacked, first time that I wished for you. Not in a creepy way but I wished that somehow I could be in your life. I thought it could never pass because of who I am and who you are but I still wished for you. I haven't stopped thinking about you since that day."

"It's the imprint. It makes you want me regardless of how you really feel."

"But we didn't imprint that day did we? The only thing that happened that day was that our souls recognize who we would be to each other someday. The way I feel about you now came later. It came slowly as I saw you become the amazing woman I see before me. The day I realized I was in love with you was the day of your graduation." I confessed. Her jaw dropped and again her soul was a weird mix of annoyance, confusion, and pleasure.

"I felt somebody watching me. That was you?" She asked shocked.

"Yes. I was there that day. I've always watched over you but that was the first time I was physically there to see you. It was really stupid of me but I just needed to catch one glimpse of you with my own eyes even if it was from afar." I confessed. She was so confused and I could see a sense of embarrassment in her soul.

"I felt so empty after that. That summer… Well let's just say that summer I was lonelier than most others and I might have made some stupid decisions because of it." Her voice was annoyed but softer.

"I'm sorry if my presence brought you discomfort. I have always been in your life, one way or another, but I just had to see you in person."

I approached her and took her hand into mine again. She let me this time. She was wearing her grandmother's bracelet. I took the bracelet off and when she was about to protest I silenced her by holding one finger up. I took out the long chain I wore around my neck. I always kept it hidden under my clothes. On the chain there were only one locket, it held the bracelet Nessie gave me. One side had a tiny picture of Sarah and the other had one of my family (Edward, Bella and Nessie). I took the key from her chain and with it I opened the locket.

"This locket holds everything that I hold most dear in my heart, in my soul." I said as I showed her the pictures and the bracelet. "So you see, the key to my heart. You've always had it. Its always been you Sarah." I had given her the key charm long before she imprinted on me and before I broke her. I only hopped that this helped me prove that what I said to her after the imprint was a lie. She took the bracelet back and put it on again. She was confused so I continued.

"The first time I saw you was on a picture. You mom was holding you, playing with you. You were so beautiful, so precious. I loved you that very moment, of course, only as your uncle…" I said. There was a mutual discomfort between us with that thought. I wasn't related to her but back then I thought of her as my niece. It was very difficult for me to make the transition and to allow myself to love in a different way. It took me years, so I had to be patient with her because she's only had days to cope with this.

"Why didn't my mom tell me about you?" I saw betrayal in her aura when she asked me this. As if she blamed her mother.

"Because I messed up. I allowed the Volturi to monitor my family thinking that nothing bad would ever happen. You weren't supposed to be born human. Marcus and Caius wanted them to turn you when you came of age but your family refused as I knew they would. I sided with the Marcus and Caius even though I would sooner burn them both than allow them to hurt you. I really was on the Cullen's side but I couldn't show favoritism. It would've only made things worse. Your mom was so mad when I went against her. We stopped all communication after that. I let her believe that I was her enemy, just like I let you believe it."

"Why didn't you just tell her the truth? Why didn't you tell any of us the truth?"

"Because my allegiance with your family was always a dangerous one. It was safer if she hated me and more importantly, it was safer is Marcus believed that I was indifferent to the Cullens. I needed him to think I was loyal to Volterra in order to keep you and my family safe. You know how Marcus is about loyalty." I said sarcastically. She nodded. I could feel my anger at my father bubble up as I saw the pain and remorse in her aura. I pushed those feelings aside because it wasn't the time for those emotions.

"I know." She told me.

"I kept track of you, though. I got pictures, videos but I kept my distance. The night that you and Mac got attacked, was the first time I ever saw you in person. You were even more beautiful than your pictures. From the moment I saw you that night, I knew you were my soul mate, which was both weird and shocking to me considering who you were to me. Nevertheless, there was no denying our fate. I knew that you would phase someday and that if you saw me you would imprint on me. But more importantly, I knew my father would never allow me to come live here with you if that happened. I was afraid he would try to kill all of you in order to keep me in Volterra. He's threatened to kill your family enough times. He hates the Cullens and I knew he was capable of killing them. That's why I did everything I did. I figured that if you grew up to hate me, maybe your hatred could keep you safely away from me. Maybe it would keep you from loving me if you were ever to imprint. So I did the only think I could come up with to make you hate me."

