DISCLAIMER: The characters do not belong to me…they are all the creations of the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

A Slightly Different Bella

I was straddling Edward's lap, playing with the collar of his shirt. Our family had left us nearly a half hour before, but we had yet to speak a single word to each other. "Do you really think I'll be okay?" I whispered. It was fear of his answer that made me ask it so quietly.

He smiled at me and kissed my forehead. "I think you'll be fine. I trust Carlisle's assessment."

"Do I look different?" I asked, lifting my head to see him better.

He was quite for a while as his eyes roamed my features. "A little," he replied, smiling sadly at me.

"Edward, what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that I already miss your blush and your heartbeat. I'm thinking they were a big part of my days and nights and it's a little strange to not have them." He ran his hand through my hair. "I'm thinking that your hair is a little lighter, much shinier, but still soft." He traced my jaw with one finger. "I'm thinking that your face is just as beautiful, but more defined." He leaned close to me and whispered, "But your lips are just as full and kissable as before." He closed the distance and kissed me without restraint for the first time ever.

This wasn't just a kiss. It was kissing and gasping and touching each other's faces and speaking each other's names in breathy whispers. The kiss went on for a long while since I no longer needed to breath. When it stopped, I closed my eyes and leaned heavily against Edward's chest. His arms wrapped around me and his cheek rested on my head. We sat that way, enjoying the silence, for over an hour.

"Would you like to see yourself now?" he whispered.

"Edward, I'm nervous."

"Silly, Bella. You choose the strangest things to be afraid of," he teased.

"It's not what you think. I'm…" I stopped talking and bit my lip.

Edward looked down at me and chuckled. "At least you've kept that very human trait. Tell me, Bella. Why are you nervous?"

"My eyes," I whispered. "I'm afraid that if I see them, I'll remember something very bad. I'm not sure about why I feel that way or how I know something's wrong with my eyes." I looked up into his face and his warm golden eyes showed love and understanding.

"Some of your human memories have already faded. That's to be expected. The reason you are worried about your eyes is because they will be red. I once did something very foolish and you were put into a dangerous situation with some very…different vampires."

I sat quietly, trying to understand. "I think…I went to Italy?" I asked. I could feel something hiding in my mind, but I couldn't quite reach it. I closed my eyes and tried to pull it up as if it was a picture. I saw Edward without a shirt and I ran straight to him. Something had been wrong with me, but he made it all better. There were two vampires hiding in cloaks, then a third showed up and then I had to go into a hole in the ground. There was a room with vampires, all with red eyes except for Edward and Alice. A frail looking vampire touched my hand. Edward was on the ground in pain. The girl who did that to him looked at me angrily because she couldn't do it to me. We were leaving and people, human people, came into the room. Edward ran with me down the hall, but we didn't make it. We could hear the people screaming. I was sitting with Edward, hiding under his cloak. I was happy and I loved him, but I was scared of something too.

I opened my eyes and looked at Edward's face, trying to find the rest of the missing pieces. "Bad things happened in Italy because of the vampires with red eyes. That's why I'm afraid to see mine."

He slowly nodded his head. "Alice had an idea, though. She thought you might want to use contacts, so you could have your brown eyes back. At least until yours turn golden."

"How long will that take?" I asked, twining our fingers together.

"It depends on how much animal blood you consume over time. Since you don't seem to really have a hunger, it might take you a year or more."

"I went to Italy to get you," I said, speaking to myself.

"Yes," he agreed.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. I saw us lying on a bed and talking. I saw us talking in a forest and I told him something that made him happy and he kissed me. I saw us standing near trees. Edward's face was blank and he turned away from me. I knew these images weren't in the right order. I focused harder. The one of Edward turning away was the first. The others were after Italy.

"Why do you keep closing your eyes that way, Bella?" he asked.

"Because when I do, I see little pictures of things, little pieces of my memories."

"What do you see right now?"

"I see you leaving and then I see us talking on a bed. And then I see us standing among trees and I've said something that makes you really happy and you kiss me."

"Anything else?"

I closed my eyes tighter as I dug through my mind. "We got married!" I shouted. "You were beautiful in your tux," I sighed. "We talked about something very serious. You were afraid and I was aggravated by something you said." I stopped talking as things fell into place. I could almost hear the click as the pictures fitted against each other and made up my memory.

I opened my eyes and smiled at Edward. "You left and I went to get you. I was worried you didn't love me, but you came home and stayed with me. You made me your wife. You confided in me that you worried I would regret having you make me your equal. You said you were afraid the Volturri would come and I would leave with them. I told you how I love you too much and need you too much to be away from you." I touched his cheek with my hand. I noticed that he no longer felt cold to me. "I still feel that way, Edward." I got up off the bed and took his hand in mine, pulling him towards the bathroom. "I still love you too much to be away for even a second."

He let me pull him into the bathroom, his crooked smile firmly in place. I was walking backwards without any trouble at all. It was exhilarating. I smiled brightly and he lifted his eyebrows, questioning me silently. I let go of his hand and turned on the shower. I reached behind him and closed the bathroom door, turning the lock. I turned toward him with a wicked grin. He was sitting on the edge of the countertop, watching me.

