All characters from The Vampire Diaries belong to L.J. Smith as well as all characters from Twilight belong to Stephanie Meyer. I own nothing but my version of events.

A/N: Hello everyone, so I'm gracing you with a short chapter today. Therefore, I am taking the opportunity to warn you of a couple of things. This is a pretty mellow chapter but after this, things will start picking up and that is becaaaause…(Drumroll, please.)

We are nearing the end of this story!

I've had so much fun writing this and I'm both sad and excited it is coming to an end. I haven't finished writing Ever Evolving yet but I'm already brainstorming new ideas for my next one. I don't want to give you guys any specific details but it will also be a Twilight crossover just not VD related. I haven't decided when I'll be posting the new story but it might be sometime in December. I'm not making any promises though so please don't quote me on that.

Anyways, thank you all for continuing to stick with me after my story surpassed 200K words. Ooops! It was totally not my intention but honestly guys, I've had a blast writing this and I simply could not stop. It fills me with so much joy that there's hundreds of you reading my story and you will never know how much that means to me. This A/N also turned out longer than necessary so I'll let you guys go now.

Sending love and positive thoughts to all of you.

Enjoy!

Chapter 43 Reunited

"We're all heading to Italy by next week." I announced, it was now the beginning of February and I had waited until the last possible moment to notify them.

I had set up a meeting with everyone in Mystic Falls and La Push, knowing now would be my last chance to let everyone know the truth. It had been a few days since my dad finished his transition and we were glad he was able to skip his newborn stage thanks to his ring. All he had to deal with now was adjusting to his new strength and speed, it wasn't at its complete capacity but at least once he got a handle on this amount he would be able to transition a lot easier to his full vampire form.

"What do you mean?" Asked Damon, looking at me suspiciously.

"I've been having this feeling for a while now… since before Christmas." I admitted. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you all sooner but I wanted you all to enjoy the holidays and not have to worry about the war being so soon." I tried apologizing, seeing the look of disappointment and fear all mixed together in the faces of my family.

"You still should have said something, Bella." Sam chastised me, he had a deep frown on his face looking at me in clear disapproval.

"Yeah, we could have been more prepared for this announcement. I mean it's already next week Bella." Caroline argued, actually she wasn't the only one. I could hear complaints going around everywhere.

"Enough!" Paul exclaimed as he stood up. "You are prepared. That's why Jasper and I have been training with you all since I moved to Mystic Falls. It doesn't make a difference, everyone has already been preparing and we're ready. Don't doubt yourselves now."

Jacob scoffed loudly. "Of course, you would be the first to know." He said bitterly.

"Fuck off, Jacob!" Paul responded angrily, always quick to resort to anger with Jacob's jealous tendencies.

"Stop!" I exclaimed as I saw Paul and Jacob were ready to fight through the computer screen and multiple other groups talking amongst each other. "If you don't feel like you're ready then you don't have to go."

"That's not the point, Bella, and you know it." Jeremy argued.

I let out a big sigh, I didn't expect this announcement to produce such a big fight. "I know, and again, I'm sorry but I didn't want to ruin everyone's holiday for a future worry. Besides, you are all panicking for nothing. I'm not saying the war will be next week, all I'm saying is that we have to go to Volterra. Once we get there we'll have time to prepare, plan our attack, practice fighting with each other, and gather the intel we need. I'm not exactly sure when the war is. It could be a couple of weeks from now, a month or even longer. Right now it's not clear but what is clear to me is that we have a deadline to make it to Volterra safely. I've already spoken with the brothers and they've started making arrangements for everyone. We can leave in groups starting this week and it won't be a problem. Maybe when we all get to Volterra my powers will kick in and inform me of when exactly it will be but for now I don't want you guys to panic or stress over it. Just think of it as a vacation for now, those of you who can get away sooner go ahead and those of you who need to make arrangements start making them." I finished my speech, after getting more information everyone seemed to relax more and come back to themselves. They didn't seem as worried as before and I was glad that worked because I was not ready to deal with a family riot.

We all dispersed and I ordered those who were able to leave as soon as tomorrow, to speak with Rose and Angie since I had put them in charge of making arrangements for flights and rooms in the castle. They were coordinating with the Queens of Volterra, who were more than happy to finally have something useful to do.

"Jasper and I are leaving tomorrow with the first group, Bella. We want to start making arrangements as soon as possible, maybe start coordinating the schedule for sparring and coming up with a list of all powers and abilities that could be useful for battle." Paul informed me.

I nodded. "Thank you." I said in relief, I could always count on them to have my back. "I'll miss you guys." I added sadly, as I hugged each of them.

"Don't worry, Darlin'." Jasper reassured me as he kissed me on my forehead. "We'll hold down the fort while you get there."

