Lilith Swan

Arriving back at the Cullens was a slight shock, there was now a multitude of vampires now mulling about, eyes both golden and crimson. I could feel the venomous looks of the blonde sisters from the wedding as Felix and I joined the others in the woods behind the home, however, it didn't take long to find who we were looking for. The slightly tense silence was broken by doll-like laughter as a blonde mass threw herself at Felix. It was almost comical how short she looked next to the executioner.

"You're back!" Dorothea squealed, now safely in Felix's arms, before beginning to fill us in on what we had missed while in Alaska. Rosalie told us the more important details of what was happening. The surplus of vampires caused some brief trouble down on the reservation, but we all kept to our agreements, the human drinkers would feed outside Forks and we wouldn't cross the border. We couldn't ask the wolves to help us anymore, not only had the entire pack been put through the wringer with Bella and Jacob, but they no longer held any ties to us anymore. It was their family above all else just as much as it was for us with Dorothea. We just had to blindly hope that the witnesses wouldn't be taken the wrong way at the trial.

Speaking of witnesses it was clear that some of them didn't take too kindly to the 'sudden' appearance of Felix and I but unfortunately for them, this was simply how it was going to be. We were here for Dorothea's sake and I wasn't going to let anyone else tell me where to be. For the most part, we didn't interact too much with the witnesses but it was hard to not clash with Kate, Tanya and Irena. After everything that happened with their mother, I'm surprised they even came at all.

It only took a few days for everyone to settle down, but now wasn't the time for petty arguments or stupid fights.

Today was a calmer day in the Cullen house, it was almost like before we received the news. Rose, Dorothea and I were on the floor, the boys were playing games on the sofa, Esme and Alice were off near the kitchen in laptops looking at something and Carlise was off. Only this time he was outside with the other witnesses. It was hard on everyone, but we had to have some semblance of normality for Dorothea's sake. We didn't want her to panic or believe that it's her fault so we had to keep everything as down low as possible. Much like before Edward slipped silently into the room near the piano.

There was once a time where I wouldn't have cared if he was set ablaze, but now I couldn't help but feel slight pity looking at the bronze-haired immortal. He felt guilty, that much was obvious, he brought Bella into the Cullen's lives, he continued to involve her in everything despite being told she was only his la tua cantante, and now he told Bella of immortal children and now felt like it was his fault we were now in this mess. Now some of it was his fault that much was undeniable. He did bring her into the family and he has certainly not been a model boyfriend or acted in a healthy way. But this current situation was fully on Bella and he needs to understand this.

As we made brief eye contact his brows scrunched up, usually a sign that he's thinking too hard. Maybe I'll see steam come out of his ears if he thinks hard enough. He continued to sit there steeping in his own confusion before he spoke up.

"Lilith, can I ask you a question?" Now it was my turn to be confused but I agreed nonetheless. "Has anyone ever tried to access your mind, aside from Aro in Italy?" I shook my head not quite understanding what he was implying.

"I think your transformation might have strengthened your shield" He was blunt and to the point.

"My what?" Edward slowly came to realise that I had no idea what he was talking about.

"I had a theory that Bella's shield was hereditary. It started when I first met Charlie, I couldn't quite read his mind, I could only get very small glances at his thoughts, mainly they would present as feelings or like conceptual ideas. At first, I thought that was just how his mind worked until Bella moved to Forks. Then I met you, in Italy when we first met it was like your mind was empty aside from the occasional one-word thoughts or ideas that I could read, or small glances at your feelings, when Aro took your hand to see your memories it was like you took the shield down temporarily and that has been the only time I could fully read your mind but now it's dead silent. Just like how Bella is." He explained in great detail, now catching the attention of the room.

"Even if I did have a shield like Bellas, it only affected her mind, I don't see how it would help us now, aside from developing Dorothea's gift"

"Gifts can be developed over time, I imagine your intuition wasn't always as strong as it is now, but even with the small amount of time we have left, developing both yours and Dorothea's gift would be a good idea" The voice came from the male member of the Denali clan, he and Carlilse now stood just beyond the doorway.

Eleazar Denali

"If we developed Dorothea's gift to work on command, maybe we could use Bella's memories against ger, break her shield long enough to prove that she's lying, if Dorothea is okay with it at least" I theorised turning to look at the blonde dhampir. She had a cute but determined look on her face, looking up from the sketch pads she was drawing on.

"I want to help if I can!" She had certainly developed a strong sense of family and justice, I hope it will serve her well as she grows.

"Well you know what they say, there's no time like the present" and with that, we started to practise.

Thank you for reading~