Thank you to Gredelina1 for beta'ing and being the reason this story was finally written. It would never have happened without her.

Yesterday the Ficsisters posted an article about Girl in the Meadow on their awesome website The International House Of Fanfic and I saw a huge increase in traffic. I want to say thank you to them for the article and to all that followed it here. Welcome to the story.


Chapter Five — Realization

August 1995 ~ Bella is Six

Edward

Miss. Harris was not a competent babysitter. She seemed content to see Charlie out of the door in the mornings, one plump hand planted on Bella's shoulder as they waved to him, then as soon as he was out of sight, she would settle in front of the TV and lose herself in mindless entertainment.

I was torn between anger that Bella's sitter was paying so little attention to her and pleasure that her neglect meant that Bella and I had so much uninterrupted time together. They would wave Charlie goodbye from the porch in the morning, then, as soon as he'd turned the corner, they would go their separate ways. Bella to the yard to me, and Ms. Harris to the lounge.

We spent hours together in the shadows of the trees in the yard. When we weren't talking about everything that mattered to a six year old, I was watching her play. She was so like the Bella I knew, and yet so different. I thought the adult Bella was full of life, but she was nothing to the child. Young Bella would dance without music and create complicated skipping games. She would laugh at simple things, like a butterfly taking flight or a bird's call. She was full of joy and I absorbed it all.

It was bittersweet saying goodbye to her at the end of every day. I ached for her absence, but I was pleased to return to my family, to share news of what had happened that day. They would always be waiting. The time I spent with Bella was subtracted from my time in my present, and life went on for almost all of them as it had before, but they were all waiting for me when I returned, eager for news of Bella. I would tell them it all, everything we had done that day, without embarrassment. If Bella had been asking my help making a daisy chain, I told them. I had expected Emmett and Jasper to find amusement in these stories, but they didn't. They were just pleased I had found her again. I was a different man now to the man I had been before we found Makenna. Then, I had been broken by my grief, unable to find joy in anything I once loved. Now, I was almost happy again. The only thing that marred my life was the fact that Bella wasn't there in the present waiting for me, too.


One morning, towards the end of the summer, I arrived to find the heavens had opened and the rain was pelting ground. I was drenched within minutes. I wasn't bothered by being wet, though it was a little unpleasant to be walking in shoes that squelched. I was bothered by the fact that the day of pleasure in Bella's company would be cancelled. We wouldn't be able to sit outside today, and it was too much to hope that the inept Ms. Harris wouldn't notice if I was inside the house. I plodded toward the house, thinking that even if I couldn't have time with Bella, I couldat least see her through a window. My dour mood was proved unfounded when I approached the house and heard her sweet voice singing.

"Rain, rain, go away. Come again another day."

I crept through the trees until she was within sight. She was dressed in a yellow slicker and she had bright red rain-boots on. As she sang, she jumped from puddle to puddle, sending water splashing up around her. Her song was interrupted by laughter, and I laughed with her.

She spun around to look at me, and her face broke into a beaming smile as I stepped out of the trees. "Rain, rain, go away. Sparkly Man is here to play."

"Hello, Bella," I said happily.

"Hey, Sparkly Man. It's raining."

"I can see."

She tilted her head to the side. "You're all wet. Why don't you have a coat?"

I shrugged. "I forgot it today. It's okay though. I don't mind getting wet."

She fumbled with the zipper of her slicker. "I don't mind, too."

"No, Bella," I said gently, stepping forward and catching her hands. "You need to keep it on. If you get too cold, you'll get sick."

She clasped my hand with her own small fingers and frowned. "You're cold. Are you sick?"

"No, Bella. I'm okay. I don't get sick. It's part of the magic."

"Magic," she said, looking thoughtful and then she shrugged. "Okay."

I loved that she accepted so much so easily. Part of it was, of course, her youth, but it was also just Bella. She was remarkable, even as a child.

"Sparkly man," she said, "wanna play a game?"

"Of course. What kind of game?"

I wondered what we would be able to play in this torrential downpour, but my question was answered when she smiled impishly and jumped in the air, landing hard in a deep puddle. Water splashed up around her and me, dousing my pants with mud.

