Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything associated with the series.

A/N: I don't re-read what I write after I've written it. I just use spell check and then call it done. So there are probably lots of mistakes; I apologize in advance for all of them.

No one said a word. No one moved. It looked as if the Cullen's were waiting for any one of the queens to decide to follow through on their laws and kill Edward. It was the one thing I had begged them not to do. I understood the Cullen's broke the law. I understood the Cullen's were well aware of what would happen if they broke the law; but I didn't care.

I had just spent months of doing anything reckless I could think of just to hear Edwards voice, for my mind to conjure up a vision of him, to keep me sane. I had just flown across the ocean, without any notice to my father, to save the man I had thought was my soulmate from being killed. He was my salvation, and I had saved him, how could I give him up so easily?

But I couldn't deny the pull I felt towards Heidi and Jane. I barely knew them, had only known of them for a week, but I couldn't help but want to know so much more about them. It was like I was addicted to knowing everything about them, to just being around them; and they seemed to be the same way towards me. It was the same way I felt about Edward; at least I thought it was.

"Edward has committed the worst crime we have." Sulpicia said in a soft yet unnerving tone that threatened to send shivers of fear down my spine. "He may have been smart enough to allow Bella to figure out what he was, which allowed him to technically not break the law in means of not telling a human what he and his coven are, but he did not deal with the fallout properly."

I saw the Cullen's tense and I could tell they were waiting for the queens to give their verdict, a verdict that would hurt Edward and likely the family. I myself felt very nervous and couldn't help but lean forward in anticipation as I waited to hear what would happen. I hoped they would do what I wanted, but they were the queens of vampires. They would do what they wanted.

The three queens moved to stand next to each other, just a few feet in front of me. They seemed to be standing as one. They were making it clear that even though one of them was speaking at a time, they really were all speaking together. They were showing a united front.

"There are reasons we don't allow humans to know about vampires." Athenodora said, her voice just as low and just as nerve-wracking. "Humans are afraid of what is different and of what they don't understand. They have a very long history of attacking and killing first and then asking questions. We have our rules in place to keep everyone alive and to not start worldwide panic and murder of our own kind."

She was right. I had never once thought what the reaction may be if the general population found out about human killing vampires. And hearing her explain the rules, nearly made me regret figuring out what the Cullen's were on my own. But at least I did not and would not ever, tell anyone. I kept their secret better than they did.

"If we allowed just one vampire to get away with breaking the laws, it would show weakness on our part. Vampires are not weak; especially those with gifts. Vampires are made to take advantage of weaknesses; the Volturi cannot afford to show any." Didyme said in the same eerie tone as her two mates. "We cannot allow what Edward did to go unpunished. He will have to answer for his poor decisions."

"We can overlook Bella knowing you were all vampires because she figured it out on her own. A small loophole that most would not think to take advantage of, or even care to do so." Sulpicia said as she took a step forward, making me believe she was moments away from saying what was going to happen to Edward. I inched forward just a little more in my seat, causing both Jane and Heidi to take a step forward and to put what I felt were restraining hands on my shoulders; but their hands seemed to give me strength to continue to listen to what the verdict was. "What we cannot overlook is all of you abandoning a human with full knowledge about the existence of vampires. Carlisle, you allowed Edward to manipulate you, and then the entire coven, into leaving Bella. As a coven leader, you leave a lot to be desired."

"A coven leader is supposed to act to protect their coven and ensure the laws are followed. They are the leader of their coven." Athenodora said with a sneer. "You neither protected your proclaimed coven, human included, nor did you ensure the laws were followed. As such, you are no longer permitted to be a coven leader for no less than a century. Hopefully, in that time, you might learn something."

My eyes widened as I heard Athenodora speak. She had just disbanded the Cullen family. She can't do that! I moved to stand up, regardless that both Jane and Heidi could and probably would easily keep me in my seat. Before I could really move to stand and definitely before I could say anything, I caught Alice's eyes. She only shook her head 'no' and gave me a sad smile. She knew what was going to happen and she wanted to let it happen. As much as I wanted to say something, I knew to never go against Alice; even if I thought it meant the Cullen family were falling apart.

"I understand." Carlisle said with a grim look on his face, matching the rest of his families looks. None of them looked overly concerned though. They had to know something I didn't because if my family was getting taken apart, I would be more upset. He wrapped his arm around Esme and pulled her to him, like he was drawing strength from her. None of the Cullen's, even Edward, were acting like I would have thought they would if their coven leader was just demoted. Wasn't it an unwritten rule that all covens had to have some sort of leader?

