As we expected, Jane, Chelsea, and Alec didn't even wait for the single to attack, they began their own silent assault on our group. Though I personally could feel Jane's power trying to get into my mind, the tingle that I had felt on her first attack was similar to this, but not as strong, mainly because Bella's shield had enveloped us all. I could see the frustration on Jane's face and Alec saw his sister's frustration because his glare intensified. I had to look closely, but I could see his mist coming our way, it wafted over the snowy field like something out of a horror movie.

"It's coming!" I hissed, as the wind blew up snow drifts, creating a wall of ice and snow, as Benjamin tried to call up a wall to block Alec's gift, it didn't deter the onslaught, so Benjamin went to the next level, the ground began shaking, even I felt unstable on my feet as a narrow, but clearly deep fissure opened up in ground not far from our line.

Bits of earth and snow dropped into the opening as the earth groaned its displeasure. Alec's mist was undeterred however as it glided smoothly across the gap, still heading towards us. The conference between Aro, Caius, and Marcus paused when the earth split, catching their attention, but now they watched the mist, waiting for it to do its work, blind us, weaken us so the guard itself could step in and finish the job.

I glanced at Bella, praying her shield was as impenetrable as we hoped it was. The mist neared what I assumed was the wall of Bella's shield and we all winced as it moved closer to us. Jane's smile was clear, even way across the field, she believed that even if her ability couldn't break through, Alec's was more determined, inescapable, at least that's what she hoped.

When Alec's mist bounced off of Bella's shield, I let my breath out, it moved down the line, looking for a way in, but it couldn't find one. Bella's shield was virtually impossible to penetrate.

"Well done, Bella!" Benjamin cheered softly

"You've got this," I added, grinning at my sister, she returned the smile, which grew as we watched Alec's glare intensify, he was getting frustrated, at the same time, Aro and Caius were simply in shock, they had never experienced this initial defeat before

"I'm going to have to concentrate," Bella whispered to Edward "When it comes to hand to hand, it's going to be harder to keep the shield around the right people."

"I'll keep them off you." Edward promised

"No. You have to get to Demetri. Zafrina will keep them away from me."

Zafrina nodded solemnly.

"No one will touch this young one," she promised "I'd go after Jane and Alec myself, but I can do more good here."

"Jane's mine," Kate hissed. "She needs a taste of her own medicine." I growled at my cousin, she looked at me for a moment, understanding, I had my own motive for taking out Jane, last summer being only part of the reason. "Together Chris," Kate finally said "will that be sufficient for you, cousin?"

"Together works," I replied "As long as she pays."

Kate reached over and hugged my shoulder,

"She will Chris,"

"And Alec owes me many lives, but I will settle for his," Vladimir growled from the other side. "He's mine."

"I just want Caius," Tanya said, the dividing up continued, I gave Fi's hand a squeeze. We were growing so close that no words were needed, we were ready for whatever came.

Aro quickly tried to hide the surprise he had initially shown when it was apparent that Alec's mist had failed, he cleared his throat and tried to regain control over the situation. He could see that we were preparing for battle and knew he had to act fast, he wasn't used to glitches in the usual plan and Bella's shield certainly counted as a glitch in the plan.

"Before we vote, let me remind you, whatever the council's decision, there need be no violence here." Edward snarled and all along the line almost the same response, a deep growl erupted from my own throat, here it comes¸ I thought, the acquire portion of the programme. I watched as Aro surveyed the group in front of, picking and choosing who would be offered a place among the Volturi Guard and who would be slaughtered. "It will be a regrettable waste to our kind to lose any of you. But you especially, young Edward, and your newborn mate. The Volturi would be glad to welcome many of you into our ranks. Bella, Benjamin, Zafrina, Kate, Christian. There are many choices before you. Consider them."

I glanced at Bella, she was focused on her shield, making sure it remained our best weapon and it was working, but Edward looked over at me and nodded, we would rather die with our family today, than live as members of the guard for even just one day.

