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

Chapter 26- The day before-Part one

The next morning I tried my best to not look guilty around Yuzria. I wasn't sorry about killing Tristine and sending her body to the island we'd soon be fighting on; I just didn't want him to know that I'd torched his ex girlfriend and tossed her aside like yesterday's garbage. Which was all she was worth yes, but not to him. He'd actually loved that. . . Thing and I respected that. I wasn't going to gloat, even though I really wanted to because I torched her after all! It's not every day someone sets someone else ablaze with their hands! Suddenly a wine glass full of blood was in front of me. I looked up from the table and saw Aro grinning at me. I groaned and thumped my head against the table. He was going to gloat. I knew he was. I would have to hold back because Yuzria was in the room eating; probably wondering why I was banging my head against the table. Aro sat next to me, I was now on his right side. Caius moved and gave me his place after the scene in the basement. Maybe he was scared of me. Or respected me. Hmm. Respecting me was more likely, I doubted he was scared of me. But it would be pretty damn cool if he was. I lifted my head and took a sip of the blood. 'Please don't say a word.' I prayed in my head. Aro cleared his throat and instantly everyone lifted their head to look at him. My eyes met Edward's and I winced. He just stared into my eyes, he'd known something was up but not what. I gulped and then looked at Aro. " Last night Tristine was taken care of." He stated simply and then took a drink of his blood. Everyone stared at him, waiting for him to add something. He lifted his lips from the glass and smiled. " That's all." He said. I resisted the urge to throw my arms around him and kiss him right there. He looked at me and gave me a quick wink. I nodded my head and winked back. Thank the lords for Aro. Caius chuckled from beside me, his hair pulled back in a long ponytail. Yet it looked good on him. Why is it that I had yet to meet a dog ugly vampire?

" You shouldn't worry so much Isabella." He told me, pointing to my blood. I took another drink and shook my shoulders.

" Can't help it Cai." I replied. He smiled and took my glass, giving it to a waiter to be refilled.

" Have you decided when you want to head to the island?" Marcus questioned me. I turned to him and pursed my lips in thought. " I'll take that as a no." He added wryly.

" Hey, I've had a lot on my mind." I snapped. He laughed and leaned forward.

" I'm thinking tomorrow afternoon. It should take us a couple hours to get there, so I'm thinking we'll arrive at nightfall.

" Night would be to their advantage." Carlisle spoke up. I looked at him, his face was serious. " They know their way around the island by now, we don't. I would hate to have to watch out for soldiers and watch out for any traps they may have set up too."

" He has a point." I said. " I think we should send a team out tomorrow morning. Dawn. Then, we can call and everyone else can leave in the afternoon."

" That's suicidal." Marcus sighed. " You might as well just behead yourself now and save them the trouble." A waiter came up in between Caius and I, my drink on his small silver platter. I took it and then raised it.

" Not for a guardian." I grinned and took a sip. Aro laughed and clinked glasses with mine.

" Touché my dear!" He exclaimed. I rolled my eyes but didn't fight him when he gave me a small, shoulder squeeze. My gaze lingered back to Edward and I smiled softly. He returned it and then mouthed, ' Love you.' I mouthed, ' Love you back' and took another sip. I glanced over at Yuzria. He was sitting next to Lanina and they were chatting about magic. I still hadn't mentioned to her that I wanted her and Travis to also stay here with me. She was like my sister, I needed her here. I got up and pushed my chair in. " Where are you going?" Aro asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

" I need to speak with a friend." I replied easily and then walked over to Lanina. I bent down so I was next to her face and said, " Hey, can you come with me for a minute?" She rolled her eyes and put her wine glass down.

" Of course I can. But why be so secretive. You could've yelled it from your seat."

" I didn't feel like yelling." She chuckled and sat up, following me out to the hallway. Well, the Great Hall technically. It had a long, deep red carpet and paintings filled its walls. I leaned against the wall and crossed my hands over my chest. " I want you to stay here with me. With Travis of course." I blurted out. Better to be blunt than to beat around the bush. Her eyes opened wide and her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped.

" Oh. Really?" She breathed. I nodded my head and she let out a small squeal. " Of course we'll stay in this really nice castle with you!" She opened her arms and embraced my tightly.

" You're welcome." I said as she practically jumped up and down. She pulled back and laughed.

" We will rock this castle." She told me. Then she hugged me again. I chuckled and returned the hug warmly. " Why me though?" She asked as soon as our embrace was over. I rolled my eyes and walked a little bit away from her.

" Are you kidding me?" I questioned her with a laugh. " You're like my sister Lanina. We've been through so much together. You helped me survive in Annebelle's. . . It would suck if now we were split up." She giggled and bit her lip.

" Thank you so much." She said quietly. " Travis and I. . . We'll love it here Bella. The rest of the Volturi doesn't mind do they?"

" Nope, in fact Aro told me I could have a couple people stay with me. There's you and Travis, and of course Edward."

