Volturi

Hey buddies, thanks for reading!

I still don't own Twilight.

Hope you enjoy!

○●○ Volturi ○●○

Me and Edward stood and stared at each other. His eyes taking in my every move - every breath, every blink. His eyes narrowed, probably thinking over what I had just said. I took a small step backwards, feeling uncomfortable.

"Bella I know you are angry, but we can talk through this. I love you, and I only left to give you your best chance. You don't have to hate me." Edward whispered, taking a step closer to me. He tried to caress my face, but I evaded his touch. "Don't be unreasonable, please love. You can trust me. I can't leave you again. You are the only thing in this world that brings me true happiness. Please don't give up on me."

"Edward I can't. I don't... I don't-" I just couldn't bring myself to say the words aloud. I didn't love him, but I had. I had loved him at one point.

"Bella, my love, my heart, you can trust me. I'll love you forever. I'll do whatever you want, just allow me to redeem myself. I'd do anything for you. Please don't do this to me."

He took my hands in his, and pressed his lips to them. I stood frozen, unsure of how to continue. I didn't want this, but I couldn't tell him that. The words caught on my lips, they refused to leave. I couldn't hurt this man, not when he looked so distraught over losing me.

My throat tightened, "Please, I-I.. Edward I have to tell you something." I stuttered. I had to tell him about Jasper. I couldn't betray him like this. I wouldn't let things escalate.

"Of course. Anything you need. Anything." Edward whispered. I tried not to notice exactly how enticing his voice was. I now could recall why I had been so enthralled by him. He was extremely charming at first glance.

He caressed my face, and kissed my forehead. I swallowed the lump in my throat. I had to tell him. He leaned so his lips were close to mine. In the corner of my peripheral vision I saw a tall form imurge from the shadow, I immediately recognized it as Jasper.

"Stop." I demanded quietly. Edward paused, his eyebrows furrowing.

I took quick steps backwards. I turned my attention to Jasper. His eyes were locked on Edward and he took cautious steps forward, like he was testing the boundaries. Edward glanced between the two of us, becoming more confused each time he did.

"Bella I don't understand." Edward said, his voice becoming darker. His eyebrows furrowed more as he looked between us both. "What's going on?"

"Well, I-I've moved on." I mumbled. From the corner of my eye I saw Jasper exhale a deep breath, almost a sigh of relief. Was he worried that I would get back together with Edward after all of this? I had to admit if the roles were reversed I would have been.

Edward shook his head in disbelief, "No." He practically growled. "He could have killed you Bella! He could kill you at any given moment! He isn't safe! Do you have a death wish?" He yelled, motioning towards Jasper with his hand. Jasper glared at Edward, his fists clenched at his sides.

"I could never kill her." Jasper stated in a low, intimidating voice. He squared his shoulders to Edward.

"You attacked her, clearly you have the capability! You can't be trusted!" Edward shot back. He took a few steps towards Jasper. I nervously glanced in Jasper's direction. I didn't want him to get hurt, especially over me.

They stared at each other and a low growl erupted from Edward. The world seemed to stop as they both refused to back down. The stand off went on for maybe thirty seconds, but it felt like hours. I had stopped breathing. Edward's lip curled up into a snarl, and Jasper matched it. Time had frozen.

"Stop, both of you! You're going to get us all killed!" Alice demanded, causing me to jump in surprise. When had she gotten here? I must have been too caught up in the showdown to notice.

Jasper nodded and took a step backwards. He looked over at me and we locked eyes for a moment. I begged him silently not to provoke Edward. I didn't want Edward to get jealous and somehow hurt him. He grinned softly as he looked at me. He turned to look back at Edward, and offered up his hand.

"Edward, brother, now isn't exactly the time. Maybe we should focus on getting Bella out of here unscathed." Jasper suggested.

Edward looked at Jasper's outstretched hand and said nothing. The look on his face was a mix between bewilderment and complete fury. Alice shook her head beside me.

"You can practically smell the testosterone. If they keep at this the Volturi will wipe us all out." She mumbled. We both were silent afterwards.

Alice tensed next to me, her eyes glazing over. Jasper was quickly by her side, hand on her shoulder. Apparently, their friendship hadn't diminished. Jasper and Alice knew each other very well, they had spent most of their years together. They knew each other's mannerisms. I didn't understand why this bothered me so much now.

"Alice, what do you see?" Jasper asked, in what I would call a desperate tone, maybe even scared.

Alice didn't answer. Jasper removed his hand from her shoulder and turned to me. He took my hand and pulled me to the side of the alley. I heard a snarl before being pushed to the ground. I looked up to see Edward slam Jasper into the wall, shooting a vertical crack up the stone wall behind him.

