AN: sorry this is so short and it took so long to get it up. Honestly I write whenever I have a moment to. There have just been very few of those lately. I hope you enjoy this short little blip. I promise more as soon as possible.
All characters native to Stephenie Meyer's fabulous Twilight saga solely belong to her.
A Mournful Reunion
EPOV
The flight to Seattle goes quietly and quickly. I can't believe I am once again going to see Bella, my Bella. I could not believe my ears when Alice told me that Bella needs me. How could my life have become so blessed that I might be given back the only person to ever have brought joy to my existence. My beautiful Bella.
I left Bella nearly half a century ago, I should have realized how time would have changed her. As an immortal being of course I am untouched by time, therefore I quite easily forget its effects occasionally. I wanted Bella to live a human life, to have all the divinely human experiences she so deserves. The intellectual part of me had always known she would grow old, that sorrow and even death would be a part of that life, however, the eternal seventeen year old part of me had memorialized her as eternally eighteen. I was completely unprepared for the vision that met me when I walked into the overcast cemetery.
Her scent hits me like a freight train running amuck down hill as soon as I step out of the rental limo.
She really is here. After all these years her scent still sends waves of blessedly torturous thirst through me. A large group of mourners are gathered around an open grave. From this distance the pastor's words are lost in an overpowering barrage of sniffles and sobs. No one has bothered telling me why we're meeting at the cemetery. I was left to assume that someone close to Bella has died; perhaps her husband or a very close friend. Either way my love will be mourning, and I long to bring her comfort. Two figures separate themselves from the crowd and begin walking my way. Alice is leading an older woman gently away from the other mourners, walking straight toward me.
For a moment nothing makes sense. Why would Alice be bringing this old woman to me. Could this be Renee? No surely this funeral is not Bella's! Panic grips me as I battle to maintain control of myself, fighting the urge to go rip the lid off of the coffin already lowered into the cold earth. A strong breeze flows around me bringing with it the unmistakable aroma of Bella's blood. No, she is here, alive. I cast my gaze around searching for where she could be hidden from my view. There she is no more than three feet away aged greatly, but gracefully she is still beautiful in the way that a woman whose beauty shines from the inside out irrevocably is. I open up my arms to hold her as I see tears streaming down her face. Her shaking hands reach out to meet mine as she folds her body into the protective embrace of my own.
A part of me is dying as I inhale deeply bringing her scent to fill me completely. She is still the same Bella who I loved so long ago. The same Bella who I have beat myself mentally every day for ever leaving behind. The same Bella I loved enough to sacrifice my own happiness to give her everything she should have, a family, a life. In this minute I realize I still love her, and I feel her love for me radiating from her. I also realize our love can never be the same. In her world I am a child, for her to love me would be at best considered a sin and a disgrace, at worst a crime.
Within minutes Carlisle, Esme, and a young girl are walking toward us. The few remaining mourners are filing away through the increasing rain. Holding Bella's hand in support Alice and I lead her toward them. No words are spoken as Bella leads us down a path away from the open grave.