"You kept Mac away from me." She said. I nodded.

"Yes, that and the fact that I was terrified of Mac hurting you as a newborn. That's why I kept her at first but over time, I came to love Mac like a little sister and eventually, as my own child. She was my only connection to you. I kept her from you, hoping that in doing so you would grow up to hate me but Mac was never very good about rules and I was never very good about disciplining her."

"I never hated you. Not really. You were so kind to me the day that Mac died. When you said you would let her choose, I believed you." She said disappointed. I saw that she was angry at herself for believing me that night.

"It was really hard for me to make you hate me that first time. You were just a child. I just couldn't bare hurting you."

"Well you got pretty good at it now." Her tone was bitter and her words felt like a slap.

"When I saw you in that forest, the night of the imprint, I didn't know what to do. I wasn't ready for you. I just needed to keep you safely away from me… You have to understand Sarah, my life changed the night I met you. That night you became the most precious part of my life. As much as I love my family, my life was about you. You are the one thing I had to protect. I'm a monster, I'm venomous, and you're a wolf."

"I can phase into a vampire hybrid..." She said quickly and irritated but I cut her off.

"I didn't know that at the time. All I knew was that you were a wolf and I was a Volturi Master. Even if my father would allow you to live, my venom could kill you. My strength could leave you mangled and broken if I lost control when I was with you. I've already had the experience of killing a woman I cared about by mistake. I wasn't about to let that happen to you. So I gathered up my strength and I rejected you. I've read hundreds of files on you, in addition to Mac's stories. I knew exactly what words to say to hurt you, to make you run from me. That's why I said what I said. I'm so sorry. I saw your self-loathing mar your beautiful soul and you can't imagine how much it hurt to see that. To see that I had caused so much pain." I brought her hand up to my lips and kissed it. I knew that I was crossing a line but I couldn't help myself. My gesture made her anger dull slightly.

"How you could think you are anything but stunning is shocking to me but I assure you that everything I told you to make you run was a lie. All I was trying to do is get you to run back home, where I knew you would be safe and happy. I love this place, these people. This is the life I wanted for you. I was never as happy as I was when I lived here with your grandparents and your mom. Marcus cannot be trusted Sarah. I want you to be happy and safe, here where you belong." My previous gesture made her anger dull but my words set her ablaze again. I should have quit while I was ahead.

"You love it here so much then you stay. I hate this place! I've had to prove that I belong here from the day I was born. But the truth is that I've never belonged here. I've been rejected, bullied, tortured. I was miserable, pretty much until I met Mac and then you took her from me. I'm not staying here. I'm going back to Volterra with or without you." She said obstinately. She was so damn stubborn!

"You don't even know what you are saying anymore. You have changed but this anger, this coldness you are feeling is not who you are. Its Volterra. That is what Volterra does. It destroys who you are."

"Volterra didn't destroy me. You did!" She took a deep breath to control the tears that were starting to form and then she continued angrily. "From the day I met you, all I have felt was an emptiness inside me and I have never been the same since. I changed that day too. I thought that it was because of Mac dying, but it wasn't Mac. It was you. I loved you even then and you hurt me. From day one, all you have ever done is hurt me. Now what? I'm just supposed to forgive you and trust you and do as you ask? I'm just supposed to get over it because you were trying to protect me? Frankly, if that's true, it only makes matters worse!" She still doubted me and her stubbornness was making act like an insolent child. It was almost like she was going against anything I said without logic to spite me. She was about to run off but I grabbed her arm. She looked at me angrily.

"Have it your way. Right now, it doesn't really matter if you believe me or not. I don't even care that you're angry at me. Hell, I want your anger. I can already see that you're starting to forgive me and I don't deserve it. But just because I deserve your anger, doesn't mean that I will allow you to be reckless with your own life. Keeping you alive is the only thing that really matters to me right now. At least think about your father's offer. There is no need for you to actually live in Volterra or be anywhere near Marcus. Please Sarah. Just think about it." I wanted her anger but I wasn't going to allow her to die because of it. I simply couldn't live without her.

