The Winds of Change

The letter fell from my shaking hands that dropped to the ground, and uncontrollable sobs started to break through me as the wind shifted direction and brought with it a scent of sunbathed lilacs.

"No…." I whimpered.

As quickly as I had fallen to the ground to sob over the loss of my beloved father I was now standing straight up and staring into the direction where this scent; that intoxicating lilac scent now came from. I smelled the air and the winds picked up and I noticed that it was still several miles away. I know it's him. I have met a lot of vampires in my immortal existence and none of them have ever smelled as exquisite as him. What am I to do now? Should I just stay here and wait? Should I let him discover the truth about me? NO! There was no way. I couldn't deal with this, not now, not here. Not after making myself so vulnerable after talking to Charlie. He might not know this but after the last couple of decades I do really know why he left me in the first place. If he thought I was so naïve and would never uncover the true reason for his departure then that was really insulting. I only had minutes now, I had to act or this life I was attempting to build would crumple faster that snow during a hot sunny Arizona day.

(Third person POV)

The winds that had a calm nature around the wet Forks cemetery abruptly started to pick up around Isabella. A wet and hazy mist started to form around her sapphire car and washed away her scent. The winds started to pick up and blew her light mahogany hair all around her now fragile form. The wet mist crept from her car and followed the path that she had taken and consumed the cemetery. The winds and the chilling mist surrounded the bouquet standing on her dead father's grave as Isabella ran for the nearby forest and jumped into large pine tree; securing herself and hiding from the one who broke her heart so long ago. The winds and mist followed her fresh trail and ate away her sweet freesia odor and made their way up to the tree where she so anxiously sat and waited. It was done. The winds and wet mist had erased all traces of her scent as they slowly disappeared. The winds had calmed themselves to what they were before, and the mist disappeared into the nothingness from whence it came. By the time the mist had vanished, a bronze haired youth appeared out of the nearby forest and stood next to the blue BMW 760 and appraised it before he made his way into the graveyard.

(Bella's POV)

There he was in all of his glory. My, no, not my but just him. He had jumped out of the forest bordering the cemetery just as my scent was washed away by the convenient wet mist that came out of nowhere. I smirked at myself since I very well knew its origin. The smirks however disappeared as I started to think of the many lonely days I had to endure without him. I don't know how many nights I laid on the grasses of foreign countries and looked up to the diamond sky and wished on every single little far away star that I could see him once more. How I told them of my agony and would trade anything, even my immortality, to be in the loving embrace of his arms just one more time. Here it was and I still adored my godlike immortal. He hadn't changed; he was still so beautiful wearing a short sleeved, blue button up shirt that lay gently over a pair of dark blue jeans. A physical beauty that was only outdone by what lay beneath his stone cold body, the true beauty that was him, and a beauty I still loved. Edward!

I didn't breathe even though every single dead cell in my body demanded and longed to be rekindled of his sweet lilac smell. But I couldn't; I had to stay safe, and secret. After he appraised my beam with a slight smile he made his way through the stone entrance while holding a small bouquet of freesias. I wanted to go over to him and tell him that it was me and that I was here and back in forks where it had all begun. I wanted to reveal myself and tell him how much I loved him and how I thought of him every single day since he left my side but I couldn't. I was not breaking down the barriers I had spent Sixty seven years building; I was not going to take the chance of getting the rest of my bleeding heart broken. Why does he have bouquet of flowers I thought surprisingly?

He walked through the wet and green grass of the cemetery and made his way to my father's gravestone. Did he come here to see Charlie? Why would he bring Charlie flowers? What is going on here! Why would he be visiting my late father's grave? The questions bombarded my mind as his gaze found Charlie's grave and froze at the sight of the fresh bouquet of freesias I had placed there just minutes ago. He approached the flowers questioningly and with hesitant hands ran his long white fingers across the pedals as my violet eyes focused on him. He straightened up and raised his head towards the night sky and I could hear him taking in small steady breaths through his nose. He started to turn towards the south of the cemetery and continued with his exhaling and inhaling breaths through his perfect nose when a small grin formed on my face.

You can take as many breaths as you want love, but you will never pick up my scent now. You were to slow. I thought smugly.

He turned several times whiffing the air and through his wide butterscotch eyes took in the dead unmoving silence of this place. How I missed them. How so many times I had completely fallen and forgotten myself in the magic of his golden gazes. No, I couldn't think about that now; I had to stay focused and uncover the secret of his appearance here tonight. He seemed to have given up as he strolled over and past Charlie's grave with one last glance at my freesias and came to halt in front of the small moss covered grave I had seen earlier, and sank to the ground before it. My mind filled with confusion as my eyes were glued on his back and I wondered what his intentions were. He raised his head just a little to the moss covered stone and ran his long fingers across the moss that withheld the secrets of the tombstone. I was shocked and speechless when he revealed the contents of the stone which in reality shouldn't be a surprise to me in the least.

