Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Copyright infringement is not intended.

AN: I just want to thank everyone who commented, faved or added this to their alerts.

Play List: Nothing Else Matters (Metallica), Sad But True (Metalica), Send Me An Angel (Scorpions),

~O~

Waiting In The Wings

Legacy's POV:

Meeting with Elders is never a good portent. This I had told Bella many, many years ago and meeting with Gabriel never bodes well at all really. Most Elders loved to meet in high places like mountaintops but Gabriel was quite different. He met you wherever you were and where ever you were most comfortable.

There comes a point where every angel meets with an Elder at some time in his or her career. Most of the time it's to become the charge of kings, dignitaries, and presidents, world famous or influential people that are to bring about change. But like my friend, Bella, the only time I was in the presence of Elders and Arc Angels was when the Son of the Lord was falsely charged, beaten, brought before the public only to be charged with crucifixion and nailed to his death.

But now my time had come. Gabriel and I met by a small river in an even smaller town of Forks, Washington. Just on the other side of the river was a large white house out of public view that was owned by vampire Dr. Carlisle Cullen. The house was empty of course as I would have been tempted to check up on young Edward to see how he faired.

As I thought about Bella, the last time I saw her, she was the charge of Mary Alice Brandon. Bella had gotten quite close to her and developed a friendship of sorts. Angels that are higher up quite frequently frown upon this act. And the last I heard was that my friend and confidant had been made to spend time in solitary isolation. This is quite different from most self-imposed isolations that we all go through after our charges pass away and come home again. Solitary isolation is a deprogramming of sorts. It's where an angel is made to forget; made to forget everything they had ever known.

It was a shame that Bella would never remember me when she came out. But it's a necessary action for those who know too much or who begin to think and feel too much on their own. Yes, it's a control tactic.

Solitary isolation is also used when an angel is getting ready to join the human race as well. A human can have no recollection of their former life as an angel. In that way it serves it's purpose appropriately.

I was never privy to the knowledge of when and where Bella would be set free to fall into a human life. I knew that the announcement was given as I delivered it to her myself that she was to meet with Uriel. But she never spoke to me of the date set by God Himself.

"Ah, Legacy," Gabriel breathed sending a whirlwind of leaves scattering about. "It's good to finally meet with you."

"It is good to meet with you too as well," I made leave to sit on a boulder by the river. "Although you are usually the harbinger of messages for those that are noteworthy importants so, why the visit with you?"

"Indeed I am," His voice caused ruckus waves in the water. "Let's go to a more secluded place up the mountain. I don't want to be out done by my brothers after all." The cadence of his laughter caused the wild waves to lap over on to the land.

Instantly we were standing in a beautiful meadow with purple, white and pink flowers. It seemed like a mythical place where God himself would come to be alone to think. I shall have to remember that this is here.

"Would you like to allude as to why the sudden change in location?" I tentatively asked.

"The Indian tribe here has a shaman named Harry Clearwater. It was time for his annual walkabout. The human would have heard us."

"Hmmm." I muttered as I planted myself amongst the foliage.

"I'll get to the point as to why I am here." Gabriel sat in the field next to me. "I know that it's not customary for you to be told who your next charge will be but the Holy Trinity thought that it was necessary for you to know in this case. You will be the charge over Bella this time."

The meadow was eerily quiet. The wind and the drizzling rain calmed down. Not even a bird chirped in the presence of an Arc.

"Bella?" Although I questioned it, her name brought a smile to my face.

"She's become an interesting factor in Our Lord's plan. Lucifer and Lilith both stand on the sidelines interjecting themselves into this plan."

Maybe Bella wasn't so far off the mark when she said that this was just a game, a strategic game at that. I should have listened a little better. Asked questions instead of just throwing it off as if it wasn't important. But this wasn't about me now this was about my friend.

I must have had a questioning look upon my face as Gabrielle laughed at my perplexity. "You will have to just watch and listen, my friend as this plan unfolds. Lucifer had a better chance with her as an angel. She was much easier for him to access then. But now she will be on Lilith's turf. Both want her as their adversary. There are also others who stand in the wings wanting her, but they have yet to gain knowledge of dear Bella. They will want her just the same. It will be interesting indeed." His breathy laughter swirled around loosening the dried leaves from the trees.

"Indeed it would be. But why Lilith?"

"It seems that your friend has this propensity towards immortals. I don't really think that this requires explaining, does it Legacy?"

"No, it does not."

"Lilith has been quiet for thousands of years and sees Bella as her chance to rise in the name of immortality."

I shook my head at this notion. "But what of the others that also want her?" I couldn't help but wonder if Bella would have chosen this human life if she would have know just what sort of trouble lay for her on the horizon.

