Surprise! It's the epilogue! This was inspired by two comments I received. If that doesn't encourage you to leave your thoughts on fics, I don't know what will.

Undertow was nominated for best fic completed in May 2022, but I'm fairly certain adding these epilogues will disqualify me. Oh well. As they say, it was an honor just to be nominated.

B-POV

I nestled deeper into the small, familiar outcropping of rock. The place where I hid from my sisters as a child, where I tucked away after any particularly bad days at school, and where I cried when Edward broke up with me.

Coral blossomed around me, bright and colorful as the flowers Edward had given me, that were now dying in a glass vase on his bedside table. I poked one and watched the tiny, tentacle-like arms fold in on themselves. The flowers didn't do that. But, because they were a gift from Edward, I loved them more. A brave octopus ventured into my hiding spot. I scratched its bottom, like a human would a cat, careful to avoid its beak. Satisfied with what it found, the octopus settled on the rock next to me and slowly blended into the coloring before my eyes.

I sighed, wishing I could be with Edward. Not up on land, but in the water. He always talked about being a part of my world, enough to look up the cost of scuba classes. In one of the mermaid movies Alice made me watch, a mermaid's kiss protected a human from drowning. I wished my kiss had that power, instead of what I had. Then, Edward could be down here with me. And my new octopus friend whose name I decided was Freckles.

At the thought of my kiss, I brought my fingers up to my lips, which held a power I never knew I wielded. When my sisters first warned me of our gift, I was horrified. Edward's love was all I wanted since the first moment we exchanged words. It was the only desire I would have wished into existence. The thought that the most important thing to me could be merely superficial shattered me. I couldn't bear to believe such a thing, so I chose not to. I did not heed any warning from my sisters. Instead, I went crazy saving Edward from a threat that didn't exist.

Because I had been the real threat all along. Just as I feared.

Edward had every right to break up with me, but that didn't make our separation any less painful. I missed him every moment of every day, swimming great distances recklessly, until my new sisters intercepted me. They calmed me and welcomed me into their small family. It was with them that I learned Edward's love could have been real, and there was a chance that we could be together.

I didn't think he'd want me back. Especially since the key to making our relationship work was going to be direct communication and honesty, while I'd spent our entire relationship evasive and dishonest.

Not only did Edward miraculously take me back, but he learned his love for me was true. He had given me his heart long before I could steal it. I could feel it in me, as if his beat beside my own.

It was sacred to me.

And I planned to keep it safe.

From everyone who could harm it.

Too many variables tricked poor Edward into believing a lie, perpetuated by my sisters. My sisters had already paid for the role they played. We fought viciously, until the bloody waters called the attention of too many sharks, forcing us to split up. But the humans involved continued, unaffected by Edward's pain Edward was perfectly fine with ignoring them all. I understood where he came from, I really did. He preferred to leave the whole ordeal in the past and move past it.

I just couldn't.

Lauren had told him a petty lie. Then, left him believing her lie to later set him up with her useless friend, Jessica. James was a constant threat, allowing Edward to truly believe that I had killed him and hid the information, deeming me a liar and a killer.

Because of those three humans, Edward had suffered from soul-crushing loneliness for months. His pain wasn't something I could simply ignore and leave in the past.

I peeked out of my spot to look for lazy fishermen or enthusiastic tourists. Finding none, I squeezed through the small crack in the rock and used the rock as leverage to get my tail out. I received a few minor scrapes from the rock, but those would all heal by the time I returned to California.

My hiding spot was off the coast of Mexico. My sisters and I were fluent in Spanish, as well as a plethora of other languages, and after a few days of discreetly sitting among locals some years ago, I was able to learn the name of the small fishing town. When I looked it up in an Atlas at the library, I discovered it was three hundred miles from my beach with Edward. It would take several hours to swim back, but Edward was at work, leaving me plenty of time to do what needed to be done.

Edward would lose his mind if he found out I traveled all this way. His concern for me was sweet, but unnecessary. I swam greater distances than that for safe spaces to hide and hunt and sleep when I was a guppy.

Safe from sight, I shot through the water like a missile. Faster than any shark or sea lion or squid—and I had tested them all over the years. The glory of swimming through the ocean had never dulled over the years. I attempted to share the experience with Edward once and nearly drowned him. Again, I longed for a kiss with a different gift. My swim back to California was an easy one. I utilized the natural currents of the ocean to push me faster. I burst through a dense school of fish like a plane through a cloud. The only creature I encountered bigger than me was a friendly whale, and she stayed a distant shape.

