Dev: Alright, this is the first fanfic I'm putting up so don't judge me too quickly people!

Emmett: You can judge her, it's all good! *guffaws*

Rosalie: Em! Don't tease her! *hugs Dev* It's alright, you poor helpless human.

Dev: o.o Not helping there Rose.

Alice: Just admit it, you were too lazy to make a long chapter. -.-

Dev: I was not! My sister pressured me to upload! .

Edward: Besides, this is just the prologue.

Esme: Would you all calm down? You'll scare away any future fans.

Emmett: Why? Gangin' up on Dev here is fun!

Jasper: Yeah, highlight of our day!

Dev: -.-

Bella: I'm confused.

Emmett: And what's new? *grins*

Sesshomaru: I would suggest you remain silent or I will have no qualms of ripping you apart.

Edward: What the hell is he doing in a Twilight fanfic? 0.0

Dev: *shrieks and hugs Sesshomaru* Cause it's it's my fanfic! Enjoy the prologue^-^! *guys squabbling in the background* SHUT UP! I don't own Twilight or Harry Potter! Stephenie Meyer and J.K. Rowling do!

Carlisle: What of Lord Sesshomaru?

Dev: -.- Fine, I don't own him either. Rumiko Takahashi does..

Sesshomaru: Own me if you wish. *gripping Dev's chin*

Dev: *fangirl squeal*

Emmett: Get on with the story!

"Bella, we're leaving."

She took a deep breath. She had known this was a possibility, that there was a chance he would tell her this. This was an acceptable option. One she thought she was prepared for. But she still had to ask. She had to know if there was a chance to prolong the departure.

"Why now? Another year wouldn't hurt so much, would it?" Even as she asked, she knew the decision had been made. The past few days had been clue enough that they couldn't stay. Not seeing Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett wasn't such a big thing since they'd 'graduated' high school, but she hadn't seen Alice at all. She hasn't been asked to come over either.

"Bella, it's time. How much longer could we stay in Forks, after all? Carlisle can barely pass for thirty, and he's claiming thirty-three now. We'd have to start over soon regardless. Staying here is no longer an option."

His answer confused her. She thought the point of leaving was to let his family live in peace. Why did they have to leave if they were going? Edward and she were going to leave Forks to keep them safe. She stared at him, trying to understand what he meant. It didn't make any sense to her.

He stared back coldly. His amber eyes expressed nothing to her and it was beginning to unsettle her. As she gazed into them, the meaning of his words became clear to her. The reason why she hadn't seen Alice, why she hadn't been to the Cullen house since her birthday, why Edward was so distant. She'd misunderstood.

"When you say we," she began, her voice barely above a whisper. He would hear her though, even if she couldn't hear herself. All the sound she could make out was the blood rushing to her head.

"I mean my family and myself." Each word separate and distinct as if he were speaking to a child. His eyes still held that same expression of nothing. It was worse than seeing anger or disgust. She shook her head back and forth mechanically, trying to hear something that might tell her he wasn't leaving her. He waited without any sign of impatience. It took a few minutes before she could speak. Her throat was much too dry to really make out many words.

"Okay," she said. "I'll come with you," she told him, keeping her gaze on his stoic face. She didn't seem to realize that he was hiding his emotions. All she could think was that he was leaving her, and he didn't care whether she cried or not.

"You can't, Bella. Where we're going... It's not the right place for you."

"Where you are is the right place for me."

"I'm no good for you, Bella."

"Don't be ridiculous." She wanted to reassure him, to tell him that they were meant to be together, but her breath came out in gasps, "You're the very best part of my life."

"My world is not for you," he said grimly. His amber eyes morose as he spoke to her.

"Is this about what happened on my birthday? That was nothing, Edward! Nothing! What happened with James was far worse than that!" She had meant to sound angry, but her voice expressed disbelief and she sounded like a petulant child.

"You're right," he agreed. "It was exactly what I should have expected from the beginning."

"You promised! In Phoenix, you promised that you would stay with me! You're breaking that promise! " Her tone was now begging, and as much as she didn't like it, she couldn't change it.

"As long as that was best for you," he interrupted to correct her, his eyes suddenly becoming cold again and showing a bit of impatience. She knew she was simply delaying his disappearance from her life and her own suffering, but she wanted a few more moments with him.

"No! This is about my soul, isn't it?" she shouted, furious at herself for not being able to remain calm. It still sounded like a plea. "Carlisle told me about that, and I don't care, Edward. I couldn't care less about it! You can have my soul. I don't want it without you. It was yours since the moment you took my heart."

He took a deep breath and stared, unseeingly, at the ground for a long moment. His mouth twisted the tiniest bit. His expression was grim from what she could see of it. When he finally looked up, his eyes were different, harder like the liquid gold had frozen solid. Her heart stopped at the look within them, and she knew the shock registered itself upon her face.

"Bella, I don't want you to come with me." He spoke the words slowly and precisely, his cold eyes fixated on her face, watching as she absorbed what he was really saying. What she didn't know was that his heart was tearing itself apart like hers was. It was torture to watch her like this and know he was the cause of her anguish.

There was a pause as she repeated the words in her head a few times, sifting through them for their real intent. Even for a hidden meaning that might tell her this was all some sick and twisted joke, but she somehow knew Emmett wouldn't burst out from the trees and laugh at her expression. He wouldn't tease her about how gullible she truly was.