" Oh of course." She mocked. I gave her shoulder a slight shove but couldn't bite back my laugh.

" You're going to have to learn how to get along with him." I told her strongly. She waved her hand nonchalantly and opened the dining room door.

" Don't worry. If he treats you right, than I ain't got no problem with him." I nodded my head and we walked back inside. Marcus was telling the rest of the table of our plan. Apparently the Cullens were arguing about which ones would be going with me. I sat back in my seat and knocked on the wood of the table. Everyone looked at me, their eyes curious as to what I was going to say. I licked my lips and sat up straight.

" The people going with me with be Edward, Carlisle, Emmett, Jasper, Lanina, Travis and Yuzria." I stated simply. I was prepared for the uproar that followed right after. I let everyone get out about five minutes of arguing before slamming my fist down on the table. " Shut up." I said calmly. Ash stood up and stormed over to me. As well as Rosalie and Alice. I sighed and stood up beside them.

" Why aren't Mike, Manny, Flora and me coming with you?" Ash demanded to know as Rosalie and Alice smacked me in the shoulder at the same time.

" Why are you being so sexist?" Rosalie snapped.

" We can protect ourselves just as much as you can." Alice spoke after her. I licked my teeth and smiled bitterly. I hated having friends sometimes.

I put a hand on their mouths and turned to Ash.

" You four need to be here to lead your section of the troops when we call. And-" I turned to Rosalie and Alice, still not taking my hand away from their mouths. " You two are great fighters as is Esme. That's why I need you here. You can help lead the troops to battle as well as the boys can. So I'm taking them with me, and leaving you guys here. Okay?" They nodded their heads and took my hands away from their mouths. Alice smiled sheepishly and I wrapped her in a big hug. " Don't worry, I get yelled at a lot. Besides, I would've done the same thing if someone told me I couldn't go. Now, all of you need to head outside to practice. The army is already working, all of them. Some are in the basement, some are outside and some are in the ballroom."

" You have a ballroom?" Ash asked incredulously. I shook my head with a grin. She jumped up and down and then picked Mike up out of his seat. " Come on toots, we got a ballroom to get to." I chuckled as the rest of them filtered out of the dining area. All but Yuzria. He came up to me, his eyes sorrowful. I knew what this was going to be about, and so did Aro because I heard him clear his throat. He was going to try to handle this for me. I glanced over my shoulder and shook my head. I could do this myself. He bent his head to me and then took a sip of the blood in front of him.

" What's up?" I asked Yuzria. He fumbled with his hands for a minute and then brushed his hair out of his face.

" Did she suffer?" He asked me seriously. I looked into his eyes and bit my lip slightly. " You're biting your lip, why are you biting your lip? You only bite your lip when you're thinking of a good lie to tell or if things aren't going your way." My mouth dropped open.

" How did you know that?"

" I know you." He replied easily. I shrugged it off and just put my hands on top of his.

" Do you want to hear the truth, or do you want me to lie to you?"

" Why are you saying that?"

" Because, one will be easier than the other. So, truth or lie?" He looked into my eyes, I could tell he was trying to decide what to do. I squeezed his hands and smiled weakly. " Yuzria, it's okay." I whispered.

" The truth." He stated simply. I gaped at him, crap! He was supposed to want a lie! " Bella, tell me?" He said after a few moments. I swallowed my fear down and straightened my back.

" She suffered. And she deserved it." Was all I said. He looked at me and then his eyebrow rose.

" Well, how did she die?" I gulped, damn him. He was making this really hard for me.

" She was. . . She was set on fire by me okay! I talked to her about you and she pissed me because she said you were worth nothing to her. That you were only some puppy that she used. I got angry and I set her on fire then I dumped her body on the island Mitchell is at. Okay? There's the truth Yuzria!" I bit my tongue and stepped back. Damn my mouth. He just looked at me. I lowered myself, balancing my arms on my knees and sighed. " I'm sorry." I mumbled. " I shouldn't have told you like that." He crouched down beside me and kissed my cheek.

" Thank you." He said seriously. I looked at him in confusion.

" Huh?"

" You did that for me, so thank you. I'm glad I mean that much to you Isabella." He smiled and put a hand on my shoulder. " I mean, I'm sorry she died so. . . Violently. But, I probably would've done the same if I was in your situation." I smiled weakly and put a hand on his.

" You're not mad at me?" I asked him, probably looking stupid. But, I didn't care. I didn't want him angry at me.

" Of course not Bella." I got up and brushed myself off. " I just wanted to know. I'll go now. I know you guys are waiting for the other Volturi members to come."

" I'll talk to you later, to plan out what's happening at dawn. We'll meet with everyone who's going." He said okay and then walked out of the room. I sat back down next to Aro and let out a slow breath. " Wow, that went better than expected."

" I was surprised you told him. That was very brave of you. You could've lost a friend."

" What can I say, I have a pair of strong-" And just then the doors opened and the other twenty members of the Volturi walked into the room. Time to get this meeting rolling.