I don't have to tell you anything. I mean, really, untold pain and suffering in the form of a conversation with old acquaintances isn't too high a price to come and see my brother-in-law without adding to his story. There's no law stating that one's reason for a journey must be carried out. I really don't have to tell you.

If do choose to tell you it will be because you asked, and because the preparations to be made before a battle are important. Leah, I'd imagine, has spoken to you about what battle is. It's death, pure and simple and it's a part of who we are.

We Watchers are meant to spend our lives in observation. We are granted the responsibility of seeing all the wildness, all the control, all the light and dark and gray of this world. If that were all there was, perhaps no one would ever choose to reject the bond, but it's not. To be a Watcher is to sometimes see that the path forward is the last one anyone would choose. We are Watchers, gifted with the power to see beyond the blissful veil of life saving ignorance of those that we protect. I don't know you, or where you are in life, but one thing you start to realize after a while is that, as much as we like to separate 'action' from what we do on a routine basis as Watchers, seeing things makes you responsible. To know is to choose to use or not to use that knowledge. We were made to know, and so we were made to act.

This part, this set of details that Jack and I have, and will share with you per your request, is about becoming who we are. It's about stepping up and preparing to face the dark truth of our purpose. We are not the hand that tips the scale; we can be nothing so clumsy or evident. We are gravity and, if all went to plan, soon the Volturi would be brought back into balance, pulled low by a force that predated even their makers.

First however, let me take a moment to remind you of the politics of the situation.

Years ago, Mac's uncle Andrew gave the Volturi information about us, the Watchers, and specifically about Alexandra Abdima, Jamie's Match. He did so because years before, he'd known and loved a girl by the name of Emilia Reese, whom he called Emily. When Emily and her family disappeared on a family trip to Italy, he was heartbroken. Then upon finding his Match and beginning his training he learned of the Volturi and decided that they had killed her. He petitioned the Watchers to avenge her, but they refused. How could they know if the Volturi had eaten her? Why should one girl, who was not associated with them, move them to war when so many before and since had not? Andrew, furious with the Watchers and unable to let the Volturi stand unpunished for the sin of taking that one life which he had cherished, at times above all others, hatched a plan to see both pay for their crimes against him. He took Alexandra, who was beautiful and powerful and beloved by her new friends in our organization, and he waved the truth of her potential to harm them in front of the Volturi like a matador's flag. They killed her, and the Watchers began to bide their time. A war would come when the Watchers were certain that they could win.

Intro me, and the happenings with Edward in Italy. I came to them and offered an alliance so that we would be allowed to leave and go home. I offered that alliance unaware that a traitor that the Watchers had yet to identify had already refreshed their long memories and presented us as enemies, and so we planned the battle to come under the guise of a meeting of allies. As it stood a week before the battle, I knew that the volturi intended to wipe us out. They didn't know I that knew of their plans, and I would continue letting them believe me fooled, because numbers or not, I owed those who'd come to fight beside us any advantage that I could give them.

That is where we are, and now let's go further.


When I was young and stupid, back before Edward left, school had felt like a commercial. A necessary but unwanted break from what I felt was my real life.

After… well, after I grew up and rejoined the human race, I never thought it would be like that again. But there we were, Jack and I, sitting at lunch and talking to Ben and Angela with our minds across town preparing for war.

"And then that lousy guy had the nerve to say that Emily Dickinson was a- Izzy, are you listening?"

I shook off my thoughts and tried to focus.

"Yeah, someone should totally shut the door on his divine majority, the bad, bad, evil," I tried but then gave up. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little stressed out."

"I know," she replied understandingly. "Graduation is right around the corner, but you gotta hang in there, Izz."

I nodded and asked her to tell me all about the bastard mocking Emily Dickinson. Apparently he had problems with Anne Bradstreet, too.

By the time Gym rolled around that afternoon I was the poster-child for tension. Jamie hadn't called with an update during lunch. Was everyone there and safe? Was there trouble? Had Wes finally responded violently (well, more violently) to Edward's eerie interest in her?

The coming battle was a weight on my mind that made it hard to sleep, and with one of my Match powers involving visions while I slept, it was slowly starting a vicious cycle. I was too worried to sleep and not sleeping meant that I couldn't one of my powers, which made me worry more.

