Sorry for the delay, I kept changing this chapter because I just wasn't happy with it, still not but I had to get it up. A much longer (and better) chapter will be up in a week or so.

January 2035

Matthew Cullen

I left my chambers and headed to Lucien's study area, it was where he spent most of his nights and I was desperate to talk to him. I didn't expect him to agree or bend at my will immediately but I had to tell him what I wanted, so he knew that I would always be there, right on his heels ready to take over.

"Lucien I want to be leader now" I informed him bravely.

"You are not old enough yet child" he said dismissively, not even looking from his desk to see me at the door.

"I am ready" I said boldly.

"Where is Ariella?" he sighed as if he was frustrated.

"I don't know" I responded, but held my ground.

"Find her and bring her to me please" he ordered me.

"I don't take orders from you."I told him.

"You do until you are of age!" he responded, anger in his voice.

"Master, come, you should be asleep, the sun has already set" Ariella suddenly appeared at the door.

"Where have you been? Have you heard his insolent ideas? You are not old enough child." He told her then looked to me, I frowned in anger. I would rule the Volturi and the second I did I was getting rid of him! Lucien had started off kind to me but It quickly came obvious he had no patience when it came to children, it was evident that he would rather I stay out of his way until I'm an adult and leave his guard and Ariella to train me the way he wanted than for him to do it himself.

"Come on now Lucas, you said you wouldn't do this" Ariella hissed to me as we reached my chambers.

"I'm bored of being a child. I'm ready now Ariella" I told her strongly.

"What has brought this on?" she asked as she closed my chambers door. Should I tell her? I could always make her forget if she responded wrongly.

"My family" I informed her, she frowned.

"I know they were here last month"

"How do you know?" she asked.

"I heard their conversation in the throne room with Lucien, how they came to get me"

"Ah… Yeah I wondered if your ability failed to work but they didn't seem to know who you were" she mused.

"I realised that I wanted to be Lucien, I want to be the leader of the Volturi Ariella, now more than ever. It's where I belong and it's where my father belongs and I want him to lead with me. As the son and grandson of Aro. Its where we're meant to be." I said proudly for the first time since I got here. Ariella smiled at me softly. As if she had been waiting for me to say the words the second I arrived.

"You're one step closer my dear. You're one step closer I promise you that" she said and kissed my forehead. I decided to go to sleep that night remembering what had happened when my family were here and how sure I had become that this is where I needed to be.

"Master the Cullen's are coming" I heard a member of the guard inform Lucien. My family? I often eaves dropped on Lucien, he had no idea I did it, if anyone caught me I made them forget they ever saw me, I knew everything that happened with the Volturi and everyone else thought I was innocent, even Ariella. This news panicked me, I wasn't ready to see my family yet, I suspected Lucien would want to keep me out of sight anyway but I was extremely curious as to why the Cullen's were coming all the way from America to see us. They couldn't know. There is no way my ability had worn off. Not one of them knew I existed, that I was sure.

"All of them?" Lucien said calmly.

"No only a handful, but Pancrazio is with them, so is Esther" the guard informed him, the two most important people to Lucien, at least right now. I know he secretly wanted them in the guard, Esther was the most powerful person he'd met and my father was Aro's son, he should be here by blood. I tended to agree with him, i'd give anything to have my father with me.

I remember trying to shake the thought from my head, times had changed, I no longer wished to be in America. I had no one there I cared for, not anymore. Having my father here would just be a convenience, his ability would be useful, that is all.

"Very well, when are they expected to arrive?" he asked.

"They landed in Volterra 30 minutes ago master, our lookout has only just managed to get the message to us" he responded, Lucien sighed heavily, he didn't seem to like the news.

"So they will be here any second" he responded.

"Yes master"

"Keep the child in his chambers, he is not to enter the throne room whilst they are here understood?" Lucien asked.