"Let us vote, then," Aro continued, after his brief pause, Caius spoke up

"The child is an unknown quantity. There is no reason to allow such a risk to exist. It must be destroyed, along with all who protect it."

Another growl echoed through all of us, Bella most of all. Marcus looked up next, ready to cast his vote, a barely alive motion that was as monotone as his voice.

"I see no immediate danger." He explained "The child is safe enough for now. We can always reevaluate later. Let us leave in peace."

"I must make the deciding vote, it seems," Aro mused.

Suddenly, Edward stiffened, an excited look spreading over his face, as he hissed:

"Yes!"

I stared at my brother, trying to figure out what he was up to, then it hit me…something had changed, he had read someone's mind that changed everything, I looked at Aro, it wasn't him, he had decided our fate, there was no question about that. The rest of the guard and very few witnesses that remained weren't going to dissuade the decision so what had chan….my thought process trailed off, there was only one explanation.

Bloody Hell. Alice!

"Chris what's going on?" Fi asked

"I'm not complexly sure," I admitted "but I'm hoping it's what I think it is."

"Aro?" Edward called, almost triumphantly, which only further confirmed my suspicions, Aro seemed to wince a little as he identified the same emotion in Edward's voice, the somber acceptance of defeat was gone from my brother's posture and in it's place…victory

"Yes, Edward? You have something further…?" Aro asked wearily

"Perhaps," Edward said "First, if I could clarify one point?"

"Certainly," Aro said,

"The danger you foresee from my daughter—this stems entirely from our inability to guess how she will develop? That is the crux of the matter?"

"Yes, friend Edward," Aro agreed. "If we could but be positive… be sure that, as she grows, she will be able to stay concealed from the human world—not endanger the safety of our obscurity…" His voice trailed off, shrugging.

So, if we could only know for sure," Edward suggested, "exactly what she will become… then there would be no need for a council at all?"

"If there was some way to be absolutely sure," Aro agreed carefully "Then, yes, there would be no question to debate."

I grinned, reading between Edward's words, not only was he talking about Alice, but he was talking about proof that Nessie wouldn't be a threat…which meant Alice and Jasper had been successful, Zafrina's other sister had gone with Alice and Jasper, Zafrina had told us this. Before the threat of the Volturi, we had been planning a trip to South America… the legends we had found shortly after Bella and Edward returned from their honeymoon…3 that had been Alice's plan all along, find the source of those legends, find out if they were indeed true.

Even the secrecy made sense now, Alice had to abruptly leave us, she couldn't let Edward see what she had seen, she couldn't let me profile her, we both would've inadvertently put everyone in more danger. The witnesses were just in case, a backup plan, even a way to stall long enough for Alice and Jasper to do what they needed to do.

All of this flooded my profile, Fi gave my hand a squeeze, when I looked at her she gave me a confused look. I didn't say a word, I couldn't I had to let everything play out as Alice intended, but I lifted Fi's hand to my lips and kissed it.

Meanwhile, as I had been absorbed in my profile, Edward's conversation with Aro was continuing, a delay tactic? Giving Alice just a few more moments to reach us, she had to be close by if Edward could hear her thoughts…no this was typical Alice, it was her grand entrance, her show, a chance to knock the Volturi right off their high horse.

"She is absolutely unique. Her future can only be guessed at." Aro replied, I knew I had missed a good portion of the conversation

"Not absolutely unique," Edward disagreed. "Rare, certainly, but not one of a kind." Edward paused, he glanced over at Bella for a moment, "Aro, would you ask Jane to stop attacking my wife? We are still discussing evidence."

Aro raised one hand.

"Peace, dear ones. Let us hear him out."

I heard Bella sigh with relief and even across the field saw Jane's glare, like a little kid who was just put in time out. Her glare turned to me as if it were my fault she'd been put in her place, I returned the glare, but I was unable to keep the satisfied smile off my face and she recognized that smile, which only intensified her glare.

"Why don't you join us, Alice?" Edward called loudly.

