"You should check on Ric, I'm gonna help the girls with Decade Dance" I said getting up from bed.

"Why?" he frowned watching me put on a robe.

"Because… Someone has to check on Ric, and it should be you. And I'm sorry, but I'm not in the mood to spend time with him" I sighed. "I know it's not his fault, but he tried to kill me. I want a laid off day, just relax and enjoy the dance"

"The 70s?" he scowled.

"The 20s" I said. "Rebekah changed the theme"

"Oh, right, spend the day with accidentally-psycho Ric is too much, but spend the day with psycho-on-purpose Rebekah is alright" he said teasingly.

"I want my bracelet back" I said showing him the necklace Elijah had given me and that he hated. "Maybe I can convince her to give it to me before leaving town"

"Yeah, and I'm gonna convince the pope we're good vampires" he rolled his eyes.

I gave him a light kiss on the lips, prying his hands off the silk of my robe and resisting his pout for me to go back to bed. I walked in the bathroom and took a quick shower. When I walked out, I found him pacing around the room talking in the phone.

"I don't know if right now is the best time for you to be going on a spirit quest, Ric" he said.

Ric said something and Damon hung up with a frustrated sigh.

"Something wrong?" I asked putting on my black jeans, brown dyed on the end.

"He says he's getting out of town because he keeps blacking out"

"Well, maybe it's for the best. If he's blacking out he can hurt one of us"

"I hope he killed Barbie Klaus" he grumbled.

"What?" I asked alarmed.

"When I asked if he gave her the stake, he said he didn't remember, he blacked out" Damon shrugged.

"If he had killed Rebekah, I'm sure Klaus would have send his army of hybrids to get all of us killed because of it"

"Do you honestly think he cares?"

"I do" I said seriously. "They can be a family of bastards and a bitch, but they are loyal to each other"

Coincidentally, when I went to the basement to get my AB positive breakfast, the doorbell rang. It was so rare, that as I went to open it, Damon gave me a suspicious look. I opened the door and narrowed my eyes at the hybrid girl. She took a step back instinctively, and I smirked, happy I had put some fear into those stupid sired hybrids of Klaus. She extended me a velvet box and when I took it, she ran away before I could say something. I closed the door, and shrugged at Damon.

"What did Elijah send you now?" Damon scowled.

I opened the box and smiled. I took out my lapis lazuli bracelet, and Damon's scowl faded. I put it on, and unfolded the small piece of paper that was inside the box.

I return this to you, in hopes you accept it as a peace offering.
We are leaving town.
You'll never see me again, I hope.
It was nice to meet you, Isabella.

Klaus.

"It's from Klaus. A peace offering" I said surprised.

"A peace offering?" Damon repeated in disbelief.

"Ahn, they are leaving town for good apparently"

"Do you believe him?"

"Yes… I just… have a feeling he isn't lying"

"What are you doing?" Alice suddenly screeched. "You can't just hang them! They're supposed to trickle down!"

"Trickle, duh!" Matt said to Jeremy from the other ladder.

"See? Like Bella's doing!" Caroline said.

I smirked at the boys, hung the last decoration, and got down from the ladder. I took the paper towels from Rosalie and wiped the glitter left on my hands. I approached the table and cocked an eyebrow at the girls.

"Anything else?"

"Yes!" Alice said.

"You don't have to do this" Elena said. "You don't even study here anymore"

"I have nothing else better to do" I shrugged. "Although getting drunk sounds much more fun now"

"Hey" Caroline said throwing a plastic cup at me.

I grabbed it before it hit my shoulder and put it down on the table. I grabbed the box in the floor and took a peak inside.

"Can I get rid of this disco ball?" I asked.

"I guess" Caroline grumbled.

"So, I thought we could have a girls' night after the dance" Alice said.

"Why?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, last dance we had girls' night out first, I thought we could make it a tradition"

"Last time was Bella's bachelorette party" Elena said and smiled at me. "Sorry, but I don't think you'll be marrying again so soon"

"I didn't get married. Just engaged" I muttered.