For a moment, I was frozen, staring down at the mud and water dripping from me, and then I laughed. My heart lightened and my cares disappeared as I bellowed laughter, my shoulders shaking and my chest heaving.

Bella joined me, and her high, childish giggles joined me in a concert of glee.

Her happiness was absolute, and I wanted to freeze the moment and make it last forever. I stared down at her, her deep brown eyes alight with mirth, and held the memory in my mind to sustain me when we were apart.

"You're all wet," she said between giggles." I got you wet."

"You did. My turn."

I jumped high into the air and landed hard in the muddy puddle. The water sloshed up, drenching us both. For a moment, she looked stunned, and I wondered if I'd made a mistake, but then she grinned.

"That was good," she said earnestly. "But I can make a better splash."

I bowed to her. "By all means, show me what you can do."

She turned, taking in the yard with its mass of puddles, and then began to move. She leaped from one to the next like a game of stepping stones, splashing water around her with every jump. She turned halfway and looked at me.

"Come on, Sparkly man," she said. "I'll race you."

I beamed at her, taking in her delighted expression and exuberance, and then began to slosh from one puddle to the next after her, drenching myself thoroughly. She was so happy at play, and her happiness fed my own. It was a perfect day, despite the rain, and I never wanted it to end.


March 2005

Bella

I missed my Edward. I missed him so much it was like physical pain, though I was missing a man that was already there. I saw him every morning as I drove into the parking lot as he stood leaning against his car. I saw him every lunchtime as he and his siblings sat at their table with trays of uneaten food in front of them. I saw him in biology as he sat as far away from me as was possible at our cramped lab table. I saw him every day, but he wasn't the right person. He still looked at me with unknowing eyes.

I had a glimpse of my Edward when he maneuvered to allow Tyler his chance to ask me to the dance. The way he laughed upon hearing my threat was like looking through a window in time. He used to laugh like that for me almost every day.

That glimpse of him stayed with me for a few hours before the depression crept back in. How long could I wait before my Edward came back to me? I had considered going to him and telling him everything, but something warned me against it. I didn't think my poor heart could take it if he spurned me. I had to wait for the right time. It would present itself sooner or later I was sure of it.

Once the rest of the Cullens were in the car, Edward sped away and I was free to make my way home. I drove at a snail's pace, in no hurry to get back to an empty house. Unfortunately the ride between my house and the school wasn't a long one and soon I was pulling onto the drive.

The phone began to ring as I put my key in the door and as luck would have it my key stuck. I wrestled with the door and it flew open sending me sprawling to the floor.

"Dammit!" I cursed as my elbow collided with the bottom step. "This is not my day."

The phone was still ringing stridently. I clambered to my feet to answer. "Hello." My tone was a little harsher than I would have liked, but the day was catching up with me.

"Hey, Bella. You okay?" It was Angela.

"I'm…" I was about to say I was fine but the lie wouldn't rise to my lips. "I'm miserable," I admitted.

"Oh, what happened?"

I gave her a cliff-notes version of all that had happened that day, omitting the fact I was more upset by missing Edward than anything. She couldn't understand, and I could never tell her the truth.

"So Edward stopped you getting away on purpose?" she asked with a hint of shock. "But why would he do that?"

"Perhaps he thought he was being funny. He wasn't."

"I don't think so. Edward doesn't strike me as someone with a stellar sense of humor. He and his family always look so serious. Maybe it was just a coincidence?"

"Maybe," I said doubtfully. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. I won't be going to the dance with any of them."

"Join the club," she said with a heavy sigh.

"You could just ask him."

Angela was completely besotted with Ben, but she was wary of doing anything that could spoil their friendship. Despite my reassurances she didn't believe he felt the same way. It was obvious to me that he was just as taken with her as she was him.

"I don't know, Bella. What if he doesn't feel the same way?"

"He does."

"But what if he doesn't?"

This was all so out of my range of experience. I had known the love of my life since I was a child. There was never any faltering in my certainty of his love for me. Even now, when he wouldn't talk to me, I knew one day he would. I just had to be patient.

"Then you will at least know for sure," I said bracingly.

"That's not very comforting, Bella."

