Hi. :)

It's been a while. I've been working like crazy trying to get ready for my trip to Europe this summer. I have to raise $7,000, and so far it hasn't been easy. :/

I'm glad you all liked the last chapter. Just to warn you all compared to the rest of this story, the previous part of this story is going to be considered SUPER BORING. :P

The rest of the story is, in my opinion, going to be supppeeerrr exciting. I'm pretty pumped about it. I hope you are, too. :D

I love my reviewers. They make my day. Especially the beautiful reviewers TeamEdward-aka jacobhater and Mist Angels. They're too sweet. :)

I have a beta! Yay! Give a cyber round-of-applause to princess moon shadow for being willing to beta my story!

Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Twilight Saga, unfortunately, just a super cool push-pin lamp and three really creepy walking sticks. :/

Here's the chapter!

Previously:

"We need to go." Shawn interrupted us. I clenched my teeth together. "I'll come get you if we need you. Hopefully we won't. We'll keep our minds open so you know what's going on." I nodded my head with approval, and then said a departing 'Good luck', and they were gone.

Through Tina's head, I watched her enter the field with John and Shawn, where the Cullen's were all waiting standing next to their respective mates, other than Edward, who was standing off to the right. The gang made their way to the front, where the Volturi would immediately see them.

Hate surged through my body when they came into the clearing. It was the first time I'd seen Aro since Greg's death, and his face brought up feelings that I rarely felt. Tina minutely told me to calm down, and I gritted my teeth and sank lower into the couch in response.

Aro wisely froze quite a ways away from them, summoning the rest of his 'followers' to stop behind him. No one in their right mind would take on members of the Saviors. Though of course, this was Aro we were talking about here.

It was silent for a tense moment, with John and Shawn in glaring matches with Felix and Demitri and Tina fixing her cool gaze on Aro. Then Aro broke the silence. "Tina. It's been quite a long time." He spoke cheerfully, as if this wasn't a potential soon-to-be death match.

Tina, John, and Shawn all snarled severely in response, and I saw some new members of the Guard, the ones who hadn't yet encountered the Saviors, flinch. I smiled slightly, glad to know that at least some of them had the decency to be frightened.

"Ah, now, Tina, please be reasonable. I would only like to chat a bit." Aro said soothingly. Tina barked out a laugh.

"Chat a bit, huh? So why did you bring a whole army with you if you only wanted to 'chat'?" She asked in a harsh manner.

Aro smiled serenely. "My dear Tina, I was just a bit curious. When my Guard came back with the news of your abrupt arrival at the clearing in Forks, I just needed to come and see for myself. And as for my friends here-" He gestured behind him at the large group of frightened vampires, "They are merely for precaution."

"Precaution? From the Saviors? You may have forgotten, Aro, that the Saviors exist to keep the peace, not break it." Tina spat at him.

"Of course, my dear, but I was just referring to the possibility of hard feelings after our last encounter." Aro said casually.

I jumped off of the couch, snarling. Rage boiled inside me. Hard feelings? That was an understatement! Unsurprisingly, Tina, John, and Shawn were thinking along the same lines.

"Of course we still have HARD FEELINGS!" Tina screeched at him. "You're responsible for Greg's death, for God's sake! Did you think we were just going to let that slip? Bella was distraught after his death! All of the wars that have broken out, all of the deaths that have occurred, everything horrible in the supernatural world that has happened in the past five thousand years is your fault! If it weren't for you, Greg wouldn't be dead, Bella wouldn't feel so horrible, and the Saviors would have been preventing all of those things from happening!"

It seemed as though Aro was barely fazed by Tina shouting at him in such a manner. He merely looked at her passively. "Dear, if I may, we weren't the ones who physically killed Gregory. It's true that we were controlling his functions at the time, but Lady Isabella was the one who hands-on killed him."

Tina glared at him loathingly, seeming incapable of speech. John answered instead through gritted teeth. "Bella killed him because you left her no choice."

"Of course she had a choice!" cried Aro. "In every situation ever faced, there is always at very least two choices." I twitched from where I was on the couch, fighting the urge to go and strangle him.

