"Soon Alice?" Emmett bounced on his feet, shadow boxing at the air. "This waiting bites."

Alice's eyes were focussed inwardly. "They'll catch our scent in a few more minutes."

I glanced around the clearing. Carlisle and Esme stood side by side near Alice, hands touching lightly, while Jasper paced behind them. He didn't seem particularly anxious, and when he caught my eye he offered a small smile.

"The waiting is always the most difficult part," he said thoughtfully. "Too much time to think. It's harder to bear the thought of battle than the reality."

I nodded fervently. I felt strong and fierce and confident, but as the minutes ticked by and the anticipation of the coming massacre grew stronger I was becoming as impatient as Emmett. I knelt on the ground and retied the laces in my boots, just for something to do with my hands.

Emmett dropped to a crouch beside me. His face was alight with excitement and his eyes, a lighter gold than I'd ever seen them after our recent feast, gleamed. He took hold of the end of my long braid and held it to his face for a moment before he pulled the neck of my t shirt away from my back and dropped my hair inside my shirt, smoothing everything down with a gentle caress.

"Just to keep it out of the way," he said quietly. "Don't need anything catching hold of all that pretty hair, angel girl." He took my hand and turned it palm upward, tenderly tracing the mark he had left there before kissing it firmly. "I love you Rosa."

I cupped his face in my hands and pressed my forehead to his, gazing in to his eyes. Mine, mine, mine…beautiful Emmett. "Be safe," I breathed. "I love you."

"They've caught our scent," Alice said distantly. "They've split up…half of them will be with the wolves in a moment, then the others will be here. Get ready."

"Watch my back," Emmett said seriously, pulling me to my feet and wrapping me in tight hug.

"If you watch mine," I returned with a grin.

"Done." Emmett said, and slapped my palm before grasping my hand, scar to scar, and holding on to me as we waited for what we knew was coming.

The newborns entered the clearing in a screaming rush, and suddenly my world narrowed down to nothing but the furious red eyes and the danger they posed, and my own instinctive response to it. There was no time to think as one leaped at me, mouth opened in a vicious scream and arms reaching forward to grab. With a snarl I somersaulted under the outstretched hands and came up behind him and wrenched off the head, immediately flinging it as far as I could. I heard Emmett's whoop and roar behind me, but I was already moving, whirling and ducking through the chaos, using every single one of the tricks Jasper had taught me to bring about death and ensure our victory.

There was no time to stop and look around, but I caught glimpses of the others as I fought. Esme looking beautiful in her ferocity, and Carlisle fighting with grim determination as the two of them held their ground. Alice was nearby, making even killing seem like a graceful dance as she spun and darted between the enemies menacing her on the field. Jasper was everywhere at once, shouting direction and encouragement as he was able to, bringing an end to newborn after newborn with cold efficiency. And Emmett, bold and brave, using all his strength and skill to destroy those who threatened us, always within reach of me as what had been our baseball field became a killing field.

Our training had been thorough and the newborns were in no way prepared for the defence and assault they encountered with us. It was little more than a rout, and we were nearly done when the wolves came bounding in to the clearing and brought about the end of the final hold outs.

"Carlisle- start the fire," Jasper directed, piling up a jumble of body parts and the moving around the clearing. "Everyone else, find the pieces. We must destroy them all."

Carlisle threw a lighter at me. "Rose, take care of that for me."

I caught it and flicked it at the pile Jasper had begun to build. Almost immediately the flames roared and a thick cloud of choking purple smoke began drifting skyward. The heavy smell of it brought back a sudden and involuntary memory of that first, horrifying pyre I had seen in Volterra and I backed away with a shudder. Knowing me as he did Emmett was by my side almost immediately, wrapping me up in his big bear hug and kissing my face fervently.

"Okay, my angel girl?" he asked, tipping my face up to search my eyes.

I nodded wordlessly. This was not Volterra, we had just won and we were all safe...

