"Lifetimes ago, it was you.

It's still you."

-Zack Grey

*Aro's POV*

Sitting on the floor cradling the woman that bears the same face as my beloved Genevieve, I couldn't feel more helpless. The day Genevieve died was both the happiest and the most heartbreaking one, and I never got the chance to tell her what I was before she passed. That horribly beautiful day was the day our beautiful twins were born. Our beautiful Aurora Jane and Alecsander. When I was looking through her memories, I saw the flashes from our time together mixed with her current life and I had to thank the gods that they were giving a monster like me a second chance with my first and only love. A second chance to make my family whole again, and the chance for Jane and Alec to finally have a mother in their lives.

"Leave. Take the girl and leave. We are finished here." I shouted at them as I gather Elizabeth in my arms much to the amusement of Caius. For my sake, he had the decency to wait until the others had left before making any comments.

"So, we are to keep her here, clearly against her will? How chivalrous of you brother." He mocked while I glared at him before turning to my son.

"Alec, please bring this Annabeth to my chambers. It may help for her to wake up to a familiar face." Looking away from her beautiful face, I looked at Alec to see him looking at us a little unsure of the whole situation.

"Is this really what mother looked like? Has she really returned to us?" With every hesitant step he took forward, I saw Jane take the same step away. Unfortunately, she has never been too good with changes that affect her life, and I may be partly to blame for that. I know that I have coddled her, probably too much for her own good, but she is my little girl. From the minute they were born, they had me wrapped around their tiny fingers and the passage of time has not diminished this fact.

"Your mother had blonde hair instead of this silver color, but yes her features are identical. It seems like some of her previous memories have started to resurface in broken pieces, but only time will tell how much she will truly remember." Letting out an unneeded sigh as his face fell, I knew that was not what he was wanting to hear. "If this woman is anything like your mother was, then you needn't worry. I don't see her leaving us any time soon once she adjusts to the shock." He only nodded his head in response before walking out of the room.

"Shall we postpone the rest of the trials then?" Marcus asked, smiling at us.

"Yes, but I will take her to my room before Heidi returns." Which should be sometime here shortly.

"Of course. Should I tell Didyme about what has happened?" I quickly objected to the idea. Knowing how my sister was when Genevieve died, I don't want to upset her if Elizabeth decides that she doesn't want to stay. No, it was bad enough that Alec and I were already getting hopeful. Jane keeping her distance and keeping my sister in the dark was for the best at the moment. "I see that look Aro, this will work out for the better. The bond is already there, and she is remembering. just try to not rush things with her. She may look like her, but Elizabeth is her own person. For all we know, she could have a completely different personality." Caius scoffed at the notion.

"Here's to hoping she does! It would do you some good Aro. Maybe the challenge will lessen that ego of yours." For a brief moment I almost forgot about the woman I was holding in favor of attacking Caius, but as she stirred in my arms, I felt all the anger dissolve in an instant. Without even having a proper conversation, the angel in my hold has me already wrapped around her finger. The thought should have scared me, but there was something that felt so right. If she so much as asked for me to set myself on fire when she woke up, I wouldn't hesitate if it meant the last thing that I saw was her. I couldn't help the grin that rose as she unconsciously nuzzled her head against my chest. Without a word, I walked out of the room in the direction of my chambers completely missing the shocked look on Caius' face. Hearing the growing heartbeats, I sighed as I ran the rest of the way before setting her on the bed. Laying her down gently, I had to refrain from kissing her forehead and reluctantly pulled myself back to the throne room just in time for feeding.

Once the now drained bodies had been disposed of, I sat and let my thoughts carry on about the goddess upstairs. Her previous reaction did not bode well for our first interaction, that is if she even allowed me near her again. Running a hand down my face, I wondered if today would be the last time I saw her. Even with her knowing our secret, and our laws regarding humans who know too much, I could never let one of them harm her while I lived. No, if she decided to reject the bond then she would be free to leave. If I want to gain her favor, she will be with the upmost respect. Another thought bubbled up that caused a bit of concern. If she knows Felix's mate, what would that girl tell her when we were not around to listen in?

*Liz's POV*

Squinting against the wet cloth that covered my eyes, I slowly sat up while removing it and felt my panic rising until a hand grabbed mine making me jump.

"Calmati. Sono solo io." (Chill out. It's just me.) Rolling my eyes at my best friend, I momentarily forgot where I was until I realized that I was sitting with my best friend which meant it wasn't all some crazy twisted dream I had.

"Lo sai?" (Do you know?) I quietly asked and her avoiding my gaze was all the answer I needed. "Perche ' lavori per loro, allora?" (Why are you even working for them then?)

"La paga era troppo buona per rinunciare." (The pay was too good to pass up.) I rolled my eyes and lightly shoved her. "Onestamente però, non l'ho scoperto fino a dopo che mi hanno assunto." (Honestly though, I did not find out until after they hired me.)

