A/N-sorry it took me so long to write, i've hada lotta soccer stuff going on lately. Hope you like this chapter, it was hard to write;) please review, help me get better!

EPOV

"Damn it Edward, get your lazy ass out of bed!"

I groaned groggily, grabbing my pillow and pulling it over my head in an attempt to block out Emmett's impatient yelling. It was too late, I was already awake. I'd tried my hardest to keep myself from flipping over the face down frame that rested beside me on the night stand all last night. I'd distracted myself, drawn myself from this single room until I couldn't keep myself away any longer due to fatigue.

Well into the night I'd occupied myself with series of complicated exercises on the grand piano downstairs. I launched my mind into it, concentrating solely on the piece I was playing– not allowing the space to drift off into a painful reverie. Around midnight or so annoyed yells began floating down the stairs, all directed at me and the racket I was inducing. I refused to so much as pause to call back to them and inform them that stopping was most definitely not on my agenda. It wasn't too long until Esme sauntered down the stairs and pleaded with me that, despite my music was exceptionally wonderful, I should continue tomorrow and go to bed for now. I had risen from the bench and nodded curtly. Without further more of a response, I had snatched my coat and disappeared through the door.

Would you believe that a music store wouldn't be open at two in the morning?

I had driven all the way down to Port Angeles, not really sure what I was going to do. I glided around for awhile, watching the gray sky over the horizon and trying to evade my thoughts. I eventually somehow had ended up at a bar. I'd never been in one before, but it was the only place that seemed to be open at the time. I staggered in, heavy in impending weariness, and sat by the bar. Long music with too much drums, too loud guitars and lots of screaming had been playing above all of the drunken men as they harassed each other over meaningless things. I can't remember what I had ordered, all I remember is I never drank it. I just sat there, holding it, as I tried to occupy myself by trying to depict the words within the piercing music.

I found my way home around maybe seven in the morning. I was relieved to see that no one had yet awaken, with the exception of Carlisle who was already at the hospital.

"Leave him alone, Emmett." The voices were at my door now, which they had evidently opened soundlessly. Emmett and Alice, I could tell by their voices, were standing in the archway. "He had a late night."

Emmett guffawed. "Alice, it's already four in the afternoon!" I stiffened as I realized what time it was. I didn't think I'd been sleeping for that long. "Can I please just pour a bucket of water on his head?"

The sharp sound of one smacking another resounded in the sudden pause in speech. I heard Emmett whine slightly. The smile that spread across my face couldn't have been stopped.

"Go downstairs, Emmett." Alice ordered, slamming my door as she made her way down too. I wish she hadn't– the noise was loud and racked through my brain, stirring me fully into consciousness.

Groaning, I rolled from my stomach onto my back. There was no way I was going downstairs to face Esme, Emmett, Alice and the rest. I didn't want to know what they had in store for me. My eyes opened slowly, heavy from the deepness of my sleep. My room was surprisingly dark, the shades of my window lowered, blocking all light from outside. I couldn't recall closing them. My eyes traced the dark outline of my room, searching for some sort of distraction as my revelations I'd been so ignorantly putting off whirled dangerously close to my awareness. Coming up empty-handed I decided on taking a shower.

Creeping soundlessly across the threshold, I made it to the bathroom across the hall undetected. I was gracious for the alone time provided by Alice, but at the same time I wasn't sure that it was really going to help me avoid what I knew would come eventually. I took an endless amount of time brushing my teeth, messing with my impossible hair and standing under the hot shower water. Usually the warmth and serenity the shower provided me was endearing. Today it felt like no more than the mere distraction it was, hardly serving its purpose.

I gave up, shutting off the water long before it would have ran cold, and jumped out. I had nothing left to draw myself away from what I both wanted to do and dreaded. Once I was remotely dry, I wrapped the towel around my waist and trooped across the hall again to my room.

As soon as I closed the door, I pulled on the first outfit I saw and plopped down onto the corner of my bed– between my pillow and night stand. My hand tingled with an urge to stretch forward as I stared vacantly at the overturned frame.

It'd been too long. I hadn't seen her face in months– the bloodied last look I saw was still etched into the back of my mind, presenting itself whenever her name was brought to my attention. Maybe, just maybe, if I saw a picture of her when she was happy and unscathed then that horrible recollection would be drawn away. My hand flew forward and snatched the picture before I could stop it.

She looked beautiful– her long brown hair clean of blood, and flowing like silk down her back and shoulders. Her arms were cleaned of the blood from the numerous cuts the child had endured throughout her awful torture. She was well fed, her cheeks flushed, a toothy smile lighting up her face. Even I looked different, as I held the little girl in front of me. I had a smile glued to my face that didn't look fake, but real– something I really haven't seen in awhile. My cheeks, too, were flushed with sincere joy and I seemed to be glowing in bliss. I truly doubted I'd ever see myself in such a delighted state ever again.

My finger stretched out to tap the glasses that rested over the girl's fogy green eyes. My lips twitched up a little, despite the eternal pain chewing out my chest, as I remembered very clearly the story behind this picture. I could very nearly hear her soft, soprano voice again.

"I'm Mia, you know." She informed me the moment we were out of the building and behind the safety of a boulder a fair distance away. The girl had been going insane, insisting that I was going to end up cutting her again. The sudden change in her mood startled me. I debated whether to set her on the ground or to keep her in lap. The ground, due to all of her cuts, seemed like a bad idea. I leaned against the rock as the sounds of the explosion echoed throughout the seemingly empty tundra and shifted Mia into a more comfortable position.

"Who are you?"

I racked my brain, wondering if I should tell her. Mia shifted in my lap and looked up at me with her wide, foggy green eyes. She tilted her head slightly when I didn't reply. Her lips began to part as she continued to stare at me, a look of terror quickly retaking her expression.

