Another tense day passed before we departed from Forks and headed north towards Alaska. I breathed a silent sigh of relief as we pulled away from the house, feeling a weight lift off my shoulders. The plan was for Aro and Caius to return to Volterra while Marcus and I continued to Alaska for a few days' time. We would arrive back in Italy on the 22nd, just before Christmas.

"Ah, mi sombrita, we're so glad you're here! We were so angry when we heard how the Cullens treated you!" Auntie Carmen said, sweeping me into a tight hug that made my already aching shoulder, sore from the abrupt change in temperature, throb painfully.

"Hola, tía, I missed you all! I believe everyone is angry after what the family did," I agreed, resisting the urge to rub my shoulder when she let me go. I didn't want Marcus to worry.

"If it isn't my favorite Cullen! Let's get inside, we've had the heat on just for you," Kate said, grinning. The short days meant that it was already dark, and the wind chill plummeted the temperature to well below zero.

I grinned back, trying to keep my teeth from chattering as she herded Marcus and I towards the house. "Hey, Kate. Glad to see you in person. Inside sounds marvelous. It's frigid out here."

I greeted the rest of the family with hugs, thankful that none were quite as tight as Auntie Carmen's, and before long we were all seated in the living room. I was wrapped in a soft fleece blanket and Tanya had pushed a steaming cup of hot chocolate into my hands. The mug was almost painfully warm against my icy fingers. The liquid seared my tongue when I drank but warmed my stomach. I blew on it gently.

"So tell us everything, what happened when you went to confront the Cullens? Personally, I think Irina should have stayed for the show," Kate said.

I laughed. "Probably about what you expected. A lot of lecturing, I yelled at Edward, had a good long talk with Rose, and so on. Apparently, Alice saw this whole thing coming and somehow hid it from Edward in order to teach him - and the rest of the family - a lesson. I don't exactly appreciate being treated like a pawn-"

"Absolutely unacceptable, the disrespect," Marcus said, scowling. None of the three kings had been particularly pleased when they found out that Alice had allowed all this to happen.

"But I can't deny that her methods are effective," I finished as if Marcus hadn't just interrupted.

"Did it have the desired effect?" Eleazar asked.

"She seemed rather pleased with herself so... yes," I said, taking another sip of hot chocolate. Steam still curled lazily from it, but it no longer burned my tongue. "I don't think they'll try to pull anything like this again. But only time will tell, I suppose."

"Yes," Eleazar said slowly as Marcus gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze. I grimaced.

His eyes widened at my expression of pain. "I'm sorry, tesoro, I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright, not your fault. It's been aching on and off for a while. Probably has something to do with the change of temperature and pressure."

"Santiago can fetch you some painkillers," Marcus said. Though Santiago was not in the room, he was evidently not out of earshot, as he appeared soon after with an Advil.

"Here you are, queenliness. You should have asked, no need to suffer in silence," he said as he dropped the pill into my palm.

"Don't overstep, Santiago," Marcus said, warning in his voice.

"He wasn't overstepping, Marcus. It's fine. Thank you, Santiago," I said, using the hot chocolate to help me swallow the Advil. Santiago nodded and took his leave, returning to his unseen post.

"With it being so close to Christmas - and thanks to the advanced notice - we did some Christmas shopping for you. Perhaps you'd like to open your gifts later?" Tanya asked pleasantly, the change of topic dispelling the tension in the air.

"That sounds lovely. You all didn't need to get me anything, I feel bad for not returning the favor," I said.

Kate waved a hand dismissively. "Please, you know we don't need anything, kitten. We're much happier that you decided to visit, it's a much better gift than any material thing you could offer us."

"Alright," I said, knowing she had a point. When you could have anything and everything money could buy, memories were far more precious.

"Excellent." Kate grinned, her teeth almost blindingly white. "I was expecting you to fight more on that. Perhaps sometime tomorrow; you still need to eat and you're no doubt exhausted from your journey."

"You hit the nail on the head with that one, Kate. I could do with a warm meal and a shower," I said. The several hours of travel seemed to stick to me despite the fact that I wasn't dirty.

"I'll get you something, sombrita, you stay by the fireplace where it's warm," Auntie Carmen ordered when she saw I was about to shed the blanket and stand. Marcus drew me closer into his side in a silent show of agreement.

