Aro found himself to be too rationale to ever lose his focus. The raven-haired king was used to be in his absolute focus in all aspects. But lately, someone was distracting him that he was to lose his focus.
It was a normal day after all, but he found himself staring at Jane. The two of them were in the library as she was absorbed in her studies as he was with paperwork. The blonde had been comfortable with his presence quite longer than usual. The Volturi king also noticed Alec's hesitant nature whether he was around. Alec may not admit it out loud, but the raven-haired vampire felt that her twin did not want him around after all.
After what he did. Aro surely knew that Alec's hesitation was due to the fact that he cared about his sister.
"You had been staring at your parchment for quite some time, cara mia," Aro states as he looked up from what he was doing. Jane immediately tried to busy herself and went back to what she was doing without a word.
"Do you need help?" he asks.
"I can certainly manage, Master," Jane replies quietly.
He could only look at her in question. He was distracted enough to not focus on what he was supposed to do. The battle plans were forgotten as he made his way towards her. She was a few tables far from him, yet he found himself unable to do so.
All he could do was stare at her.
Jane caught his eye and smiled. Her angelic features certainly brought joy to him. It was not rare for her to smile yet he would admit that her smiles are decreasing as the day passes. She tried to get back to what she was doing. She was so precious to him that he had an instinct to protect her.
Yet it was ironic that she was terrified of him.
Somehow.
Jane had caught him staring and she met his gaze with her inquisitive ones. It is in her eyes that he was lost in. He did not see the red eyes, Aro remembered the blue eyes. The blue eyes that carried the deepest desires of an ocean. Her eyes could carry storms and rage like a sea yet there were times that calmness was evident in her eyes.
It was such an understatement to call her eyes blue. One color could not do justice to the magnificence of her eyes. Maybe she would have preferred her blue eyes that beheld such freedom of water to go where they wish or the power it holds to carry the rage of the storm.
Yet red was her eyes. Gone was the sea in her eyes that he once got lost in before.
In those blood-red eyes, hold such true power. In Jane's eyes reign the greatest power she was destined for. In her eyes, she would be queen. In her red eyes, carry the purest and sacred form that the Volturi king could see. The blood-red eyes symbolize the blood that once reigned them and his venom that ran in her veins.
In her eyes mirror the greatest treasure he never wanted to lose. In her eyes show the window of the soul he treasured the most.
"Is there anything you need, Master?"
He did not need to say more.
"Oh no, cara mia. I was just about to remind you about the gala later."
The Volturi would hold balls and galas quite often in order for the others to socialize with one another. The ball would have not been possible if it were not the wives were planning it. Every member was bound to attend. The masquerade ball commenced. It was a different take on how the receptions were and Jane could only gawk at Athenodora and Didyme's effort.
She swore each one gets better every time such events were hosted.
Everyone wore a mask that symbolizes their personality. Jane was lost in a sea of people wearing their masks. Alec took the liberty to be her first dance, their previous argument is forgotten. The dance was lively and the lessons Didyme taught her surely came in handy. She enjoyed the night with her twin. Remaining closed off to other people as they used to be.
Her brother was such a gentleman as she was to follow his lead.
"May I cut in?"
She knew that voice quite clearly and Alec stepped aside as her Master led her to dance in the magnificent ballroom. There was lively music yet they were engulfed in their own world. It was a world in which Jane and her master were the only ones in the room, and only the flicker of lights amidst the pleasant night are the only things they saw.
Under the pale gleam of moonlight, a love so complicated was witnessed. Such feelings that remained stagnant slowly blossomed onto something. Their world slowly leaving as reality slipped away.
In the silence, the senses have abandoned their defenses. The mind had no right in what their heart was trying to convey. It cannot filter the reality they live in. The mind stood against nothing and could not do its job to tell the heart what to feel.
It cannot tell their dead hearts that what they felt was forbidden.
Underneath the moonlight glow, their steps were slow and steady. It can be the fact that they have their own world and they are happy in it. Their unbeating hearts will betray the mind that allows itself to be betrayed. As such, the guard closed her eyes for what she felt was in contrast to her reality.
They remained in tune with the flow of the dance, yet trapped in their own world. Suddenly everything felt natural and right.
The truth that they keep on denying. In which under the stars it was so easy to pretend that the fantasy they were trapped in was their reality. In the pale moonlight gleam, it was easy to say that what they wanted was in the right and was the truth.
