A.U. & O.O.C. - Characters belong to S. Meyer, except for the ones I made up myself. ;)

One

Faith

As a lone leaf made its way through the sky, its bright orange colour seemed to match the orange and pink streaks painted in the sky during the particular time of day it decided to let go of the branch which had held onto him for dear life, until the claws of autumn decided to undress the trees from their brightly coloured companions. As the leaf made a few graceful loops in the sky, trying to make the most out of the last few moments it would spend in the air, it finally made a soft landing on a bed of grass. Too bad no one could enjoy the show put on by the poor leaf, as the only spectator was too caught up in her own distress.

Young Isabella Swan stood awfully still and quiet while staring ahead at the sun setting ahead of her. The wind blew softly through her brown locks, stirring them, but not quite enough for the girl to notice. The seven year old seemed to have fallen into a conscious slumber to anyone passing by.

For any ordinary citizen it would have been quite a strange sight, a girl so young and frail, to be acting so very unlike children her age should. But as Charlie Swan looked at his daughter from a distance, he could feel the guilt wash over him as the rain used to back when they used to live in Forks, Washington.

Forks.. It seemed like a lifetime ago, though it hadn't been over a year. The memories were still haunting Isabella, most prominent in her dreams and clear as day did they flash before her big, brown eyes when something reminded her of them.

At the very beginning of their existence as a family, when Isabella was just a few weeks old, Renée and Charlie had fallen into a very comfortable lifestyle, quite comfortable with their relationship and their newborn daughter. Though the happiness was short-lived, after a few years the time Charlie spent at work and not at home started to take its toll on Renée. She spent her days at home with Isabella as her only company. She became socially isolated. During the time she had alone, Renée started to notice the warm, content feeling she usually got after having a glass of wine after dinner. It didn't take long for one glass to turn into a few, and a few turned into an entire bottle which became a very steady routine.

When Charlie came home Renée had usually fallen asleep and by the time he left she hadn't woken up yet, so as he lived on blissfully ignorant of the problem that was rapidly tearing his family to pieces, Renée had reached the point where she desperately wanted out.

As little Isabella was staring over the lake, unaware of Charlie standing a few feet away from her, she remembered the walks she used to take with her mother. They used to walk for hours or have picnics in the grassy fields of Forks. After Renée had started drinking, which for Isabella was the point where her sweet, loving mother turned into a very sad, unpredictable woman, they started going out much later at night. They'd walk through the forest till they reached a clearing. Renée would lay out a blanket and cuddle up with Isabella, sometimes she even sang songs to her or whisper sweet words into her ear till she fell asleep, by that time Isabella could feel her mothers tears soaking into her dress. She always woke up in her own bed, carried back home and tucked in by Renée.

On the second day of June, 1921, things were pretty much the same as usual. Charlie had a late night shift at the station and Renée had finished a bottle of red wine. Unlike most nights though, Renée was very calm and quiet. Isabella usually didn't go to sleep before Renée told her to, she expected her mother to suddenly decide to go for a nightly stroll and decided to wait until afterwards to go to sleep. This night however, Renée simply grabbed Isabella's coat and helped her put it on before going outside. She didn't take her own coat, nor a picnic basket or a blanket.

They walked hand in hand for about an hour till they reached a small clearing. A blanket had been laid out across the field along with a pillow and Isabella's plush bunny. Renée sat down on the cloth before opening up her arms for her daughter to cuddle into. Her big, blue eyes that used to radiate happiness seemed so dull and empty now as she stared into the nothingness ahead of her.

She couldn't even remember the woman she used to be. She was beautiful, pristine, always taking care of herself and the ones around her. Her fair skin carried no blemishes, her blonde hair shone so bright light seemed to reflect off of it. Her smile was always present and seemed to laugh along with her big, blue eyes which sparkled with mirth. Her entire demeanour seemed to radiate the happiness she carried inside. Even Renée couldn't pinpoint the day she seemed to lose her spark, she just knew that somewhere along the road, she did. And it hit her hard.

As she looked down at the bundle she cradled in her arms, she could feel the guilt weighing so heavy on her heart, she was surprised it hadn't exploded yet. Isabella bore quite the resemblance to her father Charlie, the colour of her hair and eyes for example. But when Renée looked at her she saw even more of herself in the little girl. The way her whole face lit up with every smile, the sharpness of her nose, her long, frail build and the fair complexion they both carried so well.

She gently laid Isabella down on the pillow before giving her a lingering kiss on her forehead. A tear made its way down across her cheek and landed on Isabella's cheek. Renée closed her eyes and savoured the sweet scent of her little girl, taking in the peaceful image of her sleeping child, softly whispering in her ear.

"I never wanted this for you sweetheart, but I'll never stop looking after you, I'll even wait for you there."

She unwrapped her silk Hermès scarf and covered Isabella with it. When she was absolutely sure her daughter was comfortable, she walked into the woods.

