Title: Sayonara, Goodbye Forever
Author: Catreen Dragonsword
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, and wouldn't claim I did if you payed me.
Warnings: Edward-bashing, incorrect Twilight facts, and a little sad
Summary: An old friend of Bella's writes, years later, to say goodbye.
"I just don't get it Bella." Theresa sighed, then typed up her last e-mail to her oldest friend.
Dear Isabella,
It's obvious by now that you don't remember me, or even care. Last I heard, you were hanging out with that pretty boy you had a crush on. I'm going to say this one last time, I don't think he's real. No man is perfect, because perfection in and of itself is a flaw. Men who act perfect just want one thing, and that isn't always sex. Especially if he is as old fashioned as you say. As a wife, you'd be expected to follow his every whim. And don't be saying that he didn't tell you he wants to wait for marriage, I know my history better than you do. If he loves you so much, why don't you ever talk to us anymore. I know that it was only three of us against the world, but still. A man who won't even let you talk to your friends is a bad man to love.
I wish I could ask you to be a bride's maid at my wedding, but you obviously are sick of me by now. I do want you to meet my husband-to-be. He's a real man. Not that your 'Edward' isn't a man...I just don't find him REAL. Real people have emotions and thoughts that don't coincide with you. Real people don't just worry about one person, they have friends and family of their own to think about. Arguments crop up in a real relationship that don't center around who loves whom the most. Between you and me, it sounds like he wants to wrap you up in cotton padding and put you safely away in his closet so he, and he alone, and admire you. My husband-to-be loves me, all of me (including the fat and the scars). He admires me because I am everything he is not.
And that's another thing with this 'Edward'. He's going to give you an inferiority complex. If (and this is a big if) he is as perfect as you say, with no flaws, there is nothing for you to complement him with. My man and I are nearly complete opposites. He's talented at math, where I'm studying to be a translator. He's great with computers (you remember my last seven, right?), and I can cook a three course meal without a single problem (his greatest culinary achievement is microwaved mac and cheese). We both agree that Portal (you remember the video game I couldn't stop playing. Came with the Orange Box...) is a fantastic game, and that we would be lost without each other. I wish you could see how a working relationship looks. Hell, I see girls like you all the time. They think because the man is perfect and falls in love with them, they are perfect, too. I can't tell you the number of times I had to argue with some bimbo because "...So-and-so seems so perfect, is there something wrong with me?".
I know we haven't even written to each other in years. I know you don't care about us anymore, now that you have Mr. Right. I'll leave you alone now. I hope you read this. I hope you give what I said some thought. Because I don't want you to be another statistic, another divorcee with a grudge against all men.
I guess what I'm really trying to say is...Sayonara. Japanese for 'goodbye', it also means 'goodbye for a long time'. I hope that we may someday see each other again, but my heart is telling me no. So sayonara, my friend. Though I can't imagine how, I hope you're happy now.
Theresa didn't sign her name to it. If Bella ever read it, she would know who it was from. Theresa attached a short story she wrote when they were children, about a wolf and a girl. It was poorly written, and gratuitous use of the word 'very', but the story itself was poignant.
Bella, the girl in the story, chased a wolf deep into the woods and became lost. When she began to cry, the wolf helped her, seemingly with no ulterior motives. The wolf promised to take her home and give her presents and feed her cookies, and Bella went with him. Bella fell in love with the wolf over time, but the wolf just thought she was a silly girl. The time came when the wolf came to Bella and asked her for her feet, because while she lived with him she never needed to travel. So Bella gladly gave up her feet. Years passed, and the wolf came to Bella again and asked for her legs. After all, without feet, legs are useless. Again, Bella gave herself up. This happened again and again, until she was just skin. The wolf then came to Bella and asked for her soul and skin. Bella thought for a moment, because that was the only thing she had left in this world. The wolf argued and eventually convinced her to give herself over to him. As she died, the wolf thanked her for the first time. He went on to add that with these gifts he could go out and trick more humans and eat them up.
Not a happy story, by any means, but it was how Theresa had always seen relationships between men and women. One would always be taking from the other until there was nothing left to give. Once that happened, the taker would leave to take from another man or woman. Over time, she began to see that the world wasn't full of 'takers' and 'givers' and learned to open up to other humans. Theresa was still very shy of others, but she was willing to give them a chance to prove themselves worthy. She'd known for a long time that Bella was a giver, though. Theresa just prayed that Edward wouldn't take everything from Bella with the best of intentions he may have.
A/N: First things first, the OC in this story was a friend of Bella's before she moved and hasn't heard from her since early in book one. This is written 'after' that, and you can choose when. A lot of her comments didn't sound right. I KNOW! This is BECAUSE she hadn't spoken to Bella in a while. She isn't SUPPOSED to know everything. I know this is a very strange story. I know I'm going to get a lot of hate mail from "Team Edward". Honestly, I don't care. To me, he's a cardboard cutout. He has no actual character. He's just a pretty face and doesn't have an original thought in his head. I only read one book, and I haven't seen the movies because the first book was that damn bad. "Bella" was just another word for "insert yourself here", and "Edward" could have been a robot and no one would notice the difference. I've never been a fan of the choose-your-own-adventure books, and Twilight, to me, seemed to be one with all the options taken away.
This is, to me, my way of warning all the young girls out there who want nothing more than to be just like Bella. There IS NO EDWARD in this world. Maybe in a past era someone like him did exist, but not anymore. Real people make mistakes, and have flaws. Edward is the male version of Mary-Sue, and you know how much you LOVE Mary-Sue in the fanfics you read. Think on it.