Hello readers! Here is another chapter. I struggled with this one. I kept deleting and rewriting it, and was never truly happy with it. So I decided the 5th time I rewrote it, that I would just leave it as is. I've never written the content in this chapter before, hopefully I didn't butcher anything. I might go in later to edit and rewrite a little bit here and there, but for now here it is.

The story is almost over! I can't believe it! I am working on a few other stories, and plan to post them asap.

Follow me on twitter! PerfectChaosFic. I will see what I can do to post a link to the page on my profile here. I will be posting updates on this story and my other stories there! I will be sure to follow back if you follow me :).

Ok, enough rambling from me. Hope you enjoy!


Il Mio Amore

Chapter 28 – So It Begins

Bella's POV:

Alice says that the battle is coming closer faster than I can train my gifts. There will be no time to learn how to use my healing ability. While it would be nice to be able to heal our wounded on the battlefield, my other gifts that I can use will be more effective. So I focus on those gifts, not wasting a single minute. If I wasn't hunting and seeking a few minutes alone with my mate, I was training.

Each day we trained from sun up to sun down. I worked hard to hone my fighting skills along with my gifts. Jasper says that my fighting skills have improved greatly, and he was proud of me. I practiced my magnification gift especially, to be sure that I could control it efficiently, and now I don't even have to try too hard to get the results we need. My shields are strong and will protect us.

I've spent the last few days practicing the use of my shields and magnification at once, and adding in my elemental ability. I'm still not as confident in that.

But we have a plan. A plan that was added to just the other day, a plan that I nervously brought up to Jasper,

Flashback….

"Hey Jazz?" I walked nervously over to chair he was reading in when I found him in the library.

The plan had already made, and here I was suggesting a small change. I didn't want to seem like I was trying to take over his careful planning. He was the expert at this sort of thing, and I knew almost nothing about fighting and battle planning.

He looks up at me, confusion written on his face, "What's wrong, darlin'?"

I hesitated before he sent me confidence, allowing me to answer without worry; "I've got an idea for when we go to battle. Something that might help us end things quicker."

He closed his book and raised an eyebrow, "And what is that?"

"Traps. Ben and I could make deep holes in the ground, and we can both have fires burning in the holes. We can make the earth look like it was never disturbed. That way, we can get rid of some of the newborn army before they reach us. And therefore make it easier to end the fight quickly."

He seemed to consider it for a moment before responding, "And if one of our own falls into the pits during the battle?"

"My physical shield will be around everyone. It will protect them from the fire."

"Say that it doesn't. Are you willing to take that chance?"

I grinned at him, "It will. I've already been trying it out for a couple of weeks out of curiosity. First on myself, and then on Felix. He volunteered. Each time the fire couldn't breech the shield."

He stared at me for a few minutes before sighing, "I'll consider it darlin'. Tell you what; the battle is in a couple weeks. I want you to practice shielding until then. As you know we recently confiscated some newborns from Enrique's army. We will light a fire, and have you shield as many newborns as you can, for as long as you can, while being distracted with your other gifts. If you manage to keep all of them safe for at least a day then we'll do it. How about that?"

I grinned at him, "Sounds great, big brother."

I turned to walk out when he called "Oh, and Bella? Never be afraid to come to me with suggestions. I know you're smart, and can think strategically. I'll never automatically shoot you down like Eddie did, ok?"

I nodded, shooting him another grin as I left him to his books again.

Flashback ends…

And now we were all on the Volturi jet headed for Washington. My nerves threatened to drown me as I sat fidgeting in my seat. I knew that we would win, but I still couldn't help but worry about the ones that became my family. They had shown me unconditional love, devotion, and patience. We had something to fight for, which is more than I could say about the newborn army that Edward helped Victoria create.

We arrived the day before the battle was meant to take place. That night was spent with our respective mates. The night was filled with reassurances, reaffirmations of our love, as we made love until dawn.

All too soon it was the morning of the battle. We stood on one end of the clearing; halfway between Forks and Seattle, where Alice told us the battle would occur. The traps were set about fifty feet in front of us; I only hoped they helped us, and that my shield held up under the heat of battle. Jasper and Alec were confident that it would; everyone did. I hope I didn't disappoint them.

I stood in between Alec and Jane, with Jasper and Alice behind us at the front. To our left stood Felix and Afton, their mates behind them. Emmett stood with Rosalie behind him to our right, with Demetri a few feet away. Benjamin and Tia stood halfway between Emmett's group and us, while we placed Amun and Kebi to the back, tasked with watching for an attack from the rear. Eleazer and Carmen stood with them. Aro, Marcus and Caius stood in the middle of everyone.

