So I know this is later than it should've been, but I wanted it up in honor of New Moon! Um, so I've been getting really busy and stuff lately, and I don't think I can keep up with the every other Sunday updates. Sorry! But I used to be a few chapters ahead, and now I'm not. I've also been rereading the books, so that's taken up some time. Please understand!

--

"Keep up, fucker!" Santiago shouted at Corin, a blonde haired Volturi guard member, from his guitar simulator. They were playing a video game that involved playing along with music straight from their MP3 player using various instrument controls and a special TV that Santiago had hooked up in his over sized bedroom. Corin was on the drums, and Heidi had stopped singing for the guys' instrumental solo. Corin was slowing down slightly.

"I'm trying, dipshit! It's not like I've ever heard this song before!"

They finished with an ok, which no one was pleased with, save for Bella whose ass was being laughed off on Santiago's red leather couch. They glared at her for a moment, and then Corin checked his watch.

"Oh shit, I gotta go!"

"Where?" Heidi asked, shoving Bella's legs over to join her on the sofa. The large mounted television rested above their heads, giving the two girls a full view of the room. It was much homier compared to the room Bella used.

"Ugh, Aro put me on guard duty," Corin groaned, grabbing his dark grey robe off the back of the black lounge chair. They all pretended not to see Bella's wince.

"How long have they been here now?" she whined, her head lolling to her side as her eyes slid closed. If ever there was a vampire that could get a headache, it would be her. "Three years?"

"Um, try seven and a half weeks."

"I think Aro should just give up," she stated, trying and failing to sound off hand. "I mean, they're never going to give in, so what's the point of wasting all that space and manpower?"

"I'll take it up with him next time I see him," their blonde friend assured sarcastically. She stuck her tongue out at him. "Put that away, unless you plan to make use of it," he teased, and she would've blushed if it were possible. "Later."

Bella waited until his footsteps could no longer be heard before she spoke again. "How much longer do you think they'll last?"

"Not much longer, I think. Their fantasies keep changing from food to outside interests and back again," Heidi responded solemnly. Her eyes shifted slightly, but Bella ignored that. She had other concerns.

It was inevitable that they would cave. With Chelsea's pull added onto the lack of sustenance it was only a matter of time before Edward, Emmett, and Rosalie gave in and joined the Volturi. The only question now is how long.

"Yea, but Ed-" Bella had to pause a moment, not yet accustomed to saying his name. "Edward's always been very stubborn, same as the other two."

"Stubborn enough to give up blood for almost two months?" Santiago countered skeptically. Bella shrugged. Maybe it was just wishful thinking on her part that they would continue to resist. "Plus the month before they arrived," he added as an errant thought.

Bella went back to 'her' room shortly after, lying down on the bed with her notebook. She still had not been able to think of anything to write and her deadline was quickly approaching. Sure, others had been difficult, but never like this. It was ridiculous. Sighing, she let her hands, and the book of paper they held, flop into her lap as she turned to stare at the white ceiling. Memories once again consumed the majority of her thoughts.

"Where am I?" Bella asked, looking around after she had assessed the situation. Victoria was standing a few feet away, an endless smirk plastered on her wild face. They were still in a forest, but it wasn't in the Olympic Peninsula. These trees had brown bark, instead of the usual green, and the atmosphere was just a little too dry.

"Shasta National Forest," Victoria responded casually, as if it should have been obvious. The mischievous smirk played across her pale lips grew infinitesimally while Bella glowered in confusion. "We were being followed, so you had to be moved." Still Bella remained speechless. "I am rather impressed with you. After I bit you, you didn't scream once." She sounded puzzled by this. Bella flinched, remembering the self-restraint she'd exhibited.

"Followed by what?" she finally managed to choke out, curiosity momentarily outweighing the rage she felt at the older vampire.

"Other than the search parties your father was leading? There were three werewolves following us." A wicked grin evolved from the little smirk as horror overtook Bella's face. We barely made it out… alive."

~*~
Five Years Later
~*~

"We heard from a nomad of an uprising and wished to inform you of it," Victoria explained, exerting a politeness Bella had never truly experienced from the red-head before, to the leader of the Volturi. She spoke this aloud for the benefit of the other fourteen Volturi vampires in the room, while Aro processed what all he had seen in Victoria's memory. He stared at Bella curiously, and she could guess at his thoughts.