Isabella Marie Swan, 1987 – 2005, beloved daughter, and friend. It was troublesome and somewhat haunting to look at your own grave but the questions that followed overshadowed these small worries. He came to visit my grave, and to place flowers on it? My train of thought was interrupted by a ringing phone in his pocket. He sighed and I could tell from it that he was a little irritated for being interrupted. He retrieved his black cell phone from his jeans pocket; looked at it angrily and flipped it open, and spoke in the velvet voice that still rings clear in the cloudy recesses of the mind that was once the old Bella.

"What do you want Alice? I'm in the middle of someth…" he spoke as his voice sounded like bell's chiming in my head but was interrupted by a squealing, and hysteric Alice.

"EDWARD. WHATS GOING ON? I JUST LOOKED INTO YOUR FUTURE AND SAW YOU IN YOUR MEADOW WHEN YOU DISSAPEARD, AND JUST NOW BEFORE YOU GOT TO THE CEMETERY YOU WERE GONE. WHATS GOING ON?" she yelled through the phone.

It felt so good to hear my old best friend's voice again but I had to concentrate and store my rekindled joy away for now.

"What?" he asked bored.

"Your future Edward! It has holes in it. I don't know how to explain it. I can see you but then there are these black spots. EDWARD I saw you laying next to somebody in your meadow but before, I couldn't see anything. The person seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and I have no idea how they got there, and I don't know who they are" she said in a calmer tone now, and I was sure the empath was responsible for it.

"Alice, don't worry yourself. I can take care of myself. I'm sure it's nothing. You've had these holes before and every time it was harmless. Just please Alice, I need to be left alone to my thoughts right now." he said sadly.

I could hear her sigh on the other end of the phone and frown in understanding.

"I'm sorry Edward. You know how I get when I see people disappearing. I really didn't want to disturb you when you're at…her grave. Please forgive me. I'll see you later, I hope" she finished.

More sorrow flooded me while I heard this piece of information. It wasn't the first time he visited my grave I though despairingly. I felt the hole in my stomach starting to swell.

"It's alright Alice, just led Jasper continue to calm you and I will see you later. Bye" he added with no hind of emotion in his voice and shut the phone.

When he secured the phone back in his jeans he drew his attention back to me. Well, my gravestone anyway but close enough. He moved the small bouquet of freesias over and placed them on top of the stone, and let his face fall to the ground.

Nothing. He didn't say one single word. I continued to watch him as the clouds above me move on and yearned to hear his voice again but he didn't say anything. I knew how he felt. I had painted a picture of him a long time ago that now sat in the small box on the right hand corner of memory lane unopened along with five others. I would sometimes get it out and stare at it for hours without muttering a single word at the perfect replica of him. I hesitantly raised my arm and turned it over very quietly not wanting to make a single sound without ever letting my eyes drop from his back and swiftly drew a glance at my watch. 5:03PM. He has been sitting there motionless for almost an hour now. I threw a quick glance towards the west and noticed the sun setting beneath the dark trees when he suddenly got up from the ground. I panicked. Oh no, did I make a noise, was he about to turn around and come for me? The chaos in my mind was ceased when he slowly trotted yet still with grace and moved away from my grave. My heart was breaking. I was watching him leave again as he moved back towards the direction from where came. Everything on my insides now screamed at me and it felt like they were punching me from within. Screeching and bellowing at me to run to him and tell him that I was still alive, sort of. That I should just run into his arms and crush my lips to his but no, I can't. The old Bella was now dead, and the proof lay next to Charlie. I continued to watch my last glimpses of him as he passed the entrance and threw yet another look at my car.

I could see the suspicion in his eyes now when he threw them back at the graveyard. I saw him glancing over the area and studying all its shapes and forms. His eyes went back to my blue beam and back to the cemetery this time with confusion in his eyes; as quickly as his scanning began it also ended just as quick. He turned his head and ran into the forest, and left me once again behind amongst the trees.

