Author's Note: First of all, I just want to say a huge thank you to my reviewers! I so appreciate you taking the time to read this story and to leave a review! Thank you, thank you! Second, I took a lot of artistic liberty with this chapter. I really wanted to explore some of the Volturi characters. I tried very hard to keep them in character but since we don't know too much about some of the characters, I used my own interpretations. With that, please enjoy!

Twilight: Creation

Chapter Three

"Who is she?"

Aro started slightly at the sound of Marcus' quiet voice behind him. "Marcus, what a surprise. To what do I owe this visit?"

Marcus ghosted over to the edge of the balcony, staying just a few inches shy of the hot Tuscan sun. "I may have changed greatly since," he paused, "her death but I am not blind."

Aro tried not to shift uncomfortably. "What do you mean, brother?"

Marcus' deep set eyes remained fixed somewhere off on the horizon. When he spoke, despite the words he used, there was no joy in his tone. It was resigned, disappointed almost. "You are in love."

"Of course I am," Aro laughed. "Sulpicia has always-"

"Not Sulpicia. There is someone else." It was an accusation, not a question. "Who is she?"

Aro's jaw tightened. "That is not your concern." Caius was the argumentative one, not Marcus. This was highly unusual. "Why are you here?"

Marcus folded in on himself, as if all the energy he had summed up to speak had suddenly left him. "Be careful, brother and use discretion. Love requires a delicate balance of irrational thought and quiet discretion."

Aro waited to see if Marcus would continue but he remained silent, lost in his own thoughts. It didn't take long for Aro to follow Marcus' example. Irrational thought and quiet discretion...Aro remembered when Didyme and Marcus' laughter would echo down the marble halls of their home, even in dark times. They had been so secretive at first, even Aro wasn't aware of their developing relationship until Didyme told him. He remembered that day as if it were yesterday.

He could hear her singing. Didyme's linting aria floated into the library from the open window. Summer had come to Tuscany, the sun baking Volterra with its heat. It was the favorite season among most of the Volturi. Aro closed the ledger he had been writing in and decided to find his song bird of a sister. It didn't take long to locate her. Thanks to the high courtyard wall, they were free to move about in the sun. Didyme was barefoot, dancing in the fountain in the center of the courtyard, the sun sending thousands of prisms across the stone walls. She was so beautiful, blinding and happy.

"Hello, brother," she sang to him from the water. Her dress, though pulled up to her knees, was soaking.

Aro couldn't help but smile. "What are you doing, dear one?"

"It was so hot today," she grinned, shaking droplets of water out of her hair. "I had to cool myself."

He shook his head. Temperatures did not affect them as they did humans. Her excuse lacked substance and truth. "And what is the real reason for this wet, barefooted dance of joy?"

She smiled so wide it was just as blinding as her skin. "I'm in love."

In love? This brought a whole new perspective on their kind. He had always worked under the assumption that when a human was changed into a vampire, the soul was removed from them during that process. No soul, no emotions...no more falling in love. But how could he argue with the look of radiance on his little sister's face.

"Who is it?"

She laughed lightly, the noise blending with the falling water behind her, and lifted her gaze up to one of the balconies. Aro followed her eyes to see Marcus gazing down at her, the same bright smile reflected on his face.

In love...it had been a novel concept for him back then and a marvel one now. He could hear the fountain below them and that only seemed to amplify Didyme's absence. Their entire home had always been filled with music and laughter but since Didyme's loss, the halls had been silent. There had been a time when even Caius would smile.

Marcus turned away from the sun and started to leave, pausing only to lay a hand on Aro's shoulder. "I still miss her."

Aro knew better than to touch him. He didn't know if he could take Marcus' thoughts right now, knowing they would be filled with pain. Instead, he just nodded his head. "I know. I miss her too." And it wasn't a lie.

"You seem so sad tonight." Silvia peered through the darkness. "What are you thinking of?"

Aro forced a smile. "My apologies. I am afraid it is a bad habit on mine to allow my mind to wander."

Silvia moved closer to him, curling into his side and pulling the wool cloak tighter around them. They had spent the majority of the night in the second floor garden outside her room, hidden with palms and wisteria. It was easier on Aro to be this close to her with the heady scent of flowers permeating the air. "How is your brother doing?"

"Better. Today was...difficult."

"How long has she been gone?"

Aro twisted one of Silvia's golden curls around his finger. "A year." Or three hundred. It didn't really matter to Marcus or him. It could have been yesterday that he had seen her ashes scattered in the clearing of the woods.

