A/N: Hello friends! I gather that most of you are not super happy with Bella and her tactics in my story...Fair enough :). The thing is that this is what she did running off to James in the first book, right? Dying for someone she loved? I just took it in a different direction. But you see the lines drawn, yes?

Chapter 20: What Came Next

Bella

I was still feeling embarrassed by what I had done, but at least when Edward was carrying me while running no one could tell. Even though they had been upset with me, I knew in my heart that I would have still chosen to do it no matter what. I did get four vampires away from the fight, and I knew that my father and Edward were safe as a result – and Victoria was dead. Those were excellent outcomes of my horrible decision. I was embarrassed, but not enough to regret what I had done.

By the time we got to the meadow, I was feeling better. Edward hung back while the rest went right in. There was a horrible smelling fire in the middle of the clearing, with so many vampires standing around it was crazy. I could see the pack at the far end of the meadow, still in wolf form. I couldn't see or count everyone, plus there were so many I didn't know anyway, I had no way to tell if we had lost anyone on our side.

"Jacob's here," Edward said, shocking me. I looked up at him with my eyes wide. "He's ok, he came to help. He feels really guilty and is trying to decide how to approach Charlie."

"I can't believe he's here," I hissed, taking a step back. "Don't let him get near me, Edward. I may kill him with my bare hands."

Edward laughed, putting his arm around me and kissing my head. "Trust me, love. He'll never get that close to you."

"I can't tell, because I don't know a lot of people here, but did we have any losses?" I asked, biting my lip.

"No one. Just as we suspected, everything went exactly to plan."

"I wonder if four more vampires would have turned the tide."

Edward looked down at me, rolling his eyes. "It was still a very foolish thing to do, Bella. We can handle this because we are stronger..."

"Yeah, and I'm not. I get it." I looked up at him, still feeling frustrated. "Sometimes I think you like me being this weak human. Because then you have an excuse to always come to my rescue."

He stared at me with his mouth open. "No, Bella, that's not-"

"Just, never mind." I turned back to face the meadow. I didn't want to have this conversation right now.

"Bella," Edward began, using his hand on my chin to make me look at him. "I love you more than anything else in this world. It would be the most absolutely selfish thing in my life to change you, to get to keep you for an eternity. This is not a life I wanted for myself, most of us didn't. I can't ask you to live this way, the way we do, forever. I want you to have what I didn't."

"That's not your choice, Edward. None of you had a choice in this, not really. But I do. I am making a choice that I want, for myself, for my family. It's not up to you to choose the direction of my own life." I put my hand on his cheek. "I want to keep you for an eternity also. But I also want an even relationship. If I stay like this, a weak and frail human, we will never be equals. You will always be better at everything, stronger, faster...just better. I'll always be less.

"Something is going to take me away from you. Today I made a choice that could have ended my life. I did what I thought was right. But tomorrow I could be hit by a bus, or in a few years get an illness you can't cure. Too much can separate us, Edward. Surely you have to see that."

He nodded; grief clear in his eyes. "I can't lose you, Bella."

Before I could respond, Alice came running up. She looked into Edward's eyes and he froze. I glanced between them. "What's wrong? You guys miss some newborns or something?"

Edward turned to me. "Bella, I want you to stay behind me. Alice, gather everyone and make sure they are in front of us. Tell Sam's pack to back off unless they are needed. No reason for them to be seen yet." He closed his eyes for a moment. "I know, Alice. But we don't have time to do anything else."

"Edward, what's wrong?" I asked as Alice ran away, speaking to all of the vampires in the meadow. They started to rush over to us, Edward standing in front of me.

"The Volturi are coming," he said quietly. The vampires around us turned to look at him swiftly. "Apparently they were headed here because of the newborn army. They want to know what happened, since we have rendered them useless."

Edward

"We will all die! You have asked us to come here and die!" Alistair whined, coming to stand right next to me. "You have doomed us all!"

