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ELEVEN; COMING BACK

     "SO WHEN SHOULD I start planning the wedding?" Alice asked, trying to take some of the worry off of Amelia's shoulders. Although she appreciated her sister's attempt, Amelia couldn't help but think about Bella.

     She sighed and responded, nonetheless. "I don't know, Alice. Is it normal that Paul doesn't know everything about me yet?"

     Alice paused. It was the first time she wasn't sure of Amelia's future. "Does he know about Demetri?"

     Amelia closed her eyes. "No."

     "Does he know about Richard?"

     Amelia remembered her wedding ceremony. She could recall Richard's crestfallen expression when his bride-to-be never walked down the aisle in the pearl gown her mother bought. She hated thinking about that day, but she supposed that it didn't matter now when she had Paul.

     "No. We don't usually talk about our past," she murmured. "Well, my past life. I'm sure Paul's was filled with crazy teenage girls at La Push High."

     "I know you're afraid, Mia," Alice said with compassion. "It's like opening up an old, dusty box that you stored away decades ago. But Paul deserves to know. You're going to be spending the rest of your lives together. He's going to accept you through the good and the bad."

     Amelia nodded, comprehending the depth of Alice's words. She continued to stare out the car window, watching as the scenery flew by with the speed Alice was driving at. It wasn't long before the 'Welcome to Forks' sign was staring at her in the face.

     Once they pulled up to Bella's house, Alice jumped out and scanned the perimeter. She returned and gave Amelia a comforting nod. "Everything seems fine. Shall we go inside?"

     "Alice," Amelia said, grabbing her sister's wrist. "Are you sure you should be around Bella if she returns? Your eyes are slightly darker than normal."

     Alice had almost forgotten about her hunger. "I think I'll be fine. Bella is more important."

     "You go on ahead then."

     Alice raised an eyebrow. "You're not coming with?"

     "I can feel that Bella's fine now. She won't be too happy with me when she discovers that I've been in Forks throughout her endless heartbreak. I think I need to have a chat with Paul."

     Alice grinned, her smile almost as blinding as the sun. "Go get him, Mia."

     Amelia took off into the forest, silently formulating what she planned to say to Paul. However, she stopped when she heard a pair of voices whispering to one another. They were complete strangers, but she heard Harry Clearwater's name pop up.

     "It's tragic, isn't it?"

     "Truly. Sue is such a lovely woman, too. She doesn't deserve any of it."

     Amelia hesitated, trying to connect the pieces together. Strangers would only be speaking that way if a loved one had passed. She wondered exactly what she had missed when she was gone.

     She tracked Paul to the hospital, where almost the whole reservation was sitting in the living room. Every eye darted over to her when she walked in, and Paul breathed a sigh of relief. He rushed to Amelia as everyone continued to stare. She knew that the residents of La Push had heard the stories of what Amelia was, but none of them had any confirmation unless they were part of the tribe.

     Paul escorted her out of the building, and Amelia felt her heart sink when she heard Sue's sobs inside of Harry's room.

     "Paul, what happened?"

     The boy pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. "Harry Clearwater had a heart attack this morning. The doctors did their best, but they couldn't save him."

     "A heart attack? From what?" Amelia asked.

     "Seth phased this morning," Paul explained. "And shortly after that, Leah did as well."

     She blinked, taking in what he was telling her. "Leah?"

     "Yeah. We didn't even know girls could phase, but Leah proved that theory wrong. Harry was shocked by Leah phasing because no one expected for her to, even with the Quileute blood running through her veins. Jake's sisters have it too, but they never became shapeshifters."

     "Is Leah okay?"

     He ran a hand down his face in exasperation. "None of them are. It was so unexpected, and everyone knows Leah is blaming herself."

     Amelia placed a comforting hand on Paul's bicep, sensing how stressed he was. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling despite her cold temperature.

     "I'm glad you're back, Mia. You have no idea how much I missed you."

     "You mean that?"

     He furrowed his eyebrows, leaning back to stare at her. "Why wouldn't I?"

     "I just-" she paused, trying to find what to say. "Do you ever wonder about my past life?"

