Disclaimer - I do not own the Twilight Saga. Obviously those privileges go to Stephanie Meyer.

It didn't take long for Edward and me to be ready to go down to the throne room. He clutched onto my hand as we made our way down.

I dressed in all black so I wouldn't have to wear the thick cloak. It was somewhat of a peace offering towards the Cullens. I didn't want them to think there were two sides. Edward did the same, and I hoped the guard would too.

Edward stopped me when the throne room was just a hall away. "You're sure you want to do this?"

I squeezed his hand in reassurance and looked him right in the eye. "I am completely positive I want to do this. I'm tired of all the secrets around here."

"Alright." A huge smile took place on his face. "I'm proud of you, you know."

"You aren't mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"I wasn't sure…if… you wanted you family in this…" I trailed off, waiting for his reaction.

He sighed. "At first I didn't want them to. You know, they're staying here so they're safe. But I think it would make them feel safer to know."

I took a deep breath. "Okay then. Let's do this."

We continued down the hallway with our hands linked together. We came through the door to find my dad, Marcus, and Caius in their chairs with the Cullens on one side and the rest of the guard on the other.

I was relieved they weren't in their robes. I knew most of them didn't exactly enjoy wearing them unless we were in public. They were really just for show.

"Everyone's here now, Aro. Can we know what this is all about now?" Heidi asked.

"Well…" Dad started but was interrupted by Caius' laugh.

"You think we called this little gathering? It was all Bella."

I proceeded to step up onto the elevated floor of the throne room where Dad, Marcus, and Caius sat, and pulled Edward along with me. The division of people ain the room was obvious and I wasn't about to leave Edward down there to choose where to stand.

Everyone in the room had their eyes on me.

I was surprised that even Alice looked interested despite the fact that she probably already knew what I was about to say. I realized that she had been very absent for the last few incidents that I was sure she had seen; she probably just didn't want to be around me anymore.

But she was still here now and I hoped that maybe seeing it take place in real time would help my relationship with Alice.

"Well," I started, "First off, you may not think you all should be here right now, but trust me when I say it's for everyone's benefit."

Rosalie rolled her eyes and Jane glanced through the corner of her eye at the Cullens.

I continued, "I think that you all deserve to know what going on around here. And the truth of the matter is that from past events the five of us agree that we all need to be prepared for an encounter with the rebels… possibly an invasion. I think now that everyone knows, we can be prepared – we can take safe precautions." Then I looked over to the Cullens. "I'm not telling you this because I want you to fight with us."

"But I'm not letting you leave until its safe enough for you to go back to Forks," Edward added. "And we agree that it's safer for you to know. Rather than staying here without a clue to what's going on."

Carlisle nodded at Edward proudly. "Thank you, for deciding to include us in this."

Esme linked her arm around Carlisle's and smiled warmly at the both of us. "We all appreciate it, Bella."

Suddenly Demetri laughed and I saw a few other members of the guard smiling along with him.

I stepped down from the elevated floor, letting go of Edward's hand and met his eye. "How on earth is this amusing?"

"I'm glad you chose to tell us, Bella." His eyes flickered to my dad for a second. "But I don't think you should worry too much. We'll just train a little harder and beat the crap out of them."

"There's just one more thing… James is the one behind it." The Cullens looked a little startled, but it didn't faze the guard at all.

"I hate to break it to you," Alec laughed. "But James is dead. You killed him."

"Well there must've been a lot more going on than we thought," Edward answered.

"So when do we get to kick some rebel butt?" Demetri asked.

Dad stood from his chair. "Well we aren't sure." I saw him glance at Alice for a fraction of a second.

Edward turned to look at Alice and her eyebrows rose. "Oh, you want me to go looking for it." She looked at everyone in the room, except the Cullens behind her who were still silent. "Why would I do that?"

"Because it could help us out...?" Jane muttered behind me in a duh tone.

Alice just glared at Jane, and I threw up my shield around Alice just in case. But then she folded her arms across her chest, said, "I'm done here," and walked out.

Jasper shot me an apologetic glance and left after her. Rosalie didn't waste any time in following either – I wasn't so mad about Rosalie though, I knew most of her hate came from just being uncomfortable here.

But Alice wasn't making any sense.

I looked to Edward to see if maybe he'd heard anything and he looked me straight in the eye. I knew what he was about to say before he even said it and a smile grew across my face.

"We got it," he announced; smiling himself.

"When?" Dad asked.

"Next time it rains. So around three weeks."

Demetri scoffed. "Too bad vampires can't sleep. It's gonna be a boring three weeks."