Thick fog rolled around us, as if the weather could sense the carnage that would happen here. We were up against a couple hundred newborns, and some of us may not survive.

All I could do was hope. Hope that while we may not have those kinds of numbers, we had the skills and gifts to win. We had help, of course, but still our numbers were not enough. The Egyptian coven, Irish coven, and couple more covens from around the world came to help us. Of the Denali coven, only Carmen and Eleazar agreed to help us. The succubae declined, due to Tanya's crush on Edward. Now I hope that we trained just enough to win and hopefully with no one dying today.

Different Nomads arrived as we waited in the clearing, breaking me from my thoughts. They silently placed themselves on either side of our formation, looking ready for a fight. While I was thankful they seemed to be on our side, I didn't know how they knew about this in the first place or who any of them were.

Jasper sensed my confusion and explained, "Some friends that I've made over my years as a nomad, darlin'. They too are all seasoned warriors. I called them for help. You will meet them after the battle."

I nodded in reply, silently adding 'if they survive that is'.

A little louder, Jasper spoke to the rest of the group, "Does everyone know the plan? Where they are supposed to be?"

Murmurs of assent filled the crowd as I shifted restlessly, ready for the battle to be over already.

Jasper's POV:

I knew that Bella was more nervous than she showed as we waited. It was her first battle. People she cared about and loved were fighting, and could be hurt if not killed. I'd be more worried if she wasn't nervous. It didn't help that she was technically still a newborn, and therefore more skittish and jumpy than she normally would be.

Only a few moments after everyone confirmed that they knew the plan, we heard hundreds of rapid footsteps headed in our direction; they were too fast to be human. It was time.

Bella's nerves spiked as she heard them, almost to the point of panicking. Her fear wasn't for herself, but for her mate and her family and friends. I reached in front of me to grab her hand for a few seconds while I infused her with calm and confidence.

"It'll be alright, darlin'. Just follow the plan as best you can. Get ready now." I reassured her.

I watched as she took a deep breath, stepping forward just slightly with Jane and Alec. Felix and Emmett stepped up with them. They were to help kill the newborns, as they became victims to their combined gifts.

Her gratitude and love washed over me, and I took a second to soak it all in. Her emotions were almost always so positive, and the way she loved us all despite our histories and our past actions was astounding. She never judged any of us, she saw us for who we were instead of what we were. I'll always love her for that alone.

I felt her emotions settle into focus and determination, and I smiled in relief. I was afraid that she might really start panicking and losing sense. She would be alright.

We would all be ok. No matter what happens, things will work out.

Bella's POV:

Jasper was right; it would be ok. There was a plan in place, a plan that was well thought out. We just needed to follow it. I sent him my gratitude and love for his encouragement.

I looked forward as the newborns came running through the trees at the other end of the clearing, stopping short as they noticed us. Their reactions varied, but I was more interested in the 4 vampires who walked calmly through the trees, stopping in front of the newborns.

I was only half surprised to see Esme and Carlisle there; they never thought that Edward did anything wrong.

Edward had a smug look on his face, as if he had already won the battle. Carlisle stood to his right, with Esme behind him, as he and Edward surveyed the army we had gathered to fight the newborns. Victoria stood on his left, a feral, crazed expression on her face, clearly ready to fight.

They hadn't seen me yet, as I was hidden behind Emmett.

Edward took a deep breath to speak and paused to take another one. I knew then that he had caught my scent. He looked around in confusion, looking for me for a moment before giving up and saying, "I see you have brought Isabella here. A human caught in the middle of a vampire fight is clearly putting her in danger. I would never do that, unlike you heathens. Where is she?"

Silence reigned as he waited for an answer. I couldn't believe he thought I was still human. He should be able to tell just by my scent that I was no longer human. Maybe it was time to announce my vampire status and myself to him. I looked back at Jasper, who nodded to me in approval. Seeing this, Emmett moved to the side, making sure to still be in a position to guard us.

"Hello, Edward. I hardly think that my safety and fragile human state is much of a problem anymore. As you can see, I am no longer human. My mate changed me."

Edward looked at me in outrage, "How could you do this to me, Isabella? You know how I feel about your soul. How could you betray me like this?"

I scoffed at him, "You are the one guilty of betrayal. You knew I belonged with Alec, yet you kept me with you. I begged you to change me, yet you refused, despite the requirement set by the Volturi."

"I only kept you with me because I love you so much, Isabella. You were mine first, and therefore you are mine no matter what you have been told of your mate. I can smell that you no longer hold on to your innocence. You have given it to another, ultimately betraying me. I shall forgive you for this, if you come to me now. Come with me, Isabella. We will run from here, and be together for eternity."

