A/N: Nothing to say.

Disclaimer: I don't have anything to do with it!

CHAPTER 37:

ELLA'S POINT OF VIEW:

We stood in the clearing, staring off into the distance. A thick fog blanketed the area, allowing only silhouettes of the trees to show. The clearing where my family played baseball and had a good time was becoming a warzone. The eight of us stood strongly and proudly, waiting in silence for the face of death to arrive. The black cloaks appeared one by one in the mist. They walked in unison, in a pace that was perfectly synched and had probably been practiced a thousand times. It was the pace of the invincible.

They stopped about fifty yards away. Aro, Caius, and Marcus made the point in the front, flanked by their many Guard members. Their stance showed power, and royalty. Ours showed companionship and love. Jasper and Alice stood together with their fingers interlaced, as did Emmett and Rosalie. Edward and his newborn vampire mate Bella stood shoulder-to-shoulder. Dad and Mom had me locked in-between them, holding hands so that they created an iron vise in front of me.

After giving everyone a subtle, loving look, Dad slowly approached the Volturi leader. He lifted his palms as a sign of peace. I felt Mom become stiff beside me.

"Greetings, Aro. We know why you have come and would be grateful to be given an opportunity to explain," Dad said formally.

In other words, I would have to sugarcoat my mistake.

"I believe that there is nothing left to be explained. That child's misdeed is in violation of the compromise we –"

"But there is," Dad interjected strongly.

Aro raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Before Dad could reply, Aro spoke again.

"Then the child herself must explain to me," he said.

I gulped. Aro's gaze was fully focused on me. He gave me an inviting smile that I immediately distrusted.

"Come!" he ordered.

I started shaking. I looked to where Dad was standing, only fifteen feet away from the monster. I didn't want to be any closer than I was now. I took a few steps back.

"COME!" he ordered more strongly.

With weak knees, I took tiny steps forward. I kept my eyes locked on Dad's face. He was looking back at me with a sympathetic expression. I thought of Dad, he was brave enough to walk right up to Aro without hesitation. I admired that. I pushed myself to take regular strides toward him. I saw his look of sympathy change to one of pride and determination.

I met up with Dad and stood just a little behind him. He reached back for my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, telling me that it was all right, even though it really wasn't. My life just seemed like a death cycle, disaster after disaster. I wondered at what point the cycle would be cut off. Would I be forced to deal with it until I died naturally? Or would something actually be strong enough to kill me? I've always thought of myself as a weak human girl, but I could apparently survive more than I thought I could. It was just another strange thing in my messed up life.

"Well Ella, now is your chance to explain your actions. Are you going to do so, or am I just going to have to carry on with my original plan?" Aro asked lightly, but threateningly.

"The truth is, I was just plain stupid. I let my teenage mind tell me that I would be with Dylan forever, and that I could trust him. I now know that is not the case. I told him because I really did believe. That's no excuse, I know, but it's really the reason why. I was falling hard in love, only not to be caught. It was also before I went to Italy and met you and realized how serious the secret was. Had I met you before, I probably wouldn't have told him. I am truly sorry for my actions and I will not deny that I did them. The good thing is that he didn't believe me. I was going to try to convince him, but thought better of it. I swear on my life that I will not tell another soul until I am one hundred percent sure that I will be with that person forever and that he is trustworthy," I said.

I should have left out that last line.

"But we made and agreement in Italy that you would never tell anyone no matter what, did we not?" Aro questioned.

I nodded. "Yes Sir, but –"

"There are no buts to that agreement. If you didn't like that agreement, you should have voiced your opinion in Italy. The agreement is set in stone," Aro said.

"I'm not trying to be rude but nothing is set in stone. In human life, things change. I am human and that is just how life is for me. You may be leader of the vampire world, but you are most certainly NOT the leader of me. I will NEVER bow at your feet and call you my king because YOU. ARE. NOT!" I said fiercely.

Aro seemed taken aback by my speech. He quickly regained himself and spoke back.

"Darling, I am well aware that I am not the leader of the human world, and I don't intervene with human life. However, you know the secret and therefore that means I am INDEED your leader. I will treat you the same as I do any other vampire. And when certain vampires are a danger to our world, they are simply removed from it. I gave you a fair warning before, but this is the SECOND time. That proves to me that you are a threat. I do not give second chances."