"Alice," Esme whispered

Right on cue Alice's name began floating up amongst both sides, mainly our own, but I did hear Aro utter her name, in almost a gleeful tone. I knew even if Alice was bringing proof that could satisfy the Volturi as to Nessie's future, we wouldn't be out of the woods yet, the collect and destroy part of their plan was still in effect and with Alice coming back that would only encourage Aro's determination.

We all held our breath as Alice emerged from the woods, dancing of course, with Jasper right behind her. Emmett and I exchanged a look of relief, he reached over and held out his fist to me and I bumped it, we had our brother back, we were the four Cullen boys once again. Right behind them were three beings I had never seen before, the first was easy to identify, this was clearly Kachiri, Zafrina and Senna's sister.

The next being was another female vampire, she was clearly uncomfortable with the situation, whether that was the numbers in front of her or just being out of her element I couldn't really tell. The last being was a man…similar somewhat to the woman, but only in facial feature…they were clearly family, not mother and son or brother and sister, but definitely related in some way…but what really caught everyone's attention, made everyone stare in stunned silence…was his heartbeat. We all heard it, it echoed with Nessie's…with the wolves…a human heartbeat, but like Nessie there was no way this guy was human, at least not completely…this was another half human half vampire, Edward was right, Nessie was unique, but certainly not one of a kind.

Alice reached our group first, pulling herself alongside Edward. Bella reached out to touch her arm, as did Edward, Esme, and Carlisle, I too found myself reaching out to hug my sister, but pulled myself back, hopeful that the fates had intended a nice family reunion for us. Jasper and the others joined us right behind her. What was most amusing was the look we were getting from the Volturi, mainly Aro, Caius, Alec, and Jane, the fact that Bella's shield while invisible was impenetrable to mental

I glanced at Bella without being too obvious about it and saw her body stiffen a little as she stared across the field to the guard, all of us realizing the same thing about Bella's shield. Edward went stiff as well, but he maintained his composure.

"Alice has been searching for her own witnesses these last weeks," he called across the field "And she does not come back empty-handed. Alice, why don't you introduce the witnesses you've brought?"

Caius snarled.

"The time for witnesses is past! Cast your vote, Aro!"

Aro however was mesmerized by the newcomers and held up a finger to silence his brother, staring.

"This is Huilen and her nephew, Nahuel." Alice explained, a murmur erupted across the field as the guard and what remained of their witnesses took this all in. Many of the guard looked like they were ready to follow the witnesses that had already left, others just seemed stunned, even Caius looked stunned which was both worrisome and interesting to see.

"Speak, Huilen,"Aro ordered, his voice shaking just a bit. "Give us the witness you were brought to bear."

"I am Huilen," the woman started "A century and a half ago, I lived with my people, the Mapuche. My sister was Pire. Our parents named her after the snow on the mountains because of her fair skin. And she was very beautiful—too beautiful. She came to me one day in secret and told me of the angel that found her in the woods, that visited her by night. I warned her. As if the bruises on her skin were not warning enough. I knew it was the Libishomen of our legends, but she would not listen. She was bewitched. She told me when she was sure her dark angel's child was growing inside her."

As she continued her story we all stared at Huilen. I couldn't believe it, not only was the similarities to her sister's pregnancy eerily mirroring Bella's near perfectly, minus the end results of course, but it was like the legends we had researched, all the searches on Google, reading websites and looking at first hand and second hand sources, it was all coming to life and standing right in front of us, in the flesh so to speak.

I wondered for a moment, if these legends were true and clearly they were, did that mean Nessie and this Nahuel, did that mean they weren't the only half vampires in the world? Huilen said she was at least one hundred and fifty years old, if not more, some of the legends we uncovered dated back much further than that. I think one of the earliest accounts we had discovered was before the collapse of the Aztec empire and had actually been from that area of Central America, not South America where Nahuel and Huilen were from.

I wondered if we looked outside of South America, what we would find, other similar occurrences? It had never even crossed our minds to us to look further than South America, mainly because of Edward's insistence. He had mentioned that the house keeper on Isle Esme had tried to protect Bella, convinced that she was in danger.

