A/N: My dearest readers, thank you for your patience. Life took over for a while there and I just wasn't in the right mind to write anything. This is for you, I apologize for the wait.

I hadn't left Aro's side since I had placed my hand in his back at the hotel, I gripped onto his hand with strength I knew would be uncomfortable for any normal man. But Aro was far from normal and instead welcomed my unwillingness to let him go, for he seemed equally as unwilling to be parted from me.

We had left the building together, entering the long, sleek black cars with their tinted windows. Aro and I followed by Renée, Felix and Jane all sat in the rear of the luxurious car and I had my head buried in the finely sculpted shoulder of the man I had foolishly believed was trying to hurt me. Still he was not angry, he did not berate or chastise me, he merely comforted me and held me close whilst whispering in Italian. I had no idea what he was saying but the deep rumbling of his chest and the liquid gold of his voice soothed me. I didn't care who was watching or that my mother was sat open mouthed opposite us, observing with disbelieving eyes.

His fingers stroked through my hair and his lips ghosted across my cheek as he calmed me and finally, when my frayed nerves felt as though they'd been stitched back together by his agile hands, I breathed a deep sigh. I pulled back slightly to meet his eyes and whilst they were liquid black, his gaze was full of a different hunger altogether and I almost forgot who else was sat in the car with us.

Almost.

My eyes had just lingered on his soft lips for a moment too long when my mothers stunned sounding voice penetrated the fog that had settled over my brain.

"So he was right, you really do care for her?" The question was directed at Aro, who raised my hand which had been fisted into his shirt to his lips and kissed my knuckles reverently.

"More so with each passing moment, Renée. I don't think even I realized just how deeply my emotions ran until I believed Archos had taken her from me."

I looked over at my Mother to see wonder so plainly obvious on her face. All these years she had seen him as nothing more than a monster. Her eyes lingered at the point where we made skin to skin contact and I knew what she was going to ask before she asked it.

"And you still cannot read her thoughts? See her past?"

Aro shook his head. "I don't imagine I ever will. As frustrating as that can be I've learned to read what she is thinking in other ways."

"Master." I glanced toward Jane who had just turned back from liaising with the driver. "Tell me what to do."

Aro sighed and for the first time he seemed weary. I looked at him with worry only to see the same emotion reflected back at me in his inky black eyes. "That decision isn't mine I'm afraid, dear Jane." And suddenly I knew what choice I would have to make. What was going to be asked of me. "I know I promised you time little bird and I wish I could uphold that promise, but I cannot keep you safe unless you are where I wield the most control. Do you understand?"

His hand tucked a fallen strand of hair behind my ear and then traced my jaw with his long, pale finger. I nodded and looked toward my mother in uncertainty. "What about Charlie?" I said and my heart suddenly ached at the thought of leaving him.

"I will sort things with Charlie, Bella. I will tell him we've gone away on a girls holiday and after that… We fell in love with the city. You wanted to escape the Cullens, we've decided to make a home there. It's not so hard to believe."

I nodded as my Mom spoke, the plan forming clearly in my mind. "He will be safe?" This time I looked to Aro, who nodded immediately.

"Of course, though Archos will not pay your father any mind. You have seen and heard his opinion of humans. It wouldn't even occur to him, just as the Elephant pays no mind to the anthill in its path." I knew he was right, but it made me feel better anyway to know he would be protected. "Then we leave for Volterra, as soon as possible. As long as Mom can come." I added on the end.

As much as I trusted Aro, I wouldn't put it past him to exploit some loophole and ship Renée off to another continent. The glint in his eyes showed me his amusement and that he did, in fact, know exactly what I had been thinking.

"I wouldn't presume otherwise, little bird." Aro looked out the tinted window at the landscape flying past. "Then we leave tonight. I will arrange for someone to collect your belongings. I'm afraid you wont get the chance to bid the Cullens farewell Isabella."

I snorted in derision. Seeing them was the last thing I wanted to do. Especially after the stunt Alice had tried to pull. "That isn't a problem. But Mom, what about Phil?"

