A/N: Soooooo...any of you still with me? I could apologize and throw myself at your feet and beg for forgiveness and mercy for taking...what, a year to update this story...but...who wants to just go and read the new chapter? That's what I thought. Many thanks, hugs, and cups of coffee go to yagalinus0420...her note is right below mine. I hope you enjoy! Read and review...

B/N: Yes yes yes...a new chapter! You are very welcome! I challenge our lovely Ausha and push her mental buttons to write new chapters...ya'll get to reap the rewards of my hard labor (j/k...LOL)! Enjoy and tell us how much you love us!

EPOV

With a little more than 3 weeks before Alice and Jasper's wedding, I was feeling increasingly happy that work had moved so quickly. The bottom floor of the house needed little renovation. We had updated the kitchen and set up a few simple rooms for overnight staff.

The bungalows towards the back of the property were simple and stunning. Each had two bedrooms; one with an en suite bathroom. The bungalows also had small kitchenettes, fireplaces, and views of the ocean. The exterior of each bungalow was very similar, but held subtle differences.

What I liked most about them were the trellises' along the exterior walls that already had ivy growing up and climbing skyward. Then there were the chimneys. They were prefabricated, but looked pieced together from all different stones in varying shapes and sizes.

I was taking in my surroundings when I heard my mother call out for me. I turned and saw her carrying a large box. I ran inside and took the box from her arms.

"Oh sweetie, thank you," she said as she patted my cheek.

"Obviously I brought lunch for an army; though it looks like we're the only ones here."

I sighed, "Everyone should be back within the hour," I replied and looked a little disappointed; my mom truly enjoyed taking care of others.

"Hey," I said brightly. "You can have lunch with your favorite son." I added a sarcastic smile.

My mother's eyes were sympathetic for a moment before I saw the humor flash through them.

"Edward, you're my only son…you're my favorite by default." We laughed as I led her to the kitchen. Mom was loading the extra food into the fridge when I had an idea.

"I'll call Bella. She's usually here by now." I stated simply as I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

"Edward, don't call Bella yet." Mom said quietly. "Let's talk first." She gathered her sandwich and some salad on a paper plate and walked to sit at the counter.

I copied her moves and grabbed two bottles of water for us. I didn't like this…whatever this was.

"What's going on, Mom?" I asked softly. I took a bite of my sandwich, just to have something to do.

She sighed and took a sip of her water before she began. "Bella came by the house today. She didn't intend to…she just ran there while on her morning jog." She quickly took a bite of her salad.

My mom looked…I don't know, lost or sad. I couldn't quite place it. I didn't understand.

"Is there a problem with Bella stopping by?" I asked. I couldn't imagine that there was. My parents loved Bella like she was their own daughter.

"No of course not. It's just that we talked, and I'm a little concerned." She said as she gingerly bit into her sandwich.

"What did you two talk about? The Inn or her family? Did you talk about Anabelle? Because we haven't heard anything out of her for a little while." I sighed. We really were grateful that Anabelle seemed to lay low for awhile. Bella was sleeping again and she began to look a little more like herself.

I had started to get concerned when I realized that she hadn't been sleeping more than an hour at the most at night. Then there were the weird dreams. She would doze off and start talking in her sleep, about Anabelle or Anthony. Sometimes she would be reciting diary entries. With her lack of sleep, and what I feared was a serious slip in her sanity, she started to look pale and worn out. She had lost weight; I could see it in her face especially.

Then one morning I woke up and she was still sound asleep in my arms. That continued for a week straight. She stopped focusing so much on the diary, and started living a little bit more. My Bella was finally coming back to me; to all of us.

"Edward, are you listening?" my mom asked sharply. I shook my head.

"Sorry Mom. I was just thinking. What were you saying?" I asked intently.

She smiled as she shook her head. "I'm worried about Bella. She asked me about her parents and she told me she wants to go out to the island." She sat wringing her hands.

She told me about finally coming clean about Bella's parents and how there was never really a scandal, that Charlie really was just trying to protect himself and his family.

I could actually understand why Bella would want to go out to the island. Her parents sadly died there. It was the last place they were. I could imagine she just wanted some closure.

"Mom, I know Renee and Charlie passed away several years ago; and maybe she should have gained closure for their deaths…" I paused, trying to find the right words. "Maybe because of the way they died, and the fact that we buried empty coffins…I don't know, Mom."

"I don't like it Edward. I love Isabella as if she were my own daughter. I don't see how going there would help. Besides, we're coming up on storm season. What if something happened to her Edward?" my mother was starting to sound a little hysterical.