Emmett pulled my braid out from where it was still securely tucked into my shirt, wrapping it around his fist and holding my head close to his chest as he bent protectively over me. "You did real good, baby," he murmured softly. "Come on now, let's finish cleaning up this mess so we can go home."

As I turned back to the pyre I looked over at Carlisle and Esme, standing together at the side of the clearing and looking down, to something that was obscured by the scrubby brush. Jasper stood beside them, glowering. As I moved closer I saw what they were looking at and my eyes widened in shock.

It was a girl. Younger than me, maybe fifteen, small and slight. She cowered before Carlisle, Esme and Jasper and her red, newborn eyes held nothing but fear.

"What were you thinking?" Jasper's face was tight with anger as he looked at Carlisle.

"She hurt no one," Carlisle said softly. "She's a child, Jasper- she didn't know what she was doing and she has surrendered. She deserves a chance."

Jasper shook his head, but before he could argue there was a sudden high pitched scream and the agonised howl of a wolf. I whirled around to see one last newborn, somehow overlooked, wrap his arms around one of the wolves and squeeze. My view was obscured in the next second by the other wolves converging on them, but nothing could block out the sound of their snarling and growling and above it all the keening, constant howl of an animal in agony.

"Jasper, keep an eye on this young one," Carlisle ordered, already running towards the wolf. "Rosalie, come with me, I might need help."

The pack scattered in front of Carlisle, until he could drop to his knees by the body of the wolf lying there injured, the blood pooling on the ground. That was why Carlisle had asked me to help, I thought, I was the only one who had a chance of being close to that free flowing blood and not losing control. I knelt at his side and reached a hand towards the russet fur of the wolf. It was Jacob, Bella's friend, and as I looked at the damage I suddenly found myself looking into the eyes of Ephraim Black.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the shimmer of a wolf transforming and then one of the Quileutes was kneeling beside me. He looked older, and as Carlisle nodded and called him Sam I realised this was the alpha wolf.

"Most of his right side bones are crushed," Carlisle said, rapidly assessing the damage in front of him. "The bleeding looks worse than it is…I don't know about internal damage."

"We heal fast," Sam's deep voice was in my ear. I wondered how he could bear to be so close to us in his vulnerable man shape.

"Yes," Carlisle murmured. "The bones…Sam, I need to set the long bones in his leg now, if they heal as they are he'll be crippled. It would be easier if he could phase back."

Sam shook his head. "He can't, not now…not until he calms down. Can you try with him in the wolf form?"

"It will hurt," Carlisle warned. "I don't have enough morphine to account for the size of him now…"

"Carlisle," Alice's strangled voice. "The wolves have to get out of here. Right now!"

I looked sharply as where Alice stood, her hands holding either side of her head tightly, her face horrified. "Carlisle…quickly. It's the Volturi, they're coming and we've only got minutes."

Carlisle's eyes met mine. "Rose, you have to help with this leg. He can't even move with it as it is. Sam," he turned to the alpha. "The Volturi are coming and you need to get your people away. There's not much time. I can get Jacob's shoulder back in and pull the long bones back into place, and then you'll have to get him back home as well as you can. We will deal with the Volturi and if you'll allow me to break the terms of the treaty I will come to the reservation to treat Jacob properly as soon as I'm able to."

Sam nodded tersely and spoke to the wolves clustered around him. I didn't pay attention though, instead I bit my lip and fought my natural aversion to being so close to the danger of the wolf as Carlisle directed me to hold Jacob steady while he attempted to manipulate the dislocated joints in.

"I think one of us should have gone to veterinary college," I muttered, trying not to hurt the animal beneath my hands more than I had to. Carlisle grinned at me, and then frowned as he manoeuvred the damaged limbs. I gritted my teeth against the howls of agony as I took one enormous paw and held it still as Carlisle aligned and splinted the bones.

