Have A Little Faith
Chapter Thirteen: Crazy Dream
A/N: Sorry for the the 27,000 year wait and thank you to all of you have reviewed, subscribed, etc.
Demetri sat quietly on a bench by the lake. His thoughts were whirring about, making him second guess all of his decisions up until this moment. He didn't regret standing by Addison and joining her on her mission to seek out the Cullens and assist them. He regreted joining the Volturi and all he had done as a member of the guard.
He'd been listening to the stories. He listened carefully to all the pain and hardships these vampires had gone through. All of this unnecessary suffering caused by those whose role was to protect vampires and to help them. He was full of doubts and questions he did not know if he wanted answers for. Demetri had no true desire to hear all of this information supporting the Cullens' cause and the true ways of his masters. He didn't want to sit with Addison, to speak quietly and worry about who they could trust and who might turn against them. All he wanted to do was sit on this bench and stare out at the moon shining on the surface of this clear blue lake and be alone with his own thoughts.
A part of him was screaming, telling him that leaving Addison with the Cullens by her lonesome was a bad idea. However, Carlisle was there and so was Alice. Those two seemed to be firmly on Addison and his side. Not to mention, if Addison got in any trouble, he was confident she could take care of herself. He was simply inclined to rush to her aid in any threatening circumstance.
Demetri sighed, leaning back on the bench. His eyes watched the pitch black sky lit with a trillion stars and a moon. Almost in spite of himself, he attempted to count the stars in his vision just to clear his head from everything else.
"Demetri?" A quiet and familiar voice called softly. He didn't need to turn and face her to recognize her voice by the ache in his heart in response to her very presence.
"Yes?" He didn't take his eyes off the sky nor did he cease counting.
63... 64... 65...
"What are you doing?"
"I am watching the sky."
"That's good. I need some reassurance that it isn't about to collapse on us."
Demetri laughed a low, warm laugh as Addison sat down beside him on the bench. The two sat in silence for a little while.
"Do you think that we're doing the right thing, Demetri?"
"I do not know. I can not tell. I am far to conflicted by hundreds of years of loyalty to Aro and my loyalty to you."
Addison was silent for a second.
She moved to rest her head on his shoulder and asked quietly, so quietly Demetri could tell that a part of her did not want the honest answer, "Do you think you would have turned away from the Volturi at some point if I hadn't come along?"
Demetri didn't answer immediately. The honest truth was certainly not, though he did not wish to tell Addison that nor did she want to know. "Perhaps..." He said slowly, "Eventually, I might have grown tired of serving and turned away from them. I have served the Volturi for hundreds of years, Addison, and sometimes it can be quite stressful. The stress may have gotten to me and I may have seen the reasoning of the Cullens'."
"Really?" Addison said, surprised. Clearly she had known the truth of how he felt.
"I might have, Addison. I can not be sure. However, everything happens for a reason and I am here now so clearly this is where I am meant to be."
Addison smiled. "That's incredibly reassuring."
Demetri smiled, too. "Did you have your doubts about me, Addison? Did you think that I might turn on you and join Aro's side in the midst of battle?"
"No, I trust you completely. I'm just worried that you're doing something you don't want to do simply for my sake and that doesn't feel right."
"What you want to do is what I want to do, sweetheart. My time with the Volturi has ended because of fate and you. I am sorry that I must fight them, but I will do what I have to do."
Silence overtook them. Addison closed her eyes. Demetri's fingers stroked her hair absently as he continued to count the stars above them.
"I don't think I want to fight them either. I don't want to fight at all. Even for a worthy cause." Addison admitted.
"We do not have to fight."
"I know. It's the right thing to do, though. The Cullens were kind and helpful when they didn't have to be. I owe them."
"You do not owe them your life."
"Maybe not," Addison agreed, "But I owe them my assistance and what I can give them."
"I am sorry to sound rude, Addison, but I will not let you die for them. No matter what they did for you, no matter what you owe them, I can not watch while you are slaughtered for the cause of settling your debt."
"I wasn't planning on dying for them, Demetri. I'm going to fight, sure, but if the battle takes a turn for the worse..."
"You plan to run from the Volturi?" Demetri asked, astonished.
Addison sat up to meet Demetri's eyes. "That's everyone's plan, Demetri. It's possible now that you aren't with them to go into hiding, you know."
"I know."
"And if the battle does take a turn for the worse and we run, we can spread the word."
"Organized resistence," Demetri said, understanding.
"Exactly. That way, we can help others and live our own lives at the same time."
Demetri nodded slowly. "I see your point. If I might ask, Addison, where is it exactly that we will go after all of this?"
Addison paused, thinking.
"I don't know... My mother was from Poland. I've always wanted to go there and see where she grew up."
"Poland?"
Addison grinned, "Poland. And after that, we can go anywhere... live anywhere..."
Demetri grinned, "The world is our playground."
Addison stood up, reaching out her hand. "Then let's go play."