I stared after him and if my eyes were still capable of tearing they would be unleashing waterfalls by now. When I heard his fast footsteps disappearing I jumped of the tree I hid in and my feet found the soft soil of the earth. With my head down and guilt and misery consuming me I made my way over to my grave. I let out a small laugh without amusement and thought of all the irony that happened today but this tops it all. I threw another glance in the direction that he left in just to make sure he wouldn't return although my other senses would have alerted me before my eyes ever could, and took the flowers off the grave. I looked and marveled at the small bouquet and hugged them to my cold chest. I held them close to my silent heart that should have been pounding uncontrollably durring this whole orderal as I just had received a gift from him. I knew it wouldn't be considered grave robbery since technically the person in the "ground" and me were the same as I ran for my car like a lightning bolt. I stopped when my hand reached the handle of the driver's side and turned my head back to Charlie's grave and small words escaped my lips.

"Please don't miss me Charlie, I will be back soon" I whispered so quietly that no one could hear.

I settled in my car and gently and softly placed the freesias on the passenger seat as I let my car come to life and rode home. The entire ways back to my apartment my eyes never left these beautiful flowers. I could drive without looking at the road; my ears technically took over since my eyes were currently unavailable. They were so much more beautiful than any other simply because they came from him. I reached my apartment at a new record since I didn't have to drive behind anybody and I could push my car to its limits. I parked my beam in the same spot which I retrieved it in this morning and with the flowers headed through the entrance and quite literally flew up the stairs and through my door, 1-G. I dropped my jacket on the couch and made my way to the kitchen and found a good sized glass in the cupboard above the microwave. I filled it with water from the sink as I wrinkled my nose at the unattractive scent from the water and stored the freesias in its nursing embrace. I walked back to the living room using human speed and placed the flowers on top of my small coffee table and sat back in my leather couch; as I stared.

From the emotions I could see on his face and form earlier I knew that he was in tremendous amounts of pain. Good thought the evil side within me but was quickly overpowered with the urge of seeing him again. Alice was on the phone with him I thought; thinking hard now. I put my thumb and index finger to my chin, a habit I had picked up from Benjamin of the Egyptian coven I had met, and was good friends with. He also did this when he was thinking hard but he was rather adorable when he did it. Whenever I was doing it I looked as if I was plotting the end of all time. I regained my concentration from these somewhat happier memories and thought. Where they back? All of them, and if they were why weren't they at school today? The urge to see him again grew within me. I can't, no I can't. I knew the reason why he left me to begin with. He left because of me, because he wanted to protect me from his world no matter how much it would destroy us both. My new vampire mind helped me realize this a long time ago. But he had done it once and I was afraid he would leave me again if I went to him now even with me being a vampire. Would he be disgusted at the very thing he didn't want me to become? Resent me or even worse just give me a cool glare and leave? No I couldn't think like this. I had seen so many different vampires and their mates, and none of them cared what the other looked like or was. If he truly loved me once upon a time then he shouldn't care. I was settled, I had to see him again even if I wouldn't talk to him, and remain hidden in the shadows of his steps; I had to see Edward again. First I had to find him though. If he was still around the Forks area it shouldn't be a problem. I scooped myself up of the couch and threw a small smile towards his gift from earlier and stepped out onto my balcony. It was a pretty good size and cold easily hold another small table and two chairs but I couldn't think about that now. I had to focus and find him, a task that will be quite simple thanks to my talent. A talent I had never revealed to any of my vampire friends, a talent that I had to keep hidden within me so the Volturi could never make me one of their slaves.

(Third Person POV)

Isabella closed her eyes and griped the iron bars of her balcony in front of her and started to take deep breaths through her extrasensory nose. The winds started to pick up and she could smell nothing but human aromas. But suddenly the winds got stronger and blew in scents from miles away. She could now smell the salty stench from the La Push Ocean, the wooden scents of trees from the forests surrounding Forks, so many different kinds. The winds picked up and she could hear them rummaging through the trees looking for clues to her lost love. The winds intensified and she picked up a lilac scent from the north and as quickly as they started, the winds calmed themselves once more.

(Bella's POV)

There! I picked up his scent somewhere towards the north. I didn't even think before I acted the way I did. I jumped on top of the balcony and checked the surrounding area to make sure no humans were in sight and I was fortunate. I pushed my feet still with heels on and threw myself of the balcony, and jumped across the street in mid air and somersaulted into the trees. I ran. I couldn't smell his scent yet but I knew I would soon enough. After a minute or so and running about three miles I suddenly knew where I was heading to. The meadow I realized as I finally picked up the scent of lilacs. I came to an abrupt stop about a mile and a half in front of the meadow with the forests small animals running and crawling away, and leaving the presence of the monster they felt. I have to do this intelligently I thought to myself. He can't hear my approach nor can he smell me.

Very well then was the last thought that crossed my mind as the winds started to pick up yet again and I made my way to the place where so long ago; I had received my first true embrace from my beautiful Edward.