"Mom, I'll talk to her. Maybe I can talk her out of going. But we both know how stubborn she is." I cautioned before I took another bite of my sandwich.

We were silent for a while and just when I was about to tell my mom that I was going to head home and talk to Bella, she asked me a question that I never expected.

"Edward, do you believe in reincarnation?" she asked quietly. I sat still for a few moments. Of course the idea had popped into my head before, mostly in college when I was questioning everything. Did we live these lives on earth, just to be sent back cosmically in another form?

"I'm not sure Mom, why?" I asked before committing to an answer. She sighed and pulled on the ends of her hair.

"I was just thinking about what Anabelle has said to Bella. 'Find my words'; Bella found the diary." She stated simply. I nodded, wondering where this was going.

"Then she told Bella that she was her…one of her line, right?" she asked for confirmation.

"Yeah, she said something like 'I am you, for you are mine; another woman of my line'. We always just assumed that she said that because Bella's the last of her line so far." I said; my brows furrowed. "What are you thinking?"

My mother stood up and started clearing her trash.

"What if, and just bear with me here…but what if Bella is Anabelle reincarnated?" she asked. "What if Bella just has to find her true love and acknowledge it? What if that's how Anabelle finds her rest?"

"Mom, you don't seriously believe that do you?" I asked incredulously. "If that's the case, we just have to find Bella's true love. I'll step away from her and let her be with some other guy." I huffed as I picked up my trash and deposited it into the trash can.

"Edward, son. I can't imagine anyone better suited for Bella than you, and vice versa. I'm not saying you should give her up." My mother soothed me as I stared out of the window.

"Edward, what if you were Anthony in a previous life? Not thinking you were worthy of Anabelle's love; so you went off to find your fortune. But you never came back, and she waited her entire life. What if you and Bella are them?" She looked up at me in wonder. I actually was beginning to think my mom was losing it. She had romanticized this idea for far too long.

"Look Mom, I get what you're saying, I really do." I sighed as I ran my hands through my hair. "But that seems far fetched...and completely plausible all at the same time." I said as everything clicked into place.

"There's just one problem." I told her as I took a swig of my water. "Bella and I are together. We're not waiting for each other anymore."

My mother's eyes looked lost for a moment; I was pretty sure I saw her blinking away tears.

"You may be together now Edward, but I have a feeling both of you are still waiting for each other."

I dwelled on my mother's words well after she left.

Maybe Bella and I had made a mistake jumping back into our relationship. Maybe we both needed time and space and time to realize we really needed and wanted each other.

A few hours later as I made my way home, my head was filled with dark thoughts and my heart was heavy.

I found Bella sitting at the dining room table pouring over paperwork. I saw her smile brightly as I approached the table.

"Hi! How was your day?" she asked as she stood to move towards me.

I shrugged. All the thoughts swirling in my head had apparently made me incapable of speaking.

"I made some dinner; it's almost done." she said, gesturing to the oven. I nodded and pulled her into my arms.

I breathed in her scent and nuzzled my nose into her hair. I felt her arms wrap around me and squeeze me slightly.

"Edward?" she asked as she pulled from me just enough to look up at me.

Her deep brown eyes were searching mine and I sighed.

I could lose myself in those eyes. I shook my head and pulled her to me again.

"I'm scared." I stated simply. I felt her shudder against me and heard her sharp intake of air.

"I am too." She replied quietly.

With that simple admission from her all my fears dissipated and I felt that we both were right where we supposed to be.

"I'm so worried about everything Bella." I said as I finally released her. "What if we never get to the bottom of this?" I asked as I sat down at the table. I knew without even looking at the papers that she was going over the journal again.

"Edward, I didn't come back here with the intention of getting wrapped up in my family legend, or opening the inn. I didn't even come back here with the intention of seeing you." she said quietly as she moved to the oven.

"You didn't know I was here." I reminded her with a smile.

"Even if you weren't...the memory of you was." she said as she used the mitts to pull the pan out of the oven.

I let the silence hang between us as she pulled plates and silverware out for us.

"Mom said you saw her today." I said cautiously, suddenly unsure if I would be breaking a confidence between the two most important women in my life.

"Yeah, I ended up there." she confirmed.

I ran a hand through my hair and looked hard at Bella while her back was to me. I knew her so well, even if we had been separated for years. I could still read her like the back of my hand.

She wanted to talk about something or ask for something.

In my heart, I knew there was no way I could say no to her, no matter what it might be.

"Go wash your hands, then we can eat." She said quietly as she dished up dinner on both of our plates.