"Izzy Swan, you're more keyed up than a cheating man's car," Evie Addams announced as I walked in.

I grinned and ran over, surprised.

"What are you doing here?"

"Teaching a self-defense workshop and recruiting for the evening class," she replied. "Want to help, sister mine?"

I agreed to it without hesitation, and we sat on the bleachers and talked as the others milled in from the locker rooms.

"Why so anxious?" she asked, her eyes kind and accepting.

"Just freaked about the future," I hedged, gesturing vaguely.

She smiled a bit and seemed to think about that.

"Look, you have two choices. Sage advice or demonstration that proves a point?"

I watched her for a hint of which might be the safer choice, but she just stood up and began doing stretches. Well, what the hell, she was my sister.

"Demonstration please."

"Alright then, stay right here," she said before running over to a group of students and whispering something them. Then she stood before the class and began to speak.

"To show you what one of my students can do with time and training, our Izzy has agreed to spar with me. She'll be doing it blindfolded."

There was a murmur of appreciation with spots of laughter and not-quiet-enough whispers of derision. My eyes widened but I stood and approached her, praying to gods I'd neglected for an answer as to what this was going to prove.

She tied the blindfold on and the hits started coming.

The noise of the crowd hid the sound of her movements and for a time all that I could do was react. The feel of hands and feet impacting my arms and the slow fade of each stinging touch began to blend into one another like the rings from rain drops on formerly still ponds.

There were snickers from the crowd, not even the kind with caramel, and suddenly I was fed up. How dare she come at me while I stood in darkness, with the rest of world unknowingly dependent on me? She slapped me and something in me woke up. I grabbed her hand as it moved away and shoved her to my left even as I dropped and swept her legs out from underneath her with my own.

Then I moved to take the blindfold off and I remembered a day long ago when I'd found half of my soul while blindfolded, in different sort of point making demonstration. In that moment it occurred to me that maybe my life would always be just that, stumbling forward in darkness, and that sucked and people were going to die, and I'd have to find a way to live with that.


When I met Jack at my truck after school, I pitched him the keys.

"Christmas already?" he asked.

"I need a nap," I told him before climbing into the cab.

He got in soon after but instead of getting ready to drive, he wrapped his arms around me and kissed cheek before whispering, "La mia bella regina, dormire ed il sogno di una speranza per noi. My beautiful queen, sleep and dream of a hope for us."

"You took Italian at your old school," I remembered out loud as I fell asleep. The next thing I knew I was in the dance studio again.

It was as surreal as ever. Newspapers were floating in the air and the mirrors showed an array of scenes from my leap from the cliff at First Beach to the scenes from Alexandra's story that had helped us to see what the Watchers had hidden.

One of the papers that floated past me was the one that had told me Alex's fate, and let me understand why Jamie deserved a second chance. The wheels in my mind started turning. I'd been so confused about my power, ever since I'd seen Alexandra and realized that I didn't just see the future. It'd been ages since I'd had a vision and I was now seeing every one I'd had before and I realized that each vision had led to an action.

Alice sees. She sees a dozen futures every day that she never speaks of and that have no bearing on her current world. She does not see and jump off of cliffs. Alice sees the future and she acts sometimes once she's made a decision with consequences that she finds desirable.

As I stared at all the visions I'd ever had, even seeing the early ones from the meadow which had confused themselves and gotten jumbled together until Jack's presence in my life brought forth the qualities in me that would let them find order, I realized the true nature of my Match Power.

I see, but not as Alice sees. I see no more or less than exactly what I most need to see. It's a special sort of intuition, gathering a mix of information I've acquired and truths sent from wherever the visions of seers come. When I needed to get stronger, I saw a reason. When I couldn't see a way to bring the Cullens back to Forks, I saw the only way fast enough. Now, when I needed most assuredly for something to go right, it had revealed itself to me.


When I woke up, I found myself in the last place I ever expected to find myself again. I was in the bedroom of one Edward Anthony Mason Cullen. In the most articulate way possible I expressed my feelings at this turn of events.

"Ok, I broke his heart, but that's no reason to for me to die an untimely death in my sleep! God how wimpy is that? Sent directly to hell. It's not even an interesting hell, damn it."