"Yeah, that was fun" Edward muttered picking up a box and taking it to the boys.

"Sorry"

He shrugged.

"So… that seems like a cool subject" Caroline commented.

"Still one we should leave alone, Care" Bonnie muttered.

I looked at Alice and she was smiling while checking her to-do list.

"Anyway, we really should have a girls' sleepover" Caroline said. "Just girls. A lot of tequila"

"What's the fun of getting drunk at home just between girls, Care?" I laughed.

"It can be fun" Rosalie shrugged.

"You can't get drunk"

She shrugged again.

"Well, I think someone will be happy to get drunk without a man around to kiss" I smirked.

Elena blushed and Caroline and Bonnie's head snapped up.

"You know?" Bonnie asked.

"Know what?" Rosalie asked.

"Yes, know what?" I grinned.

"Oh, God" Elena muttered. "Bella, I'm so…"

"Sorry, you didn't mean to… blah, blah, blah" I smiled. "I heard that before. It's fine, Ellie"

"Really?" she and Caroline asked in unison.

"Yeah" I shrugged.

"Okay…" Elena mumbled.

"If someone kissed Tyler, I would rip their head off" Caroline muttered.

"Caroline" Bonnie hissed.

"What? True" she shrugged.

"I'm going to get this chandelier hung" I said taking it.

"If Rebekah wanted to do the 20s so much she should do it" Caroline said.

"Where is she?" Alice frowned looking around.

"She didn't show up yet" Elena shrugged.

"Weird" Alice said.

I took the ladder and placed it in the middle of the gym. I took off my high heels and was getting up on the ladder when someone took the chandelier from me. I cocked an eyebrow at Edward.

"Let me do that" he said.

I shrugged and got down. I put on my shoes and held the ladder. I noticed he had green lens on, but I could see they were dissolving and a hint of gold was seen by vampire eyes.

"So, how are those lens going for you?" I asked. "Demetri complained about them all the time"

"I have two more in my pockets and this is the third one this morning" he smiled. "How do you think?"

"Bonnie won't do the spell for you?"

"I don't want her to"

He set the chandelier in place and descended. He leaned his arm on the ladder and looked at me, seeming uncomfortable.

"So…"

"Yes?" I asked amusedly.

"You and Damon coming to the dance?" he asked.

"I want to, he doesn't. I'm trying to convince him, but I think I'll be Matt's date if that doesn't work out" I shrugged.

"Ah"

"Did you want to ask me something, perhaps?"

"Alice told you?"

"Told me what?" I asked innocently.

"Ahn, I'm… bringing Bonnie" he said awkwardly.

"As date" I finished. "Okay, it's fine by me if that's what you're implying"

"Bonnie was worried, I told her not to"

"So, I won't bring Damon. He's the one you should worry about" I laughed. "He'll tease you two forever, you know that, right?"

"Great" he muttered.

"Just… I don't want to be judgmental, or anything, we both know I'm the last person that should say this, but… Do you know what you're doing there?"

"What?" he frowned.

"She's a witch, but she's still human, Edward" I said softly. "She will die eventually, and you are probably just as unwilling to change her as you were with me"

"I know, Bella, and yes, I am not considering changing her" he shook his head. "I… We don't even know what we are… doing"

I nodded and shrugged, although, knowing him, he was probably more serious about whatever was going on than he was telling me. I looked at Alice and back at him.

"Whatever you say" I shrugged again. "Just be careful"

"Bella!" Alice hissed.

I turned and frowned at Alice's panicked expression.

"What?" I asked quietly, so as not to alarm humans.

"The Volturi" she whispered.

I looked at Elena, Bonnie, Caroline, Jeremy and Matt, all unaware.

"Damon is almost here" I mumbled putting away my phone. "Who called him?"

"Not me" Alice said.

"It was me" Caroline said entering the bathroom.

