'You are so talented,' Adrianna grinned , holding her long, dark brown curly hair out the way as I took in her dress and adjusted the straps a month before the wedding.

The wedding party had arrived yesterday, which involved a lot a screaming from me as Adrianna, Ben, Abi, Renny and his covenmate Tammy arrived along with my cousins, aunt and uncle. I had literally thrown myself at my uncle since I hadn't seen him since he left Volterra, of course, I had talked to him but it wasn't the same.

'We're going to look incredible next month,' Alice smiled, her wide excited grin stretch beautifully across her face.

I laughed lightly. I had my aunt, female cousins and the female Luxemburg Clan members – Adrianna and Abi – in my room since I had done all the Volturi dresses as I made them and we were all just chatting as I altered the dresses.

'Izzy?' Rosalie suddenly asked from where she was sitting at the side of the room next to Abi. 'Have you done anything about the bouquets?'

My hands froze on Adrianna's dress as I looked over at her blankly.

'Dammit,' I muttered under my breath causing them all to laugh.

'You don't change, Izzy,' Abi laughed happily and I smiled sweetly over at her: she was thirteen, the youngest vampire I knew, and a complete angel.

She had the same curly hair as Adrianna but it was a beautiful cooper colour that was down to her mid-back, Ben had the same hair except it was a lot shorter. She had small features although her eyes were wide and innocent. Her eyes were golden since the Luxemburg Coven had changed diets when I met them because they hated killing humans and were ecstatic to finally find a way to not and still feed. Of course, their control wasn't great since they had only been on the diet for less than thirty years.

'Have you thought of any of the flowers?' Alice asked.

'Well, the decorative flowers,' I grinned sheepishly. 'It's not that big a deal, right? I mean it's not like we can have them already because they'll die before the wedding.'

'True but you do need to order them,' Aunt Esme laughed lightly.

'I'll start thinking about it when I've done this job,' I sighed, blowing a bit of hair from my eyes as I started working again. 'Thanks for reminding me though, Rose.'

'You're welcome,' she giggled. 'I just noticed you hadn't said anything about them.'

'How's the groomswear going?' Alice asked, curiously.

'Alec has got it under control,' I grinned at her before adding, 'I checked yesterday, just in case.'

They all laughed at my words.

'Well, Alec seems nice,' Adrianna grinned at me, then nodded over at Abi. 'We met him earlier today.'

'We got lost,' Abi laughed. 'What are you doing living in a Castle, Izzy, are you trying to confuse us?'

'Of course not sweetie,' I answered her, laughing myself.

'Anyway, he was very kind, not exactly what you would expect for a witch twin,' I pulled on a curl of hair which was escaping her grasp as she gasped. 'Sorry, sorry. He's head over heels in love with you, by the way. Can't keep a grin of his face when you're mentioned.'

'I should hope so,' I said teasingly, although I loved the reminder and that it was so obvious to my friends. It was also nice to know I wasn't the only who had smiling problems.

'So's she with him,' Rose smiled. 'Look at her smile.'

I tried to push my contented smile down as all their eyes focused on me but I couldn't stop.

'Stop looking at me,' I snapped in a slightly higher voice than normal. 'There is nothing to see here, really.'

'Nothing but a girl in love,' Abi grinned. 'It's so sweet.'

'You're such a romantic, Abi dear,' I smiled my tone changing quickly as I addressed her specifically; I fought a giggle when I realized that I had picked up the use of "dear" from my aunt.

'You're not any better,' Alice said. 'If anything, you're soppy about Alec.'

'Shut up, Ali,' I shot at her but she just grinned abashedly at me. 'How's being blind-is it getting any easier?'

Her grin slipped and she glowered at me, mad at me for even mentioning it.

'I hate being blind,' she grumbled.

'You best get used to it, dear,' my aunt advised her, 'because you're not going to be able to see Isabella's future anytime soon.'

Alice was grumbling under her breath as well as laughed at her annoyance.

'Anyway, Alice, it's good for you,' Rose added, trying to speak around her laughter but got glared at for her troubles: Alice really hated being unable to see the future. 'You'll learn what it's nice to be normal.'

'But I don't want to be normal!' Alice complained and I was glad the attention was off me for the time being.

'Don't worry,' I smiled sweetly over at her. 'You're gift isn't the only things that makes you special.'

'That's enough girls,' Esme scolded lightly although her lips had twitched suspiciously.

'Alright, Rianna,' I turned my attention back to Adrianna. 'You're done. Abs, come here, dear.'

Abi jumped up and almost bounced towards me from where she was sitting beside Esme as Adrianna moved away from the mirror to change out of her dress.