Isabella hadn't fallen asleep though, she just knew it would be better to pretend at that moment. She lay there silently for a few hours, until she could hear a far away rumble from the direction Renée had gone to.

When she woke up, or rather, was woken up later that morning, she was greeted by the teary eyes of Charlie Swan. It was quite a surprise that Renée hadn't brought her back home this time. Little did she know, Renée never came back, since the train she jumped in front of had taken her life that night.

Charlie knew how much grief the young girl had already endured because of him, or so he thought. He also knew that he couldn't live with himself if he made it worse, so he chose the easy way out.

He gave her up.

While Isabella was staring out over the lake and the sunset ahead of her, she thought of all the grief she'd put her parents through, and wondered if that was why Charlie was sending her away. Was he finally sick of her?

It had been two months since Charlie had left her at the foster home and since then, Isabella had been very quiet and introverted. It wasn't uncommon though, a lot of the children left at these places kept to themselves. Once known that a child preferred to be on its own, no one bothered them any more. Isabella was no exception, she spent her days staring out of the window or lying in bed.

This day however, was different from the others. It was a very special day even, Isabella knew that because of the nice black dress she was given to wear, along with white knee-high socks with cute satin bows at the ends. Her socks reached just above her knees where her dress just barely covered the upper ends of the socks, which meant the nice bows were visible when she was sitting or walking. The dress was also made of satin but had lace details. On her feet were a pair of cute black shiny leather ballerina's, completing the outfit. Her wavy brown locks were tied and with those big, brown, innocent eyes she was doll-like perfection.

The other girls and boys were dressed up nicely as well, their excitement flooded the room as everyone patiently awaited the arrival of the families who might just give them the chance they never got from life. Isabella wasn't as excited however, she was scared.

Scared of making more peoples lives miserable. Hadn't she done it once before? The guilt and the shame had become such a constant in her life, she feared people might just see it in her eyes when they looked at her too closely. Perhaps they could see all the bad she carried within her. She didn't feel she deserved this second chance, so she went to her spot by the window.

The living room was where the children would spend the majority of their time, it was a spacious room with a huge wall which was almost entirely made of glass, except for the sides. There were 3 large, brown, leather sofas in the centre of the room with a large table in the middle. The table was surrounded by pillows so the children could gather round to play games or draw or whatever it was they pleased to do. There was also a fire place in the left wall of the room, but a fence was placed around it to keep the children away from harm. The spot next to the window was in the far right corner of the room, which gave a perfect view of the green trees and the forest that surrounded the building. It also gave a perfect view of the inside of the room and its inhabitants. Isabella liked to watch people, to observe.

The entire room had been cleaned for this day, everything was made to look inviting to the families who would come by today. The table was filled with sweets like apple pie and chocolate cookies, candy and even flavoured tea had been prepared for the guests. The room smelled of apple pie and Camille, it was quite nice actually.

As the first few families were brought inside and sat down, they were immediately surrounded by young boys and girls behaving their bests to make an as good impression as they thought was possible. Surprisingly not yet screaming about their desperation to get out of this place. Isabella didn't move from her spot though, she doubted anyone would even notice her, so why go through the trouble?

After an hour and a half a young girl came walking in. For an eight year old girl, she moved utterly graceful and radiated confidence. She had short black hair which seemed to bring out her defined cheekbones and bright, grey eyes. She was wearing a white shirt tucked in her black skirt with dark grey stockings underneath. She had cute black boots on and a silk scarf tied around her neck loosely. She was the image of the pristine stereotype daughter from a wealthy family.

Her parents, Marcus and Loïs Brandon had decided they wanted to take in a foster child, give it a better life than it would ever get by staying there and fulfilling their dream of having two children. Marcus was a tall, slender built man. His black hair was combed back neatly, bringing out his handsome, defined face. His blue eyes radiated friendliness as he observed the people in the room. His wife shared his frail build, her long blonde locks were straight as can be and rich locks fell over her shoulder. Her blue eyes scanned the room, sparing a loving look for every child. Her white dress stood out next to her husbands black tuxedo.

As they were making small talk with the staff of the foster home, Alice had already set her eyes on something. Or rather, someone. Isabella was so caught up by the sound of raindrops ticking on the glass of the window, she hadn't noticed Alice approaching her. When Alice sat down next to her and gracefully extended her slender hand though, Isabella couldn't help but notice the sweet smile and bright eyes of the girl next to her.

"Hey, I'm Mary Alice Brandon, but you can call me Alice. What's your name?"

"I'm Isabella Swan.."

"I have a feeling we're going to be the bestest of friends, Bella!"

As Bella saw the warmth in the eyes and the smile of the girl sitting next to her, she could swear she felt hope for the first time.

Soooo, I'm wondering, what do you think? This is the first story I've ever written so some feedback would be helpful. I'd appreciate it if you'd share your thoughts. ;)