Then Edward walked in, looking spaced out and smiling a little, in way he hadn't smiled in front of me since before…well, before. I'd loved him once, so it was easier than it might have been let some of my old resentment go and just talk to him for once.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I asked, and he actually jumped.

"What are you doing in here?" It was almost too fast for me to understand.

"I just woke up – I guess someone must have moved me from the truck," I replied. Then I noticed how he was looking at me, like an artist looks at a reproduction at first but then he seemed to see me, really see me.

"What are you looking at?"

"I'm not sure," he said, kneeling so that we could talk face to face without my needing to stand. "I thought I knew you, but now I don't and you're with him and you seem happy. You're really happy, right?"

I was stunned. What had I missed here? Edward's face showed a mixture of concern and confusion that left me powerless to do anything but nod.

"See, the Bella I knew wanted me. She…you…you said my name when you slept and God you were beautiful but you… Who are you? You lived a whole life while I was gone. I never knew you could do that. You... I don't love you, but can I get to know you finally? You changed your whole life in months; I think I'm going to need to do that."

"Edward, are you okay?" I asked, wondering what had sent him reeling like this.

"I think I need a little time to-" he faltered, looking for a word.

"Think?" I suggested.

"Yes, that," he said, "but we can talk later right?"

I nodded, stood, and wandered toward the door, glancing back just once to see Edward giving me a sad smile. I stopped, "I think that it gets to be okay," I told him, "that I don't love you, and that you don't love me. I think that that's alright now."

"I think so too, Izzy. I truly pray that that's the case."

I left him to his thoughts.


I was overwhelmed by the crowd of new faces that greeted me as I walked down the stairs. They were a calm group, most just sitting and talking. The twins, Delshad and Navid as I would later learn, were walking around looking at things and murmuring to each other. If I hadn't seen Hade and Colby the day before, the twins would have been devastatingly handsome, but the two head Watchers from Georgia had a way of raising the standards by virtue of their continued existence in a place. Nicco and Alba were talking to another older couple, Adi and Indah, in the corner. Nicco winked at me before returning his full attention to the conversation.

I stopped on a landing and looked around trying to figure out what was going on. I was looking for a familiar face. Then I rolled my eyes and face palmed, because for an instant I'd forgotten that I was part of a pair and I'd never need to search outward for familiarity.

Jack? Milord, your lady seeks thee. Wilt thou further deprive her of your presence? I whispered across the bond.

I'd hoped that she would call to me upon waking, but I see that she found other pursuits. You sound too awake for me to be your first contact after sleeping, he replied, and then I saw him coming in from the back porch and standing by the door.

Come on out. The Georgia Watchers, Mac, Jamie, and I have been having some quality time. They trained earlier and everyone is resting a bit before the next bout.

I nodded and made my way through the living room to join him at the door. As I walked I felt their eyes on me and I tried to smile in response, but there were so many of them; it would take time for me to feel comfortable with them all. It was difficult enough to forge friendships with the crowd from Georgia, and they had the advantage of ties to me through family and tradition.

As I walked through the door I was greeted with companionable smiles. Razi waved me over to an empty patio chair next to the garden bench that she and Daniel were sharing.

"Have a nice nap, Izzy?" she asked. I nodded and looked around again.

"Leah's still at school right? Where's Wes?" I asked.

Mac spaced out a little before replying, "Wes is upstairs on the phone with her mother. It's been a couple of days since they talked and she didn't want to worry her."

Jack sat on ground at my feet and laughed a little. "You know it so strange," he commented, "I forget how young we all are. It's so crazy that we have to fight to save the world but still have to do things like check in with parents."

"Or butlers," Kayla threw in. "I'm a legal adult and Tom still gets antsy if we don't email him. He's been looking out for me since my parents went missing."

Razi pulled out her cell phone while Kayla spoke, and she held it up, saying, "Housemates, it's time for the weekly check-in. Say it with me," she started and then all the Georgia Watchers joined in. "Razi Teller is still alive and well."

"Good to know," a man's voice replied laughingly over the speaker phone. "I'm at work so I have to go, but keep on making magic, baby, and email me when you get the chance."

There was a chorus of goodbyes to Mr. Teller then Razi turned to me and Jack to clarify. "My mom gave up all rights as soon as I was born, and since I moved in with these guys I only ever see her once or twice a year. Dad gets the check-in calls. I don't think you're ever so old that you don't need to call home sometime though."

