A/N: I am very excited about this fanfic, especially this chapter since it is the only one I didn't need to rewrite a thousand times. Since Edward is going off to war (not really a spoiler since it was in the summary) it would be completely unfair for him to be a vampire, so this story is AH. The first couple of chapters are fluff, but obviously not all of them. There is actually story here. I just had to set up the lovely couple. So it begins...after the disclaimer that is...

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Edward or Bella, and I am most certainly not responsible for WWII. This is my story, but the core of it belongs to Stephenie Meyer and of course Germany/Japan....no offense intended.

Summer 1942

I stood leaning against the doorway, my eyes trailing over to Edward, who sat perched on his piano stool, fingers dancing across the keys sending waves of melody in every direction. I had no idea what he was playing, but my gaze wouldn't be lifted from his intense emerald stare as he focused on music I couldn't see. He looked like a painting, too perfect to be in my presence let alone be mine. I closed my eyes picturing the notes as they drifted by, elegant as silk, and as I lost myself in that world I heard a change in the tone, an intimacy that I at once recognized as my lullaby. The song was a testimony to Edward's perfection, and my deepest loss.

When my brother, Jasper, had left for the war, I couldn't sleep at night. Every time darkness would fall, I would picture him, bloody, cold, scared… dead. It made me sick. It made me exhausted. Edward knew of course, he always knew. Sometimes I thought that it was as hard for him to see me that way as it was for me to be going through it. One night, as I tried to banish the images from my mind I found myself walking to Edward's house. I knew without asking that I would always be welcome there, but I had never expected what I found. As if he had known all along that I would come, Edward was there and he took me in his arms so fast that I barely had time to react. Without a word, he took my hand and led me to the living room, to his piano, and began to play. The sound that escaped was like no other I had heard, it was all my sadness, all my hope, all of my desperation brought together in one seemingly endless string by the one person who understood.

Now as he played the notes that were mine and his I couldn't stop the pounding of my heart and the blush that poured out into my cheeks. He turned around, bronze hair falling across his face in a way that made me shiver. Edward smirked, beckoning for me to sit by him. He turned his attention back to the piano once he was sure that I was on my way and I watched entranced as his hands moved across the keys.

"How'd you know I was here?" I whispered, not wanting to disturb the beauty of the song.

He shrugged, "I guess I'm attuned to you, Bella"

"Yeah" was all I could think to say. I knew exactly how he felt, the change in the air that always meant Edward was near by. I snaked my arm around his back and pressed my body against his, breathing in his intoxicating scent. His lips brushed across the top of my head, and he pressed his forehead against mine. It took me a minute to realize that the music had stopped.

"Teach me" It wasn't the first time I had begged for him to show me how to move my fingers so lithely, like they were dancing across mounds of fresh snow.

Edward sighed, "Have you forgotten what happened when Alice tried to teach you how to play the flute?"

"Alice isn't you"

He was talking about the younger of his two sisters, whom I adored. Alice had also inherited her brother's gift for music, playing the flute as if it were an extension of herself rather than an instrument. And as much as I loved her, she was not a very patient teacher. She had bought me my own flute on a whim (she did most everything on a whim), but within the first hour snatched it out of my hands and declared me an impossible student. The thing still sat in my closet.

Edward's laughter broke me from my reverie, "You're right about that"

"So will you?"

"Of course, Love"

He enclosed my hand in his and brought it to the keys. The feel of his fingers against my skin, his breath swirling around the base of my neck, sent shocks through my body, but if he noticed, he didn't say anything. Very gently, he pressed one of my fingers down against the ivory, then another, until I couldn't stand it anymore. I craned my neck to look at him, only to find that he was staring at me with the same longing and intensity.

"Thank God" I breathed before our lips met. I brought my hands from the piano to his neck. Slowly he stood, bringing me up against his chest as he did so, cradling me to him. For a long moment we stayed like that, until I felt the smooth gloss of the top of the piano against my skin and heard the incoherent jumble of notes as my feet splashed against the keys. Edward's mouth had moved to my neck leaving mine free to breathe in and out, but I couldn't.

'I don't need air, who needs air?' I thought stupidly. If nothing else, the complete ecstasy was enough to keep me alive, until he stopped. My heart sank. Edward's morals- his one fault. His hand rubbed my cheek as I turned my eyes away. I slipped from the piano onto the floor and focused all my attention on fixing my blouse. I could feel blush creeping in again.

"I love you Bella" he said with complete sincerity.

"Mhm" I wiped at my lips with my palm, feeling completely idiotic. Why was I always the one who wanted more? Why was I always surprised when he pulled away?

Edward took hold of my arm, "that wasn't easy for me if that's what you're thinking. I'm only looking out for you"

I looked up at him, and in his gaze, I could see that he believed what he said. No matter how stupid it was, or how hurt I felt, he thought that he was doing what was best. He was right of course. If the adults in town found out that Edward and I had done anything more than exchange a chaste kiss they would try to break us apart at all costs, and they would probably succeed. It didn't matter that Edward was 18 and I wasn't far behind him, but none of that was why he really stopped our progression, he thought it was the right thing to do, that we should be married before having a physical relationship, much to my chagrin.

I edged closer and he pulled me into a hug, "I'll take you home" he whispered into my ear. He led me out to the street where his car was parked. I didn't live far, but it may as well have been a world away. His home could have fit the entire neighborhood at full capacity, and while my house was nothing to scoff at, it couldn't compare to the beauty and sheer size of Edward's. We drove in silence, his free hand on mine, my eyes trained on the Chicago streets. It wasn't until we had passed my house that I spoke up.

"Where are you going?"' I turned to stare at him as I watched the familiar building disappear.

"Somewhere that'll make you smile" Edward said simply, "I haven't really seen you do that since Jazz left"

The sentence hung in suspended awkwardness for several minutes, "It hasn't been that long…has it?" I was horrified. Could I really have been that unhappy?

He nodded gravely, "months now"

I rested my chin on my hand, thinking. Jasper and I had always been so close. It seemed natural to mourn his not being there, especially with my mother pacing the carpet everyday and casting glances at the door. She seemed to think that bad news was coming at any second. But had I really not smiled? I thought of what that must have done to Edward and cringed. He cared so much what I felt that he seemed to feel it too. So…I had made him unhappy.

I turned to him with the brightest smile I could muster, "Is this better?"

He stifled a laugh, "Love, I'm sorry, but you look ridiculous" he put his arm around my shoulder and sighed contentedly.

"So where are we going?" I murmured, only half caring. I felt so safe in his hold.

"To see Emmett"

I squealed in spite of myself. Emmett was Edward's best friend turned brother-in-law who lived in the city with Edward's older sister Rosalie. She was 22 with the most adorable little girl I had ever seen, but she had never approved of me. I wasn't high class enough for her little brother, but Emmett had never looked down on me. They were the exact opposite, he and Edward, but when they were around each other their relationship seemed as easy and natural as breathing.

"That made you smile" Edward said with a satisfied grin.

I nodded like a little girl who had just been promised a trip to the candy store, and he leaned in to kiss me, "I love when you smile"

"I love you" was my giddy response.

"More than my own life, Love"