"It's all I can do now," he said, turning to Sam who has phased back to his wolf form. "He has probably two and a half usable legs to get him home- if he'll allow Rose and I to get him on his feet you should be able to support him from the sides."

The big black wolf whined, and wrinkling my nose slightly at the smell I slid my arms underneath Jacob's shoulders and, at Carlisle's count, lifted him upright, shuddering at the hoarse, choking scream he couldn't hold back.

"Edward's coming," Alice murmured, her eyes closed.

I slipped out from between Jacob and another wolf who pressed close to him to offer support, and moved towards Alice.

"The Volturi?" I asked quietly.

She shook her head, still not opening her eyes. "Soon. It will be fine though Rose, don't worry."

My gaze rose to the distant mountain peaks where I knew Edward and Bella had been, and saw a second spire of smoke, thinner than the thick clouds billowing out from our clearing, but an identical purple colour. Vampires, up on the peaks…

"What happened?" I said urgently, aware as I did so that the wolves had disappeared into the trees now and Carlisle was beside me, squinting up at the sky.

"They're okay," Alice said quickly. "Edward and Bella are fine…here they come now."

She opened her eyes and turned expectantly towards the trees, and sure enough a second later Edward sped from between the trees, a limp Bella clasped gently in his arms.

"What happened?" Esme flitted over, her face a mask of concern as Edward laid the unconscious Bella tenderly on the grass. Carlisle knelt beside her, fingers pressed to her wrist as he counted her heartbeats.

"Bella just fainted," Edward said. "She knows that Jacob got hurt…it was too much."

"The werewolves have incredible healing powers," Carlisle remarked. "Thank goodness! His injuries were fairly horrific, but Jacob Black is a strong young man and he is going to be fine in short order. He was healing even as I examined him, it was remarkable."

"What about that smoke up there?" Emmett, hurling another few pieces onto our bonfire, shouted across the clearing. "What the hell happened to you guys Edward?"

"It was Victoria," Edward said, his face expressionless. "It was her all along…she had a companion and he was the one she was using to mask her true intentions. I killed them both." He glanced down at Bella. "Is she coming round Carlisle?"

I moved away from the small group clustered around Bella, towards Emmett. He was whistling as he made a last sweep of the area for pieces, and grinned at me easily when he saw me approaching.

Jasper was standing in the shadow of the smoke haze, his face hard as he stood over the one remaining newborn. "You can't have her," he said flatly to the girl. "Sit down and do not move or I will tear you limb from limb and throw you on to the pyre with your comrades."

I stopped next to him. The newborn Carlisle had allowed to surrender was on the ground before him, blood lust clear in the luminous red eyes she had focussed on where Bella lay.

"What are we going to do with her?" I asked Jasper, noticing as I did so that he was rubbing his arm absently. "Are you okay?"

"A bite," he shrugged dismissively. "Ridiculously careless of me- I should have known better."

The girl on the ground moaned piteously, and I remembered the newborn burn and felt sorry for her. "I want it so much," she hissed. Her eyes met mine briefly with a look of confusion and then flicked away. She knew what I was, but I had stood beside a human without killing them and she didn't understand that. "Why?" she moaned. "Oh, I'm so thirsty…" Her voice rose into a shrill wail of pain, and when Jasper growled menacingly at her and she cringed back on to the earth, her hands clutching at the grass.

Carlisle was beside us in an instant, a restraining hand place on Jasper's arm. "Have you changed your mind, young one?" Carlisle asked calmly. "We don't want to destroy you, but we will if you can't control yourself."

"How can you stand it?" the girl moaned in a high, clear voice. "I want her." She shook her head frantically.

"You must stand it," Carlisle told her gravely. "You must exercise control. It is possible, and it is the only thing that will save you now."

Emmett moved up behind me, wrapping his arms around me and dropping his head to breathe in the scent of my hair. "That's the last of it," he told Carlisle and Jasper quietly. "All the pieces are burnt now…it's done." His head cocked to the side, listening for a moment. "They're coming."