"Alistair, calm down," Carlisle said, walking up to him. "You knew we were in for a fight when you agreed to come here. You could have said no, we would not have judged you on that."

"You said we were fighting newborns, not the Volturi!" I could see that he was already plotting his means of escape, so that he didn't have to be seen. His terror was real, that was for sure.

"They may not want a fight," Carlisle said, his eyes scanning the crowd around him. "We need to stop and listen to them and see what happens." His eyes shot to mine. "We need to protect our friends; Bella and the wolves. They are the priority now. Friends, stand with us. We do not wish to fight."

Mother came up to stand next to Carlisle. "You all have been made aware of my and my daughter's gifts. We have made a choice to stay and speak with the Volturi and all I see are good things down this path. You trusted in us to come and help fight the newborns. Please trust us in this, as well."

I heard murmurings around the meadow, no one speaking out loud. The Egyptian coven was considering their choice. Amun was terrified of the Volturi; all he wanted to do was run so they didn't know Benjamin was there, and what powers he had. Benjamin, however, was excited. Amun kept him locked up most of the time and he was just happy to be free for a change. Their mates were more indifferent to the situation, willing to follow the men in whatever direction they chose.

The Irish, though, they were worried. Siobhan's eyes were on Maggie, hoping to gain some insight into the choice to stand with us against the Volturi. Maggie's gift was to be able to sense if people were telling the truth, so she was a valuable asset right now. I could hear enough of Maggie's thoughts to know that she trusted Carlisle and Mother, and her choice to stay was clear.

She spoke briefly and quietly. "I trust your judgement, Carlisle and Elizabeth. I will stay."

Siobhan and her mate, Liam, agreed quickly, used to following Maggie's direction. There were others that simply nodded, not speaking. Charlotte and Peter, Jasper's friends, were among them, as well as a couple of other nomad vampires.

"I will stay. Maybe the kings of Italy need to be reminded they are not the only vampires out there," said Garret, another nomad. His eyes were on Kate; thinking affectionately about getting to know her. I suppressed a smile as she glanced back at him.

Edward, please tell Carlisle that we are here but hiding. We will stay in case we are needed. I heard Sam's voice. I relayed this to Carlisle, who smiled at me. Mother did as well, before walking over to Bella.

"We must keep Bella safe," she said, putting her arm around my mate. "The Volturi will not be happy with a human among us. I cannot see what their choices are until they get here though." She glanced up at Alice. "When?"

"About ten minutes. It's not enough time to get Bella far enough away, though. They are coming from the direction of the cabin."

"And if Edward takes her in the opposite direction she could freeze to death in the cold." Mother finished for Alice. They stared at each other for a few minutes.

As always, I was fascinated by the way she thought; how her gift worked. Mother flipped through the choices in her head like someone would do casually with a magazine. She was searching for the best outcome, the happiest ending. She could see some sorrow mixed in with one strand, so she kept searching. Eventually, though, she came back to the one that had minimal sorrow but a mostly good and solid ending. She glanced at me, knowing I saw, too.

"Alice, can you see anything...?" I wanted to know what the sorrow was. Who would be unhappy? What sadness was coming?

Alice shook her head. "No, I can't. A decision hasn't been made yet. All I see is them coming."

Bella was looking between the three of us, her lip captured in her teeth. "What should I do? If you can't get me away from here, how do I remain hidden so they can't see me?"

I could tell her nerves were shot. Being around a group of vampires whose diets were not like mine, and then adding more into the mix, was scaring her. She was a stubborn girl who went full speed after what she wanted, but in this situation all she could see was people surrounding her warm, sweet smelling blood. I pulled her to me, wrenching her out of my Mother's arms. I wound mine around her, holding her close.

"You will stay with us, and we will surround you. With any luck, we will be able to mask your scent. The Volturi do not allow humans to know our secret. We must keep you safe from them as we figure out what they are doing here. Please, love, stay with me. Ok?" I pulled back enough so I could look at her in the eye. She stared up and me and nodded, fear etched all over her face.

