Bella's 'Funeral'
Okay, this was a little idea I had to get back at Edward, because if you think about it, he was the one who screwed everything up in New Moon. If he had made sure it was Bella's funeral, not Harry's, and didn't go to Volterra, she wouldn't HAVE to be turned. But then, Edward might not have consented to turn her, so all's well that ends well. But still, he should pay, so here it is.
Alice has a vision of Bella killing herself before she jumps, but then she jumps anyway, before her plan to commit suicide, Carlisle and Alice go back to save her, (the same way he 'saved' everyone else) and lots of stuff happens. Read the story, I'm not spoiling it!
3rd person:
Carlisle and Alice were sitting in the living room of the house in Denali. Suddenly, Alice gasped. "Bella," she managed to choke out in a broken whisper. "What? What is it?" Carlisle grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "Alice! What's wrong!?" She looked up, then collapsed against him. "Bella's going to kill herself," she sobbed. "When?" he asked flatly. "Tomorrow morning," she whispered. "Then what are we waiting for? Come on!" He pulled Alice to her feet. "But, Edward said-" she started to protest before Carlisle cut her off. "Which do you want to prevent more, your brother's temporary anger, or your sister's permanent death? Come on!" Alice's face went blank, and then she sighed. "We'll get there in time. But, you'll have to change her. It'll be too late for her to stay human." Carlisle sighed. "That's the price we'll have to pay for leaving. It's not fair to her; she doesn't get a choice!" Alice sat down next to him. "We can't just let her die. She always wanted this, you know. Now, come on, we have to leave now if we want to make it." They ran out to Carlisle's car, and sped for Forks.
"What are we going to do about Charlie?" Alice asked, breaking the silence they had through the first part of their trip. "I don't know. What would be best for him, a car crash? Unexplained health problem? Or just a mysterious disappearance? I don't know." he shook his head sadly. "I wish it didn't have to come to this." They sat in silence for a little while longer, when Alice cried out, "No! Bella, no!" Carlisle almost shoved the gas pedal through the floor of the car. "What happened, Alice, what changed?!" Alice shook her head, moaning, "No, no, no," over and over, like she was in a trance. "ALICE!" She looked at him blankly. "It's too late…we're too late. She's gone." Carlisle heaved a sigh of defeat. "How?" he asked in a dead voice.
"She was in La Push, I think. She jumped off a cliff. She didn't come back up." Carlisle pulled the car over and leaned back against the seat. "We'll have to go to the…funeral." His voice broke on the last word. He couldn't believe his daughter, the one who had finally completed his family, was dead. Because they left her. They abandoned her. They didn't even say goodbye! He closed his eyes. "No, Bella, I'm so sorry Bella." he murmured to himself. They sat there immeasurable amount of time, not saying anything, until Carlisle sighed. He pulled back onto the road, and continued for Forks.
They pulled into their old driveway and gasped when the old red trunk came into view. "It can't be," Carlisle breathed. But, they could both hear her heartbeat; they both smelled her unique floral scent. This was impossible! Wasn't it? Alice had the vision of her jumping off the cliff, and she didn't come back up. What was going on?
Inside, hair still wet, Bella was walking around the familiar house, reliving her memories. The first time she had met the Cullens. When she played baseball with them. Well, watched baseball, she thought with a small smile. She was torn from her reminiscing when she heard a car outside. A very familiar car. Carlisle's car. "It can't be," she said, running to the window. Alice and Carlisle were climbing out of the car, eyes locked on her truck. She ran down the stairs, tripping, and fell down most of them. Carlisle and Alice heard her, and identical smiles formed on their faces. Impossible wasn't a concept that existed for them anymore. Laughing as they went, they ran inside to help her.
"Bella!" Alice yelled when she saw her. She ran over to pick her up, and carried her to a couch, so Carlisle could check that she didn't have any major injuries. After he finished, he said, "Stay here for a moment, Bella. I need to talk to Alice." Bella nodded; a huge grin on her face. Carlisle kissed her forehead, and then got up to talk to Alice.
