As soon as we got outside, I slowly inhaled the fresh night air into my lungs and sighed happily. Aro's face was only just lit up by the moonlight, making his features seem even more perfectly defined and paler than usual.

"Which way do we go? And how long are we going to be travelling for?" I asked him.

"Just follow my lead and we will be there in just over two days," he assured, tugging me along.

I stood rooted to the spot with my eyes widened in horror. "Two days?!"

"Trust me, cara mia, two days of travelling will have no toll on your body."

"If you think this is a long trip," Demetri murmured in my ear just as him and Felix sped off ahead of us.

Without warning, Aro yanked me along by the arm and we were racing through the cold countryside of Italy in December. A thin, powdered dusting of snow covered the ground which caused us to leave four sets of footprints behind us. When I asked about that, I was assured that another flurry of snow was predicted in a few hours time so it wouldn't be an issue in the slightest.

We purposefully avoided heavily populated areas such as major towns and cities, and instead stuck to the rural farmland. As predicted, the snow did begin to fall a little while later, but we very quickly moved away from under the snow cloud to where the weather was calmer once more.

At first, I had been keeping track of all the different towns and cities we passed through but I grew bored after half an hour or so. Soon, we made it to the water's edge, not that I had any clue where we were specifically.

I gazed out onto the moonlit waves and then back up at my raven-haired mate beside me. "Aro? Where are we?"

"Still Italy," he lifted me up horizontally, "soon Greece, once we have crossed the Adriatic Sea."

"Greece? But, how-"

"Due to the sheer speed at which we travel and the fact that we do supposedly defy the human laws of physics, this allows us to…in layman's terms, run across water. It takes practise though, so I will carry you for now."

I raised an eyebrow. "You can run across water?"

"It's so much fun, trust me," Felix laughed as he and Demetri sped off across the water into the distance.

I didn't really know what I expected, but it certainly wasn't what I was eventually put through. Of course, it felt like I was gliding through the air since I wasn't shaken or dropped even once, but there was a consistent, very quick sound of water splashing beneath his feet and the loud crashing of waves around us.

I gazed up at Aro confusedly but he simply glanced down at me with a smug grin and continued to somehow sprint across the water. Vampirism really did make me question everything I thought I knew about…everything.

It did take quite a while to actually make it to Greece though. I'd been told that the average speed of a vampire was just north of 100 miles per hour, so that meant the run across the sea took a few hours. I spent most of the time daydreaming or admiring Aro's god-like face, but even that got boring after a while.

I'd been too caught up in my own thoughts to realise we were back on land.

"…Eliana? Eliana?"

I quickly looked up at him as he cradled me in his arms. "Yuh-what?"

"We are here, bellissima."

"Japan?" I looked around confusedly, but it definitely didn't look like Japan around where we were.

He shook his head with a laugh. "Greece, my homeland." He planted me down on the ground, a proud smile on his face as his arm swept across the vast landscape in front of us.

"It's gorgeous, babe, but seriously?" I whined, which made Felix snicker. "How much longer?"

"Il mio amore, we have only been travelling for a few hours."

I threw my head back and groaned. It was going to be a long two days, that much I could tell already.

The next few days went by pretty slowly, and I really had no idea how Aro was dealing with me. We'd only stopped once to feed, just to keep our momentum up, but we'd run through country after country. The only two I really remembered because they'd taken so long were Turkey and China. In fairness, sneaking over the Chinese border was a lot of fun. Demetri even threw a pebble at one of the border patrol officers which Aro later scolded him for.

Eventually, the two days of consistent running came to a close once I was placed down on my feet again. It was the dead of night, and whatever presumably busy port we were at was deserted completely.

I glanced over at Aro. "Japan?"

"Japan," he confirmed, pressing a soft kiss to my forehead.

"So, what now?" I asked him.

He took my hand and began to lead me inland, Felix and Demetri trailing behind. I assumed this was usually quite a busy, touristy area, and in fairness, the streets did get busier as we made it closer to the city centre.

I glanced around us at the overwhelmingly bright lights as people brushed past us. "Uh, where are we then?"

Very quickly, almost panickedly, he pulled me into a quiet alleyway. "Niigata, piccola. Now, you need these." He placed his hand in the pocket of his tailored black coat and pulled out a small plastic case containing a pair of blue contact lenses.

I glanced at it for a second confusedly. "Aro?"

"Yes, bellissima?"

"I don't know how to apply contacts, I don't want to touch my eyeball," I confessed. "What do I do?"

He took the case from me and pulled out one of the contacts, placing it on his index finger. "Tilt your head back and keep your eye open," he instructed.

I laughed humourlessly. "No," I scoffed, taking a step back.

He sighed. "Cara mia, there is no other option. Just trust me, I will assist you. Now, keep your eye open," he repeated.

I drew my eyebrows together. "Which one?"

"Both will do. I will ensure that I am as fast as possible. Just trust me, okay?"

I nodded my head and did as instructed, tilting my head back and ensuring my eyelids were as far apart as they could go. Carefully, he placed one hand on the side of my face, cupping my cheek, while the other hand placed the contact lens on my eye. I could feel that it wasn't where it should be yet.

"Move your eyeball," he said, his hand still caressing my cheek.

The contact soon slipped into place and I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "How do I look?"

He laughed. "You always look ravishing, but you only have one in so far."

I groaned. "Just do it, just get it over and done with."

"Don't you want to apply the final lens yourself, piccola?" he asked tauntingly.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I don't trust myself with prodding my eyeball. I'll definitely end up doing some damage there, even if that's supposedly not possible. Just, make it quick."

"If you insist." He seemed slightly too eager for my liking.

