Edward's POV:

I cannot believe him. I trusted him- Caius trusted him. There will be consequences. I cannot have such disloyalty in my city. Whether it be to me, or to dear friends such as the Cullens. Aro was thinking about what he has just caught Herrod in the middle of. I could think of a few good ways to punish him. One involving the room with kerosene that Caius had put aside for Bella.

I held Bella cradled in my arms, waiting for our time to be alone so that we could talk… and such. I missed her so much this past month. All I did the whole walk to Aro's front office was stare into her beautiful eyes.

"I'm sorry about him. It'll never happen again. That's a promise I know I can keep." I whispered to Bella as I carried her the whole way. She just lay limp in my arms gazing back up at me.
"I love you," she whispered back to me. Then she pulled herself up using my neck as her support and kissed me on either cheek and then softly on my lips.

We walked into Aro's office and I sat on a rather large chair as instructed, holding Bella on my lap. The rest of the family sat on the couch. Aro, Marcus and Caius each had a large chair facing the couch and my chair. There was a large wood coffee table sitting beautifully in the middle of the arrangement as though it were there to be watched. Felix was in the corner holding Herrod who had smartly chosen not to fight back.

"I swear she was coming on to me. I was just giving in like any other man would." Herrod tried to argue his case but when Caius threw a rather large book at him, hitting him square in the face, Herrod shut up.

"So, how is everyone today?" Aro's cheerfulness was gone but you could see the roots of it shining through his anger.

Carlisle looked around the family and grabbed Esme's hand. "Fine, Aro," he answered for everyone. Aro then turned to Bella and I.

I looked at her for a moment and looked back up at him at the same time Bella did and we responded together, "Great."

"Very well. What may we owe the pleasure of the Cullen family company? You surely are not all here to stay in Volterra?" Aro blocked his mind from me so I just listened without and intention of answering.

"We came here to ask you for permission to take back with us Carlisle and Bella." Alice answered.

"Well, Carlisle is free to go and has been since I asked you all to leave Bella here last month. But Bella, no, she must stay with us until we are sure she is ready to leave and be safe."
"No, Aro. We would like her to come with us. We are her family, she can no longer see Charlie or Renee or any of her friends from school and we are all she has. We are not leaving here without her this time." Alice stood her ground.

Caius's mind flickered back to the room with kerosene and I gripped Bella tightly against me. Aro, however, seemed to not even care about Caius's plans

.
"Okay. On one condition, may she leave with you. This condition is not negotiable." Aro paused, giving his words a dramatic effect, then continued, "She must come here and visit us four times a year, regular 'check-up' visits. Plus, any other time we may need her for her power. Healing is an amazing gift, Bella. Be proud."

Bella looked over at Carlisle and he started thinking to me. Whisper to her, very quietly, Edward, that healing is the only power Aro needs to know of and we will all be blocking our minds if he decides to ask us what her other powers, if any, may be.

I leaned down to Bella's ear and told her the message. I added something to the end, so that Aro wouldn't get suspicious. Now giggle to elude Aro. She did and my heart sang. Her giggle was the most beautiful thing anyone could ever hear. I knew Aro heard her and wasn't suspicious at all when he saw me lift my face from her ear, because he grinned with satisfaction.

"That's not a very tough condition, Aro. What's the catch?" Carlisle spoke up this time.

"Very good, Carlisle. I was hoping that you would be the one to realize there was more to what I said. I would like Bella to come alone each time. For one week. Even if we need her, we'll get in touch with you, and she will come for one week. Alone."

"I am sorry Aro, but that is not something to discuss with me. You made Edward break his promise to Bella and I do not think he is willing to negotiate with you to let him do it again. Especially if Herrod stays a part of the guard." Carlisle stated all of this as though he was reading a children's book; not at all phased by Herrod's or Caius's reactions to his words.

"I am not letting her come back alone. I will agree that she come back as often as you need her, but I must come with her each time. I will not leave her as you have made me do so already. If you do not want to comply and want her to stay here instead, I will be staying with her." I put my two cents into the bowl and Aro started reconsidering his condition.

"I said the condition was not negotiable." He finally responded.

"Well then we're not leaving." Emmett surprised everyone by talking back to Aro. I hadn't heard him talk in a while. He'd been mostly quiet around me. Or I'd just been ignoring him.

Aro didn't seem at all surprised at our protest. He seemed to be expecting it. Alice stood and leaned across the coffee table with her right hand outstretched towards Aro. I tried to tell what Alice was saying to him, but she seemed to be blocking me. Whatever she had said, Aro seemed pleased and stood as well. As if being forced to stand, everyone else in the room did the same.
I let Bella stand next to me this time but I still gripped her hand as though she was going to be ripped away from me. She didn't mind because her grip on my hand was just the same.

I looked over at Caius, "What about Herrod?"

This seemed to piss off Caius to no end. He stormed out of the room and smacked Herrod across the face on the way out.

"Felix, please bring Herrod over here." Herrod came forward being half pushed with his head hanging, ashamed. "Now, where is Jane? I think she can work wonders until we come up with the proper punishment."

