Muchas gracias for all the support, can't ever seem to find the right amount of thank you's to you all :) We are getting close to another one of my favorite moments (I bet you can guess what it is hehe) so let's get this whole Volturri mess out of the way, shall we? Read, review, and enjoy!

I do not own any of Stephanie Meyer's fabulous work, solely the plot and some new characters in this story.

**************************Esme************************************

"ihaffanohel, sme!" she cried into my neck, her body heaving unevenly with every sob. I patted her back soothingly, letting her release all the frustration and stress incapable of possessing such a young girl, even for a half-human. Nessie continued mumbling strings of incoherent words, her racing heart and almost burning skin a constant reminder of everything she'd endured till now, of the things she had still to face, and of the one she missed more than anyone or anything.

Jacob.

"Sshh, it'll be alright, sweetie," Alice cooed, joining the untouched bench in the lobby. We were simply waiting now, for what we had no idea, but the well-being of our family depended on it. The few targets we'd managed to disable had already disappeared, crawling and squirming away to a safer part of the enormous place to reconstruct. We could hear the battle going on not far away, a mixture of bloodcurdling screams and earsplitting howls, though as time passed the howls became less and less.

I burrowed myself into Nessie's hair, a bit brittle but still a semblance to the softness she was so usually coupled with. She peered up at me now, her brown, red-rimmed eyes pleading for assurance, for hope, hope amidst a long and tiring journey my near-fifteen year old granddaughter had faced head on without any alternative. I smiled down at her.

"Everything will be fine, sweetheart," I told her, stroking away rebel strands of hair from her clammy forehead. "Can't you hear? The wolves are winning, and Carlisle is already on his way over there to make peace. None of us killed any of the guard so that should clear any further implications and—"

"But what about Jake?" she interrupted, her brow creased in frustration.

"Jacob will be fine, Ness," another voice answered, coming over to hover over our much missed ray of light. Nessie looked up with a small 'o' at her aunt.

"Believe me," continued Rosalie, "he better be alright, or else I'm going to kick his furry butt and—"

"You called him 'Jacob'…" Nessie's eyes were wide, unbelieving and somewhat…amused.

Rosalie smirked. "Yes, well, it's only temporary, you know, fighting for the same cause and all that stuff," she rolled her eyes, waving her hand dismissively. Emmett was behind her in an instant, ruffling Nessie's hair as he kissed Rosalie swiftly on the cheek.

"Guess what I saw, Ness?" he asked, an eager grin on his face. I smiled broader as Nessie's haggard expression suddenly piqued slightly.

"What?"

Rosalie's eyes narrowed. "Emmett, don't even—"

"Rose actually let Jake hug her!" he cut in, moving hastily away as she turned around to slap him. Nessie looked confused.

"Wha—you mean—a hug? As in…" she lifted her arms up meaningfully, embracing a ghostly figure.

Rosalie, eyes still narrowed at her laughing partner—now 'hiding' behind Jasper—answered tightly. "I'll tell you the whole story later, but…yes, I'm still trying to get the nasty smell off my clothes."

For a long second she simply stared, too much recent grief and worry in her vulnerable mind to remember how to giggle…and then.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she burst out laughing.

I grinned and brought her closer to me, squeezing her affectionately. I could see without even opening my eyes the relieved smiles of my children. Nessie's smiles, her laughter…

It returned to us something we'd missed for too long…warmth.

*************************Carlisle***********************************

"Marcus."

The silence was never-ending, only a slight hitch of a breath here and there, an awkward shuffling of paws, wandering and confused eyes. I looked at no one, however, but the lone individual standing dead center of it all.

The person staring back at me was one I had never met, not like this. There was a complete absence of blandness, of indifference that had, for many years, been the highlighting definition of the great Volturri leader, Marcus. Marcus' eyes pierced right through me, a rekindled torture livid behind broken red spheres of uncertainty, pain, and loss, emotions vivid and extensive, trailing up to an enormous possibility of something many had never thought the Volturri capable of…humanity.

