EDWARD

Watching my family embrace Renesmee was comforting yet heart breaking at the same time. Hearing her spine snap was fused into my head, I would never forget that sound and the cry of Bella as she ran to our daughter. I tightened my arms around Bella's waist, glad to be able to feel her again. She turned around in my grasp to look at me. She smiled and brought her lips to mine.

"What was that for?" I mumbled. Not that I was complaining. She shrugged.

"Everything's okay," she grinned.

"Almost everything," I murmured turning my head to the hybrids mourning over their brother. I noticed Anthony; the hybrid that healed Renesmee had his hands on Harry and was trying to heal him. But there was no heartbeat coming from the lifeless boy. I knew he wouldn't be able to save him.

"I came so close to losing you today," Bella whimpered from below me. "I just can't bring myself to be sad. I know it's wrong and it's selfish but there are casualties in war." She whispered. I looked down at her and kissed her forehead.

"I know." Was all I could say. When I thought I was going to die I watched Bella's face. Standing there crying for me as she gripped our sons hand. I never wanted to leave them and I have never been so grateful for my own life before.

I really need to go. I heard in someone's thoughts, I scanned the area to see Pancrazio walking towards the forest.

"Stay with us," I shouted out to him. He turned back to look at me and replied politely.

"No, thank you for your kindness but no. I must return to Italy. Someone has to keep our world in order."

"But you're only a child," Bella added.

"I was never a child. From the day I was born my father taught me how to be an adult. I will not do things the way he did but I will honour him in continuing to watch over our world." he replied

"But how are you going to do it alone?" Bella asked.

"I'll find a way."

"We will meet you there. We will help you," Lizzy said standing up from the ground.

"Thank you," Pancrazio said to her with a little nod.

"Come visit us yeah?" Renesmee said looking up from Chantelle's embrace.

"Of course. Thank you, all of you for sparing me." he said and turned to walk away but Bella ran out of my arms and over to the boy. She knelt down and pulled him into a hug. He was shocked at first but melted into her arms and returned her hug; he put his arms around her shoulders and rested his head on his arm. He closed his eyes and memorised what it was like to be hugged. He had never been hugged or kissed before. He'd never been loved. I felt a sudden urge just to take him back with us.

At first I didn't feel all the compassion Bella felt towards him. He was still Aro's son. But I saw in his mind at that moment that he was truly nothing like his father. It took me all this time to see what Bella had seen the moment she met him. My wife always amazed me but this was different. I walked over to them slowly. Bella pulled back from him and smiled. I knelt down next to her.

"Come live with us. You will know what it's like to be in a family," I said smoothly to him. He smiled slightly, he would like that. To feel loved but he couldn't he had to replace his father. "No you don't Pancrazio. The other hybrids will do it. Let us look after you; you will find that being a child is much more fun than being an adult. You've had your childhood stripped from you, let us give it back to you," I said, I was desperate to persuade him. He smiled timidly looking over to Lizzy.

Could she do it all by herself? He wondered in his head.

"They are fully capable. You can always go back to them when you're fully grown. We won't stop you." I said to him. He nodded at me; there was a part of him that longed to taste childhood. To be a child and not have to worry about anything.

"You won't have to," I said to him.

"Okay," he said out loud. Bella grinned widely and stood up, she held her hand out and Pancrazio took it.

I looked down at the little boy next to Bella. He was barely seven years old. He had never been loved in his life, he had never had the chance to be a child… he didn't even know how to be a child. Could we help him? He would be a constant reminder of Aro and the Volturi, he strikingly resembled Aro like Eddie did with me. But he was not him, I told myself and I couldn't think of a better person to teach him than my wife. I looked to Bella and we smiled at each other.

It wasn't long before Lizzy finally stood up and addressed the vampires, wolves and hybrids.

"Thank you for everyone today. You all did your part well." She said strongly. "My family and I will take residence in Italy and take over the situation. When it gets out that the Volturi are dead we expect a lot to rebel but do not threat, we will take care of it in a civilised manner without killing." She announced.