"Yes master" the guard member responded and quickly head for the door, I ran as fast as I could back to my chambers, I jumped onto my bed and under the quilt cover to make it look like I was sleeping. He would leave me alone and I may be able to sneak out if he thought I was asleep. The door opened but I didn't move, when I heard it close again I took a peak to make sure he wasn't standing at the door. Luckily he wasn't, I quietly, determined not to make a sound walked towards my window, the only window in the room. Luckily the guard member was a hybrid, if they had been full vampire they definitely would have heard me open the window. But their hearing is dulled and I easily slipped out the window. I landed on the balcony area and walked around the castle to Ariella's bedroom, I know she kept her window unlocked and it wasn't far from my own room, I could easily sneak out her door and pass the guard member without him seeing me. As I got closer to the throne room I wondered what I was doing. My heart was beating rapidly and I was nervous. Part of me wanted them to remember me but I knew I must stay hidden. I reached my favourite place in minutes, it was an air duct that overlooked the throne room, I could see everything and hear everything and they couldn't see me, not unless they knew exactly where to look. I shuffled through the duct, I was already bigger than when I was last in here, I knew how fast I was growing but barely fitting in the air duct proved it. Part of me didn't want to get older, so I could always spy on Lucien like this but then the older I got the closer I got to my rightful place, as leader of the Volturi.

"Pancrazio, my master" Lucien greeted my family as they walked in. I took a sharp intake of breath when I saw my father hand in hand with a woman. Who was she? She looked oddly familiar but I couldn't place who she was. She couldn't be my mother, my mother was dead. She was the reason I left, to stop the pain. I couldn't feel pain when I was here, not as much as I felt in Washington with my family. I scanned the others, I remembered Emmett, I called him grandfather even though he wasn't biologically my grandfather, there was also my uncle Eddie and Aunt Chloe and Esther. I knew Esther, she nearly jeopardised my plan to leave. The last two members I wasn't sure of, so when my father introduced them I was grateful.

"You remember Lidiya and her sister Anelie don't you Lucien?" Pancrazio said coldly motioning towards the tall blonde girl holding the child's hand.

"Ah I see you were able to revive her" Lucien said softly, although it was menacing, almost a taunt.

"Indeed. Anelie is quite the prodigy, although don't think you can win her over easily. She has a wolf protecting her"

I hadn't noticed until then, one of the werewolves was standing in the back. He seemed to have his eyes on the child at all times. What were they doing bringing a child and a wolf here? What were they even here for?

"I don't suppose you are here to join the guard, what is it you want Pancrazio?" Lucien asked, the atmosphere turning sour.

"We have reason to believe you plan against the hybrids, we are here to convince you otherwise" my father spoke. I knew that Lucien would not react kindly to this, how did they find out? As far as I was aware, Lucien had only told a few select guard members, and only I knew because I overheard it.

"I am doing nothing of the sort, I am sorry you wasted your time" Lucien responded. I watched Eddie, I knew he was a mind reader and he seemed to be concentrating on Lucien.

"Oh no it isn't a waste. There was something else we have come for too." Esther replied, she nodded towards Lidiya and Anelie and they turned and started to head back towards the door, towards the wolf. The child climbed up onto the wolf's back and caressed him softly. She must be his imprint, it was the only explanation. I remember the stories my mother told me about my sister and aunt Nessie, they had wolves protecting them and I had loved William for being there for Sophie. Lidiya stood protectively next to them both.

"I think you remember what my daughters can do, so there is no need for violence when you know we will win" Esther continued.

"I do not wish any deaths. Keep calm little one" Lucien said and his eyes fixated on Lidiya. Lidiya smiled, it wasn't a welcoming smile. It was a taunting smile, as if she was willing him to make her angry so she had an excuse to kill him. Part of me just wanted her to kill him now, so I could lead and I could meet them again and confront my father and his mate.

"What is it you want?" Lucien asked Esther.

"The child. They hybrid child you've been training" Esther announced, my eyes widened in shock. How did they know?! They couldn't have known! My ability worked! it definitely worked.

"What child?" Lucien asked innocently. Esther growled.

"You have excellent control of your thoughts, I'll give you that" she responded and paused before continuing. "The child that can remove thoughts and memories. The one you're going to use against the hybrids. We want to take him or her back to America. This is no place for a child" she told him.

"What if he doesn't want to go with you? What if he's happy here?" Lucien asked, he must have slipped in his thoughts that I was here, otherwise he wouldn't have asked such a question. He knew id chose to stay here, it was part of our agreement.

"Then we will leave in peace but we must hear it from him first" Pancrazio added. My heart jumped. What was I supposed to do? Lucien was going to go looking for me and I wasn't going to be in my chambers. I didn't want to go with the Cullen's, I had to stay here!

"Very well" Lucien called and turned to a guard. I was in so much trouble... I silently wondered how Lucien was going to punish me. I knew sneaking out of my chambers to listen to a meeting without his permission was completely against his rules. Would he kill me? Or would he set me free?

