A/N: Sit back and get comfy.. this chapter is LOONNNGG :) Again a hard chapter to write… balancing this was tough. How much to explain and what to leave out for now… get ready for major plot…. Hope you enjoy :)- Jenn

Chapter 13 - Facing the Past

Once I was back inside the castle walls, I went looking for Aro. He was in conference with the rest of the council. When the council met, the center area of the castle was emptied so that the few words they said would not be overheard. I walked towards the chamber and paused at the door.

I heard Aro say my name, and waited. He continued with, "Her time of service to us is almost up. Bella is truly the jewel in our collection. We cannot afford to lose her. What can we do to keep her here?"

The silence that followed was painful. They were trying to find a way to keep me with the guard after my term was up. I had never liked all the methods the Volturi used, but this was the first time I had truly seen them use their power in such an obvious, negative and controlling manner.

"Well it's settled, we will take Renesmee from her after this mission to Washington if she can follow through there. We will use her daughter as leverage," Aro said nonchalantly.

I moved away from the door as silently as possible. Once I knew I was out of hearing range, I ran to my room and bolted the door behind me.

Once I had closed Ness and I in our small room, I put one finger over my lips and looked frantically at my daughter.

I breathed in and out a few times and then said in a controlled voice, "Ness, let's go hunting. I am famished."

With a terrified look on her face, Ness nodded silently at me. We ran from the castle hand in hand.

Once we were far enough away from Volterra that there was no chance we would be overheard, I said, "We have to get you out of Volterra without arousing the council's suspicion. They are going to take you from me after my next mission in order to force me to stay in the guard. I'm going to attempt to take you with me. We are going western America, hopefully close enough to the Cullens that I can get you to them safely. If I cannot take you with me, you need to go shopping for a whole day and use the chance to escape Volterra. Put as much distance between yourself and the city as possible and once you think you are safe, go and find Carlisle."

Ness looked at me in shock and disbelief, attempting to process what was going on. Aro was like a lovable uncle in her eyes. She knew I was telling the truth, but it was still hard for her to believe. The life we had lived here in Volterra was the only one she had ever known. I knew she would grow to love the Cullens and that her life would be much better there. I had guarded her as much as I could from Aro and the rest of the group, but she needed to know now how dire the situation really was. After a long discussion on how we would accomplish it, we hunted and then went back to the city to face the council.

Immediately upon entering the castle, I was confronted by Alec.

Hurriedly he said, "Aro has been looking for you both intently. Our new mission has been pushed forward. All we know is that we are flying to the Pacific Northwest in the United States. The rest of the details will be revealed to us upon our arrival. Before we leave for our mission, though, Aro wishes to speak with you alone."

I nodded once at Alec and walked purposefully towards the main chamber. As I entered, Aro told everyone to leave except for the rest of the council. The thought quickly crossed my mind that they were vulnerable here and now and I could take them out. However, I needed to get Nessie away from here before I faced the Volturi with their recent betrayal.

After a long moment Aro spoke, "We have one final mission for you, Bella. After this mission, you are free to leave us. I only ask that you report back here after your mission, unless of course you have reconsidered your decision and wish to remain a part of the guard?"

All three members of the guard looked at me with great interest. Slowly with a look of some regret plastered on my face, I shook my head no. Aro dismissed me and turned back to the rest of the council.

This would be my only chance, so I spoke up and said, "Aro? I have a request to make."

All three of the ancients turned slowly to look at me.

I took a deep, calming breath and said, "Aro, the location of our next target is at least generally near my human home. I would like to take my daughter with me. I want her to see where I grew up and learn about her family history. It will only take a day or two longer than the mission I believe. We can head back separately, if you like, so the rest of the guard is not detained."

Aro grabbed the hands of the other two and held them for a long moment.

Slowly, and with great reluctance, Aro said, "Bella, my dear, I can see no reason to not grant your request, however, I remind you that you still need to return before you are released from the guard."

I smiled, nodded enthusiastically at Aro as I said, "Aro I would never leave without at least saying good bye. The Volturi have done so much for me. It would be remiss of me to leave without a word. I promise that I will return afterwards. You have my word."

