Aurora

Disclaimer: As much as I would love to claim Carlisle and the rest of the Cullen clan, they aren't. Caterina is but the universe she lives in isn't mine either.

Summary: Carlisle Cullen stumbled across Volterra in the late 17th c. What he found there made him leave all of the old world behind after only a couple of decades.

Author's Note: Woohoo! More fav's! I hope y'all like the next few chapters. This one will be sort of a round up and then the next few will lead up to Carlisle's leaving.

Chapter 22

Our journey back the castle was a quiet one for neither I nor Caterina spoke much during our slow walk back to the familiar walls. I noticed a strange change in demeanor for Caterina that I could not place for her self being normally of a good humor or most sporting but now rather quiet and almost shy in an odd way for neither were words I would ever consider in describing my sister before. I blamed it on Anna's escape for none else couldst I think to cause such a change in humor. Gently, I draped my arm about her shoulders in comfort for which she smiled gratefully to me before re-examining her pale ivory hands before her.

The halls were filled with others of our kind, all whispering as we did pass them for Caterina was leading me towards Aro's chambers to give him report, no doubt. I chose to stay with her for I was fearful in this change of temperament in my sister and knew not what to make of it. To leave her alone might make her divulge further into her melancholy and of this I could not have, so it were for my own sanity that I stayed by her side. Of the stares and whispers, I wished to protect her for I liked not the looks that many of the women of our kind gave her. The men seemed to find her curious, noticing that she was of an odd humor, but otherwise did not seem to have any ill thoughts regarding her but the women were most vicious in their looks and whispering. In such respect did I pull her closer to me so that I might shield her with my body for none else might work given the greatly increasing numbers as we drew closer to the library door.

Felix stood before the door and gave but a raised eyebrow to both myself and Caterina. Caterina shook her head and attempted to offer a smile but this caused only a look of wonderment upon Felix's face rather than dissuade his curiosity further. As we broached the doors, Aro rose within his library and walked towards us from his desk with open arms in welcome. "Caterina! Carlisle! My friends, how good it is of you to come see me!" he called to us. It was but a few short steps when he did stop before use, his visage quickly changing to one of doubt given Caterina's seemingly demure attitude she had adopt though I would never hath thought before to use such a word to describe her.

"What has happened?" he asked more so me than Caterina in his heavily accented Italian.

"Anna stole away two of Doctor Gagliardo's children," I informed him. There was a time that he would simply touch my hand in which to see all of that which I know but long as that time passed given Caterina's instructions many years ago and her claims to Aro that no good would come of the use of this abilities against myself. Aro looked most displeased at such a revelation before turning to Caterina's hidden face.

"Of Anna?" he asked her simply but seriously; the humor of his greeting having left his tone of voice. Caterina shook her head, refusing at first to meet his gaze. It was only upon Aro's pacing in thought that some semblance of my sister returned and she looked up.

"Carlisle saved the Doctor Gagliardo's daughter but before he was well enough away, a werewolf and a vampire did attach me," she began to report with no humor either good or ill to her voice, her mask now firmly in place and looking much the soldier I knew of her to be.

"A werewolf and a vampire?" Aro asked incrediously as he looked upon her. Caterina nodded at his direction, giving away little.

"Newborns, the both of them. I have yet to find the ones that created either creature but one of the children of the moon is working with Anna as I have suspected," she further reported. I noticed that she did not mention the village nor that our secret had been exposed by Anna and I wondered if she would keep such from Aro.

"Yes, yes. You did mention that a few years back, did you not? I assume they are both destroyed?" Aro asked as he returned to his desk to sit and swept his hand before him to show us that we may take our leisure and sit upon the chairs before him. I lead, gently, Caterina to one seat while I took another near her.

"Indeed but not before Anna and others it might seem did take out an entire village not far from here," she stated with only a hint of pain indicated in her face. I tried not to think upon the most horrible sight of blood and bodies torn apart that had laid before me when I went to retrieve Bianca.

"An entire village?" Aro demanded, his anger not directed towards us but towards that of Anna most clearly.

"None did survive her rampage other than the Gagliardo children and that was but mere luck," Caterina answered him and to this did I agree.