"No" Eddie called suddenly. "We believe you" he added.

"What? No we don't!" Chloe exclaimed.

"We will leave, so long as you promise to take care of him and to leave the hybrids alone" he said the last bit threatening.

"Eddie what are you doing? We need to see the child" Chloe hissed.

"No we don't." Eddie responded, I frowned to myself. What was he doing? It was then that his eyes met mine and I shrunk back in the duct. He knew where I was. He knew I had been watching. I needed to make him forget! I needed to somehow reach him.

There is no need for that child. I will not reveal your secret. Are you truly happy here? We offer you a place with our family, a real family not a guard. I heard his voice in my head.

I want to stay. I responded quickly.

Very well. What is your name little one?

Lucas. I told him. I couldn't lie, they must know my name.

Very well Lucas, if you should ever need us, we are a phone call away. You have friends. He told me and suddenly he was gone from my head. How come he didn't recognise my name? Surely he knew my name… but then I suppose not. I had made him forget me, why would a name trigger a memory he didn't have.

Eddie and the rest of my family made Lucien swear he wouldn't harm the hybrids and they left peacefully, but not without a warning from Esther. My eyes had lingered on Lidiya and Anelie as they left, they would be huge assets to the Volturi and Lucien knew that too.

I knew Lucien wouldn't dare attack the hybrids after the personal warning from the Cullen's. Lucien may have me on his side now but I couldn't fight against Death or Death's mother for that matter. Lucien had to be very careful with his battle plans because pissing off the Cullen's was not a good move to make. If he was going to eradicate the hybrids he was going to have to do it another way. I would take this opportunity to give Lucien some of my ideas; maybe he'd see me less of a child if I helped him with business rather than trying to take it off him. I never wanted to hurt my aunts and uncles anyway, I was glad that the Cullen's had come and given them immunity. The hybrids reminded me of my mother and I wouldn't let her siblings get hurt, not as long as I was here. It was why I was here; to protect my family.

All of them.

February 2035

Eddie Cullen

"What are we going to do Eddie?" my wife sighed as she lay her back onto our bed. I closed our bedroom door behind me and leant against it.

"I don't know" I murmured in response.

"A wolf! And he didn't even imprint on her! If he had I wouldn't have a problem at all" she said and her arm covered her eyes.

"I know love" I mumbled and moved away from the door over to our bed.

"I thought we raised her better than this." She said and sat up.

"Holly is a teenager Chloe. She was hurt by Phoenix and she's lashing out. We need to support her and love her not scold her" I tried my best to stay calm. Chloe had tracked our daughter Holly to the bed of Jason Uley. I knew she had been spending a lot of time with him but I thought they were just friends, I was deeply shocked the day Chloe told me she caught them together, luckily they had been sleeping but she knew from their lack of clothing that Holly hadn't just gone over for a nap.

The thought repulsed me, Holly was still my little girl, it made me want to rip the head off any man that was with her like that but I had to remind myself that she was 18 now and her cousins had mates so why couldn't she? Some of them were younger than her and Nessie and Jake saw past their ages and parental prejudices so why couldn't i?

I think the thing that bugged me the most was that he didn't imprint on her. I knew he hadn't because her mind wasn't altered in the way I knew imprintee's experienced, I had seen it a few times, I had seen Renesmee's mind, Emma Clearwater's, Sophia's and Lauren's. Holly didn't experience that longing to be with Jason, she just felt pure and utter sexual attraction and I had to leave her head as fast as possible.

One thing I knew I couldn't do was to tell her I knew, Chloe had sworn to holly that she wouldn't tell me, it was a 'white lie' Chloe said, she had 'accidently' let it slip in her mind but I knew Chloe better than that, she couldn't deal with this on her own, she was just as worried as me. Right now Holly and Jason were just sleeping together but what happens if they fall in love? What happens if he imprints on someone else? I knew Holly was keeping an emotional distance but I refused to believe it wouldn't affect her at all if he imprinted tomorrow. I knew she liked him, part of me just wished he would imprint on her so she would be happy. All I saw was heartbreak in Holly's future and as her father that pained me more than anything I could imagine.

"Maybe we should stop them seeing each other, it's a necessary evil" Chloe said to me softly.

"We can't, Holly will only rebel harder, she'll find ways to see him. we have to let her experience this."