Aro looked at me long and hard again.

I simply smiled at him, and finally he said, "Then go in peace my daughter, and take your child with you. We will see you both soon."

I walked up to all three of them and hugged them, much to their surprise. I stepped back and smiled at them all before turning to exit the room.

Once I was outside the chamber, I sank down against the wall for a moment and savored my victory. I was going to get my little one away from these monsters. After a moment, I flew to my room and told Ness to pack because she was coming with me. Nessie simply smiled and packed her bags as fast as her half-vampire limbs would allow. In a few hours, my daughter would be safely out of the clutches of the Volturi and back with her family. I wasn't sure how we were going to find the Cullens that quickly, but I knew that once we did, they would take care of her. As we left the room, I reached into my desk and grabbed the aged letter, pressing it into my daughter's hand.

She looked at me with concern as I said softly, "Just in case, my dear."

A few hours later, we were standing in the airport waiting for our flight. Alec came over to me and we passed the time in casual conversation. Suddenly, about a half hour before the plane was due to start boarding, Alec asked me to follow him. Intrigued, I nodded and wordlessly followed through the maze of people. Finally, we were standing at the opposite end of the terminal.

Alec looked up at me wistfully, breathed in slowly and said, "Bella, I need to tell you something. I already know what you are going to say, but if I don't try, I'm going to regret it for forever. I will plague myself with thoughts of what might have been. Bella, I'm in love with you, completely, totally, and irrevocably in love with you. I need to know how you feel, even if you don't feel the same."

As he spoke, the look in his eyes went from wistful to one of pure agony. He was very sincere and meant every word. Alec was such a dear boy. I cared very deeply for him; however, I only felt friendship for him. I didn't want to hurt him, but I knew I had to tell him the whole truth.

I closed my eyes, took in a long deep breath, and then said, "Alec, you are very dear to me. However, I only look on you as the closest of friends. My heart has always belonged to someone else. Once I leave Volterra, I am finally going to confront him. He deserves to know his daughter, and I need closure. I need to hear from his lips that even though I'm a vampire, he no longer loves me. Alec, please understand. I care for you, my friend, but only as that - a friend, nothing more. I wish things were different, but I cannot change my heart."

With that, I wrapped my arms around him. We stood there for a moment, holding each other, until I heard our flight called. Alec looked up at me for a moment and his expression changed into one of resignation and acceptance. We walked towards our flight in silence.

The flight seemed to last forever. Jane and Alec sat across the aisle from Ness and I. Occasionally, I could feel Alec's eyes burning into me with the pain he was feeling at my rejection. The second he would look away, Jane would focus on me and try to use her gift on me without effect, as she had for years. She looked ready to kill me. She knew how badly I had hurt her brother and hated me for it. I tried to ignore Jane as much as possible, however, she started to stare at Ness with a sickly sweet grin and I knew that she was about to take her frustration out on my daughter. I growled at her softly and threw my shield around Ness. Jane immediately tried to attack my daughter and growled when she realized that I had anticipated her moves. Alec finally clued in to what was going on and shot a quick apologetic look at me before he started whispering in anger to his sister. Jane's expression slowly changed from one of rage, to an apologetic one.

Then, to my surprise, Jane turned to me and softly said, "You still love her father, don't you?"

I tried to speak but all I could do was nod at Jane while I attempted to keep myself from breaking into dry sobs. He had betrayed me and probably never truly loved me, but even after all that I still loved him more than my own life. I turned back to look at Jane and was in shock when I saw her in Alec's arms, her body shaking as though she were crying. After a few minutes, she quieted and asked Nessie to go sit by Alec for a few minutes. I stared at Jane intently as she sat beside me, trying to figure out the sudden mood swings.

Finally, she began to speak so fast that only a vampire could understand, saying, "Bella, I am sorry I have been so cruel to you. I hated you from the moment you walked in the castle. Then, when I knew my brother was falling in love with you, I hated you even more. To me, you were a rival, taking my place as Aro's most prized possession, and the Volturi are all that I have left. After that, when you rejected Alec, I swore I was going to kill you. He did not deserve to suffer at your hand. I realize now why you rejected him, and I can no longer hate you. We have more in common than you might think. We have both lost the loves of our lives. I fell in love with a fellow member of the guard. His name was Eleazar."