I fought my smile. It seemed no matter what I said she was determined to argue against telling him. I decided I needed to make another approach.

"Well if you don't ask him soon someone else will. Jessica was very chatty with him at lunch today. Maybe she will ask him."

Angela said a word I never thought I would have heard fall from her ladylike lips.

I chuckled. "So you better act fast."

We chatted about inconsequential things for a few more minutes and then she hung up so she could get started on her homework. I put the phone back in its cradle and sighed. If only all romantic conundrums could be fixed with a little manipulation. My love was still too busy resisting the urge to drink my blood to talk to me. You would think after two years of waiting I would be able to be patient a little longer, but I was resisting the urge to throw myself into his arms every time I saw him.

Raking an impatient hand through my hair I opened the fridge and tried to find something to cook for Charlie's dinner. I was just contemplating a package of hamburger when the phone rang again. It was Charlie telling me he was going to be late home as his deputy had called in sick, so I didn't need to make him dinner as he would get pizza at the station.

I tossed the hamburger back into the fridge and closed the door. Cooking was supposed to distract me from my crappy day. Now I was at a loss. I sank down onto a kitchen chair. The momentary lightness I had felt with Angela's call had faded, and I was back to being miserable.

I rested my elbows on the table and hid my face in my hands. I wished there was a way to talk to my Edward—the Edward of my past. He would comfort me and maybe tell me what I needed to do to bring this aloof Edward to me. The first time he had spoken to me he had saved me from drowning. Would he have ever come near me without that emergency to compel him? Would he have lurked on the periphery of my childhood, never making contact?

I needed advice and, without my Edward to ask, I had to go to the one person I could trust to guide me. My mother. Renee was not the greatest at making meals and remembering to pay bills, but she had a wealth of real life knowledge. I dialed her cell phone and waited, tapping my foot as it rang.

"Bella, honey, how are you?" I could hear the smile in her voice. "How's school? How's life in Forks. Are you sick of the rain yet?"

I smiled to myself. This was typical Renee. Jumping from one question to the next without giving me a chance to answer. I missed her so much.

"I'm good, Mom. I'm actually calling for some advice. You see there's this guy and…"

"Oooh, a guy. Tell me all about him," she said excitedly.

"Well he's in my year at school. His name is Edward, and he's the single most wonderful man I have ever met." I was a little embarrassed at the gushiness I was coming out with. I was usually a little more controlled. I realized it was because for the first time in my life it was okay for me to talk about Edward without breaking some ironclad time traveler rule. "And I am completely in love with him."

"Wow!" I could clearly picture her bemused smile at that moment. She would be excited that I had finally found a boy that interested me, but concerned that I was so besotted already when, in her mind, I had only known him for a couple of months.

"I know, but there's a problem."

"There always is when there is a man involved," she said sagely.

"I really like him, and I think he likes me, but he's so aloof. I don't know how to get him to notice me."

"Well, that's easy," she said with evident relief. "You just have to be yourself. Tell me, have you tried talking to him yet?"

I flushed. I had been doing all I could to protect him from the temptation of my scent that I had barely gone near him. "Not exactly, no."

"Then that's the first step. Find a topic that interests you both and let your dazzling personality do the rest."

I was fairly sure I didn't have a dazzling personality—my mother was biased—but she was right in one respect; I hadn't been myself around Edward. In fact, only Angela and Ben had seen the real me. I had been so focused on the differences between my Edward and the one living in the present, that I hadn't noticed the changes in myself.

"Mom, you're the best."

She laughed. "Thanks, honey. Now, tell me more about this boy…"


Edward

The day after I had intervened on Tyler's behalf I arrived at school with a sense of foreboding. Alice had a vision the night before that she wouldn't share with me, and she had been hiding her thoughts ever since. I knew she wouldn't let me go to school if she saw something like me hurting Bella, but it didn't ease my mind all that much.

My first thought when the antique truck pulled into the parking space was that there was something different about the girl. Her music was blaring from the radio and when she climbed out of the cab she walked with more confidence than was usual. Usually, she tripped and stumbled at least a few times a day. Now she walked with a distinct sashay in her hips.

Alice caught my eye and grinned at me. Have a good day.

