The plane landed in Port Angeles airport many boring and tiresome hours later. I'd spent a few hours on each of my mates' laps, occasionally switching around and burying myself in the comforting scents of their cloaks.

When we landed, it was technically the next day but it was still quite late in the evening nonetheless. I held Aro's gloved hand in mine as we disembarked off the plane and made our way across the runway towards the fleet of cars parked in the car park ready to take us back to Forks.

Aro leant down and purred against my neck. "There is no need to be so nervous, cara mia."

"We're at the point of no return, I guess," I muttered as we made it to the car I assumed would be taking us to the house in Forks.

Caius climbed in first in the middle row of seats, then me, then Aro. Marcus took up the passenger seat while Demetri drove as he always did. It was only when I really paid attention to the amount of space inside the vehicle that I realised just how crammed in we were, since I was completely squished between two of my tall and largely built mates.

Again, our car led the others towards Forks. Demetri was using the sat nav attached to the windscreen since technically he couldn't track the house because it obviously wasn't a living entity with thoughts and no one was there currently.

"Carissima?"

I swivelled around in my seat to face Caius.

"You're not breathing." He pulled me against him so that my face was comfortably pressed into his shoulder. "There is no need to be anxious."

"O-ho, there are so many reasons to be anxious. If this was any other coven, I probably wouldn't be so bothered by this, but the Cullens?"

Aro sighed, leaning over slightly to caress the side of my face with the back of his hand. "A crime is a crime."

"Maybe it's not a crime," I countered hopefully. "Hey, where's Denali?" I asked confusedly.

Santiago responded but didn't even bother to glance up from his phone screen. "She's with the rest of the guard, currently making their way from the airport to the house in Forks on foot."

"Thanks Tina," I called behind me before flopping backwards with my head on Caius' lap and my thighs across Aro's. "I don't want to do this."

"Neither do we, bellissima," Marcus soothed.

Aro suddenly began rummaging in the inside pocket of his black pea coat and pulled out a piece of paper which had been folded three times, although it wasn't the seating arrangements this time around. "If you need a distraction, piccola, you may find this of interest."

I took the paper from him and unfolded it, realising it was a letter. "What is this?"

"I rediscovered the original letter sent from Alice several weeks before we met you, disclosing details of your existence," he explained.

Warily, my eyes scanned over the page in front of me, all written in Alice's dainty handwriting.

Aro Volturi,
I don't believe we have had the chance to meet in person as of yet, but I assure you that occasion will come sooner than you may believe. My name is Alice Cullen, member of the Olympic coven, and I have the gift of foresight.
In the coming weeks, you will discover your, Caius', and Marcus' true mate in the form of a 17 year old human girl, Eliana Arrowood. Eliana, or as she likes to go by the name "Eli", is a very close friend of Carlisle and our coven.
For some background information, she lives and attends school in England, her blood smells much more appealing than average, she is naturally very attractive, even by immortal standards, and she is a kind and outgoing soul, but she can also be very shy at times. I have enclosed some further information in this letter should you be interested.
You will not recognise her as soon as you meet her, but this will all come clear very soon.
I cannot wait to meet you and your brothers face-to-face.
Yours sincerely,
Alice Cullen.

"'Naturally very attractive'?" I repeated. "Goddamn it, most of the time I spent at the Cullens house, I was in my pyjamas looking like a mouldy potato."

Caius took the letter from my hands and read the line aloud himself. "'She is naturally very attractive, even by immortal standards'. I do not see any issues with that line."

With a light chuckle, Aro pulled my boots off and dropped them onto the floor so that my feet were resting on his thighs. "You are such a funny thing, Eliana, for it is near impossible to believe that you are truly unaware of your natural beauty and charm."

"Natural beauty and charm my ass," I hissed under my breath. "And what further information?"

"Further information?" Aro repeated.

I nodded. "You heard me right, what did she tell you?"

