"So, how are you going to fix it?"
"I don't know." Aro girt through his teeth. "Nothing I do seems right. I have lost touch with my humanity a long time ago. She is the only thing keeping me grounded now." Aro confessed, as much as he was loathed to do so. It felt wrong to open himself up to anyone.
Carlisle sighed as he figured that was the case. He had hoped Aro and Bella would have eventually worked things out without causing any bloodshed on either side. Gathering his thoughts he looked at the man before him.
"You need to listen to her Aro. If you truly cared about her and wanted her to be a part of your life whether it be mortal or immortal then you need to listen." Seeing his indignant expression he raised his hands. "Please, listen. She is not from your time. She is not a vampire. And above all she is not someone common. She is your mate. Her needs and wants should be your priority. You knew how she sees life, she can't stand killing an innocent let alone a child. I never liked that about the Volturi. You know it's one of the reasons I left. If you ever hope to have her go through the change then you have to make the coven into something she would consider joining."
Aro stayed silent as he thought Carlisle's words through. He had known of course that she would not take kindly to their usual prey. He had known for years and yet he had done nothing. He had truly wanted her to simply change to his needs. He had been a selfish mate. The sting of his revelation hurt. He was sure he hadn't doubled over in pain was because of Whitlock who was still extorting some influence on him.
"I guess I wanted her to simply accept it. To have it not matter when her thirst hit." He said. It sounded lacking to his own ears as he spoke it out loud.
"And her feelings? She wanted space Aro. She needs it. I know how hard it is when mates fight but you know your situation is different. I can't imagine being so far from her for years and not having completed your bond. But in the end it's something you both have to agree to. Her choices and opinions matter. You need to show her that. Give her space and then talk about it." Here Carlisle shifted, drawing the gaze of his friend. "I want her happy Aro. I don't know why your bond is the way it is but I know she is your mate and by your side she will be her happiest. I want that for her. I want her to want for nothing, to be happy. Just fix this." Carlisle pleaded.
He hated to see how this was affecting everyone. He hated how divided his family was since Rosalie and Emmett refused to leave Bella's side. He hated how Edward mourned his relationship that he himself had a hand in destroying. He wanted his coven back. He wanted them all happy even if it wasn't under one coven.
"I can't stand her far from me." Aro said in a whisper.
"I understand." Carlisle replied.
"Why can't things be simple?" Aro asked rhetorically.
"The best things in life are worth fighting for." Carlisle replied without missing a beat.
Aro smiled at the quick reply. He truly appreciated that in Carlisle.
"She is worth all the strife in the world. She is worth everything." Aro said as he leaned his head back onto the wall.
He could feel it, the truth in his words. Gods he loved her, he truly loved her, he was sure this was love. She was his happiness, she was his everything.
"Then show her Aro. Change the world to her image, give her the world that she would be proud to watch over with you." Carlisle said seriously. He was certain that Bella was meant for Aro to improve their world. She would bring forth change.
"How?" Aro asked. He wished he knew how to fix everything.
"Start by listening to her and then showing her you are listening." Carlisle replied.
They stayed silent for a while. They just stood there in the stairwell thinking. Aro was trying to think of what to do. Carlisle was simply hoping Aro came up with a plan that wouldn't make things worse. After a few more minutes Aro stirred. He had decided, it would be difficult but he would follow through with it, even if no one else liked it.
"Get your 'children' to come here, I will send the guards as well. Rosalie can stay in the apartment, I know Bella would prefer her there anyways." Aro said as he fixed his suit.
Carlisle was going to protest his children leaving them alone when he mentioned Rosalie could stay. It was probably the only concession Aro was willing to make. He nodded and both headed back to the apartment.
Once back inside both men gave their orders and everyone left, reluctantly. Emmett more than the others. Once they were gone Aro raised his voice.
"Did you tell her they all left?" Aro said, he figured Rosalie would have heard the orders and told Bella.
A moment later the door opened and an angry Rosalie stood in the doorway.
"I heard, she still wishes you to go away."
"I know, I will leave as soon as we speak. I have something to tell her as well." Aro said.
Rosalie nodded and went back inside. He heard them talking but couldn't make it out very well since he knew they moved into a closet and raised the volume on the television to the max.
He waited for almost ten minutes before Bella left the room. She stayed in the doorway though, she did not want to be near him. That caused another surge of pain to rip through him.
He stared at her for a while trying to think of what to say, or how to say it. He noticed her discomfort and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
"I'm sorry." He whispered but she had heard him. Her heart raced at his words. He knew he had surprised her.
"For what?" She asked.
He knew he had to watch his words.
