Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns the rights to "Twilight".
"Mirror Images: Chapter One"
Edward often saw the shadow of Her face, the hint of her warm, brown eyes and soft curly hair, in the passing, hazy silhouettes of people outside his house. Sometimes he sat on the porch, just watching, spending hours piecing together these shadows that brought him back to Her. When she first was… gone, all he wanted was to be… gone, too, but somehow even the shadowed hints of her brought him comfort and allowed him the joy of remembering their brief time together. Today marked ten years since She had been gone.
It was raining softly, the water weighing down the limbs of the many evergreen oaks in his yard. Edward heard each passing drop with clarity and precision; the sky emptying itself expressed perfectly what he wished he could do…cry, especially on this day. He moved his old wicker chair to the middle of the overgrown yard, away from the dry covered porch, tentatively relishing the rain steadily drenching his body, imagining it was his tears and appreciating its growing intensity as the hours passed. His despair for Her rivaled such a display. He thanked Heaven for the storm, such a gift to express his longing and loss.
His solitude was almost absolute in this quiet part of Georgia, the old architecture and history of Brunswick prevalent across the small town, inspiring recollections of his boyhood. His home overlooked the coast and the continuous sound of the waves crashing on the shore and fresh sea air surrounded him. It brought him peace. She would have loved it. They had talked about living in such a place, spending golden moments in a place of sand and water, savoring soft twilights of heady warmth and silence.
After She was gone, he couldn't stay with the family anymore. He was being eaten alive, hearing their thoughts and despair, feeling their pain, their loss, when his own was so unending and bottomless. After years of wandering from state to state, country to country, he finally found and settled on this home.
During this time, the family couldn't take it anymore either. His "parents", Carlisle and Esme, had watched in sadness as gradually Emmett and Rosalie left for a "European tour" that extended from weeks to subsequent years and Alice and Jasper left to try to help him. They accompanied him through his many years of wandering, traveling with him from place to place. Jasper's ability to sense his feelings kept the three of them tethered tightly, as Jasper knew all too well how close to the edge Edward really was. In the recent years, they finally felt able to leave him for periods of time, assured of his despair and his reluctant, yet firm choice to…remain.
The rain finally stopped and Edward realized it was twilight. It was a fitting ending for such an anniversary. He grimly smiled in acknowledgment. He closed his eyes and imagined it was another time, pretending for a moment that She was inside waiting for him…her hands adeptly cooking dinner and her face beaming as she listened to music while she worked….having the simple domestic pleasures they were denied. He smiled in joy of such an image and briefly escaping in time and lost dreams.
The sound of a phone ringing finally reached his ears, though, bringing him back to the present; he had the feeling it had been part of the background noise for quite some time.
Edward rushed into the house, grabbing the kitchen phone and a hand-towel to wipe his face.
"Hello?"
"Edward, oh, Edward!" Alice's shrieking voice abruptly captured his attention.
"Alice, what's going on? What's wrong? Are you alright? Where are you?" Of his whole family, his "sister" Alice was closest to him. At the strange sound of excitement and pain in her voice, he could barely contain himself.
"Edward, it's alright, I'm sorry, it's just I've been calling you for hours. We're on our way, we should be there already, if it weren't for the damn sunlight…"
"Alice, please just tell me already…"
"I guess I don't know how to tell you, Edward…maybe I shouldn't have called. As I said, we're on our way."
"Alice, you are alright? Is Jasper alright?" Edward sought assurance again as her flustered and confused conversation shook him up.
"Yes, I'm sorry…I just wanted to hear your voice….Something happened today, Edward. "
At her pause, he expressed, "I am relieved you are alright, however it obviously was something significant to elicit such a response. Would you like to talk about it now?"
"Edward, I guess I can't wait. I wanted to, but I was just so excited…for you. I kind of met someone today…" Alice stopped talking again, mumbling to herself so quietly Edward couldn't make out the words.
"Just go slow, Alice, I know it's hard, but I'm listening. We have all the time in the world to talk." He joked cryptically, disconcerted yet again.
"Oh, Edward, I don't know how to tell you this…but I found….Bella…." All time stopped. The phone dropped, and he sank to the floor in a daze, all the while Alice was yelling, "Edward, Edward, come back, please come back…"
Edward focused himself, struggling to rein in his feelings and contain the flood doors of hope, profound joy, and what he was sure would be inevitable sadness and loss, all over again.
"Alice, what do you mean? How is this possible? You know what happened. You know. She's gone, you know she's gone." His voice broke and rose with each punctuated word, trying to calm the strong surge of pain, remembrance, fleeing hope, and cutting acceptance, just in considering such a possibility.
"I don't know how it's possible, Edward, but I saw her, and Jasper did too. We were at the mall sitting outside the bookshop. I had this strong sense that I needed to look up…and right at that moment I saw her face through the window. Before I knew it, though, she was gone. I was so shocked, I didn't even see where she went. I ran to follow her, searched the whole store and began frantically running through the mall, all the while Jasper is rushing after me, trying to calm me down and figure out what was happening. Edward, she was older, not a girl anymore, but I still know it was her. I thought I was imagining things, I really did, but then…" She paused.
"What, Alice, please tell me….don't stop talking" He implored.
"I smelled her, Edward, I smelled Bella, just as I remembered, strawberries and freesia, with a new smell… of citrus."
"Alice, Alice….please… you just have to turn around, stay there, find her, keep looking, don't come here. I'll come to you. Don't lose her. Please go back. Don't waste time talking to me."
"Edward, we already tried, we searched for hours. I have a private investigator still searching. I just need to see you, though, I want you to see her image in my mind. I want us to figure out how we'll find her and when we do, you'll be there. I know we searched before….everywhere it seemed… but I have a good feeling. This could be your second chance."
A/N: If you can, leave me a review and let me know what you think. Thank you!