"That said." Sulpicia said, moving the conversation right along. "Edward needs to be dealt with. He clearly broke the law and manipulated all of you into following him. Per his own thoughts, he knew there was a very high chance that your coven leaving a human would come to our attention long before the human died of old age. But he still wanted to leave in his own misguided belief of saving his… beloved."

I saw Edward tense and for a moment I thought he would either say something or move to do something. But he kept still. His eyes were trained on Sulpicia, I wasn't sure if he was reading thoughts she had directed at him or if he was just reading what she was about to say. I couldn't read where his emotions were and no one else seemed to want to give anything away. I kept glancing back at Alice to see if she could give any hint of what was to come, but she seemed to be solely focused on the queens.

"We have been put in a unique position." Didyme said, her voice calm and clearly misleading. "To protect the ones you love, you tend to want to lock them in an ivory tower and never let them leave. But that would lead to resentment and we can't have that." Didyme took a couple steps backwards, closer towards me and extended her hand out towards me. I wasn't sure if she wanted me to take her hand or not, but I didn't move. I was too nervous to be a part of anything she had planned if it meant hurting Edward or any of the Cullen's.

"In our world, allowing too much freedom could very well end in death by those who want to spite us, or prove a point." Athenodora added.

"Bella is very precious to us and our dear guards. We find that we want her transition here to be as smooth as possible." Didyme said as she lowered her hand as she realized I wasn't going to take it, and I swore that she was making this all up on the spot; likely ignoring everything the queens had already discussed and agreed to.

"She is in her last year of schooling before she's socially allowed to be completely on her own." Sulpicia added. "We figured, why not let her finish her last year?" She asked the Cullen's and I saw all their eyes widen in shock; mirroring my own. I had thought they wanted to keep me here, locked away, and never let me go until everyone I knew was long gone; especially since, depending on what they told Charlie, he may still be looking for me.

"You would allow her to return with us to Forks?" Esme asked and my heart swelled that she was trying to include me once again with her family; although, a part of me scornfully wanted to know how long it would last this second time before they left again.

"We would allow her to go to Forks, if she so desires, to finish her last year of high school and then return here. Backpacking across Europe is apparently a popular choice for some students prior to going to college." Didyme said with a smile. "If she wants, Bella can go back with you and finish her high school career before coming back home."

I couldn't believe they were willing to let me go. I had wanted to leave from the moment I got here but they were all insistent that I had to stay in Italy. I thought, initially, they didn't want me to go. Now, without even giving a hint to me, they were going to let me go? Did that mean I could get on with my life with the Cullen's, like I had never come here in the first place? It seemed too good to be true.

"You're really just willing to let her go with us?" Edward asked with a tone of disbelief and a hint of arrogance that only he could pull off. I almost wanted to yell at him to not question what they were doing, to just let me go with them.

"Well, seeing as none of you can be trusted, there will have to some stipulations; of course." Sulpicia said with a Cheshire grin. "Both Heidi and Jane will be going with her; to ensure her safety and to make sure those mutts you have that treaty with really are not Children of the Moon. I'm afraid we can longer just agree with your own assessment."

My eyes widen just a fraction that they were going to be investigating Jacob and the Pack. I didn't want anything bad to happen to them; but I was also more than sure that I didn't know the full story. After all I've seen from being here, one thing I've come to trust, is that the Cullen's aren't really good with sharing information with me. For instance, just from Sulpicia mentioning Children of the Moon, Athenodora seemed to tense up even more; which I didn't think was even possible and I couldn't think of why she would; other than the Children of the Moon must be dangerous or she just might really hate them. Either is a really good possibility.

"If we find they are Children of the Moon; there will be nothing Bella can say or do that would detract from the fury we lay down on all of you." Athenodora said with a sneer.

"We assure you, that if they were, we would have told you." Esme said from her spot next to Carlisle.

"You'll forgive me if I don't believe a word any of you have to say." Athenodora said, not losing her sneer.

"You'll leave as soon as Bella is ready. If she wants to, of course." Sulpicia said, turning with the other two queens to face me.

"We're sorry we didn't mention this earlier to you." Didyme said as they all approached me. "We only decided just last minute that this would be a good surprise for you and a good show of our good faith that you will return to us."

I wanted to be annoyed that they were making travel plans for me; without consulting me. But the plans they were making were exactly what I wanted. I didn't want to say or do anything that would change their minds… again. I was more than willing to go with whatever they wanted in order to be able to go home. I would be able to see Charlie again. And the pack. I really missed being home.