Colby added, "The Watcher brats have the conference calls, and inter-family connections like the Phillips-Stevens friendship to keep parents calm. Their children are raised like cousins, to love each other like family even if they only see each other a few times a year. Plus there are those like Mags' dad and Mrs. Stevens whose powers can be used to check up on them at a distance."

Haydn continued the impromptu lecture, informing us that, "The secret that makes us Watchers is hell on some families. It's safer for people to find Matches before learning it, keeps firestarters and telepaths and any other powers that could harm their possessors or those around them from being amplified before people start training. All the same, it's a secret and a set of lies. It's parents with dangerous enemies, and kids who find themselves living outside an unfunny inside joke. Sometimes it takes well into adulthood before they find matches and join the rest of the family. Some families drop hints; some kids have secrets of their own, but in spite of everything, very rare is the Watcher child who is not loved and protected above all else."

There was a long quiet moment as that sunk in. It occurred to me then that maybe this battle was the smallest of our coming adventures. There would be the challenge of reconnecting with those I'd let slip away from me, like Jacob. He'd been a dear friend to me. He'd fixed my bike, and ridden with me, and helped to save me from the waves after I'd gone 'cliff diving'. He deserved more from me than to be stuck on the back burner, and I promised myself that I'd make time for him.

Beyond that, if we lived, there would be college and a world without the Volturi as they'd always been. There would be changes in the organization of the Watchers and a thousand mornings and nights of living in this world with eyes opened and hands ready to help.

I wanted them all. I had never really relished living before, never had to hunger for the days to come because they'd nearly always seemed available. I'd nearly died in the incident with James, but I'd still been so focused on Edward that death had meant little beyond the specter of separation from him. In this moment I wanted to live and to see all of our tomorrows. I wanted to know if there would be other battles, other Actions resulting from this. I wanted…so much more than I could list here.

"Alright guys, I know that the party can't start without me but you don't have to look all serious while you wait," Wes said, walking a few inches above the ground and shifting so that she was seated in mid air next to Mac, who'd been somehow managing to look starched and dignified while sitting on a beach chair someone had dragged out.

We laughed, letting the tension go, then Wes spoke again. "I don't know about all of you guys but I'm fully rested and ready to kick some ass. Anyone else up to some training?"

The sounds of agreement came from both inside and out and the last shreds of doubt blew away in a rush of determination. I knew, after all that, the strengths that I brought to the table.

The reign of the Volturi was in its last days, and if I died in pursuit of all that I'd seen could be mine over the course of this day, it wouldn't be because of fear. There was simply none left in me.


Izzy is a hard act to follow, but I'm her Match, and so in a way I never come second because she's gone first. In a way, we flow seamlessly. Still I must make the transition as we always have.

I don't have to tell you anything.

I think this may be the last you hear from us for a while. It was kind of Jamie and Leah to invite us over to tell you this part, to give us a last chance to add to this epic before the story changes hands again, but we all know what's left to tell. This is their story, it's a story of second chances and as I am one of those few lucky individuals who finds a complete life like other people find a five dollar bill in old jeans after laundry day, my role in telling this story has its limits.

Izzy found her courage by looking to the vastness of the life ahead and seeing the skills with which she would take on that life. I found mine in her certainty. When she looked to the future, she saw one with me in her life, in her heart, and in her truck. It's a powerful thing to know that someone loves you like that.

My part in this is to move away from all things triumphant and emotional and to talk about the physical, practical realities of preparing for battle.

After the powwow on the back porch, we did as Wes suggested and gathered around Mac and Wes to go to the practice field. When we got there Jamie told Leah where we were and began separating us into groups.

First he called for anyone and any pair that had purely offensive powers. Wes stepped forward, squeezing Mac's hand in parting. Indrani and her Match Elisa along with Britta and Reynaldo stepped forward as well, to be joined by one of the twins, Delshad. There was a moment of stillness and then Hade called out from the back, "Mags, Rave Twins, step up. We'll talk later"

Eyes wide, all three moved forward.

"Now will all Matched pairs in that group please form a group to my left? Everyone else grab your match and form a second group near the others."