I gasped in shock. She was in love with Eleazar? The one from the Alaskan coven?

Jane read the shock on my face, looked back at me and said, "That's right, you know him don't you?"

I merely nodded and motioned for her to continue.

Jane took a deep breath and resumed, "I loved Eleazar completely. He warned me from the first time that I made my affections known that he did not care for me as much as I did for him. However, after some time, he decided to be with me. I was so happy I could fly. We were joined as mates with the blessing of the council and we lived very happily for a time. Eleazar felt the need to warn me repeatedly that he cared for me deeply, but he thought something was missing. I ignored his warning. I felt that in time, he would learn to love me the way I adored him. However, thirty years to the day that we had been blessed by the council, Carmen stepped into the castle and my life fell apart. At first Eleazar tried to deny his feelings for the sweet Spanish woman, but after some time he approached the council and told them the truth. After much deliberation they allowed him to leave with Carmen, as long as he told me the truth first."

Suddenly Jane stopped talking and her body began to shake with silent sobs. After a moment, I awkwardly wrapped my arms around her to comfort her.

After a few moments, Jane stopped shaking, looked up at me and shakily said, "Eleazar came to me after talking to the council. He took me in his arms in a way he had not since Carmen showed up. I looked up at him and told him that I loved him for the last time. He wrapped his arms around me and gently reminded me that he cared for me deeply, but not in the way I loved him. His voice broke and told me that he had fallen in love with someone else with the intensity that I felt for him. I looked up at him in shock as he explained about his love for Carmen. Then he told me the thing that turned me into the creature I am today. He told me they were leaving and that he would never see me again. Then he kissed me, set me on the bed and ran out of the room. I never saw him again."

Jane broke down again. Wordlessly, Alec got up, scooped his sister into his arms, and took her back to their seats after allowing Nessie to take hers. No one spoke the remainder of the flight into Portland. I had seen many odd couplings in the vampire world. Physical age was not a factor for most vampire couples, and even though most tended to gravitate towards vampires near their own physical age, it was not unusual to come across a pairing like Eleazar and Jane. Due to the laws against immortal children all of these pairings were really on equal footing and no one was ever with someone who was truly too young . Lately, Aro had been worried about Ness and her potential mate, but my daughter had never found a boy that she truly fell for. Lost in my thoughts the rest of the flight, the plane landed before I knew it in Portland, and the familiar landscape was in front of me. It took all the strength I had not to burst into tears.

We checked into the resort, and found a small package waiting at the front desk for us. Jane grabbed it and we walked back to the suites that had been prepared for us. Once we all were settled in, we went to meet in Jane and Alec's suite to find out what our instructions were. The only other time I could remember getting our instructions like this was not a pleasant memory. I was concerned that what they were going to ask us to do would be reprehensible. Most of the time I saw the need for our role in the vampire world, but I had also seen the council abuse their power. I hoped that we were not doing something I would regret.

Once we were all assembled, Jane opened the envelope that had been at the front desk and slid the contents out. Inside there was a DVD and a note.

Jane opened the note and with a monotone voice read, "My dear ones, your target is on this DVD. On it, you will hear all their abilities and what you will need to do to defeat them. I do not want Renesmee involved in the fighting at all. She needs to remain at a safe distance. I warn you that this assignment is tricky. Please be careful and bring all of yourselves back to us. Anxiously awaiting your arrival, Aro."

Then, without a pause, Jane walked over to the TV and put in the DVD. The three members of the council stood before us and told us all about our targets. The more they spoke, the more my heart was filling with dread. Everything they were saying was all too familiar to me. Then the pictures began and I could not deny it anymore. We were going to kill the Cullen family. Just as it sunk in, the most perfect vampire face was on the screen. Edward was staring back at me but not with the laughing perfect eyes I remembered; now he looked haunted and hollow. Whoever the girl he'd been chasing was, she had completely torn him apart. Once the pictures finished, the DVD ended and I stared at the screen in shock until I realized that everyone's eyes were on me.