"I just want to go and see Charlie again." I said, nearly saying I just wanted to go home; but I didn't think we had the same definitions of home and for some reason, I didn't want to point that out to them. "And I do want to finish school." I added on because it was true. I at least wanted that diploma for all the work I had put into school for all those years.

"It will also give you an opportunity to give him a proper goodbye." Didyme said, making me frown. I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Charlie. I had just barely gotten to know him again. But that line of thinking lead to what the queens may have told Charlie when I first got here and they were persistent that I wasn't going to be able to leave. What could they have said that wouldn't be suspicious for me to show up now and then be forced away again; because I was sure the Volturi wouldn't let me ignore them, no matter how much I may or may not wanted to.

"What if she doesn't want to come back?" Edward asked the question that I found I couldn't make myself ask. It was like there was a part of me that knew I would want to come back; even if the majority of me wanted to want to stay in Forks.

"I think you'll find that she will want to come back." Sulpicia hissed at Edward before turning back to face me. "After meeting us, we are sure that you will want to come back to us. It's how the bond works, you will want to be near us for our protection; just as a child seeks protection from its' mother." She explained, and that explanation irked me. Why would I fly halfway around the world for protection when I would be perfectly safe in Forks, with at least the pack, if not the Cullen's?

"What she means, is that with the way a child and parent bond works, is that the child and parent stay within the same coven; to be near each other. To keep each other safe. Given your current human status, we feel more protective than you do of us, at least until you are changed, but the need to protect will still be there." Didyme explained in a soothing tone, clearly expecting me to not be happy about their predictions.

"But if I don't want to go back, will you let me stay there?" I asked, finally finding my voice since Edward was quieted by Felix tightening his grip on his shoulders in a silent warning. The queens clearly still didn't want to hear from him.

"It would pain us greatly if that were the case; but we have history on our side. History shows that the individuals involved in this type of bond, typically do not stray far for too long. The child does tend to stray more so than the parents." Sulpicia answered with a sigh. "We will not force you to come back, we want you to want to come back." She explained and in that moment, it clicked.

They knew I wouldn't be able to fight this supernatural bond; no matter how much I wanted to. Because of that knowledge, they were willing to let me go because they were beyond confidant that I would come back. Unfortunately, even I could see myself eventually coming back; perhaps not as quickly as they would like, but I could still see myself returning and that was what scared me.

"But, though we are willing to allow Bella to visit and finish her schooling; that does not change the fact that we do not trust the Cullen's and that you have all broken the laws; especially young Edward." Sulpicia said with a perfect politician's mask. "After the events I have seen from you, we cannot allow Bella to return and expect her to be safe." Edward growled, but was quickly cut off by a retaliating growl from Athenodora that actually did seem much more frightening than Edward. Both Heidi and Jane wrapped an arm around me when they felt my fear; which oddly enough, helped me completely get over the ancient vampire's voiced anger. "Jane and Heidi will be going with her. They will be welcomed to stay in the Cullen household if they wish to while Bella is in school. In exchange for that curtesy, they will be sure to hunt far enough away to keep any suspicions away from Forks about missing people."

"And if we don't want them in our home?" Edward angrily asked, slightly tearing his clothes around Felix's hold on his shoulder showed Edward was ignoring the warning of being quiet.

"Edward." Esme scolded. "Both Heidi and Jane will be allowed in our household for as long as they wish; and given the circumstances, I believe that is the least we can do." Esme seemed so firm in what she was saying, so opposite of what I was used to from the normally demur woman. It seemed that since Carlisle was no longer allowed to be the coven leader, Esme would take over. I wonder how that would work out.

The other Cullen's didn't seem to bat an eye at Esme taking charge and that made me wonder if perhaps Esme was always the one really in charge and Carlisle simply held the title because he was older and the one to technically start the family. I wondered if Edward or Alice would tell me one day.

"I'm sure you won't have anything to worry about with their presence around your home Edward." Athenodora said with a smile that screamed warning. "You will not be returning with them." Edward immediately yelled in outrage, but Athenodora kept talking as if she hadn't been interrupted. "You broke the laws; be impressed that you are not already dead."

"Do realize though, that if it wasn't for the weak bond we have with Bella and the strong one you have with her, you would be dead." Didyme added. "We will not risk hurting our already fragile bond but we will also not tolerate your complete disregard to the laws." She sternly added.

"As such, you will remain here, under heavy supervision. You will be locked in a room with nothing to do but contemplate your actions; just like a child being sent to their room." Sulpicia said with a sneer. "We will keep you fed if only for our want of not wanting to deal with a starving vampire."

"You are keeping him alive?" Esme asked and the hope in her voice was plain as day.