They are brought to reality once the music stops. In the short moment given to them, they had been one another's lover underneath the moonlight glow.
To Jane, it made it even harder to hide things from him. She already died once, maybe it was about time she risked it.
She had nothing to lose, or so she'd thought.
They were walking towards the gardens silently. She was happy to be with him and feel his presence. They did not even notice the time passing as the beautiful dawn would be happening in such few moments. The moon was visible in the skies that were turning a lovely shade of blue that signals dawn was to arise.
If her master was the moon, Jane did not want to be his sun, as if that would ever happen at all. Yet she did not want to be a million miles away from him either.
She would rather be just a regular and flimsy star. For she would be here in his darkest of times. Jane would want to see him make his light amidst his darkest.
She wanted to see how marvelous he was, even if all odds were against him.
Jane would rather see his imperfections. She would love him at his worst, never only his best. The Volturi king would matter despite the flaws he had.
Jane would be there to stay by his side, for the whole eternity.
The Volturi king and his guard stopped in the gardens. On the edge of the fountain, they sat down to admire the dawn. He was the moon in the celestial sky.
She would be content to be his star to his moon. She rather remain to be a flimsy star rather than to suffer the curse of the sun. To see him afar would be a smaller burden to carry rather than to be a million miles away. The blonde would be right by his side in his ups and downs. She will be with him and they will shine together.
"The moon is marvelous isn't it?" His bell-like voice brought her back to reality.
"It is, Master," Jane replies coolly as she admired the sunrise with him.
The moon was still visible amidst the sun that was showing. The gentle rays of the sun hit the blonde's porcelain skin and it sparkled as the sun rose. She would savor each moment before it would sink into her.
"Is there something you wish to tell me?" Aro asks.
The Volturi king had spent a lot of time with the blonde vampire that he was able to read her actions. Her silence usually means her thoughts were a huge mess inside of her. She had already been silent for quite a while and he was worried for her.
"Thank you," she began but caution was in her voice. "Thank you for saving us in the fire. Thank you for being patient with my twin and me with our powers not yet developing."
"Is that all?" he presses but he knows there is much more.
"Of course, Master. It's been a long night and I appreciate your company," she lies smoothly in his eyes. His hand brushes the fabric of her clothing and she pulled away subconsciously. The raven-haired vampire notices that quite clearly.
Her actions were setting red flags on him.
"What are you hiding from me, Jane?" Aro questions as she struggled to keep herself together. If it were possible, her dead heart must have been pounding in nervousness. Aro did not let the matter slide. "You can tell me anything, cara mia. Whatever it is you may be thinking may not be bad as you think."
She inhaled sharply wishing things were that easy. But fate seemed to have played a cruel joke on her that made her love someone who can never be hers.
"May i?" he reaches for her hand as he did not get a verbal response from her. "Prolonging this would not make me stop worrying about you, cara mia. Your mind could say the things you cannot say."
Her eyes stung with tears that can never spill. Was it because she knew the truth that she stupidly fell in love with the man that in the end can never love her back?
"You are not in love with me, are you, Jane?" he asks.
Jane stared at him alarmed. His eyes were unreadable so she did not know if he was angry or not. All she could do is hung her head low. Aro could only watch her movements and pieced things together.
"M-Master..." she stammers.
His eyes hardened with her response. Her lower lips quivered in panic and she just met his gaze. In her eyes bore the tears that she could never shed. In her dead heart were the feelings that she would let out.
"Look at me and deny it," he grabs her hand and tips her chin to angle it. His face was inches from her and her breath hitches.
With his fingers gently holding her chin. The raven-haired vampire saw her thoughts, her mind conveyed what her lips could not. But she should not have felt this way. In her thoughts, he saw her deepest and darkest desires. He saw that she saw him as a lover.
But in the end, he simply could not.
"I-I am not in love with you, Master," she chokes out.
It took all of her courage to lie in his face. She did everything to convince herself that she was not in love with it after all. Abandoning her feelings would suffice to save herself. She could live with that, she convinces herself. He drops her hand and he smiles. He strokes her cheek lovingly. How ironic is that his mood changes quite peculiarly.
He was such a dangerous creature indeed.
"I do love you, cara mia." he said and hope was seen in her eyes. "But it is not the love you would have wanted. You are precious to me but a monster like me does not have the capacity to love. You think of me as a lover yet you are just a child,"
She stares at him. The blonde's eyes brimmed with tears she could not shed.