Finally, Alec spoke up. "Bella, are you all right?"

His voice was anxious and terrified. I forced myself to remain composed. I looked at them all with a smile plastered on my face. Lying as a vampire was much easier than it ever was as a human. I knew how to make myself look happy when it was necessary, even though I was dying on the inside.

With a steady but dead voice, I said, "I'm fine. I am somewhat concerned about our strategy however. They are going to be difficult. I am going to have to maintain a shield over all of us, the whole time."

Part of me somewhat smiled at this internally. I knew that there was no way my shield would be able to stop Jasper or Alice. The only one I would affect would be Edward. At that thought I stopped. There was no way I could fight them. Even after all that had happened, I loved the Cullens too much to ever destroy them. I knew, though, that if I defected, there was no way Aro would let me get away with it. I realized then that I had not heard one single mention of their crime. I could start there.

Finally, I calmed myself enough to say, "What was their crime? Somehow I missed that."

Everyone looked at me with various levels of discomfort.

Finally, Alec mumbled, "The video didn't mention what their crime was."

I whipped out my cell phone with vampiric speed and dialed Aro's personal line.

Once I heard him on the other side of the line, I put on a fake sweet voice and said, "Aro, this is Bella. I was wondering something about our new targets. You neglected to mention their crime. What was it? Shouldn't we know what they are guilty of before we kill them? Shouldn't we be looking for evidence to substantiate their crime?"

I took a slow, even breath and waited for Aro's reply. This was the typical way things were done on the guard, so I knew that I was not breaking protocol to ask these questions of him. Usually we had all this information before entering a fight.

With an oddly uncomfortable tone in his voice, Aro finally replied, "Bella, my dear, they are a very large and powerful coven. While you were gone on your last mission, their leader Carlisle came to visit us in Volterra. I read the mind of one of their coven members, Garrett. What I saw disturbed me greatly. They have chosen to ally themselves with the children of the moon. The werewolves are our natural enemies. An action like this only means one thing. They will eventually try to overthrow Volterra. I know that your daughter is fond of Carlisle and Garrett, however this cannot be allowed, my dear."

Almost too quickly, I came back with, "Of course not Aro, someone who allies themselves with true werewolves should not be allowed to continue this practice. If we run into the wolves?"

Aro gave a hard laugh and said, "Take them out, just watch out for their teeth. Be careful, my dear."

Then I heard a click on the other end of the line and the call ended.

The whole group had heard what Aro had said. We knew how to deal with children of the moon of course. We had hunted them before in Europe. We had no idea that they could ally themselves with anyone. Suddenly, a flash of a conversation came back to me and in my mind, I heard Jacob Black telling me the legends of his tribe. I gasped and all the eyes in the room were on me again.

Finally, I spat out, "I grew up in this area of the country. I don't think we are dealing with true children of the moon. The Quileute tribe is not far from here. In their histories, they tell of the cold ones and their wolf ancestors. The tribe shape shifts into wolves. The form is just a coincidence. They do however have the power to destroy a vampire. Avoid their teeth at all costs."

The whole guard looked at me in amazement. I was never known to be someone who had this much strategic information.

I laughed slightly and said, "What? You're in my neck of the woods now."

I threw them all a brilliant smile and quickly left the room, dragging Renesmee with me.

As I ran away from the hotel, I considered calling Aro again and explaining that the Quileutes were not true werewolves but for some reason, I knew this would not matter to Aro. He would still want the Cullen clan dead. Their size and power was the real problem. Aro and Caius had ordered all these deaths because they felt threatened. The whole idea made me sick.

Suddenly, I knew we were being followed. I whipped around to see Jane and Alec on my tail. I motioned them to follow me and ran even faster towards the woods. Before I knew it, we were under the tree cover and far enough away from the hotel that we had no chance of being overheard. Slowly, I turned to the three of them and tried to talk. Instead, I broke down into tears. I couldn't kill the Cullens, not even for my freedom. They were my family. Suddenly I had two cold pairs of arms, and one very hot set of arms, encircling me.

