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7th July 2048

"Yes!" Edward replied through gritted teeth. "I choose Bella."

His words triggered a cacophony of chatter amongst the Volturi. Each preening with anticipation of what was to come next. I watched as Aro returned to his brothers, taking each of their hands as they looked on. The smirk on Caius' face made my skin crawl. I dreaded the thought of what he had planned.

I dropped my gaze as I tried to recollect my thoughts. It had hurt more than I thought to hear Edward choose Bella. Even if it was what I had wanted, what I had hoped he would do, there was still part of me that hoped he might have fought for me harder.

"Sarelle, please. I'm sorry. I..." his voice was just an echo amongst the din of the room.

"Don't." I bit through the words, all the while wishing I could tell him the truth. Don't worry, I love you. Don't look back, I forgive you. Don't fight for me, I can't lose you.

"Now it's time to take your leave," Aro said with authority, "let's hope we meet under better circumstances in future."

Bella turned for the door as soon as Aro spoke. For a second, I thought she would walk away without looking back but something made her stop. "Edward, come on. Think of Renesmee. She'll be worried about us. They all will be."

For all she had discovered here it couldn't stop her from protecting her family. Whatever was left of it.

Edward didn't move. He hadn't since he had chosen Bella. He just stood there, watching me. Daring me to meet his gaze. "Not yet, Bella."

"Edward? Please don't do this," she said as if offering him one last chance to show her all was not lost.

"I said not yet," he growled. I doubted his anger was directed at her, but instead at everything that had transpired here. But nonetheless his words robbed Bella of whatever hope and patience she had left.

The slam of the door behind her reverberated through the chamber, bringing silence in its wake.

"You only do more damage, Edward," Caius drawled with pleasure.

Edward's hand latched around my wrist, firm but gentle, "may we have a few moments?" he asked to the room.

"You may use the room over there." Aro replied with a bored sigh.

Our footsteps echoed across the stone floor. Edward wretched open the ornate wooden door, shutting us away from the watchful gaze of the Volturi guard. As soon as we were out of sight he wrapped me in his arms. Kisses rained upon my skin as hands wound into my hair.

"Don't do this," he urged as he held my face in his palms. His eyes, no longer a molten gold but instead the colour of toffee, burned with desolation. In that moment I knew plan C would be harder than I'd hoped.

"You promised me you'd never leave, remember? We promised each other forever."

"What else do you think can be done? Do you think they'll listen to reason? Be bribed to leave us be?" I steeled myself against what had to come next because it would be the hardest thing I'd ever have to do.

"What if they did Edward? What would that solve? You'd still be with Bella and we'd still be what we are. You won't give her up and you won't let me move on. So I'm solving the problem for you. I'm taking myself out of the equation. I'm no good for your life." I took a step towards him and he cowered back.

"You have to let me go." I pushed.

"No. I love you," The ardour in his voice was undeniable, and it hurt all the more. "You're everything to me, Sarelle. I need you." He rested his forehead against mine, his words fluttering against my skin. A small slice of heaven in my personal hell. My willpower almost broke, but I had to stay strong. To keep him safe I had to make him leave. Even if that meant hurting him in the process.

"No. You don't." I said as I wrenched myself away from his touch. "You think you do, but you don't." I backed away as I spoke, trying to distance myself from the pain in his eyes. "Not really. Because if you needed me, and I was everything to you then you wouldn't need Bella."

"Sarelle…" his voice broke as his face twisted in anguish.

"Don't do that. All you have to do, Edward, is say goodbye, turn around, and never look back."

He hung his head like a broken man and while his eyes weren't on me I took a second to gain my composure. I had to do this, I knew I did, but I had never imagined it would be so hard.

"For once Sarelle, be selfish. Just come with me and save yourself. That's all I wish." He pressed, a final glimmer of hope fading from his eyes.

I knew there was a chance this would happen. That he would come this far and let his emotions cloud his judgement. I wanted to tell him it would all be fine if he just turned around and walked out the door, but I couldn't. Not without risking everything. More than anything, I wished he hadn't forced me to do what was coming next.

I swallowed back lump in my throat and mustered whatever strength I had left. I unlocked the darkest part of me and let the thoughts I never dared to think flow to the surface.