"We would like to come with you, if that's okay." Stefan said from somewhere in the clearing.

"Yes, you are welcome too," she said smiling at him and walked over to Chantelle still in Renesmee's arms.

"Chanti," She whispered. Chantelle's tear stained face looked up at her. "I'm giving you a choice to come with us." She said. Chantelle shook her head and tightened her grip on Renesmee.

"No Lizzy, I want to stay with my family." She said. Renesmee kissed her head.

"You can all come, you are all welcome," she said addressing us now. I shook my head, speaking for my family.

"This is our home." I said.

"That's okay," Lizzy said and smiled, she bent down to Chantelle on the floor. "Can I have a hug?" she asked with a smile. Chantelle moved from Renesmee's arms and pulled Lizzy into a hug. Lizzy wrapped her arms around her and closed her eyes.

"I love you and I'll always be here for you, remember to come and visit me," she said pulling back to look at Chantelle's face. Chantelle nodded as Lizzy wiped the tears from Chantelle's face.

"Love you too," she admitted and Lizzy placed a kiss on Chantelle's forehead before handing her back to Renesmee.

"Look after our sister okay?" she asked Renesmee with a smile. Renesmee nodded kissed Chantelle's head.

"Always," she whispered and Lizzy reached to stroke Renesmee's cheek before standing up. She walked over to her siblings and took Jeremiah's hand. They didn't say anything else, they just walked over to the edge of the forest.

"Hey!" Pancrazio called out. Lizzy turned back to look at him. "There are still a few guard members there, give them a choice. They're not that bad, they're there with the wives," he said. Lizzy nodded.

"Okay."

"Thank you," he said and Lizzy left with all the hybrids and Stefan and Vladimir in toe.

Many people left after that. All going back home. We said goodbye to Tanya and her family as well as Zafrina and the Amazon coven. Alex went with Sara and the rest of the newborns back to the warehouse. I wasn't quite sure what they were going to do now and neither were they.

I took hold of Renesmee's hand and we all walked back to our house.

Jacob said you were captured. Renesmee thought.

"Yes," I answered out loud.

We came to save you.

"And you did," I answered then turned to Jacob on the other side of Renesmee. "Thank you," I said to him. He had saved my life, and I would be forever grateful to him. He had done so much for me, maybe not for my benefit but he kept Bella alive when I was gone. He had saved my life then and even though I wouldn't admit it out loud he had saved me by being with Renesmee. I knew that he would never hurt Renesmee, he was her perfect match. Over the years he had protected her, been there for her and made her happy. That was all I could ask for my daughter.

"You're welcome," Jacob said to me. He chuckled lightly and I smiled at his memory. There was a time when he wanted me dead. He wanted to kill me so I would be gone from Bella's life but now here he was saving me and the thing that freaked him out the most was that if I had died he knew it would have hurt him. Almost as much as if Bella had died, because he was connected to Renesmee now and Renesmee loved us. Which meant he did. I smiled widely and reached across to pat his shoulder.

"Good to know kid."

"Shut up," he mumbled completely embarrassed. I laughed.

"What?" Renesmee asked us.

"Nothing," we both said in synchronisation. She huffed in annoyance.

We soon arrived back at the house and Esme and Carlisle came running out, along with Chloe. Eddie had Chloe in his arms in less than a second. He held her tight against him and kissed her face. I let go of Renesmee's hand and Jacob and Renesmee walked straight into the house, I knew they needed to be alone. Jacob had come close to losing her today and they just needed to be together, just like Bella and I did. We just had a few things to sort out before we got our alone time. Carlisle and Esme greeted us, and I saw Esme counting us all, making sure we were here. Bella noticed it too; she laughed and pulled her into a hug. Esme sighed and tightened her grip on Bella.

"Oh Bella, I've been so worried," she said.

"It's okay, everyone's okay," Bella reassured her.

