Chapter Twenty Five

"Isabella. Bella, wake up."

Blearily, I opened my eyes, only to be met with harsh sunlight. Quickly, I closed them, waiting. For what, though, I wasn't quite sure.

Instead, I simply stayed where I was. I was lying on my back – when did I lie down? Concentrating on my senses, I felt the warm sun on my face, the soft grass underneath my fingertips, and the wind blowing my hair around my face.

I could hear a stream gurgling nearby and the sound of the wind gently blowing over me and through the trees. But that was all. Wait a second, who had said that? It hadn't been anyone's voice I knew; not Edward's or Alice's or my father's. It had sounded like … my voice.

I opened my eyes, the sun not so blinding this time. Quickly, I sat up, only to find myself sitting across from a woman.

This woman was wearing a white summer dress, one that I realised was exactly the same to what I was wearing. Her feet were bare and her hair was left out; it was the exact same length and colour as mine. And her eyes were exactly the same shape and size as mine. She was – I realised – me.

"Who are you?" I asked, my voice shaky. "Where am I?"

"Isn't it obvious?" the woman – me – replied. "Who does it look like I am? Look around you. Where do you think you are?"

I looked around, questions burning in my mind. However, my questions were almost forgotten when I realised where I was.

"I'm at … Edward's meadow," I said disbelievingly. "But … how? And," I turned back to her, "you can't really be me, can you?"

"Of course I am. I can prove it to you, Bella. Your name is Isabella Swan, you moved to Arcenciel Islands because your father, Charlie Swan, Chief of Law Enforcement, found you a job which happened to be being assistant to the Crown Prince, namely Edward Cullen who you're engaged to. Also, you're writing a book about a boy and a girl where the boy is a–"

"Alright! I believe you," I said quickly, my voice reverberating around me. "Now, why am I here?"

She smiled sadly at me. "Can you remember nothing?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." I racked my brains hard, trying to remember everything that had happened recently. I came up blank.

Why was I here? What had happened? By the sounds of it, something bad. But everything had been going fine recently, hadn't it? Surprisingly, most of my family had turned up and I was as happy as ever. Nothing, no one, had been disturbing that happiness.

Isabella stood up, walking around the meadow in a circle, her fingertips drifting over the tree trunks. She seemed to be deep in thought.

"I don't know if you want to know. If you knew … I don't know how you'd take it."

"Take a guess. You're me after all."

She paused, before continuing to walk slowly around. "You honestly remember nothing. I'm not surprised, it's the body's natural response to block painful memories when they happen. Then again, you've always been good at blocking painful memories, haven't you?"

"Please," I said, "tell me."

She sighed, stopped walking. "Remember back to the most recent night of your life. Close your eyes, picture it. You're outside the palace hall, on the balcony. Edward's just left you to go talk to some president or something. And remember."

I close my eyes, and a few moments later, it all came back to me.

I gasped and opened my eyes, my breathing heavy and laboured as a stared at the ground, my hair fanning around my face.

"Now do you remember?"

~:~:~

"Dammit! Why isn't she waking up?"

"Edward, calm down."

"Calm down? How can I calm down when my fiancée is lying in that goddamn bed still as a freaking statue? Tell me, Alice, how?" I shouted at my sister.

"Edward, you need to stop shouting like that," Jasper tried to say over me.

"Why?" I turned on him. "Why should I when she can't even hear me?"

I didn't wait for an answer, instead collapsing back onto the seat next to Bella's hospital bed. It was the same seat I had sat in for the past two days. I had only ever left when one of my family members decided I needed to get some fresh air, otherwise, I stayed by her side.

Bella's room had seen nonstop activity. A wave of people were always coming in and out. Among them were Bella's own family and mine, when they could be around.

I hadn't slept for what seemed like years. I didn't need sleep. All I needed was for her to wake up. All day long I had kept my mantra besides her bed, all day long. Every second of every minute.

"I know you're upset Edward–"

"Upset?" I laughed bitterly. "Upset doesn't cover even half of what I'm feeling right now, Alice."

"–but everyone is as well. We've all been by what happened. But you seriously need to stop acting like this," she said, placing her small hand on my shoulder. "When Bella wakes up, she'll need you to be there for her, for you to be strong. She won't get over this if you keep acting like you are."

"How can you be so sure she'll wake up?" I asked her, my eyes searching hers for reassurance. Something I need desperately.

"Because she has to," my sister replied firmly, strongly. "There's too much here for her not to come back. She's a daughter, a cousin, a best friend, and your…"

"Soul mate," I whispered.

Alice nodded, her eyes wide and sorrowful.

"I'm sure she'll wake up. I have a feeling."

