A/N: This story is told in Bella's POV.
Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns the Twilight Universe. Evanescence owns the song 'My Last Breath'. I own only the plot.
My Last Breath
When I felt Edward's teeth on my neck I knew what was to come. I had experienced the pain once because of James, but now I was to experience it for an entirely different reason. I was going to endure the pain to live forever with the one I loved. That really isn't such a horrible thing is it?
"Are you sure love?" Edward pulled back to ask me.
"Positive." I looked up at him. "I love you."
"I love you too." Edward kissed me softly.
"I'm not afraid. I know it will hurt but in the end it will be worth it. Spending the rest of my life with you is worth any amount of pain," I whispered.
Edward leaned down to kiss me again. His lips trailed down my jawline until they found my neck. He hesitated for only a moment. We both knew if he didn't do it within the first few seconds he would change his mind. I sucked in a startled breath as his razor sharp teeth pierced my skin.
Hold on to me love
You know I can't stay long
All I wanted to say was I love you and I'm not afraid
Can you hear me?
Can you feel me in your arms?
The moment the venom entered my blood stream I was in complete agony. Bright lights blinded me. I didn't know who or where I was. I was out of mind, out of body, out of soul. I thought Edward was there somewhere, but I couldn't be sure. He had promised to stay with me until the end, and I knew it was coming soon.
"Edward? Edward!" I gasped out in pain.
"I'm right here love. I'm here." If Edward could cry I knew he would be right now.
"Edward? Don't leave me. You promised you wouldn't leave me!" I shrieked. "I can't hear you. I can't feel you. Where are you? Edward?"
"Shhh." Edward rocked me back and forth. "It's all right. I'm here. I won't leave; I promised I wouldn't and I won't. I'm right here. It'll all be over soon."
Holding my last breath
Safe inside myself
Are all my thoughts of you
Sweet raptured light
It ends here tonight
I could feel my heart slowing down. My breathing was becoming more and more shallow. I knew my last breath was coming. I held it out as long as I could. My last piece of humanity.
The pain takes the humanity right out of you, and with that last breath I ceased to think of anything but Edward. All the time we had spent together, and the time we had spent apart. I thought of our future and what it would bring as soon as I woke. The light dimmed and suddenly it was out.
It was ending. My life was ending. My life as a human that is. My life as a vampire, my eternal life with Edward was only beginning. That thought brought me comfort in those final hours of pain.
I'll miss the winter
A world of fragile things
Look for me in the white forest
Hiding in a hollow tree
(Come find me)
I know you hear me
I can taste it in your tears
I thought of all the things I would miss. Charlie, Renee, Angela, even Jessica and her constant gossip. I would miss seeing all of my friends, seeing my family. I would miss Jacob and the other members of the pack. But I knew it was now forbidden for me to see them. If I trespassed . . . I shuddered to think what would happen.
Then I was no longer able to think of anything but the excruciating pain. My mouth was open and I knew I was screaming, but I couldn't hear. I knew Edward was there, I could feel his presence, but I couldn't feel his physical body. I knew he could hear my screams, and I knew it was killing him.
No matter how hard I tried I couldn't stop screaming. I couldn't close my mouth. I couldn't stop the tears falling from my eyes. My body writhed in Edward's arms. I had no control over myself or my body.
Holding my last breath
Safe inside myself
Are all my thoughts of you
Sweet raptured light
It ends here tonight
Slowly the pain dissipated until it was only a distant tingle in my limbs. I still couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. All I could do was lay there and wait.
The wait was perhaps the worst part of it all. I waited for hours, thinking of Edward and what would happen after I woke. He would take me far away to some rural area and let me hunt. I wouldn't be able to leave the house except to hunt. It was too risky. And once I could be around humans we had to leave Forks.
This was the last night I could let others see me in Forks. After this my appearance and my voice would change and I couldn't go back to my family or my friends. My life in Forks was ending as my life with Edward was beginning.
Closing your eyes to disappear
You pray your dreams will leave you here
But still you wake and know the truth
No one's there
I fell into a deep sleep. I ceased to exist. All around me was blackness. But then light. Charlie. Renee. Jacob. All the ones I loved. They were surrounding me. I knew it was a dream but I didn't want it to ever end because I knew when I woke I would never see them again.
But dreams don't last long and when I woke I realized I was alone. Except for Edward. The pain returned with my delirious consciousness. The venom had worked it was to my heart. My heart was expanding and contracting rapidly now, beating harder than ever. But suddenly . . . it stopped. . . . And I fell back into the endless night.
Say goodnight
Don't be afraid
Calling me, calling me
As you fade to black
I heard a voice from far away. Edward. He called my name. I tried to reach him but I was falling and I couldn't stop. Night surrounded me as blackness pulled me under. I knew what was to come in the next hours. I still wasn't afraid.
I had seen first hand the horror newborn vampires could cause, but that didn't scare me in the slightest The only thing that frightened me was the possibility of a life without Edward. And I knew that was no longer a possibility.
Holding my last breath
Safe inside myself
Are all my thoughts of you
Sweet raptured light
Slowly feeling returned to my body, but it wasn't my body. It was hard and cold as stone. My heart wasn't beating and I wasn't breathing. I heard someone say my name; I woke up.
"Bella?" Edward asked. "Are you there?"
I sat up and looked around. I was in Edward's bedroom, as I had been three days before. Edward's arms were still wrapped around me. He would later tell me he had never let go. Never moved.
Everything looked the same, yet different. I noticed just the slightest flaw in everything. There was a tiny scratch on Edward's window that I had never noticed before. The television set emitted a high pitched sound which didn't stop. But one thing was perfect. One thing hadn't changed. Edward.
I could smell him next to me before I saw him. My sense of smell was heightened. I could smell the rabbits that hid in the forest near his home. I could smell Esme, Rosalie, Carlisle, Alice, Emmett and Jasper. I could smell their anxiety as they waited to hear if everything had gone okay.
I turned to Edward and smiled. I couldn't even begin to think of anything to say so I settled on a simple, "Hey."
"Bella!" Edward held me even tighter, if that was possible. "Are you all right? How do you feel?"
"I feel . . ." I stopped to think of the words to describe how I felt. I felt like I was on top of the world. Invincible. I could do anything. I felt beautiful and powerful and strong. I felt as if nothing could ever make me unhappy ever again. "I feel . . . perfect."
It ends here tonight.