Goodbye
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It had hurt, viscerally, when she'd shaken her head. She didn't want him to come with them.
"I'll always be here for you, Bella," Jacob said, as calmly as he could. "Whatever you need."
"Thank you Jake," she said, her voice cracking over his name.
She'd left with Carlisle, and he'd sunk into the space she'd left on the couch, head between his hands.
Carlisle had taken her back, most of the Cullens there in a somber semi-circle around Edward's body.
The other bodies were gone. Only Edward's remained.
They had laid him neatly in the centre of the bluff, and Bella wondered whose hands had done so.
"Where're Jasper? And Emmett?" she asked, close enough for her rough voice to be heard, "are they—?" she couldn't finish it, her hand at her mouth.
"No!" Alice said, "they're fine, Bella. They went—" and she looked at Carlisle, to see if he'd told her.
"They went to find Grace, and Bree," he said softly. "To keep them safe, from the Volturi," he added.
"They—?" Bella began.
"They're like us now," Alice said softly. "Jasper told them to run, and they did. We'll keep them safe."
Bella nodded, letting the words trickle into understanding. She was surprised to feel relief. At least, she thought, at least they've survived this...in some way.
The stillness of their assembly returned, and they brought their joint focus to bear on the centre of the bluff, once again.
"You can touch him, if you want, Bella," Esme said gently. "Would you like some privacy, to say goodbye?"
Bella shook her head, kneeling beside him.
"I love you," she said, "more than I could ever possibly make you understand. But I love you. That won't ever change." The tears and the shaking were returning, but there was no movement around her. "I need to say goodbye now," she managed, and put two of her fingers to her lips, and then to his.
Carlisle watched, a spasm of nerves as her touch moved Edward's head. They'd laid it close to his body, but carefully not touching the two pieces together. He remembered, all too well, the ugly creatures the Volturi had made for sport, in his time with them. The severed heads of the recently executed would be reattached to their corpses, and the frightening golems lumbered against each other mindlessly for the betting pleasure of the living dead.
He did not want to warn her, let alone explain why.
She backed away, and nodded. "I'm ready," she rasped. She knew what was coming next.
Carlisle whispered, "goodbye," and threw the lit lighter onto Edward's corpse. It took flame immediately, the cloying purple smoke rising quickly, and thick, around them.