"For not listening to you when you said you needed space. For coming here in a blind panic when you asked for time. For hurting you with my actions. For not thinking of what would make you uncomfortable. Above all I am sorry I hurt you. You are the last person I would ever wish to hurt." He said. He was holding himself back from running to her and holding her in his arms.
"Why do you feed that way?" She asked in a hushed whisper of despair. Tears sprang into her eyes but refused to fall.
"I lost touch with my humanity a long time ago Bella. I only felt some of it returning when we spent more time together. We were not meant to be without our mates for so long. Marcus is barely holding on as it is with his mate. Only the coven holds him to us. I was married yes but she was not mine, I simply had a companion for a long time. Caius can only calm down when his mate is around him after something truly upsets him. He is the only one of us three who has an anchor. We become each other's moral compass. I always thought giving the children a swift painless death was the most compassionate thing I could do. It never occurred to me to spare them. They simply became food, I stopped seeing them as living beings a long time ago." He confessed.
Bella looked distraught as he spoke.
"Why would I want to become like you then."
Aro closed his eyes briefly. She was right of course.
"Not everyone does that. There are not many who live as long as we have and become detached from what made us human in the first place. You also know that not everyone is like this. You have encountered the Cullen's who are considered 'vegetarian'. They however have still made mistakes and partaken of human blood. It is hard to spare an innocent human when they are our singers let alone when we are simply starving. You have also come across James coven. James and Victoria enjoyed the suffering of their victims. James like to hunt them down for sport, he even took vampire prey to make things more interesting." Aro said as Bella's face contorted in horror.
"No one is the same Bella. Would you condemn all vampires because of James and Victoria?" Aro asked already knowing her answer.
Bella shook her head in the negative. She knew there were good and bad vampires out there. She could not simply group them all together.
They stayed silent as Bella leaned on the doorframe thinking. She could not get the children out of her mind. She could not stop seeing them at all. She heard their screams and refused to sleep or eat. She also hated that a small part of her wanted to continue what was between them. She had begun to think of trying to see if there was anything that could develop between them. It had been something she had been debating within herself for a few months. His scent had begun to sooth her and she could not help but feel the loss of them if they stopped their regular correspondence.
She was torn as to what to do next.
On one hand she never wanted to turn into a vampire and feed on children but she also didn't have the right to demand he change how he ruled over his kind. She may be his mate but she was not his queen. On the other hand she wanted to explore what else could happen between them. Even if it ended badly it would still be an end. It would help her put him behind her and move on with her life. However she was still torn and didn't know how to go on about anything.
Her indecisiveness and distress must have shown on her face because Aro spoke out of the blue and said something that helped her make up her mind.
"I made it illegal to kill a child for sustenance or to turn them now. I have some of the lower guard spreading the word already. Caius and Marcus are intrigued with your ideas. Athenadora, Caius mate, is especially interested in feeding off rapists." He said. He didn't need to see through walls to know Rosalie would be pleased by that news as well.
Bella looked shocked at first and then he saw a fleeting flash of an unidentifiable emotion.
"Why?" she asked softly.
"I did it for you. I want Volturi to be your home one day, even if it's in human form. Something made you unhappy and I had the power to change it so I did." Aro said simply. It was difficult for him since they were not alone but he was sure she would heed their privacy. Bella was important to Rosalie.
Her face looked beautiful even with tear stains running down her face. She looked so torn and unsure. He wanted to simple rush to her side and assure her that she could trust him and he would lay the world at her feet. He knew however that that was not what she wanted. He had seen the mistakes the Cullen boy had made and refused to do the same. So he simply stood where he was and waited for her to make up her mind.
"From what you know of me, is there anything else that may upset me?" she asked lowly.
Aro wanted to simply say no but he paused and digested her words. There were a few things that he was sure she would find unacceptable. He had long ago stopped caring if they were humane or not.
"Yes."
Bella looked at Aro with a penetrating gaze that would have unnerved a mortal man.
He could have lied to me and I would have never known. She thought.
"Are you willing to stop them or at least change them so they don't upset me?" She asked carefully. She would not demand anything from him or expect him to always go by what she wanted. She knew that a true partnership was made up of give and take.
Aro considered her words. Nothing would be a great hardship to change at all. She wasn't demanding he do it either which was a pleasant surprise. He should have expected that of her however, she was never one to want a fuss made over her. This was something he could do, something that would show her that he was listening and taking her into consideration.
"Yes." He said simply.
Bella however could hear the weight behind the words. She stood by the door and made her decision. She would give this a chance. She was only 22 after all, it wasn't like he looked like a teenager so she didn't have to worry about that. She was still young enough to have a child of her own. Deciding to go ahead and take a chance she made her mind up. She was sure Alice would see this coming. (She rolled her eyes internally.)