Swiftly he, Carlisle, Jasper and I converged on where Edward, Alice and Bella stood. The eight of us a united front as we stood and waited expectantly for the four shrouded figures that emerged from the smoke haze.

"Welcome Jane," Edward said courteously.

I recognised the child like blonde female from Volterra so long ago and almost imperceptibly pressed my back harder against Emmett, who was still holding me against him. He understood, and although he moved nothing else I felt his thumb trace the scar line on my palm and I took comfort in his loving presence.

"I don't understand." Jane was staring at the newborn girl who was still huddled on the ground, her heads clutched in her hands.

"She has surrendered," Edward said briefly. "Carlisle gave her the option."

"There are no options for those who break the rules," Jane said flatly.

I was reminded of what her master, Aro, had said to me so long ago- I am not a demanding vampire Rosalie, and those who earn my favour are well rewarded…but there will be no mercy for those who break my rules- and I couldn't stop the shudder as I realised what fate lay in store for that red eyed baby who hadn't known any better.

"Just out of professional curiosity, how many were there?" Jane asked. "They left quite a wake of destruction in Seattle."

"Eighteen," Carlisle answered, adding dismissively. "All brand-new. Unskilled."

"All?" Jane's voice was sharp. "Who was their creator?"

"Her name was Victoria," Edward answered. "I dealt with her." His tone invited no questions.

Jane narrowed her eyes. "You there," she snapped at the newborn. "What's your name?"

The girl's lips were pressed together and she glared at Jane. A second later her body contorted with agony and an ear piercing scream echoed through the clearing as Jane, a small smile on her delicate lips, used her power to inflict pain to punish her for her defiance.

I kept my face blank and my body motionless, concentrating only on the feel of Emmett's hands on mine and the way his breath tickled my ear. Don't think of it Rosalie, don't remember it…

"You name," Jane said tonelessly, once the screaming stopped.

"Bree!" the girl gasped, before she screamed and convulsed again.

"She'll tell you anything you want to know," Edward said through gritted teeth. You don't have to do that!"

"Oh, I know," Jane said, and the humour in her voice made my flesh crawl. "Bree," she continued. "Is this true? There were twenty of you?"

The girl was gasping, her terrified face pressed into the grass. "Nineteen or twenty, I don't know for sure! There was fighting on the way, and I don't know the names…"

"This Victoria- she created you?"

"I don't know that either," Bree whimpered. "Riley never used her name. I didn't see, that night…it was so dark and it hurt…" She shuddered, and behind me Emmett massaged my arms silently. "He didn't want us to be able to think of her. He said our thoughts weren't safe."

So it had been Victoria, playing with the gaps in Alice's visions to orchestrate our destruction all along. And if she hadn't followed Edward and revealed herself there then we would never have known.

"Tell me about Riley," Jane demanded. "Why did he bring you here?"

"Riley told us that we had to destroy the strange yellow-eyes here," Bree babbled, more than willing to talk now. "He said it would be easy. He said the city was theirs and they were coming to get us. He said once they were gone all the blood would be ours. He gave us her scent…he said we would know we had the right ones because she would be with them. He said we could have her, whoever got to her first."

Jane's lips pursed. "It seems he was wrong about the easy part."

Bree nodded and sat up carefully. "I don't know what happened. Riley left us, and he didn't come to help like he promised he would. It was so confusing…there was fighting and everyone was in pieces and I was afraid." She shuddered. "I wanted to run away but I didn't know where to go. He said they wouldn't hurt me if I stopped fighting." She looked at Carlisle with pleading eyes, but his watching face remained impassive.

"Ah, but that wasn't his gift to offer, young one," Jane said, and the gentle tone of voice she used now was more terrifying than her previous flat tone. "Broken rules demand a consequence."