"You know what I wish, Edward." My words hissed into the room as my anger against Aro and the Volturi rose. "I wish I'd never asked you to keep that promise in the meadow. And more than that, I wish you'd broken it. Because maybe if you had we wouldn't be here."

"How can you say that?" He gaped at me as I mirrored back everything shortcoming he'd ever feared might be true.

"I knew when I left back then that it would hurt to let you go, but I wanted you to be happy. I just didn't think it would take you 50 years, less than a lifetime, to replace me!"

"I didn't…"

"Yes, you did. Because if you hadn't then we wouldn't be here. If you loved her even a fraction less than me then you wouldn't have been playing the two of us for the past year. Professing your love for me while you ran back to her every time."

"You promised forever, Sarelle." Despite all I'd said, he wouldn't let me go. Not if he still thought I still wanted a future with him.

"Not this forever." I ground out through the sadness choking my throat. "Not how it is now. I wanted the man I fell in love with at 15. The one who would never lie, or cheat. The one who was devoted to the life we had together, no matter what stood in its path."

"I'm still that man," he said weakly.

"No you're not, I don't think you have been from the minute you met her. You're not my Edward anymore and I've been a fool to think you ever could have been."

He stood quietly before me and I waited anxiously for him to turn and leave. To get out of harm's way while there was still a chance. Aro wouldn't wait much longer. I walked towards him slowly, reaching for his hand and folding it against the locket on my chest. I had promised him forever and eternity and I meant it, but for us to stand a chance I needed him to let go.

"You need to leave, Edward."

He looked at our hands entwined, "the only way I'll leave is with you by my side," he said with the last ounce of fortitude he could muster.

"So be it." I said sadly as I stepped out of his reach. "Felix, Alec. If you would please escort Mr Cullen off the premises and back to his wife."

His face crumpled as the door opened before us. I turned away as they reached for him. I prayed he wouldn't struggle. The last thing I wanted was for him to get hurt.

"Sarelle, don't do this, please. I love you,"

My resolve collapsed at the sound. All I wanted was to go to him, to run out the door and as far as we could, just to have a few more moments beside him.

I pushed my emotions back down as I calmly turned to face him. "It's not enough, Edward." It's not enough for you to die for.

His hand reached up and twisted the fabric of his shirt into a fist, resting over a heart that, while long dead, was surely aching.

"Don't. Don't do this," he said quietly, shaking his head with his gaze cast downward.

For a moment he stopped struggling, and I trained my burning stare into the sad pools of liquid gold set in the beautiful planes of his face.

"Goodbye, Edward."

I was strong until the moment the doors closed. In that moment my body crumpled to the ground. I sobbed as I tried to push the image of Edward out of my mind. If I survived this I knew that image would forever be burned in my memory.

Slow footsteps crept towards me, refined Italian shoes stepping into view as I state at the sandstone floor before me.

"Come, my child."

Aro's voice rang in my ears. My jaw clenched, strangling the sobs in my throat. Heat ran up my spine as the rage spread from my core. Pressure built, fuelled by my anger. I could feel it at the centre of me, like an explosion trapped in a stone box. The energy had to go somewhere. It couldn't be contained forever.

My head rose slowly, my gaze fixed beyond Aro to the far side of the room. There, almost hidden by the wall of black velvet, Aaron stood by the doors. Our eyes met as the energy within pulsed against it's restraints. A flash of fear crossed his face and in that moment I knew all was not lost.

"You made the right choice," Aro cooed as I stood to meet his eery cold stare.

"I don't know if choice is the right word, Aro, it leads one to think there was some degree of flexibility in the outcome." I snarked, aware of the way the guards around us had started to circle like sharks. Agitated at the prospect of fresh blood.

"You could be happy here," Aro pushed.

"Once you've been housebroken" Cauis sneered from his ivory pedestal.

Aro inched ever closer, watching me as if mesmerised, hypnotised by his supposed good fortune.

"Just imagine the things we will do with you at our command." His eyes gleamed. "Time, our greatest nemesis, now nothing but endless opportunities. A slave to our every whim."

In the distance I heard deft footsteps hasten down the corridor outside. To the others in the room they were silent, but the energy building under my surface was amplifying everything around me. If someone was coming, I knew the best I could do was created enough of a distraction to give them more time.

I swallowed my pride and glanced at Aro through my lashes. He wanted the submissive and it was a role I was happy to play if it bought me my freedom.

A/N: Thanks for reading!