Finally, Jane spoke up, "Bella, something is wrong here. I know that this is about more than being near home."

I looked up at them all and slowly nodded my head. I needed to tell them the truth, finally. I knew the only way I was going to be able to protect the Cullens was with their help. Then suddenly, Jane's face went tense and she pulled another envelope out of her cloak.

In a choked voice she said, "I have special instructions from Aro. I forgot about them until now."

Silently, she opened the flap and began to read. Her mouth turned into a small oval and her expression was one of horror.

Finally, she said in a dead voice, "They have never gone this far before. I cannot believe the council would do such a thing. We are really going after the Cullens to bring back Alice, Jasper and Edward as part of the guard. We are going to kill the rest."

I drew in a sharp breath and a loud growl escaped between my teeth.

Finally, I said, "The accusations against them are false, although I think Aro's letter makes that more than clear. This is a power grab, plain and simple. The people they have chosen to ally themselves with are not Children of the Moon. They are a shape shifting local Native American tribe. The wolf form is merely a coincidence. However, this is about power and the size of their coven, not their allies. We cannot do this. It is wrong. I will not kill innocents because Aro covets their powers. I will not touch this family, for family they are."

The other three looked at me with shock and awe written over their faces.

Finally, in a heartbroken voice I quietly said, "The Cullens are my family. My other family. Edward is the love of my existence and your father, Ness. I will not touch them. I cannot. If it comes down to it, I will fight against the guard to keep them safe. The only person who matters more to me than them, is you, Ness."

All three of them had frozen looks of shock and horror on their faces. I sunk down into the ground and began to cry again. As my body shook, part of my brain began to think. The only way we were going to get through this without their deaths was to out the council to the whole guard, and then defy their orders. As I quieted, I began to form a plan.

"I need to know now. Which side will you take? I have a plan to help them. I know that you know what the council is asking of us is completely wrong. I will defy them one way or another. I was going to leave Ness here with the Cullens anyway. Aro has many devious plans of late. He has become completely consumed by power. He was going to kidnap Renesmee, using her against me to keep me as part of the guard when we returned from this mission. I was going to leave her with the Cullens to protect her from Aro and to give me a way to escape," I told them all rapidly.

Suddenly, Jane and Alec spoke up as one voice, "We will not allow this to happen. The time has finally come. The council must be stopped."

Renesmee then said, "I will not allow my family to die. Aro and the council are wrong."

With that, we sat down and began to plan.

An hour later, with grimly determined expressions, we left the comfort of the woods to complete our plan. We were going to warn the Cullens and then we would return to the guard. We would not fight against them. When the guard decided to confront them, I would separate from the group with the excuse of taking Renesmee to a safe location, far away from the fighting. I would then run Ness to the Cullens and return to the guard. When we confronted them, if the guard did not see how wrong Aro's intentions were, then Jane, Alec and I would fight with the Cullens. Suddenly, I was thankful that Aro had not sent Chelsea to fight with us. She would have sensed our division and renewed everyone else's ties to the Volturi. As we arrived at the house, I almost fell apart again. It was the same house. We were on the outskirts of Forks, and not really near Olympia. They had moved back to my home. From what we had been told, they were no longer interacting with the humans around them, choosing instead to keep to themselves.

In hushed tones that I knew the vampires waiting inside could not hear, I said, "My name is not to be mentioned and I will not lower my cloak. I do not want them to know who I am. Jane and Alec, you need to do all the talking. I will keep you under my shield so Edward will not be able to read your minds. Ness - you know how to effectively block your mind. This is why I have taught this to you. You need to keep Edward out of your head. He cannot know who I am or who you really are to him. Promise me!"

My little one looked at me painfully for a moment and then gravely nodded her head in my direction.

As we came into full view, I heard the familiar sound of a metal wall closing over the glass one and the door silently opened. My heart broke again as I saw my family walk out towards us. At first, their faces were full of anger, but it was slowly replaced with confusion. Apparently, they knew that more of the guard was coming for them. Alice must have told them. Abruptly, I realized that I had not counted on Alice. She would have seen this and would know who I was. I focused on her face and saw a look of excitement evident all over her. She winked at me and then put on a mask of confusion. Edward turned and scowled at her. I assumed that she was blocking her thoughts from him. At this, I reluctantly focused on his face. The pain was evident all over him. I wanted so badly to cross the distance and comfort him, but I knew it would not be welcomed.