He paused for a short moment in thought. "Some basic medical records, photographs-"

I drew my eyebrows together in panic. "What photos?"

"One of my favourites is that photograph of you posing on top of Rosalie Cullen's car while you were wearing only your swimsuit in the middle of the summer." He smirked at the memory.

I gasped, mortified. I'd taken 'sexy' photos with Alice and Bella that summer as a joke and I still had a few printed out in my bedroom back in the UK, but I didn't realise my mates all had copies as well.

"She sent you that?" My voice raised a few pitches in disbelief.

"That and many more precious photographs," Marcus confirmed with a smug grin. "I do believe Emmett Cullen had managed to take one just as you and Isabella screamed during a horror movie."

I hid my face in my hand. "So let me get this straight: even before you met me, you just thought of me as this screaming slutty human girl?"

"Please get out of the habit of talking about yourself like that, bellissima, I do not want to have to repeat myself again" Marcus warned, something about his deep tone having a double meaning.

I nodded warily, not wanting to risk anything getting out of hand, and curled up more comfortably against Aro's and Caius' laps. This was going to be a long hour car ride.

Once we were settled into the admittedly incredible house, then came the long waiting game. Technically, we'd planned to begin the trial first thing the next morning, which meant impatiently wandering around all night to pass the time.

At first, I'd tried to kill some time by watching TV with Sofia and Lillie, but I got bored pretty quickly and their constant quiet bitching and snickering became tedious. I then tried cuddling Aro, who I found sitting at the kitchen counter with a metal flask of blood and paperwork in front of him, yet still I was too fidgety for that as well.

Completely exasperated, I climbed out of one of the windows near the back of the house and scaled up the remaining stretch of wall towards the roof. The slate roof tiles had a slight dusting of snow on them, which reminded me just how cold it was in Forks. At least the sky was clear that night, and the crisp winter air felt incredible in my lungs.

I noticed another figure already lying down on the slope of the roof, gazing up longingly into the stars. Once I'd realised that it was just Freddie, I came to sit beside him, not that he objected.

"Didn't expect to see anyone else out here," I mused.

"I can go, you know, if you want-"

"No, no," I placed my arm out in front of him to stop him from getting up. "Stay, I could do with some company. Besides, you got here first, I'm not gonna kick you out like that."

There was a peaceful silence for a while, the only sound filling the cool air being the soft fluttering of wind against my ears. I simply leaned back with my hands folded over my torso and admired the view.

"Isn't our insignificance just fascinating? I mean, take that tiny little star over there for example." Freddie pointed into the distance towards a faint flicker in the sky. "That star is an unthinkable distance away from us, so much larger than we could imagine, and possibly the centre of another solar system, containing more planets, many much bigger than ours. No one knows where the universe begins or where it ends, or where we are in terms of its beginning or end. These stars we are able to see are a tiny, invisible speck in the grand scheme of existence.

"Yet here we are, on this tiny planet, fooling ourselves into believing every decision we make, every action made, will have any true impact on…anything when, in reality, nothing in this world truly matters."

I hummed in thought. "You're right, nothing in this world truly matters. But we're living in our own world, occupied by us and us only. The remaining, untouched universe will likely never be touched by a being from this planet. Not even our superior brains could comprehend the true extent of existence itself. Sometimes, you've just got to ground yourself, and remind yourself that we may be insignificant in the grand scheme of the universe, but in this world, everything we do will be significant to everyone on it."

Freddie sighed. "Few truer words have ever been spoken."

I sat up on my elbows. "Like the significance this trial could have on the supernatural world as we know it."

"The trial," he reminded himself.

I hummed. "The only reason we're here, in a massive house in the middle of an empty forest."

"I'm sorry you have to go through this. I don't know what I'd do if my own family were to pull a stunt like the Cullens did."

I nodded sadly. "On the plus side, I can finally whoop Edward Cullen's ass for dumping Bella a year ago. I've been waiting for this moment."