I tried to think of legends within Scotland, we had our own vampire legends such as the Baobahn Sith, a particularly violent female vampire known for seducing men and then tearing them apart. There was also another story, one my grandfather told me and my cousins, I can't remember details of it very well but it was about a child vampire born to a noble family, he was hidden away from sight and some how cursed the family name so that every generation as far back as anyone can remember a child with his same characteristics would be born, a vampire child. Even though I was a fan of these legends, that one has always escaped me, I think I was only six when I first heard it. But these legends had to come from somewhere, they had to start somewhere. Nahuel clearly wasn't a legend.

"And you reached maturity at what age?" Aro asked, bringing me back to the discussion, I looked at Nessie for a moment and then at Bella who was hanging on Nahuel's every word.

"About seven years after my birth, more or less, I was full grown." He explained

"You have not changed since then?" Aro asked

Nahuel shrugged.

"Not that I've noticed."

"And your diet?" Aro continued

"Mostly blood, but some human food, too. I can survive on either."

"You were able to create an immortal?"

"Yes, but none of the rest can."

"The rest?" Aro repeated

"My sisters." Nahuel explained

The buzzing of discussion erupted again, this time it wasn't just Aro's side, it was all of us. He had sisters, this was growing more and more strange by the moment, which also caught my attention on something else…something I wasn't sure if anyone else picked up on…I exchanged a look with Jacob, his eyes told me we were thinking the same thing, so at least one person had picked up on it, Nessie wasn't venomous, she had proven that the number of times she had bitten Jacob, we had always just assumed it was because of his genetic makeup that protected him from being turned into some weird werewolf vampire hybrid thing, but if Nahuel could change his aunt, but his sisters couldn't change anyone, maybe it wasn't just Jacob, maybe it was how the half human half vampire genetic makeup worked, females weren't venomous, but males were.

Nahuel shrugged again, he began explaining how his father had found him, how he had met his sisters all half vampires like him, but all non-venomous, but what really pulled me back into the conversation was how Nahuel described his father, how he called himself a scientist…if he was creating this super-race as Nahuel described it, he wasn't a scientist, he was no better than Victoria…or Maria, the woman who had turned Jasper. Both were hell bent on creating an army, was that what Nahuel's father was doing?

There was no other explanation for it, at least none that my profile could come up with. If that was the case, Aro and Caius would have no choice, even if we were to be destroyed, then by their own laws they had to turn their attention to Nahuel's father and quash his army early. But if Nahuel was about one hundred and fifty years old, that meant his father had been at this for at least that long and he was certainly not trying to create some vampiric Brady Bunch, but an army.

I heard Caius growl at Aro and that brought my attention to the three of them, Marcus seemed at peace for whatever reason known only to him, while Aro was just mesmerized and of course his usual curious self, but looking between Caius and Aro I could see the reasoning for Caius' growl, he knew what Aro's decision was and he was not happy about it, mainly because going the democratic way, he was about to be outvoted two to one.

"Brother," Aro finally said. "There appears to be no danger. This is an unusual development, but I see no threat. These half-vampire children are much like us, it appears."

"Is that your vote?" Caius demanded.

"It is."

"And this Joham? This immortal so fond of experimentation?"

"Perhaps we should speak with him," Aro agreed.

"Stop Joham if you will," Nahuel spoke up "But leave my sisters be. They are innocent."

Aro nodded, I knew that look, I held my breath, trying to keep the sigh of relief at bay, Fi looked at me and I couldn't help my half smile, we both felt it now, the tension, the feeling of death that had hung over us so thickly like a London smog had been lifted. Aro had accepted not defeat exactly, but the prospect of bigger fish to catch.

"Dear ones," he called. "We do not fight today."

