ElPOV

It wasn't hard to see that they were keeping something from me. Ever since we got to the island, Bella and Edward were bombarding me with things to do. I swam in a coral reef, climbed the small, single mountain that made up the northern half of the island, hiked through the forest, and I even managed to find a parrot that let me handle him. Bella agreed to let me keep him as a pet, and I named him Captain Jack. I've tried to teach him how to talk, but he seems to like mimicking my laugh more than speaking.

I knew that they were putting something in my drinks. I managed to put it all together. Whenever I would get anxious or start talking about home, someone would go and get me a soda or something, and thirty minutes later, my anxiety was gone. I wasn't going to say anything yet, I planned on letting them think that I was oblivious to the fact that they were trying to control me. At one point, when Bella came into my room with a soda, I wanted to shout "If you wanted to control my feelings, why didn't you just pack Jasper in my suitcase?!"

We hadn't been on the island for a week before the first call from home came. We were watching some teen comedy when Edward's phone started buzzing softly in his pocket. I kept my eyes on the screen as though I didn't hear it, hoping that he would answer and stay seated. No such luck, though. He got up, locked eyes with Bella for a split second, and walked into the next room. Bella stood up, following him away. I strained my ears, hoping my half-vampire ears would be enough to hear at least one side of the conversation.

"It's Alice," Edward whispered to Bella. "Alice?" There was silence as Alice spoke, my ears strained to their limit, but still not able to make out the mumbles coming from the phone. I was tempted to get up and listen, but I knew that if I moved, one of them would hear me and they would move to a different room. "Why do they need to talk to us?" A few more mumblings came from the phone, and Edward sighed. "Yes, fine. I just hope you understand how dangerous it is to have Elsie there right now. On top of having a wolf imprint on her, her birthday is in a week, and we have no idea when the Volturi will show up…Yes, all right…Tell Tanya that we'll be there soon…Yes, thanks…Love you, too…Bye Alice." I heard his phone snap shut. "Alice called the airports, and the tickets are waiting."

"Edward, I'm not sure about this. Can't only one of us go?"

"No…Tanya won't have anyone else help them reach an understanding…she knows that you have the strongest bond with the wolves, and she feels safer around the wolves with me there because she knows they would never go up against me if a peace talk went badly."

"You know I'm not happy about this…the Volturi, and now the wolves…it's too much, Edward. I lost you, once, or I thought I did…I can't lose her, too. I may be immortal, but that's not something I can live through."

"Don't worry. We'll figure something out. We'll go away for a while, keep Elsie safe, be together, away from the Volturi." I heard them come back into the room, and I focused on the TV again.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked, completely innocent.

"Elsie…we need to go home. Tanya wants to have a peace talk with the wolves. Apparently, she's willing to forgive them for killing Laurent, but she doesn't trust then enough to do it alone, and she insists that your mother and I be there," Edward explained as Bella went to the bedrooms, no doubt to start packing. I had only met Tanya once or twice, and the last time was when I was about five or six; the Denali clan never came to visit much.

"OK. Sure. I love it here, but I was getting a little homesick. Maybe I'll get to see Shawn again at the meeting…" I mused.

"NO!" Edward said, a little too fast. "You're not going to the meeting. Alice has been missing her shopping partner…and I'm sure she'll be waiting to take you to Seattle to raid the stores." I grimaced, heading to my room to start packing my things. I couldn't understand why they didn't want me to see Shawn. They didn't have a problem with the wolves, and I didn't see what the big deal was. I threw my clothes into my suitcase in a silent protest. I knew any verbal protesting I did wouldn't help.

I stole a bottled water from the fridge and sat in the sane at the edge of the water, letting the waves lick at my toes as Bella loaded the luggage into the boat. She started the boat's engine, and Edward called for me. I sighed, brushing the sand form my thighs, and ran to the boat. I leaped in before Edward revved the engine to start heading out to sea.

APOV

"Yes, thanks," Edward said.

"Wait!" I exclaimed, but my eyes met Aro's and I sighed. "I love you, Edward."

"I love you, too. Bye, Alice."

"See you soon," I said. The line went dead, and I flipped my phone closed. Solemnly, I looked up at Aro. "They're on their way now."

"Good. I wouldn't want anything to happen to your precious Jasper if you alerted Edward and Bella somehow." Aro smiled, and I fought the urge to rip his face off. I didn't know much about what the Volturi would and wouldn't do, but I knew they wouldn't react too kindly if I disfigured his face.

"Why don't you want them to know that you're here?"