"For the time being dear." Sulpicia answered. "Depending on his future actions and even thoughts, if they turn to plotting, we will kill him. I will make sure to keep a close eye on every thought he has on a very regular basis."

"For now, you are dismissed to say your goodbyes to Edward and then you may return to Forks. Eventually, Bella and her mates will meet you there and Bella will finish her schooling." Athenodora ordered.

"Can't we say goodbye to Bella as well?" Emmett asked, though he received a sharp look from Rosalie for talking. If I didn't know better, I would say that Rosalie was afraid of what was happening; or just afraid that her husband might say something to anger the queens ever more.

"When will Edward be allowed to leave?" Esme asked, seemingly wanting to take a step forwards, towards the queens, but stopped before she actually did.

"We haven't decided." Sulpicia answered with a carefree tone. "Truthfully; he may never be. Life imprisonment is surely better than a death sentence; though we all know which we would rather give Edward."

"Time will only tell." Didyme answered, giving Sulpicia what seemed to be a warning look. "For now, it seems to be indefinitely. But, as old as we are, we've learned that things tend to change in the distance future. But for now, I wouldn't expect to see Edward anytime soon. You may all say goodbye to him in his new home; but please don't waste too much time, we are still upset with every single one of you and you wouldn't want to overstay your welcome." Didyme warned.

"Of course not." Esme diplomatically said, while giving a look full of regret. I wanted to go over and hug her, but at the same time, I felt like I was glued to my seat and didn't want to move until I was sure no other surprises were going to be thrown my way. But at least Edward was going to live; that was the one thing I had wanted and I got it. "And of Bella?" Esme asked, repeating Emmett's question.

"Why say goodbye when she will be seeing you shortly in Forks?" Athenodora asked with a smirk and a part of me was actually happy that I didn't have to talk to them. After everything that had happened, I wasn't sure if I was ready to face them. I had questions, lots of questions, but I wasn't quite ready to ask them after their coven was just practically torn apart.

"Guards, take Edward to his new room and make sure to keep a heavy eye on all of them to make sure they do not try anything foolish." Athenodora ordered and instantly a group of cloaked guards entered the room and flanked Felix as he practically dragged Edward away. The Cullen's all followed Edward out of the room to presumably say goodbye wherever he was going to be kept. Not one of them turned to give me at least one look of farewell as they left and I wasn't sure how I felt about that; especially when I had actually kind of hoped at least a few of them would.

Once the doors closed behind the departing party of people, the queens turned towards me with small smiles. I knew what was going to be happening; that I was going to be able to go home. But I wasn't stupid enough to think that they weren't going to put stipulations or expectations or something on me being able to go. They were going to give me rules to follow and I wasn't sure how to react to that. I really didn't want to follow their rules; outside of not telling anyone about the existence of vampires of course.

"Dear Bella, I truly hope you do not mind that we sprung this on you without asking." Sulpicia said with her politician's smile that told me she really didn't feel sorry about anything. I really believed she rarely felt truly sorry for anything and probably only for things that affected her mates.

"But we were all confident that you would want to go." Didyme quickly added.

"You really are going to let me go?" I asked, a part of me afraid that it had all been an act and they were going to keep me trapped here.

"Of course we are dear. We keep our word." Sulpicia said with a strong undertone that made me think that them keeping their word held more meaning than I was aware of.

"So I can leave right now then?" I asked, my excitement slowly growing the more I realized that I really might be able to go home.

"You can; not right this moment because we have to make travel arrangements. But we can make it so that you can leave as soon as possible, maybe today or tomorrow, if you wanted." Didyme answered.

A wide grin grew on my face at the thought that possibly today, after I thought I would never see my Forks again, I was going home. I was going to go back to Forks, I was going to see La Push again where I was sure Jacob would probably still be mad at me. But that was okay, because at least I was able to see him again. And Charlie, the first thing I would do is apologize, again, for leaving with nothing but a note. Even though I was technically an adult, I still lived with him and it was incredibly unfair and rude to him to leave without telling him. He deserved more than that.

That train of thought, thinking of Charlie. The queens had already told him something; told him about me not going back. What did they tell him? Would Charlie think I was coming back from the grave? Not only did I not want to gain popularity because I was around and shouldn't be. I really needed to know what he was told so that I could figure something out that Charlie wouldn't be so upset about.

"What did you tell Charlie, about me not going home?" I nervously asked and for once, I actually drew comfort and even strength from Jane and Heidi's arms wrapped around me.

"We wrote a letter, post marked from another city in Italy." Didyme answered right away. "The letter simply said that once you in Italy, you found that you wanted a chance to travel and that that's exactly what you were going to try and do."