Horror filled Herrod's eyes as he started to plead otherwise. Jane walked in the room just moments later and smiled as Aro walked over to greet her. She gave me a nasty look as Aro whispered orders to her, but when she realized what she was to be doing and why, a smile broke across her face. She half-danced across the room to place herself in front of Herrod.
Right as she started in on him, Marcus spoke almost inaudibly, even to us. "Please, not right here, dearest. I do not feel in the mood to watch. How about you take him to the back corner? This way, we hear his pain, but we do not watch."

Jane's eyes grew wide as she argued with herself as to what to do next. She grabbed Herrod by the nape of his neck and dragged him to the far back corner. She didn't hold back; as soon as she stopped we heard small yelps of pain coming from Herrod. I smiled and Bella hid her face in my chest.

"Bella, what's wrong?" I asked, thinking maybe it was something else, but Bella's kind heart shone through every situation, including this one.

"Nothing. I just… it's hard to hear him… I know he deserves it, but…" I hugged Bella tightly to me and ran my fingers through her hair and down her back.

"I love you," I whispered into her hair and kissed the top of her head.

"I love you," she whispered into my shirt and kissed my chest. She then looked up at me, expectant. I took the opportunity as soon as it was there and kissed her lips gently.

After a few minute of almost complete silence, once everyone had sat back down, Caius walked back into the room. "He shall be banished from Volterra. Never to return by his own will. If we feel the need to send Jane after him, I believe that will be my choice."

Bella and I had mostly blocked out Herrod's cries in the back of the room, but now they seemed to come to a screaming halt, as though Jane used the height of her strength to end his torture.
Jane walked back over to us and stood behind Marcus' chair, looking at my family on the large couch. She gave me a wicked smile when she saw that Bella was cradled in my lap and appeared to be sleeping.

"Good, I like that." Aro stood and agreed with Caius. Marcus stood and the three of them conferred in a small circle for a moment, both Marcus and Caius holding one of Aro's hands. Everyone seemed to be blocking me from their minds.

Everyone except Rosalie and Jasper, but their thoughts were none other than expected.
My hair is driving me insane. I wonder if it looks as terrible as it feels. God, just kill him. You'll find idiotic ways to torture him anyway. Even if I couldn't stand her before, she's okay now, I guess, and nobody has the right to do to Bella what Herrod had planned except for Edward. I wonder… have you guys… yet? She asked when she looked at me and realized I was indeed reading her thoughts.

I smiled at her and slightly shook my head. She nodded with understanding and thought, You're in for a surprise. It's better than you think, and you have all the time in the world. She grinned largely at me and grabbed Emmett's knee. He knew what she was thinking, by the look on her face, everyone did. He smiled and whispered, "At home."

I left her mind to wander at the adventures she was to have upon our return home. I turned to Jasper and dug through his mind.

I am so glad Bella is changed. I noticed then that he was watching Bella and before overreacting, I listened a little more. I couldn't bear being with her one more moment as a human. It was torture. I'm so glad that's over. Alice is the most wonderful woman alive. She took me back every time I caved and I wouldn't doubt she'd do it again. I'm just glad I don't have to find out with Bella as the victim. I'm not sure Alice or Edward would have been able to forgive me. I'm not sure if anyone would have forgiven me. I'm just glad it's over.

I smiled and left him to think of his happiness and thought to myself, I'm glad too. I really am.
Carlisle and Esme stood then, and the rest of the family followed. Aro bade us all goodbye. He stopped at Bella and I to repeat the condition he made for her leaving with us.
"Four times a year. You will see Italy, by night, in every season. And, anytime we need your assistance, darling." He cupped the side of Bella's face with one hand, smiled at me, and turned and walked away.

As soon as we were outside again, we realized that night had fallen, once again. Just outside the doors, I stopped and faced Bella, who did the same.

I looked down at her and cupped her face with both hands. I leaned down and kissed her lips softly until I felt her knees go weak, which wasn't long. I wrapped my right arm around her waist to hold her steady and she let go of my waist and threw her arms around my neck. She pressed her body against mine and we continued the kiss until a shoe hit my head.

Once we broke our faces apart, I glared at Emmett who now seemed to be missing his left shoe. "Dude, the plane's leaving in like an hour. I couldn't let you two miss the flight out in case they change their minds." He looked up at the castle and then back at me. "And we weren't going to wait to take the next flight just so you two could have an intimate moment. Rose and I have some business to attend to when we get to Alaska."

I knew exactly what business they had and smiled. Apparently, everyone else, including Bella, knew too and smirked at him. Bella just let her hand slide down my chest and looked up at me, giving me a knowing smile. I still had my arm around her waist and one of her arms was still around my neck. I turned her to face the center of the square and waiting across the fountain, our family was gathered at the gate. I leaned in and whispered in Bella's ear, "When we get on the plane, you must tell me of your other two powers. I'm so eager."

She smiled at me and whispered back, "I'll show you. You won't even realize it when I do."
With that, we jumped into the two cars we stole from the airport, and drove them back to their original parking spots.