Edward's POV of what happened, again re-written and hopefully better than the original draft.

Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight and this is pretty close to what actually happened at the end of the second, but the original idea is all Stephenie Meyer's.

Enjoy!

I nodded; I knew that she had no choice as to whether or not she agreed to Aro's request. I saw her look him over, taking in his appearance in terrified silence. She held her hand out to him and I saw it tremble along with her frozen frame and I yearned to go over there and comfort her.

He took her hand in both of his and she shivered all over. He felt cold even to me and I did not dare to think how freezing he would feel to her.

I checked to make sure he couldn't hear anything, knowing already from the look on his face that he could hear no more than me. I felt relieved, glad that it was not just me that is flawed when it comes to her. But I would rather hear nothing than have her gone again. And she likes her privacy, the fact that I can't tell exactly what she's thinking. I would have it no other way.

I stared at her, scared about how she was, if it's possible to amend for all I had done. Alice told me all that she knew and it worries me how bad things were. I stare at her and attempt not to think how she could bring herself to jump, even for 'recreational purposes'.

And then my eyes are drawn to Aro as I feel concentration coming, like a wavering thread, like a radio signal, from him. His face was confused and I listened harder to his thoughts. A picture of eight-year-old Bella flashed up and my own confusion mirrored his.

A sudden burst of pain, mind-blowingly crippling, shook through Aro and was relayed to me. I was confused, I knew this pain yet I could not understand why I would feel it. It went away as soon as I held Bella in my arms at the entrance of the alleyway. And why would Aro feel it? He obviously did as I felt his shock.

Panic came next and I realised it was Bella. I felt her anxiety and caught the general idea of her wanting her privacy. Aro was doing something to her, I was sure of it. She was getting more flustered, pulling her hand away from him but he wouldn't let go, he would not let go of my Bella and I threw myself at him. I didn't realise the two bodyguards pulling me back until Bella looked at me. Understanding registered in both her facial expression and her thoughts. She became more worried and tried pulling away from Aro again, this time with more force as her thoughts became more scattered.

She seemed to have controlled it at the beginning but was losing any defences she had, it was no longer restricted to just Aro and I heard first hand what was going through her mind.

I heard a list of events, not one meaning anything to me until her mind seemed to begin to unravel. She was trying to hide things from us - me and Aro - getting more confused as she realised that in thinking what she didn't want us to hear, we heard them. At this realisation, everything exploded in a burst of pain, pushing Aro back, bringing me to my knees and reducing Bella to a sobbing heap, aiming for the floor, but suspended midway by one hand still caught in-between Aro's. She soon slipped into unconsciousness, and Aro dropped her hand as I crawled to her side.

I could still hear what her mind was going through; I saw my house… or where my house should be. I felt the despair bubble up my throat, choking me until I was retching against the flagstones as I stared, unseeing at the floor, her dream playing out as we realised there was nothing to find and there never had been. A huge man with a serene face flashed what looked like a propane lantern my way and I stepped back, startled as he exploded into a savage beast, snapping his jaws only to be falling, free and reckless into the churning water below.

Once under I felt the dizzying buffeting of the current, disorientated and not knowing which way was which as I thrashed my cramping limbs to the desperate plea of the only one I ever loved.

Until my muscles seized up and I fell down into the abyss, the world growing dark as my angel shone brighter than anything…

And Bella was shrieking. Sight flooded back to show everyone in the room in a circle around us, crouched on the floor as a pathetic snarling emanating from somewhere surrounded the room; Bella couldn't produce such a sound and as Alice grabbed my shoulders, I realised it was me. I clamped my lips shut before going to Bella and clutching her to me as tightly as I dared. As her sobs ceased, Aro pointed the way out and we disappeared, Alice right behind us as I clutched Bella to my marble chest, breaking into a thousand pieces at the pain that would haunt me for the rest of my forever.

Watcha think? Review and tell me,

Thanks!