Disclaimer- All recognizable characters belong to Mrs. Stephenie Meyer, whereas all new characters belong to me.

Chapter 19- The price of war

The stream rushed down in front of me. Water rippled back and forth; I could even see the fish swimming calmly. I loved coming here, it was my own meadow. There were beautiful, lush trees and green grass everywhere. I came here to think many times. Mostly about Edward, but about other things too. It was a place where I could just close my eyes and shut everything away. I pulled my knees up to my chest and laid my head atop them. Then I closed my eyes and just listened. Listened to the creatures in the forest, to the water. To everything. I could feel it, all my problems slowly fading away. It was in times like these, I could put any problem together. Solve anything. But what was going on now seemed almost unsolvable. I knew it wasn't. I just didn't like what the end result was going to be. The truth was, we couldn't go to Italy without having some backup there. A place to stay. That was Mitchell's territory and if we just went there blind he'd slaughter us. Or rather, wound us pretty badly. Ultimately, we needed the Volturi's help. And I knew they would, but at what price? I sighed and opened my eyes. I heard Edward before I saw him. He stepped out of the trees, a wary smile on his face. " Sorry, I didn't think anyone else would be here." He said sheepishly. I shrugged my shoulders and patted the seat next to me.

" Just because we're not dating at the moment doesn't mean we can't talk." I replied quietly. He sat down and looked at the stream in front of us.

" It's nice here." He whispered. I nodded my head and smiled.

" Yeah it is. How did you find it?"

" I was wandering one day, came over it. How did you?"

" Same, the first day I moved here. It reminded me of the-" I paused. It was always best not to bring up the past. Damn my mouth. " The meadow." I finished. I figured why not; I hated leaving things unfinished.

" Yeah. . . It reminds me of that too." He threw a pebble into the stream in front of us and watched it sink. I licked my lips and stood up.

" Well, it's been nice." I started and went to run when he grabbed my hand. I looked down at him and those topaz eyes. I could practically feel my dead heart melt. Damn him and those eyes.

" Stay for a while longer?" He asked, his eyes burning into mine. I groaned and sat back down. " What were you thinking about?"

" The war." I answered simply. " Our next move to be specific." I pulled some grass out of the ground and threw it in the air; then watched the breeze carry it away.

" What did you come up with?" He questioned. I knew he wasn't going to let up, so I sat back. Might as well tell him everything.

" We're going to have to stay at Volterra. We need an alliance that can provide a shelter and. . . Really I don't want to lose them, forbid we lose."

" Why? They're killers!" He exclaimed. I looked at him seriously.

" So am I. . ." I said calmly. " And besides, they do their job well. They keep vampires in check. Well, most vampires. Obviously there's loons like Mitchell that get past them but. . . I digress."

" I still don't think we should stay with them. Become their ally."

" Then don't come." I stood up again and wiped the grass off me. " Truth be told, I don't really want you there anyways." He darted up beside me. His eyes turning darker. I rolled mine, I knew he would take that the wrong way.

" Why? I'm fully capable-" I put a finger to his lips, silencing him.

" I don't want you getting hurt." I whispered. " I wish you would stay. But I can't stop you from going." I removed my finger and cleared my throat. His eyes changed back to their normal color and he smirked.

" Don't want me getting hurt eh?" He teased.

" You know, you make me very angry sometimes." He chuckled and stepped closer to me.

" Truth be told, I don't want you going either. I don't want you getting hurt. I don't think I'll ever stop worrying about you Bella." I scoffed and started to walk through the trees at a brisk pace. Who was he kidding? He couldn't have been too worried when he left me all alone. I decided I could pick up Travis' bike at another time. I just wanted to run away at the moment. " What? What did I say?" He asked, keeping his pace beside mine.

" Nothing, you said nothing." I replied, shutting him out. It's what I did. Things got tough or too emotional for my liking I shut them out. I numb myself.

" No, don't say that. Tell me!" He grabbed my arm and whirled me around. I smacked right into his chest, of course it didn't affect him at all. I ripped my arm out of his grasp.

" Edward, it was nothing." I told him calmly. " Now, never grab me again or I'll hurt you." He rolled his eyes and ran after me once I took off.

" You're the liar now Bella!" He yelled. I looked back and smirked. I was faster than him. Instead of worrying about everything; I decided to have a little fun.

" Bet you a hundred bucks I beat you to my house." A grin broke through his face and just like that, our little tiff disappeared.

" You're on!" He exclaimed and turned his pace up. I smiled and pushed myself. It was like running on wind we were going so fast. When I finally stopped in front of the house, I saw I was a little bit ahead Edward. He scowled and took out his wallet. I tilted my head back with laughter and help out my palm.

" Pay up buddy." I laughed. He put a one hundred dollar bill in my hand; I, in turn, put it in my jean pocket. He was still scowling when I opened my door. " Come on, don't be a sore loser."

" I'm not." He mumbled and walked in. I followed him inside, closing the door behind me. To our surprise, everyone was crowded in the living room. His face instantly hardened when he saw Esme holding her arm. " What happened?" He asked. I rushed over to her and inspected her arm. She showed me the gash in her arm and I felt my blood run cold. Well. . . Figuratively of course.