Her comment stuck with me through the rest of the morning as I tried to prepare myself for biology when I would be in close contact with Bella again. I followed her through the thoughts of her classmates throughout the morning, searching to see if anyone else noticed the difference. The only ones that did were her closest friends, Angela and Ben. They pondered on her especially bright mood.

When she arrived in the biology classroom after lunch she gave me a wide smile as she thumped down in the seat beside me. "Hi, Edward."

It was the first time I had heard her speak my name, and I found I liked it. Something about the way she formed the simple word made my insides squirm. I pushed away those thoughts. They were not my own, I was just becoming too caught up in Alice's vision. I did not love Bella Swan.

"Are you ready?" Her voice jolted me out of my musings.

"I'm sorry, what?"

I had been so absorbed in my thoughts I had missed Mr. Banner's explanation of the lab. I searched his mind and saw that we were supposed to be sorting through slides.

"Never mind," she said, pulling the microscope over to her and checking the first slide. She jotted a note on a scrap of paper and reached for the next slide.

"Can I look?" I asked.

"In a sec," she said, not lifting her eyes from the slide.

I was a little affronted by her response. Did she think I was going to make a mistake and drag her GPA down? I resolved to show her exactly how capable I really was when she finally surrendered the microscope.

"So how do you like Forks?" I asked.

"It's great. I used to spend summers here when I was young. In a way, coming back here felt a lot like coming home."

"Why didn't you come sooner then?"

"I had to wait for the right time," she said and then bit her lip as if fearing she had said too much.

"The right time?"

"My mom has gone on the road with my stepfather so I came to live with Charlie. I couldn't come sooner as my mom needed me."

She was lying. I had no doubt her mother needed her, but that was not what she had meant.

"My sister told me about your accident," I said, hoping to catch her off guard and illicit an honest response. "She said you said something strange."

Her cheeks flamed and she refused to meet my eye. "I probably did. I was a little loopy. I had a concussion after all."

"You asked why she didn't warn you. What did you mean?"

"Haven't a clue," she said staring into the eyepiece of the microscope determinedly. "I don't remember anything of the accident. If I offended her, I apologize."

Offended? As the only communication they had ever had Alice treasured those words.

"Okay, I'm done," she said, sliding the microscope over to me. "You take a look and we'll compare notes."

Determined to show her my capability as a lab partner, I hurried through the slides, but I kept getting distracted by her. She never seemed to be still. Her hands ran through her hair, twisting strands around her fingers. Her hands drummed out rhythms on the table top, and she twisted a bracelet around her wrist.

With each action she sent a waft of her scent at me, but the longer I was exposed to her scent the easier it became. Also, watching her was wonderfully distracting. It wasn't the most reliable method of managing the temptation but, for now, it was working.

"So how did I do?" she asked when I had checked her answers against my own.

"You have them all right," I said grudgingly. She had also taken less time than I had because I'd been staring at her rather than the slides.

"Thought so," she said with satisfaction.

Mr. Banner saw that we were not working and came to our table. He saw the separate notes and frowned.

"The assignment was for you to work together."

"We did," she said innocently. "We did them separately, then compared notes. Less margin for error that way."

Stupid girl. Like she's going to find error working with Cullen. The kid is an idiot savant.

I fought the urge to snarl at him. I didn't like the scathing way he thought of her, or me.

She gave me a searching look them turned her attention to the explanation of the assignment on the board. A small smile crept across her lips and she lowered her voice. "Speaking of error, mitosis only has one 'T'."

I had noted the misspelling, too, but wouldn't have been bold enough to point it out. I turned my laugh into a cough and tried for an innocent expression as Mr. Banner turned on his heel and marched away.

She hid her wide smile behind her hand, and winked at me.

"That was very satisfying," I whispered.

"Did you see the way he was looking at us? I bet he was thinking all kinds of horrible things."

My mouth dropped open, but, before I could question her further, the bell rang signifying the end of class. She scooped her books up and smiled at me.

"See you later, Edward."

She most definitely would.


She knows something, doesn't she?

I locked eyes with Alice in the rearview mirror and nodded almost imperceptibly.

You're going to her house tonight.

I frowned. I wasn't aware that I had made plans to invade her privacy so totally.