The guard immediately moved to a departure formation, Alec's mist seemed to disappear and though Jane's glares hadn't ceased, she wasn't going to disobey Aro's orders. If I could read minds I would hazard a guess that she was cursing and calling on the twelve plagues of Egypt to smite me (I say twelve because she'd probably throw in an extra two just for good measure, there's no way the usual ten would be enough to satisfy her). I knew from that look that I hadn't heard the last of Jane nor her brother, but at least for now I didn't have to worry about them. When I glanced at Edward he gave me a half grin, telling me that I was right about Jane, he could read her mind and knew exactly what kind of bewitching she was sending my way, it greatly amused us both.

Caius however was not happy, nor was he ready to move on, like Aro appeared to be. Marcus of course was his usual bored self, but Caius was furious with Aro's decision, even though he was certainly keeping that from the rest of the guard and trying to keep it from us and especially the guard's witnesses', which speaking them, slowly they had made a break for the woods, individuals at first, then small groups, then the rest of the herd. I had a feeling that if ever a time should come for the Volturi to need witnesses again, most of those particular ones would not answer the call.

The rest of the guard, minus Aro's personal bodyguards, began heading towards the woods themselves, not in pursuit of the witnesses, but to return to Volterra. Though I'm pretty sure if the witnesses saw them coming they'd think the worse and pick up speed. The wives and their bodyguards departed first, followed quickly by Caius and Marcus, leaving only Aro, who raised his hands peacefully towards us, mainly Carlisle.

"I'm so glad this could be resolved without violence," he said, his voice dripping with so much kindness it was almost painful. I bit back my comment and my remarks, so what if they had nearly executed us, no way something like a near massacre should come between friends. "My friend, Carlisle—how pleased I am to call you friend again! I hope there are no hard feelings. I know you understand the strict burden that our duty places on our shoulders."

"Leave in peace, Aro," Carlisle replied, trying to be friendly towards Aro, but there was a tenor of sharpness to his voice. "Please remember that we still have our anonymity to protect here, and keep your guard from hunting in this region."

"Of course, Carlisle," Aro assured him. "I am sorry to earn your disapproval, my dear friend. Perhaps, in time, you will forgive me."

"Perhaps, in time, if you prove a friend to us again." Carlisle answered and Aro took his words to heart, dropping his head slightly, he had wounded a friendship with this whole thing and he knew it, the damage that had been done on this day could be repaired, but it would not come easy nor would it ever be the same friendship again. Carlisle now distrusted Aro on the same level I did, I felt for my father, knowing how much that friendship had meant to him. I also distrusted Aro for another reason, though my profile was telling me we were in the clear and I desperately wanted to believe it, my instincts told me not to celebrate yet. I was so on edge I kept waiting for Aro to turn back around, even as he disappeared into the tree line, waiting for a command to attack…but none came,

"Is it really over?" Bella whispered to Edward

"Yes. They've given up. Like all bullies, they're cowards underneath the swagger." He chuckled and Alice joined him,

"Seriously, people. They're not coming back. Everybody can relax now." Alice called, "Chris let your guard down it's fine, it's over. Fi will you please kiss my brother so he calms down."

I shot a glare at Alice, but that was over quickly as Fi wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me tight, I relaxed and returned the hug

"It's over," I murmured "it's really over,"

"Aye, it is," Fi replied kissing my cheek, just as cheers erupted from the group, Maggie ran over to us and wrapped us both up in a group hug, the two girls jumping up and down in excitement, since they were both hugging me, I was pulled into the jumps too. Esme was hugging Alice and Jasper tightly, while the other couples all embraced in tight hugs or long kisses.

The snow began to fall again as Maggie started to run back to Liam and Siobhan, her and Fi tried to drag me with them, but I smiled and shook my head, letting them go. I felt arms wrap around my chest and lift me up off the ground as I was gripped in tight bear hug by Emmett and Rose, as we were quickly joined by Alice, dragging Jasper along, and Esme who was already attached to the pair of them, Carlisle was the last to join the hug, all that was missing was Edward, Bella, and Nessie, but looking over at them none of us wanted to interrupt the celebration that was occurring between them and as Fi rejoined us, getting pulled in by Esme, much to Fi's surprise to the group hug, I finally let out a sigh of relief, like I had been holding my breath the entire time and only now could exhale.