"Allora perche'sei rimasto? Perché non smettere?" (Then why did you stay? Why not just quit?) Best friend or not, Anna can be a little self-destructive with some of her life choices. Which is also why we worked well together, I balanced out her half-cooked ideas with logic. As she started bouncing in her place, she swapped to speaking in English, so she didn't speak too fast.

"I probably shouldn't be the one telling you this, but you know how I have always loved the idea of soulmates?" Anna asked and I don't think I liked the little glint in her eyes.

"What about it?" There really is no telling what she has come up with at this point.

"Turns out they're real! Except vampires refer to them as mates, but it's the same concept. Well, I found out that one of them is my soulmate!" She gushed and while I was happy for my friend, I couldn't help the next question that came out of my mouth.

"What happens when you die then? Aren't they supposed to be immortal, unless…" I trailed off as she looked down again. "You want to be one of them, don't you?" She only nodded her head in response.

"Liz, I love him. He is so sweet and caring, and I think that if you just gave him a chance that you would get along just fine. So, what they're vampires? At least they only take what they need from criminals. They even have a rule that citizens of Volterra can't be harmed by another vampire. This coven is the one who makes all the rules, which is amazing to me, and I saw one of the main leaders bring you in here." She gave me her trademark smirk as she left the insinuation unsaid vocally, but still very clear.

"Oh, hush you. I don't know why he brought me here. I kind of freaked out when I put the pieces together. How long have I even been out?" The only window I saw had heavy curtains blocking out the light, so I couldn't judge based on that and I honestly forgot about my phone as I asked.

"Only a couple of hours. Dinner should be ready soon though." Why did they even bother if they survive on blood? And as if she could ready my mind, she answered my unasked question. "They have a regular human staff here besides me. Maids, people to run errands, cooks for said human staff, tailors…"

"Oh. What happens to them after?" I couldn't even bring myself to further the question.

"Most have worked here for generations and have families at home. While yes, they have this human-hating persona they like to keep, they do treat us well here. Before I was found to have a mate, they offered me a place to stay here during my employment. Now I just stay with my mate." I swear if she says the word mate one more time, I might have to shove her off the bed.

"So, who is this mystery man? The last time I saw you this happy was when you got to go to Milan for Fashion week." I laughed as she lit up even more than before.

"He's wonderful! Tall, dark, and handsome type. He seems like the quiet type, but once he opens up, we can talk for hours about everything and nothing at all. He's absolutely perfect!" She gushed and I couldn't help the small pang of envy that rose. "He's actually the tall one that you came in with. His name is Felix." At least I now have a name for him.

"Am I allowed out of here?" Given that they basically are holding me hostage at this point, I would rather not end up as a snack.

"I'm not sure. Alec didn't say when he brought me here, but Demetri is outside the door. I can ask him and see?" She offered and I nodded now hesitant to be going anywhere as a human surrounded by vampires. How Annabeth is so comfortable here is beyond me. Before she could leave my side though, the shorter one from before, Demetri, entered the room.

"You are more than welcome to wander the castle, miss. I would have to accompany you for the sake of your safety, of course." As my fear rose, I watched Anna roll her eyes before turning to glare at him.

"Dem, you're going to scare her. She's like my sister, and I would appreciate if you didn't further her anxiety about the whole situation. Especially since we still don't know what happened." She scolded him and he only chuckled in response.

"Calm down little sis, it was only a bit of fun." Why is he calling her his sister? "But yes, she is free to go with you and get food. You get cranky enough when hungry, we don't need two of you getting like that." What the absolute hell is going on right now?

"Rude. Don't make me tell Felix you were being mean to me again. He may be your soul-brother, but mate trumps sibling." She sassed and I hid my own giggle as he looked a little paler than before if that was even possible. "Now let's get moving. Food awaits us and you need to keep your energy up before the jetlag settles in. I'm sure Aro will want to talk with you later." She said happily while she pulled me off the bed and proceeded to drag me down the twisting hallways all the while Demetri laughed at her antics.

The closer we got to wherever her destination was, the stronger the smell of freshly cooked bread got until my mouth was watering. "Leon made his famous pizza! You're going to love this!" And it was just as good as she made it sound. It was obvious that everything was freshly made and cooked to perfection. While we ate, we caught each other up on what has been going on in our lives since I left for America a few months prior.

"Wait, so she really just shut down all because the guy left her? How absolutely pathetic! Even I can know that they are not mates, and yet she was acting like it was the end of the world for her." She ranted and the last bit caught my attention.

"How do you know that they were not mates? Granted she went to the extreme, if you watered down her reaction to acceptable levels it doesn't seem that outlandish… In theory at least." Now don't think I'm defending her in any way, but I still don't know how mates work. She scoffed and rolled her eyes at my question.

"The way Felix explained it was that, as a vampire, leaving your mates was too painful to even contemplate. He called it a fate worse than death. Most would rather go through the change for all of eternity than to be separated from their mate, willingly or unwillingly. If he was able to just up and leave her, he was not her mate. Maybe a fascination or obsession, but not mates." I sat in stunned silence at her explanation. This whole mate business sounds so intense and honestly, I was afraid of it happening to me. To have someone be so dedicated to you and only you for the rest of time was insane. But there was still a part of me that was longing for a love that was all consuming.

