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Dream's Shadow

Summary:
This is my take on the over- and usually poorly- done plot. Edward leaves Bella again. She is changed and they meet again in the future. There will be a big twist! Requested by Iris. Banner by Iris!

Notes:
Try it! I know stories like this usually stink, but I thought I'd give it a try. I own nothing. Stephenie Meyer owns all.

78. Chapter 78

Rating 5/5   Word Count 530   Review this Chapter

“And that would be?”

Aro’s smile grows exponentially. He is beaming positively now. “Well, you may recognize some of the players, young friends. Familiar faces, familiar places—a hometown, as it were, to be frank.”

“You’re talking in riddles, Aro,” Edward snaps.

“I like riddles. Nearly as much as I like stories.”

I shake my head. “What do you want from us?”

“I have bargaining pieces. I’d like to do this as civilly as possible… but I have play. I will get what I want, so you know. But please, if you would, allow us to participate in this discussion calmly, as friends.”

“What bargaining pieces do you have?”

I look blankly at Edward. “Alice. He has Alice, and Jasper for that matter. Our siblings? They are completely at his mercy.”

“Precisely, Isabella. Ah, I knew I liked you for a reason. You chose your mate wisely, Edward. This one is as sharp as a tack.”

I smile faintly at the praise, merely a polite gesture. My years amidst the Volturi have hardened me a little. I’m not as… innocent… as I was. I can lie now, for instance—and not just with words. With gestures, and even with feelings, I make others believe me. “And so, Edward, we’re going to do whatever he asks.”

“Blackmail.”

“Just so,” I agree. “What do you want, Aro?”

The ancient vampire pulls his hands through his hair. He smiles thinly. “Well… it is not mere extortion. I have the ability to make your lives either much more or much less pleasant. So I would like, if you are amenable, to offer a deal.”

“A deal?”

Edward’s still holding tight to my fingers. All this time has not dulled my sensitivity to him. If anything it’s become stronger during our separation. I feel my heart start again, a phantom beat replacing the one I lost, speeding faster and faster as he lifts my hand to his lips. “I will agree to most anything… if it does not involve further time apart from each other. We must stay together. Of course, we’ll do the rest of the sentence… but beyond that, we’ll not agree to any time without one another.”

Aro grins. “You shall like this deal, then. What I’m offering you won’t force you apart. As a matter of fact, do this for me, and we shall release Isabella, Jasper, and Alice… immediately after you fulfill this one qualification.”

Qualification. I meet Edward’s eyes. The words are familiar. There were qualifications, originally, to our marriage.

My change, for one. And… other things.

I’d blush at the thought if I were human.

We all saw how well that worked out, of course. I’m an unmarried virgin, and I was changed by the Volturi, not Edward.

I doubt Edward is any more eager than I am to have more qualifications in our lives. And yet we have so very little choice.

His eyes widen, and I see the decision being made as clearly as if my power in fact worked on him.

“What qualification?” Edward asks.