Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, Stephanie Meyer does.
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Last updated/edited on 09/27/2024.
First Person POV: Astrid
I heard a knock on my suite door, and approached with nervous excitement hoping it was Aro picking me up for our date. Athenadora and Didyme had just put the finishing touches on my makeup and left just moments ago, so he had perfect timing. I swung the door open and saw him, looking as striking as usual. Under his cloak he wore a sharp black tuxedo. I felt so ordinary in comparison to him.
"You look stunning, cara mia." He told me and kissed the back of my hand.
He pulled back and placed his other hand under my chin, tilting my face up to look at him.
"You're far from ordinary, Astrid." He murmured, gazing deeply into my eyes.
He kissed me softly and then held his arm out for me to take. We walked through the halls and down the staircase to an exit at the back of the castle. We entered a limousine that was parked in the driveway and then took a short drive to our destination. We pulled up to a small private airport and I quirked an eyebrow at Aro curiously.
"It's a surprise, piccola." He responded with a wink.
We boarded a private jet decked out in the Volturi colors, red and black. I sat on a leather couch with Aro, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I leaned my head against him while he played with a lock of my hair.
The flight was quicker than I expected, only lasting about an hour and a half. The sun had set by the time we started descending. As we exited the jet, I saw that we were in a large city, and based off the length of the flight, we were still in Europe. I eagerly peered out the window of the limo as we drove to our destination. As we grew closer, I started to recognize landmarks. Most notably, the Eiffel tower. We parked nearby and Aro led me under the tower and up an elevator inside. We went up to the main floor towards the top of the tower and were greeted by two individuals, who I recognized as vampires.
"Salut Aro! Ça fait longtemps, disc don." (Hello Aro! Long time, no see.) The male said.
"Est-ce elle?" (Is this her?) Said the female vampire next to him.
"Yes, Astrid, I would like you to meet Delphine and Henry. They are the leaders of the French coven and close allies of the Volturi. They own this lovely restaurant and have allowed me to reserve the space tonight." Aro told me.
Delphine was short and curvy with big caramel-colored curls and a kind face. Henry was lean with dark brown hair.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both." I said, smiling at them.
To my surprise, Delphine stepped forward and gave me a big hug. Then she pulled back, keeping her hands on my shoulders and looked at me fondly.
"It's lovely to meet you, chere. We couldn't be happier for you and Aro." Delphine told me.
Then they led us to a table by the window with an inspirational view of Paris and left us alone.
I gazed out the window at the beautiful city. What an amazing first date! Technically, I didn't have anything to compare this one to since I'd never actually been on a real date before, depending on whether you counted prom. But Aro had obviously pulled out all the stops tonight.
I sat silently next to Aro in the booth, peeking up at him occasionally. As the silence stretched on, I started biting my lower lip. What were you supposed to talk about on dates anyway?
"What's troubling you, angelo mio?" He said, noticing my nervous habit.
I held my hand out to him hoping he would see for himself. The question I had asked the queens still lingered in my mind, but I didn't want to ask aloud since I wasn't sure if we were alone. Aro took my hand and laced it with his own.
"Ah yes, I figured this would come up eventually. What my sister told you was accurate. I had a companion named Sulpicia for about a millennium, but she met her mate in court and left the castle. A nomad by the name of Alina had unknowingly crossed into our territory and was brought in for questioning. When she and Sulpicia locked eyes during her trial, I knew that was end of anything we had. There were no hard feelings of course, finding one's mate is the greatest gift in the world." Aro told me with an adoring smile. I giggled and looked out of the window to hide my blush. Aro chucked at my shyness and continued.
"Sulpicia left with Alina to travel the world as nomads. They eventually settled down with the Swedish coven within the last few centuries. I won't lie to you Astrid; it was a difficult time for me after I lost my companion. My brothers both had their mates, and I remained alone. In a lot of ways Sulpicia kept the loneliness at bay, she held off the inevitable." He continued. I frowned; I hated the idea of Aro alone in the world for so long. If only I'd been born three millennia ago… My chest tightened.