     He shrugged, lacing his fingers through hers. "Sometimes, but if you don't want to tell me I'm okay with that. All that matters is I'm your future, right?" He raised an eyebrow.

     She smiled and pressed her lips to his. "Right."

     Paul's phone rang in the air and he grunted, pulling away from Amelia to answer it. He gruffly mumbled into the receiver. "What? Where the hell are you, Jake? Sam got back a hour ago."

     Amelia could hear what was happening from the other line, and she was surprised to hear her sister's voice flow through. "Paul? Hi, it's Alice. Can you hand the phone to Mia for me?" Paul might've missed it, but Amelia could hear the fear in Alice's voice.

     His face suddenly twisted into something unreadable, and he handed the phone to his imprint. Amelia gently took it from him, and whispered harshly. "Alice, what is it? Did something happen to Bella?"

     "It's Edward," Alice's voice was cold and frightened. "He thinks Bella's dead. He's headed to the Volturi now."

     Amelia's mind went blank. She doesn't know what to say or do. Edward was going to the Volturi to be killed, and they didn't have much time since his mind was set.

     "Mia?" Paul murmured, shaking his imprint to take her out of the trance she was in. "What happened? Mia?"

     "Get here now, Mia. I've already scheduled our flights."

     Amelia hung up, giving the phone back to Paul and kissing his cheek.

     "I love you. So so much."

     And with those words, she was gone.

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     "Mia?"

     "Bella," Amelia whispered, enveloping the girl into a hug. "Oh my God, Bella. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me, I'm so sorry."

     In the midst of her pleads, Alice leaned over to speak to the two of them. "We're boarding. Let's go."

     On the flight, Alice began speaking to Jasper lowly on the phone. It was still loud enough for Amelia to hear, but Bella's human ears couldn't tune into the conversation. Amelia leaned over to speak to Bella, sympathy clouded in her eyes.

     "Don't be upset with me, Bella. I truly am sorry. Edward thought it was for the best if you didn't see me," Amelia tried to explain.

     Bella offered a small smile, but Amelia knew that Edward was the only thing on her mind. "It's fine, Mia. Is there a reason you stayed, anyways?"

     Amelia shifted slightly in her seat. "Paul."

     Bella's eyes widened. "Lahote? Paul Lahote?"

     Amelia blushed, cheeks aflame. "Yeah. Surprised? How much did Jake tell you?"

     "He didn't tell me anything," Bella responded, quite defensive. "I figured it out myself."

     "Ah," Amelia exhaled. "Of course you did. Always been smart with the supernatural."

      Alice finally hung up the phone, leaning back in her seat with eyes closed. Amelia knew that she cared for Jasper so much, and she was silently cursing Edward for bringing so much grief upon the family. Nevertheless, she loved her brother more than anything and if something happened to him, Amelia would never forgive herself.

     Alice sighed. "I hate lying to him."

     "Tell me everything, Alice," Bella begged. "I don't understand. Why did you tell Jasper to stop Emmett, why can't they come help us?"

      "Two reasons," she whispered, her eyes still closed. "The first I told him. We could try to stop Edward ourselves — if Emmett could get his hands on him, we might be able to stop him long enough to convince him you're alive. But we can't sneak up on Edward. And if he sees us coming for him, he'll just act that much faster. He'll throw a Buick through a wall or something, and the Volturi will take him down. That's the second reason of course, the reason I couldn't say to Jasper. Because if they're there and the Volturi kill Edward, they'll fight them. Bella." Alice opened her eyes and stared at the human girl. "If there were any chance we could win, if there were a way that the four of us could save my brother by fighting for him, maybe it would be different. But we can't, and, Bella, I can't lose Jasper like that."

     Amelia eyes fluttered shut, suddenly not wanting to hear the rest of what Alice was going to say. The thought of losing any single family member was enough to drain all energy from the vampire.

     Bella nodded in understanding. "Couldn't Edward hear you, though? Wouldn't he know, as soon as he heard your thoughts, that I was alive, that there was no point to this?"

