I know a lot of people have been puzzling over the cover art of Breaking Dawn so here is what my brother came up with.

Note: Sometime in Breaking Dawn, Bella's just been transformed - purely for the plot.

Disclaimer: Well, I don't own the series or any characters... I don't even own the idea of this one shot.

The Chess Match

Edward was rushing to rescue Bella from the clutches of the Volturi. They had taken her mere hours after her transformation. He cursed Alice for not seeing it and himself for allowing it to happen.

He had arrived outside the walls of the large city of Volterra. Pausing briefly, he scanned the barrier for a way over that would not be conspicuous. He spotted one and quickly scaled the stone, despite its size. Once over, he ran flat out to the secret hideout where the Volturi resided. He was there within moments. Not bothering to address the receptionist, he barged into the throne room. Aro was there, surrounded by his guard, not even looking remotely surprised to see Edward.

"Release Bella!" snarled Edward, he was prepared, he knew he could win. Aro seemed slightly amused.

"You may have her back if you can defeat me," he responded, full of self assurance. "Did you bring it?" Edward nodded before withdrawing something from his backpack and placing it on the small table between them. Aro and Edward sat down on either side it, waiting for the other to speak.

"Let's play then," said Aro. This was it, Edward would have to beat him or he would never get Bella back. Slowly, Edward reached over to the table, calculating his opponent, then swiftly made his move.

"Very good." Aro now took his turn and, before long, it had turned into a full blown chess tournament. A battle of minds that would determine Bella's fate.

They were still playing hours later, despite using vampire speed. It was truly amazing to watch, so much so that a small number of the guard had not yet lost interest, or else were feigning it. And then it all stopped, one of them was victorious. But who?

The eyes of the few guards that had not zoned out traveled to the chess board. The black king had been taken, Edward had beaten their lord and master. There was a moment of silence, the conversation ceasing, then everyone resumed their chatter. After all, they had all beaten Aro before, he was a mediocre chess player at best.

"Nooo!" shrieked Aro. "Not again! I was supposed to win this time!" Edward looked worriedly at him. Aro was not acting in a manner expected of a sane person. Still screaming, Aro went to the door and swept out of the room. Jane brought Bella over, rolling her eyes at her master's stupidity.

"Edward!" exclaimed Bella as they were reunited. It was a happy moment for those on the winning side and a rather indifferent one for those on the losing. Except for Aro, he spent the rest of the night in his room sulking. As they left Volterra, Bella thought to ask the question on everyone's minds.

"Edward, why did he think he could win against a mind reader?" Edward just shrugged.

"I have absolutely no idea. I could have ended it after thirteen turns but I felt it best to humor him. I get the feeling Aro doesn't think his plans through."

Formatting fixed 8th of December, 2012. Couldn't bring myself to touch the grammatical errors, even though all the commas where there should be full stops/semi-colons/dashes make my eyes burn. And why in the world was I using American English spelling? Just part of the charm of my 13-year-old self's writing, I guess.

-TeamVampire