"Good afternoon gentlemen, I do hope I'm not interrupting." A sweet voice sounded from deeper in the alleyway.

A small figure emerged from the shadows, flanked by two others much larger. The face of the tiny form was pasty with androgynous features. There was no denying that this child was breathtakingly beautiful, if not terrifying.

Edward released Jasper's shirt from his grip. "You can tell your master's I won't be in need of your services after all." He said stiffly, like he was trying not to yell. Alice helped me up from the ground, and Jasper enveloped me in apologetic emotions. His eyes scanned me for injury. When he saw that I was unharmed he exhaled slowly. Edward hadn't caught the exchange.

"Shall we take this conversation to a more private venue?" One of the shadows asked smoothly.

"That would be unnecessary. I haven't broken the rules." Edward stated testily.

"Felix merely meant to point out your proximity to the general public. We would not want to... disrupt them, now would we?" The other shadow spoke in a soothing town, maybe in an attempt to calm him.

"Come, let us take better cover." The small one instructed monotonously, turning on her heel. She took a few slow steps further into the alley.

Edward sighed, "Why don't you all enjoy the festival? I'll be back shortly." He suggested tightly.

The small one paused and turned back to us. "The girl will come too. Master Aro is simply ecstatic to meet the young maiden who appeals so strongly to you." The little one stated, sounding bored.

I determined that the child was female. I hadn't been sure at first, but her voice was decidedly feminine.

"She stays." Edward demanded.

The girl gave a humorless chuckle. "I'm afraid not. Quickly please."

She began walking again. The two large figures had moved behind us, forcing us forward. We walked through the alleyway in silence.

I looked up at Jasper. His face lacked emotion, but I knew he was putting on a brave face for me. He glanced in my direction, and a wave of calm washed over me. It helped at first, but the more I thought about the situation the less it worked.

Jasper had said that he was going to die. If the Volturi looked into his mind he would be killed. And I would be killed for being human. These were our last minutes together. I wanted nothing more than to hold him tightly, but I was terrified that Edward would act aggressively again and we would be killed quicker. My anger grew as I realized that Edward was still controlling me. He had destroyed the work I had done to become my own person in a matter of minutes.

In a spontaneous spurt of rebellion I reached out to grab Jasper's hand. I was so tired of being controlled, and I refused to be a doormat in my last minutes of life. Even if the action was small, the feeling it gave me was monumental. I chose Jasper. I chose my own happiness, despite it angering other people. I was doing what I wanted while I still could. For once in my life I was going to be selfish.

Jasper sent me a nervous glance, and I made an attempt to convey all my feelings to him. He looked slighlty bemused, but didn't question anything. He seemed to stand a little straighter, and his muscles relaxed a shade.

Edward hadn't noticed yet. He was talking quietly to Alice. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised you came." Edward whispered through gritted teeth.

"It was my mistake. I needed to set it right." Alice replied plainly. She was forcing her voice to remain calm and polite, probably due to the listening ears behind us.

"What happened?" Edward asked, quite a bit less friendly than Alice. His fists were clenched tightly at his sides.

I leaned closer to Jasper.

"I'd rather not talk about it, if it's all the same to you." Alice responded a little more sharply than before.

"It's not." Edward mumbled, his voice came out in a near growl.

Alice ignored him. She didn't break pace as she dissapeared into a dark hole in the ground. The hole looked like a drain for rainwater. I balked. How was I supposed to go down that? It was barely big enough for one person.

"I can go down first and catch you." Jasper offered quietly.

Edward's head snapped up. "Alice is perfectly capable." He spat. He scowled when he noticed our linked hands. I did my best to stand my ground.

Jasper scoffed quietly. We walked over to the side of the hole. I looked down into the patch black void and swallowed hard. Jasper gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. I very slowly released him. The men behind us were becoming impatient, so I quickly got into position were I could jump down easily.

"I'm right behind you." He whispered.

I nodded and took a deep breath. I jumped into the hole. The wind blew past me and I held my breath. I landed in Alice's arms. They were a lot harder than I expected. I was going to have bruises.

Jasper followed quickly after. His pale skin was bright in the darkness. He moved to my side immediately. He pressed his lips to mine quickly, not caring that Alice was beside us.

"Thank you, Bella, these past few months have been the best of my life." He whispered. This was his goodbye. His voice had an air of finality to it.

I fought off tears as I thought of what to tell him. "Thank you for coming back."

He smiled, but his eyes were sad. I lifted my hand and caressed his face. We stared at each other, memorizing the features. A cloud of love encircled us. I absorbed every second.

If I had to die, then I'm glad it would be next to the man I loved.