Oliver had explained to me, very briefly, what had taken place in this room not long ago, and judging from Marcus' expression…

Didyme…Aro…murder…

The broken man continued to stare at me, unmoving, silent pleas I could only guess at. It wasn't until one of the wolves—Paul from the looks of it—suddenly made an obvious gesture in his direction, a threatening growl, that I lifted my hand up in joined surrender.

"Wait," I said. Paul continued to bare his teeth, only stepping back and onto his haunches when Jacob shot him a pointed glare.

"Thank you, Jacob." I said, moving as I spoke, carefully so as not to startle my once former brother. Marcus' expression never changed however, his eyes never left mine, simply followed as I moved closer to him. It was a steady progression, all eyes on the encounter that would determine what would happen next.

I stood a mere foot away from him, impeccably untouched whilst his robes stood ripped and shredded, hair in messy disorder. He finally spoke.

"Carlisle, I—Aro, he—did you know too—"

I quickly shook my head no. The thought only seemed to pain him more for some reason.

"Chelsea—control—never knew—Carlisle, he killed Didyme!"

And suddenly the unexpected took place.

I instinctively enveloped the broken man with my arms as he fell into them, embracing him tightly for the many, many years of lack of emotion and any affection his puppeteer had rid him of.

"You never knew about her, Carlisle, but she was my wife!"

"Yes, I just found out—"

"AND I LOVED HER, MORE THAN ANYTHING!"

I said nothing.

"And because of him, Aro…" Marcus fell into another instant of silence, words unable to express how wretched and used he was feeling. I could think of only a few words.

"Marcus, I'm so sorry."

******************************Jeanine***********************************

Sneaking out had been simple with my enhanced speed. Finding the one I wanted, however, was proving to be somewhat difficult.

Where are you, you cowardly snake?

I'd seen Caius disappear almost as soon as the wolves had entered. I'd only followed a second later…to find him nowhere in sight. With the various vampire and wolf smells it was almost impossible to find the one I needed: Caius.

I wasted no time, dashing forward and peering into every closed door, every dark corner. It was a bit difficult with the Cullen family still spread out disabling guards. I knew Edward knew I meant no harm, but as for the rest of them…I couldn't take my chances. I wound through various passageways, twice checking up on the pavilion to see if he'd managed to get outside yet, but he was nowhere. I felt my throat burning, burning with the desire to kill the perpetrator behind it all, even behind Jane. If it weren't for him the Volturri would have never even gone to my home, Jane would have never turned me, and my brothers and mother would have never died.

He was not going to escape, and that was a promise.

I turned another corner, still no sign of the inhumane monster, but stopped right in my tracks with the victorious smile that halted a further step.

"Going somewhere, Jeanine?" Jane asked, her smile broadening. Unlike the few tattered guard member's I'd passed, she was untouched, her black robe smooth with hardly the offer of even a crease. Her eyes glowed maliciously with apprehension, apprehension that I was alone, and that my strength was still no match for her vile gift…

But if I was going to go down, I would do so with some kind of dignity: no more cowering under this demon's hand!

"You know, Caius will get away, Jeanine, as will I," she was saying, stalking ever closer. "And don't even think," she added, "that just because you're dead I will have forgotten about your poor little sister and father—"

"They have nothing to do with this!" I retorted angrily, my teeth beginning to drip with an overwhelming amount of venom.

"Oh but they do!" she continued excitedly, waving off my interruption as easily as if I were a human. "Don't you see the perfection in it all? The beauty? How even after all your tireless efforts in keeping them alive, after all the 'bad' as you put it, you've done; all of it done in vain."

I snarled, eager to put my hands around the wretched devil from hell and twist off her pretty little head. A sudden movement caught my attention from behind her, and it took all my concentration to avoid making anything obvious. I taunted her instead.

"Die in vain, eh? Sure, with your cheap little tricks anyone is prone to die. Tell me, Jane, why you don't fight me yourself, hand to hand—"

But she was already laughing, giggling wickedly with the suggestion. "Hand to hand? I'm not an idiot, Jeanine, so don't you dare try any of this 'honor' and 'dignity' crap on me. No, I'm no fool. But enough talk, you've already lived longer than I planned."

She grinned, and I braced myself, knowing what would happen with that single look, that single word.

"Goodbye, Jeanine," she said, her eyes piercing as if through me as she spoke, "Pain."