I felt my mouth fall open in surprise, I had honestly expected them to just tell him that I died so that I would be forced to never go back again.

"We felt saying you were traveling would be a better way to give your demise; backpackers die and disappear all the time." Sulpicia added. "But this way, you would also be able to go back, claiming to want to finish your high school after all the years put into it, but that you want to finish backpacking across Europe before college."

"At which time, you disappear somewhere, in some other country and a fabricated police report will be given to your father that explains how, I don't know, there was a fire in a hostel you were staying in and you weren't able to get out. Then we make a hostel burn and your father will believe the story." Didyme said, not really helping me to feel better. But no matter what would happen, Charlie would have to believe, in the end, that I had died an early death. Since the day I figured out what the Cullen's were, I was going to have to have to die; one way or another. It would be the second time I would put Charlie through being told something had happened to me; but I knew the second time would be final. I also knew that I wouldn't be able to let on that anything was going to happen.

"So, he thinks I'm just traveling right now?" I asked, to make sure I was understanding correctly.

"Correct. We were just preparing to send him a message about your untimely death; but we apparently no longer need to do that." Athenodora answered. "Instead, we'll just send you."

I was instantly starting to make plans to call Charlie as soon as I was in the United States to at least let him know that I was alive and well. I would have to just ignore the guilt; forget about what I was going to do to him in the near future. I would pretend that I wasn't about to permanently abandon him and that I wasn't going to give any warning to him aside from saying I was apparently going to go backpacking. I felt like the world's worst daughter; but it was best this way.

"What if I decide I don't want to come back?" I asked, already thinking about how hard it would be to say goodbye to Charlie, without really saying goodbye to him. I also couldn't help but think about Jacob and how he would know I would be going back to vampires. I couldn't begin to guess about how he is going to react to that news.

"You will though." Athenodora answered right away.

"But what if I don't." I persisted. Would they force me to come back, or would they let me stay there and have more time with Charlie? I knew there was no way I was going to get out of becoming a vampire; but I still wanted to be one. That wasn't the problem. The problem was the time frame and how soon I was forced to say goodbye to my life. I wanted more time before I had eternity.

The queens looked at each other and I could just barely see that their mouths were just slightly moving. They were talking with each other. Apparently that was one trait all vampires shared: having conversations in of the human who couldn't hear them. Thankfully, it didn't take long for them to bring me back into the conversation.

"Although we highly doubt you would not want to come back," Didyme started and I chose not argue with her because I was sure she wouldn't believe me no matter what I said. "If you were to decide that, of course Heidi and Jane would stay with you. You would have until the end of summer to return; we cannot let someone who knows about vampires just wonder about. We wouldn't force you to change at that moment; but for appearances, we would need to make sure we had a handle of the situation. That would mean we can't just let other vampires hear that we had a human in our castle, let them go and then did nothing about their knowledge." Didyme explained.

"It could very well create anarchy." Sulpicia added.

"So, no matter what; I have to come back here?" I asked. "I couldn't just let the Cullen's change me?" I asked, causing both Jane and Heidi to growl. "Or for me to just be changed there?" I quickly changed my question to appease the two woman.

The queens hesitated on answering me again, but I didn't think they had another conversation. "We highly doubt you won't come home to be changed; but if you pushed the matter, I'm sure you could be changed there." Sulpicia answered, though it seemed like she hated every word she said.

With her answer, I became very determined to make sure I was changed with the Cullen's. I didn't really care too much on who changed me, I just wanted it. I wanted to be changed with the family I had grown to love; even after they abandoned me. Although, to know that Heidi and Jane will be the ones to change me, I felt a sense of happiness that I hadn't thought I'd feel. It was something I had really felt when I had always believed Edward would change me. It was unexpected, but definitely not unpleasant.

That was my biggest concern; being forced to come back. And from what I could tell, they seemed like they would let me stay in Forks; even if they didn't believe I would want to. I still had other concerns, of course there were concerns when it involved the supernatural, but, to me, none of them compared to my concerns about being forced to come back here. I knew I would eventually come back, Edward was here after all, but I wanted to come back when I was a vampire and could defend myself against the Volturi a little more. I would do everything I could to get Edward out of the cell the put him in; it was the least I wanted to do after all the history we had together.

"Let us go to our office and we can make the final arrangements there and go over the smaller details with you." Didyme said as she gestured towards a door. I only nodded my head in agreement as I started to follow the queens. Hopefully returning to Forks wouldn't be as hard as I was starting to think it might be.