"Tell me about it," Jane added.

Edward looked shocked. "Really?"

I just shrugged. Demetri had a point.

Demetri's head turned swiftly to look at Edward, like he'd forgotten Edward was standing there. "Scratch that. You," he pointed a finger at Edward, "are gonna need a crash course."

I was still aware of three Cullens still in the room, and I glanced wearily at them. They hadn't had much to say this whole time. Dad noticed this too, and he dismissed the guard. Marcus and Caius left along with them; probably realizing this was now a family matter.

I sat on the edge of the elevated floor, thinking it would take away some of the tension in the room; but it didn't.

Carlisle was the first to speak. "Thank you for deciding to include us, Bella."

I sighed. "I'm just glad it's out there now. It's off my back."

Without warning, the doors to the room opened and Jasper and Rosalie entered. Rosalie went straight to Emmett and his arm wrapped around her waist.

"Alice told us we should come back," Jasper announced as the doors fell closed. "What's going on?"

I felt hurt. "You mean she's not coming back?"

Jasper sent me a wave of comfort. "She didn't want to."

My head unintentionally fell into my hands and I felt an arm go around my shoulder. A small, but warm one; Esme. "Don't worry about her, sweetie. Alice always comes around."

"No, I'm pretty sure she hates me," I countered, lifting my head out of my hands.

"Don't worry," Edward said sitting next to me. "She's not too fond of me either." He kissed the side of my head and stood back up.

"Is someone going to tell us what we missed?" Rosalie asked.

I lifted my head out of my hands. "Three weeks."

"Three weeks until…?"

"Three weeks until there's a fight with the rebels."

Rosalie looked around the room like she was looking for something. "So why has no one mentioned us getting the heck out of here?"

Edward's head snapped to look at her. "Because you're not leaving."

"And join this freak show? No way."

I was standing before she even finished talking and a hiss escaped my lips. It was like a reflex; I didn't even think. I felt my dad's hand on my shoulder and he pushed me into the floor in case I decided to go after her. But I wasn't going to. It embarrassed me that my dad thought I would.

It helped slightly when I saw Edward's reaction was similar to mine. While I was busy, he took a few steps towards Rosalie with clenched fists.

"I can assure you that there will be no persuasion to join my guard during your stay, Rosalie. Which brings me to my next point… my guard hasn't fed in a good two weeks," Dad said.

Before anyone could speak I added, "We could all go out hunting that day, so we wouldn't have to be here."

Carlisle nodded. "We'll respect your guard, Aro. We understand." He spoke for all of them, obviously realizing that not all of the Cullens felt this way.

Dad's hand tightened a bit before he let go of my shoulder.

"Can I leave now?" Rosalie asked.

All the Cullens shot her 'that's-so-rude' looks, but I just said, "yeah, I just wanted you all to know." Giving them all a cue to leave.

Esme hugged me. "Thank you for including us, Bella."

"Yeah, Bells," Emmett said as he fist pumped Edward and then messed my hair. "It's good to have you and Eddie looking out for us."

Carlisle shook Dad's hand. "I'd like to thank you, Aro. Your hospitality is quite generous."

"How else could I thank you for supporting Edward?" Dad asked rhetorically.

"We'll see you later," Carlisle added before everyone left.

"I'll meet you two in the map room," Dad said before leaving Edward and I by ourselves.

I sat back down on the edge of the elevated floor and Edward sat beside me, securing an arm tightly around my waist. My head fell to his shoulder.

"I thought everything was getting better," I told him. "Getting out of the castle earlier was just so refreshing but they're just distractions. I hope that it'll all work out, and I should be happy that we know when but I'm still worried, you know?"

"You've been here a lot longer than I have, love." I felt his head rest against mine. And I wished we could get stay there. But Dad wanted us to meet him in the map room, probably to sort all the new information out. I guessed that Marcus and Caius would already be there and wondered why Dad wanted Edward and I involved so thoroughly.

"I know, I'm sorry," I answered Edward.

He laughed lightly. "I wasn't looking for an apology. What I'm saying is I think you underestimate yourself too much. You even let a stupid comment from some random vampire from the street get to you. I don't hope it'll all work out, I know it all work out."

The corners of my mouth turned up slightly. "Thanks. And hey," I lifted my head to look at him, "I know you'll be just fine too."

He smiled back. "You think?"

"I know."

His arm left my side and he pulled me up off the ground by the hand. "You're dad's waiting, we should go."

A/N - another chapter down, many to come! Love your faces!