I smiled at him and nodded, watching them make their way towards Rose and Angie.

"It really will be okay, Angel." Nik consoled me, "You worry too much."

I dropped my head back as I released a long breath, exhausted already. "I know but I can't help it. They're right. I should have told them sooner." I lamented.

"Maybe, but it's too late now and everyone will be fine." Nik said as he pulled me to face him and brushed my hair away from my face.

"It might also not be the right time to undagger your brothers." I added but he just shook his head at me.

"No, we'll do it today. We could use them for the battle." Nik reminded me.

"But I don't want them to think you undaggered them because you need them. It won't help any." I argued.

"They will think that either way, Bella." Elijah interjected as he appeared by my side.

"If anything, Kol will be upset if you don't wake him up for the battle. You know how bloodthirsty he is, Nik." Rebecca added.

Things with Rebecca and I were still touch and go. There were days when we tried to be cordial with one another and other days when we didn't even speak to each other, but I was hoping our relationship would get better as time passed. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day.

"Ok, you guys know them better." I shrugged. "If you guys think it's a good idea then let's do it." I didn't know them at all so who was I to argue, I mean it would probably add a bit more drama to our already chaotic situation but whatever. There was bound to be drama whether we do it now or next year, life was crazy that way, especially mine.

"Bella!" Bonnie exclaimed, she was surrounded by a group who looked worried so I excused myself to handle the situation, letting them know to call me when they were ready to do it.

I joined Rose and Angie to coordinate some things that needed extra care and I promised everyone that whoever needed help financially, the brothers had promised to take care of it and to not worry about bills and other monetary necessities. They were thankful we would be assisting in the war and were more than willing to assist us in any way we needed to get to Volterra. I was so grateful for that. A lot of us, supernaturals, were all living in the human world and blending in as much as possible. Therefore we all had human responsibilities like jobs, school, and financial payments that needed to be taken care of before we left to Volterra for who knows how long. It was going to be tough for everyone, I was thankful I had quit school and thanks to my grandmother I didn't have a financial burden to worry about.

I was so lost in making plans and placating the masses that I was startled when I heard Nik's voice suddenly in my head.

We're ready, Angel.

"What happened? Is it about the war?" Rose asked in worry, as she noticed my reaction.

I chuckled, "No nothing concerning the war, don't worry." I pacified her before she could panic. "Nik just spoke in my head and I was so caught up in all of this it startled me. What time is it?" I asked as I took out my phone and realized it was already evening time. I had missed lunch, Nik was not going to be happy. "Shit! I gotta go. Call me if you need anything else, I got a Mikaelson family meeting to join." I told the girls.

"Don't worry, Bella, we'll handle it. Go." Angie said as she shooed me away with her hands, knowing exactly what I was heading into.

I laughed and teleported to Nik's home, well our home. "Sorry I'm late, it was all so hectic and I lost track of time." I apologized as I went to go stand next to Niklaus. We were all gathered in the living room, surrounding the two coffins that contained their two brothers. I peeked into the open caskets and smiled. "Oh, they're both handsome."

I heard Nik clear his throat behind me, I giggled and took his hand. "Obviously not as handsome as you, Niki."

He rolled his eyes at me but lifted our intertwined hands and kissed the back of mine.

"Ew." Rebecca grumbled, "Can we get this over with already?"

Nik rolled his eyes at her but nodded nonetheless, he pulled his hand away from mine as he walked towards each coffin removing the daggers as he went. Rebecca and Elijah stood next to each coffin holding blood bags, each pouring blood into their mouths slowly. I watched mesmerized as their color started to slowly return as they came back to life… literally. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would have never believed it. It was absolutely fascinating.

Within a matter of minutes it all quickly turned to hell as they blurred out of their coffins taking a defensive position against us, both glaring at Niklaus as if they could kill him with just a look. It was well placed anger, I think if I had a sibling who had temporarily killed me for centuries I'd be pissed too.

"You!" The younger one, named Kol, exclaimed and blurred too fast for me to catch holding Niklaus up by the throat against the wall. I refrained myself from acting on my instinct to protect my mate. Niklaus and I had previously discussed the possible outcomes of undaggering them and he had prepared me to expect some violent retribution on their part. I was supposed to not interfere and let them handle it, I doubted I would be able to for very long but I didn't point that out. I assumed he would know since he would do the same if I were in his position.

"Welcome back, little brother. I've missed you too." Niklaus said, a bit too condescendingly. I face palmed at his words, for some reason my mate loved to revert back to his old caustic attitude when dealing with his family.

Of course, little brother didn't take it very well and made a forward move to bite him on the neck. My instincts kicked in without a thought and I shielded Niklaus, Kol flying back and hitting the wall hard leaving a dent behind.

"Niklaus!" Elijah scolded.