Finally, Carlisle spoke up, "What do you want from us? We know you have come to destroy and acquire. I warn you, we will not go without a fight. Renesmee, I am surprised to see you in the company of these killers."

Jane drew in a slow breath and gently said, "Carlisle, we had no knowledge of why we were here until we arrived. We believe this course of action is wrong. We will not fight with the guard against you. If it comes to that, we will take your side. We cannot tell you our reasons but please believe that we want to protect your family from this harm. After the confrontation, we will return to Volterra and make Aro's greed and corruption widely known if they refuse to leave your family alone."

We spoke for over an hour. Edward became more and more frustrated as the time went on. Ness grabbed my hand, communicated her curiosity about his response and I laughed for a moment. His inability to read us was driving him nuts. I carefully bent my head towards my daughter and whispered in her ear, explaining his annoyance. Ness laughed and Edward growled.

Carlisle gave Edward a sharp look and said, "Forgive my son, he feels uncomfortable when he cannot read other's minds."

Jane smiled and said, "Renesmee's mother is a mental shield. We did not want to accidently share with you more than we had planned. After all, we are still a part of the Volturi and have secrets that we cannot share. However, Ness can show you the commitment of our cause, if you like. She is much more practiced at blocking her thoughts from others."

Silently, Ness stepped forward and reached out towards Edward.

He suddenly gasped and quickly said, "They are telling the truth. There is something they do not wish us to know but it has nothing to do with their plan. They are honest. Renesmee, you are a unique and powerful creature. Your talent is amazing."

For a moment, my favorite smile was on his face but almost before I registered it, he replaced it with an expression of pain.

After sharing the whole plan with them, we quietly left. Before I could stop myself, I turned quickly towards them as we reached the tree line and looked back at Edward. The sudden wind I created with my movement spread out like a cloud away from me and the expression on Edward's face went from pain to utter agony.

In a broken voice, I heard him choke out, "Strawberries - and freesia."

Apparently, my scent had not changed enough for him not to be familiar with it. Before he could react, I turned back and ran as fast as I could through the trees. As I ran, I thought through his response. Why would my scent cause him so much pain? He had thrown me aside for someone else. It must be guilt that motivated him. I was glad I had not revealed myself to them.

Just before we hit the other side of the woods, I heard something behind me. I flipped around and looked behind me. After a moment, Alice stepped into view. I sighed and walked towards her slowly.

After a moment, Alice shakily said, "Bella, is that really you?"

I sighed again, lowered my hood, and looked my best friend fully in the face. Suddenly, Alice flew towards me and wrapped her tiny arms around me.

Alice gushed out, "Bella! I can't believe it's you. I saw you in my vision but I still couldn't believe it. I have missed you so much, my friend. I know what is going on. I know who Nessie is even though I can't see her."

Alice hugged me even tighter.

Finally, I said with a laugh, "I should have known I wouldn't be able to keep the truth from you, my irritating pixie of a friend."

Alice backed up, laughed and said, "Of course not. I've been driving Edward nuts for weeks now. He has been trying to read my mind continuously since he realized I was blocking him out. I have had many very confusing visions since I first saw you. Your future is very murky. I have seen two general versions though. You with Alec, arm in arm, or you marrying Edward - finally."

I looked hard into Alice's eyes and said, "Alice, that was a very long time ago. I am part of the Volturi now."

Then I turned my back and ran for the hotel before I broke down again.

As I ran, I heard Alice's chipper pixie-like voice ring out, "Bella, you know better than to bet against me. Your future just became crystal clear. See you soon, sis!"