" There was an attack on the house." Carlisle explained. I looked around and saw that Rosalie had a small cut too.

" How did they break your skin?" I snapped. I was in no mood for being nice. I was getting sick of them attacking us. That was it.

" It was the man. The other guardian." Alice answered. " He was the leader of the attack. He got away. We managed to kill everyone else." I groaned and fell on the couch. Lanina's face was hard.

" Nol, we gotta do something. They're going to keep coming after us. And, I'm getting sick of it. We need to strike them back. Have a victory of our own." She told me.

" We killed their men, isn't that victory enough?" Jasper cut in. I looked at him and shook my head no.

" No, because they were still able to wound ours. Besides, they shouldn't even be here as often as they are." Yuzria sat beside me and put an arm around my shoulder. His gaze was fixed on Edward. I let if go, I didn't think they would try anything with me in the room. Simply because, I'd kick both of their asses if they did. I noticed that my newest recruits weren't there and groaned. " Where are they?" I asked Lanina, she'd know what I was talking about.

" Basement." She responded simply. Then she walked away and opened the basement door. " Get up here!" She yelled. " Noleen needs to talk to us!" I heard them rush up. The Cullens' were giving each other confused glances. Oh yeah, I hadn't told them about everything yet. Oops. Manny, Flora, Mike and Ash stepped into the living room, their crimson eyes on mine instantly.

" What's up?" Ash asked, her hands on her hips. She eyed the Cullens' and smiled. Her teeth glittering. " Oo, is this the other part of your army? The uh. . . Animal eaters?" I nodded my head and she smiled even bigger. " Tell me, is chicken really the other white meat?" She teased to Carlisle. Lanina chuckled quietly, as did Travis. I saw Manny grinning and watched him elbow Mike.

" I wonder if they could even catch a human." He joked. It was my turn to laugh. Edward turned his gaze to me, a frown on his face. I bit my lip and shrugged my shoulders. What could I say? It was funny. Carlisle stood up, his hand on his head.

" Bella. . . When were you going to tell us you brought more. . . People into this." I scoffed and stood up.

" You mean more people drinkers?" I said to him. " Just say what you mean Carlisle, don't beat around the bush. It's annoying." I muttered and stepped in the center of the room. " I brought them into this because they are some of the strongest vampires I know. They'll kick ass with one arm and one leg. I need them. And. . .They're my friends." They gave a slight cheer and patted me on the back. " And if you don't like having them around, you're really not going to like what I have to tell you." He sighed and walked up to me.

" What?" He asked, his eyes tired. I knew he was worried about Esme. It was understandable.

" We are going to Volterra. I've decided to accept their alliance." I closed my eyes as soon as the bickering started. It was like a drum pounding in my head. I put a finger to my temple and massaged it gently. I knew this wouldn't go over well. I sat down and let them argue. The human drinkers against the animal drinkers. Yuzria rubbed my shoulders gently and kissed my cheek.

" How are you going to stop them?" He said quietly in my ear. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against him. He was so warm.

" No clue." I whispered. " None. Maybe I'll just let them kill each other. It would make my life easier." He chuckled and stroked my cheek softly.

" You can't do that. Come on, be the leader. You are the one leading this army. Show them that." I opened my eyes and shook my head. He was right. I had to assert myself. I stood up and let out a huge yell. All the arguing stopped and everyone looked at me. I smiled and winked at Yuzria.

" Now that I have you attention-" I began. " Shut the fuck up and let me talk. We have to do this. The truth is the Volturi are damn good at their job. They keep vampires in line and I wouldn't want anyone else taking over. They're good at what they do. And I know they'll provide everything they need. Hell, they may even fight beside us. Lord knows we could use that."

" But what will they ask in return is what's at stake here." Emmett told me quietly. " They'll want something from you."

" They probably will. . . But I'll come to that when the time comes. Until now, Lanina book us all plane tickets. I'm sure Aro will be glad with our visit. He has the room and will accept us in. Get packed. We're leaving as soon as possible." The Cullens' left to their house after getting a potion from Yuzria to help heal Esme faster. I was sitting on the couch next to quiet Flora. She put a hand on top of mine and smiled softly.

" You're a good leader." She told me. I smiled and nodded my head.

" I am ain't I?" She laughed and stood up.

" See, that's why you were chosen." And with that said, she walked upstairs to pack. I leaned against the back of the couch and closed my eyes. Before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

A/N Hope you liked this chapter! It's long! Yay! lol. Umm, I haven't gotten a picture yet, but Yuzria looks like Jared Pedalecki except he's got green eyes and black curly hair. But he has the same build and face. Hope that helps, that's how I picture him at least. Now, let's see. Oh yeah, I have the next 5 chapters of every story on here outlined. So I should have no problem getting the updates out here. Again, hope you liked this chapter, I enjoyed writing it! Remember to review, because it makes me happy hehe. And a happy author is a good author! haha. Oh! If you want to check out some of my original poems go to fictionpress under the name losingmyfaith, same as this one. Okay, I've decided to make a third one of this series and make it a triology. Just like Sage. haha. What will it be called? I have no clue yet. I'm just planning the plot and main details at the moment. So, that means more bad ass Bella! Okay, this is getting to be a long note, so I'm gonna go!

Until next time,

Faith