Family Meeting

Jacobs POV

I swear if any of those filthy bloodsucking leeches even think about touching my Nessie I'm going to-My violent thoughts are interrupted by a scene similar to the one I walked in on about seven years ago, with various members of the Cullen family frozen in emotional states ranging from horror (Esme) to eagerness to fight (Emmet) or even determination (Carlisle). Then there's me, or even Edward, who I assume is a mirror what I look like at the moment, because on his face all I see is a single-minded wish to kill whatever is threatening his family.

This emotional climate must be a personal hell for Jasper. I almost take the time to feel bad for him, but I think feeling waves of 'pity' rolling off me will just make this more of a headache for him.

Just then Nessie, my one of a kind Nessie, enters the house of statues, as if there's nothing wrong. She weaves through them easily, heading toward the kitchen-for who knows what, because she's not a huge fan of human food. I would think, if she were anyone else, that she was overlooking the danger out of stupidity, but this is Renesmee Carlie Cullen. She's a lot of things, and stupid, most certainly, isn't one of them.

She's down playing her own concerns, and fears, for the greater good. She knows that this issue is central to her, and she's not going to go into lock down mode like the rest of the vampires. She truly is amazing.

I see Edward move his head in just the smallest of up and down motions, his eyes on me, confirming my suspicions. Whatever Nessie is up to is for the benefit of the rest of her family, not so much herself. She's just like her mother-completely selfless.

I can hear Nessie rummaging through the kitchen for a few moments, and I can't place what she's doing, though I don't think she's getting food that no one will eat.

Within the next second she strides confidently into the room, plops down on the couch, beside her unmoving mother and grandmother and throws a wad of money on the table. "Five hundred bucks says we make it out of this unscathed." She looks around at her vampire family for support.

Emmet is the first one to recover. "I'm with squirt over there. This'll be a piece of cake." I highly doubt that Emmet.

Bella is the next one to lose her statue like position, but she only hugs her daughter tightly, not saying anything.

Alice pipes up next, "For the first time I can actually bet! I can't see how this'll go, so I'm with Renesmee." Nessie smiles at her aunt apologetically. We all know Alice hates it when she can't 'see'.

The only way you could look at Alice's 'blindness' as a good thing is from a betting standpoint. And that isn't of any help to us with the main problem.

Carlisle is quick to respond in the positive, "I don't see why this encounter will go any worse than the previous." Am I the only one who sees the huge holes in that line of thought? But I can tell by the look on Edwards face that the answer to my unspoken question is 'no'.

Esme chimes in as well, "Of course this will turn out fine."

Jasper adds a bit of hope as well, "We can round everyone up again, I suppose, and it will have the same effect." No it won't! We don't have surprise on our side for one, and for another they know everything Edward knew about every vampire and wolf on our side. And-curse his mind reading ability-he knows a lot. Once again I can see that I have Edward's tacit agreement.

Rosalie hasn't said a word, but I'm leaving it up to Blondie to say what everyone else is thinking and, true to form, she does just that. "Are you all clinically insane? This is not even close to what we dealt with before, don't you get that?"

Edward controls his voice enough to say, "You all don't know Aro the way I do, but I know that if he's coming here there's a reason behind it. He wouldn't come here-knowing our abilities-if he didn't think he could win."

To my utter astonishment Renesmee is the next one to speak. "You're absolutely right. This is a problem of a whole other caliber. Not only do we not have the wolves, or mom's shield as a surprise this time around, but we also don't have the witness cushion." Half the vampires in the room aren't following her logic, but I certainly am.

"Come on guys," Nessie continues, "if you had to narrow it down, really narrow it down to the three reasons the Volturi left last time what would it be? One: the wolves, because they were the initial pause in the Volturi's advance. Two: mom's shield, because they've never fought a fair fight. But number three, probably the more important one for Aro: the Volturi had their witnesses.

"I mean, think about it. Let's say it had just been the guard. Would Aro have cared that he didn't have a 'cover story' about some kind of 'the unknown is unsafe' crap? No, he would have wiped us out, and fabricated his excuse after the fact. He had to keep up his public appearances last time, but there's no doubt in my mind that Aro's a fast learner and he's not about to make the same mistake twice.

"No one is saying this will be the same as last time. We're just saying that the outcome will be the same. This is going to end just fine. I believe that."

It's silent for a few beats, and then Edward decides to give Ness and I a little more information. "Alice you want to tell them the whole story?"

"Basically, when I first had the vision it was just the guard, like you said Nessie, and they were coming to the clearing again. Almost as if they wanted to meet us there. I'm not sure they're looking for a fight, but I'm not sure they're not looking for a fight either.