"I'm not an idiot. I know that I am doing."

"You're only 18. Marcus has over 2000 years of evil on you. Can you at least acknowledge that he may be up to something that you simply don't have the experience to conceive?" I asked her. She looked at me with a fierceness that I had never seen before. I wanted to kiss her but I let her go, instead. Her fury somehow made her more attractive and I was afraid of doing something stupid. She turned away from me and ran through the forest. It would take time for me to fix this but luckily, I had all the time in the world.

Sarah

I have never been so angry and upset in my life. I promised myself that I wouldn't let him make me sob but I ran out of Emily's house and sobbed like a baby. What's worse was that he came after me and saw me crying, again. I was sooo over crying. But then he says to me that this was his real self. That he had lied to me before because he wanted me lo live a happy life here in LaPush and I felt like my head would explode. He just drove me so crazy.

If I didn't love him so much already I would have strangled him. I have never yelled at anyone like that in my life either. He was my imprint but I still yelled at him. I was willing to leave my family and join the Volturi for him but then I treated him as if I didn't already love him more than anyone else in my life. I felt so horrible that it was making me sick and at the same time I was angry at myself for feeling horrible. I was also angry at the fact that he was right. I was already starting to forgive him. I part of me wanted to forgive him so badly but the other part of me wanted to kick his ass off a cliff for being such an arrogant jerk. My life was so confusing!

To make matters worse, I couldn't tell the truth from the lies. I wanted to believe him, and when he used my key charm to open his locket, I almost did believe him. He sent me that charm when I was 16 and the picture in his locket was recent; from my graduation. Why would he have a picture of me or give me that key if his story wasn't true? But then again, that could have all been staged for some other reason I haven't thought of. I just didn't know anymore. Duilio was just as manipulative as Marcus so I had to be even more careful with him. Marcus could kill me but Duilio could destroy me. I had to be very careful with Duilio.

I ran back to the main house and entered through the front door. My parents were already at the table. I was late for breakfast. Great! As if I wasn't in enough trouble with my dad.

"Where were you?" Dad asked annoyed. Grandma probably didn't let them start until I arrived since it was technically my welcome home breakfast.

"I was at Emily's." I told him simply. He gave me an odd annoyed look but didn't ask me to explain any further.

"Well now that you are here, we can get started. Come on." Grandma told me as she ushered me to the dining room.

"I'm not really hungry." I honestly felt like I could get sick at any moment.

"We just got you back sweetie. Please, have breakfast with us, you're the guest of honor and I made all your favorites." She told me with her puppy dog eyes. Damn it! How was I supposed to say no to that! Grandpa Edward chuckled and I sat at the damn table.

Dad sat at the head of the table, mom was next to him. Will was seated at the other end so I sat next to him. He smiled at me. Grandma and grandpa sat at dad's other side. Chris, aunt Eve, uncle Seth and Enlai also sat at the table. I was happy to see Enlei home with us. Aunt Leah and uncle Kal weren't here so that explained why Liam and Harry were missing breakfast. Lina was also missing but that was probably a good thing.

The three of us had a huge fight the night before. Lina and Liam had every right to be angry with me. I broke my promise to them. We were supposed to be the three musketeers forever, no matter what. They were really mad that I broke my promise but I thought they were being completely unreasonable. No one anticipated I would imprint on a Volturi, no one anticipated I would join them either.

Everyone was eating in silence while grandma Bella brought more food. The rest of the Cullens were around the house doing their own thing. Duilio walked in just as grandma set up another tray of pancakes.

"Come on in. There's plenty of food." She told him.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Mom asked angrily. Dad was silently steaming.

"He's still a part of this family and her imprint." Grandma told mom. She was giving her a stern look that made mom instantly quiet. Now, I know where mom got it.

"Its ok. I'm not hungry." Duilio said and he turned to go to the other room but grandpa Edward was instantly at his side.

"Sit son. This is a family breakfast and you wouldn't want to upset your mom." Grandpa said. Duilio sighed and sat at the table next to grandpa. There was an awkward silence before mom got up and left the room. Grandpa got up at the same time and went after her. They were both outside. She was yelling at grandpa.