"Actually, that was me. Sorry not sorry, but he's my mate and it was instinctual." I defended, shrugging my shoulders.

"Mate?" The older brother, Finn, asked. He still looked angry but he had patiently stood where he was since he awoke watching the previous encounter with his brothers.

"Oh, yeah. Hi." I waved lamely. "I'm Bella, Nik's mate." I was so awkward during these types of interactions, it's like I lost the ability to talk properly.

Nik rearranged his clothes and chuckled, knowing exactly how uncomfortable I was at the moment.

"You? A mate?" The same brother asked, surprise replacing his once angry expression.

"Yes. Bella is my mate." Nik said proudly.

Kol scoffed. "You are not worthy of a mate. None of us are."

"Damn, that's dark." I remarked. All Mikaelsons turned to look at me then. "What? It was!" I defended. "I understand so much now… sorry, continue on with the family drama." I added at the end, hoping they would all stop staring at me like that.

"Poor soul, destined to be mated to someone like you for all eternity." Kol continued venomously.

"She could do worse." Rebecca added lightly.

"That doesn't sound like a compliment." I complained.

"I never said it was." Rebecca fired back.

"Rebecca." Nik said angrily, coming to my defense.

Quicker than any of us anticipated it all went to hell as we all started to argue with one another, talking over each other and not making any sense.

"Enough!" Elijah chastised, quickly shutting us all up. "This is not the time to squabble."

"What is it time for then?" Nik annoyingly asked.

"Nik!" I chastised. "Don't be a dick and focus."

He looked down at me in a defiant manner, he was supposed to be apologizing not arguing with them. I arched an eyebrow at him, if he thought I was going to back down he was sorely mistaken. He should know me better than that by now.

His jaw clenched but quickly gave in letting out a long sigh, accepting defeat and turning to look at his brothers. He cleared his throat and started to speak, "I... wanted to apologize to the both of you. I have been a terrible brother and I'm ashamed of my actions. I should never have daggered you out of misplaced anger or petty arguments… I undaggered you both because I want to repair our relationships. I know there is a lot for me to repair and I'll find a way to do so but I want us all to unite as a family and come together once again." He finished with a clear sincere tone in his voice, filling me with so much pride.

Everyone remained quiet for a long time, I think I even heard crickets in the background. Kol was looking at him like he'd lost his mind and Finn's expression was much the same, except his mouth was parted open in surprise. Elijah looked on proudly while Rebecca could not believe that this had actually happened. I don't think anyone was used to getting apologies, or aware that Nik was capable of apologizing in the first place. I wanted to giggle but refrained from doing so, I didn't want to ruin their moment. I slowly backed away against the wall trying to give them all the space to talk and hopefully reconcile as a family.

"Do you speak the truth, Brother?" Finn asked finally, after gathering his wits.

Nik's eyes snapped to his brother, a small frown appearing on his face. Suddenly looking sad and devastated, "Yes... You might not believe me but I am telling you all the truth. I have made so many mistakes in the past and I want to make things right. I want to regain your trust and to build a stronger relationship than we once had."

"You're different." Kol commented, still trying to understand what he was hearing.

"A little, or maybe I'm finally the person I was supposed to be. We have all suffered, both apart and together. Our lives have never been easy, starting with our parents, but we can't let that define us anymore."

Elijah clapped Nik on his shoulder. "Niklaus is right. We can try to be better, not only as a family but as people as well. We have harmed so many, including each other, we need to start over again."

"This is not happening." Kol shook his head in disbelief, not believing what he was hearing.

Rebecca walked forward and hugged her brother. "It is. Just have a little faith, brother."

Kol stiffened at the physical contact but within a few seconds, you could see his body slowly relaxing. Coming to accept the first sign of love he's received in a very long time. "What's changed?" Kol asked when he pulled away from Rebecca's embrace.

Suddenly they all turned to look at me, I felt like a deer caught in the headlights.

Nik chuckled at my startled expression and extended his arm out to me. I walked over and he pulled me into his side. "I should probably introduce her to you both properly. This is my mate, Isabella Swan. I have learned so much in just the short time that I have found her. She loved me for who I was from the beginning and I am lucky that she did. I hope you all welcome her into our family as well as she is one of us now." He announced.

"You weren't kidding when you said mate then… Congratulations brother." Finn said.

I smiled at his words, knowing I'd probably be ok with this particular brother from the get go.

"I still think someone above must loathe her, to have burdened her with us as her family." Kol lightly commented this time.

"Thanks." I answered back, rolling my eyes at him.

He quietly chuckled.

"She's not so bad." Rebecca said. Until Elijah, Nik, and I looked at her in surprise. "Sometimes." She quickly added at the end.

It was too late though and it was out there now. We all laughed at her unintended admittance. I guess Nik was right all along, she did like me.