"What?" I snapped. "Caroline!"

"Sorry. I overheard" she shrugged and I gave her a pointed look. "Fine. Bonnie told me about Edward and I was eavesdropping to see your reaction. Can you blame me?"

"Dammit, you shouldn't have called Damon" I sighed.

"Sorry, but why?"

"Because he'll try to stop me from solving this"

"If your solution was to leave again to Italy, forget it" Edward said. "It's out of question"

"But…"

"I agree with him on this, at least" Damon said entering the bathroom.

"Wasn't there a better place to do this?" Rosalie asked looking around the bathroom.

"What will we do?" Alice said.

"When?" I retorted.

"Soon. I can't pinpoint, but it's so clear" she mumbled.

"What did you see?" Damon asked.

"Aro telling Felix to get the guard ready, they were coming to Mystic Falls"

"And Demetri?" I asked.

"I didn't see him" she shook her head.

"Search for him. If he's with them, we don't even have a chance sending the humans away" I said.

She nodded and leaned against the wall while concentrating.

"What should we do?" Caroline said.

"Carlisle said we should take this meeting home" Rosalie said.

"I have to go" I said.

"What? No!" Damon snapped. "No way!"

"Damon, listen…"

"No" he snapped.

"I…" Caroline started.

"I'm not letting you leave this town, or walk into the lion's den, Bella. If we're sentenced to death, we're staying. Let them come, we'll have the home field advantage"

"This is not a football game" Edward muttered.

"What is your suggestion, hm?" Damon snapped.

"Guys!" Caroline snapped. "Listen. Klaus, that's our solution. He has hybrids, an army!"

"He'll have to create a lot more to face the Volturi" Rosalie said. "Elena would be dead from blood-loss"

"Wait. Caroline is right in one point" I said. "The Volturi might not like Klaus, but, they do respect the Originals. They let me leave because Elijah asked. Elijah had influence over them"

"Just when I thought we were free of that guy" Damon grumbled.

"Bella's idea is good, you might want to keep your jealousy in check" Rosalie said.

"Also, if Klaus became our ally, and we used his hybrids, he would want something in return, and we would be declaring war against the Volturi" Edward said.

"We have to get Elijah" I said. "I'll go with him to Italy, and solve this"

"We'll go with you" Damon said and Caroline nodded.

"No" I shook my head. "You would be liabilities. My mind is protected from Aro, and I'm sure Elijah will be able to avoid that weakness. We have to make them think Esther is still here, Klaus is forgiven and creating more hybrids, and that attacking any of us would mean death to them" I turned to Edward. "You and Alice stay, of course. Gather everyone, if Alice sees we failed or you hear enemy approaching, get everyone safe"

"This is madness" Damon snapped.

"Demetri is in Tokyo" Alice said. "We might have a chance"

"Let's hope this works and we get rid of them for good" I said.

"You got here quickly" Elijah said opening the front door for me.

"We came running" I mumbled.

"Nice to see you" Damon said sarcastically.

"Sorry" I told Elijah and leaned on the doorframe. "I know we agreed I would not bring anyone, but you can imagine how hard it was to do that"

Elijah gave me a tightlipped smile and sighed turning to Damon.

"Ms. Harris?" he called and a woman in her early forties came. "Please invite my friend Isabella in"

"Come in, Isabella" she said smiling.

"Really? You're leaving me outside?" Damon chuckled.

I entered the house and turned to Damon.

"Sorry, Damon. Go take a walk, see Manhattan"

He glared at me and Elijah seemed pleased to shut the door on his face. He led me to the living room and I looked around the modern house.

"Nice place" I said.

He gestured for me to take a seat and prepared drinks.

"Thank you, although I'm not responsible for that" he said.

"Yes. Why compel the owner, and not get a house to yourself?"

"I liked this house. And it is useful to have barriers against vampires and hybrids, don't you think?"

"Yeah, you're right"

I took the drink from him and took a sip watching him sit across from me.