Everyone arranged themselves as Jamie asked. Then he looked at the two groups and made adjustments.

"Britta and Reynaldo, why did you put yourselves in the offense category. If I'm not mistaken Britta, you regenerate and Reynaldo you multiply."

The two shared a glance before simultaneously replying, "Because of our joint power, which makes a battlefield of the minds of our enemies. One too chaotic for them to focus on much else."

"Good job, this is the kind of thinking we need right now. You two stay put. Mac and Wes, join this group. You guys, Indrani and Elisa, and the Rave Twins will be our primary offensive squad. Find a free spot on the field and get to know each other, work out some possibilities for combining your strengths," Jamie directed.

Then he turned to the two pairs left, Delshad, Navid, and Sherwood. "You two are mixed pairs and we'll find places for you between the offensive line and the defensive one. You'll be getting some more people soon so sit tight."

Jamie carried out a similar process for people with defensive abilities.

Izzy and I, The Magic Act, and Haydn and Colby all stepped forward. Then there was some distraction as Leah finally flew in and joined the primary offense group.

Jamie set the six of us and my parents as the defensive group and put the two remaining pairs (Adi and Indah, and Nicco and Alba) with the mixed pairs.

With all groups separated, we fell into three groups with four pairs in each group. Then the training began. Still in our groups, we ran laps around the field. The first lap was a simple one but for two laps after we had to zigzag and and weave around one another. The third lap was the craziest as we were told to use our powers if we could do so without injuring each other. We ran in zigzags through flashing lights, with people appearing and disappearing on all sides. The ground was shaking and people were changing form. It was insane. Finding the bond amidst the chaos, making our safe place while moving and trying not to lose each other in the dizzy mess of friends and new acquaintances, it was like nothing we'd ever done before. Then a voice that was not Izzy's cried out in my mind.

"Everybody stop!" a thickly accented voice sounded. Everyone stopped cold.

"Thanks Indah and Ida!" Jamie announced. "Their joined ability lets them tap into bonds and use them to communicate. Okay guys, let's split up and rest. Liaisons with Allies: see if they can spare anyone to train tonight and try to make arrangements for future training times. Mac and Wes if you want to pop over my house and see to the traitor's needs that would worth a couple of hours of time to pop home if you'd like to later."

"You got it Jamie," Wes replied a little too quickly before disappearing with Mac.

I kissed Izzy on the cheek as she pulled out her cell phone to call the Cullens and I went to find Leah. She already had her phone out and it was ringing.

Twenty minutes and several annoyed voices later the Pack agreed to join us for training sessions starting the next day, but informed us that we had to respect them enough to know that they were not at our beck and call.

As Leah put away the phone we looked up to see that Izzy had been more successful. The Cullens had arrived and they, along with Izzy, Jamie, Hade and Colby, were working out what they wanted to do.

"Do you think they'd do any snacking before or during the battle? Maybe we should station someone in the town?" Izzy suggested.

"Good Idea, Izzy," Emmet replied, "but that doesn't say what to do during this practice."

Jasper nodded and said, "You've only ever taken on newborns, maybe we should start by updating everyone on fighting vampires who've aged past a year, and do some combat training. Tomorrow we can split up and work on using what we know to help you all strategize."

"Sounds good," Leah said. "Now let's get moving. Some of us have to sleep tonight."

And with that inspiring note the next part of our training began.

First there were introductions for those who hadn't met the Cullens before and then we got down to business.

We all gathered around Jasper and Jess used her power to raise the volume of his voice so that all present could hear him.

"I regret to inform you all that unlike the informational session before we fought the newborns, I can't give you easy answers about how to hurt them. The vampires that you're going up against have had years to learn how to win battles. They kill other vampires regularly. They are stronger than most of you and faster than most of you. You have to know going into this that you come from a place of extreme disadvantage, even with your gifts. Everything about you is a weakness that they don't have."

Alice twirled around him before adding, "But our greatest weaknesses are our greatest strengths. Over the next days of training we'll work together to prove it."

"Let's start with some basics," Jasper started again.

"Like what?" Kayla asked, probably unsure if she should be upset at the not so tacit implication that we were all going to die.

"Perhaps we should start with hiding," Carlisle said, and for an instant I thought that he must be joking.

