With my words came a gust of cold air that made the beech tree sway with the wind. The sound of its leaves sounded louder than normal while sitting under it. After a moment to let the leaves quiet down, I spoke again.

"You may be something besides human now, but you still have human emotions. You still feel happy, you can feel sad, and you can feel hatred. There are things you will see that will make you feel those emotions—from the pointless death of people who did nothing but try to survive but died because of someone's idea of peace, by taking over the land by war. Or the greed of mankind, where people will do anything for gold or anything that they want. It might make you a hard person who only sees the worst in humanity, but there is good in this world—people who have compassion for the less fortunate or those who try their hardest to provide for their family, even if it kills them from exhaustion."

I said, looking at Jane, who was now leaning into Julius, who had both of his arms around her. "We will be here for a very, very long time, if not forever, and something I have learned through all the time I have lived is that living with hatred in your heart will never let you truly experience the joy we were given through the gift that is our immortal lives."

"There are things I could have done to help humanity, things I could have made that I knew would help the world—from medicine to better weapons for people to defend themselves. Or I could have become a king chosen by God and ruled a kingdom, but I knew that the greed of humans will never change no matter what I did. The medicines I made would have been taken by the greedy and traded to far lands to be sold for mountains of gold. The weapons I made would be taken and reproduced by others to be used for wars by self-proclaimed kings, and if I became a king, those surrounding me would become jealous of what I created and would wage wars for it—all of it causing pointless death to the undeserving."

"And of course, I could stop them from doing it, but how many times will I have to do so? Once, twice, over and over again? I will get rid of them, but there will always be someone else to take their spot."

"So I decided long ago that trying to change the world would be a constantly losing battle. So I'm not going to try and change it. I'm just going to let time run its course and enjoy the gift I was given."

"How do you do it?" Jane asked from within Julius's arms. I looked at her in confusion. "Do what?" I asked her.

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"You have seen the dark side of humans, the worst they can become, but how do you not hate humans?" she asked. I sat for a moment as I thought about her words. After a moment, a small smile crept onto my face.

"I don't hate them because I know what they are doing is human nature. Emotion is a natural feeling in all of us. There are a lot of things in us that we can't control because it's human nature. All the bad and good emotional characteristics in us, we take on through life. And let's be honest, at this point in time, there is a lot of bad happening, making a lot of bad people. It's the circumstances of our lives and the world around us that make us who we are and who we become. If you were born poor, you could be greedy, selfish, or jealous. If you are born rich, you could be arrogant, lazy, cruel, and ignorant." I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

"But that doesn't mean all those people born in those circumstances take on those characteristics." I said, raising a hand and pointing at Julius. "Take Julius for example. He was born into a rich family; his father was a successful merchant. He had everything he could want growing up, but his father instilled in him good characteristics like empathy, generosity, humility, and integrity when he could have been cruel, ignorant, and greedy."

Then, pointing at myself and twisting some words, I said, "And myself, I came into this world with no family and lived in a nomadic tribe that hunted for food, where wealth wasn't even an idea in anyone's head. With my abilities, I could have taken over the tribe for my own benefit, just because I wanted to or because I could. But I didn't, because those people put in me a good set of standards that I stand by and still use today: honesty, humility, and love."

"But not everyone has good people to guide them in the right direction, some none at all to guide them. And there are some who, no matter what you do or the circumstances they were born into, can still take on good or bad traits."

"It's life—personal choices, the people and family who guide us, and the circumstances we are born into. All of that is what will carve out who we will become because it is human nature to take on the characteristics of those around us."

Julius looked at me with furrowed brows and asked, "Then why do you hate the Romanians?"

I let out a sigh. "That… that is for self-redemption. I tried to help them, but my actions caused the death of a lot of innocent people. Even though I saved some, I indirectly killed a lot more."

"And I'm hoping that after taking down the Romanian coven, it will allow me to wash some of the blood off my hands," I said, unconsciously rubbing my hands together. After a moment of silence, I spoke again.

"I guess what I'm trying to say with all of this is that there is no point in hating people for human nature. Like with you, Jane, it's human nature for people to be afraid of things they don't understand, and they didn't understand you and your family. I'm not saying it's right what they did, but just keep that in mind when you think about it or when you also see the bad part of humanity."

Jane nodded her head. "And I mean what I said, Adam. I am sorry for what I said," Jane said.

I smiled at her. "I am also sorry for what I did, so now that that is out of the way and behind us, I think it's time to bring up the Volturi." I said, clapping my hands together and in a happier voice in an attempt to clear the sad air.