AN: This is set after New Moon. It's more of a character exercise on Rosalie. I'm trying to explain, in my own words, why she acts the way she does towards Bella. Enjoy!

Reconciliation

By Andie Wolf

I couldn't take it any longer. Edward had been gone far too long, so I decided to drive over to his house and wait for him. If you were in my shoes, you'd think a whole night was too long to be away from someone, too. He just had to go hunting.

As I drove, I hesitantly turned on the radio. Now that Edward was back, I was only marginally afraid to listen to music. Despite his promise, I couldn't help but think, What if he leaves again, and I've done all this work to become re-acquainted with who I was before. What good would it do me then? Then my more rational half tells the worrywart to shut-up and pay attention to the road. He promised not to leave again, and for the relationship between him and me to work, I had to trust him.

I drove for twenty minutes. It seemed natural to me, the road I was on, for I had driven it countless times. Or, at least, I was with Edward while he drove. Life had gone back to normal, before Edward rudely left me, leaving a hole the size of Texas in my heart. Now that he was back, the hole had gone.

There was only one car in the Cullen's driveway, and it wasn't the one I was expecting. Rosalie and Emmett were supposed to be on vacation again. Why would they come back? I sighed and braced myself to go knock on the door. Sure, Rosalie was sort of nice when they all returned to Forks, but how was she going to act now? Was she still the same old, selfish, beautiful, Rosalie? I could answer one of those right away. Yes, she was still beautiful. That would never change. Would she welcome me with open arms? I wasn't holding my breath…

I knocked on the door, and wondered if Emmett was there as well, or if he was off hunting with the rest of them. Heck, they all could be out hunting for all I knew. To my relief, or anguish, however you looked at, the door opened. Of course, it was Rosalie that opened it. I couldn't gage her expression.

I hesitated before greeting her. "Hi, R-Rose." When I said it, it came out like Rosa- with an extra stutter at the beginning. I wasn't sure if we were on the terms where I could use the shortened version of her name, or if we were still just "acquaintances." Smooth start, Bella. Her face was a mask; I couldn't tell what she was feeling. I smiled tentatively, awaiting her response. She stared for a few more seconds, then turned and left the door open for me to enter, stalking away, gracefully.

Oh, so I see how it is. I knew this would difficult. No, wait, let me re-phrase that. I knew she would be difficult. I sighed yet again and followed her into the room, hearing no sounds of Emmett. If he were here, I'd be locked in a bear hug right now, trying to breath. I smiled in spite of myself, which earned a glare from Rosalie. Okay, note to self: No smiling.

I tried to make conversation as she walked further away from me. "Um..How…?"

"I'll be in my room. They should be back soon." She gracefully trotted up the steps, leaving me standing in the empty hallway, gaping up at her.

So much for small talk. I went and found the room with Edward's piano and sat down at the white bench, resting my hands on the smooth keys. He had taught me a little, but I only remembered one song. The memory came back to me like it was yesterday. When we were at a music store one day, I forced him to get a Disney book, with all the classic tunes from the movies.

"You want this book? Isn't it a little childish?" He had asked.

"Are you calling me a child?" I retorted, mockingly.

He sighed, exasperatly. "You know what I mean." He grabbed my hand and we headed for the cash register.

My favorite song from the book was "A Whole New World," from Aladdin. I made him teach it to me right when we got home, and I hadn't forgotten it ever since.

I began the intro, closing my eyes, not needing the book to remember it. I hummed along with the melody as the song progressed, recalling the hours of practice and laughs it took to learn this. I finished the song with tears in my eyes. The piano was so beautiful, yet so sorrowful at the same time...kind of like mine and Edward's relationship.

I hadn't felt it before, but now I could sense a presence. There was someone in the room, and then I heard clapping. The slow, sarcastic kind of clapping that's almost scary. I turned around to see Rosalie, with, yet again, no expression on her face. Her voice was quite different.

"How lovely. You're a natural." Her voice was hard, sardonic. I gulped. The tension was rising.

"H-How long have you been standing there?" Ugh, stop stuttering! I told myself. You sound like an incompetent fool. Then I realized how stupid my question was, and my eyes started tearing up. She probably could've heard me playing miles away, let alone in the same house. I was so embarrassed and mad at myself, and now she had to see me cry. Rosalie had a tendency to make me feel inferior. What a surprise.

Rosalie, didn't answer my question, only stepped forward. She sat down next to me, making sure our bodies didn't touch. Her face was on the keys as she rose her hands, and began playing. Her body was tense, but her fingers flowed across the keys easily. It was some complicated piece, one that touched at my memory. I had probably heard it before on some commercial or something. Her hands had to reach the keys I was sitting in front of, so I stood and stepped away quickly, so as not to interrupt and get her even more mad at me. Then a thought crossed my mind. Why was she mad at me in the first place? What had I done to upset her so? Now tears of frustration were wetting my eyes, and a few had escaped onto my cheeks. I brought my hands up to wipe them away, hoping she didn't notice.

She finished a minute later. I had gotten over my embarrassment and frustration. I was angry now.