"Thank you, tia. Whatever you have on hand is fine," I assured her.

"I was thinking soup. That will get you warmer than that hot chocolate of yours already has!" She smiled at me in a motherly sort of way before disappearing off down the hall where the kitchen lay.

"So what do you have planned for Christmas back in Volterra, Rowan?" Irina asked. "I remember parts of the castle being rather festive during my visit."

"Well, apart from no real Christmas feast because I live with vampires, pretty much as normal a Christmas as you can imagine. You know, a tree, presents, stockings, and so on."

"Don't forget the mistletoe," Marcus remarked, his red eyes sparkling with mirth.

I laughed. "How could I? Yeah, and mistletoe."

"Ah, mistletoe. The best part of Christmas," Kate said with a smirk.

"What about you? What do you have planned?"

"About the same. Just not quite as much mistletoe," Tanya said, shooting me a wink.

"Hey, I'm sure I could set you up with one of the guard. Demetri is single," I said, wiggling my eyebrows suggestively.

Tanya rolled her eyes. "Please, Demetri wishes he was anywhere close to being in my league."

A distinctly loud but muffled, "Hey!" filtered in from somewhere else within the house. No doubt he had raised his voice for my benefit, and perhaps also to make a point.

I laughed, knowing full well that Demetri was not at all offended by the slight. "Worth a shot, right? Kate?"

"I'm good," she said, still laughing. "I've missed having you around, hot stuff."

"Here's your soup, Rowan! It is nice and hot, be careful," Auntie Carmen cautioned, exchanging the large bowl of soup for my now-empty mug of hot chocolate. I doubted the aftertaste of the sweet drink would combine well with the chicken noodle soup, but my stomach growled and I was too hungry to wait for some water to wash away the chocolate. I wrinkled my nose at the taste of chicken and chocolate together.

"Is it not good?" Auntie Carmen asked worriedly.

"No, no, it's quite good! But it doesn't mix well with hot chocolate," I said, taking another spoonful of soup. "It's delicious now that the taste of chocolate is gone."

"Que bueno! I was worried. It's so difficult to gauge what human food is good when none appeals to you. My days as a human were spent too long ago for me to remember."

"It's wonderful," I repeated.

I spent much of the days following in the company of Kate, Irina, and Tanya. Marcus largely left me to my own devices, content to spend time reading or in extensive conversation with Eleazar, though we would reunite at night when I would curl up against his chest and drift off to sleep.

The days passed quickly, and before I knew it we were bidding our goodbyes and boarding the plane for the long trip back to Volterra.

"Ready to be home?" Marcus asked when the plane was safely in the air. He had pulled me into his lap and was tracing lazy patterns against my arm with a finger.

"Definitely. Though getting the chance to spend time with the Denalis was lovely. It's been so long since I've been in Alaska. I forgot how much I missed it, despite the short days," I mused, pressing a gentle kiss to his jawline.

He let out a pleased hum at the gesture and bridged the small gap between us, capturing my lips with his. I could feel his smile through the kiss as I let out a soft sigh and settled against him. There was no urgency in the kiss; Marcus was taking his time, enjoying the feel of me against him just as I was.

"I love you," Marcus murmured against my lips as he pulled away.

"I love you too, my king," I murmured back.

His eyes darkened. "Don't tempt me, tesoro."

"Sorry." I smiled cheekily at him and kissed his nose.

"No, you're not."

"You're right. I'm not," I said, and pressed my lips to his once more.

By the time the plane began its descent, I had gone something akin to stir crazy. Many hours of travel in such a short amount of time left me restless and I was ecstatic to be back on solid ground.

"Are you going to start kissing the ground?" Marcus asked when we exited the plane, sounding thoroughly amused.

I appraised the dark gray asphalt. "You know? I'm thinking about it."

"Don't worry, we only have a short way to travel from here," Demetri said as he and Santiago quickly loaded the SUV that was waiting for us at the private airstrip.

"Thankfully," I agreed, reluctantly leaving the chilly December air to get in the SUV for the last leg of our journey back to Volterra.

"These trips are much easier on vampires," Marcus informed me, squeezing my knee sympathetically.

I grumbled. "Unfortunately, I am not yet a vampire."