After stopping for a quick bite to eat, I emerged on the shore of the beach Edward referred to as ours. Once my tail dried, I stood on shaky legs. I supposed my kind was never meant to stay on our legs for a prolonged time because I was never able to maintain my balance no matter how hard I tried.

Edward found it endearing. I found it embarrassing.

I stumbled over to my truck and pulled on one of the clean dresses I kept folded in the passenger seat. It took me a bit too long to find my keys. Edward would have scolded me for carelessly throwing them in the bed of the truck in the first place. Eventually, I had them back where they belonged in the ignition and began the long drive back towards LA.

It took several weeks, but I learned the patterns of my victims. I had already taken care of both James and Jessica, saving the worst for last.

Like she did every weekday between the hours of noon to two, Lauren tanned by the pool of the clubhouse her family belonged to. I was able to get inside, despite not having a membership, by simply signing to the doorman. He didn't want to deal with me or whatever he assumed was wrong with me and ushered me inside. Sometimes, being overlooked and unwanted had its benefits.

I waited in the lounge until Lauren came into the clubhouse to change out of her hot pink bikini and back into her clothes. She stopped when she saw me settled into a chair, casually reading my book.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Freak?"

I ignored her and continued to read.

She walked over to where I sat, pulled the book out of my hand, and threw it on the ground. She leaned down, close to my face. "I asked you a question. You're too poor to get in, and your fake sob story wouldn't work here. They wouldn't let psychotic cripples become members. If you don't leave now, I'll call security on you."

I smiled, glad Lauren was too petty and insecure to simply leave me be.

Too quickly for Lauren to react, I took her face in my hands and pulled her in for a kiss. She fought back for a second but yielded. Her eyes closed and her lips softened as she accepted my kiss, beginning to enjoy it. I continued to kiss her until I felt a part of her in my chest, along with the three other hearts I held in my possession. Two, I had stolen. The third had been offered to me as the greatest gift I had ever received.

I broke the kiss. The fiery hatred in Lauren's eyes had smoldered into scorching desire.

A desire for something she would never obtain.

Me.

"Lauren."

Like the other three humans who have heard my voice, her eyes widened in fear. Unlike Edward, her fear was warranted.

She leaned in for another taste of my lips, but I pulled away. She would never have the satisfaction of my kiss ever again. I never had plans to kill or eat her, so she would live the rest of her life with a hole in her chest. One she would never be able to fill. She would have happily sentenced me and Edward to that life because of her lie, and now she was going to live it herself.

"Oh, Bella…" she tried to lift her hand up to cradle my face, but I shoved it back.

"You will never speak to me or Edward Cullen again," I demanded.

I willed the desires into my heart, and hers took them, as well. She nodded, already unable to speak to me directly.

"I may have your heart, but you will never have mine. Live in misery and forget this conversation."

I rose from my chair, allowing her to stumble and fall face-first into the seat. I picked up my book from the ground and strode out of the clubhouse with my head held high.

I hopped back into my truck to meet up with Edward after his shift at the coffee shop. I pulled up to the curb in front of his house. Even after the time I spent hiding around, hoping to protect him from my sisters, I never got used to this place. The grandeur never matched Edward, or the people inside. I knew Esme had acquired the house from family and understood why she wouldn't be able to give it up, but that didn't make the thing any less insane.

I knocked on the door.

Esme answered three minutes later, a warm smile on her pretty face. I had been terrified the Cullen family wouldn't want to accept me after my relationship with Edward ended. He was so rightfully furious with me, so I figured the lie he told his family would have framed me as the villain he was led to believe I was. Forever the gentleman, Edward never spoke ill of me, though it would have been well within reason for him too.

Edward's family had been thrilled that I had come back. Apparently, Edward's misery affected more than just him. One afternoon by the pool, after one too many Bellini's, Esme confessed that she would have bribed me to return to Edward, and the only thing that stopped her from doing so was that she didn't have a way to contact me.

Clearly, she wanted us back together.

"Come on inside, Sweetheart. Edward won't be home for a few more minutes." I wanted to wait for Edward in his room, but she ushered me into the kitchen to show off the cake she had just made. She wouldn't let me refuse one of the cupcakes she was working on, so I left it untouched in front of me and watched Esme frost the others with buttercream flowers.