I turned sharply to look toward the cabin in the distance. I could hear them. Alice was right, they were close. "I hear them," I said, not taking my eyes away from the woods. "They will be here soon. Their thoughts are focused on who built the newborn army and why. They smell Bella, but do not know she is with us."

"Are they here to kill us?" Alastair said, grabbing my arm. I wretched it away from him.

"No, at least Aro, Caius and Marcus are not. Some of the guard are hoping for a fight; Jane and Alec primarily, though Demetri is thinking about it as well. Aro, Caius and Marcus are more concerned with the breaking of the law regarding the army." I closed my eyes and focused in on them again. "Most of the guard is here, along with the wives. There are a few witnesses. Aro thought this would be a major triumph for him; killing a massive newborn army. He had been hoping to relive the days of the newborn wars. He was invigorated at the thought. As was Caius."

"And Marcus?" Carlisle asked, hopefully. He knew as well as I did how changed Marcus was; he was different than described prior to his mate being killed. The thought made me sad for him, thinking of how terrified I was at the mere thought of losing Bella.

"He is wondering when he will be able to go home."

"But we have taken out the army, now what will they do?" Amun pressed, sliding up next to me. I saw his eyes flash to Bella, and I tightened my arms around her.

"Aro wants to know what happened; he is not happy that he wasn't needed. It was to be glorious, and he missed out on that opportunity. He is curious about why so many of us are here. I do not hear anything else, though."

The rest of the group turned to face in the same direction I was. I was grateful that they all closed in a little more, trying to mask Bella's scent. These were human feeding vampires, helping to save my mate. I couldn't have felt happier about it, considering the situation. I pulled Bella behind me, to put one more person in-between her and them. We all stood staring, starting to hear the stomping of their approach.

"The red coats are coming, the red coats are coming..." Garret said, lightly chuckling to himself. I shot him a dark look, which made him grin even wider.

I saw Eleazer and Carlisle slip into the front of the group. They knew the Volturi better than anyone, both having lived with them for many years. Mother and Carmen were standing just behind them, the Egyptians to the left, Irish to the right, nomads in the center. Alastair was hedging a little bit behind me and Bella, with my siblings all standing directly in front of me. I knew that they would still be able to smell her, there was no avoiding that. But I hoped that we could mask it enough for them to ask their questions and leave.

The first of the guard stepped through the forest wall and into the clearing. Most were people I didn't recognize, but I knew a few of them from Carlisle's memories. Jane, Alec, Demetri, Felix and Chelsea were leading, Aro, Marcus and Caius immediately following. The rest of the guard were sort of spread out on either side, though the wives and witnesses hung behind all of them. They stopped just past the opening to the meadow and stared at us, eyes also shooting to the smoke from the giant fire in the center.

Carlisle and Eleazer stepped forward. "We greet you, old friends," Carlisle said, his voice masking his fear I could hear in his thoughts. "We did not expect to see you today."

Aro's thoughts were running wild at the sight of all of us. He focused in on the different covens, almost itemizing who was there in his head. I could see the wheels turning of who he wanted to join him; and the next thought shocked me to my core. He was considering what charges he could drum up in order to persuade those around him to fight. He knew enough of Carlisle's family to want me and Mother, at minimum. Aro was also considering Eleazer, because he knew that identifying gifts was extremely important.

"Carlisle! Eleazer! My old friends," Aro said, a smile brightening his face. I could tell it was a mask for concern he was thinking, seeing so many of us in one place. "How wonderful to see you again."

Aro held out his hand, hoping one of them would step forward. Carlisle and Eleazer glanced at each other, and Carlisle was the one to step forward. He walked cautiously up to Aro, holding out his hand and grasping the one reaching out. I watched in fascination how Aro sifted through Carlisle's mind, catching up on everything. Unfortunately, this also meant he knew Bella was in the meadow with us.

Aro raised his eyes to Carlisle's. "Nasty business, this newborn army. I see that you and your friends have taken care of the problem though."