"I am willing to have things go back to how they had been. The regular visits and the packages. I think we should move on from what happened and see where things go." Bella took a fortifying breath as Aro looked like he could be knocked over by a feather. "I still want my space for now though. Things are still too fresh on my mind. We can see how things go in September and see if taking a step further would be a good thing." She said.
Aro was trying to keep from smiling like a lunatic. He had thought he had ruined everything yet here she was wanting to try and get back to how they were. She still wanted her space and he was sure children were still on her mind. He had no way of fixing the child situation but he could fix everything else.
"I agree. I believe you were correct in giving us space. It will give me time to make some changes back home." Aro said diplomatically. He was sure Whitlock could feel his euphoria from the stairwell. He didn't care.
"Okay, then I guess I will see you at the end of September." She said. She still looked sad and small in the doorway. As much as he wished to go to her he knew she needed space. Maybe one day he would be able to do that, for now he would put his energies into fixing this mess.
Aro looked at her with longing but simply nodded in reply.
"We will be gone in a few hours. While we are here we will spread the word of the changes." He said.
Bella simply nodded. It was getting awkward again between them. It had been a while since that had happened. Like if she had been summoned by the silence Rosalie exited the room and stood near Bella.
"Why don't we fix the living room for everyone? I am sure Alice wants to catch up with us anyways so we might as well fix the living room before she shuts us in the room." She said while looking at Bella.
She turned to Aro. "Do you wish me to inform the others of your decision?" she asked. They all knew she was just stopping the awkward pause and giving them an out.
Alice knocked loudly and then simply waltzes in with everyone else behind her. The Volturi members did not looked pleased but simply lined up behind their Master.
"I am so glad you two decided to work things out." She said cheerfully.
The Volturi relaxed at that. They hoped they would all be heading home now.
"We will return as scheduled my dear. I will see you then." Aro said to Bella who gave him a small smile and nodded.
"Will you be here then?" Aro asked Carlisle who looked more at ease with seeing that they had come to some sort of understanding.
"No, we will be exploring up north for a while and helping keep Edward away. I do not wish for him to cause any problems." He said.
Aro nodded in agreement.
"Do you think he could be a problem?"
Alice piped in with a concerned expression.
"I catch him wanting to contact Bella less and less now. I think the idea is finally sinking in. There hasn't been anything about him doing anything other than wanting to call or write to her." She said.
"Very well. We will be taking our leave now." Aro said. The guard looked impassive except for Jane who looked like she was biting her tongue. Alec was the only reason she was keeping silent. His gentle but firm hand in her arm ensured it.
"A pleasure seeing you all again." Aro said enigmatically to the Cullen's. "I will see you soon my dear." He said to Bella.
"Goodbye Aro, have a safe flight." Bella replied and nodded towards the coven.
The Volturi took their leave quickly after that. Bella excused herself shortly after that and went to her room. She sat down on her bed and took a deep breath. The scent of her perfume triggered something in her mind that made her realize something. She hadn't sent Aro his normal care package this past month. A quick decision made and she quickly grabbed her phone and told Aro to go to where her window was downstairs. A quick reply of agreement and Bella rushed to her bed. She ripped off the pillow sheet and took off her long sleeved shirt sleeping shirt. It was in no way something he could ever wear but it had her scent so it would have to do since she had worn it for two nights straight. She stuffed it into the case and then added a small sprits' of her perfume. She put on another shirt on and moved to her moving boxes. She added a small package she had bought to give to him when they went to Volterra. It was an oval silver trinket box she had found. It looked like something a man of power would have on his desk. She couldn't help herself and bought it.
She carefully put everything into her pillowcase and secured the wrapped bundle with a few hair ties she had. Getting a quick message from Aro that they were outside and what was going on she simply went to her window and and opened it as far as it would go. Since she couldn't go to the balcony since the entire family was out there she decided to use her window. Since they were high up in a luxury apartment complex her window did not open all the way. The opening was big enough for her package however.
She stuck her arm out and waved it twice. A quick message from Aro saying he saw her was all she needed. She replied with one word. Had she known he would panic once he read it she would have elaborated a little.
'Catch.'
She threw out her package a little so it wouldn't accidently hit a balcony or smack the building. A minute later she got a message that made her suppress her laughs.
'Next time tell me what you are going to do. I thought you were going to drop out the window for a second. I caught the bundle before anyone could see something had fallen. Thank you.' He wrote.
'You're Welcome.' She replied.
She closed her window and took a moment to compose herself. Once she felt better she walked out into the living room. She was greeted like nothing had happened and joined in on the current conversation. She pointedly ignored Alice who was wearing a devious look on her face. She did not need her to tell her a damn thing. She did not want to know what would happen. She would simply take things one day at a time.