"Naturally, after everyone heard what I saw they had questions, so I went searching and all of the sudden the future-everyone's future went blank, as though we were all going to be impacted by this choice.

"I'm certain it's the Volturi because a second later the same blackness switched back to us with the Volturi in the clearing. I can't make heads or tails of it, and that blackness was too complete, to utterly whole to be 'indecision' which is what Victoria tried before, and I can tell Aro isn't hiding behind someone else's decisions he's too power hungry."

It's quite a tale, and again the house falls silent, leaving Nessie the task of breaking the growing silence. "Well, I think it's pretty straight forward myself." Everyone looks at her with wide eyes. "Really people?" She actually laughs.

"What is it Renesmee?" Her father is asking questions? Does that mean she's deliberately blocking her thoughts? I catch the minute nod of Edward's head out of my peripheral vision.

"Alright, let me draw this out for you guys. Dad, you said yourself, Aro is a collector." Edward nods. "And when he was here there were a few things he wanted, desperately. Anyone care to name them?" I smile a little, because the way she's asking these questions when she already, clearly, knows the answer makes her seem like an exasperated schoolteacher.

Alice pipes in, "Me. Edward. And Bella, after they found about the shield."

"Right. And that's why they came with the whole vampire population of Volterra, because Aro was out to collect some new member of the guard. His mission included witnesses, which essentially backfired on him, so he obviously won't do that again. But there's one thing you're forgetting. It's like my mother and her shield."

"You." I hear myself say in a strained voice.

"Thanks Jake," She throws me a sweet smile, and how she's acting like this is beyond me. "Yes, he's right. Aro met me and he wanted me. But not really me so much as-"

"One of your kind." Bella finishes her daughter's sentence, correctly, as usual.

"Exactly!" Renesmee is pleased that people are going along with her silly 'tutoring session'. "He wanted himself a hybrid. So, anyone figured out where I'm going with this?"

Bella's mouth falls open. "They're bringing a hybrid." For what seems like the hundredth time today the room is silent.

Renesmee lets the realization sink in for a few moments before she continues.

"That's not everything though. Don't you see? I don't think they're coming to fight us. I think they're coming to see how I turned out. I think that Aro was planning to bring his hybrid from the very beginning-that's the reason for the trip-but he wanted Alice to see him coming. He's not coming to fight us. He's coming to 'visit' in a way. He wants to see what the outcome was here, to see if it was as Nahuel said, or showed him it would be. He wants as many sources as possible."

Bella agrees with her daughter instantly, as do I. It makes sense. "You're right Nessie." Bella tells her, "That has to be it. Another hybrid Alice, that's why all of our futures went completely black, because whoever this hybrid is apparently will impact us all."

Alice seems to agree as well, "It explains the blackness, and the decision making, and remaking. I can see it, Renesmee's right. Aro collects rarity's he would have wanted his own hybrid much like a child wants a new toy."

"That's horrible," Esme breathes, "To have a child as a possession rather than a new life."

"It is," Alice agrees, " But it's not below something Aro would do."

"It doesn't seem like Aro would do something like this," Jasper alerts us all to that glaring fact. I can't see Aro doing something like this at all.

Edward chimes in now, "I agree with Jasper, that doesn't add up."

For the first time in a while Carlisle adds his wisdom to the conversation. "What if Aro isn't calling the shots? What if this hybrid is older than we think? What if he or she is asking questions?"

"There's a new angle…" Esme murmurs, almost to herself.

"What if it's a teenager, or a pre-teen? That would explain the 'identity' focus, they'd be trying to figure out who they were, and where they fit in." Rosalie actually has a point here. Score for Blondie.

"That's something I hadn't considered." Carlisle, being the science oriented man that he is appears to have another theory, one that's most likely equally as probable as Rosalie's.

I ask the question everyone's thinking, "What's your theory doc?"

"I was considering this child's gifts. Perhaps this hybrid has a gift, as does Nessie, something that affects it in the way it affected Jasper, Alice, and you, Edward."

"You mean that you think this hybrids talent may have created its aversion to our natural food source?" Edward appeared to be the only one who understood Carlisle's comment, probably because he read his mind.

"Exactly. Much like Alice had to watch her prey's future fade away before her eyes, and Jasper felt what his victims felt as they died, or Edward, how you read the thoughts of your kills as they died. Maybe this hybrid's talent makes him want to try being a 'vegetarian'."

Hey! So... the plot thickens! Am I being slightly evil by leaving you with all the different possibilities of what could be going on? If I'm driving you crazy I'm sorry, but it must be done. It will keep you reading :). Thanks for reading and please leave me your feedback.

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R&R