"Except Renesmee had her back snapped and Edward lost an arm," Emmett commented as we walked into the living room.

"What?" Esme said sitting down next to Bella.

"We're fine," I assured her. "One of the hybrid's helped Renesmee heal her back and I just put my arm back on." I said with a small laugh about how casual it sounded.

"I'm glad you're okay Edward… I just knew we shouldn't have let her go with Jacob! She's just so stubborn," Esme said to Carlisle.

"She has too much Bella in her," Carlisle grinned at my wife. Bella smiled slightly and rested back against my chest. I leant down and kissed her head.

I looked up to see Pancrazio standing at the door, looking around the room ensure what to do.

"Carlisle, we offered Pancrazio a home with us. The Volturi are dead which means he has no family. We didn't want to leave him alone," I said to Carlisle, suddenly afraid as to whether my father would approve.

"That's very noble of you Edward." He said and walked over to Pancrazio. "You are very welcome to stay with us. You will be treated as our own."

"Thank you," Pancrazio said to Carlisle.

"You can have the spare room. Jacob used to use it but now I assume he will be sharing with Renesmee," Carlisle said looking over to me for confirmation. I nodded and I never felt so sure about it before. My prejudices of Renesmee and Jacob's relationship were gone.

"I'll show you," Chantelle said climbing out of Emmett's lap and walked over to him. He smiled at her and Chantelle slipped her hand in his. They walked out the room and up the stairs. "I'm glad you're here, it's boring being the only kid in this house," Chantelle said to him.

"I've never been treated like a child though," he said as they walked up the stairs.

"You will be now," she laughed.

I like the sound of that. I heard in Pancrazio's head.

"Lemme tell you. It sucks," she joked. Pancrazio laughed.

I don't care. He said in his head. I just want a chance.

I squeezed Bella's waist and laid kisses on her head and the side of her face. She giggled and looked up at me. I just smiled at her and kissed her nose.

Let's go upstairs. she thought, I smiled widely at her and nodded.

"We're going to bed," Bella said getting up from the couch.

"I bet you are," Emmett said.

"Hey! My husband was nearly killed, give me some credit," Bella said to Emmett, Emmett's smile fell from his face.

"Sorry," he muttered and looked over to Rosalie.

I took Bella's hand and we made our way up to our room. Emmett, Rosalie, Alice and Jasper continued to tell Carlisle and Esme about the fight. Most of the wolves went home, except Jacob that was. Eddie and Chloe went to bed not long after us.

I climbed onto my bed and sighed. Bella took her jacket, shoes and socks off. She pulled her jeans down and replaced her top with a small tank top. I watched her climb onto the bed.

"There wasn't any point in stopping love," I grinned at her. She rolled her eyes and lay down next to me. We were silent for a while before she moved onto her side so she was facing me. I turned to look at her. She reached up and ran her finger over the socket of my arm.

"Did it hurt?" she choked out.

"Yes," I said honestly. Her eyes looked sad. "It's fine now though," I answered her.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you," she whispered. I moved my body so I was facing her on my side.

"I'm sorry I was stupid enough to run away from you," I whispered my face inching towards hers.

"No. Don't do that. You always turn it around on you. It wasn't your fault," she sobbed. I knew she wasn't that upset though because they were tearless sobs. I smiled slyly at her.

"It wasn't yours either," I said seductively running my fingers along her side.

"I should have been able to save you," she whispered low.

"Are you jealous because Jacob gets all the glory and you don't?" I asked slightly amused.

"No!" she said defensively. I laughed and pushed her onto her back, I hovered over her with my lips millimetres away from hers.

"I love you," I said to her, staring into her topaz eyes.

"I love you," she whispered barely audible but it was full of emotion. I finally moved the millimetre so our lips could touch. There wasn't any point in my existence that I would get tired of this. Feeling Bella around me, being intoxicated by her, this was heaven and nearly dying today made me realise how truly lucky I was to be alive.