"Because I have a feeling that their daughter isn't one of us, even though her birthday is in a week, and I think that they would run with her to keep me from her. Which is why I came early, and why I decided to come alone; I didn't want your gift to interfere with our ability to make sure that our laws are carried out."

"And one of your laws is to have a trusted ally kill their own daughter?" I snapped back. Aro's eyes narrowed.

"If the Volturi declare that something is to be carried out or a punishment will be given, then it is treated as a law." Aro stepped forward, but I held my ground. "Don't tempt me, dear Alice. I don't want to hurt your beloved mate, but I will if you continue to defy me, or if I find out that you have been less than honest with me, and trust me…" He reached for my arm, almost touching my skin, "I'll know." I dropped my eyes, praying that maybe Edward would hear Aro's thoughts, and they would be safe.

ElPOV

The journey back to Seattle was uneventful. I tried mentioning Shawn a few times, but was met with nothing but resistance. When we walked into the parking garage of the Seattle airport, I immediately spotted the Volvo. As soon as Bella pressed the button to unlock it, I ran and got in. Bella walked to the driver's side, but Edward took the keys from her. "Alice must have picked up her car, because I parked right next to you." Bella laughed, circling the car to pounce into the passenger seat while Edward tossed the luggage into the trunk.

The journey to Forks didn't take long, either, seeing as how both of my parents are speed freaks. One thing you learn living with the Cullens is how NOT to get motion sickness.

Things started getting crazy as Edward turned into the long drive to the house. About a yard from the entrance, he slammed on the brakes, sending me flying into the back of the passenger seat. "What the hell!" I looked up, rubbing my head. Edward wasn't paying attention, though. His face was screwed up in confusion, and his eyes were widened in the direction of the house. Bella stared at him for a second.

"No," she whispered, almost too softly for me to hear. She shook her head in disbelief, still staring at Edward. He finally looked at her, and I could tell he was in pain.

"What do we do?" Edward asked her. "What…" His question choked off.

I was getting frustrated. "What the hell is going on? When will someone tell me what's happening?" They both looked back at me, almost startled to see that I was still in the car. They were lucky, because two more minutes of this and I would be getting out and walking.

Bella glanced at Edward, and he gripped the wheel again, punching the gas and spinning us around. "We'll explain after we get you somewhere safe." Bella turned around to face the windshield again. I groaned, wondering when they would stop keeping secrets from me.

BPOV

I wasn't paying attention to anything until Edward slammed on the brakes. I nearly jumped, my reflex from my human days telling me we had gotten into a wreck before I registered the fact that it wasn't possible. I looked at Edward, Letting him hear the concern in my thoughts.

"Aro," he thought, turning to face me. His eyes were filled with pain and fear, two things I never wanted to have to see in them again.

"No." I whispered, shaking my head.

"What do we do? What…" Edward's voice choked off.

I looked in his eyes. "It can't be him. There's still a week left…there must be some kind of mistake…"

"Bella, I heard his thoughts! He's in the house right now, waiting for us!"

"But…Alice…She would have…"

"Not if he forced her to use a different excuse to get us home. He probably didn't want us to run…"

"What the hell is going on? When will someone tell me what's happening?" Elsie sounded from the back seat, startling the both of us.

I turned back to face Edward. "We have to get her out of here. We'll come back…we'll talk to Aro…maybe get him to give us more time…but we have to get her out of here."

"Where?"

"The wolves. Take her to Sam…and Shawn. They'll protect her."

Edward grabbed the steering wheel and punched the gas, spinning us around, and headed for La Push. I could only hope that we could get back in time so that nothing happened to the rest of our family.

A/N: Well, I've finally posted another chapter. It took me long enough, I know. I've been working on a new story called "Darkness". It's about Edward losing his control, and what happens when Bella's blood and body become too much for him. I'm also thinking about starting yet another story…my version of what happens after Breaking Dawn. I'm going to call it "Falling Dusk" (Yes, I know, another 'D') but it will take me a little while to set up, so I wouldn't be expecting it anytime soon. I'm not going to be updating this as much as I update Darkness. No one's commenting on this one anymore, and no one's reading it because they see that it's a sequel, and they don't think that maybe I gave enough info in the first chapter to make it good for both new and old readers. Most people don't want to go and look up the first part to this story, so they don't read it. I'm not really too thrilled to write something that barely anyone will read. I know there are people that do read this, but I'm just not sure if that makes up for it anymore. I'm not giving up on this story per say, but I'm just going to be updating my others a lot more than this one.

So, be on the lookout for Falling Dusk, and maybe take the time to read Darkness.