"What does it feel like for you?" I whispered around my fearful curiosity as the gorgeous man from before came to mind.

"Well, before I knew who he was I felt this pull in my chest when he was near. But it wasn't until I gained enough confidence to start looking them in the eye that I felt this warmth settle in my chest. Like I was finally at peace after struggling through life. I will admit that I was scared too at first, I mean having that reaction to someone you hardly know is terrifying, but once I started to accept what I was feeling I knew that I would never feel like this for someone else ever again. And the first time we kissed – it was the kind of feeling that people write fairytales about." The more she explained, the more I felt my heart sink.

"Was there ever a spark when you touch?" I hesitantly asked and luckily, she was too busy daydreaming to notice my nervous fidgeting.

"More like a full on electric current." She sighed wistfully before snapping back to reality. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason." I tried to quickly dismiss her question and she narrowed her eyes before letting it go. "So, what is life like here?" Thankfully, she didn't push the change in subject as I swallowed around the lump in my throat. She happily droned on and on while I zoned out, too caught up in my thoughts to fully listen to a word she was saying.

She pretty much exactly described the way I felt earlier, and now I was having mixed feelings about this whole thing. Did I really want to be tied to this stranger for the rest of eternity? I mean, I'm only eighteen. I still have the rest of my life ahead of me! Would he expect me to change my life and become like him? Granted I would get to stay with my best friend, but is this guy really worth giving up my mortal life for? And then there's the random memories that started popping up when I got here… Memories that felt like I was actually there and experiencing them firsthand instead of just something in my head. Christ, I could still feel the tender caress of his lips on my neck. Suppressing a shudder, I was pulled from my thoughts by Anna snapping her fingers in front of my face.

"Did something happen Liz? You don't normally get this spacey unless something is bothering you." Feeling my cheeks heat up, I sighed as she laid a hand on my arm.

"I'm just overthinking something. It's nothing." I tried to wave off the concern, but as usual Annabeth was having none of it.

"Okay, spill. This is obviously not nothing. Now start talking before I break out the whiskey and get you to talk. Your choice, the easy way or the hard way." She stated and I knew there was no room for argument in her tone.

"Something happened in that room. Something I couldn't explain in the moment. Anna, everything you said before, I felt in that room. That strange pull in my chest that preceded the warmth and peace. I looked in his eyes and I had these weird flashes of memories that are mine, but at the same time not." I shook my head as I tried to focus on getting the words out coherently. "It feels like I might have known him before, but not in this lifetime. More like we had met before, in a different life maybe. But that wasn't even the weirdest part. While the memories were still reeling, I said something in Greek."

"You don't even know Greek! How is that even possible?" She interrupted and I just shrugged.

"I wish I knew." We sat in silence over that before she jumped at me.

"So, who was? You never said which one." The little mischievous glint in her eye told me she already knew but she still wanted it confirmed.

"Honestly, I don't know. I never got his name, but he is stunning. He has kind of long, dark hair if that helps." I offered and she rolled her eyes.

"His name is Aro and good luck to you. You're going to need it." My jaw dropped at her statement and it sent my thoughts reeling yet again.

"Why?" I swallowed thickly and hoped it wasn't because he was particularly cruel or anything.

"Because Aro is one of the three kings of the vampire world. The other two you saw sitting next to him are Caius, the blonde one, and Marcus, the one with the curly hair. You just got every little girl's dream." But that would make me…

"Oh gods." Forgetting the rest of my food, I started pacing to try and stop my now rising panic.

"Liz. Elizabeth, calm down before you pass out again!" She snapped at me and I glared at her.

"Anna, you know I don't adapt well to things like this. This changes everything that I thought was true about my life! How am I meant to drop every plan I ever made and be calm about uprooting my entire life for someone that I don't even know, let alone deal with the fact that he is a blood drinking vampire?!" My breath was steadily getting quicker and shallower until I felt a hard slap land on my cheek.

"Elizabeth Genevieve De Luca, you listen, and you listen well. You need to snap out of this woe is me attitude. This is not the end of the world, and this is about more than just you. Do you think he isn't just as terrified about this as you are? Hell, when we found out Felix was my mate, he avoided me because he thought I would reject him! This is just as nerve-racking for him as it is you." She lectured me and I felt my cheeks dampen with tears at her harsh, but necessary, words. Sniffling a bit around a broken laugh, I pulled my best friend in for a hug.

"Thank you." She just squeezed me tighter before pulling away and wiping the tears from my face.

"I will always have your back. Sisters at heart remember?" All I could do was nod. "Good. Now let's get you back. I'm sure he is just as nervous to talk to you as you are to him." She threw her arm around my waist and guided me back through the maze of hallways and each step closer to where I was before felt like a boulder was pressing down on my chest.

Please let this not be a disaster…