I woke up slightly confused at where I was until I realized that I must have fallen asleep on the sofa. I sat up slowly, and when I looked over at Aro's desk, where I expected him to be, I did not see him but someone else. He smiled a sad sort of smile when our eyes met. "Good morning. You may not remember me."

"It's Marcus, right?"

"Perhaps then you do. Did you sleep well?"

I wrapped the blanket closer around me before replying. If anyone, I had expected Demetri to be there when I woke like he usually was if Aro was not present. I knew nothing about the vampire before me now except for what had happened when Aro brought me to him over a week ago. There was a sort of heaviness around him that made me a little uneasy but not out of fear. I worried more about the conversation that lied ahead.

"I guess." I looked over towards the door then back at Marcus. "Where's Aro?"

"He is currently meeting with the guard. He was afraid of leaving you alone should you wake up. He did not want you to be confused if you did."

"Right. He was going to introduce me to them today, the others I haven't met. I hope he doesn't plan to make it into some formal event. What's he talking to them about?"

Marcus stood from where he was sitting and made his way over to me. He sat beside me on the sofa and as he came closer, I noticed how young he looked. For being one of the heads of such a powerful coven of vampires, this was something I didn't expect. While I knew Aro was young when he had been changed, he was still a good seven or eight years older than I was. Marcus, on the other hand, could have still been in his teens.

"He is telling them to be on their best behavior."

Sighing, I pulled my knees up to my chest. "He is making it formal."

"Aro has a way of etiquette and enjoying the finer things. Formalities are a part of his being."

I thought back to when I had first met Marcus. He had been seated at a beautiful piano playing a tune that was so bittersweet yet captivating. It was hard telling how long Aro would be, and it would not hurt to know more about Marcus as well. Maybe he would let me in on a few things. I could only try, so I said, "By the way, your playing the other day, it was really good."

"Yes. I often played that piece for the one I loved."

"He told me what happened. I'm sorry."

"Yet I cannot expect you to understand. When Didyme was murdered, a part of my soul was murdered with her, if we can be seen as having souls. Perhaps we are only soulless monsters in the end."

"You don't know that," I said shaking my head. "After all, what is a soul?"

Our eyes made contact again, and while I could tell the weight still weighed heavy on him, he smiled again, soft but true. "You are right."

I watched as he once again looked away, his eyes staring off expressionless at something in the distance. This must have been what Aro had meant when he mentioned how Didyme's death affected Marcus the day he brought me up to the tower. Was it possible to love that strongly?

"Marcus," I said, trying for a change in subject, "Maybe you can tell me more about the guard before I meet them. I really only know about Demetri and Renata though I've spent time with Chelsea and have talked to Corin. It would be nice to know a little before I see the others for the first time. I don't want to seem inconsiderate or rude."

"There is no chance of that. They will accept you for who you are as Aro's mate."

"Still, if I knew a little more about them, that would be helpful."

"You may feel inclined to ask them yourself," he answered quite effectively ending that topic.

"Okay, then maybe you can tell me more about you."

He turned back to me and sighed. "What would you like to know?"

"First you could tell me how old you are."

"I am a few decades older than Aro, but we do not keep track of time as we once used to. However, I was changed at the same age you are now."

Nodding, I pressed on a little further. At least I was getting some information out of him now. "Could you tell me about that? That whole process."

"You have not asked Aro?" I shook my head in response, so he continued, "You should discuss that with him as he will be the one to initiate it."

"Maybe, but I also don't want him to think that I'm eager to have it done either. I'm not. I mean, immortality, it seems like such a great thing. I guess most humans would go out of their way to obtain it. Perhaps I would, too, but only out of a lame fear of what happens once one dies. Thinking about it now, spending an eternity right here, I don't think that sounds like a good way to live."

Marcus's voice was very quiet, barely audible when he spoke, but I heard it anyway. It was distraught and distant like the words were too difficult to say. "It only is not when you are alone." It was then that he took my hand, a gesture that I would not have welcomed from Aro at the time. However, when Marcus held my hand in his, I felt no discomfort, only a pressing need for companionship and understanding. "You are not alone. Your bond with Aro has the potential to grow and glow, and when you have become like us, it will only blossom. You deny yourself now, but it could be great if you accepted what is. The color is only dark because you choose for it to be, but one day it will be as gold as the sun."

When he let go of my hand, I replied, "You talk like you can see colored ribbons between us or something."

"They are not ribbons perse, but a cord nonetheless. I am able to read the bonds between people. That is how I knew when you ran into my arms as a child that you were Aro's mate."

I thought back to when Aro and I had talked about that day, and it had never clearly made sense on how he knew when I was still practically a toddler that he loved me. Besides a strange sense of pedophilia which seemed very unlikely, I understood something else had told him. He kept saying it was something vampires just knew and that I would know it, too, when I was like them, but this is also what he meant. Had it not been for Marcus and I had not been such a stupid child, Aro may have never known I existed in the first place.

"Are you like Demetri? Can you read bonds from far away?"

"No, but in your case, Aro had been close by. I saw the interweaving of the cords there. It was a surprise to both of us."

"I suppose you wouldn't tell me about Aro's gift, would you?"

"He has not told you?"

I was surprised by the slight shock in his voice, but I did not comment on it. "Not yet. I've asked, but he tends to change the subject or go around it."

Marcus hummed, and I watched him carefully. "He is not always wise."

"What do you mean?"

"You must not despise him when you know. That is all I will say. Aro believes he acts for the best, but love makes fools of us all." He turned to face the door then before saying, "It seems Aro has returned. We will meet again soon."

It was when he stood that the door opened, Aro gracefully walked in with a light grin on his face. Both Marcus and Aro exchanged quick words before Aro came to me. "Would you like to meet them now, mia amore? They are waiting."

"Let me change first, and then, sure." I stood up, made my way to the other room and prepared myself to meet the rest of the Volturi coven.

A/N: I know I have been giving daily updates and it's all thanks to the incredible reviews I have been receiving, so thank you! However, I am not sure if I will be able to update tomorrow, and I know I will not be able to update this weekend. The feature film I am working on starts filming Saturday, and I will be on set all day, both Saturday and Sunday. We're talking 10am (which is a late call time I might add) to 10 or 11pm. Therefore, I will try to post one more time before then, but no promises.

This chapter was not on my outline but my brain wanted to write it, so it got written. I hope it was still enjoyable and you all picked up a few more little details because they were in there.

Title comes from the quote, "Those we love and lose are always connected by heartstrings into infinity," by Terri Guillemets. I thought it was fitting since this chapter is her introduction to Marcus and his gift.