Abi's dress, which I grabbed from my makeshift rack and handed to her to put on, was brilliant red and tea length with a satin shimmering gold sash that was decorated with rhinestones, crystal beading and pearls. When she came out wearing it we all smiled.

'I don't think I actually have to do much,' I said mainly to myself as I pulled her gently towards me and examined the dress. 'No, I think I got yours perfect, Abi, aren't you special.'

I grinned at her as I tightened the straps to the right lengths before telling her that she could take it off.

We were done about fifteen minutes later and, once we were, we all drifted off to our own things – me to think about the wedding bouquets which would be quite easy since I could just match them to the flowers I planned as decorations.

I started but was distracted not five minutes later by a voice.

'Hey, you,' it said with an irresistible English accent.

'Alec!' I beamed, spinning round on my desk seat since I was on the internet and throwing myself at him happily.

I had been so busy with my bridesmaids and extended family that I hadn't seen him at all today and he had been messing around with Demetri during the night which shortened out time together. Of course, my father hadn't been giving us many jobs recently so we had more time than we did when the Cullens first arrived in Volterra after twenty years of me not having seen them.

'Come on,' Alec grinned extending his hand toward me, 'take a break.'

I pursed my lips pretending to think about it because I wide grin spread on my own face and I placed my hand in his offered one.

'Sure,' I said in return rising from my seat to allow him to lead me out of my room.

We ended up in the garden again, wondering hand in hand through the rows of flowers: roses, irises, orchids, lilies, flowers I couldn't even name went past us as we chatted and laughed before we ended up in our special area of the garden.

My uncle found us there, bent over double in laughter at something we had overheard a pacing guard say without realising we were there.

'Uncle Carlisle!' I exclaimed happily, still laughing slightly but trying to calm myself. 'What's do you need?'

Everyone always needed something when they came into this area of the garden and my uncle knew that.

'I have something I wanted to give you before I forgot,' he chuckled after nodding and smiling at Alec and turning his attention back to me.

'Oh?' I said intrigued and excited. 'What is it?'

'First of all,' he rolled his eyes at my sudden interest as he reached into his pocket. 'I thought you might want this.'

He held up something small and circular causing me to get up beside Alec to go take a look. It was a sixpence, the money my Uncle had no doubt used when he was human. My father must have told him that I wanted one since I had asked him last week.

'You get your human money?' I asked shocked before smiling and hugging him. 'Thank you, that's is exactly what I need.'

'You're welcome,' he said, handing it me,'and actually you're very lucky, I just happened to find that at the bottom of a box in my office cupboard.'

'Thank you,' I said again, slipping it into a pocket in my dress.

'Second of all,' he smiled, this time pulling out two larger and rectangular objects. 'Do you remember these?'

I took the objects he was offering me and studied the first one. It wasn't it great condition, the edges were torn and there was dirt on it but I could tell it was a painting that I had with him not long before he left.

We both looked thoroughly ridiculous but prestigious for the time in which it was painted.

Since I looked fourteen, my clothes were the smaller version of normal women's clothing - something which I had hated. I had hated the stiff bodice that was cut to fit very closely and corset which was laced very tightly, although you couldn't tell in the picture. The skirts of my dresses then, which were laced hooped, were open in the front to reveal and underskirt of a different colour. The bodice and petticoat were always heavily embellished with embroidery. The sleeves were elbow length and had large draped lace edges. This particular one I had never liked, it was made of fine dark pink fabric for the majority and then a lighter, almost white, pink for the petticoat. I had never liked pink at any age. It was frilly and extravagant. My hair was curled tightly and on my feet were small pink shoes made from silk, I could remember, with high heels and jewelled buckles.

Of course, having my uncle look almost as bad made everything a bit better. He was wearing light, because no matter the time my uncle would always dress in light clothes, knee-length trousers called breeches which his white knee-high stockings. Over a white linen shirt, he wore a waistcoat with a cravat around his neck. We were inside so he wasn't wearing his coat but I remember it being knee-length, made of wool and fastened with large metal buttons. The sleeves had ended in large cuffs and were decorated with more buttons.

We were in his office looking like we were playing backgammon and we both had small smiles gracing out faces. My head was resting in my hand which was propped up on the table while Uncle Carlisle look like he was just in the middle of moving his piece.

The second one I was younger in, looking around five, and surrounded by all my uncles, my Aunt Athenodora and my father in the lounge. I was seated on the sofa, my father standing behind me with his hands resting on my shoulder, with Uncle Caius was standing at the side of the sofa his arm linked with my aunts. My Uncle Carlisle was leaning against the bookshelf and Uncle Marcus, not a smile on his face, stood beside him. We were all dressed in our best clothing so my aunt had to stand slightly sideways to be able to link her arm with Uncle Caius' since her dress was so wide.