"It's not normal for us to be rendered useless," Caius spit out, his thoughts swirling in anger. He had wanted the fight, and was unhappy about not getting what he wanted.

"We did not think to call upon you, Aro," Carlisle said, calmly. "We assessed the threat and took care of it. I only thought it best to eliminate the concern before it got even bigger." Though he seemed calm on the outside, he thought at me, Edward, Aro knows about Bella now. We have to be ready to defend her if necessary. He glanced back and me and I nodded once, indicating I had heard him.

"What a wonderous thing," Aro said, thinking anything but what he was saying. "That you were so fortunate to not have any losses on your side, and managed to eliminate not only the newborn army but their creator."

I stiffened as I glanced over at Jane and Alec. They were furious at missing out on the fight, and were readying their gifts in case Aro asked to use them. Aro's mind was undecided at how to proceed, but I sensed Mother's thoughts at what was going on. I glanced over at her, watching her sifting through the choices available. Aro was wavering on a decision, but if he made it, we were going to have to fight. And I was going to have to run with Bella as fast as I could to get her away.

"I thank you for saving us the trouble, dear ones. I am just surprised that so many of you are here." Aro was not happy, nor thankful. Carlisle could sense as much.

"My apologies if we stepped on anything, my friend. We were simply trying to solve a problem before it got bigger, as I said." Carlisle took a step backwards. "We were just going to tell our friends that they could go home before you got here."

Aro's eyes glanced back at Alice, flitting to me briefly. "Yes, your Alice had a vision of us coming." Now his thoughts were consumed on getting Alice along with Mother and myself. Charlie briefly entered into his mind, but he wasn't as concerned about a shield, since he had one already.

The silence was almost deafening as I listened to Aro's mind. I watched him weight his options. He reached over and grabbed on to Caius' and Marcus' hands. They deliberated; Caius was furious at the loss of a battle, and angry that Carlisle had managed to get so many people to show up to help us. Marcus wanted to go home, and didn't really care either way. Aro focused in on Caius' anger, and made a decision.

Alice's gasp brought me out of Aro's thoughts, watching the scene unfold. It was battle, pure and simple. Aro had made a choice to defend the king's rights he felt he had; that we had taken away from him by destroying the newborn army. He was unhappy so many people would blindly follow Carlisle, and that none of us seemed afraid of the Volturi. That was not what he wanted; he wanted the blind fear and respect from all vampires, and his loss in this field meant that people didn't fear the power he felt he had.

I grabbed Bella, who was standing behind me, a little closer as Aro straightened up and dropped Marcus and Caius' hands. "Friends, I fear I must be concerned regardless. We have made mention to many of you in the past that should there be a threat that you call us. We are your servants, after all, to eliminate concern throughout the world. I am disappointed that you did not trust us enough to counter the threat before taking it on yourself."

"We meant no offense, Aro," Mother said, stepping up to stand next to Carlisle. "Please understand that your decision has consequences. The path forward is not a good one for you if you do this."

He regarded her with a small smile. I watched a flick of his wrist toward Carlisle and Mother, and I had to stop myself from launching across the meadow toward them. Jane's power hit them before they knew what was happening. Esme and Charlie didn't have the restraint I did, and flew to stand in front of them as Carlisle and Mother felt to the ground in agony. Charlie threw himself in-between Aro and the group, raising his hands as Esme stood behind him.

It was the vision I had seen of him so long ago, protecting her and the rest of us. I watched in fascination as Jane's power was rebounded on her, causing her to collapse in pain. Carlisle, Mother and Esme turned and hurried toward the rest of the group, while Charlie stood his ground. His anger was palpable, as was the shock on Aro's face.

"Charlie, is it?" Aro asked, shock evident in his voice. "You are a newborn? And with such control over your gift."