"But Aro, I told him before that warning," I said.

"Why didn't you tell me the first time we met?" he asked.

"Honestly, the thought didn't really cross my mind. It did for a second, but I decided not to because you were already letting me go and I didn't want to change that. I'm sorry for being dishonest," I said, bowing my head.

"That still doesn't excuse the fact that you told someone," he said.

I was mad now.

"Aro, I don't understand something. Why does it have to be kept a secret? If everyone knew the truth, why would it be bad? Why is keeping the secret safe from threats so important?" I asked.

Aro seemed to be at a loss for words. I wasn't going to go with this if he couldn't even give me a reason.

"Perhaps there is something to be explained," piped up one of the Guard members. I recognized him as Felix.

"Go ahead," Aro encouraged.

Felix turned toward me.

"You see, a while back, humans did know about us. That was when the Romanians were in rule, and people thought nothing of it. Then people started coming up with all these crazy suspicions and believed them. They thought that we were bad and tried to kill us. For a few hundred years, the world was a mess. Have you ever heard of the Witch Hunt?" Felix asked.

I nodded.

"Well they also searched for vampires and werewolves. When we slowly started keeping our existence a secret, the suspicions died off. If we revealed our secret once again, everyone would live in fear and the world would turn back into the mess it used to be. And no one wants that to happen," he said.

"I still don't understand the danger," I muttered stubbornly.

"Whether you see it or not, it is what it is. Now that you understand – or have at least been told – the dangers, we must make the decision as to what we will do," Aro said.

"Now we have to once again endure Aro's Court Hearing. Bada bing!" I said.

Aro sighed. "Child please, let's not have a repeat of our last meeting."

Dad gave me a warning pat on my bottom. I moved closer to him for comfort. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pressed me into his side. I felt like crying. I just wanted this to be over and done with.

"I will let this go under one condition," Aro announced.

"And what would that be?" Dad asked.

Aro turned to me. "When you have found your lifelong mate, bring him to meet me."

"I will," I vowed.

"Then there is nothing more to be said," Aro said and turned back to his minions that were standing faithfully behind him. "Let's return."

There were a few grumbles of disapproval but they dutifully marched off. Dad and I walked back to where our family was anxiously waiting.

"I'm so glad it's over!" I sobbed, burying my face into Mom's shoulder.

The summer passed without any problems. There were just laughs and smiles all around. Before I knew it, it was a week before the first day of school. I was sitting in the living room with Dad waiting for Mom and my siblings to return from their hunting trip.

"Hey Dad, I have a question," I said.

"And what would that question be?" he asked.

"Well, I was just thinking about random things and I was wondering if we could legally change my name. I was thinking of maybe changing "Ella Dixie Cullen" to "Gabriella Dixie Cullen." It's not a big change, I just want something formal for the future. I still want to be called Ella, but I want some document saying that my name is Gabriella," I requested.

"I don't see why not. I suppose you want that document before the first day of school?" he asked.

"Yes please."

"I will do that tomorrow and turn it in to the school. Are you excited to be going to Prep?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. I didn't do as well as I could have academic wise at Discovery, so I kind of want to start over. I want really good grades so that I can get into a good college, but my main goal is to just improve them at the very least."

Dad smiled. "I love that attitude. You know, you sure have changed. Not just physically, but also mentally. You've become more . . . mature. More responsible," he said.

"I want to be that way. I'm hoping that things will be just a little less crazy around here. Everything has just been fast-moving and stressful. I just want time to hang out with my family and slow down. Like right now, I just like spending time with you," I said with a smile.

"I do too. Now we are going to focus on giving you the best life possible. I'm hoping that this will be a great change for all of us. A change for the better," Dad said.

The week passed and my name was officially changed to Gabriella Dixie Cullen. It was the night before Monday. Tomorrow would be the beginning of a whole new and wonderful experience.

A/N: I know that it was a really short chapter, but they're about to get long again. I just needed to get past this so that I could move on to more meaningful stuff. I promise that the next chapter will not disappoint! Please review and vote on my poll.