"So, how is Mystic Falls?" he asked.

"Great" I said sarcastically. "There's a decade dance tonight, the 20s. Oh, and a threat to everyone. Elijah, I told you why I was looking for you, can we go straight to the subject? We might not have time"

"Alright. The Volturi planning a visit" he said calmly. "I'm sure my brother could handle it with his hybrids"

"He would have to create a lot more of them, and… We would be declaring war by taking his help. The Volturi would hunt us all down"

"And you don't want to listen to the deal my brother would propose" he chuckled.

"That too"

"You might be right, Bella. My brother would be better on protecting town, but I might be better on preventing the Volturi from coming at all"

"There's a flight to Milan from JFK in a couple hours..."

"Why would I go?" he said.

I stopped and frowned at him.

"What?"

"You must know that by going there, I'm immediately rekindling with people that were my allies when I was trying to destroy Niklaus. I doubt any of you warned my brother about this, so he'll think I'm just plotting something"

"We can clear that up..."

"Yet, why would I cross the world to make a deal with people I have no interest in having contact with?"

"As I said, let's go straight to the point. What do you want in return?" I sighed putting my glass down. "An apology for trying to manipulate you? Money, no, you have it. A favor? Us owing you?"

"I do not want anything from you, Isabella. I just want peace"

"Well, all of us are going to die while you get your peace in Manhattan!" I said desperately. "Please, Elijah… You said you would keep the promise"

"You are here, you are protected" he said calmly and sipped his drink.

"That's why you told me to come here to discuss this. You wanted me out of Mystic Falls"

"And out of danger"

"But the Volturi..."

"I highly doubt it they will do anything with Niklaus there…"

"Then it's safe for me to return" I retorted.

"No"

"Then people will die"

"Bella, if Aro really wants to get into battle and collect his precious talented vampires, he will. I cannot stop him. Your plan is not flawless"

"But you might delay his plans, can't you?" I asked.

"A small possibility" he shrugged.

"If… Less than a century. All our humans loved ones will be gone by then, we won't keep contact with descendents… It's the humans I'm worried about, Elijah. Us, vampires, we can run at least, if we can't defend ourselves, but them… Help me save my friends, please"

He stared at his drink for some time and then downed it.

"You said a flight in two hours?" he asked.

"You know what? This plan sucks" Damon said. "I'm not staying here"

"Damon, please" I frowned.

"No. What if something happens?"

"I assure you nothing will happen to Isabella" Elijah said calmly.

"There's at least a hundred vampires there, how are you going to do that, genius?"

"Stop, Damon" I whispered.

"And how will you help with that, boy" Elijah scoffed.

"Okay, can you guys stop with the pissing contest?" I snapped. "I got it, everyone got it. You both like me. Now, can we move on? Damon, please, stay here, I'll be back in the afternoon"

He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, but nodded. I put my bag in the hotel's bed and walked to him. Elijah walked out of the room and I sighed.

"You just had to spend the eight hours flight annoying him, didn't you?" I grumbled while cupping Damon's face.

"Don't know what you're talking about" he smirked wrapping his arms around me.

"Get some sleep, check with Stefan if everything is alright. They are probably getting home from the dance…" I said looking at the sun rising over Milan.

"Right, get some sleep while you go to Volterra, of course"

I gave him a kiss.

"I'll be back this time, I promise" I said.

"You better come back" he murmured.

He played with the hem of my brown leather jacket and leaned his forehead against mine.

"I'll call you on my way back. Then you can check out and get tickets to the first flight out of here" I whispered. "Maybe after all this madness, if we get some peace… we can go on a road trip" I smile.

He smiled.

"How about California this time?" he suggested.

"Sounds great" I grinned.

He kissed me, and I took his hands off my jacket.

"I love you" I whispered.

He nodded.

"Me too"

I gave him one last kiss and strode out of the room before he convinced me not to go.