I walked over to him and stood between his legs. I grabbed his shirt and yanked it off. He was a little shocked, but quickly composed himself and smiled at me. I crossed my arms and gripped the bottom of my own shirt. I slowly pulled it up and over my head, tossing it near his. I found that I was a lot more confident as Vampire Bella. I reached back and unclasped my bra, letting it slide off my shoulders and onto the floor.

Edward's eyes were dark with desire as he watched my little show. I grabbed his hand and pulled until he was standing. I pressed myself against him as I grabbed his pants, easily getting them off and down around his ankles. His boxers were a little more difficult since a rather large and hard part of him got in the way, but I finally managed. I kissed his chin before stepping away. I quickly removed my own pants and then my underwear. I stepped back into the shower and wiggled my finger at him.

He let out a low growl as he quickly stepped out of his clothing and followed me into the shower. I watched the water turn his bronze hair a deep copper color. With my new eyesight, I could make out all the tiny droplets on his lashes. He was so beautiful and I found myself forgetting to breathe, again. We stood under the spray, staring at each other for a long moment. He slowly reached out a hand to me, as if he was still afraid of breaking me. He cupped my chin and tilted my face toward his.

When his lips touched mine, I felt like an electric current was running through me. It felt very familiar and I focused on it, trying to place it. Suddenly, every memory I had from the day I met Edward, flooded into my mind. I broke the kiss and grabbed my head, trying to make the memories slow down. I felt Edward pull me against him as a high pitched whine sounded in my ears. I tried to take a calming breath and realized I was the one making that noise. I forced myself to relax as much as possible, melting further into Edward's embrace. The memories slowed some, allowing me to stop making that awful sound. It didn't take long for nearly two years worth of memories to settle back into place.

I opened my eyes to see Edward's panicked ones, searching my body for the cause of my distress. I felt tired and weighed down. "Edward." I had tried to make my voice sound strong for him, but I wasn't able to speak above a whisper.

"Bella," he cried. "What's wrong? What can I do?"

"I need you to dry me off and dress me. And I need you to bring that cup. I'll be able to tell you more after I've had something to drink."

Edward nodded his head, his lips pressed into a thin white line. He scooped me up and set me on the counter, holding me in a sitting position as he dried me. He leaned me back against the mirror and ran into his room. He came back, slipping one of his t-shirts over me. He gently lifted me and carried me to the bed, sitting me up against the headboard. He pulled the covers over my legs and tucked them around my sides. He kissed my forehead and rushed from the room.

He soon returned with the cup. He sat next to me and held it for me, tipping my head back to help me drink. I still didn't like the smell or taste, but I knew it was important to drink it all. He took the cup away as soon as I drank the last sip. I leaned my head all the way back and closed my eyes. He took my hand and rubbed small circles into my palm.

I could remember everything from the moment I first saw him in the cafeteria. I had a much clearer idea of who I was and why I loved him so very much. It was nice to be able to have this, but I knew it wasn't normal. It would be one more thing for Carlisle to ponder over.

I lifted my head, opening my eyes and focusing on my husband's tense face. "I'm okay."

He kissed me softly on the lips. "What happened?"

I took a steadying breath and grabbed his hand tighter. He winced slightly and I smiled. "That's going to take some getting used to."

He chuckled and nodded his head in agreement. "I wish I could hear what you're thinking. Part of me hoped changing you would open up that beautiful mind of yours."

"No luck?" I asked.

"None," he admitted.

"It might be a good thing. If you could read my mind, you might be in worse shape than me at the moment."

"I don't understand."

I laughed. "Now you know how it feels!" I teased. I took another unnecessary breath and looked at Edward again. "When you kissed me before, I felt this kind of electric shock. It felt familiar to me so I tried to remember it. Instead of getting that memory back, I got all of them back, at least all the ones since I first saw you. That many at once was too much for me and I tried to slow them down by being really still. It helped a little, but not much. When they stopped, I felt too weak to move. I wasn't thirsty, but I knew that if I drank the cup, I wouldn't feel so weak anymore."

"You'll need to tell Carlisle about this."

I nodded my head.

"You scared me, Bella."

"Well that wasn't what I was going for!" I teased, winking at him.

The tension left his body as he laughed. He moved us so that I was cradled on his lap. He kissed the top of my head and hugged me tightly. "I love you."

"I love you too," I said, kissing his chest. I noticed for the first time that he had put his jeans back on somewhere between drying me and getting me to the bed. "We should probably find Carlisle."

"Would you like me to call him up?"

"No. I would rather you carry me downstairs and we tell everyone together. I don't want to have to repeat this again." He stood up, holding me tightly. "Um…Edward? Might I suggest you add some pants to my wardrobe before we leave the room?" He chuckled at me and kissed my head as he set me down on the bed again. He ran into his closet and came back out with his flannel pajama pants. "Those will never fit me," I said.

"I know," he said, grinning wickedly at me. "It will make them all the easier to remove when you're feeling ready to pick up where we left off."

"What a bad boy you are, Mister Cullen!" I teased. I let him slide the pants on me and giggled as he struggled to pull the string tight enough to keep them on my hips. I let him kiss me a little before pulling away. "Let's go have a chat with our family. We'll finish this later, Husband."

"As you wish, Wife," he replied, scooping me up into his arms once again.