Chapter One

1920's, USA

The Cullen's drawing room was occupied. A girl of seventeen sat on the piano bench, her fingers ghosting over the keys of Edward's pianoforte as she mimed playing one of Beethoven's compositions. The sunlight hit her golden hair, making it shine and sparkle but her skin remained untouched, showing no prism like magnificence like that of her adopted parents.

She was pretending, lost in a make believe world, a world where Edward had not been missing for the past two years, where Carlisle did not gaze at Edward's piano with a pained countenance, where Esme did not berate herself for driving away her adopted son with thoughts of anger and revenge. Any moment Edward would walk into the room, chastising her shoddy rendition of Beethoven's masterpiece and then patiently proceed to teach her the finer nuances of piano playing.

Her lips turned up in a melancholic smile at the memory. How long it had been since they had sat at the piano together, Edward being the patient teacher while she fumbled her way through each music piece he attempted to teach her. She had not touched the piano even once in the two years he had been gone, a twisted sacrifice to appease the deity who watched over their kind, a request to him to bring Edward back.

She did not love him as Carlisle and Esme did-her love for him was poles apart from theirs-but she did want him back. She missed their sparring sessions for Edward may have been a preachy moralistic blighter with a vendetta against happiness but he'd always respected her opinions and treated her as an equal which was way more than she could say for the British Wizarding Community who had thrown her out for being a half-breed. A demonic creature they called her, a cursed child, disregarding the fact that her mother had been a witch-'

A voice broke her reverie, 'Hello, Lisa.'

Her heart racing, she turned her head to see him standing in the doorway. It was as if the past two years had never happened. He was unchanged, the same: tall, lean yet muscular frame, the same tousled bronze hair that resembled a raging fiendfyre on a sunny day, the same soulful and pained golden eyes.

'The prodigal son returns', she quoted and his lips quirked up in a wry smile.

'Play for me', he requested, crossing his arms and leaning against the door frame. She merely arched an eyebrow.

'Please.'

Satisfied, she retook her place at the piano bench and for the first time in the two years, she played. She gave it everything she had, pouring her emotions, her grief, her regret, her overpowering love for him into the music, showing him her thoughts through the music.

His expression when she finished was inscrutable and he did not speak for a while. She waited patiently, her hands clasped in her lap.

'You've been lying to me Liza', he said finally, his tone bitter and harsh. 'You don't hate me. You've never hated me.'

'No', her own response was simple, uncomplicated as she looked into his eyes that resembled a never ending vortex, now a deep shade of onyx swirling with anger and betrayal.

'Why then? Why keep up the pretense all these years? Why lead me to believe that you despised me when what you feel for me is the exact opposite?', his hair got more ruffled and unruly as he ran his fingers through it agitatedly.

'I was scared, Edward', she replied softly, willing him to understand. 'I had been thrown out on to the streets without a second thought by the people I considered family. I had nowhere to go if you decided that my feelings were a nuisance and sent me away.'

'You truly think so little of me?', he replied, his expression incredulous.

'I was a child, Edward', she exclaimed. 'A child who had been labelled a demon, a curse and almost burnt at the stake for her heritage. Excuse me for being a tad irrotational when it came to your response to my feelings. I thought you would see me the same way, an abomination, an anomaly that doesn't deserve to exist-'

He was going to interrupt, she could see it and she held up a hand to stop him. She needed to tell him. She had been dishonest with him for far too long.

'You hate yourself, Edward. You consider yourself a monster, was I really so wrong to think that you might hate me too? I am a half vampire after all.'

Edward bowed his head in defeat.

'I am a monster Liza', he admitted. 'More so than I thought then. I have killed hundreds and enjoyed it. I have feasted on their blood and lost the little chance at redemption I might have had. I do not deserve your forgiveness yet I stand here and beg for it.'

He did not meet her eyes. No. Not again. She would not let him escape reality again,no, he had to face his demons once and for all. She got up and walked towards him as he remained stiff and unmoving, his gaze directed at his feet.

'Edward', she said quietly, clasping his cold hands in her warm ones. 'Look at me please.'

He raised his eyes and she was happy and sad to see the agony in them.

'I know what you have done, Edward', she confessed. 'We gathered enough from the newspapers to conclude that you were the vigilante on New York's streets, saving women and children left, right and center. We are fortunate the Volturi did not end up on our doorstep.'

Edward's already pale face became whiter as he considered the ramifications of his actions.

'I..I did not think of that', he said, aghast. 'I could never forgive myself if anything happened to you because of my mistakes, my carelessness...'

Her lips turned up in a sad smile. 'Who is to say that we were not affected?'

The smart man that he was, he caught on immediately. 'I beg your forgiveness, Liza.'

'Will you promise me something?', she asked.

'Anything.'

'Promise me you'll never leave us again.'

'I..I promise Liza.'

'I forgive you, Edward', she sighed. 'And I am sure Carlisle and Esme will as well when they return but there is something you need more than our forgiveness, you need to forgive yourself.'

'How can I, Lisa? I have killed people mercilessly, slaughtered them-'

'Yes! Killed murderers and rapists, violent men and abusers, you've killed people who prey on innocents Edward and while I agree that you had no right to act God and send them to hell, I thank the Lord for all the lives you've saved by ending theirs.'

'AND before you say it, you are NOT a monster Edward Cullen. You are a broody, moralistic, preachy lost man who hasn't found his place in the world and I take this opportunity to tell you that your place is with us, by my side, loving me just as passionately as I love you-'

Before she could continue, Edward took the wind out of her sails by pressing his lips to hers. When they finally broke apart for air, he leant his forehead against hers and admitted in a pleasantly husky voice-'I love you too.'