"A broken heart is not something I want my daughter to experience, not like this" Chloe said sadly. I pulled my wife into my chest. I hated that I had been the cause of her to experience a broken heart. It had been for her own good at the time but it didn't stop her remembering what it felt like and I had a direct link to her mind. "And it's going to be so much worse for her." She added.

"I don't think you can grade a broken heart" I laughed sadly.

"I didn't know you back then, I didn't know what it was like to be loved by you, I wasn't losing anything when you said that to me but Holly will. She'll know what it's like to love and be loved and then to lose it. I can't imagine what that must feel like" Chloe explained. I kissed her hair line in response, I didn't really know what to say to her. Was she right? Wouldn't holly be grateful for the good memories? I knew it would be different, every broken heart was different but Chloe was the only one out of us that even slightly knew what that felt like. I was useless when it came to this.

"You never know, he might never imprint" I said optimistically. Chloe chuckled, her arms winding around my chest.

"Let's hope so" she sighed wistfully.

"Who's great idea was it to have kids huh?" I joked and pulled us onto the bed with Chloe still wrapped around me. She giggled.

"I think it was a joint decision if I remember rightly" she said and smiled up at me.

"Nessie and Jake have 6 kids and 5 of them are happy. We have 2 and neither of them are" I sighed sadly.

"Avia isn't happy?" Chloe asked with a frown.

"She turns 10 in a month and she hates the idea of being fully grown" I told her.

"Oh right" she said knowingly. "I still plan on giving her a princess birthday, if we treat her like she is 10 maybe she won't feel so bad about it."

"I think that's completely the wrong approach" I told her. She pulled away from me so she could see my face.

"Are we disagreeing on how to parent our daughter?" she asked.

"Yes" I responded.

"How do you think we should deal with it?"

"Treat her like the adult she is."

"How will that help? She doesn't want to be an adult and frankly she doesn't have to, she can be a child as long as she wants to" Chloe said defiantly. I knew I wasn't going to win this but part of me thought that if Avia realised that she needed to grow up now that she would accept it and wouldn't be so unhappy all the time. I wanted more than anything to give her another 8 years of childhood but It just wasn't the way she was made. She had a longer childhood than I ever did or my sister. Avia had to get over the fact she wasn't a child anymore, she couldn't get thrown into the air by Jacob anymore, we didn't read her bedtime stories and she didn't get away with everything.

"I wonder if we have another baby will they hate us as much as our daughters" Chloe said sadly.

"Our daughters don't hate us" I said with a small eye roll, Chloe was exaggerating.

"It seems like it."

"Avia just wishes she was human" I answered. "Let's stop worrying about it anyway, I hate it when we spend all night talking" I sighed and pulled her underneath me, I started to kiss her cheeks and her nose and she giggled in response.

"I suppose the worrying can wait until morning" she said, her legs wrapping around my waist.

"Too right" I said in between kisses.

Both Chloe and I were ridiculously giddy in the morning, it wasn't like anything happened that didn't normally happen but I enjoyed the happy mood as we made our way down stairs.

"Avia we're going to Nessie and Jake's today" Chloe informed our daughter who was watching TV. I noticed she wasn't watching the Disney Channel which shocked me but I kept it hidden, maybe I had been right last night. She was watching a TV show about teenage mothers.

"That TV show is so dramatic, I was a teenage mother. It's not that bad, they need to just calm down" Chloe said and sat next to our daughter.

"Mom you had all the money in the world to support you, plus dad and his whole family and your best friend. you hardly had it bad" Avia laughed. Chloe smiled down at her. It was nice to hear Avia laugh like that.

"I was still a teen mom, you know my life would have made this show a lot less depressing" she giggled, Avia rolled her eyes at her mother. Normally I would have scolded her for it but it was clear they were just joking around.

"Morning family!" Holly called.

"You're up early" Avia, Chloe and I said in unison. We laughed.

"Well I'm feeling oddly happy today" she grinned at us, I smiled at my daughter as she entered the living room. "Budge" she mumbled to her sister and sat down next to her, practically on top of her.

"Hey" Avia moaned.

"I wanna watch TV."

"I'm watching it!" Avia shouted back.

"And so the day begins" I sighed and held my hand out for my wife who was still sitting near our daughters, she laughed and took it to stand up. We left our daughters fighting over the TV to go and get ready.