She blinked twice, almost as though she had forgotten about him whilst being caught up in all of this. "It's ok. He'll be so caught up with work and he'll understand that you need me. Hopefully by the time the season is over I can be back with him again. Like Aro said, Archos doesn't care about us humans."

I saw the sadness in her eyes and I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. "You don't have to come Mom. I'll be with Aro, I'll be in Volterra, I will be safe." She looked unsure and so I continued. "I know you want to be with Phil, I also know that Volterra is the last place you want to go back to."

"But sweetheart you'd be all alone. I can't be selfish in this. You need me." I wondered who it was she was trying to convince and I shook my head sadly.

"You'll just be in danger there. Aro can protect me." I squeezed his hand as I spoke his name, noting he'd been surprisingly silent whilst my Mother and I spoke. "But I can't guarantee you would be safe. It would be better for me knowing you're with Phil. Happy. We will drop you off in Forks, so you can speak to Dad for me?"

The decision had been made for her and even though tears swam in her eyes I could tell she was grateful. "Ok Bella, I will." Her eyes drifted to Aro and I could see the question in them. She was telling him to keep me safe and they didn't even need to verbally communicate as he nodded at her once. This seemed to calm her and for the rest of the car journey to Forks, everyone sat in silence.

Once we had arrived and pulled up down the road from Charlie's house I felt a pang in my gut. Of sadness, longing, sorrow, this place had been my home, Charlie had become my home. I thought I had so much more time left with him. Now I couldn't even say goodbye.

"I never thought when I first heard what had happened that this would be the end result." My mom interrupted my morose train of thought and I looked at her with confusion evident on my face. "I've always believed you to be incapable of love."

Then I realized she had been talking to Aro and I looked at him only to see very little, as usual he wasn't giving anything away. "You wouldn't be alone in that belief Mrs Dwyer."

Mom merely shook her head and laughed before she leant forward to kiss me on the cheek and hug me tightly. "Don't worry about Charlie sweetheart, he'll be just fine." She pulled back from me and her eyes scoured every inch of my face, taking it all in. "I'll see you soon, okay? Tell Heidi I said hey."

I nodded, remembering the name as the friend she had left behind in Volterra, the one who had wanted to become a Vampire. With that she was gone and we were driving away, leaving Forks behind for the last time.

Once I had stopped recognizing the landscape I turned to Aro, the darkness outside doing nothing to dull the glowing nature of his skin. His eyes had been on me, so he met my gaze head on when I turned to face him. "I know you must be terribly tired of being driven around dearest one, but we haven't much longer to go."

I smiled at him and rolled my shoulders in a shrug. "I don't mind…" I let the sentence trail off, letting the next question be heard in my voice before I'd even articulated it. "I don't understand why Alice would lie to me like that."

I hadn't been able to stop thinking about it, about her well thought out and planned betrayal of my trust. To make me believe Aro would stop at nothing to have me, even at the cost of the lives of those I loved.

"I wouldn't be too hard on her little bird." I looked at him with vague surprise. "I wont lie to you and say I hadn't considered taking the path she spoke of. But that was all I did. As soon as the thought occurred to me I knew it would drive you to hate me. I'm still learning how to reutilize my humanity. Because of you."

Now that we were alone in the car, after Jane and Felix had taken a front seat with the driver and we were separated by the privacy screen, I felt a blush suffuse my face with heat. It suddenly occurred to me how alone and very close I was to him. It didn't frighten me to hear he had considered forcing me to join him in Volterra, he would have to for Alice to have seen it. It surprised me more to hear that he had decided against such a course of action. For me.

I didn't know what to say, so I settled with squeezing his hand in mine. "Thank you." Was all I said, it was all I needed to say.

"Sleep, Isabella. You have a long journey ahead of you." I didn't argue with him. My eyelids already felt heavy after the dramatics of the day and I was sure I had been yawning constantly since my mother had left the car. I buried my head into his strong shoulder, hiding my blush within the folds of his fine suit jacket. He didn't seem to mind as he held me closely to him and pressed a cool kiss to my forehead.

I didn't know what would happen or what I would face in the coming days and weeks, but I knew that with Aro at my side I felt safe, I knew he would protect me.

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