She ran through a vision of me standing in an unfamiliar room staring open-mouthed at a sleeping Bella.

I'm there too, see. She showed me herself beside me, grinning from ear to ear.

I didn't comment, but increased our speed and pulled into the drive.

"Why would I do that?" I asked when we were alone in the garage.

"I don't know, but you will, there is nothing vague about this one, it's almost as solid as…"

She tried to show me again the image of a vampire Bella, but I pulled from her mind. I didn't want to see that again.

I stomped up to my bedroom and threw myself down on the couch covering my face with a pillow. I couldn't think of anything that would drive me to sneak into her bedroom while she was sleeping, much less what would make me take Alice along for the ride. I wouldn't do it. That was decided. I would hunt instead. I made a fixed decision to go into the park to hunt, and waited for Alice to see the altered vision. It didn't come.

"Alice," I said softly. "Look again."

She obliged and once again I saw myself in what must be Bella's bedroom. She searched back for a trigger, and an image of Bella presented itself. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, holding a photograph in her hand. Tears streamed down her cheeks, despite the fact she was smiling.

Alice focused on the photograph and what I saw made me jump to my feet and race to her side in the lounge.

She looked at me with the same uncomprehending look that I was sure was on my own face.

"How?" I gasped.

"When?"

I shook my head mutely. "I've never seen the place, and she couldn't have caught me off guard anyway, it's impossible."

"Well she got it somehow? I doubt she's been raiding Esme's albums."

"What's happened, Alice?" Jasper asked.

"Bella had a photograph," she said, the shock coloring her tone, "of Edward."


Six hours later Alice, Jasper, and I stood in the woods behind the Swan house.

I wanted to get a closer look at the photograph and to see if there were any others. It would have been more sensible, not to mention moral, to wait and talk to Bella when she was awake, but I was too impatient to wait. I had to know.

We had been lucky that Emmett and Rosalie hadn't heard our discussion and Esme had agreed to keep it from them for now. Jasper had come along to help keep Bella sleeping; if she woke while we were in her bedroom, it may result in screaming and restraining orders.

"She's asleep," Jasper said. "If we're really doing this, we should get it over with."

I scaled the side of her house and levered the window open. I slid through the gap, and stepped aside as Alice and Jasper followed me.

She was curled into a ball in the centre of the bed. One hand cupped her cheek, and the other was clutched to her chest. She looked innocent and childlike when sleeping. I felt an irrational urge to touch her hair, to see it was as silky as it looked.

Jasper elbowed me in the ribs. "You want to get on with this or are you going to stare at her some more?"

In truth, staring at her some more was a tempting idea, but I came here with a purpose. I looked around the room searching for a sign of the photograph, but I couldn't see it. I enjoyed the chance to look around her room though; it was fascinating to see how she lived.

There was a highly polished wooden chest on the bookshelf that looked promising, but as I reached for it I heard Alice gasp. Bella had shifted slightly and we could now see the photograph clutched in her hand.

"Damn," Alice hissed. "Jazz, do you think you can keep her asleep while I grab it?"

"No," I said firmly. "She's my… It's my photograph, I will get it."

I very nearly said she was my Bella. Something was happening here, and I wasn't entirely sure I liked it. I felt like I was being affected somehow, and not merely by her scent, though that was scorching my throat.

I reached for the photograph, but froze in place as she shifted again and mumbled a name.

"Edward."

My mouth dropped open. For once my mind was completely my own. Alice and Jasper's thoughts were silent as I stood staring down at her. My hand reached for her of its own volition. I had to touch her, it was impossible to fight the urge.

I heard Alice's voice, but the words were a blur to me. All that mattered was the girl in the bed.

I traced the curve of her cheek with one finger, the lightest possible touch. She leaned into it.

"Edward." Her voice was a happy sigh. "What took you so long?"

Something happened inside of me. I came into the room driven by curiosity and need for protection. I would leave it a changed man. My name on her lips, her voice in my ears, they altered me. I would never be the same again.

I loved her.


So… Bella is back to herself and Edward's made the first step to catching up with her in the love stakes. Good times.

Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, fave'ing and alerting. You guys make my day every day.

Until next time…

Simaril xxx