Then Edward added, "If they're any good at that we could work on running. They'll all need that too."

A few people laughed rather nervously before Rosalie mused, "Right away the most obvious problem for any human hiding from a vampire is that you can't stop making certain sounds. Now what can we do about those pesky heartbeats of yours?"

Naturally after a statement like that from…well… a bamf like Rosalie we had to revive a couple of people. When everyone was conscious again Carlisle turned to Jess.

"When you manipulate a sound, do you affect its source at all? Do you have to hear it yourself?"

While the two of them worked out details, I glanced around hoping to use my power to glean something of how we were doing as a group. I see truths in eyes and as I looked around I saw fears that people were hiding but I also saw insights that wanted expression. I saw people who deserved more than to be treated like pawns.

"Excuse me, Carlisle, Jess, would you be open to some suggestions? I think a few other people have ideas that might help," I proposed, looking around the crowd and seeing … "Ida, you had an idea?"

He stepped out of the crowd and joined the conversation. "Yes actually, what if you-"

Jamie wandered over and gave me a pat on the back.

"Good call, little brother," he told me. "Inviting the man with wisdom as his Match power to help was brilliant."

"I didn't know," I replied. "I just saw that he had something to say. It's nothing they give out medals for."

"All the same, it was a good thing to do." He handed Izzy a stack of paper. "Profiles on all the Watchers here. Study up."

Gradually we all split up and worked on different things. The middle group, who with ironic smiles named themselves the "Oddballs," went off with Carlisle and the Rave Twins to see if Jess could give us a hope of stealth. The Offensive group, along with Haydn and Colby, were working on strategies with Alice, who could see the outcomes of planned combinations. My parents and The Magic act did some sparring, with varying levels of power use, and Izzy and I each read half of the profiles exchanged the information across the bond.

After a while of that, we got together for a real information session. There were guard members who could hurt us more deeply than the others if not dealt with. There were also their mates to consider.

By the time we finished it was dark and The Rave Twins had had to divide their attention between learning to silence heartbeats and lighting the clearing so that people could work. Eventually we all grew tired from the long day and many of us had to be at school, so we separated and found quiet places as much out of sight as we could manage. The Cullens looked confused about it, and I thought I saw Edward attempting to stalk Wes and Mac into the woods, but when Watchers gather for any reason we all know how evenings end.

It was time to meditate.

Bella's hand was warm in mine as we walked towards the treeline and as I looked around I saw faces look more relaxed than I ever dared hope I'd see them. Nicco and Alba, the wonderful old Italian couple that Jamie and Leah have spoken fondly of, were like newlyweds again - walking too close to each other and sharing sweet secrets with their eyes.

Sherwood, Marian and Robin, who'd seemed somehow tense in the aftermath of their discussions with Leah, let down their guard again. I couldn't see Mags' eyes but what I saw in Robin's… I was suddenly more appreciative of what peace this time would bring him. I wished him patience and strength as I continued to marvel at the love and affection in the air.

Even Haydn and Colby, who were so discreet that many still believed their partnership to be a platonic one, had an arm each around the other's waists.

Izzy and I sat down on a fallen log back to back, still holding hands, and searched for bond. It felt, as it still does to this day, like a thing not lost but not present, a thread reaching out, and when I reached along the thread, as she did the same, we felt completion as we each took hold of that which outside of meditation our souls forever searched for: each other.

This is not an emotional rant. Love has its place in all things, even in the practical preparations for battle.

Later after everyone found their places for the night, some side by side with their matches, others separated, like Izzy and I, because she still had to go home to Chief Swan. I wandered around the house checking doors and windows to see that they were locked, and checking the bond to see that Izzy slept well.


Over the next days there were challenges.

When we trained with the pack several things became evident, one of the first being that the Cullens were less noticeable. Because of that they would be the best choices for guarding civilian areas. The pack didn't trust them, and none of them really wanted to be stuck on guard duty while their family members fought.

