A Cullen Family Meeting-open-

[Rosalie Lilian Hale]

this is open to all those
close to the Cullen family

Arching a perfectly sculpted brow, Rosalie slowly turned her head away from the window and stared at her family. Slowly but surely, a look of pure shock was working its way onto Rose's pretty face. Was Carlisle serious? Was another coven actually trying to overthrow the Volturi. Rosalie blinked once and then continued to stare at Carlisle. A small frown came over Rosalie's face and she tilted her head to the side, keeping her eyes on Carlisle's mouth as it moved. Rose's frown deepened. Sure, she could see Carlisle's mouth moving, and yes, she could vaguely hear his velvety voice reaching her ears, but for the life of her, Rose could not understand a single word that was coming out of Carlisle's mouth. Frowning even more, Rosalie shifted in her seat and glanced around at the other members of her family. Everyone else had extremely intense, concentrated looks on their faces as they looked at Carlisle speaking. Obviously, they could all comprehend what Carlisle was saying to them.

Pursing her lips, Rosalie crossed her legs and turned her head away from Carlisle to once more look out of the window. Figuring that the only reason she wasn't digesting what Carlisle was saying was because she didn't want to, Rose closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath. Sure, she didn't need the air to breath, but Rosalie still found that taking a deep breath once in a while helped her to calm down. The only thing that Rose had managed to grasp out of Carlisle's twenty minutes and counting speech was that a coven, somewhere in Europe was rumored to be trying to overthrow the Volturi. This idea struck Rosalie as complete stupidity. Sure, Rose wasn't too fond of the Volturi, what with them at one point having wanted to kill Renesmee, but then again, Rosalie fully believed that they were the ones keeping the peace within the vampiric world. Who knew what would happen if they were gone. That was to say, if the other coven even managed to dispose of the Volturi.

That was the other thing. What on earth gave this other coven the idea that they could possibly overthrow the Volturi? The Volturi had been in power for what was it now, over a thousand years. They had destroyed the Romanian coven and everyone cowered in fear as soon as their name was mentioned. Where on earth had this coven gained the audacity to think that they could plot something like this without getting slaughtered? As these thoughts swam about in Rosalie's mind, she caught the sound of Carlisle voice saying something about how some of the members of this other coven, (their name still eluded Rose), also had some talented members. Hearing this, Rosalie arched a brow, yet did not turn her head to face the rest of the family. So, that was where they had gained the audacity. At the thought, Rosalie's face squatted. The Cullens had a few very talented members as well, but hey, they didn't go around thinking they could overthrow the Volturi. As soon as this thought crossed Rosalie's mind, realization swept over her. Why had Carlisle called this meeting?

Rosalie abruptly turned her head to face Carlisle and she narrowed her eyes. "Why are we having this talk again?" She blurted out. Rosalie was getting the feeling that Carlisle wanted to talk about picking sides. The mere thought made Rose sick with worry. What if she just wanted to be neutral? Rose wanted so desperately to remain neutral in this whole thing, but she very well knew that, that would be impossible. After all, in war, if you weren't with a coven you were perceived as being against them.

[Alice Cullen]

At the very moment Rosy was asking Carlisle why they were talking about whatever topic they were dealing with, Alice entered the house after going out for a while to clear her mind from anything that could lead to arguments and discussions. She then looked form Rosy to Carlisle and then thought for a moment before she said, “Oh, I am so sorry, am I interrupting anything?” She truly was sorry but leaving as she had entered would only make matters worse wouldn’t it? She truly didn’t know what exactly to do now since she had entered at such an awkward moment and even when they could be arguing and she just didn’t want to argue with anyone at this very moment…

[Isabella Cullen]

Bella sat next to Edward in their little coven assembly. Nessie was on her lap coloring. The poor little thing hadn't a clue she was the center of so much attention. Bella wondered if Nessie had forgotten that day in the meadow. She had still been so small. It hadn't seemed to affect her daughter at all.

There was so much tension these days. It was beginning to take it toll on her. Every time they discussed the Volturi and possibility of starting a war, Bella felt guiltier. She had caused so much trouble she'd come to their world. First the Cullen family which had threatened to divide due to her presence. Then almost causing Edward, her lover, her brother, her best friend in the entire world to commit suicide. That had given the Volturi reason to hone in on the family in the first place. And now with her changing and coming out with strange powers, they were even more determined to own the Cullen children. On top of everything was Renesme. The Volturi had been more then a little upset coming to Forks on a misunderstanding. Having to assemble the various covens and bring them proof of what she really was had strongly shaken everybody. Bella had never meant for them to take is as grounds for a war! Now it threatened to send the entire vampiric community into utter chaos. Everything she touched in their world seemed to turn to ruins.

She also feared that Nessie was causing a disturbance in their own family. As happy as they seemed for the two, Bella couldn't shake the feeling that her sisters had been hurt by the birth. She knew it was especially a blow to Rosalie, but thought that Alice might also be silently suffering. Though she was no longer a danger magnet, Bella knew she had strong polarity for trouble.

Rosalie's sudden burst startled her. Even though she was dead white, Bella could still feel herself blushing.

"I think you're needed here Alice. We're having a meeting," Bella told her.

"Hiiiii Awi!" Nessie greeted, waving her marker excitedly at her aunt.

