A/N – (I do not own The Twilight Saga or the characters in any way; all rights are reserved to Stephanie Meyer)

Moments of Silence

(Carlisle's P.O.V)

War is a curious thing; it can tear people apart, bring you together, and disunite those who are loyal or completely destroy you. At this moment in time, in this moment of silence, it had brought my family together, and although no-one would say anything we believed, although Alice had predicted differently, that this moment of silence was the last moment we would share together as a family – as partners... as lovers.

Esme was sat apart from the group, her eyes trained on something far away in the distance. Her chest rose and fell with the even intake and exhale of breath, and her back slumped over her knees. Her delicate hands were placed on her lap, her fingers interlinked with one another. She was scared for us, not herself. She was too noble to care about her safety when she knew it was her family at risk, knew there was a chance of her surviving while we did not. It broke my heart that she hadn't wanted to share her burdens with me, ashamed, I know, of bringing me down with her concerns which I know I should share.

I walked silently over, my face passive as my emotions shouted angrily inside of me. Sitting behind her, I wrapped my arms around her waist, placing the side of my head against her back and just feeling her body against mine, every breath she took. No words were needed in this moment of silence, our bodies just linked spoke a thousand words more than what my words would offer. Unclasping her hands, Esme replaced them on top of my hands, joined together on her lap as I held her close. Esme's breathing sped up suddenly, spiking as if she'd seen something terrible, although there was nothing.

I began to redraw my arms from around her waist, but her small hands grabbed my arms desperately, a squeak coming from her mouth urgently. "Don't." It was whispered, but the pain in that one syllable cracked my heart into pieces.

I stood up, walking around in front of her so her huge golden eyes found my amber ones, her hands now clutching nothing but the air and fine pollen particles. I crouched down, and her arms found me as they snaked around my neck. Pulling us both back up, Esme buried her face into my shirt, her arms relentlessly tight. She had ceased breathing altogether as we basked silently in each other's shadows through this moment of silence. As time crawled on, her head emerged from my shirt, her eyes meeting mine again as she whispered:

"Don't leave me."

I tried to smile reassuringly, but I found that even I couldn't help her in the way I should be able to. So I breathed in, the cold air hitting the back of my throat sharply and kissed the top of her head lightly. "I won't, Esme," I murmured into her curls, "Ever."

Our children took their cue and one by one, they left Esme and I by ourselves, surrounded by the trees, blanketed in the white mist. Pulling away from me, Esme's hands wandered down from my neck, momentarily resting on my chest before they found my own hands again. She closed her eyes briefly, her full, lush eyelashes contrasting starkly with the pale white of her marble skin. Finally, assured in herself, she opened her eyes again and made sure to penetrate the windows to my soul.

Esme's fingers clutched mine tighter when she finally spoke, her words now even. "If I die, Carlisle," she stated, her emotions wiped off completely, "I don't want you to blame yourself."

I must have stumbled back slightly because when the words have finally processed in my mind, my back was against the tree behind me, my arms now down by my sides. She couldn't really be saying what I thought she did.

"Esme, we're going to be okay," I whispered, although her words had hit home.

Esme sighed, looking over her shoulder into the billowing cloud of white, her caramel hair cascading down her back and becoming free from the clips that held the tendrils off her face. Her body followed and I watched from behind as she wrapped her arms around herself. "I wanted to tell you earlier, but it never felt like the right time to say anything," she admitted, her arms tightening around her body. "Now we have no time left, but now, in this moment of silence before the storm, maybe I can tell you – show you just how much you offered me and gave me in this life, Carlisle."

Her shoulders dropped and she bowed her head, a soft breeze igniting through the old trees, and the image of her back against mine, her hands now down by her side so she resembled a bird ready to take flight, reminded me of the dreadful evening where she was ready to end her own life, reminded me of what she must have looked like before she took her life-ending decision.

I stepped forwards, the thought totally preposterous and knocking all air from my lungs. Lunging towards her, I took her hand in mine, my voice small as I declared, "Don't leave me!"

Esme tilted her head back to face me, her eyes now a shade darker than before. "I won't, Carlisle," she whispered as she allowed her body to twist forwards back to me, her palms finding my chest and resting there, "Ever." I allowed myself a small, uncertain smile which seemed to be creeping up on Esme as well.

"But," Esme continued, "The future can always change, and if I'm killed, I want you to know it was never, ever your fault. We agreed to this as a family, we agreed to fight for what is right, and if I die trying to save those I love, than at least I didn't die in vain." She paused, her eyes wandering my face as she battled on.

"Esme," I said, my heart aching more than it had in the near four-hundred years I had lived on this earth. "Please, don't think like that."

Esme shook her head, "Carlisle, we have to be realistic, no matter how hard it hurts, and no matter how much it hurts, we still have to fight, have to find the courage inside of us all."

It was my turn to wrap my arms around my wife's slender frame as I kissed her head again, my emotions tearing at the seams. "And now, as the inventible gets nearer, I need to say thank you, Carlisle." Esme pulled away in my arms to give us distance so she could see me properly before going on. "I need to say thank you for finding me when I was sixteen and giving me that ridiculous idea of hope to latch onto. I need to say thank you for finding me on my second fall, when your hope didn't fail you. I need to say thank you for healing such a messed up, broken woman with mental scars, but most of all, Carlisle, I need to say thank you for your love for me. I never thought, after you left life would be good again, but you're here and I want to say thank you for finding me and keeping me, treasuring me and showing me how much you love me every day, for if today is my last, at least I knew your undying love for me never faded."

I latched tightly onto her, sobs building, although I never wanted to show weakness before her. I found it hard to say anything, so clearing my throat, I just held against me, finding my voice that had seemed to disappear from me. "I would say you're welcome," I weakly joked, my humour leaving me, "But I have to say thank you, too, because if today is my last, then I want to say thank you for never forgetting the golden-eyed doctor, for believing in me until the very end, for accepting me into your tortured soul and letting me heal you, for finally letting me truly find the love I had been searching for, for centuries. Thank you for the love you show me every day and may it be until the very last second."

Esme tip-toed, her eyes levelling with mine and her hand coming up to cup my cheek as she spoke, "I love you, Carlisle."

I smiled in this moment of silence, suspended in the feeling of completeness. "I love you, too, Esme."

Esme's lips found mine in a soft, desperate kiss, her hands wrapping again around my neck. As her lips left mine, I found I wanted more, that I just wanted to take her away from this place and keep her safe, but Demetri would never allow us the freedom.

"Stay with me?"

I interlinked my fingers with hers and nodded. "I always have, I always will."

The moment of silence passed and the leaves' whispers grew louder as our family, as if an impersonal force had urged us back together again, grouped around Esme and I. My eyes narrowed, and with our hands still joined, we watched as the first cloaked figures made their way out of the sheets of fog onto the snowy field before us.

A/N – This came to me suddenly the other night, and of course, I had to write it! I really hope you enjoyed this, because personally, I found this very enjoyable to write.

I'll be updating other stories again, now! TheSoldier and the Jew has been updated and is continuing to be updated as I write more chapters, and so is Before I Became Me. (Both Twilight stories and yes, both Carlisle and Esme).

Anyways, if you enjoyed this, Please Review!

Thanks, Katie1995. :)