I opted to use my bathroom instead of the kitchen sink to clean up. I took that time to collect my thoughts.

My mother's words echoed in my head. Did she really think that Bella and I were still waiting for the other? How could that be? We lived together and we shared my bed every night.

I loved her and had told her so; Bella professed her love for me, even after all these years.

My mind raced as I considered the possibilities before us. Was Bella really Anabelle reincarnated? And if so, could I be her Anthony?

I dried my hands as I thought of the long lost and long dead lovers.

Anthony had left to bring back a better life for Anabelle. He left her alone for so long. He denied her the one thing she really wanted; himself.

Could I ever deny Bella anything? I didn't think it was possible.

I walked back out to the kitchen to see Bella sitting at the table, obviously waiting for me.

"Thank you for dinner. It smells great!" I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.

Bella blushed and mumbled a thank you before she took a small bite.

I looked upon her as she sat eating and I couldn't think of a single reason I would ever say no to her, or could deny her.

"Edward...I-I want you to take me out to Swan's Neck." She stuttered slightly and my fork fell out of my hand. "I want to see where my parents died." She said finally.

Out of all the things I could give her in this world...she requested of me the one thing I knew in my heart I could never fulfill.

"Of course." I said before I could stop myself. She beamed at me and began to chatter away about making plans for as soon as possible.

My jaw was clenched and I wanted more than anything to tell her that I couldn't go back out there. That when I had gone to get my own closure for her parent's death, I had seen something I never explained to anyone.

I made it through dinner making non-committal sounds while Bella rambled on about going out to the island.

I offered to clean up afterwards and Bella went to take a bath.

I picked up our dishes and put them in the sink. The memory came back to me easily and I gripped the counter to steady myself.

I hadn't spoken to anyone about this...this was nothing; just a dream I had after Bella moved back home.

I had thought that it was a dream at first, but the more I had the dream, the more it felt like a memory. I couldn't understand how it was possible.

The dream or the memory was always the same; I would be walking up the drive to Bella's house and I would see her on the walk looking down to me. She would disappear and I always felt like she didn't want me there, until she comes running out of the house and into my arms.

Except it's never Bella but her great-grandmother, Anabelle.

She realizes that I'm not him.

I try to explain to her that Anthony came back for her, but she doesn't believe me...can't believe me.

She never uses my name...or Anthony's, even though I call her by her given name.

I sucked in a deep, shuddering breath when I realized what had happened.

I had been having these dreams since Bella returned home, and even though I was worried about her and having her own visions and dreams; I had ignored my own.

I finished cleaning up the kitchen and stepped out onto the back deck and looked out at the star studded sky. One thing continued to worm its way into the forefront of my mind about these dreams:

She always told me I wasn't him.

I always assumed that she meant I wasn't Anthony, but what if she meant I wasn't the one for Bella.

We had both had the same vision of Anabelle telling Bella that as soon as she found her true love, Anthony and Anabelle would be restored to each other and be put to rest.

So, if I wasn't the one for Bella then we were just putting ourselves through pain and suffering for an end that would never come.

Bella would continue to be plagued by dreams and visions of her ancestor begging for Bella to set things right. Anabelle and Anthony would never be reunited in spirit.

I would continue to be cursed with visions of Anabelle telling me that I wasn't the one.

I couldn't take Bella out to the Swan's Neck; the beginning of my visions started there.

I saw Anthony. Without even speaking to the specter, I knew it was him.

I couldn't go back there and know that I wasn't the one; that I was just failing at yet something else.

I couldn't be there for Bella after her parents died. I couldn't make it in the big city doing the one thing I had wanted for years.

I could be Bella's true love and break this curse. I couldn't be the one to love Bella the way that Anabelle and Anthony loved each other.

With me in the way, Bella would be plagued with dreams and visions continuously; Anabelle would continue her haunting.

Whatever happened, I would never be the one to take Bella out there.

I knew I had to do something; something to break this pattern. I loved Bella so much, but she didn't deserve this torture.

I turned back to the house and closed the doors behind me. I went to the bathroom where Bella was climbing out of the tub.

"Edward, are you alright?" she asked me as she wrapped a towel around her.

I nodded as I wrapped my arms around her and hoisted her up bridal style. She giggled as she went weightless in my arms.

I laid her on the bed and hovered over her form, staring into her eyes.

I had to do something to end her suffering; both Anabelle's and Bella's. There had to be a way to remove myself from the bigger picture.

As I began to kiss Bella from her lips and slowly moving down, I realized what I would have to do.

I would have to leave Captain's Cliff.

And I would never come back.