gift or curse (A Twilight fanfiction)

Chapter 19

Together we walked back to the plane. At human speed, and without talking. There was much I needed to process, now that I knew my gift.

A couple of times my mouth opened, ready to say something like: so, I basically can order everybody around, or: this could actually be fun. However each time, after a few seconds, my mouth closed again and all I eventually said, by the time we arrived at the landing strip, was: "Do you think he will be mad?"

With a swift motion, Demetri's arms were around me in a tight embrace and I hid my face in his chest. Without the need to breath, I could press myself against him as close as I liked for as long as I wanted and right then, I never wanted to let go.

"Did you mean it?" He softly questioned and I made a sound that he interpreted correctly as 'what?'.

"When you said you would stay with me, if I wanted to stay in Volterra."

I rotated my face a fraction, so I could speak and answered: "Yes, I did. I want to travel the world and see all the amazing places I mentioned, but I want to do it with you and if Volterra is your home, than it will me mine as well."

He held me back a little, only to capture my lips with his in an all engulfing kiss. Like always, when he did that, my mind went blank and all I could do was bask in the knowledge that he apparently wanted me with him as much as I did.

In a blur, the sides of the plane moved past me as Demetri rushed me inside. To me it wouldn't have mattered if we stayed in the snow or not, but Demetri liked his clothes to stay as dry as possible. The elastic band with which I had made a bun of my hair, snapped as he pulled at it. Softly he drew a lock of my dark curls close and inhaled deeply, before burying his nose against my neck. My eyes fluttered shut and I pressed my lips tightly together in an attempt not to embarrass myself with sounds that definitely were more and more difficult to keep inside.

As if we had all the time in the world, we moved slowly, exploring every millimeter of skin that was exposed. A few times his hands tugged at my dress, but he always stopped himself just short of tearing the fabric. Did he think about the lack of back-up dresses that were in the plane or did he have a more noble sentiment on his mind?

Without getting tired, it was very difficult to stop, but as the last rays of sunlight faded in the distance, we both knew it was time to go home. We made ourselves presentable, took our seats and in silence Demetri flew us away from the snow.

---

It would take us a few hours to cross the Atlantic and I was about to rise and walk around in the small plane, just to pass the time and satisfy my curiosity, when Demetri halted me with a soft: "Wait."

He pressed a few buttons and turned my way. There was a vulnerable look on his face and I hunched forward to take his hands in mine. "What is it? Are you afraid of Aro?"

For a minute his eyebrows knitted together. "No, not really. He will be pleased to hear we will stay in Volterra and as you said, no one can actually hurt you."

"Or you", I hastily added, "I won't let them."

He shushed me with a gentle kiss.

"Ariadne."

A shiver ran down my back. He didn't say my name very often. I wished he would. His low voice made it sound so sensual.

"I never really believed I would ever ask this question, but that was before I met you. I know it is not necessary, especially in these days, but I would like it very much. If only to be able to call you mine in a way that means the most."

He was heading somewhere, I know he was, but I couldn't for the life of me understand what he wanted to say, so when he did finally manage to ask what he was working his way up to say, my lower lip dropped like a sinkhole.

I knew I was old enough and I knew I had always wanted to one day. Becoming a vampire had lessened the memory of that longing considerably, but now ... I knew for a fact that the thought hadn't crossed my mind in all the five years since my new life began. It never even once crossed my mind until the moment I'd kissed him. But now, hearing Demetri ask me if I would marry him, there really only was one answer I could give.

Without a doubt, without a second thought, wholeheartedly. "Yes!"

The plane never got to be investigated, save for the many different positions in which you could make out in the chairs.

---

The moment we left the plane, at an airport on the coast of France, it was dark and we were not alone. The huge shadowy mass, that was Felix, stood there, waiting for us. How did he know we would return at this moment? Or had he been standing there since the moment my call came through? I couldn't really feel sorry for him. I knew he was a friend of Demetri, but I didn't like him.

I was about to use my new found gift for the first official time, when Demetri simply asked: "Felix, what brings you here?"

The big brute replied: "I am to escort you back."

Again I wanted to tell him off, but Demetri took my hand and said: "Lead the way."

Felix took us to a car that was waiting at the edge of the airport. There was no one else, which eased my nerves a bit. At least Aro hadn't planned to hurt us with Jane. And I didn't even know what her brother's power was.

For a short while I let myself be distracted by all the things I could do with my gift. No one would be able to keep secrets from me. No one would be able to do anything unless they beat me to it. Killing me before I could say the word stop, that would be effective. Perhaps I should take a little more care whom I would use my gift on. I didn't need enemies, I only wanted to live in peace.

What would Aro want from me? Would he have me do things? Or simply command someone to tell the truth? I could do that. I could make people talk without hurting them of having them be tortured. I could stop anyone from attacking Aro, though I couldn't imagine anyone be that stupid to try.

Would I be able to make someone forget things? Could my command be long lasting? Those were all things I needed to find out. I only hoped I would get the change.

Driving back to Italy took longer than running, but I kind of liked it. The silence was comfortable and Demetri put his arm around me as I laid my head against his shoulder. Felix looked at us a few times through the rear-view mirror, but he never spoke a word. Apparently his only orders were to pick us up and make sure we returned safely to Volterra. He could have saved himself the trouble.

Halfway through the trip, Demetri decided to ignore the fact that we weren't alone and asked: "When?"

I didn't have to guess what he meant and the bubbly, happy feeling from before slowly found its way back to my belly.

"I don't know, whenever you want, I guess. Do you want it to be a big thing? I mean, how does it work for vampires? I guess you can't just invite a human cleric to perform the ceremony, or do you simply go to the local registry? I actually have no idea how it works in Italy." Or anywhere else for that matter. Weddings in movies were always very nice and beautiful and big, but movies hardly ever explained the steps in detail.

Felix's eyebrows rose a bit, but I ignored him, like Demetri did.

"You can have it any way you like. I've actually been to quite a few vampire weddings over the years. We can do it today, if you want. I'm sure Aro would love to do the honors."