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“Nice weather today, isn’t it?" a voice nonchalantly asked.
“That was fast," he breathed, when he recognized who had spoken to him—her familiar scent, although tainted slightly by something sweet and decaying and by artificial cedar and rose—taking him right back, right into that little town: Forks.
“What was fast? What a weird way to answer. You haven’t changed at all, have you?”
And finally, he opened his eyes.
“Bella?”
“Nah, Satan.”
A chuckle followed.
“Bella?!”
Edward Cullen, a perpetual teenager and the first son of Carlisle Cullen, stared incomprehensibly.
“What?" she asked, blinking up at him with her wide brown eyes, just as lovely as he remembered.
“You’re alive!" He said, pulling her up to him by the arms and encircling both of them in the shadows of the awning behind him.
“Ouch, dude, be careful with the wares.”
“Alice saw you! She saw that you died!" A desperate plea for clarity underlined his words. He hadn’t seen her in so long; he’d begged Alice not to look for her all these years, and then, one day, a vision had overcome her so swiftly, and he’d watched all of it in her mind.
“You were in a morgue, lying on a slab, and you weren’t moving.”
He saw comprehension dawn.
“Ah, that was last Monday. I was taking a nap. Been pretty exhausted the last few months.”
“You were taking a nap?”
“Yeah.”
“In a morgue?”
“Well, I work there, so... yes. I took a nap on a slab in my morgue.”
Before he could even comprehend everything she’d revealed, a new voice chimed up.
“Master Aro wishes to speak with you, Edward Cullen." Jane intoned, her hands clasped demurely in front of her. Her gaze wandered to Bella, and Edward took a step in front of her.
“Hi, I’m Bella."
He adjusted his position to concealing Bella from view again after she shoved her hand out under his armpit and craned her head to get a look at one of the most terrifying guards the Volturi could boast.
“You will also follow.”
“Sure thing, I wanted to see you guys in person anyway; this makes the whole visiting thing easier.”
In his surprise, Edward forgot that he wanted to stay between the little menace and the love of his life. He turned.
“You wanted to do WHAT?”, he asked her, completely flabbergasted.
Bella’s brow furrowed.
“Did your hearing deteriorate? I said I wanted to visit the Volturi. I have a present.”
And here, she demonstratively held up a red container with a white cross. He remembered seeing one of these when he’d visited Carlisle at his workplace a few years ago. An organ transport box.
Ah, so she is the one that Master Aro-, he whipped around to Jane, and the rest of her thought ended in a language he did not know—he suspected none but the millennia-old vampire's—and the ones they decided to teach it to—would know.
“You know the Volturi?"
Edward vaguely noticed that his voice had reached a non-precedented pitch in height.
“Oh, knowing would imply that I know them. And I don’t. Not really.”
Then she flounced by him and came to a halt next to the small Volturi guard.
“Shall we?”
And lo and behold, Edward saw the tiniest smile make an appearance on Jane’s doll-like face.
What was going on here?
Aro was antsy. No one who saw him would notice it, of course.
But ever since he’d taken Edward Cullen's hand, ever since he had seen her lying on an examination table in a morgue in his mind—a vision straight out of the fascinating head of Alice Cullen—he'd had an inkling.
A premonition, so to speak, although he’d never be a clairvoyant.
But he’d seen her, and he’d seen her pale, but not deathly pale, face, her lovely nose, and her full, brown hair, and he’d thought—this one is taking a nap.
And he knew only one person, even remotely associated with vampires, who would take a nap in a morgue.
His little organ donor.
His bottone d'oro, the one who-
The big gates to the throne room were thrown open dramatically, and one Edward Cullen strode inside, dragging someone behind him, someone whose scent he recognized instantly from many, many notes.
Rose and cedar, decay, something sweet, and finally – finally her own scent. The first time he smelled her in all of her glory.
He felt blessed; he felt as if the world was finally about to be set right.
He was on his feet before his brain even registered it, intent on taking his first, real look at his queen, at his future, at his everything.
Aro had a whole speech prepared; he’d imagined so many scenarios, and in almost all of them, he would sweep her off her feet; his first words would be romantic and charming; she wouldn’t have any other option but to fall for him.
Or in others, she would say his name or say something in a breathy, lovelorn voice; she would whisper a sweet mi amore.
“’Sup.”
He came to a halt. Ducking out behind one Edward Cullen, Isabella Marie Swan shot a finger gun at him, her other hand occupied by a familiar red transport box.
Well. This was his beloved organ donor, of course. What ever did he expect?
“Bella!" the Cullen boy hissed at her, and Aro instinctively felt his hackles raise. How dare he hiss at his Isabella?
“Shush, you, the adults are talking.”
And then she sashayed half-way into the throne room, her eyes twinkling merrily, and he found himself grinning back helplessly.
“So, who’s my pen pal? I got a present.”
She plopped the box down on the ground and started rummaging.
He felt his grin slip into a pout.
She didn’t know? Well, of course she couldn’t know. How could she? There were many vampires residing in the castle, but he’d somehow thought...
Isabella was looking up at him, her head cocked and eyes squinted.
“A-ha! Guessed so!”
She walked up right in front of him.
“Bella, what do you think you're doing?" Cullen asked desperately. He didn’t even need to signal Felix for him to hold the boy back—good lad, that Felix. He’d give him a raise if the guard got paid; they didn't, of course.
And then his Isabella held out a human heart to him, eyes tilted into two charming crescents, teeth showing in a wide grin.
"I thought I’d go the romantic route. Tomorrow is Valentine; will you be mine?”
A choked-off noise emanated from one struggling vampire lying on the ground.
Aro, meanwhile, was almost vibrating out of his shoes, hands in front of his mouth, and a giddy grin split his face.
He cupped her hands holding the heart softly, looked her deep in the doe eyes, and cranked up the charm to astronomical levels—a suave grin, sparkling eyes, and all.
“It would be my pleasure, mi amore", Aro purred.