Sorry for disappearing. The holidays and schoolwork have managed to put my writing on the back burner this vacation. This oneshot is actually the longest yet, so hopefully it makes up for it. Sorry once again.

I've had this idea in my head for a while. When I imagined it, it was longer than a oneshot. It's compacted, but hopefully still good.

After this comment, I'll swear I'll stop bugging you. I just wanted to thank you guys for the awesome reviews. It's great that you like my little oneshots. Thanks for supporting me. :]

On with the show!

Where

(What would happen if Bella did have to go to the Volturi and prove she was a vampire?)

Bella Pov:

"Mom, where are you going?"

Renesmee was sitting forlornly on the floor, watching me pack my bag. Carlisle and I were leaving this afternoon for Volterra, quelling the impatience of the Volturi and hoping to stop the surprise visit they would pay us soon. I didn't know what to tell Renesmee. I did not plan on lingering in the city long and I didn't want to worry her. I turned around and bent down to her level.

"There are some people I need to speak to. The...kings and queens of the vampires." Her eyes brightened, thinking of grand, beautiful people clad in gold and jewels, surrounded by loyal subjects. "I won't be gone long. They knew me when I wasn't a vampire and they want to see me now." She didn't look worried now, but as I stood up Edward was in the doorway looking at me with a tortured expression. Renesmee noticed it as well but realized we wanted to talk alone. She went outside.

Edward came over and took my hand, still not saying anything. I lifted my hand and rested it on his face, waiting for him to look up. I hated to leave, just so soon after I knew I would have him forever. "I'll be alright, and nothing will happen to me. They won't hurt me, they have nothing to hurt me for."

He finally sighed and looked up at me.

"That doesn't change anything. I can barely stand sending you off alone." He wrapped an arm around my waist and followed me around the room as I packed my things. When the moment came to leave it was nearly impossible to say goodbye. I knew there was no reason to worry, that I would be home soon. The Volturi frightened me, and it would be hard, impossibly so, without him by my side.

Carlisle stood by the door with his bag and hand, Esme by his side. I kissed Edward quickly but passionately, and we were out the door and climbing into the car. Renesmee gave me a hug goodbye and reminded me to be nice to the kings and queens. I smiled and said that I would. My gaze followed my family out the window until we turned a corner and I could no longer see them.

Despite the fact that the Cullens spent too much money on me, I was glad for the private first-class seating arrangement. My expression was hidden from me, but I was sure it wasn't composed enough to look normal and human. I chatted with Carlisle off and on until it was time to feign sleep for the attendants.

The plane touched down in cloudy London after our long flight. Carlisle set his suitcase down and hugged me briefly. "You won't have any trouble with the Volturi. Despite how horrible they may sound, they don't like killing those they consider friends without reason. Aro seems genuinely fond of you."

"Thank you Carlisle, for coming with me this far. I hate to pull you away from everyone else."

He squeezed my shoulder. "Think nothing of it, you are as much a daughter to me as anyone." With final parting words he headed off to his connections and I boarded the other plane that would take me to Italy.

This flight seemed much shorter than I would have liked. It always seemed that time flew by fast when you didn't want it to, but creeped by at a crawl when you needed it to move faster. A cab ride and a short walk later, I found myself looking at Castle Volturi.

The city was different than I remembered it. The courtyard was nearly empty due to the fact that no major holiday was being celebrated. I was also more keenly aware of how menacing the castle was. The other time I had been here I was running to find Edward, and than I was too tired to remember my own name. Not exactly the best conditions for sight-seeing.

As I entered the familiar lobby Gianna looked up with a bit of surprise on her face. She quickly smiled and stood up to shake my hand.

"Bella! How lovely to see you. My, you do look lovely if I may be so bold. Aro will be pleased that you stopped by." I was overwhelmed by her cheeriness, but her demeanor was pleasant all the same.

"Hello Gianna, it's nice to see you as well. Did you want me to wait?" I gestured to the couch pushed against the wall, smiling slightly as I spotted the one we had originally sat on as we waited to leave.

She glanced at her watch and shook her head. "Go right in."

I nodded and began the walk down the hallway that would bring me to that dreaded room. I did not want to remember how many people had flowed into there one day, never to make it outside again. The woman with the rosary flew to my mind, and I missed Edward so terribly that it was a physical pain. I took a deep breath and laid my hand on the oak door, pushing it open.

All heads in the room turned in my direction. I pointed out the three I remembered well, Aro, Felix, and Demetri. Of course, little Jane was another face that I couldn't miss. Marcus sat in the back of the room, looking....uninterested. Aro smiled with delight.