Aro was quiet in thought for a moment before he asked anymore questions; his finger tapping his chin lightly. "The children, of what did they see?" he asked for this was the question I did most dread.

"Much, in Bianca's case but she thinks us not to be vampires but to be…strega buona. I do not trow that the secret is…" Caterina began but was interrupted by Aro's laughter.

"Good witches?" he smiled and clasped his hands together. "Oh that is most delightful!"

"I believe the term she used was Stregoni benefici," I added to which my sister rolled her eyes and muttered something along the lines of "it means the same thing". Aro's smile only grew and I did hope this meant that Bianca would have no trouble from the Volturi for in such a fight, I would have a hard chose to make.

"How wonderful! Yes, yes, certainly there is no problem. As long as she does not think you to be vampires but to be sorcerers, then little can be traced back, of course. I assume she thinks Anna to be a bad witch?" Aro said, his good humor returning quickly.

"Yes and I believe that the other lady, Lavinia, believes that Anna has the ability to fly," Caterina bit her lip while trying to say that. It was an amusing thing to see Lavinia look up upon the sky when she thought Anna was returning. Aro laughed again and I did allow myself one small chuckle at the thought for, despite the situation, the thought was highly amusing.

"What folly! You shall point these ladies out to me next week so I might know their faces?" Aro asked Caterina as I furrowed my brow for I knew not of what next week would allow Aro to see the Gagliardo children. Caterina but nodded and Aro turned to me, noticing my confusion.

"The carnival, Carlisle! And here I thought our Venetian lady would drive you mad with her thoughts on the subject of such a party," Aro teased with laughter in his voice. Caterina stood and I with her but again her face grew serious.

"The village should be to cinders now and may be blamed on a kitchen, if you wish. I will try to find out more regarding the werewolves and their plans to help Anna," she ended her report. Aro nodded and then gestured that we may take our leave. I turned to give Catty my arm so I might escort her to her chambers.

"Please inform me or Caius if you find anything further, Caterina," Aro said as he bade us goodbye for we took through the doors again and quickly did I lead my sister to her own chambers.

Once in the safety of her own rooms, in which Marguerite had already set a steaming bath in which for Caterina to refresh herself, I watched as the mask fell from my sister's face and changed to one of pure exhaustion. I did not wish to deter her from her bath.

"I will take my leave then," I bowed to make as graceful an exit as I might.

Caterina's face turned from one of exhaustion, not that our kind can suffer from any true form of it, to one of frantic fear. "No, please dear brother, stay!" she pleaded with me. Quickly, I was once again upright and by her side, worried over this more vulnerable side, almost womanly side, to Caterina though I was never in doubt to her sex but rather her manners had always been more masculine with a gentle feminine aura to them. Again, she hung her head and whispered slightly, "only if that is thy wish, of course."

I knelt to her side, taking her hands into mine for I wished her to know the veracity of my words through my touch. "I wish only to help thee, sister for thou art most discontent. Tell me, if thou wilt, of what hath caused your current humor," I begged of her. I did not wish to see her in such pain for it caused me pain. Was it the sights of this night? It would seem odd if that were the case for Caterina hath seen nearly this bad before and withstood the visions before her eyes far better than I had; so why now it be that I seem to be better suited this night for the gruesomeness we hath seen than she?

She shook her head and such pain registered in her eyes that I knew not what to make of it for I hath never seen it before within her. She did cup my face as if a mother to small child who begs a question that the child cannot yet comprehend the answer to for too much innocence is still within the child and the mother wishes not to destroy the goodness there. "If I told thee of what thoughts were rampaging through my head at this very moment, I do believe thou would never speak to me again and disown me most completely," she said with a weak smile.

"Never!" I shouted to her as I held tightly to her hands. This only served to caused a half witted smirk to escape her dark rosed lips before leaning back and closing her eyes in thought again. Before I might be able to ask my question again, Marguerite came within the living chamber again and nodded to me in acknowledgement of my presence.

"Mistress, your bath does turn cold," the lady's made gently chastised but also served to remind her mistress of matters that I much doubted Caterina cared much about at the moment. A very small smile crept upon her lips as she slowly rose as I did rise with her. Her amber eyes turned to mine in pleading as I still held her hands.