"She's not dead," Carlisle started. Alice rolled her eyes at the obvious statement. "Well, what do we do now? We can't leave her again." Alice held up a finger, signaling him to wait. "Bella?" she asked, leaning around Carlisle to see her better. "Would you like to explain to us how you're alive?" Bella's smile faltered as she stared at Alice. "What…what are you talking about?" she asked with a slightly hysterical edge to her voice. Alice sighed, exasperated. "Bella, I saw you jump off a cliff. You didn't come up. How are you alive?"
"Jake saved me," she said. "Jake?" Carlisle asked. Bella sighed. "Jacob Black. He's a-" Alice and Carlisle hissed. "He's a werewolf." Alice said flatly. "Damn it, Bella, why can't you just stay around humans?" she yelled. "Calm down, Alice. It may not be as dangerous as you think." Alice glared at Carlisle. "Anything I can't see is dangerous." Bella gasped. "You can't…see him?" Alice shook her head, enraged. "So that's why you didn't see me come up. He brought me up. Hmm…" she mused. "Bella, how long has he been phasing?" Carlisle asked gently. Bella thought for a minute, and then said, "I don't know. A few weeks, a couple months maybe?" Carlisle's jaw dropped. "A young werewolf? Bella, are you insane? Do you have any idea how dangerous a young werewolf can be? Look at Emily!" Carlisle was no longer speaking gently. He was angry, and afraid. Angry, because he had allowed this to happen, that he had let his daughter be destroyed this way, and afraid, because he never thought this would happen. He could see that by their absence, they may have broken her beyond repair, that this damage would never go away. Bella looked up at him. "He kept me whole after you all left. If it weren't for him, we might have been having this conversation a lot earlier, or not at all." Carlisle winced, but he knew Bella was telling the truth. They had torn her apart. "Come on," Alice said. "Let's go back to your house."
As soon as they got in the door, the phone rang. "Hello?" Alice asked, disguising her voice. When Bella looked at Carlisle questioningly, he quickly explained, "It wouldn't go over well with whoever was on the phone if they knew we were here." Bella's face fell, but Carlisle didn't notice. If they weren't planning on telling anyone they were back, that meant they were leaving again. While Bella was dealing with facing another abandonment, Alice was still on the phone.
"This is Dr. Carlisle Cullen. May I please speak with Charlie Swan?" Alice giggled, her disguise slipping away. "Hey, Carlisle, are you aware that you're talking to me?" Carlisle grabbed the phone. "Who is this?" he demanded. "Edward?" The person on the other end sighed. 'Yes, it's me. How's Charlie holding up?" It was Carlisle's turn to laugh. "Holding up through what? Bella's extreme sports?" Edward sucked in a shocked breath. "She's alive?" he whispered, dumbfounded. "She's right in front of me. Would you like to talk to her?" Bella's heartbeat sped up, and she started to hyperventilate. "Calm down, Bella." Carlisle said, grinning and misinterpreting her reaction. Bella started to cry, and tried to get up and leave. "Bella, what's wrong?" Alice asked, alarmed.
"I want to go see Jake!" she sobbed. "I don't want to talk to him. It's just going to rip the hole you guys left open again. He just wants to make sure my death isn't on his conscience." She tried walking to the door. "When are you going to leave again?" she accused. "Why are you even still here?" Alice caught her before she could get out the door. "Let me go!" she screamed, struggling to get free. "Hold on a minute, Edward," Carlisle muttered. He set the phone down, then went over to Bella and Alice. "Oh, Bella," he sighed, picking her up and carrying her back to the couch. He sat on one side of her while Alice settled on the other. Carlisle picked up the phone. "See what we've done? Edward, we're not leaving her again." He paused to smile warmly at Bella. "And, I think Alice agrees with me, we can't leave her human anymore. It's not safe. What if Victoria comes back?"
"She already did. So did Laurent." Bella murmured. "What do you mean?" Alice asked.
"While you were gone, Laurent came back. The wolves got to him before he got to me." Carlisle sighed. "We'll owe them more than we'll ever know." He said to himself.
"Then, when I went cliff-diving, Victoria was in the water. I don't know how long she was there, though."