I giggled, 'yes, of course, I remember. They were the longest days of my life and I hated the first dress.'

My uncle snickered, 'I think you look pretty.' -I sent him a look that said "you better be joking or I worry for you". 'But you never did like staying still for an extended period of time, which is surprising, considering you're half –vampire.'

'Where did you find these?' I asked extremely excited – mainly about the first one - although I wasn't a particular fan on the pictures due to the horrible clothing but there weren't many portraits of me and my uncle around the place (there were tonnes of my family throughout the centuries but Uncle Carlisle wasn't in many of them); it was nice to know there was more than I thought.

'We'll you find a lot when you start rummaging through boxes,' he chuckled. 'Anyway, I thought you might like them: I have of the second one for some reason but the first one … well, I photocopied that, I thought you might like the original – sorry about the state of it, though.'

'Don't be stupid,' I said softly, hugging him again. 'Thank you.'

'Not sure what you can do with them,' I felt my Uncle shrug. 'Oh, and I came up with a theory.'

I pulled back cautiously, 'a theory about what?'

'Your father,' Uncle Carlisle answered his eyes flickering over to Alec in a silent question but I stretched my hand back towards Alec suggesting that I wanted him to join us.

'What do you mean?' I asked when Alec was beside me.

My uncle gestured for us to walk and as we did so he began talking, 'do you remember when you were little and you kept asking me why he spent so little time with you?'

I flinched at the reminder, although my father had only gotten a little better since then, 'and you could never answer me because none of your theories were without problems and you didn't want me to get the wrong idea.'

'Exactly,' he nodded. 'Well, I think I've come up with the answer.'

'Really?' I exclaimed but I wasn't sure I wanted to hear it.

The little girl in me did: the little girl who spent most her time with her uncle, members of her guard or by herself rather than her father. She wanted to know the answer, to know it wasn't something she had done, to know why it was that her childhood wasn't as important to her father as it seemed to other Uncle. However, the teen, the adult, who had come to accept the fact didn't.

'Vampires usually bond for two reason: romantic "Eros" love,' he gestured to Alec and me, 'which is strong enough to survive the competition for blood, or ambition, it's what bonded the Romanians. Pursuit of Power is a bonding factor for vampires and can keep large covens stable.'

'But –' I began but he held up a hand.

'That is true for those who drink human blood – no offense, Alec,' he added swiftly to not offend my fiancé.

'None taken, sir,' Alec replied; I always found it odd how Alec would rotate between calling my Uncle Carlisle "sir" or by his given name.

'Those who restrain – you, me, the Denali Clan,' he continued, '- form on family love "philia", which I might add is the rarest for vampires. We can do this because it removes the competitive drive for blood. That is my reasoning for why you don't feel that you're father loves you as much as a father should and why he didn't spend a lot of time with you when you were younger.'

'But Jane and I are close,' I disagreed with him, 'and she drinks human blood.'

'Yes, but you don't,' Uncle Carlisle answered in his usual wise, calming voice. 'You're father loves you more than you would find in a coven with a father and daughter who both drink human blood and I believe that may be because you drink animal blood –'

'Therefore, the competitive drive for human blood is removed,' I finished for him, 'but not as much as if we both drank animals.'

'Exactly,' my uncle grinned, raising a hand to muse my hair. 'That's my intelligent niece.'

I laughed but then stopped.

'So Uncle Marcus, Uncle Caius and my father are just bonded for ambition, the power that comes with being the Volturi?' I asked, my nose wrinkling - it made sense but that didn't mean I had to like it.

'I hate to say it but yes, that is what I think,' Uncle Carlisle replied, sending me a concerned look. 'Are you okay?'

I felt Alec's eyes focus painstakingly on my face trying to read the emotions that I was trying to hide: my distaste for this "theory" which was most likely true, my sadness at knowing nothing would make my father love me more, my happiness at knowing what it finally was, the calmness that I felt at know knowing it and my horror at the idea that my father and two of my uncles were only in the same coven for power.

'I fine,' I nodded at him with a small smile. 'It just a lot to take in.'

Alec squeezed my hand, which he still had hold of, and my uncle threw an arm over my shoulder, just for a second, so he could kiss my forehead.

I'm actually quite happy with the chapter, although it's a bit bitty at the beginning *sigh* Anyways, I hope you like it please review, I love hearing from you and thanks for those ones already given x