"Okay, she did have a choice!" shouted Shawn. "Either let you make Greg kill Tina, John, me, and herself, or kill him! That's not much of a choice, you idiot!"

"If I daresay ask, where is the lovely Miss Carter?" Aro asked airily.

"That's none of your concern, Aro." growled Tina, who seemed to have found her voice again.

Aro raised his eyebrow delicately. "No? Well, what in the world would be so important as to having to not be here with you three protecting the Cullen coven? If I'm not mistaken, Isabella has a great interest in the Cullen's." He spoke knowingly.

I tensed. I knew my worries were almost meaningless, but it was in my very make-up to be cautious over everything. But how could Aro know my real identity? Only the gang knew of the secret, and they would never have told anyone. Shawn also reassured me. 'He's probably just taking a shot in the dark, Bella. Hoping to strike a nerve he doesn't know is there or not.'

Tina just stared at him for a moment, and then questioned his statement. "I'm sorry, Aro, but is there something you would like to address? There seems to be something that you're itching to say."

Aro smiled. "Well, darling Tina, I so conveniently found your little friend that you kindly saved. You see, she brought my attention to a peculiar piece of information."

I instantly felt a prick of fear. One of the few things that frightened me most was knowing that it was always a possibility that someone faced death just because they interacted with me in their life.

Tina seemed to be worried as well. "What friend are you blabbering about?"She asked sharply. Aro smiled widely, and then turned to the hulking vampire behind him.

"Felix? Would you be so kind as to go and get our little friend?" Felix bowed and went off into the forest. Confused, I sent out my shield, hoping to feel a body out there. And surely, I felt one. The shape and size of it immediately told me who it was, and strangely enough, I felt a wave of relief. The vampire Aro had captured would have no way of knowing anything about the secret.

Felix came back with the vampire, securely held in his arms. I faintly noticed Esme gasp, but my attention was on Carlisle, who voiced the vampire's name.

"Bree." He said softly, pity in his voice. I felt the same. No one would want to be captured and held prisoner by such foul, inconsiderate people.

Tina seemed to agree with my thoughts. "Aro, you may have forgotten, but we have already saved her once, what makes you think we will not do it again?" She questioned.

"Oh, I do not doubt for a second that you could save her!" Aro assured her. "I am merely interested in showing her here because she was the one, after all, who brought my attention to such interesting information." He smiled.

Tina stared at him through slit eyes. "And what exactly is this piece of information you are so keen on sharing with us?" She questioned him acidly. You could detect no fear from her voice, which surprised me a bit, considering I was freaking out, and it didn't leak into her brain.

'Ohmygod, Tina, what if he knows? Could he know? Is there a slight possibility that he could ruin everything I so carefully manipulated and molded to mere perfection?' I questioned her with a sense of nausea, which I thought extremely humorous, considering I couldn't really be nauseous. I then proceeded to start giggling maniacally.

'Bella! Snap out of it! Jeez, have you ever seen her like that?'Shawn questioned John with sincere worry tinting his voice. John only merely mentally shrugged, seeming too stunned by my behavior to properly answer him.

Aro, though, didn't seem to notice the mental breakdown I was having about 5 miles away, and was busy answering Tina's question in a cryptic way. "Well, you see, dear Tina-" He was interrupted by John growling at him.

"I swear to God, old man, if you call her 'dear' one more time, I'll rip your freaking head off." John threatened him. Aro looked extremely surprised by his outburst, but I just started giggling even more.

'Haha! You just called him old man, but your one of the oldest vampires alive!" I choked out between giggles.

Tina ignored my behavior, and continued her discussion with Aro. "As you were saying?" She said, gesturing for him to continue while giving John a warning glance.

"Ah, yes." Aro said, apparently coming out of his shock. "Um, I saw a musing of Bree's, and was shocked by how much sense it made. It was actually concerning Miss Isabella, and her connection to the Cullen's." When he said that statement, I snapped out of my giggling attack, and held my breath, waiting to hear the rest of his sentence. It seemed that almost every other vampire in the clearing did as well, particularly the Cullen's, no doubt wondering what in the world would connect them to me, seeing as they were under the impression that they had never met me.