"Thank you Alice. Thank you," I murmured. "Would you mind if you left me here alone for a little while?"

She nodded again before walking out the door. Jasper also left after he had placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.

I turned back to Bella. Her face was smooth and her breathing slow and steady. She really looked like she could be asleep, in a peaceful slumber. But I wondered what sort of nightmares she was really having in her mind, what horrible events she was being forced to remember.

I leaned forward, gently brushing a piece of her hair off her face.

"Bella," I whispered into her ear. "I know you can hear me. Please, come back to me. I need you. Our family needs you. Your parents, your cousin, my family, your friends. Me. I love you so much, please come back. I'm not going to lie, it's going to be hard, but we'll make it through. As long as I know that you still love me, we can get through it. I've never stopped loving you, never will. Please come back."

I hesitated, a ridiculous thought having come into my mind. You saw it in all the old fairytale movies, but I doubted whether it actually worked. But what did I have to lose?

Leaning even closer, I gently pressed my lips to hers, whispering against them, "I love you. Please."

~:~:~

"I … remember," I whispered. "But … how? How did it happen?"

Despite my desperate attempt to restrain them, memories were flowing thick and fast through my mind. Edward leaving me to go talk to someone … standing outside on the balcony alone … hearing that chilling voice…

After that, however, my mind went blank. I had no idea what had become of me and I was no closer to figuring out why I was here.

"Why am I here? Where is here exactly?" I asked aloud, looking up at Isabella.

She sighed, as if resigned to tell me.

"You're in your mind," she started, not very helpfully I might add. "Have you heard of people going into a coma because of some traumatic event and staying locked up in their minds?"

"I only thought that happened in books."

"This is no book, Bella. After what happened to you, Edward found you and bought you to safety. However, your body went into lockdown as a response to the stress, and here you are. Apart from that, I know nothing else."

I looked around the meadow, thinking carefully.

"It's because of what happened, you say. That I'm in shock." She nodded. "But … I'm sane, aren't I? Right now."

"Now you might be, but believe me, when you get back to the real world, you're going to have a hard time. Of course … only if you want to go back, that is."

"What are you saying?" I asked, surprised. "Why would I not want to go back?"

"Well, sometimes people don't want to go back."

I shook my head; that was an impossible thought. To live my life without my family or my friends – without Edward – was in impossibility.

"That's what I thought," she said softly. "Come on, I have something to show you."

"Where are we going?" I asked as I stood up and followed her. Isabella didn't say anything, she just walked into the surrounding forest. Quickly, I followed her, finding her standing by a river.

I opened my mouth to say something but she shook her head, waving her hand at the river.

Curious, I slowly knelt by the bank on my knees, looking onto the reflection, my hair trailing the surface of the water. The water continued to flow but the gradually the reflections on the surface changed, images melding and twisting into one.

The number of images was to say … mind blowing. Things I'd seen, things I'd dreamed of, and things I'd never even contemplated. But I saw everything so clearly; joy, happiness, sorrow, anger, but most of all, love.

"There's more," Isabella murmured from behind me just as I thought the images were beginning to slow down.

Suddenly, I saw him. His hair was even more dishevelled and his eyes had bags under them, as if he had gotten none or little sleep. But he was still my Edward.

"Bella," he whispered into my ear. "I know you can hear me. Please, come back to me. I need you. Our family needs you. Your parents, your cousin, my family, your friends. Me. I love you so much, please come back. I'm not going to lie, it's going to be hard, but we'll make it through. As long as I know that you still love me, we can get through it. I've never stopped loving you, never will. Please come back."

"Edward," I breathed, leaning even more forward. However, my nose touched the surface of the river and in an instant, the picture disappeared.

"What?!" I whipped around to look at Isabella, alarmed and panicked. I wanted him back. I hadn't noticed it before, but I was literally aching for him. A part of me wanted to jump into the water, convinced that he was there.

"I need to go back."

"What did you see?" Isabella asked calmly.

"Lots of things. I saw my friends, my family, Edward … I saw children," I said, quite surprised with what I was saying. I didn't think I had ever felt this urge within me, to have child. And suddenly, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world.

"Well then," she smiled, "I guess you've got to go back then."

I nodded.

"It'll be hard," she warned.

"I know that. But I'm willing to give it a shot. Anything, so long as I get back."

"Close your eyes then," she said, smiling.

I close them, focusing on my breathing and willing myself with all my might to go back to Edward. The sounds and sensation of the wind whirl around me and I feel as if I'm travelling through space and time itself. In the distance, I hear my voice, ever so soft.

"Be strong, Bella. You have to do this. Not for yourself, but for everyone around you."

I will be strong.

"I love you."

I love you too.

"Please."

You don't have to ask any more, Edward.

I love you.