Training with the pack had its moments, both great and frustrating. For example, when they showed up to train with us, Izzy and I were practicing with pulling up and releasing our 'safe place' under varying circumstances. This time, I was hidden as a cheetah shaped Leah attacked both Izzy and Mac and Wes. Izzy was learning to focus on the go while protecting herself and others. She'd have to be able to fight, shield, and stay alive, all at once. Mac and Wes were separated and couldn't teleport, so Izzy was trying to get them back together before running back to me. She was having limited success. Leah had just cornered Izzy and Wes against some trees and Wes was having problems holding Leah away from them. She was tired and Mac had been told not to lend her strength or abilities of his. She had to be able to fight alone. It seemed as though two of them would fail when…

"Let's try a burnout, Jake!" Izzy shouted.

She whispered something quickly to Wes before the two of them ran towards Leah. Izzy began to spin them and Wes used a combination of her power and the centripetal force they generated to lift herself off the ground. When Izzy spun her high enough, they let go and Wes used her power to steer her way through the air to land on top of one of the pack members as he ran towards Mac.

While all eyes followed Wes through the air, Izzy centered herself finding my end of the bond in the space between us and, with my help, forming the safe place that let me come out from where I'd hidden.

Mac and Wes popped in next to us, the training exercise completed successfully. Jacob ran up to us grinning wildly. He picked Izzy up and spun her around, laughing.

"Way to go, Biker Chick. And still spinning a bit too much on your burnouts!"

My Bella smiled back joyously and I gave him a pat on the back as she answered, "It's more fun that way, and no one crashed this time!"

It occurred to me that this involved a story that she hadn't told me and I realized that in all the Watcher business, she'd spent her time outside of school surrounded by us. I'd whined to Jamie the last time she'd taken time for herself but, as I stood with her next to an acquaintance of mine who was a dear friend of hers, I realized how much I loved her capacity to surprise me, and his to make her feel capable and independent. I promised myself that I would work harder to offer her time with other people.

My love was loved by others, and I couldn't begrudge anyone for seeing what I did.

The moment ended when Sam growled at us. The touching moment had managed to start the impression that none of us were serious about the risks ahead.

Added to that mess was that while the Watchers handed Jamie the right to take his vengeance and win our safety, job of moving us towards battle was being shared by some ten odd people from the Watchers alone. Our semi-leaderless non-hierarchy works for what we are most of the time, but shifting who calls the shots and voting a lot are not common strategies of war for a reason.

Amidst the struggles involved in trying to plan for battle with traditional Watcher ethics in mind, there was the greater problem of our lacking information about our enemy. Carlisle knew much about them and, in the times of day when we were too tired or hungry to train, he shared his knowledge, but it had limits.

Near the middle of the week, days before the battle, he spoke with us while Nicco and Alba prepared an early dinner for us at the Cullens' home.

"Is there any way that we might be able to weaken them? Could we stir up some personal trouble?" Wes had asked.

Carlisle thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. "They have, to my knowledge, lived together contently for a very long time. The main three and their mates rarely leave the city, as you know, so they've had eons to grow close. Even their guard members come to them of their own free will, at least by appearances."

"Wait," Mac said, his head tilting slightly as he spoke, "they've all been in the same place for centuries with no major arguments? Wes and I are halves of the same soul, and even we…okay, bad example, but most Matches do need time apart or a good fight or even both in order to stay sane."

"Even so," Izzy pointed out, "it would take more than a few centuries worth of roommate drama to make one of them up and quit in the midst of battle."

"But what if there is more?" Mac shot back.

"And truly there may be," Alba said as she stuck something in the oven, "My family has watched them from a distance for centuries, observing their movements but seeing little of their personal lives. Even so it is told that once, before the birth of the blessed virgin, and before the very founding of Rome, there was a great brightness in the Volturi. This thing shined a light so bright that for a time, it was wondered if they might forsake their vying for control and simply exist as the gods and goddesses they appeared to be. It is no longer known when the it first shone, parts of the story were lost in time and in the handing of the story around Watchers of Europe as countries rose and fell and as the Volturi moved. It is known though that the brightness lasted for several lifetimes, at least, before it vanished. Some believe that the gods sent a cold wind and blew it out, like a candle, to repay them for their ills. Others admit that they simply do not know."

Alba paused for a moment before shaking her head and coming back to the present moment, "It's little more than a bedtime story now, but I tell it to say that there is much of their history that lies shrouded in such myths. Mac is right to believe there may be secrets that we have not discovered."

The Volturi's age was one of their greatest advantages, cloaking them in a shield of secrecy that could only be negated by information gathered during the battle.