"Oh?" Tina said carefully. "And what is the connection you are talking about?" She questioned with guarded eyes.

Aro, seeing her hesitation, smiled widely. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, don't you, Tina? Bree's musings were right, weren't they?" He said with growing excitement, a wide smile on his face.

Tina said nothing, her face completely void of emotion as she was staring at him. That just made Aro even more confident. "So it's true? What she thinks? That Isabella wasn't wherever everyone thinks she is at? That she was right there in the clearing with the rest of you? That she has been with the Cullen's the whole time, though without their knowledge?" He was practically jumping up and down in excitement now, very anxious to destroy the Saviors to an even more extent.

"No." Tina said sharply, and I could almost hear the razors in her voice. "She's been in the South dealing with newborn issues. Some people decided to get a bit testy with the limits."

Aro raised his eyebrows. "But then why, dear Tina, are you three not with her?" He questioned, and Tina opened her mouth to answer, but her attention was otherwise diverted to John, who appeared to be struggling in Shawn's arms, trying to attack Aro. Tina and I were momentarily confused by his behavior, but then I remembered his recent threat, and reminded Tina, who didn't exactly think it was appropriate.

"John." She snapped, and he stopped struggling to look at her. "Get a grip." She told him harshly, and he went limp, a depressed look on his face, no doubt disappointed he couldn't carry out his threat. I had to grit my teeth together to make sure I didn't encourage him to ignore Tina and rip Aro's miserable head off.

"Anyways," Tina continued, "We aren't with Bella because she wanted to go alone. She likes her privacy from time to time, you know." She lied smoothly, and if I didn't know better, I would have believed her.

But Aro seemed even more encouraged by her answer. "Interesting name Isabella has, wouldn't you say? That she has the same first name as Miss Swan?" He said giddily.

I tensed. Here it came. I knew it was over, and I knew I had to do something quickly. But it seemed Tina wasn't so keen to give up so quickly. Not yet.

"What exactly are you trying to imply, Aro?" She said.

"I'm just interested in this little convenience of the same names. And the fact that it is widely known that one of Miss Carter's powers is the ability to appear human. Not even her closest friends would know it was Miss Carter, unless of course they saw her in her human form before." He smiled, and he knew he got it.

Out of Tina's ears, I heard several gasps behind her, and she turned, revealing the Cullen's shocked faces. I winced. I had no idea how they would take it when they found out.

Tina turned back to Aro, morphing her expression to fake disbelief. "Are you honestly trying to say that you think Isabella Eve Carter is in disguise as Isabella Marie Swan?" Everyone in the Volturi behind Aro raised their eyebrows. Evidently, they didn't exactly hear his theory.

But Aro was still completely confident with his 'discovery'. "Prove it wrong, then. Bring Isabella Marie Swan here, and put her right next to Isabella Eve Carter and then I will believe you. But only when I see two separate bodies in the same place."

Tina didn't answer, staring defiantly at him. But my small amount of hope for the situation had crumbled to the ground. It was over. 'Tina.' I sighed, defeat in my voice. 'I'm coming.'

Tina finally seemed to realize it was over, too. She sighed, closing her eyes. "Okay. She's coming." She informed Aro dreadfully. John and Shawn seemed to realize what was going on too, and went into protective stances, glancing around the clearing, no doubt looking for me.

I stood, and ran to the clearing. I could still see Aro's giddy face, and my insides simmered with anger. He was going to pay for this.

As I was running, I realized I was still in my human form. 'Oh well, at least they'll get their answer right away.' I thought with a cringe. How could the Cullen's ever forgive me after this?

Being distracted by my thoughts, I didn't realize I was at the clearing yet until I was yanked to a stop by Tina, who I was just about to run past.

"Going somewhere I don't know about?" She questioned me with humor.

I smiled. "I'm just going for a quick jog. You wouldn't believe what kind of stressful situation I'm in right now." Tina rolled her eyes at my answer.