"Bella! My, how immortality has suited you. You are quite lovely, and I am pleased to see you wearing my gift." I lifted my fingers to trace the necklace briefly before returning them to my side. I decided that wearing the necklace was a bit of a peace offering, hoping to remain on their good side.

I smiled and focused on Aro alone. "Thank you, also for this lovely present. It was kind of you to think of me."

Aro waved away my compliment with his hand and than turned to me curiously. "I now see that you are a vampire, so there is now no need for us to worry. Dear Bella, I am curious. Did you come alone?" He glanced at the door as if to see the rest of the Cullens pile into the room. A wrinkle of suspicion marred the papery thin smoothness of his brow.

I had expected this question to pop up sooner or later. "The Cullens have done so much for me after all this time. I did not want to pull them away from everyone else. Coming by myself would be much less of a burden for everyone." It was a vague answer, but he didn't press the issue. He smiled and waved Jane forward. "I hope you will stay for a few days at least. Your first impression of our wonderful home was not a pleasant one." I nodded and followed the smirking Jane out of the room, Felix looking at me regretfully.

Jane led me down a dark hallway, up a flight of stairs and through more twists and turns until we hit a lighter hallway with many doors on the side. She turned to me with an unreadable expression. "You may leave your luggage here...but may I speak with you?"

It was my turn to look suspicious. I set the bag down and looked around the room. It was macabre...despite the fire that crackled happily in the grate and the lights around the room. Jane was staring at me very hard, her mouth turning down slightly. Noticing my slightly annoyed expression, she smiled. "I had to try."

She walked over to a chair and sat down gently, her moves menacing in their gracefulness. She pondered the flames for a minute before leaning her childish hand in her palm and regarding me with a fixed stare. "Since I first saw you Bella....with your Edward, you have puzzled me. A bond between a human and a vampire, one of true love, is so very rare. Not lust, like the succubus and incubus in this world." She smiled slightly. "A bond like that is so precious, I've only seen it once before.......I've seen it end tragically."

Jane looked forward again. "I have seen you regard Marcus before. He wasn't always this emotionless and seemingly bored with everything around him. He was married, of course, to Didyme." I nodded, having heard her name spoken by Edward and Carlisle. I also knew that she was no longer living.

Jane gave me a second to think before she continued. "The difference between them and everyone else was the same as the bond you share with Edward. They loved each other deeply. Aro and Caius do care for Sulpicia and Athenodora, but they don't necessarily love each other. It was a bond made for strength." Something flashed across her face, a quick show of emotion that disappeared within a second.

"During an old vampire war in the south, Didyme was killed. When you lose the one you love, you may become depressed. You may destroy yourself, you may sob until your heart is so broken you may never heal it. You could forget your past completely and live under some other name. Marcus become emotionless after her death, and hasn't changed a bit after all these years."

With those words Jane stood up and came to sit next to me. "I saw the love between you. Just as you would die if something happened to Edward, he would die if anything happened to you. Dearest Bella, you must keep yourself safe for him. Despite the dislike I have for all of you, I could never wish that sort of pain on anyone. It goes beyond the torture I can create."

She stood up and walked to the door, turning slightly with her hand on the handle. "I have business to attend to, so this will be the last you will see of me for now. Remember that your protection is not the only thing you must fight for." She turned fully and smiled ever so slightly. "Farewell." The sound was a whisper on the wind, and with a small thud she was gone.

I remained in Volterra for a few days more, but the loneliness had become so overwhelming I knew I must leave. Aro was disappointed to see me go so soon, but consented and asked that I passed his kind words on to his friend Carlisle. Soon I was off castle grounds, and unlike last time, I did not look back.

The plane ride home seemed slower, but that may be because we were both anxious to be home. Alice called and said she saw our homecoming, but would not tell Edward so that I could surprise him. As soon as the plane landed we sped away for the mansion and did not stop until we reached it.

I received a quick hug from all the rest of the Cullens before I set off to find Edward. He was sitting in our cottage, and I crept to the door so softly I'm not sure if he heard it. Thankfully, there was no wind to blow my scent around. I stood in the doorway behind him and smiled before whispering his name. His head jerked up and he spun around as if he had touched a live wire.

Very suddenly I was being crushed in his arms and he had his face pressed to my hair. I wrapped my own arms around him until we were both clinging to each other like we couldn't be pulled apart. Jane was right, the love we had for each other was so rare that it was more precious than anything this world had to offer. I would protect it, though I did not know where our lives would take us from here. Despite how brief the emotion on her face was, I had deciphered it as loneliness.

She had been turned to a vampire, forever trapped as a child. I would love for her and for everyone else that would never find it.

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