She looked across as us. "Well, I can't deny that I am impressed. I've never seen a coven escape this magnitude of offensive intact. It would seem that there's not much left for us to do," Jane sighed. "We're not used to being rendered unnecessary. It's too bad we missed the fight…it sounds like it may have been entertaining."

"Yes," Edward said sharply. "And you were so close. It's a shame you didn't arrive just a half hour earlier…perhaps you could have fulfilled your purpose here."

Jane met Edward's glare unflinchingly. "Yes. Quite a pity how things turned out, isn't it?"

Emmett shifted his weight behind me, and I pressed my palm against his and wondered if we would ever know the full story.

Jane eyed the newborn Bree. "Felix?" she said, bored.

"Wait," Edward interjected. He looked towards Carlisle. "We could explain the rules to the young one. She doesn't seem unwilling to learn. She didn't know what she was doing."

"Of course," Carlisle said immediately. "We would certainly be prepared to take responsibility for Bree."

Jane's expression was half amused and half disbelieving. "We don't make exceptions," she said flatly. "And we don't give second chances. It's bad for our reputation. Which reminds me…" Her eyes pierced our group, going straight to where Bella clung to Edward's arm. "Caius will be so interested to hear that you're still human, Bella. Perhaps he'll decide to visit."

"The date is set," Alice spoke up, her voice light. "Perhaps we'll come to visit you in a few months."

Jane shrugged indifferently, never even looking at Alice. "It was nice to meet you Carlisle- I'd thought Aro was exaggerating. Well, until we meet again…"

Carlisle nodded, his face tight and pained.

"Take care of that, Felix," Jane said, indicating Bree with a small, languid hand. "I want to go home."

As Felix moved towards Bree I half turned away. I might have torn apart her comrades earlier in the day and laid the flame to the pyre, but I could not bring myself to watch this cold blooded execution of a child. I laid my head against Emmett's chest and his big hand cupped my face, blocking my view so I couldn't see. I heard it though, the scream that was abruptly cut off, and I bit my lip and felt once again the hatred for this world of shadows and magic and monsters that I was condemned to inhabit. A moment later a fresh billow of smoke drifted across the field and the smell of burning vampire flared stronger. Emmett pressed his forehead to mine and I gazed into his soft eyes and brushed my lips across his.

"Come on Rosa girl," he whispered, and his voice sounded tired. "We're done here- let's go home."

I nodded wordlessly. Emmett looked across at Jasper and said quietly, "If you don't need us anymore Rose and I are going home."

Jasper shook his head. "It's fine." His eyes scanned the clearing. "It's over now."

"I need to go to the reservation and see what I can do for Jacob," Carlisle said calmly. "Edward, please come with me to help with communication. Bella…you had better go home with Alice and Esme. Your dad is probably still over at the Black's house and you're supposed to be shopping with Alice, not out in the woods with Edward."

Emmett didn't want to wait for anyone else. Tugging on my hand he pulled me towards home, speeding up into a run until we were nearly flying, neither of us saying a word until we were back in our room, when Emmett crushed me to him in a hug, his face in my hair.

"Damn it, you smell like the fire," he muttered, pushing me away.

I could smell it too, and I shuddered and moved towards the bathroom, running the water in the tub. Emmett and I both stripped and climbed in, and then with slow and gentle hands Emmett washed my hair, combing out the long, tangled wet waves with careful concentration when he was done. If there was one thing I'd taught Emmett to do in our years together it was take care of my hair, and I relaxed under the soothing feel of his hands.

"There you go," he said, finally breaking the silence. "Now you'll smell like you again…summer days on the river and my mama's cakes. It's a good smell, baby doll."

"You seem sad," I said eventually.

"Not sad," Emmett said softly. "Just…I don't know. Shit got real today, baby doll."

"Yeah." I knelt up in the water and began shampooing his curly dark hair, massaging my fingers down to his scalp to get rid of the smell of death that hung over him like a cloud.