     "If he were listening," Alice explained carefully. "But believe it or not, it's possible to lie with your thoughts. If you had died, I would still try to stop him. And I would be thinking 'she's alive, she's alive' as hard as I could. He knows that." Alice could see Bella was growing frustrated by the thought of not reaching Edward in time. "If there were any way to do this without you, Bella, I wouldn't be endangering you like this. It's very wrong of me."

     "Don't be stupid. I'm the last thing you should be worrying about." Bella shook her head. "Tell me what you meant, about hating to lie to Jasper."

     Alice smiled grimly, exchanging a brief look with Amelia. "I promised him I would get out before they killed me, too. It's not something I can guarantee — not by a long shot."

     Bella's tone lowered, checking the passengers of the plane around her. "Who are these Volturi? What makes them so much more dangerous than Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie, Amelia, and you?"

     Alice gazed at her sister, allowing Amelia to tell the story. She knew the Volturi better, considering she had a close attachment to one of the guards.

     "They're a powerful coven, Bella. They're the biggest coven in existence, and it all began with the original three — Aro, Caius, and Marcus. I don't understand how they get along so well, or how they can tolerate Aro's cruel behavior, but they manage to suffice," Amelia shuddered at the mention of Aro, recalling his crimson colored eyes gazing into hers, reading into the depths of her soul. "They often recruit guards into their coven if the vampire displays an extraordinary ability. Aro and Marcus are talented in that area, you see, and they favor those who can give them the upper hand."

     Alice shot Amelia a raised eyebrow, as if she was prodding her to speak about Demetri, but Amelia simply continued. "The Volturi is important because they make sure that every vampire abides by the rules."

     "There are rules?" Bella hissed. Amelia shushed her, making sure no one was listening.

     "Yes, but it's simple — don't reveal our existence." Bella visibly relaxed at Amelia's words. "Every once in a while, a vampire loses all control and the Volturi have to step in."

     "And Edward?"

     The blonde sighed. Alice took over. "Is planning to flout that in their own city — the city they've secretly held for three thousand years, since the time of the Etruscans. They are so protective of their city that they don't allow hunting within its walls. Volterra is probably the safest city in the world — from vampire attack at the very least."

     "But you said they didn't leave. How do they eat?" Bella asked.

     "They don't leave. They bring in their food from the outside, from quite far away sometimes. It gives their guard something to do when they're not out annihilating mavericks. Or protecting Volterra from exposure-"

     "From situations like this one, like Edward," Bella finished for Alice.

     "I doubt they've ever had a situation quite like this," Amelia muttered softly. "You don't get a lot of suicidal vampires."

     Bella released a noise of anguish. Alice wrapped a comforting arm around Bella's shoulder, and Amelia laid her hand on top of Bella's.

     Bella had soon fallen asleep while Alice focused on her thoughts, trying to predict Edward's next move. Amelia was pondering over what she could do to help — if she got her hands around Edward, she could easily convince him to stop with her mental manipulation. However, even though her abilities were strong, Edward could fight against it. Edward was the only person she knew that was strong enough to withstand her mental manipulation, but he had only done so once in the past.

     Alice woke Bella up when she finally got a clear vision of what was going to happen. "They're deliberating, but they've decided to tell him no."

     "The Volturi?" Bella muttered, groggy.

     "Of course, Bella, keep up. I can see what they're going to say."

     "Tell me."

     "They're interested in him — they think his talent could be useful. They're going to offer him a place with them."

     Amelia froze. She had been offered a place in the Volturi many times before. Aro always thought Amelia's powers were incredibly useful, and before, her connection to Demetri gave Aro the idea that Amelia would continuously return to the Volturi.

     "What will he say?" Bella questioned, ignoring Amelia's distracted gaze.

     "I can't see that yet, but I'll bet it's colorful." Alice grinned. "This is the first good news — the first break. They're intrigued; they truly don't want to destroy him — 'wasteful,' that's the word Aro will use — and that may be enough to force him to get creative. The longer he spends on his plans, the better for us."

     Amelia exhaled. They still had time to save him.

     And she was definitely doing to kick Edward's ass when they got to him.

there's a new bella swan fic i posted that you guys should go check out!!