Twenty minutes later, I was making buttercream flowers of my own under Esme's gentle guidance. I perked up at the sound of the garage, messing up the petals of my rose. I didn't care because it meant Edward was home. Esme didn't hear the sound and softly asked if I was alright. Either it was too faint for her to hear, or she was lost in her own thoughts.

The moment Edward stepped into the room, his green eyes found and held mine. He pushed his bronze hair from his forehead, sending it into a further state of disarray. His tall, athletic build was apparent even through the khaki pants and black t-shirt he wore to work. His full lips stretched into the same adoring smile he wore when we first met.

"Hey!"

I wanted a real kiss, but only received a light peck on the lips. I supposed that was all I was going to get in front of Esme. Edward did not step away, and he kept his hand on my thigh as he greeted his mother. I finished frosting my cupcake while Edward briefly spoke with his mother about his day. When he asked me to come upstairs with him, I agreed eagerly and hopped off the stool.

"Here you go, honey," Esme offered her son my unfinished cupcake. "Bella wanted to wait for you to have hers."

"Did she?" Edwards smiled down at me, knowing the real reason behind my decision.

We bid Esme goodbye and retreated from the kitchen. Edward ate his snack in two bites on our way up to his room. Then, took mine and ate it just as quickly. I poked and taunted him for his unhinged jaw and bottomless pit of a stomach, which he waved off with a charming grin.

Up in his room, I jumped on his bed and scooted to the center. I watched Edward change out of his work clothes and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. He took a shirt out of his drawer, but I tugged on the heartstrings I held in my possession for just a second, and he dropped the shirt. He turned and joined me in his bed bare-chested and gorgeous, just as I wanted him. He let me settle into his lap.

"You know, you could have just asked," he whispered, recognizing the signs of my compulsion. I grinned, unashamed of being caught. "I'm happy to indulge you."

I ran a hand down the hard muscles of his stomach before I leaned against him.

He chuckled, and I bobbed up and down with the sound.

He pressed his soft lips to mine. I lapped at them greedily, encouraging him to deepen the kiss without using my hold on him. He did, and I was rewarded with the taste of him. Salty-sweet. Delicious. Unlike anything I had experienced in my watery world.

I traced my fingers down the line of his sharp jaw. He was so beautiful. The most beautiful person I had ever seen in my life. And the kindest heart. And the noblest soul. All adding to his beauty. How someone like Edward could offer his heart to a sea monster like me was beyond comprehension, but I never wanted him to take it back.

He broke the kiss sooner than I wanted. I let him sit back up, even though I could have easily prevented him from doing so.

"How was your day, Sweetheart?"

It felt wrong to open my mouth around Edward. I thought of my voice as a deadly weapon all my life. It was hard to speak again. "Good," I signed.

"Good," he smiled.

"I told them off," I told him. I didn't want to, but I learned the hard way I could not keep secrets from Edward. Not if I wanted our relationship to work.

"What?" he leaned back to get a clear view of my face. "Who?"

"Lauren. Jessica. James."

His gentle, green eyes widened with worry. "You saw them? Did they hurt you?"

I shook my head. Lauren had been the cruelest, unsurprisingly. Jessica had been confused by my appearance and said a few ignorant, hurtful comments. James stared at my chest the entire time, which was rude, but harmless.

"Bella, baby, I wish you didn't do that." He sounded disappointed, but he did not loosen his hold on me. "I don't like you anywhere near them."

"I only found them to encourage them to stay away from me."

His stern expression softened slightly. "That's it?"

"And you, too."

He raised his eyebrows. "I never have to talk to Jessica again?"

I frowned at the words. It made me wonder how recently Jessica had vied for Edward's affection. Affection that solely belonged to me. It couldn't have been too recently, I supposed. Through me, her heart was filled with the desire to stay far, far away from Edward.

"Never again," I signed.

He studied my face for a long moment. "Well, I suppose if I'm going to be in love with a powerful creature of the deep, I might as well reap the benefits."

"It will keep you safe."

"And you?" he confirmed running his hand down my arm. I nodded.

Our relationship was built on one of us keeping the other safe. Starting with the day Edward went out of his way to keep a strange girl from being thrown into a pool. Through killer sirens and crueler human girls. All the way till now, where I kept his heart safe from harm.

"I love you," I told him, out loud.

He bent his head down once more. Without any magic at all, Edward's kiss captured my heart.