"So it's true? It is you, Miss Carter? I was right? The newborn was right?" Aro questioned greedily. I turned my stony gaze to him, trying to make all the loathing I felt for him in one look.

"Aro, you shouldn't have interfered with the life of Miss Tanner. You see, I gave her my vow to protect her life. Well, Tina did, but with my permission. So now, Aro, I would advise you to tell Mr. Hulk here to let go of her." I told him acidly, nodding to Felix. Felix seemed downright terrified that I was addressing him, and the rest of the Volturi, other than Aro, seemed pretty worried about my sudden appearance as well. I then addressed the rest of the observers in the clearing that Aro said he had brought for a 'precaution'. "Some of you I know, some I do not. For those of you I do not know, I will not hold this against you. You did the most instinctive thing; self preservation. As for those that I do know," I let my gaze rest on ten individual people out of the 20, "You should have known better. Now, you can either leave now and no harm will come, join our side, or stay with Aro and his little followers. Although if you take the last choice, I can guarantee you are most unlikely to live if this becomes something more than 'talking it out'." I warned them, making sure there was no emotion in my voice.

Several of them looked around at each other, and five seconds later 8 of them dashed into the woods, running as fast as their vampire speed could take them. The other twelve looked at me, and then Joshua, a vampire I met in Taiwan about 400 years ago, spoke. "Isabella, you have to understand. We all thought you were…dead. We didn't have anyone to protect us anymore, and we did the most logical thing to do at the time." He paused, looking into my eyes. I had grown a very good relationship with Josh the 250 years he traveled with us, and the look he gave me told me he meant every word he was saying. He continued, "If I had known, if we all would have known you were alive and well, we never would have resorted to this. Please, Bella." He added the last sentence more softly, as if wondering if he was still in a position to be calling me a name only my family and close friends called me.

I stared at him with hardened eyes, and then sighed. "Very well, Josh. All of you come over here before Aro leers you to death." I said sarcastically, gesturing to Aro's malicious look he was giving the group that was making their way over to us.

Everyone but Josh kept walking, until they were standing behind the Cullen's, whom I was choosing not to look to at the moment. I turned my attention to Josh, and he said, "Well, if I didn't know any better I would've bet that you aren't you. You're a pretty good human, by the way." He said, flashing me his trademark I'm-smarter-than-you grin, and continued, "But a far better vampire."

I rolled my eyes, and pulled him in for a hug. I hadn't realized until now how much I missed him. "Actually, you're kinda hot, Bella." He whispered in my ear, and John and Shawn guffawed loudly. I pulled back and glared at him, proceeding to stomp hard on his foot. He faintly winced, but just grinned at me, offering no hint of bashfulness from his blunt comment. Then he kissed my forehead and wandered off to the rest of the group behind me.

It was then that Carlisle spoke. "Bella? Is it true? Are you really…Isabella Carter?" I looked over at him with fear and hurt in my eyes, and nodded.

"No. It's not true. It can't be. You're lying!" Edward said desperately, looking deep into my eyes. I just shook my head sadly, and decided that right then was the time to change into my true form. To let go of the secret I had been holding on to, hiding behind, for almost 3 years.

As I let go of my humanity, I watched myself transform through Tina's eyes. My plain brown, waist-length hair turned a luscious brunette with barely visible red highlights. My pale face went even paler, my chocolate brown eyes turning ice blue and wider. My lips were now fuller, and my face was more defined, as well as the rest of my body. I never really got over how much differently I looked as a human.

I looked up again at Edward again, cautious, and the betrayal was clear in his eyes. "Why?" He whispered. "Why would you lie to me?"

Desperately, I said "Edward, please, you have to understand. I did it for your own safety-" but I was stopped by an intense burn-like pain inside of me. I cried out, falling to the ground. Tina, John, and Shawn seemed to be experiencing it as well. I looked over at the Volturi, and through the pain I realized that I let all of my shields down after changing. I secured my shields, both physical and mental, back to all of the previous places, and turned an icy stare over to Jane.