"She is your granddaughter. Your blood. How can you take his side daddy?"

"I am not taking sides Nessie. I am very upset with what Duilio did but he is family. I love him too and so do you. That is why you are so hurt and even if that weren't true, he is her imprint. I remember a time when I too had to put up with an imprint that at first I didn't like. Look how well that turned out." He told her. Dad growled and I saw the vein in his forehead pulsate.

"Jake never hurt me." Mom hissed.

"No, he only tried to kill you merely minutes after you were born and, trust me, his reasons were far less noble than Duli's." Grandpa told her. Daddy banged the table and there was a pause outside. They heard it.

"How dare you compare Jacob to him?!" Mom hissed again.

"Lower your voice. They can hear us and you know as well as I that he was trying to protect her. I am not happy about his execution but everything that Duilio has ever done was for the protection of this family." Grandpa told her in a more quiet tone.

"He lied to us, betrayed us and he tried to turn her against me. He hurt her daddy." Mom whined, or maybe she was crying. I wasn't sure.

"He tried to get her to leave Volterra. It was a very VERY stupid plan but that was all he was trying to do. He is her mate Renesmee and he is our family. We owe him a second chance." Grandpa told her. Daddy's hand turn to a fist and he took another bite of his scrambled eggs glaring daggers at Duilio.

"I don't owe him anything!" Mom yelled and dad chewed, glaring at my imprint. I didn't like this. I didn't like this one bit.

"You don't really have a choice in that Renesmee." He told her. It seemed a bit out of context so I wondered if he was responding to something she was thinking. They must have gone deeper into the forest because we couldn't hear them and they never came back to the table.

Will took my hand under the table. I looked at him and he smiled at me. I tried to smile back but it didn't quite come out. Duilio looked uncomfortable during breakfast, dad looked angry and nobody said a word. For some reason, I was irritated by my parents' behavior towards Duilio. It was one thing for me to be mad at him but it was a whole other thing to see them angry at my imprint.

"Sarah yummy." Enlai said as he showed me bite of pancakes then he quickly put it in his mouth. We were both having pancakes without syrup. He chewed big bites that showed all the food in his mouth. I smiled at him.

"Yes. Grandma makes yummy pancakes." I told him. Aunt Eve smiled at us and rubbed his little hand.

"Is this your child?" Duilio asked her.

"Yes. Seth and I adopted him. He's an imprint so its not against any laws." She said quickly.

"That's not why I…" He took a deep breath as if he was frustrated. "Motherhood. It looks good on you, Eve. He's a lucky little boy." He told her before he pushed his plate away as if he was about to get up.

"What? Did she offend you?" Dad asked him in a mocking tone. Duilio let out a frustrated grunt and both men glared at each other angrily.

"Jake." Grandma warned.

"No Bells. You may be ready to forgive and forget but I'm sure as hell not. You don't share a mind with her. You don't know how badly he hurt my little girl and apparently neither does he!" He yelled at grandma, breaking eye contact with Duilio for a few seconds. I have never seen dad yell ad grandma before. They were always best friends.

"I see souls and I am connected to her through the imprint. I know exactly how much I hurt her but I thought I was protecting her." Duilio told dad and brought the attention back to him. They both stared at each other again only this time dad was shaking slightly.

"That's enough. Both of you!" Grandma scolded.

"I don't want this man near my daughter." Dad said, not breaking eye contact with my imprint.

"You don't have a choice." She reminded him. I got up, slamming my hands on the table in the process.

"No. I don't. I don't have a choice." I looked straight at Duilio when I said this. Duilio finally broke eye contact with my father to look at me. He stared at me a moment before he left. His eyes were glistening slightly and I was stunned back into my chair. I instantly regretted what I said. This wasn't the first time I was 'mean' to him but this was the first time I hurt him. I tried to push that feeling aside because he hurt me first but it wasn't working. I felt horrible and it pissed me off.

"Well… This was fun Bells. Let's do this again sometime. Or NOT!" Dad said sarcastically before he pushed off the table and left. Grandma sighed and went after my dad. I left the table too. I knew it was a stupid idea the moment I got up but I had to find my imprint to make sure he was ok.