"I would gladly change that for you," he said, flashing me a smile that put his sharp white teeth on full display.

"Not yet. I still have some life I'd like to live as a human. Give it a couple more years," I said, doing my best to stretch my legs. The trip in the SUV, though it felt longer than the flight, only took about twenty minutes.

"Run, be free," Santiago quipped as he slowed the SUV to a stop. Much to Marcus' displeasure, I was out before the vehicle had completely halted.

"Excited to be home, I see," Caius said, his longer stride allowing him to reach me before Aro. "I missed you, amore," he murmured once I was fully pulled into his chest.

"I missed you, too," I agreed, rising to my tiptoes to press a chaste kiss to his lips. He smiled when we parted, kissed my forehead, and released me from his embrace so I could greet Aro.

"Rowan, my dearest," Aro practically purred, slipping one arm around my waist and pressing an affectionate hand to my cheek. "How are you? How was your trip?"

"Seeing the Denalis was lovely. I've missed them. But I'm very glad to be home," I said.

Aro seemed pleased by this answer, though the glassy look in his eyes told me he was not entirely in the present; he seemed more than content to bask in my memories and thoughts, but I drew him back to the present with a soft kiss.

He chuckled as he pulled back, pressing his cool nose to my cheek, and I felt his lips move against my skin when he spoke. "Your memories are pleasant but the present is much better, mia cara."

"I agree," I said with a smile, allowing him to take my hand as the four of us walked into the castle.

"Dinner should be waiting in your quarters, I had the cook prepare something after Demetri alerted us to your landing," Caius said.

"Wonderful, thank you," I said, now noticing the empty grumblings of my stomach. "I'm starved."

"You know," Felix said the following day as he walked with me to the library, "I hadn't realized just how boring things can be around here until you weren't around to entertain us these past few days."

"Entertain you?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at him.

He grinned. "Oh, you know what I mean. I've lived with the same people for, what, two millennium now? The newness is quite welcome."

"So what I'm hearing is, after I've been around a couple centuries, you'll no longer miss my company when I'm off traveling?"

"Okay, now you're just putting words in my mouth."

"I am not! I simply inferred from what you said to me that-"

"Rowan, please do not think your status of queen will stop me from pranking you to oblivion should you finish that sentence," Felix deadpanned.

I grinned widely. "Bet. I may not mind but I know you don't want to piss off the kings."

"Why must you make good points and ruin my fun?"

"Can't say I'm sorry. It does, however, make things much less interesting," I said.

Felix held open the library door for me to pass through before entering himself. "I agree."

"If you were king and could pass one rule that everyone had to follow, what would it be?" I asked.

He made a thoughtful noise as he trailed behind me. "Are we talking serious rules or fun ones?"

"Fun," I said, stopping to face him. I had originally been on a mission to find a copy of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, but the conversation at hand was far more interesting.

"In that case, I would make a rule that says during serious conversations, everyone is required to speak in a ridiculous voice," Felix said.

I laughed. "The only reason you want that rule is because you want to hear Caius speak in something other than his normal monotone. I mean, he's a bit more expressive with me, but it's still a bit like, 'Hello, I'm Caius, and my favorite hobby is glaring'," I said, doing my best impression of my surly mate.

Felix let out a bellowed laugh before suddenly straightening and assuming a professional, innocent expression. A pair of cold arms wrapped me in a hug from behind. "Is that really what you think of me, amore?"

"Well, you do glare at people a lot," I offered, Caius' unreadable tone leaving me uncertain as to whether I had actually offended him. Felix walked off, unneeded now that Caius was present, leaving us alone.

A chuckle rumbled in his chest and I relaxed. "Yes, I suppose you're right. However, I don't think I have once glared at you."

"I don't think you could if you tried," I teased.

"If I searched deep within myself, perhaps- ah, but no. Not even then. You shall just have to settle for my gaze of utmost adoration instead."

"Oh, whatever shall I do?" I asked dramatically.

"I have several suggestions, though I could settle for a kiss to begin," he said, spinning me to face him. His burgundy eyes shone with mischief.

"I think that can be arranged."

"Splendid," he murmured, a ghost of a smirk on his face as he leaned forward, catching my lips in his.

Edited 6/26/2021