"Yes, we had an inkling, but I appreciate your confirmation," Aro responded politely, his eyes tearing reluctantly away from the curious five-year-old vampire to answer her creator. "And we would very much appreciate your assistance." He spoke to the both of them now, and Bella's mouth fell open, her eyebrows pulling together in anger as she turned to Victoria.

"We're joining them?" she asked in disbelief.

"Of course! Bella, it would be rude of us to simply deliver this information and then leave," she chastised. Bella's mouth snapped closed and she scowled at the floor, her arms crossed over her chest defensively.

"Great, then it is settled! Victoria, Bella, welcome to the Volturi!"

Sighing, Bella tossed the notebook to the ground and rolled over, settling in for a night of uneasy relaxation.

--

"There, there, Esme, it's gonna be alright," Jacob Black comforted awkwardly, patting Esme on the shoulder while she sobbed tearlessly on his massive one. Jasper, Alice, and Carlisle had left for hunting ten minutes earlier, and the haze of calm the former had held over his mother for all intents and purposes had been quick to fade.

"I just can't believe this is happening," she moaned, pure grief ringing in her words. The vision Alice had seen nearly a day ago would be taking effect in less than two hours, and it had everyone on edge. The other three were planning to be back within a half hour. And until then, Jacob had made it his obligation to do whatever he could for this kind, motherly figure, despite the fact that she was a vampire, and technically they weren't even friends. Seth Clearwater was there too, perched silently by her other side.

"We're all very upset by this, Esme, but crying won't change anything. We need to form a plan of action." Esme sniffed once and nodded, wiping her eyes as if to check for tears. Then she looked up, wincing in a poor attempt at a smile, and those in the room returned it.

Twenty seven minutes later Alice raced through the door, Carlisle and Jasper in tow. She raced over to the only mother she's ever known and pulled her into a hug. "Their guards have just been changed. Afton and Chelsea, along with a male named Corin, have started their shift. It won't be long now."

They sat in silent anguish while Alice watched the future, her arms still tight around Esme's shoulders. Carlisle held the hand that wasn't wrapped around Alice's tiny waste, his other squeezing her knee, and Jasper sat on the floor beside them all. Everyone else in the room dispersed, leaving the broken family alone to mourn what was coming.

--

As he and his siblings were marched-yes, marched-into the throne room, Edward wondered if he truly knew what he was getting them into. Of course he couldn't know, since Bella was shielding all Volturi thoughts from his mind. It pained him whenever he thought of the new Bella, how emotionless she'd become. Knowing that it was entirely his fault, not including the miniscule amount of blame he put on Victoria, did not help at all.

Alec stopped them outside of the large oak doors then, rapping on it three times before opening the door. The sight before them made the three former Cullens gasp internally. Nearly the entire Volturi guard was assembled in the room, the rest presumably out on assignments. Even so, it was an incredible sight.

The throne room was rather large; large enough for the guards to stand, shoulder to shoulder, in a line around the room, stopping at the outer armrests of Caius's and Marcus's thrones. The robes on the guards closest to the doors were a light grey, the color getting progressively darker until they reached Jane at the edge of Caius's throne, which was pure black. Alec, his robe matching his sister's, stepped through the threshold and continued on to stop in the open space next to Marcus's chair. Felix and Demetri, who had accompanied the other four on the Cullen's hunt in the woods, Also moved to their places among the darker robes.

After recovering from his momentary shock, Edward's freshly golden eyes immediately sought out the one dark robe he so desperately needed to see.

Her now black eyes were set into a tight glare, aimed at the ground, and her little hands were balled into tight fists. The ends of her hair that weren't hidden behind her charcoal hood were even darker than before, an indication that she had recently re-dyed it. Another shocker that he hadn't noticed before was her makeup. Her lips were shaded a cherry red, in professional lipstick, and the color stood out immensely against her white skin. Her eyelashes, like her hair, were pitch black, and incredibly long, fanning out over her cheekbones, and a subtle use of eyeliner was present just above them. Her eye-shadow started as the same shade of grey as her robe on the top lid at the edge of her liner, lightening to white when it reached her eyebrows. Alice would have called it smoky.

Overall, Bella looked incredibly sexy.

Felix shoved him not-so-gently in the back, forcing Edward to follow behind his siblings as they were guided forward to stand in front of Aro and his brothers. The former looked overwhelmed with glee and made no attempt to hide it.

