"And blind in the dark, as soul gazed into soul
I looked into your heart and saw you pure and whole"
"Renesmee?"
"She's out with Jacob, love."
Relaxing a fraction more back on to the bed, Bella nibbled on her bottom lip. As much as she loved her daughter, she couldn't help but be grateful that she was able to spend some time alone with her mate. Lately it had seemed as if even they and the rest of the Cullen family were caught up in the holiday rush.
At least they had eternity to attempt at making the holiday time just perfect.
"Bella?"
Caught up in her thoughts, she would drag her attention back to her hovering mate.
A vampire wasn't supposed to be distracted.
And yet Bella was. She had been for the hours that Edward had gone hunting with Jacob and Renesmee. Some days it felt as if she were dreaming the life that she had.
As cliché as it was, how could she have ever ended in sweet paradise with her soul mate?
The inadequacy as a human that she had felt; she could remember with perfect clarity. How someone like Edward could fall in love with her was a fairy tale of the most unimaginable sort. It wasn't supposed to happen. A person like her was fated to be with someone like Mike or Tyler – or even someone like Jacob. It was impossible that she should find her soul mate in a person like Edward.
Yet it was possible.
"Is something the matter?"
The mattress sagged just the tiniest bit as he slipped into place next to her. They had ended up replacing the bed twice in their cottage; the result of nights spent alone together.
This was a time that Bella was grateful for the fact that he was unable to read her mind. There weren't many times that she was grateful for this as a vampire, certainly not as many times as she had been as a human, yet this was one of those times.
"Sometimes…sometimes I can't help but think of how different things could have been." She admitted; gently caressing his cheek.
Edward froze into place. His gaze swiveled between her and the space next to her. Bella inwardly shuddered. His posture reminded her too much of that time. The time when Jacob had described him as the "Burning" man. And he had been a burning man. He had burned with anger, with guilt, and with utter despair. They had been together long enough for Edward to explain this to her; long enough for where the wound had faded on their relationship.
Still, she never wanted to remember that time.
How fragile they had both been during that time! She physically fragile; he emotionally destroyed. Yet they had survived. And they had Renesmee.
Always, they would always survive, as long as they had each other.
"I will always want you, Edward." Bella murmured fiercely. "I don't regret this choice. I will never regret it. But just...just imagine that I could have ended up with Mike Newton. Alice could have been right."
The ice thawed from about him; his features brightening in amusement. A playful growl escaped his lips as he moved to be on top of her; resting his hands against either side of her.
"Newton never deserved you. Even Tyler would be a fraction more deserving of you than him."
"At least Mike was persistent." Bella teased; her voice heightening as she inhaled his scent. Only his scent would have the call to her that it did. It was a call of love; of absolute adoration. This was something that she could appreciate as a vampire.
Even their relationship she could appreciate differently in this new life. She wasn't breakable, clumsy Bella anymore. And for the first time, she truly believed that he wasn't going anywhere. Together they would remain forever. Time would simply never come to an end.
Edward scoffed at her reply in mock annoyance. "He never stopped thinking about you. If he were one of us, I would have wondered if he was your mate based off of his thoughts."
This time it was Bella who growled. The mere thought of not having Edward as her mate was unbearable, the worst sort of purgatory that could exist. But to have Mike Newton as her mate? That was the very definition of madness.
It was unthinkable.
It was impossible.
The true meaning of being a beast was infinitely different than how Edward – or any of them had described it as being. It wasn't the eternal thirst or the utter destruction that they were capable of that frightened her. For her it was the sheer capacity of how much she could love him that frightened her. As a human, she could never have loved Mike like this.
She could never have loved anyone like this, whether she was a human or vampire.
One glance, one touch, one word from him could send her spiraling into infinite warmth. She couldn't imagine her life without him. There wouldn't be a life without him for her. Every second that they spent together was branded onto her skin, burned into her memory.
Eternity would never be enough time spent together.
"I love you, Edward." She whispered; nuzzling against his neck. The words slipped easily from her lips as they always did. Loving him was the same as breathing – though she had no use for that now, his love was her oxygen. His arms tightened about her waist as he pulled her upwards to be closer to him.
"Be with me always - take any form - drive me mad! Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! It is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!" Brushing his lips against her ear; he spoke the words ever so gently.
Tipping her head back, Bella's eyes widened in surprise.
'I cannot live without my soul!'
"You admitted it!" She whispered in triumphant awe. Edward smiled down at her; her favorite smile of his, the kind that made his lip curl slightly and his eyes fill with love.
"I was wrong, Bella. You are my soul."
Fin.