"Isabella. Finally" Aro said as we entered the room. "You've disappeared"

"I'm sorry, Aro, I've kept her busy" Elijah said stepping forward.

"Elijah. It is nice to see you, my friend" Aro said with that freaky sweet smile. "What brings you here?"

"I was informed you might have a problem with Bella's absence" Elijah said calmly.

"Well, she did pledge loyalty to us and disappeared with one of my guards"

"Demetri left me in Mystic Falls. Katherine" I said.

"Hm"

"I hope we don't have problems, Aro" Elijah said. "My mother and brother would hate that"

"Your mother is back?"

"Witches, difficult to die" I said with a smile.

"And Niklaus is still alive?" Aro asked with a smile.

"Of course" Elijah smiled.

"That is great, my friend" Aro said. "But we do have a problem. You see, Isabella was welcomed here, and now she clearly is not returning. I bet she is spilling everything she knows about us now"

I sensed something behind me and looked over my shoulder to see Felix, Santiago and another guard entering. I looked at Elijah before looking back at Aro.

"You must understand, spies are not tolerated around here"

"I was compelled" I lied.

"Still…"

Felix stepped forward, grinning, and Elijah grabbed me and pulled me close to his side.

"You do realize I will tear you apart if she's harmed?" Elijah asked glaring at Aro.

"Oh, my friend. Even after all this time, Blaire still haunts you" Aro sighed. "Unfortunately, Elijah, this is business"

Felix's grin widened and I let my face change, dropping into a defensive crouch. Elijah blocked Felix's attack, throwing him across the room and I dodged Santiago. I kicked him and jumped on his back, grabbing his head tightly. With a metallic crack, I ripped his head off and threw him on the ground. Elijah had killed the other guard and was holding Felix back. I heard more vampires approaching. I turned to Aro and growled. He chuckled and didn't even move as I ran to him. When he got within reach, I was ready to grab him by the head when he grabbed my by the shoulder and threw me on the ground. I hissed at the pain on my back, and he grabbed me, pulling me up. I grabbed his arm, twisting it until I tore it apart and he cried in pain. I threw him on the ground and pinned him with my foot. Everyone stopped moving, and Elijah let go of Felix, walking to me while I got the lighter Damon gave me from my pocket.

"Now, Aro, maybe now this discussion can be personal?" Elijah asked with a smile.

"I don't know, maybe his arm is business" I said playing with the lit lighter.

"Niklaus would be very displeased to hear about this" Elijah mused. "So let's make a deal, shall we?"

"Go on" Aro snapped.

"You leave all of us alone, we leave you alone. That includes Klaus and his hybrids" I said. "Clean slate"

"All will be well again. Your kind and my kind don't have to meet again" Elijah said. "And Bella gives your arm back"

"Leave now" Aro said.

I dropped his arm and stepped back. Elijah gave the guard a pointed look and rested his hand on the small of my back as we walked to the exit.

"Careful, there, Elijah. We both know how temperamental and impulsive your brother can be. And that girl… She might be strong, but she is not invincible, not against Klaus. We both know how that ended for Blaire" Aro said.

Elijah ignored, urging me to go faster.

I jumped on Damon, wrapping my arms tightly around him, ignoring all the people in the airport, staring.

"Are you alright?" Damon asked pulling me back and eyeing me.

"Yeah, fine" I shrugged.

"She's strong" Elijah said approaching. "What you did there, it was very impressive, Bella. Especially for a newborn"

"Thanks" I smiled. "He's just an old man"

He chuckled and checked the display of flights.

"Next flight back to the States is in a few hours" Damon informed. "The next flight away from here would be to Chile, and I couldn't find out how long we would take to get a flight from there"

"I don't think there's a rush" Elijah said. "Bella solved the problem quite easily. Aro will not dare do anything for now"

"Yes, but we have to get home, now" Damon said.

"Why?" I asked worriedly.

"Esther was back" he said and Elijah frowned at him. "She's dead now, but… Ric died"