I'm sorry Aro, I wish I could have been here sooner. I thought to him through our linked hands.
"No, Astrid, you are the reason everything has changed. After Sulpicia, I didn't want to risk getting attached to anyone, so I didn't bother to find a new companion. I decided I would wait for my mate, hoping that I would be blessed with one eventually. And do you know what…?" He said with a cheeky grin, and I waited for him to continue.
"You were more than worth the wait." I let out a laugh.
I didn't think I wanted to know more about his history at this point. I figured even if he hadn't dated anyone, he probably hadn't been a saint for the last two millennia. As I told Athenadora and Didyme, as long as I didn't have any crazy vampire exes to dodge, I was fine without the details.
Aro let out a hearty laugh. "Nothing like that to worry about, bellissima, I promise you." He confirmed.
A previous question popped back into my mind.
"I'm curious, the dress that you sent, did you pick that out yourself?" I asked him.
"Sort of, Heidi picks out a selection for me and I make the final call." He told me.
When I thought of gorgeous Heidi working with Aro and felt my chest tighten painfully. Logically, I knew I shouldn't be upset. Not only was this my first date with Aro, but I also had no reason to jump to conclusions about him and Heidi. But I did wonder… Were they close? Had they been together? And if so, how could I ever face her again?
Aro scooped me up and placed me on his lap as he heard my thoughts. He tucked my head under his chin, and I breathed in his scent, instantly feeling more at ease. He smelled just like he tasted when he kissed me, like chocolate and red wine.
"It's okay, tesoro. Believe me when I say there's absolutely nothing for you to worry about. First of all, you should know I have never and would never be with one of our guards in that manner, they are expected to behave professionally. And second of all, Heidi is happily mated to Felix, so you have nothing to worry about from her either." Aro informed me and I relaxed at the news. My relief was short lived though, because I realized that I was acting incredibly jealous, and it was only our first date.
"I'm sorry, Aro, you probably think I'm so possessive, but I swear I've never acted like this before." I tried to explain.
"I know piccola, what you're experiencing is the effect of the mate bond. Since the bond is new, it'll flare up occasionally until we are able to solidify it. Honestly, I was quite surprised you made it through the previous topic without much pain." He told me and then started purring deeply until I melted against him again.
Once I was feeling better, he placed me back in my seat next to him. My cheeks flamed with humiliation.
"Astrid, I promise you, there's nothing for you to be ashamed about. Vampires are naturally possessive of their mates and though you are not yet a vampire, our bond is strong, and it will cause you to act similarly to a newly mated vampire. Please don't worry, there's nothing that you could do that would make me love you any less." He told me earnestly. I sighed; he was so damn sweet with me…
Our food was delivered shortly after. Well, my food and his chalice of blood. Dinner continued without any issues and soon we were saying our goodbyes to Delphine and Henri.
"I have another surprise for you." Aro told me as our limo wove through the streets of Paris.
We pulled up to a dock on the Siene River and boarded a gondola. Aro and I took a seat on cushions at the front of the boat and the gondola driver steered us along at the back of the boat.
"This is so wonderful Aro!" I couldn't believe he had planned all of this for our first date.
"Just wait, cara mia. You haven't seen the best part yet…" He lifted his hand and pointed off to the side and I looked over to see the Eiffel tower… Sparkling?! It was so beautiful! Aro combed his fingers through my hair, scraping his fingernails lightly against my scalp and I barely suppressed a moan of pleasure. He looked down at me with dark eyes and my breathing hitched. He slowly leaned in and kissed me - softly at first but things grew heavier. He lightly nipped my bottom lip, and I opened my mouth to him. He eagerly thrust his tongue in, tangling it with mine. I linked my arms around his neck, trying to pull myself closer to him. And as much as I wanted things to go further, I begrudgingly remembered that we were currently on the boat with the gondolier behind us. Aro slowed the kiss and gave me a few last light pecks and rubbed my back through my dress soothingly. Then he slipped off his tuxedo jacket and pulled it around my shoulders, to keep me warm. I snuggled against him and enjoyed the remainder of the boat ride.