The moment I crossed the doorway into the hotel, Alec's arms were wrapped around me, holding me close to him. After a few moments he picked me up, not caring about the looks he was getting from the humans that surrounded us, and took me to my room. Once we were back in my room, Alec gently put me on the bed and held me as I sobbed. Seeing them again was almost more than I could handle. The pain that was on Edward's face made me want to die and yet all I could do was stand there and watch him suffer. I kept reminding myself that he was suffering because of someone else and not because he loved me, but I couldn't help but want to comfort him and chase all the pain away.

After a couple of hours, Alec gently said, "Bella, I know it hurts. I know you are in pain but we need to move the plan ahead. It is time to prepare for the confrontation. You need to do this for him, and for your daughter."

I took some deep breaths and slowly calmed myself down. The imaginary hole in my chest was bleeding profusely, but I supposed there was no way to help that with Edward in such close proximity.

I turned to Alec and said, "I don't know how Alice thinks that I will end up with Edward. He loves someone else. Kate told me as much. Why would she think I would put myself in a situation where I was with someone who didn't really love me?" Alec sighed.

"Maybe, my dear, things are different than what they seem like to you. I don't know how someone who knows you could choose anyone else."

I looked at Alec apologetically and said, "Alec, I'm sorry. I don't want to make things any harder on you. I shouldn't be turning to you with this."

Alec started and said, "Bella, it's alright. The pain is my own choosing. We really should go though. Jane will start to throw a fit and you know how my sister can be."

Slowly, I pulled myself together and left the room with Alec to meet up with the rest of guard. I was suddenly glad that I would not have to do much talking or planning in the meeting we were headed to.

For the next few hours, we sat together working on strategy. Jane and Alec laid down various scenarios. Four of us knew that the plans we were making in this room were just decoys for what would really happen, but the rest of the guard was used to following Jane and Alec's lead, so they did not question some of the more unusual directions that were given. For the first time ever, I would take my rightful place as point with Jane and Alec flanking me. The rest of the guard would be strategically placed behind us. I knew this was so the three of us could easily separate ourselves from the guard if needed, but the rest simply saw it as me taking my position as the head of the guard, finally. This threw many more questions my way, but I was able to deflect them easily to the witch twins, which the rest of the guard called them behind their backs. Finally, we were finished and it was time for me to take Ness to a safe place. The guard thought nothing of the fact that only Jane, Alec and I knew where she was going to be. They were aware of Edward's power and we were able to use this to our advantage.

I quickly ran towards the Cullens with Ness in my arms. She begged me to talk to them, however, I knew it would be a mistake. When we arrived, Alice was waiting outside for us. I quickly shielded her and handed Nessie off.

Alice knew she couldn't say a word or the rest would hear, but she hugged me fiercely and said, "I will take care of your daughter. I promise."

I smiled from under my hooded cloak and said, "Thank you for everything, Alice."

I hugged her again, waited for a moment to allow her to get her thoughts under control and then ran for the forest. I had a few hours until the battle, and even though I knew I would regret it, there was something in me that forced me to run for the meadow that was so special to Edward and I. I burst into the clearing and sank into the grass. It was a sunny day and I watched as my hands sparkled in the sunlight. My heart broke yet again sitting in this spot. I tried to distract myself and used my now perfect memory to record the meadow just as it was in my mind. I never wanted to forget this place. Suddenly, I heard a noise behind me. I whipped around and saw Edward standing there with a dumbfounded look on his face. He moved towards me slightly, agony evident on his face.

Finally, he spat out, "What are you doing here? Haven't you disturbed us enough?"

I looked at him incredulously and then ran from the meadow. I knew he had not seen my face, but my scent was enough to tell him who I was. He knew it was me and wanted nothing to do with me. Once I was far enough away from the meadow, I collapsed in tears. He didn't want me, and I was nothing but a nuisance to him.

I cried until I noticed that the light was completely gone from the forest, so I made the one other trip I needed to do while I was here. It was time to say goodbye to Charlie. It had been long enough that the change could be explained but if I waited too much longer, I knew Charlie would suspect something was wrong because I would look too young to be his daughter. This was going to be difficult. I picked myself up off the ground and ran towards Charlie's house.

Longest post A/N ever ;)

Whew! Hope you enjoyed… more coming soon. There is about 100 pages of this left to go so we aren't even close to done yet :)

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