Charlie didn't say anything, but nodded. He kept his arms stretched out, but I didn't understand why until I heard an angry grunt from Alec. He had been trying to get past Charlie, but it hadn't worked. It was rebounded as well, and soon Alec had to stop or he would have been overcome by his anesthetizing power. Esme glanced at me and I nodded toward Charlie. She ran up to him, pulling slightly on his arm. His brain was still fuzzy to me, even as a vampire, but it looked like he didn't want to move.

"Charlie, please come with me," Esme whispered, pulling on his arm again. He relented and turned around to walk back to the rest of us.

I saw it before it happened. "Emmett, Jasper, go!"

Felix and three other guard members rushed forward, but Emmett acted the second I yelled at him. He jumped high, landing in front of Charlie and Esme. Jasper used his power to try and calm them down, but it didn't work as well as he wanted. Emmett and Felix started fighting while the other two started attacking Esme and Charlie. Jasper, Rose, Tia and Benjamin rushed forward to help them. Mother, Carlisle, Carmen and Eleazer, ran toward the guard sneaking around to the right side, while Alice, Kate, Tonya, Irena and Garret went to the left. Amun and Kebi hung back, as did Alastair, while Charlotte, Peter and the other two nomads I didn't know rushed forward to join the fight.

I knew I couldn't stay. I wanted to desperately join in to help my family, but Bella had to be my priority. I picked her up, turning quickly, running as fast as I could in the opposite direction. I passed Sam's pack, sitting in the forest about a mile away from the fight. "Sam, please, go and help them. I'm getting Bella away from here!"

He nodded at me, and the pack rushed forward, save one. A smaller gray wolf hung back at Sam's command. I heard him be commanded to follow me to help protect Bella. I didn't have time to wonder about it, Bella was wrapped around me, legs circling my body, and I ran as fast as I could. The only thought I had in my head was get her away.

We were almost 30 miles away before I slowed. I hadn't been able to sense my family or the Volturi for some time, but I had to stop running. We were getting further into the mountains and I didn't want Bella to freeze to death while we were waiting.

I turned to the wolf, who sat down next to me. "Seth, can you scout for me? See if there are any structures that we can get Bella to anywhere close? A house, a shed, anything."

Sure, I thought I smelled something a minute ago. Be right back. I was grateful for him; he had a kind mind, and seemed to not be too bothered by me. Though, I could sense he was a little upset about missing the fight. I set Bella down carefully, and looked down at her. I cursed myself as I took in her terrified look.

"I'm so sorry, love. I didn't have time to tell you what was going on."

"Uh, I mean, ok, but what the hell was going on? I couldn't hear most of it, and then everyone was just rushing...Dad was standing in front of the huge group of v-vampires..." Her voice trailed off, and her eyes were wide. She started shaking and her face had gone pale.

"Here, love, sit down. Seth is looking for a place for me to take you. I'll make a fire or something once we find a place, for now though I need to keep you safe here." I almost forced her to sit down, putting my arms around her. I knew that my skin wasn't going to help the cold, but for now I was just trying to comfort her. I knew she was freaking out, maybe going into shock, so comfort was more important than anything else.

She leaned against me, still shaking. "No, I mean, I'm fine, I think. I'm not cold or whatever. I just, um, I want to know what's going on. Do we know why they were fighting? What happened?"

I explained to her what I knew, based on Aro's thoughts. Wanting the gifted among us, anger at missing out on the fight, the ego bruise they received when we took care of the newborn army. I wanted her to know everything.

"This Aro sounds like a jackass," Bella said, huffing out a laugh. "A child whose Mom took a toy away. Wanting everything he can't have."

"I guess we'll just have to give it back to him, hmm?" I whipped my head around to see Demetri step from behind a tree.

A/N: Oh man, I know how bad it is to leave it here...I'm sorry! Next chapter coming on Wednesday, hopefully you will all enjoy.

Thanks to you to who have been reading and reviewing - I love you all! Please be sure to read my other stories, including the one still ongoing: Consuming Love. Thank you all of you!

Thanks also to my betas: my sister and my beta, zombified419. I appreciate you both!