I was surprised that I felt so comfortable with Aro despite our relationship progressing so rapidly, both emotionally and physically. I didn't have much experience with men, or vampire kings in this case, but usually when things got too intimate, I would get nervous and back out. However, with Aro, everything just felt right.
We began the trip back to the castle. I leaned on Aro's shoulder in the limousine on our way back and ended up falling asleep. I awoke to Aro carrying me down the hall to my suite. I blinked my eyes and gave him a sleepy smile. I wanted him to know how much I enjoyed the date and how much fun I had with him. His face lit up and I knew he had heard my thoughts.
He gently deposited me onto my bed. I felt him slip my shoes off and place the covers over me. He kissed my forehead gently and I was lulled back to sleep.
Third Person POV: Catalina
Catalina was perched on the edge of the top floor of an apartment building a safe distance away from the castle in Volterra, Italy. She had come a few days early to scope out the Volturi coven before their visit. She was hoping the Volturi had recruited new talent to their guard that she could deliver to the Romanians in exchange for Diego. However, chances were slim that they had acquired anyone equal to Diego considering his gift.
Everything appeared ordinary. No one had been added to the elite guard. Marcus, Caius, and their wives were behaving normally.
The only thing irregular was that Aro was missing. Catalina had arrived to scout just after the sky darkened and Aro still hadn't made an appearance.
It was nearly 1:00am and Volterra was quiet. Her head snapped to the side as a limousine came down the road toward the castle's back entrance. The limo parked, and she saw Aro step out, but instead of entering the castle, he went to the opposite door and took out a small figure. Catalina took a breath in as the wind blew towards her; she immediately identified the sweet fragrance of human blood. Aro scooped up the petite human tenderly from the limo, and Catalina saw that it was a girl wearing a black Volturi cloak and an expensive looking pink dress. She didn't want to get her own hopes up, but she started to suspect that this girl was Aro's long-awaited mate. Her thoughts where confirmed a moment later when the girl's Volturi royal crest fell into view.
Now this was a golden opportunity. Aro had found his mate, and she was human! She considered the logistics of kidnapping the girl. The real challenge would be to maneuver her away from her guards' protection. But if Catalina could manage to get the girl alone, even for a minute, kidnapping her would be all too easy. She wondered what Vladimir and Stefan would be willing to provide for the girl.
She jumped a few buildings over away from the castle and dialed the Stefan's number.
"Speak." said Stefan.
"I have some information you may find interesting, consider it a show of good faith." she replied.
"Let's hear it then." he prompted.
"I believe Aro has found his mate… and she's human." She told him.
There was silence on the other line and then she heard the phone switch hands.
"Your coven is scheduled to visit the Volturi soon, yes? You will retrieve the girl for us." Vladimir told her.
Catalina was miffed by the demand, but she knew that the Romanian brothers' easiest path to Aro's mate would be through her coven's upcoming visit. They needed her, not vice versa.
"You realize what you're asking for, don't you? What could you possibly provide me with that would make it worth my while?" She baited them.
Muffled voices sounded on the other line.
"If you can get the girl away from her guards and out of the castle, we will reward you appropriately. You may take the position of queen and equal to my brother and I when we overthrow the Volturi." Vladimir told her.
"If the Volturi find out I was involved in this they will surely destroy my coven. It will look suspicious if she goes missing during our visit. I must know that you are serious about challenging the Volturi for the throne." Catalina relied.
"Of course, you have our word. Once we have the girl, the Volturi will be completely at our mercy. Vampires will do anything for their mate, all we have to do is threaten the girl's life and Aro will call their guards off."
"Very well, consider it done." She said and then crushed the burner phone in her fist.