"How did she die?"

He could tell Silvia the truth. He could tell her about how he surprised her while out hunting. How she never saw her killer, how that was the only time since being turned he wished he could shed tears. How he could still smell the sickly sweet scent of the fire he had set and how it still made him sick in what was left of his soul.

Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.

If anyone knew the truth, it would destroy the Volturi. He couldn't tell Silvia, even if he would kill her. It was a secret he had carried for three centuries and would have to carry for millennia to come. So he told her the story he had concocted for his brothers.

"My family is well respected and influential. There was another family in Romania that wished to take that respect and influence. Instead, they took my brother's wife. Our retaliation was swift and merciless. She was avenged and the Romanians leave us in peace to this day."

"You are a very secretive man." She laced her fingers in between his. "And so very cold."

Aro closed his eyes and allowed her content thoughts to surround his own tortured ones. Memories of Didyme in the fountain, in the woods, were quickly replaced with Silvia's. Her own memories were haunting her this night, however. "Tell me about your mother. You do not speak of her at all."

Silvia sighed and resettled herself in the crook of his arm. "My mother died when I was young. I do not remember much about her."

Aro riffled through the few memories of Silvia's mother and found her to be telling the truth. There were vague memories of a woman who look much like Silvia herself. Many of them were very happy but that didn't take away the edge of a sad tinge of the memory. Aro pressed his lips against her forehead. "I suppose we both have had our share of grief."

She smiled up at him. "But joy will always come as well."

Aro certainly hoped so.

It had been a long time since they had hunted together as group. Aro was growing impatient with all the duties that were required of him while Silvia's days at her uncle's estate were coming to a close. She would be back to Rome in three days. Rome was harder to hide in than the country estate she was residing in now. He could still see her, it would just take more planning and stealth. But he owed his brothers a family hunt, if anything to keep suspicions minimal.

Sulpicia stayed by his side, whether out of want to be near her mate or just to keep a watchful eye on him, he didn't know nor did he care. The last time he had checked her thoughts, she was fearing he was losing his sanity, not his heart. He allowed her to think that it was the strain of power that was making him distant and snappish. She had no where to go and he could always make amends with her at a later time.

Caius and Athenodora were practically jubilant, darting through the trees, following the scent of travelers like demented children searching for sweets. Athenadora's razor sharp laughter bounced around the forest and every once in a while, Aro could see flashes of Caius' white blond hair through the dark branches. In stark contrast to the feral energy of Caius and his mate, Marcus was a wraith. Virtually unseen in the darkness, it was easy to forget he was even hunting with them.

"How much farther?" Sulpicia asked. Aro picked up on the slightly annoyed tone in her voice and suppressed a chuckle. She always preferred to have her meals brought to her rather than go after them.

Athenodora suddenly appeared by her side, all flashing teeth and red-gold hair. "We are almost there, dear cousin." She twirled around them. "There are eight total. All young and-"

"Dearest," Caius had rejoined them, taking his mate's hand, "let us not spoil the surprise for the others."

She laughed once more and continued to dance around Caius as if he were a maypole. Aro wondered once again how gentle Didyme managed to survive with her two sisters, the silent Sulpicia and the bloodthirsty Athenodora. It seemed every choice he made concerning Didyme did nothing but damn her in the end.

"You are thinking about her again."

Aro momentarily forgot how to breathe despite the fact it wasn't a necessary function. "Who?"

"Didyme," Sulpicia sighed. "You have been spending too much time with Marcus."

"There are worse things to do with my time," he snapped.

"There are also better things to do with your time."

"Such as?"

Sulpicia's response was cut short by screams. Caius, Athenodora and Marcus must have found the travelers they were hunting. Sulpicia gave him a hard, knowing look, one that normally would have instigated a touch for him to see the depth of her mind. But he couldn't bring himself to touch her right now. He didn't want his mind filled with the treacherous, suspicious thoughts that she held about him right now. Feeding didn't even appeal to him at the moment. All he wanted was Silvia, with her gentle nature, kindness and warmth.

Time had no meaning to him until now, until it had run out. The darkness of night was slowly being leeched away by the dawn. It was the morning Silvia would be returning to Rome and with all the supernatural powers he had at his hands, Aro couldn't stop the sun from rising. Silvia reached out and touched his face, her thoughts identical to his own.

"I can try to convince my father that I need to return here in a few months," she offered.

