EPOV

                 I anxiously waited for Bella to return. Alice was concentrating hard on the future, waiting for a minute change that would give us more information on the outcome. The young vampires had retreated back upstairs. Jasper hovered over Alice’s still figure. My body was tense. I didn’t like Bella being alone with him.

                She came back in. Her expression was strained. She had her arms wrapped around herself, protecting her heart? I opened my arms and she curled up on my lap. I murmured soothing nonsense into her hair as I cradled her and hummed her lullaby. She relaxed gradually. None of us moved for a long time.

                “Yes!” Alice cried out of nowhere. Jasper looked startled. I saw the vision in her mind or rather, lack thereof.

                “Well done, Bella.” Jasper said, sensing Alice’s and my triumph.

                “What is it?”

                “The future disappeared, not in a bad way, in a wolf way.”

                “Oh.” I didn’t hear that much enthusiasm in her tone.

                “What’s wrong?” Jasper asked.

                “Jake and I had a little argument.”

                “It’ll be fine.” Alice promised. The words didn’t carry as much weight since Alice couldn’t see the wolves.

                “I’m sure.” Bella said.

                We all headed over to tell the others the news. Carlisle was out getting his old job back, but Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett were happy. I read all kinds of violent thoughts in Emmett’s head and winced.

                “We should form a plan.” Jasper said.

                We set to work. First, we had to know our strengths. We made a list of all of our talents:

                                Emmett-strength

                                Rosalie-stealth (That was being generous, I thought.)

                                Alice-foresight, agility, grace

                                Jasper-emotional defense/offense, strategy

                                Carlisle-Volturi’s respect, leadership, experience

                                Esme-loyalty, encouragement (Esme was never a fighter.)

                                Bella-shielding (This was news to me. I would have to have a long talk with Bella.)

                                Edward-mind reading, speed

                                Davin-unknown (Jasper insisted on keeping Davin’ power top secret, not wanting Aro to see it in our minds.)

                                Bree-newborn enhancements

                                Wolves-numbers, strength, mental communication with each other

                Seeing the list made me feel a bit better. None of us wanted to expound on weaknesses, but Jasper insisted:

                                Emmett-over enthusiasm, recklessness

                                Rosalie-vanity, impatience (She was not happy about that description.), Emmett

                                Alice-size (We already knew that this wasn’t a very hard weakness for her to overcome.)

                                Jasper-Alice

                                Carlisle-too trusting, willingness to give second chances, humanity

                                Esme-pacifist nature, her loved ones

                                Bella-Edward

                                Edward-Bella, overprotective (I thought that this was a bit harsh.)

                                Davin-unfamiliar to Cullens, young

                                Bree-newborn

                                Wolves-dislike of vampires, recklessness

                Bella came up with the plan. It was ingenious. Jasper, Emmett, and I tweaked it until it was right. Carlisle came back and helped. I was beginning to have hope. I could see that the others were as well. The plan was to surround the clearing where the Volturi were planning to meet Carlisle. Only Carlisle and Esme would go into the clearing. Bree and Bella would be a bit away from the fight. Bree would help Bella if they needed to fight and Bella would shield everyone else. The wolves would take down the Volturi guard along with Rosalie, Jasper, and Alice. While the guards were distracted, Davin, Emmett, and I would attack the Volturi. We left Carlisle’s position undecided so that he could keep an eye on things. We were counting on Davin’s mysterious power to give us the edge. That was the only problem with this plan.

                Bella seemed okay with it. I knew she wanted to fight, but she knew that this was the best way. I had no doubts that she would jump into the fight if she decided that it was best. All of us would change plans without a thought if our mates were in danger.

                We had to hope this would work. We only had one chance.