One of the final things that I'll share with you about the week leading up to the battle has to do with the one who made it necessary.

It was the night before the Volturi were set to arrive. We'd kept the training light that evening. There'd been breaks so that people in various time zones could call home and we'd finished early to allow people to take what time they could with their Matches (in our case), and with their families (in the case of the pack, Izzy, Jamie and I). Izzy had gone home and cooked for Charlie and confirmed that he would be spending the day with Sue Clearwater and Billy. Izzy watched an old western with him before going to bed, then sneaking over to my house for a late dessert with us. We endured my mother's doting and relaxed in my father's calming presence with Jamie and Leah for as long as we could before Izzy and Leah both left for the night.

I was wandering around again, and I'd checked all the locks and the windows. I was heading back to my room when I heard him.

"Jack. Come here," he hissed urgently through the door.

It was Andrew. I went and grabbed the key for the door and stood outside of it.

"Jack," he called out again.

"I'm here, what do you need?" I asked softly. The battle was hours away overly I was overly conscious of the fact that I was one of the last people he'd speak to before he met his fate.

"Come in?" he asked.

I did and sat next him on the bed.

"I just need for someone to know some things before, well… before," he sighed before turning to me and saying, "Look me in the eyes."

I did.

"I like you. You seem like a good kid, and that Match of yours seems to have been good for you. I'm sorry I hurt her during the chase," he started. It was all true.

"I'll let her know," I told him.

"I've been cruel; hurt a lot of people, more than I could ever have made up for, but I need someone to know that I love my family, even Haydn, the self-righteous dick that he is, and Marian, who has only the smallest glimpse of me as something besides a traitor. My wife was a good friend to me." he said, starting slowly but gaining speed. "God, it's so… What do you say when the times running out? I loved a girl, I loved a dream and another one died, but one got new chance, and I hurt everyone but goddamn it I love her. The lifetimes I've imagined with her… You're gonna graduate high school soon, so I don't expect you to understand but…."

"I have Izzy, I get it," I told him, "but none of this helped Emilia. She was gone before you ever knew who killed her, and you still don't really know. You're right, this is crazy, and maybe there's no sense that can be made of it, but nonsensical is not morally neutral."

Izzy had been listening across the bond, and she made a suggestion for how I should continue, and because the women in my life are all smarter than me, I said, "You really fucked up, Andrew, but for what it's worth, the sky is still up there and these were not your last words. You'll see another sunrise. You can never fix it, but where there's life there's hope, and there's a chance to do better."

Then I did something that she didn't suggest.

I put an arm around his shoulder and I gave him probably the last hug he'd ever get regardless of what the next day brought. "Can I get you anything?" I asked, standing to leave.

"Can you take me outside, let me feel the night air again?" he asked.

"Hell no," I said without hesitation.

"Smart young man," he replied before turning to look out of the window, through the everything proof glass, breathing slow and deep as though he could really taste the damp air beyond it. "Thanks."

I walked back to Jamie's room, because Nicco and Alba were sleeping in mine, and slipped in quietly. He was still awake.

"Hey, Jay-bird," I whispered, sitting next to him and leaning into his side as he wrapped an arm around me. "It's scary."

"Hey, Nimble," he whispered back. "Alex talked me into being a Watcher by saying I could protect you. I'll keep trying."

As I fell asleep, I thought about the coming battle. Before I faded into dreams, I whispered, "We all will."


Hey guys, I'm deeply sorry for how long this took, but it is easily the longest chapter I've ever written and my editors wanted me dead for it, so know that I've risked my life to make you lot happy.

Guys, I've missed you all and I really want reviews from this chapter because I put a lot of work into it and because I'm writing the battle scene in the next chapter as you read this and reviews make it more fun. Tell me whatever you like in your reviews, favorite characters, favorite part of this epic long chapter, favorite quote, or even just an 'I'm still here' but please review, even anonymously if you need to.

This was a long one, so I'll try to be brief. There was a lot of important stuff in this chapter, don't let the length make you lose things in the middle. I love you all, Welcome to all the people who found this story and its predecessor since I last updated. You guys are all loyal and amazing and wonderful and anyone who reviews will get a prize (I promise).

See you next chapter! P_M