Forget Me Not | ✓

50 | A War of Woes

50
Breaking Dawn  [Pt.2]
A  W a r   o f   W o e s
   
    
   

ON THE EVE of the battle, three days after Christmas, tension was thick in the chilly winter air and anxiety was running high for everyone as they roamed around the small clearing in the woods. They were just inside of the trees, looking out over the vast clearing of which they would be having the Volturi.

As everyone worked to gathers logs and tree trunks to sit on, Carlisle, Adele, and Edward admired the scene. All of these people, their friends, were there to help them. It was gratifying.

"A little pre-battle bonfire. Telling war stories." Jacob grinned at the idea as he dropped bundle of chopped wood in the middle of the area. He looked up at them and saw them all standing still, watching him as he sat. He shrugged."Or just stand there like frickin' statues."

Benjamin walked up to him with a friendly grin and raised his hand. The tips of his fingers lit on fire and he threw the flames into the wood, setting it ablaze.

"Now that's what I'm talking about."

They all sat down. Garrett sped over and sag down on a log beside them with a smug smile on his face. His gaze flickered momentarily over to Kate who was chatting with Tanya. "Name any American battle. I was there. Little Bighorn. I came this close to biting Custer, but the Indians got him first. Try Oleg's assault on Constantinople. He didn't win that one on his own."

Peter grinned. "If you're talking battles, you're talking the Eleven Years' War. No one does rebellion like the Irish."

"You lost the Eleven Years' War." Garrett objected.

"Aye," Peter nodded with a smirk, "But it was one hell of a rebellion."

They men grinned at each other and nodded in agreement. It was amazing to see how all of these people, who hadn't known each other before, were now forming lasting friendships.

"When we ruled, everything came to us. Prey, diplomats, favor seekers. Such was our power." Vladimir spoke up glumly as he sat down on a small log beside Stefan. All eyes flickered to him. "But we never put on white hats and called ourselves saints. We were honest about what we were."

"We sat still for a very long time. We didn't notice we were beginning to petrify." Stefan added with a frown as he stared into the crackling fire. "Perhaps the Volturi did a favor when they burned our castles. We've been waiting fifteen-hundred years to return that favor. We have been ready to do battle for ages."

As they trailed off into deep conversation, Edward crossed his arms and sighed. Adele did her best to stay out of his head - she didn't need to be plagued by his pessimistic thoughts, too.

"I can't help thinking," He began lowly, "All of these people are putting themselves in danger because I fell in love with a human."

"You found your mate." Carlisle responded simply. He always wanted his son to find his place in the world. He watched him suffer in his lonesome for decades until he met Bella and fell head over heels for her. "You deserve to be happy."

"But at what cost?"

"Everyone here has something to fight for, Edward." Adele replied and looked at Paul, who was sitting beside Jacob and Benjamin. He was chuckling along with the rest, perfectly at ease among the vampires. He had come so far. "I certainly do."

Carlisle nodded. "As do I."

After all that Adele had gone through in helping Edward, she had to admit that she wouldn't have done anything differently. While his gratefulness was underwhelming sometimes, it brought her that much closer to finding her own happiness. In fact, it had given her incentive. If she made it out alive tomorrow, she knew that she had to confront her past once and for all. Alice's vision was the first step to getting there.