"You... don't... want me?" she experimented with the words, confused by the way they sounded, and yet feeling they were true. It had never made sense for him to love her, to want her, or even need her.

"No." That simple word broke down any last reserves she had and a small gasp emitted from her lips. One of pain and disbelief.

She stared, uncomprehending, into his eyes. He stared back without any remorse visible in his golden orbs. His eyes were like topaz hard and clear and very deep. She felt like she could see into them for miles and miles, yet
nowhere in their bottomless depths could she see a contradiction to the word he'd spoken. He really didn't want her and she should have known that from the beginning.

"Well, that's different." She couldn't realize what he was telling her. It still didn't make any sense. Especially after all they'd been through. Something was bubbling beneath the surface of her incredulity, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was.

He looked away into the trees as he spoke again. "Of course, I'll always love you... in a way. But what happened the other night made me realize that it's time for this to end. Because I'm... tired of pretending to be something I'm not, Bella. I am not human." He looked back, and the icy planes of his perfect face were not human. "I've let this go on much too long, and I'm sorry for that. My intention wasn't for any of this to happen."

"Don't." Her voice was just a whisper now; awareness was beginning to seep through her, trickling like acid through her veins. "Don't do this."

She realized what she was asking, but she didn't comprehend it. She didn't want him to speak any more, because she felt her control slipping. Something wanted to be released, and she was fighting to keep it contained. He just stared at her. His eyes were still icy and unsympathetic.

"You're not good for me, Bella." He turned his earlier words around, and so she had no argument. How well she knew that she wasn't good enough for him. She had known she had never been good enough for him. However, something in her mind was telling her that she was. That she was better than he would ever know. She pushed those thoughts aside and kept her eyes fixed on his. Those words were her undoing and most of her control slipped away.

The words he was speaking didn't register in her mind, not in the way he wanted them to at least. She knew he was waiting for her to reply, for her to say something, anything to his sudden declaration. What could she say though? It would mean nothing in the end and she would only have wasted her voice. Looking down at the moss covered ground, she took a deep breath and clenched her hands into tight fists. Her eyes were pricking with tears she didn't wish to shed, but she knew he could smell them. She didn't look up at him as she spoke, didn't want to see the relief upon his godly face as she released him from her side.

"Then there's nothing more to say, is there?" she asked him, glad that her voice managed to remain steady even while her feelings were not. They were raging deep inside of her. She could feel them battling against one another to become the dominant emotion she felt, but she only felt numb. The sound of a twig breaking caught her attention and she looked up. He could have left without making a sound, but he had purposely caused one to get her attention. She didn't know what he saw on her face but it caused fear to flicker in his amber orbs.

"Bella..." he whispered, reaching his hand out as if to touch her face. This made no sense to her, he was leaving her. Was he trying to get a reaction out of her? What for? Some male satisfaction that she would continue to pine for him even in his absence? Her blood seemed to boil with that thought and she felt her eyes harden. Even her heart seemed to be racing with the adrenaline of her rage. Taking a step back, she raised her chin out defiantly and glared at him.

"Don't you dare touch me Edward Cullen," she told him in an eerily calm voice. It frightened her to hear that tone in her own voice, but she felt excitement race through her at the same time. She had never understood those cheesy romance novels when they said they felt two rivaling emotions at once, but she did now. It was like they were both in sync with one another and yet rejecting each other all at once. She had never before had such a contradiction with her own body, but she found she didn't mind it so much. It gave her a sense of power she never knew she could have when speaking with Edward. It always seemed like he was the superior of the two, and she was meant to praise him and worship him because he was above her. At the moment, she felt like she could say the word and he would be flung against a tree. It was exciting to have that sort of thought even if it wasn't true.

"You lost every right to touch me after what you've just said," she yelled, shutting her eyes tightly so as not to see him. There was still some pain within her when it came to his departure. She did love him, but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. So she would hate him, at least, she would allow herself to feel rage for this moment. A deep sigh reached her human ears and she almost opened her eyes, but she didn't want to see the smile upon his face now that she had given him his freedom. It would no doubt break any concentration she had to remain angry.

"This is for the best."

And then, she felt it. He was gone, not even disturbing the leaves, the grass, nothing. There was no sign that he had ever been there with her. The tears she had fought to keep at bay were released with an agonized sob. Her chest felt as if a ragged edge of glass had been stabbed into her sternum and twisted within her. It was pure torture and she placed an arm around her torso. The pain didn't decrease, it only seemed to get stronger as she thought about it. Fighting the darkness was becoming hard to do. She wanted to chase after him but something kept her rooted to her place. Her vision was beginning to blur, and she couldn't make out any shapes around her. It was evident she had to get out of the forest, but she couldn't move.

Suddenly, a voice appeared in her head and whispered sweet nothings to her. A seductive and tantalizing voice she couldn't seem to ignore. He told her to give in, to not resist so she let the darkness consume her.

Dev: R&R, even though I could really care less. -.-

Alice: Just do it, she'll upload faster.

Edward: And for those fangirls, you might just get a kiss from the ever stoic Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru: *removes tokijin from its sheath*

Edward: Crap! *runs away*

Sesshomaru: *places the sword away* Vampires. -.-

Dev: You heard 'em, R&R and I'll upload! Ja ne minna!