Disclaimer: Twilight was all Stephenie Meyer's idea, and she's getting all the money from it. I just do the fan-fics, mmkay? :D
Author's note: This will most likely be updated once a month until I cover all the colors within the light spectrum (the human one, because there's none defined for vampires, LOL). Now that I've set that as my schedule…try not to beg me to update soon, because I have a busy timetable and I try to update other stories in the meantime, okeydoke? Thanks.
Oh yeah, and these ficlets are all done with Kate and Garrett in mind. Enjoy, nomads and vegetarians.
The Colors of Love
Part 1: Red
Red was first the color of blood, the sole food source that all vampires lived by whether it came from animals or human beings.
Red was also the color of fire, for it signified heat, destruction, and the most intense pain imaginable when it touched the skin.
Third, red was a symbol of passion, suggesting emotions so powerful that they could either mean pure, unbreakable affection for a couple, or else the painful angst of unrequited love.
Red symbolized tradition as well, whether it expressed the station of religious leaders or the silent mystery of ancient gatherings and spiritual gifts remembered through the ages.
Next, red represented healing and immediate aid no matter which part of the world a human was born into. Once the red symbol against the white background came into view, help had arrived to those who needed it.
And finally, red was the color of that nomad's eyes; the one who first called her name and dared her to demonstrate her power against him. She had seen many things within those eyes—the kind of blood he relied on for his survival; the fire of his spirit; the traditions he would never bow to; the help he willingly gave to the newest member of her family; and the healing his actions offered after the death of her sister.
Most of all, she saw passion there, and how greatly it contrasted from the dark deeds of nomads past.
It was not the raging passion James had held onto at being denied a kill, and had later acted upon through the near destruction of Bella Swan's life.
It also was not the desperate passion Laurent had to preserve himself and masquerade as a repentant vampire, only to abandon Irina in favor of Victoria's revenge.
Instead, Garrett's passion was the raw emotion that came from seeing a strong woman among his kind; the lure of a lifestyle more peaceful than his own; and the eagerness to end two centuries of wandering combined into a complex mindset. The longer he fed upon animal blood, the more these feelings could be strengthened and refined into true, concrete relationships with her and the other members of the Denali Coven.
And once these bonds had been forged at last, his new life of peace would be what James would never have, what Laurent had been too weak to accept, and what Irina had so harshly been denied in spite of her history. He would have both love and friendship within his grasp, but not without the necessary changes.
One day soon, he would have his thirst for human blood under control, if not also completely able to refuse it. One day soon, he would adjust fully to the lifestyle of his new family; yet this adjustment would not come without a price. Just as blood stopped flowing from an open wound, as fire was extinguished by water, and as old traditions gave way to new progress, those spirited red eyes she had grown to love would be lost to her, replaced over time by the calmer golden.
As much as this thrilled her, a part of her could not help but feel sad at the loss. Would his patriotic ways still remain, even when his bloodlust no longer ruled his actions? Would he still refuse to kneel before any and all tyrants, mortal or immortal? Would he still shake off her electric currents as though they had no effect on him? Would her Garrett still be Garrett, vegetarian or not?
It was here that she heard him creep up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and whispering his nickname for her into her ear. He'd known how to make her smile the first day they met, and he hadn't failed to be there for her long after her beloved sister's death. If he could always make sure she went on smiling the way she did now, then there would never be a need to question his true feelings about her. He would always follow her anywhere and everywhere, and she would not have to spend her immortal life alone any longer.
In the end, the red of his vampire eyes was nothing more than a color, an old lifestyle about to pass out of sight forever. It was his devotion to her that would never fade away, and that was all that mattered.