"You . . . You really are one of them!" She screamed, struggling to push herself up from my lap. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her back down. She screeched, looking around to see if anyone would help her. "Let me go! Please, please don't cut me again!"

"Shhhh!" I warned her, putting a finger to her lips. I pulled her closer to my chest, cradling her.

"I am most definitely not going to cut you Mia." I vowed. She watched me warily. "I'm Edward Cullen. I'm one of the soldiers that's been watching over your. . . village. I wish to help you, but you have to stay quiet for now. We'll take you in and get these cuts cleaned up. No one's going to cut you anymore Mia."

Mia smiled at me in relief. "Thank you, Edward." she cooed, snuggling slightly into my chest. "Where were you before when I needed you?"

A single tear rolled down my cheek and landed with an inaudible plonk onto the glass covering the picture. Mia, she had been such a sweet and innocent girl. What in the world justified those men to torture her, to cut her like they did. I only wish I had taken a gun to their heads! I lurched forward, grabbing my bursting chest. Wrong thing to consider. . .

"I'm going to be a doctor when I grow up," Mia declared simply. I smiled at her from where she lay cradled between my arms and chest as I continued to trudge onward towards the medical tents. She pulled her head from my chest and looked up past my face, towards the sky.

"I used to help my dad out." She explained, still looking up at the clear blue sky. "He was like the doctor here before you guys came. He helped my get over my fear of blood." She shuddered in my arms.

"Well, I guess that's a good thing then," I said, referring to the bloodiness of her arms, hair and legs. She looked up at me, perplexed.

"Yes," she agreed slowly. "Is there some reason I should be glad for it now?"

I laughed. "Mia, you're covered in blood!" I reminded her, mussing with her hair slightly. She blinked, her expression still frozen with bewilderment. My hand fell from her head and I eyed her nervously. "Mia, you can see the blood on your arms, can't you?"

Her breathing sped up as her head twisted around as she held her arms in front of her face, waving them around. "I don't see anything, really," she whispered, looking up at me, terrified. "Isn't it nighttime?!"

I gasped. Her foggy eyes suddenly made more sense to me. I averted my eyes from her blind stare, unable to stand the despair waving off of the poor girls face.

"Isn't it?"

The fact that Mia's dreams had been crushed right in front of me had been pain enough. Why hadn't He noticed that? Had He just been itching to take more from me, to cause me further pain? More soundless tears slid down my cheeks and joined the one that already occupied the glass covering.

"Mia, cover your ears," I ordered as we approached the medical tent after what felt like hours later. "There's going to be a lot of unpleasant noises in here." Mia obeyed without a word, bringing her small bloodied hands to cover her pixie ears. Jasper was the first familiar face I saw. I rushed to his side, relieved that he hadn't been harmed. In my wild attempt to save Mia my best friend and brother had drifted from my mind.

"Edward!" Jasper breathed in relief. He got up from the cot he'd been sharing with a man who sat facing the opposite direction and stopped in front of me. "Who's this?"

Mia shifted in my arms as she sensed the presence of another person. I was tempted to have her remove her hands and speak to Jasper, but the moaning and cries of pain resounding throughout the tent was reason enough not to.

"Where's Emmett?" I demanded, anxiety bubbling up inside of me. Jasper glanced over his shoulder at the man that had also been on the cot with him. He had a hand over his bare muscular shoulder, blood spurting through his wide fingers. I gaped in horror.

"He got a brick in the shoulder." Jasper informed me calmly, before I had the chance to voice my question. I widened my eyes skeptically at his tranquility. He smirked slightly, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Massive lunatic's still going. He'll be fine. He claims it doesn't even hurt."

I snorted. "Good old Emmett."

Jasper glanced down at Mia meaningfully. "Who's this? What the hell happened to the poor girl?"

I shifted Mia in my arms, the warmth of her blood was beginning to seep in through my uniform. "A girl that's been tortured by the terrorists." I explained in a low voice to be sure that Mia wouldn't have a chance of catching a word. I leaned closer to Jasper. "She's blind and she's losing a lot of blood."

His eyes widened in concern. "I'll go get a doctor."

I felt the same alleviation I had that day at those words. The words that meant the Mia was going to be patched up. I knew from that very moment, when I had looked down at her anxious face again, that I was attached. That I loved Mia as if she were my own daughter. I feared what the doctor would say, that she had lost too much blood. A slight smile touched my lips as I remembered the transcendent feeling that had spread through my body when she had walked out of that tent, safe and full of color. It made me absolutely overjoyed when I saw the oversized pair of glasses that were peculiarly perched on the bridge of her nose. She wasn't blind beyond repair. Mia's dream still lived. I remembered the promise I made her that day, right before the picture was taken, as she ran into my arms.

"I'll help you do whatever it takes to become the world's greatest doctor, Mia."

She smiled heavenly at me. Twisting in my arms, she placed a soft kiss on my nose. "Thank you Edward."

The tears flowed relentlessly now, staining my face with salt and stinging my eyes. I felt the many sleepless nights catching up with me, all in one sudden blow. I rocked on the edge of my bed, dizzy. I was barely aware of it as my door swung open. My eyes snapped towards it, the rest of my body unable to move. The tears didn't cease.

"Oh, Edward, I . . ." Bella's voice caught me by surprise. The rest of my head snapped up to make out the blurry outlines of her figure, frozen in my doorway. I hung my head in shame. Nobody needed to see me like this. Two pale hands grabbed the side of my face. I looked up in alarm.

"What's wrong, Edward?" Bella asked softly, her brown eyes wide in concern. I felt my chest break in two, full of indecision.

I never had been much of a person to open up to anyone really. There was something about Bella, though. Something that was bringing me an emotion that I wasn't accustomed too.