"You see what I mean, Edward? We almost—no, we did destroy her. I'm not leaving her human." Before Edward had a chance to protest, Carlisle hung up the phone. He turned to Bella and said, "I'll only do this if you're 100% sure, Bella." Alice's face brightened with an idea. She looked toward Carlisle, then at Bella. "Well…" she hedged.
Carlisle and Bella looked at her expectantly. "Well, why don't we teach Edward a little lesson, while taking care of Charlie?" Carlisle thought about that for a minute. "I wouldn't condone it, but there are always extenuating circumstances. What did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking, we change Bella, but we don't tell Edward." Carlisle nodded thoughtfully. She started explaining it to Bella. "We tell him you actually died in the car accident we're going to fabricate to take care of Charlie. Then, at your funeral, you step out of hiding when everybody else is gone, and he turns around and sees you!" Bella grinned. "I like that idea." Alice smiled back at her. "Even without Jasper here, I can tell you're doing a lot more than liking it. Speaking of Jasper, we should call and tell everyone what's going on." Carlisle nodded. "Then we have to call Edward," he said with a grin.
"Hello?" Esme answered the phone.
"Hey, Esme, it's Alice. You're never going to believe this, but…Bella's alive." Esme's shocked gasp was loud enough that even Bella could hear. "Let me talk to her," she demanded.
"Esme?" Bella said, laughing a little. "Bella! It's really you! Oh my God, I should have never let this happen! I'm so sorry!" Esme was dry-sobbing over the phone. "It's okay," Bella said. Carlisle growled quietly. "No, it's not." Bella smiled at him. 'You're back. It's okay." Alice sighed. Bella was too forgiving. "I'll let Alice explain what's going on now." Alice reached for the phone. "Okay, I love you Bella. Don't scare us like that again!" Bella laughed "Okay. Love you too. Here's Alice."
"Well, we're going to turn Bella. We'll use a car crash scene to take care of Charlie…and Edward." she added with an evil grin. "We had to live through thinking she was dead, he needs to suffer too."
Esme agreed. "So, what exactly are you going to do?" Carlisle took the phone then. "Well, we're not going to tell Edward that the car crash is just a cover. Bella's going to surprise him, at her funeral." Esme laughed. "That's mean, but well deserved. We'll see you soon." She hung up.
"Time to call Edward. Go outside, but keep the door open so you can listen. We're going to tell him you got away from us."
"Edward, where are you?" Edward was confused by the note of panic in Carlisle's voice. Carlisle was a good actor. "Outside Port Angeles, why?" Carlisle winked at Bella. "Right after we got off the phone with you, Bella started yelling about how she thinks we were acting when we were talking to you, how we're going to leave her again, then ran out the door, saying that she was going to see Jacob Black." Edward hissed. "If he hurts her…"
"You'll have no one to blame but yourself," Alice snapped, taking the phone. "You know, I told you what would happen if you did this, and I was right. Now--" she cut off with a sob, but winked at Carlisle. "What happened, Alice?" Carlisle asked, barely controlling his laughter. "Bella, she…she just got in an accident. She turned around to come back to us…and a car hit her side." Alice faked another sob. "No!" Edward roared, "Go get her, Alice!" Bella was crying with silent laughter. "It's too late. We can only recover her body." Carlisle took the phone then. "I'm sorry, Edward." He hung up before Edward could say anything else. Laughing, Alice beckoned to Bella and said, "You'll have to give up your truck."
Bella grinned and handed her the keys. "After this, I can hunt up a new one." Alice laughed. "Now, come on. We have just enough time before Edward gets here."
While Carlisle and Alice were having fun falsifying evidence, Bella sat in Carlisle's car. The took turns running into the side of the truck, to make it look like a car had hit it. "Looks like a hit and run," Alice called to Carlisle with a smirk. "Guys, don't you think this is a little…I don't know, mean?" Alice stared at her incredulously. "Bella, what's mean is that he—we—left you here on your own. Laurent or Victoria could have easily killed you, and we left you here, defenseless. We've already been through thinking you were dead. It's his turn." Bella nodded pensively. "Okay," Alice said, turning to Carlisle, "He's almost here."