"Do not leave me Carlisle. Stay. Take a chair and avert thy eyes if that is what thou doth wish but, please, do not leave," she whispered. I remembered when I first, though but in accident, walked in upon her bathing. I was horribly embarrassed and quickly turned around to leave only to hear Caterina laughing uncontrollably from her water closet. I found out in her day that many places had public baths and bathing houses so for anyone to see you without a stitch on was nearly normal in her mind. Since then, she hath placed a bit of sweetened leather above the tub once she doth get in so that I need not have fear of seeing anything that I shouldn't of my own sister, she told me in a most teasing manner.

I kissed her head and let her go to her bath in which I would follow to such room a few moments behind for I did not wish to leave either with such horrid images still fresh within my mind. I did fear that if left to my own empty chambers in which my thoughts might be allowed to echo on endlessly, that I would never wish to come out due to any fear of seeing such a blood bath as I did this night again. At least with my sister and her maid in an arm's reach, I could distract myself from myself and not let myself wallow into melancholy.

Once I head Catty slip into the water of the basin, I knew it was safe in which to enter, eyes averted to preserve her modesty though she thought little of it given her human life but still I was determined to treat my sister as the lady I knew her to be as much as she would let me. I heard her voice carry to me in the living chamber, announcing that it was all well and good for me to enter anon and silently, I took a chair and brought it into the room where she was so that I would not simply stand about in the corner as some horrid lurker with my eyes downcast the entire time. I closed my eyes, knowing well the layout of the chambers in Caterina's apartment within the castle and placed my chair facing back of the basin so I would be close to her but not see her in such state of undress.

"Now, Carlisle, this is folly, verily!" she stated as I entered and placed the chair. I smiled given that her voice now sounded her own and not the odd demure one I had heard earlier and of which did give me fright.

"Catty, it is not folly to protect thine modesty for we have been over this again and again," I told her as I took my seat and opened my eyes, staring at the wall. Yes, it was a bit of silliness but of this folly no harm could come and I would not have images burned into my mind that I shalt never be able to get out. I have long since learned that our kind forget nothing including that which they wish they were most able too but all things stay within their mind which I have found of great use upon my studies and to further my research of medicine.

"Thou be simply most fearful of seeing me humbled and not being able to get such an image of thine sister out of thine head, admit as such!" she sported me, kicking some water and getting my waistcoat wet in the back.

"Indeed! But I also was raised that even this," I stated as I gestured to the current situation, "be most improper." Caterina huffed at me and I didst smile for I knew that she could not win at this debate and that this debate was but one small matter to distract both ourselves form the greater matters that no doubt weighed upon Caterina's mind as well for the werewolves were helping Anna.

After a few moments of silence, Caterina splashed me again to which I smirked and moved my chair slightly knowing was still well within her reach for it was quite hard to be out of a vampire's reach when it came to such things. Such a movement served as nothing more than a way to show my displeasure at having the back of my waistcoat soaked thoroughly. It was only a few soft moments after this that Caterina did arise from her bathing, for I heard the water move slightly about her, and heard the soft footsteps of her made.

"It is safe for thine eyes, Carlisle, though I know thine eyes not to be as innocent as thou doth pretend," she sported. I turned to see my sister in a simple dress and shift, her hair soaked and made to look like blackened iron tresses that cascaded down her back.

"It is not for my own eyes that I do this, Catty," I told her again as she sighed and rolled her own amber eyes at me but did smile. She came over quickly and kissed me upon my cheek, the smell of strawberries and sweet cream intensified about her.

"Grand merci for staying, Carlisle. I do not wish to be alone this day. Wilt thou go with me to the seamstress for I need some thread and ribbons?" she begged of me and I could not refuse her for not only was it my brotherly duty to escort my sister within the city, I still had no wish to be alone either and this would be our way of forgetting our care; by focusing on the carnival and dressing for the occasion.

Author's Note: A little shorter than most chapters but hopefully not too bad. Next, Carnival! It's pretty much the 18th century now so Carnival? 18th Century? In Italy? Party!!!!!!!!! I think Carlisle needs a mask…..too bad pink elephants don't have the humorous connotations like they do today….