"I mean, we did a real good job," Emmett looked up at me, bubbles dripping down his face. "We had to do it, and we kicked ass and it was even pretty fun." He shrugged, and I tipped a jug of water over his head to rinse his hair. "But it was kind of hard to watch you out there, angel, and then the Volturi turned up and it really wasn't a game."

I wrapped my arms around him and held him tight, his face buried in my breasts. I felt the bunched muscles in his shoulders smooth out as he relaxed and I slid my leg over his so that I was straddling his lap. He ran his hands down my back and held my hips, pulling me closer for a minute, before he leaned back away from me and smiled at me softly.

"I love you, pretty girl."

I sat down on his thighs, stroking his familiar, beloved face. "I love you too."

"It was just a bit more real than I expected today," Emmett went on quietly, a moment later. "You know I mostly just take life as it comes and don't worry too much about the what-ifs, but I'm not an idiot Rose, and I'm not heartless. That little girl at the end… We killed a lot of people today. We had to do it and I'm glad we were able to do it without any of us getting hurt and I'd do it again in a heartbeat, but for all of that…damn Rosa, I looked at that little girl at the end and I felt sorry for them. All of them. They were just unfortunate bastards who were in the wrong place at the wrong time; they didn't even know what they were doing and they died for it."

He did not have a face made for sadness, my Emmett, and he had said he was not sad but as I looked into his eyes I saw an emotion that could only be described as grief. I curled my fingers into his hair and leaned into his chest, feeling his hands drifting across my skin.

"It could have been us," he murmured. "If it wasn't for Carlisle changing us and teaching us, if I hadn't had you there from the start…"

"You'll always have me."

"And then those freaks from the Volturi," Emmett continued. "Hell Rosa girl, I've never seen any of them before and I never want to see any of them again! He gave me a pained grin. "God, I don't mind admitting to you (although I'll rip you apart if you tell anyone else!) that that little bitch scared the hell out of me!"

I surprised myself by laughing. "That's about the most sensible thing you've ever said, Emmett! Jane IS scary as hell! And sometimes, courage is admitting that you're afraid."

Emmett wrapped me in his arms and then stood up, stepping out of the bath and taking me with him. He wrapped me in a towel and took me back into the bedroom, sitting down on the window seat with me bundled up on his lap.

"Then I'm going to be very courageous, my Rosa girl, and say that I was afraid today." His golden eyes were serious. "Afraid for you, angel, and afraid for the family too, when the Volturi came. I don't know what they want with us, but this whole situation is damn messed up and I know there must be more to it somehow."

I nodded. "I know. This Bella and Edward situation doesn't help at all. Graduation is over now, the two of them need to sort out her affairs and get it done. I know that Bella being a vampire will create a whole new load of problems, but at least it will take the family out of the Volturi's crosshairs."

Emmett's eyebrows raised in surprise. "I thought you were against her changing?"

I dropped the towel and fitted myself against the curves of his body, feeling his sweet breath on my face as I looked out the window at the sunlight. "I am. I think that being a vampire isn't the right choice for anybody, not really. But people make bad choices all the time, and sometimes they work out. Sometimes too, previous decisions and actions make things inevitable and you find yourself in the position of not really having a right choice to make. You just have to do the best you can with what you've got in front of you."

"I like what's right in front of my right now," Emmett grinned at me, combing his fingers through my damp hair.

I laughed gently and leaned my face against his neck. "Love me Emmett, please."

Big hands held my face so tenderly as he kissed me, long and slow and sweet. "I will love you always, Rosa girl."

The love that shone out of his face warmed me and pushed away the fear of future events that haunted us, and I knew that whatever happened, the two of us would be together. Carlisle may have changed me and brought me to this shadow world inhabited by those who should be no more than mythology when I would never have chosen this, but he had also given me Emmett. It was Emmett's love and warmth and innate happiness that would act as my sun, and the two of us together would make this world ours, and it would be the right place for us. Whatever happened in the future.