"He left who?" Freddie asked.

"Edward Cullen formed a relationship with my human bestie, Bella Swan, and then left her while the mating bond was still there. Those mating pulls from the rejection could've killed her while he wallowed in self-pity in South America."

Freddie laughed quietly. "He sounds nice."

"Delightful," I deadpanned. "I don't hate him—he makes Bella happy and if she's happy, I'm happy—but he's still a dick and, if I were Bella, I definitely would've dumped him myself. Guys are stupid."

"I want to argue with that but I really can't," Freddie chuckled.

A few distant footsteps could be heard along the side of the house. I quickly hopped up into a defensive crouch while Freddie braced himself for a fight beside me.

Fortunately, it was just the four kids, and they all gave us judgemental looks as they paced over the roof. Breathing a sigh of relief, I reclined back onto the roof as they settled around us.

I felt a head on my torso and realised that Alec was using me as a pillow. "Uh, hey Alec."

He briefly glanced over at me and then back up at the sky. "Hey."

Jane then decided to lay her head on top of my chest, so that I was basically acting as one big vampire pillow. Turning my head, I realised that Sofia and Lillie had done the same thing to Freddie, all staring up at the sky dreamily.

"Did you really come all the way out here just to use the adults as pillows and stargaze with us?" I giggled.

"You're not adults," Sofia snarked.

"I'm 18, actually," I snapped.

"I'm 19," Freddie said bluntly, further backing up our point.

"Still, you're barely adults," Lillie argued.

I smiled smugly. "Adults nonetheless. And you're just a bunch of little toddlers."

"We are not!" Jane snapped defensively.

I scoffed. "Oh yes you are. In fact, I know two year olds that act more mature than you four," I taunted.

Jane growled. "Oh, you're asking for it-"

"Do it, pain me, I dare you Jane-y-Pain-y," I teased, knowing she technically couldn't since I was her superior and she took orders from me, not the other way around.

With an aggravated stomp of her foot, she settled back down again with a stern frown on her face and her arms crossed over her chest stubbornly. I took my win proudly and stared off into the forest. It was so peaceful, so quiet, so empty.

Except it wasn't apparently. Far in the distance, I saw a small bonfire had been set up in a clearing not too far away from the house. Freddie had apparently noticed it too since we were both examining it closely.

I tried to focus in on the individual faces, wondering if I could identify any of them. There were many figures wandering around, but I eventually settled on two standing side by side. Carlisle and Edward.

We made eye contact briefly, and I cursed myself out loud. "Fucking shit, get indoors."

Freddie turned to me with concern. "What now?"

"You heard me. Party's over, get inside now. All of you." I ushered the kids first back through the window.

"Who did you see?" Freddie asked just before he crawled into the house through the window.

"Carlisle, Edward, Cullens, made eye contact, we gotta stay indoors," I gushed.

With a quick nod in understanding, Freddie swung his weight on the window ledge and flew feet first into the house. Before following him, I briefly glanced back up at Carlisle and Edward.

"Eli?" Edward questioned, and I noticed everyone around him stirring at my name.

"I'll see you in the morning," I murmured, knowing they could all hear me, and followed Freddie and the kids back to the safety of indoors.

⊱ ────── {.⋅ ✯ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

Author's note: Awh, we had a sweet lil' Freddie moment because he's just so sweet and I love him. Also, I love Eli acting kinda like a mother figure towards Jane and Alec, because honestly they're just a bunch of sad and neglected kids who need love and kindness.

This was a bit of a cliff-hanger-ish, but I still don't get why the Cullens had that bonfire before the battle. Like, what the hell was the point in that? Was it that hard just to stay in the warm comfort of indoors and come back outside on the morning of the battle?

Anyway, thank you so much for reading, be sure to leave some feedback because I love to hear your thoughts and opinions, stay safe, and ily lots!