Back at the Cullen house, Alice said, "He just saw the 'crash'. You'll have to change her now." Carlisle nodded. "You're absolutely sure?" Bella grinned. "You've already done the crash. There's no turning back now. Bite me, Carlisle!" He rolled his eyes. "I'm going to try the morphine again. Try to tell me if it doesn't work." He hooked up an IV to her arm until she was out. "It's not going to work," Alice whispered sadly. Carlisle sighed. "She can handle it. She's strong."
Bella didn't move at all during her transformation. Carlisle was the only one to check on her; the others didn't want to risk a slip-up in their thoughts. All around her, funeral arrangements were being made. It was to be a closed-casket service; the police never found a body. Edward just stared blankly at a wall in a room furthest away from everyone else. He was planning to go to Volterra as soon as the service was over.
On the third day of Bella's change, Carlisle went in to check on her. She was just waking up when he went in.
She was staring around the room with a dazed expression. Carlisle watched her warily as she took it all in. Finally, her glowing gold eyes zeroed in on him. Carlisle was astonished. Every newborn he'd ever encountered had bright crimson eyes. Maybe that was because she was the only vampire he'd ever seen that had chosen this life beforehand, and chose to abstain from drinking human blood. Carlisle wouldn't be surprised if her control over her thirst was almost, if not, equal to his own, even as a newborn.
"Hey, Carlisle," Bella said in her new voice She seemed momentarily stunned by it. "Why are you dressed in black?" Carlisle smiled wryly. "Today's your funeral." She laughed. "Oh. I'll have to find a place to hide." She got up from the table. "Hopefully he can't hear my thoughts now." They ran to the cemetery where her funeral was being held, and found a tree for her to hide behind. Carlisle joined the rest of the family, who were just arriving. She had to stifle a giggle when Alice and Carlisle turned to wink at her.
"What was that?!" Edward hissed, reading their minds. "Wishful thinking," Carlisle said sadly. "Please…please don't…" he trailed off, lost in sorrow. "I know, I know, I'm sorry," Carlisle murmured. Bella watched what was happening with an anticipatory smile.
The service was short. The priest gave a generic speech, how Bella shouldn't have died so young, how everyone who knew her loved her. The Cullens acted their parts perfectly. After it was over, everyone filed out, leaving the Cullens alone. "We'll give you some time to yourself," Esme said.
They all hurried to where Bella was standing. "Bella!" Emmett grabbed her and gave her a huge hug. "Hey guys. I missed you all so much!" Bella said, laughing and hugging each of them. They all turned to watch Edward.
"Bella…oh my God, Bella, I'm so sorry. I should have been there to save you…I should have never left. I love you more than anything in any world. I would give anything to have you in my arms again, just one more time, so I could tell you how much I miss you, how much I love you, and how sorry I am for lying to you. I'm so sorry…" he fell to his knees, head resting against the empty casket. Carlisle pushed Bella forward. "Go to him. He's suffered enough."
Bella stepped out from behind the tree. "Even the eternally damned should have one wish granted in their lives." Edward whirled around and stared at her, frozen with shock. "Bella?" he finally choked out. She nodded, a huge smile on her face. He staggered toward her for a few steps, then started running to her. Before he got to her, Carlisle flashed out in between them, one hand extended to stop Edward. Edward crashed into it, fell backward, then looked up at Carlisle with a bewildered expression, like he ha never seen him before. Carlisle kneeled and looked Edward straight in the eyes. "Never again, Edward," he said, staring at him squarely. "Do you hear me? We will never allow this to happen again. This was the worst thing any of us could have done." Edward nodded, now struggling to get to Bella. Carlisle laughed and pulled him to his feet. Edward crashed into Bella so hard that they both fell over backward.
"Bella, I'm so sorry, I love you, I have always loved you, and will always love you. Can you ever forgive me?" Bella put her hands on each side of his face and brought it close to hers.
"Of course, Edward. I love you," then kissed him with enough passion that the forest around them should have been set ablaze.
Neither of them would have noticed.