[Rosalie Lilian Hale]

Arching a perfectly sculpted brow at Carlisle, Rosalie waited for his answer. However, despite the fact that Rose had barely been paying any attention to Carlisle's little speech, she could gather that in fact, they were here to discuss whether or not they would take sides in this little war brewing. That and, which side to take exactly. Now, despite having never met a single member of the other coven, Rosalie was almost perfectly sure that she would opt to stay on the side of the Volturi. After all, the Cullens were the last people on earth who should be doing anything to anger the Volturi. However, in addition to that, Rosalie felt that the other coven was absolutely stark mad in thinking that they had any chance at actually overthrowing the Italian coven. Vaguely, Rosalie wondered if the other coven had ever even seen the Volturi guard. She sure had, and that was not a sight she would be forgetting any time soon.

However, as she waited for Carlisle answer, one that was sure to be eloquently spoken and extremely rational, Rosalie heard Alice walk in. Both of Rose's brows shot up and she quickly turned her head in the direction of her sister. Not wanting to snap at Alice, Rosalie took a deep breath before answering. "You're not disturbing anything dear, we're having a meeting. You should probably come sit down as well." Rosalie replied, her voice as melodic as ever, yet holding a slightly sharp tone to it. It wasn't that she was mad at Alice for having made her presence known, on the contrary, Rosalie was rather pleased that her sister had arrived.

Deciding that she would do her very best to try and remain calm and composed during this situation, Rosalie leaned back in her seat and crossed her legs. Putting her elbow up on the armrest of the couch, Rosalie supported her chin in her hand. With a rather exasperated and annoyed expression on her face, Rosalie pursed her lips and swung her leg back and forth. "What do you all think about this?" She asked, arching a brow as she glanced around at the members of her family. "Do you all think we should even be entertaining the idea of siding with anyone but the Volturi?" Rosalie asked. Despite the fact that Rose was doing her very best to try and remain calm and composed, there was a harsh, bitter tone to her voice. After all, Rosalie had never been one to be good at containing her emotions.

[Isabella Cullen]

Bella knew she was the last person that should have a say. After all she had caused the problems to begin with. As it was, she was still a member of the family and her daughters future hung in the balance.

"To be honest," she started looking at her hands. "I don't think we should choose a side. Not yet, anyway. I know it would look terrible for our loyalty, but perhaps we should remain neutral for as long as possible. If they think they stand a fighting chance against the Volturi, then let them begin the... the war." Bella found it hard to say it. "If it goes on long enough we can side with whoever appears to be the victor. Look, I know it sounds horrible but just listen.

"For one thing, we can be neutral only long enough not to give false hope to either side. I know none of us want anyone massacred on our account. We could tell the coven we're considering their offer and that would give them time to find others. We don't need to side with the Volturi, but I think at first, we shouldn't go against them either.

"For another, should we side with this coven, there might be ways to start this thing off slowly. Sending snipers, for instance. If we only take a few of the guard down over time, surely they wouldn't suspect anything. There's got to be ways to catch their guard, well, off guard. We can start small and work our way up to the more dangerous ones." Bella shuddered at the thought of Jane.

"I think if worse comes to worst, we could have a decoy plan. Perhaps staging that our family split up over the decision. We can go our separate ways for awhile, gather information for either side then meet up at Isle Esme with how it's going. That way we can decide when and who to act with."

She was staring at Nessie, so innocently coloring in her own little world. Somewhere far away from all of this. The poor little thing had no idea how big a part of this she was.

"And she'll stay with Jacob," Bella decided, indicating Nessie.

Her daughter turned around, a huge grin on her face. "Jakey! I stay with Jakey!"

Bella smiled, brushing Renesmee's hair from her face. "Yes, you stay with Jake. He'll protect you."

[Rosalie Lilian Hale]

Pursing her lips, Rosalie looked at Bella as she talked. To be quite honest, Rosalie had to admit that Bella seemed to be so rational. After all, after the Volturi had wanted to kill Nessie, Rosalie would have expected Bella to want to take the opportunity to get rid of the Italian vampires. However, despite the fact that she was completely and utterly shocked by Bella's reaction, Rosalie was completely in accord with it. After all, why should they risk their lives to help the members of some random coven that they had never met before? The Volturi already hated them, so Rosalie saw absolutely no reason to try and further provoke the Volturi. Rosalie glanced at Bella out of the corner of her eyes and smiled, nodding her head lightly at her newest sister.

"I think Bella's idea is completely and totally reasonable." Rosalie announced, her voice light and airy, yet carrying a bit of a smug tone to it. "I don't think we should give the Volturi anymore of a reason to be suspicious of us." Rosalie reasoned, nodding her head. Rosalie frowned for a second, "Though the only thing I do disagree with is the idea to split up the family. We're at our best and at our strongest when we're together. The Volturi wouldn't hesitate to try and pick us off one by one if they started to get the least bit suspicious." Despite the fact that Rose was not willing to jump at the opportunity to initiate war with Volturi, she most definitely was suspicious of them. Rose simply did not buy the idea that all they wanted to do was to keep peace within the Vampire world. Rosalie glanced at Emmett out of the corner of her eyes and she knew that if it did come to war she wouldn't be able to handle it if he was killed. Yes, staying out of the war was the best idea. "Now, I think that this is completely reasonable and I see no further reason to continue talking about this ridiculous idea." Rosalie announced to the entire coven, nodding her head. Though Rosalie was always open and willing to tell others what was on her mind, she hated talking about anything that made her the least bit uncomfortable.

"Right, this is settled. If anything, we could talk about this at another time." Rosalie said, nodding her head as a small, nervous smile crossed her face. Depsite herself, Rosalie snuck a glance at Carlisle out of the corner of her eyes. From the look on Carlisle's face it was rather apparent to her that this topic was far from closed. Biting down onto her lower lip, Rose ran a hand nervously through her long, blonde hair. She merely hoped that Carlisle would at least let the topic drop for now. After all, all of this made her quite uneasy.