He didn't know if he could survive a few months without seeing her. Instead, he merely nodded, untangled the sheets just enough to pull her closer to him. He could change her. It was a thought he had been entertaining for the last few days. The only thing that stopped him was Sulpicia. How could he explain the other woman to his wife? He shied away from killing his current mate, the guilt of Didyme keeping him in check.

He also was not sure if he could cause Silvia that much pain. There had been a couple times he had his teeth bared, centimeters from her neck and could not go through with harming her. Instead, much to his surprise, he had placed gentle kisses along the line of her throat. While he was thinking about it, he pressed a kiss against her carotid artery, able to withstand the temptation of feeling her pulse against his lips. There was no bloodlust anymore. There was no human lust. There was just want...need...Silvia.

She propped herself up on her elbow and gazed down at him through the mess of her curls. "You were better tonight."

He raised an eyebrow. "I do not know whether to be offended or complimented."

She laughed lightly and held out her other arm. "I only have to hide two bruises today. I did not realize how strong you are."

Neither did he, honestly. He took her offered arm and kissed the finger shaped bruises that were visible. Considering he could have broken all her bones with a careless grip, their love making sessions the last two nights could have ended quite disastrously. He was very proud of himself for the level of restraint he apparently showed. "You are just too delicate, my Silvia, like fine china or imported silk."

She tipped her head forward, her hair falling around them like a curtain. "I am going to miss your flattering words."

Aro inhaled deeply. Her scent still sent a rush of venom into his mouth but he now had the restraint to swallow it. Her scent was something to be treasured, remembered. "I do not flatter you. I only speak the truth."

She smiled and kissed him sweetly on the lips. "I like your truth."

His hands ghosted over the planes of her face before burying themselves in her hair. "My truth is lovely. There is nothing not to like."

She sighed, sadness touching on the edge of her thoughts. "It is almost dawn."

"Promise me something?"

She lifted her eyes to meet his. Tears were leaking out of the corners and he wiped them away with his thumb.

"Leave your window open two weeks from today. I will come visit you in Rome."

She shook her head. "That is so far for you to come."

"It is a mere jaunt."

"Very well," she agreed and a smile found its way back to her face.

They dressed sporadically, between a flurry of kisses and lingering touches. The sun was just barely breaking over the horizon when they shared their final kiss and good bye. As Aro started the journey back to Volterra, he realized this was the second time in his everlasting life he wished for the ability to cry.

Sulpicia stood by the fountain in the courtyard. Aro was absent from Volterra yet again. She scowled deeply, wondering what it was now that could occupy his time. She hated to admit it but the small tendril of fear was starting to wrap itself around her mind. She trailed her fingers through the water, her own thoughts drifting back to when Didyme was present. She had loved the little vampire as if she were her own blood sister. She supposed, in a way, all six of them were related by blood...the blood of those they hunted, whether for power or sustenance.

Well, five of them now. Sulpicia didn't come into her second life with a gift like Aro's or Marcus', a thing that bothered her at first. Then Aro touched her hand and exclaimed at what a deep mind she had, the kind of mind he could spend centuries exploring. And he did, for the few centuries, then other interests stole him from her. She still had her mind though and discovered that she was able to tuck various thoughts and memories away where even Aro couldn't reach them. She counted on this mental trick to keep her safe now.

"Felix said you wanted to see me, my lady?"

Sulpicia kept her back turned, not wanting to see the vampire that barely made a noise as he stepped out of the foliage of the courtyard. "Yes, Demetri. I need to ask a favor of you but it requires the utmost discretion."

"Of course, my lady."

Sulpicia fought back a small smile. Her father and uncle had been the leaders of a Greek coven a thousand years ago. They realized their beautiful daughters needed protection from the other covens that wanted to possess the statuesque cousins. Felix had been her personal guard, strong and capable of defending her. Demetri had been assigned to Athenodora. Her cousin had always had a penchant for running away and finding herself in trouble. It only made sense that the best tracker in the world would be assigned to watch over the unruly Athenodora. But then the Volturi brothers came to Greece and everything changed. The wind picked up, ruffling the cloak Demetri was wearing. Well, somethings remained the same, such as Demetri and Felix's loyalties.

"I need you to follow Aro the next time he leaves Volterra. I would like to know what has captured his attention so much this last week."

"I will do it, my lady."

It was a heavy assignment. If Aro were to become suspicious of Demetri's loyalty, it would mean the end of the tracker. Sulpicia hoped her favor with Aro and the power of Demetri's tracking ability would be enough to save the vampire. If not, she feared they both may suffer the same fate as dear Didyme.