Before she could speak or turn around to look smugly at me, I voiced my thoughts. "Why do you always have to one-up me? Huh, Rosalie? Isn't it enough that you are already immortal, and that you can be with your husband ways that I can't with Edward? You have so many more advantages than I do, and yet you still hate me. What have I done to deserve this?" I was yelling by the time I was done. She turned around at me, as angry as I was.

"You don't know the half of it, you little girl. You weren't with Edward for the last God knows how many years. You haven't seen him suffer like I have, while he watched as we all found our soul mates. I was supposed to be with him. Me! Not some human little girl, like you." Our tirades were opposite. She started off loud, and ended in the softest of menacing whispers. I had backed into the corner while she came closer and closer. I had never been afraid of any of the Cullens before, with the exception of Jasper. That was understandable.

I'm sure she could feel my heart beating faster and faster as she came within five feet of me. Her eyes were still a terrifying topaz, even though she was madder than the devil. I couldn't think of any way to defend myself. I always found danger, even in the safest of places. Rosalie was the perfect predator, or at least she looked like one. Her back was arched, and she stepped lightly on her feet as she approached me.

"Um…"

"Cat got your tongue?" She scoffed. "I can't believe you. You're the girl Edward supposedly wants to spend his existence with, and all you can say to me is 'Um?'"

I was regaining my confidence again, though my voice was still soft. "You don't know me, Rosalie. When have you ever even tried? You don't know why Edward stays with me." I was impressed with myself; I had never made myself sound so good. I stopped standing cowardly, and straightened my back. Rosalie stopped advancing, and we both stared at each other for an interminable amount of time. Her expression changed with each passing tick of a distant clock. Mad, vulnerable, heartbreaking, and back to vulnerable. I was waiting for her to speak, because I sure as hell didn't know what to say, no matter how confident I seemed.

"You don't deserve him. I was supposed to be good enough for him. Why do you get all the praise for bringing him out of his depression? You're nothing special, and you never will be. How can you stand to be in this house with such superior people? How?"

I stared at her, as I had been doing for what seemed like the past hour. I tried to find the meaning behind this sudden outburst. What had made her so furious? Then it clicked. I remembered Edward telling me that Rosalie regrets becoming what she is: a monster. She would've rather stayed human, like me. Like what Edward has fallen in love with.

"I know what this is about Rosalie. You envy me. You wish you were a human, so you didn't have to go around killing innocent beings as a form of quenching the thirst." I saw the sudden shock arise on her face as she listened to my rebuttal. "I know I'm right, so don't pretend I'm not." I decided to change my approach. I was fighting fire with fire, and no one ever came out on top in the end. I softened my tone. "You don't have to hate me, Rosalie. I want to become what you are. You have no idea how much I don't want to be human right now. I'd trade places any day, if it meant being with Edward forever."

"Guess all you want, Bella," she spat my name like venom, "But you'll never get it right. You're the one that doesn't understand." She still looked vulnerable, and sad, like someone who had just lost the one they loved. The thought brought something else to mind.

"Did you love him, Rosalie? Did you love Edward?" Her expression didn't change. I could tell I had hit the nail right on the head.

She laughed a bitter, condescending laugh. Then her expression became sad again. Now, after all this time, I finally understood. "Yes, Bella, I loved him. But I can see it's not the kind that you have with him, or that I have with Emmett. It wasn't as strong but I still did. I got my ego bruised, because he didn't love me back. Happy now?" I had finally gotten what I wanted. She opened up, and let me know what was bothering her, all this time. How had I not seen it earlier?

"No, I could never be happy when I see you like this. Do you want to talk some more?" I was serious, and I was trying to convey my feelings to her.

She groaned. "How can you be nice to me Bella? I've treated you like crap, and sometimes lower than crap."

"I know, but I knew you'd come around sometime. It just took a little something." I smiled encouragingly at her. "And to think, I came here because I was bored." She didn't laugh at my attempt at a joke, but only stepped forward and quickly threw her arms around me. Then she was gone.

Just then, the door opened and I heard Edward call my name. I walked out of the room and ran into a hard wall. Graceful as always, I thought to myself. Moving back, I saw it wasn't a wall, but Edward.

"Oh, it's you!" I flung my arms around him, just as Rosalie had done to me just seconds ago.

"Happy to see me?" He laughed. We parted and I saw the rest of his family, including Rosalie, who had come down to greet Emmett.

"Hi, everyone." The all replied, and went their separate ways. I saw Edward looking curiously at Rosalie as she and her husband climbed the stairs. She looked back once at the two of us, and then disappeared from sight. Edward looked back at me. I could tell she had just said something to him in her mind.

"…What?" He began.

"What, what? Well, this is a first. I don't think I've ever seen you speechless." I smiled up at him as he tried to grasp the words he wanted.

"So, you….and Rosalie….?" He tried again.

"…Have reconciled our differences." I finished for him.

"And this all happened while we were gone?" He asked, skeptical.

"Jeez, you have so much faith in us. Actually, it was only the past twenty minutes. We're quick."

He laughed. "It seems as though you've had enough excitement for today. Maybe I'll just take you home."

"Ha, ha. Very funny."