Animal Crackers

It was difficult, the balance that he had to keep between both of his desires. One, understandably, was to race through the city of Volterra, looking for her at a frantic pace without bothering to keep within the alleys. He longed to abandon safety precautions, try to track her down as best as he could. The second was to scoop both of the twins up in his arms – he had no doubt that he would be able to do this – and carry them back somewhere safe: preferably Alaska, but any cloudy, rainy town or state would suffice.

So, Edward Cullen had to keep a precarious balance between both of his desires, more difficult then it seemed. At every second, each idea seemed to try to overwhelm the other and take control, a civil war going on inside his brain, each side fighting for its own control. The bronze haired vampire barely found the will to keep the ideas balanced, fighting on an equal front, a dangerous balance between two ideas that both had dangerous outcomes. One, he would lose the children. Two, he would lose Bella. Edward refused to consent to either of those outcomes, and that was how this dangerous balance, threatening to slip over to one side or the other, was formed.

He didn't run to find her, as he would have liked. If he forced the twins to run through Volterra, it wouldn't be a good outcome for them: he didn't know how long or how far that they could run at his speed at, the way that he'd seen them do in Forks. The Volturi, as well, were sure to notice a Cullen and the two that they longed for running through their city. They'd expressed their desire for the twins, and for Bella, for Edward, and for Alice. The police of the vampire world weren't the type to back down easily, either. Edward had to keep their knowledge of the twins' presence limited. If they already knew – which Edward figured that they had, the Volturi seemed to know everything – then breaking the law by exhibiting power in the middle of the city wasn't the brightest idea. Edward cared not for his own life – he would have run throughout the city in a moment, but his children held him back. Was this what it meant to be a father?

He stuck to the shadows of the alley, as well. It wasn't a sunny day, the situation would have been much more difficult if it had been, a near impossible situation, for it was inevitable that eventually the Cullens would have to step out of the shadows, once they spotted Bella, into the view of humans. That was still another mystery to them all, even the psychic among them. When they found her – Edward refused to think of the situation as an if – they had no clue as of how to get her back. They only hoped that the twins would be the key; a miracle.

It had once been more simple then this, for the plan had been for him to take the girls to Alaska, where they would have been safe from the wandering eyes of the Volturi, as Alice had confirmed. With only the Robinsons for protection the girls would have been snatched up. Yet, with the entire Cullen coven on their side, the Volturi wouldn't think of making a grab for them without reason.

Only, now they were giving them reason. Now, they were in their city, and that gave the Volturi plenty of reason to strike like vipers, he was baiting a rat to a trap.

His movements were centered on the twins as his darkening eyes roamed to the sky – still clouded, still safe. Would his daughters sparkle as he did, would they sparkle to a lesser effect? Edward Cullen hoped to be alive long enough to find out.

Both Cynthia and Elizabeth remained thankfully silent as they made their way throughout the city, sneaking through back alleys, praying not to have a run in with one of the Volturi. His only warning would have to be listening, relying on hearing the thoughts of the enemy before they struck. A fear would be running into Jane – if he could read his daughters minds, then surely Jane's power would work on the twins. Edward refused to have that.

The air smelled of the alleys, of abandonment and of deceit. Silently he placed a one hand on the backs of either of his daughters, as if merely his touch could protect them from the dangers that lurked there – a foolish notion, but what else could he do? He suddenly understood his father; he suddenly understood everything that Carlisle had ever done. It had all been for them, he'd understood that, but he'd never realized to what an extent – and that he was doing it now still, searching for Edward and willing to fight for his son merely because he'd asked, merely because he'd needed him.

He'd truly been ungrateful, hadn't he? Edward had to make it out now – he had to thank his father for everything that he'd ever done for him.

The red haired vampire felt his daughter lift her eyes to his face and furrow her brow. Cynthia. He knew this without question now, could tell his daughters apart as only a father or mother could. He offered a smile, wishing to comfort whatever it was that troubled her - but he did not know if amidst so much trouble, there was a way to comfort anything anymore.

But Cynthia just shook her head, offering a gentle smile in return. She returned her eyes ahead, focusing her attention on their search for their mother again, the wild goose chase of the hour. He was puzzled by whatever had just gone on between them – had that been her unique skill coming into play, as Alice had suggested? Had she really been reading what he wanted at that moment? Did she know of his balancing act of desires?

The stone underneath his foot made not a sound as he stepped down on it, silence being his friend at the moment – but he suddenly realized that the faint, but still there, sounds of the click of his daughters feet had stopped. Only one pair of feet followed his now.

Elizabeth had stopped short.

Edward spun around immediately, brow furrowed in confusion. "Lizzie, what's wrong?" His voice was hushed, a suggestion of a whisper, but the twins could hear him. Elizabeth's head was tilted in the air, as if a hound on the trail of something, her feet were grounded like a tree trunk, and her shoulders were back.

"Dad, what's wrong with her eyes?" Cynthia tugged on her father's sleeve, her voice small and nervous.

Her once green eyes were a mirror reflecting a deep red fire, one that twirled and twisted in the irises. "Elizabeth!" Edward hissed, but he didn't make a move to shake her shoulders, as he would if Alice had a vision in the middle of a school cafeteria. He could only have a lucky guess of what was happening to his daughter …

Her head tilted forward again, so that her wild, red eyes met her father's dark gold ones. The sight sent chills down Edward's spine.

"Dad," she said, her voice slightly off. "I know where Mom is." Cynthia gasped, but a smile crept over Elizabeth's face.

"I can track."

Author's Note:

Ailat: You're amazing. I didn't realize that it had that sort of underlying message until I was writing that chapter, and the descriptions sort of stood out. It made perfect sense, and I'm so glad that you caught it. Thanks for reading!

JohnnyDepp: That was funny, to me at least. It's cool, knowing that somebody is waiting for me to update like that. I never think much of my work, so I'm glad that someone enjoys it!

HorseCrazy, marykat, somebody, stacy-ann, FinnIrish, Wibonie, Kolored: Again, I'm so glad that someone enjoys my writing. Thanks for your praise!

Well, I should probably be doing my history homework, but I decided to take the time to update instead. My awesome readers deserve it.

If you were confused about why Elizabeth's power didn't work earlier, it was because they werent close enough – she's not a vampire, only half, she's not going to be able to track from that far away on her first try.

Which, yes, means that they are close.