"Do not be foolish, my dear." Aro advises her. "I do not want to see you this way. This is the last time i will speak of this matter. Do you understand?"
She could only nod in affirmation.
"Good," he said. "Do not fall in love with someone like me. I am not capable of reciprocating such feelings. Save your love for someone much deserving. You can have any guard in the Volturi but I can never be yours."
In a blink of an eye, he left her alone.
It's not true.
She kept on convincing herself that she was lied to after all. What the hell did she do in order to feel this pain? After all the times she let no one in her heart, why did she make a stupid decision?
She was not the type to cry after all. The blonde vampire wanted to turn back time and erase such pain she felt.
He did not mean it, she convinces herself.
There was a right person with the wrong timing. There is also love but given the wrong timing. Jane thought they might be destined for one another, yet they met on the wrong page of fate's plans.
In another life perhaps, Jane mentally slaps herself to think such thoughts.
Waiting could be an option. Let time do its thing and go through fate's plans. Maybe one day. Maybe the day will come that he will be ready.
She curled up in a ball in the grassy fields. Sobs echoed in the wind. Her eyes burned with tears that she could not shed. Jane regretted admitting it, she was the one to pay the price after all.
The blonde clung to the thought that he might not be ready. Maybe tomorrow, he could accept the fact that she loved him truly.
She hugged her knees closer to her chest. The blonde certainly knows that she was in a bad state. Dirt clung to her dress and was badly stained. Some parts of it were ripped due to her anger.
Athenodora would give her an earful later for behaving like this. The blonde did not care for the moment. She just let her heart feel the pain for once.
His words stung. It was in his eyes that broke her, to drive her to cry like this. She stared at the grass and her muddy dress. She could care less anymore...
She knew he wrecked it all. He had cut out all the ropes that bridged her feelings to her. Leading her to fall into something she was not prepared to feel.
She loved him, to the point she did not want to.
Jane would wait for him. No matter how long it may be. Even if it was days, months, or as long as time stretches. If time would come that she may lose him, Jane would find him.
If he just had been patient, Jane would have told him what she felt. She would tell her heartfelt desires and assures him what she felt was not wrong.
By the time she was to return, she would be a different person.
"Jane?"
The disheveled blonde turned around and saw that it was Athenodora. Her hood was over her head as they were out in the stark daylight. Athenodora looked at her charge with hesitation, she did not know how to console her either.
The fair-haired woman sat down and hugged her. In the arms of her mistress, the blonde sobs dryly in her chest. All Athenodora could do is trace circles in her charge's back. It was the only thing she could do.
She did not know what transpired that led to her charge breaking like this. The fair-haired woman was clueless about what happened. Athenodora would not hesitate to exact revenge on those who hurt her child.
She considers the blonde vampire her daughter already. A mother would fight for her daughter, that was how it was supposed to be.
Athenodora had combed the city of Volterra once she found out that she ran out of the Volturi Castle and was visually upset. The guards had reported it to her husband and his brothers. Caius dared to pick a fight with her, yet Athenodora remained victorious in the end.
He should know better than that. The fair-haired woman knew him so well after all.
"Tell me who hurt you, Jane..." she whispers in her charge's ear. "I would not hesitate to exact revenge for you,"
But the blonde's sobs grew louder and the fair-haired woman just kicked herself mentally for upsetting her further. She sensed that she was not doing anything to help after all. The fair-haired woman came to her decision to let her charge be.
It was for the best to let Jane grow stronger after all.
"Come back if you are ready, Jane. You know where to find me when you need me. Take it all out if you need to."
Athenodora took her leave and left the blonde all to herself again.
Who would love him if not for her? Who would fight for him? Who the hell was he to tell her not to love him? Who would be willing to risk everything just for him? Who the hell was Aro to tell her what to feel? He was her master, but he did not have the right to tell her what to feel.
If they were really destined for one another, the heavens would not disagree and keep them apart after all. The heavens will not have a right to say no if she was meant for him really.
She loved him with a heart that she never thought she had.
Jane stood up shakily. She brushed off the non-existent tears that she could have shed. Her unbeating heart aches, but she knew she could live through it. Waiting would be worth it, she knew it to herself.
She would continue their story that they built together, but this time she was all alone. The book would remain open even if he chose to end it himself. Loving him was a mistake yet he was the mistake Jane would repeat all over again.
He would be her favorite mistake.
She let out a not much-needed breath. One final time to say goodbye to the pain she felt. Before she could return, blackness caved in her vision.