The second one went in a little easier, and the red colour in my eyes had completely vanished, replaced by an ocean blue tint. My eyes looked…normal for the first time, how they used to look. I held up the compact mirror and tilted my head from side to side.

"Not too bad, thought it would turn out worse to be honest." I shrugged nonchalantly and handed the mirror back to him which he stashed away in his coat pocket. "The air smells different here."

"Ah, every country has its own distinct scent. It is vaguely noticeable for humans, but even more so for us. I do love Japan," he breathed dreamily as he applied his own contacts in much less time than mine had taken.

"You said we're in…Niigata? How far away is that from where we need to be?" I asked as he led me through the bright urban street.

He inhaled sharply through his teeth. "The other side of the country. But," he continued before I had the chance to complain, "we will be taking the train, so no more walking."

As we headed through the streets, I noticed that I hadn't been hit with much of an urge to feed considering the amount of humans we were surrounded by. Although, that might've been because I'd already fed on a few in the last 24 hours so my hunger was almost fully sated.

We strolled past someone dressed in a giant cat suit and they held out their hand to me. I gave them a high-five as I walked by, and Aro turned around, laughing. "Sayōnara!" he called behind us.

"Look at you being all native," I teased.

We turned down another street and began to approach the train station, which honestly looked more like an airport from the sheer size of it. "It is what I do best." He smiled.

Once we approached the ticket booth, Aro already had an excited grin on his face. "Hamamatsu e no chiketto 2-mai."

The tall man behind the booth nodded and Aro quickly paid by card and swiped the tickets away. "Dōmo arigatōgozaimashita."

The man didn't say anything, probably just spooked at Aro's constant smile. Aro placed a ticket in my palm and closed my fingers around it, pressing a chaste kiss to my lips.

"So does this train take us directly to Hamamatsu?" I asked once we were on the platform.

"No, Tokyo first, and then Hamamatsu. Overall, we are looking at a 5 hour journey." The train grinded to a halt in front of us and he ushered me in while ignoring my gaping expression. "Ladies first."

"Five hours?" I repeated irritatedly.

He guided me to an empty chair with a hand on the small of my back and sat himself down beside me. "Each stretch of train journey will take approximately 2 hours, plus 1 hour in between."

I realised that this was the first time we'd had to properly rest in 2 days. Not that it mattered, I felt the same, but it was still a nice sensation to be off my feet and on my butt. I leant back into Aro's shoulder and he wrapped an arm around my waist, kissing my hairline tenderly.

"This has been fun," I murmured as the train began to accelerate into motion once more.

He hummed in agreement. "The fun has only just begun, cara mia."

"Where are Demetri and Felix?" I asked.

As if by magic, Felix appeared from the aisle behind our seats proudly. "You can't get rid of us that easily, sorry to break it to you."

I sighed jokingly. "Shame."

With a light chuckle, he strolled back the way he came, presumably sitting beside Demetri on the opposite end of the carriage.

"So," I sat up straight with my left leg tucked underneath me and the other over Aro's knee, "who are the Hamamatsu coven?"

The carriage was relatively empty, so as long as we were quiet and kept our voices at a low murmur rather than our usual obnoxiously loud volume, the topic of our discussion wouldn't pose as an issue.

"The Hamamatsu coven was formed relatively recently, and their members are all young, especially in comparison to a senior citizen like me," he said playfully. "There a five members in total, plus five guards who were commissioned by me to guard them closely.

"Clementine is coven leader, with the ability to cause debilitating depression, and with her are her mate Ethan, Tobias, Frederick—although he prefers the nickname 'Freddie', and little Lillie, who has the ability to bring discord to those around her. Lillie is the same physical age as the twins, but, also like the twins, she can be quite…discourteous, at times. The alliance was formed most recently, but they have proved to be very loyal friends and allies, so we keep them close."

"What's Clementine like?" I asked.

"Clementine is a brilliant leader. Headstrong yet compassionate, I believe you will get along well with her. Despite the rather dark nature of her gift, she is quite the opposite in person, I can assure you."

I nodded thoughtfully and curled up into him. "We should do this more often."

"Do what, bellissima?"

"Travelling. Sure, I openly complain because that's just my thing, but this travelling with you has actually been really fun."

He chuckled contentedly, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. "I am glad to hear that you have not become bored of me yet."

I gasped melodramatically. "Never, you're a delight."

"That I am."

Two long train journeys later which were mostly spent cuddling Aro and talking about Japan, we finally arrived in Hamamatsu. I stepped out of the train station, my hand in Aro's, while the sun was only just beginning to rise in the horizon.

He led me by my hand through the quiet streets, occasionally stopping to admire the most random things like statues and flower beds. Abruptly, he paused in front of a tall, well-lit tower, and tilted his head back to glance up.

"Are you ready?" he asked me, propping the glass doors open.

I entered first and pulled him in behind me with a giggle. "I was born ready."

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

Author's note: Yay, Japan! I've literally always wanted to visit Japan, and so I did a lot of research before writing this chapter just to make sure it's at least a little geographically correct.

The running on water thing sounds stupid, I know, but, like, it makes sense when you really think about it. Vampires can run at over 100 mph, defying the laws of physics just by existing, so who's to say they can't run on water?

Also, as well as some more quality Aro content, you got a first sneak-peek at the OCs I've got coming in next chapter. I wasn't kidding when I said I have quite a few joining the story, and I just hope they at least seem like they would fit into the Twilight universe.

Translations (Any errors are due to Google Translate, not me, but feel free to correct me regardless):
Sayōnara – Goodbye
Hamamatsu e no chiketto 2-mai – Two tickets to Hamamatsu
Dōmo arigatōgozaimashita – Thank you very much

Anyway, thank you so much for reading, be sure to leave some feedback because your comments are brilliant honestly, stay safe, and ily lots!