Attracted by an unfathomable unseen force Bella's gaze slowly elevated from Edward's deceased body to where his essence remained. Even for someone who could be described as a ghost, the emotions that followed were startling for all sense of self disappeared, consumed by the threads that linked him to Bella. The tiny little filaments running back and forth between them simmered and shinned telling the forbidden story of what wasn't meant to be. Instead of pulling away in dread, he came closer, fascinated by the beauty of what was being displayed to him—Bella's soul.
Age had changed her personality, of course, but the very core that constitutes a person is unchangeable—her soul was still as beautiful as it had always been. That's what had always been her most attractive trait—not the amazing body she hid underneath hideous clothes, or the witty mind gained from the reading of many books, but her compassion, her ability to love, her strength of character.
Still, he always walked away from her … His soul cried in despair, shouting a mantra whose words Edward wasn't ready to understand. A great truth struggled to come to light, but a doomed man always struggles until his very last breath before he accepts the guilty for his own fate. Edward was no different, despite the promise recently made to Bella.
Their connection was quick and it was endless; it lasted for a moment and for an eternity … But it was cut short by the presence of another visitor, the only person to whom Edward had told the story of Bella.
Edward felt relief.
And he felt rage.