"Ah, you three have no idea how pleased I am that you decided to reconsider!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together.

Like we had any other choice, Emmett grumbled sarcastically in his head. Rosalie's thoughts were much the same.

The tension in the room suggested that no one else shared in Aro's excitement.

"Of course we will be needing to take necessary, and mind you, only temporary, precautions for the minimum of one year," he added. "For one, you will all three be sharing a room." Edward tried in vain to block out the atrocious thoughts pouring out from Rosalie and Emmett's minds. "And you will each be assigned a personal guard-" babysitter, Rosalie corrected in her head, momentarily pausing her plans to find alone time with her husband, "to be sure that none of you step out of line."

Emmett was fighting off a growl, Rosalie a hiss, and Edward an eye-roll. When they had Chelsea manipulating their bonds the way she was, what was the point of wasting any more manpower on them? It was an unnecessary risk, no matter how little it would be.

"One other thing. I would like for each of you to check in with me once a day to make sure everything is going alright. Are we agreed?" They were, and Aro once again clapped his hands together. "Wonderful! Edward, Emmett, Rosalie, welcome to the Volturi!"

Half the guard, at least, groaned at this, and Aro chose to ignore them. There were other matters to attend to. They had a busy day of them.

"Felix, Bella, Heidi, and Alec, I would like for the four of you to stay here with us. Everyone else is dismissed." It took a few moments for the multitude of guard members to coordinate their escape, but eventually the room was empty of all but thirteen vampires. Of course Caius and Marcus, as well as the wives and Renata, Aro's personal body guard, had stayed behind as well.

Santiago had been the last to leave, sending Bella a last worried look before doing so. She returned it with a hopeless gaze, having dropped the pathetic excuse for a reassuring smile. Who was she fooling? Her unexplained depressed mood was only partly due to the Cullens. Another part was the reason they were being asked to stay behind.

"Well, first thing is first," Aro began, glancing around at their significantly smaller party. None of the guard members had moved from their place on the wall, Aro waved them over impatiently. Sighing, Bella shoved herself off the wall after Heidi, her hands buried deep in the pockets of her light grey jeans. She didn't look up to meet Edward's gaze, which she could feel boring holes into her face, and instead stared at Aro accusingly. He sighed. "Bella, I explained this to you before, and I wish you would see reason. If I had any other choice I would gladly take it." Her expression never wavered. "Well, the four of you," he motioned to his dark-robed guard members, "know why you're here. You've been assigned the task of guard duty." Three pairs of golden eyes turned to stare, shocked, at the Volturi members who ignored them.

"Felix, you will be looking after Emmett." No one was surprised there. A wicked gleam passed through both of their eyes. "Heidi, you will be looking after Rosalie." Neither of them looked pleased by this news. But what disturbed them both more was who was left as Edward's guard. Heidi strongly hoped it was Alec, but she didn't appear optimistic. "And Bella," Edward's eyes burned intensely, silently begging her to turn and look at him. She didn't, but only just. Her fists clenched impossibly tighter, as well as her jaw, and she glowered determinedly ahead. "You will be looking after Edward." And Aro's tone was almost apologetic.

And for the first time that afternoon, Bella turned her attention to Edward. It was a look of pure disgust, hiding the pain and remorse lurking below the surface of her pitch black eyes. He winced, the persuasive power of his eyes gone for the moment. She looked away again before it could return. "Oh and one more thing," Aro added, glancing back at her. What more could he want from her?! She the question swam in her eyes. "Your shield." He glanced at Edward, seeming a bit more reluctant about this than his other requests.

She didn't argue, although it was very apparent that she wanted to, and closed her eyes, stretching her shield out to wrap around the three former Cullens. She shuddered as their unfortunately wonderful mental flavors entered her presence.

"Are we done now?" she all but hissed, her body aimed for the door while her head angled back at her 'master'. He nodded once, and without another word or glance she took off running. It took Heidi all of three quarters of a second to realize where her friend was headed, and then she was off after her, screaming Bella's name and leaving Edward with the last thought of Not again!

--

Ok, so this is a very short, random chapter, but you finally know what happened! (Not that I doubt many of you were expecting it.) And I know, how predictable that Bella would have to babysit Edward?! I really didn't want to do it, but I had no choice!

~Jazz~

What was your favorite scene from New Moon, if you've seen it?