Most days Chloe would be studying to be a paediatrician which left me very bored, I was determined to find a hobby but I hadn't found one that fit yet. Avia went to school and much to her dismay had to skip a grade so now she was a sophomore to keep up with her growth. Three days out of the week though we spent it at Nessie and Jake's. This was a welcome change from my search for a hobby, I thought about training to be a doctor alongside Chloe but I didn't really want to impose. I knew she wouldn't mind but this was something Chloe wanted to do, ever since she was human she always told me she wanted to be a doctor and specialise in children and I did everything in my power, or well my family's power, to make sure that she would get her wish. She only had 5 years left until she was a fully qualified paediatric doctor.

The door opened as we tried to get the girls to put their shoes on.

"Hello" Lidiya sang.

"We're about to go to the Blacks" I told her, Lidiya and Esther practically lived in our house, only they slept at their own.

"We've just been there to drop Annie off" Lidiya sighed she turned back around just as Esther got to the door. "Go back Esther. We're going to Nessie's" Lidiya said exasperated. I laughed. Having Anelie around seemed to make Lidiya a lot younger and relaxed compared to what she was like before Anelie came back. It's like she had a reason to live again and I saw Lidiya very much like my own daughter, I was so glad she was happier now. She had grown into an amazing young woman and Esther had done well in raising her, despite the reveal last Christmas that she was in fact her mother I couldn't deny the fact that Esther had done an amazing job with Lidiya, considering her early childhood traumas Lidiya could have turned out a lot worse.

You helped. I heard Esther in my head with a laugh. She sees you as a father and Chloe as a mother just as much as me.

I know. I responded and she came into the house.

"So what's happening? Esther asked out loud.

"Going to Nessie's" Chloe responded. "Girls are you coming?" she shouted into the living room.

"I am!" Avia called.

"Will Will be there?" Holly asked.

"I don't know" Chloe replied. Holly groaned.

"Well I'm going to Will's house then." She said and came into the hall. "Lidy!" she called and hugged her friend.

"Hey Hol" Lidiya replied and Holly took her hand as she awkwardly put her shoes on, they giggled and then left the house like a pair of school girls.

We made our way to Nessie's and when we arrived we greeted Nessie like always. Avia seemed to be extra quiet as we entered the living room where Jake was. She didn't run to him like normal. Jacob frowned.

"Where is my hug?" he frowned at her. I tuned into her mind and she thought it wasn't appropriate now she was older.

He's still your uncle, you may not adore him like you did when you were a child but he still loves you. You're his favourite niece. I told her, she smiled sweetly at me and unfolded her arms as she walked over to Jacob. He wrapped his arms around her and she looked tiny as she hugged him. He kissed her hair.

"Just because you're bigger now doesn't mean you get away with not hugging me" Jacob told her. She giggled and smiled up at him. Her thoughts were grateful, she was scared things would change when she became fully grown but Jacob just assured her that their relationship would never change.

I spent the day with my sister like normal, the kids were in and out although I was even more aware now that they weren't actually kids anymore, the only one that still looked young was Isobel, the rest looked no younger than Nessie and myself.

I wondered how long it would be until we'd be practically childless. Both Nessie and I barely knew what married life was like without them. Nessie was pregnant on her honey moon, so was Chloe. Would it be like being on an endless honeymoon? I loved my children and I loved my nieces and nephews but I was excited to see what it would be like. Would we stay near Nessie and Jake? I couldn't really imagine my life without them, they were our best friends but at the same time I didn't see Nessie and Jake going too far from their grandchildren. The questions were endless but I knew we still had a decade or so until Izzy and Anelie were fully grown and probably until Avia became independent. We still had time to figure it out, for now i had the pleasure of protecting my eldest daughter from men and my youngest daughter from growing up. Seeing Jake and Nessie's kids coming in and out almost wore me out, they were more present than usual, sometimes I forgot how hectic the Black household must get, especially considering William and Sophia were often here too. I barely felt like I was being a good father to my 2 daughters. They had 6!

I honestly didn't know how Jacob did it.

Just a little insight into the current life of Eddie's side of the family. Next chapter will be split between William/Sophia and Holly/Jason as they were both voted 2nd and 3rd favourite couple.

Picture of Avia at 10 (fully grown) is up on my blog for those that are interested :) As well as a few teaser posters for some future story lines. - View at your own risk ;)

BellaNessieCullen. Blogspot. Com