"Big mistake." I snarled at her, and stared hard at her, sending unimaginable Pain towards her. It went straight to her soul, or what little of it was left, and worked Its way out, destroying everything in Its path. Jane shrieked and writhed on the ground, her skin slowly showing the signs that the Pain inside of her was almost through. It kept going, and going, until Jane Volturi, one of the most feared vampires in the world, was nothing but a pile of ash.

All of the Volturi stared in shock at the ashes that were once Jane. Aro looked over at me. "What was the meaning of that?" He cried.

I stared at him, and then answered. "Jane Volturi has done nothing but bring misfortune to this world. She has killed innocent bystanders, tortured many people while having no grounds to do so, and was also-" I stopped, taking a deep breath, and finished my sentence. "partly responsible for a member of the Savior's death." Aro stared at me, speechless. "Is that a good enough reason for you, Aro?" I asked stiffly.

He visibly swallowed. "She had brought plenty of good fortune to the world. She has helped in punishing many vampires who had broken vampiric law." He informed me, fear barely heard in his tone.

I glared at him, and then asked, "The Savior's laws, or The Volturi's laws, Aro? Because we all know which laws are the correct ones." I waited for his response, but he simply stared at me, not having an answer. "I didn't think so. So, on that note, I was completely at liberty under the Savior's laws to kill Jane Volturi. Now, down to a more serious matter. You are not to harm the Cullen's, or all of your lives will be immediately exterminated. You will continue to leave my close acquaintances be, or, again, there will be immediate extermination. I will allow your little coven to continue ruling merely for appearance, but this time around you will be ruling the vampire world with my family's laws. Is that understood?" I questioned him in a dominant tone that I was born with.

He was quiet for a long moment, and then said "And if we refuse?"

I gazed icily at him before saying, "Then, again, I will kill you all and take my family's rightful place."

He merely stood there, and then looked back at Marcus and Caius. They shook their heads yes, and then sighing Aro turned back to me and said "Yes. Of course, Lady Isabella, we will follow and enforce your family's laws, and only your family's laws. We will also leave the Cullen's and your acquaintances alone, and will not bother them in any way."

I stared at him hard, trying to make sure he was speaking truthfully. "You swear on your life, Aro?" I asked him.

His dark burgundy eyes were wide and serious as he answered "Yes."

I stood still, and then after a moment's hesitation, nodded my head once and said "Very well. Now, I ask you to leave immediately and return to Volterra." Aro nodded his head, and turned while summoning the rest of them to follow suit. They immediately did, but not before Felix winked at me and Demitri and Alec gave me looks filled with hatred. I waited until they were out of earshot, and then I breathed a sigh of relief.

But the relief didn't last long. My body immediately tuned itself to my mood, adjusting into a superior, panic-sorting mode. Feeling the familiarity of the mood, I turned to the gang and started barking out instructions. "Tina, go to my Mother's and Father's resting place and make extra precautions. John, Shawn, call all of the people we know that the Volturi know we are close to. I don't trust Aro's word one bit. They will be itching for revenge, and they're going to take any chance they get to have it." All three nodded, and while John and Shawn ran off towards the shack to get their cells to start making calls, Tina disappeared, transporting to an area North of the Himalayas, where Mama and Papa picked as their resting place this time around.

My body slightly relaxed, but then immediately tensed up again, remembering the company I was with, and the predicament I was in. Steeling myself, I took a deep breath and slowly turned towards the very shell-shocked Cullen family.

(: This chapter was fun to write. It took ten billion years to write, yes, but that was partly because I wanted it to be perfect. After all, this is the part you've all been waiting for. I didn't want to disappoint. If any of you are disappointed however, and were looking forward to more action, just you wait. There is more to come. ;)

Again, I'm sooo sorry this chapter took forever. I'm hoping the next one will be up before I leave for Europe in June, so I will try really hard to squeeze that one in.

Oh, and I'm still looking for a banner, so if anyone is interested, pretty please do it! (:

Well, I hope you liked the chapter. Please review!

Loves,

Switzygirl