Wow, he really is delusional.

"No, Edward. I belong with Alec. He is my mate, my love, and my eternity. If you had ever really loved me, you never would have left in the first place. You would have let me go to be with Alec, because my true happiness relied on my being with him. I belong with the Volturi, my family. No, Edward. I refuse to go to you."

Aro spoke from behind me, "Edward Cullen, you are charged with keeping mates apart, telling a human of our kind, and helping to make a newborn army with the intent to attack the Volturi. How do you plead?"

"I don't recognize you as my leader. I do what I want."

"I see," Aro addressed the next person, "Carlisle, my friend. It pains me to see you stand against us this way. I would be willing to pardon you and your mate, if you leave now. Or do you insist on standing by your firstborn?"

Carlisle glanced at Esme before nodding resolutely, "I do. He is my son, and he deserves to be happy. He has been betrayed so horrendously by those he called his family and mate."

"Ah but my friend, your dear Edward has broken laws, and he has betrayed the others you called your children. He betrayed them every time he searched their minds and invaded their privacy for his sole benefit. He has betrayed them by voicing very private thoughts and memories aloud. He has betrayed them by attempting to steal Isabella away from her mate. You once called her your daughter."

Carlisle sneered, "They are not my children. They stopped being my children the moment they decided to betray my son. They are dead to me."

Shocked silence reined for a moment before Aro responded, "And so this is your final answer? You choose to fight with Edward? You will not be victorious today, dear friend. I will be sad to see you go, but I can see that there is no changing your mind."

Edward scoffed at him, "We shall see about that. The odds against you are insurmountable. You may have experienced warriors among your ranks, but you will be no match for this army. You are the ones who shall perish, and rightly so."

I tensed for just a second before following Aro's silent signal to start the attack. I expanded my shield to cover everyone who came to fight with us, starting with my mate and my Kings and stretched to the outer edges, where the nomads had stationed themselves after their arrival. After I was sure everyone was shielded, I magnified Alec's gift followed by Jane's.

I nodded towards the two, signaling that we could openly attack now. Jane grinned and focused her gift on the enemy, taking down twenty at a time with it, and immediately Felix and Demetri jumped in to behead the newborns affected.

It took the rest of the newborns seconds to react, their thirst for blood and violence driving them to attack. I briefly wondered what Edward had promised them in terms of blood before deciding it didn't matter. They wouldn't be getting any rewards once they were dead.

Screams echoed across the clearing as the traps fell through, trapping newborns in pits of fire, unable to escape. My group slowly made our way through the newborns, carefully avoiding the traps I had set with Benjamin. Before Edward and Victoria's army arrived, we had made sure that our side knew where every pit was so that avoiding them would be easier. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Aro give the signal for everyone else to join us in the fight.

Jane diligently worked through the newborns, while Felix, Demetri, and now my other siblings beheaded them and threw the parts into a nearby fire pit. Alec stayed by my side, slowly letting his gift drift out over the unsuspecting Cullens and Victoria. They stupidly stayed together, in a circle as they fought.

When they woke up next, they would be in Volterra to answer for their crimes. Emmett and Rose broke off from the group to tie them up in a specially formulated set of chains made to hold vampires. Once secure, they stood guard over the prisoners, dispatching any newborn attempting to free them.

With the masterminds safely incapacitated, Alec started expanding his gift towards the newborns, still keeping his gift on the prisoners, allowing us to get rid of them quicker than before. I chanced a quick look around to see that everyone else was quickly demolishing the rest of the army.

Soon the battle was over, and all that was left besides the prisoners was the stray body parts scattered over the clearing. We split up to get rid of any evidence of the battle. It wouldn't do for a human to stumble upon this site. When the smoke finally cleared, and the fires were put out, I took a silent head count and was glad to see that no one on our side was killed. My shields did what they were supposed to.

Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I turned to see Jasper smiling at me proudly, "You did it darlin'. You protected everyone." He paused for a second, sending me a huge wave of emotion, "That's the pride that your family and friends feel for you right now."

I threw my arms around my brother gleefully, "Thank you, big brother."

I finally let go of him as cheers erupted over our victory. It was over. The constant worry, the training, the preparation, all over. We had won.

I turned feeling another hand on my shoulder. Before I could react Alec had smashed his lips against mine, kissing me deeply, ignoring the catcalls, hoots, and hollers from our family and friends. I grinned into the kiss, feeling suddenly lighter than ever. When we finally pulled apart, I grinned up at my mate, "Let's go home baby."

He stroked the side of my face before agreeing, "That's the best thing I've heard all day. I love you, Isabella."

"I love you too."