I closed my eyes, allowing myself to grin broadly before her attack hit…or didn't.

I could hear Jane's unnecessary intake of breath as her directed blow veered completely off course, could hear the flutter of her eyelids as they half-shut, narrowing in concentration as she tried again.

"PAIN!"

…but again, nothing happened.

For a long second we both stood there, my grin growing wider…and then she made to run.

"Oh no you don't," interrupted another voice, one I had only recently come to recognize. I opened my eyes slowly to witness the glorious sight before me.

"YOU!" Jane sputtered angrily, her eyes shooting daggers at the pair that stood before her. I took another step forward in their direction, glancing once at the other two before focusing back on my soon-to-be victim.

"I can't thank you enough, Isabella, and Edward," I said in their direction, "I trust you received my message then?"

Edward Cullen gave me a nod and a brief smile. "Yes, an anonymous tip to a feigned fiasco back in Spain for the majority of the guard to attend to," he said smoothly, "it made my family and the pack's entrance much easier. Plus, in this way not everyone," here he turned a meaningful glance in the small girl's direction, "had to die."

Isabella shot me a pointed look. "Yes, it did turn out to be very helpful indeed. But tell me, Jeanine," she glared at Jane, "would you like our assistance cleaning up here, or—"

I interrupted her midsentence, my lips widening into what I was sure was nothing short of psychotic. "Oh no, that won't be necessary," I smiled, turning towards the now terrified Jane before me, "this one is all mine."

And without any further adieu, I charged.

**************************Edward********************************

It was a gruesome sight, even for us vampires…though given her past I could not blame her.

Jeanine had completely destroyed Jane, not only limb from limb, but every piece of skin had been clearly ripped off, her body shattered and hardly even recognizable as anything remotely solid. There was no doubt in my mind that Jane deserved every bit of pain she'd received, and yet it was still not enough, would never be enough.

Jeanine knew this, and even after her hasty revenge, she made it a point to spit onto the mangled mess that had once been Jane. It was all I could to calmly remind her of another subject.

"Jeanine," I spoke quietly. She flicked her gaze towards mine, the immense hatred and disgust still more than evident behind her bloodthirsty eyes. It took only one word to bring her back.

"Caius."

She blinked, nodding in unison as she swiftly took the lead. "Right." She turned and added, "Leave him to me, I'm sure you have some things to take care of back in the courtroom with…well, with whoever is still alive."

Bella made to retort but I swiftly brought my hand up to stop her. "Jeanine," I said again. She stopped, glancing at my knowing tone. "Caius is down the left hallway behind the second to last door. He's preparing to escape. I understand your…eagerness, to annihilate him, but surely," I frowned, "you must understand ours as well."

She took it in for a second before nodding with the same crazed grin. "Alright, let's get the bastard."

Ok, so you know what's coming up next as far as Caius is concerned. Take that you undeserving coward! Heehee! Aside from Jane (don't you just want to get up and start singing 'high ho, the witch is dead, the wicked witch…' *don't know the words ^.^ *), there wasn't too much action—and to be honest there won't be much with Caius either, three against one—not to mention two of which are newborns and one who can read minds—not looking good lol. But if it's any consolation, the next chapter will reveal what it is to become of the Volturri, the Cullens, and even the wolf pack. I may throw in some 'funnies' to fill up the chapter a bit but those are usually well-received. THEN, can you guess what happens after that?...Jake and Nessie's REAL reunion! AAAAHHH! I can't wait, seriously, these past chapters have been so difficult for me to write without rushing too much, but alas, one more chapter to go and we get to another one of my favorite moments. In case you missed the whole Edward&Jeanine moment, remember back in the courtroom how Edward seemed to pick up something from Jeanine? Well she pretty much got rid of a lot of the Volturri guard before the trial, assuming there was bound to be some kind of intervention (whether from the wolves or the Cullens); she let Edward know this with her thoughts, so when it turned out to be true, Edward realized she could be trusted. I'd like to thank you all for every lovely review and never ending support. As you know, the story is coming to an end and I couldn't have imagined a better audience, I really do love you all! *sob* ok, well, no need for premature crying lol, there is still several chapters to go, please review! Thanks.