Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. Nor am I rich enough to be worth suing as a result of not owning it.

Summary: See previous chapters.

HOPE O'BRIAN

No mother should watch her children die.

It was my fault, if you think about it. A young mother, living alone, with only her two children, will inevitably be the target of trouble. Witch-hunters, dependant on actually finding a witch if they want to get paid, are not above causing trouble and blaming it on some poor innocent.

The priests say that beauty is a curse, a punishment for our sins. I do not know what I am being punished for, but with the trouble it has now caused, my looks can only be called a curse.

A Witch-hunter came through our village, and thought to impose upon me, believing that I would bow in the face of his profession. My beloved husband died only months before our twins were born, and there was never room in my heart for another man. I would not shame myself or my family by offering my body like some common whore.

In hindsight, I should have swallowed my pride and done so.

It is widely known that I do not care what is said about me, but there is little that I will not do to protect Jane and Alec. One does not provoke a wolf defending her cubs, nor me in my protective wrath.

The Witch-hunter was no fool, and my soldier husband taught me to defend myself. My name is good in the town, and reports that I was an evil-doer would only be laughed at. He knew this.

So he struck at my weak point. My children.

Strange things do sometimes happen when Jane is upset, or the rare occasion that Alec becomes angry, (Thank God that one of them inherited my temper! My John's spirit shone through our daughter, and that is quite enough!) but that is no cause to call them devil-spawn! My children are not witches, or close to Satan, even if the priest does get an oddly business-like look around that Italian nobleman who keeps showing interest in them!

But the hunter cried witch-craft, and they took my children away.

I fought the constables, and tried to run after the prison-wagon. I screamed, and protested their innocence. I pulled Alec behind me when he tried to make them go away, and tried to sooth Jane as she sobbed in fear. But I failed, and they arrested me for trying to 'stand in the way of justice'.

You pick up a few things, being the wife of a soldier, and I told them what I thought of their justice. Perhaps not my best move, as while some of the guards looked impressed, it did not stop them from taking my twins.

Now, I stand in the square, chained fit to hold Sampson, forced to watch as the demons wearing the faces of townspeople stack wood around my children.

Jane is crying, and shouting that she hopes they someday feel the pain that she does. Alec is trying to reach his twin, his only goal to protect her. Then they light the fires, and my voice rises to join theirs in screams of pain and fear.

But God is merciful, for he has sent an angel to deliver them.

Suddenly, a man stands on the platform, shining in the harsh sun, and his face fearsome to terrify the legions of Hell. A woman is near him, protecting another man as he reaches through the flames to pull my children away, both of them sparkling in the sunlight.

I know that they are beyond saving, but as the trio of angels disappear, taking Jane and Alec with them, faster than the eye can follow, I know that they will be safe in Heaven.

It is my fault, and I will mourn them the rest of my life, but at least I can take comfort in that they are in a better place than I could provide.

No mother should watch her children die, but they will be happy in their new existence, and that is enough.

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A/N: Jane and Alec have always interested me, so I'm branching out a little. Bella's only interactions with the Volturi Twins is when she thinks that the Volturi are about to kill them, but I firmly believe that they have another side to them.

As always, Constructive Criticism is appreciated, and Flames should not be around Vampires. Especially not these ones.

Thanks, Nat.