But somewhere out there in this world her mother waited just on the cusp of birth and I was going to be part of this. Although curiosity would have gotten the better of me, I would have had to at some point in Bella's life checked up on her. I was beyond ecstatic to be sharing life with her.

"I know you have questions, Legacy, I am following as I was instructed and only time will provide the answers you seek. Watch as it plays out."

A whirlwind scattered dry lives and twigs in the air as Gabriel left me to ponder the mysterious information that I had been given. I was left sitting in this tranquil meadow thinking that I had found my own personal retreat when my charge over Bella was over. I was going to need it for sure. It saddened me in this moment and I'm sure that I will grieve harder at the end of her life. And after this stint at humanity is over, I will never see her again. It was her choice and she went into this head long knowing what she was in for.

In a rush of swirling trees, flowers, grass and sky, instantaneously I was in a small hospital watching a young man just barely in his twenties pace nervously in the waiting room.

An older woman in the room watched him with marked curiosity. She struck me as a woman who knew things beyond the norm and she made no show of it, but I was sure that she felt my presence in the tiny room.

I leaned against the pale gray blue wall by a vending machine full of human food, watching the scene unfold.

"Charles, please sit," The older woman patted the seat next to her with a wrinkled hand. "You are making me nervous."

The young man shook his head and continued to pace.

"You are going wear a hole in that carpet, child." The woman continued chatting. "She's going to be fine. Woman do this sort of thing every day, you know."

"That may be true, momma, but not Renee," Charles finally spoke. "Renee doesn't do this every day. Hell, I should be lucky to be at least getting this much out of her. She never wanted children anyway."

The woman pulled out some yarn and needles from a bag beside her feet. "This is going to be a good day, Charles. I can feel it. I pulled a few tarot cards this morning and I even asked my pendulum as well. And do you want to know what they said?"

The young man's head whipped up the instant that she stopped talking. "No," He began to whisper and look around the room as if others might hear their conversation. "You don't get to do this today. Not here. Not now. You keep that witchy stuff to your self."

"I'm proud of who I am, boy." His mother said quite angrily. "I don't care if the world knows that I am a witch. I am out of the broom closet as the sisters say in the coven."

Charles walked a way from her; the two of them shared equal bits of anger. "I don't want my child growing up in that kind of world, momma. I'm going to be its father and it's our choice, Renee's and mine. We get to say how our child will live its life."

"Goodness, Charles," His mother laughed. "The child that your wife is carrying is not an 'it'. The baby is either a boy or a girl."

"I know it's that simple as to whether this child is a boy or a girl. I just don't know what it is exactly."

The old woman shook her head and smiled in seemingly obvious disbelief as she continued to knit a soft pink and white blanket.

~0~

The birthing process never gets old. It was an awe-inspiring experience. Especially when the parents of that child love each other unconditionally. The doctor delicately passed the tiny baby girl to her mother and Charles leaned in closer to the child.

"Charlie," The baby's mother cooed happily with tears in her eyes. "She's so beautiful. Look at what we've done."

"I know, Renee, I know." The tone of his voice cracked with his own tears. "We still need to come up with a name for her."

At that instant the tiny infant let out a cry that had both her parents looking at each other astonished.

"That," Charlie laughed. "Sounded just like a bell. How about Bella?"

"I like it, but it needs something more. How about Isabella instead."

"Isabella," Charlie repeated in a low whisper as he held his daughter's hand. "It's perfect. She's perfect."

~0~

But all was not perfect. As Charlie's career in law enforcement took off Renee's world began to crumble. Depression settled in her heart. Even trying to brighten up the tiny house that Charlie was so proud to own didn't help the sinking feeling that the even smaller town of Forks was swallowing Renee whole. She cried during the day as she tended to Bella but hid her tears when Charlie came home.

And then one frigid cold day in January she finally snapped. She packed up what little clothes that Bella had and waited on Charlie's arrival.

She never gave him a chance to take off his coat, to unload the gun or hang up his holster. The words blurted out so fast it was hard for Charlie to keep up with his flighty wife.

"Charlie, I can't do this anymore. I just can't. This place, Charlie," She gestured with her hands. "This place…I…I shouldn't have gotten so attached. This was a mistake. Every thing we have is a mistake. We're so young and we're married with a baby. I can't tie myself down like this. I'm taking Bella and I am going to stay with my mother in New Mexico."

Charlie stood with his mouth open never finding the words to say anything back to his wife.

"I'll call you, Charlie when I get to my mom's and we'll work out an arrangement for Bella."

She picked up the infant car seat that held their precious daughter and never looked back to see the strangled look upon her husband's face.

Charlie watched as his not so perfect family walked out of his life.

Renee never saw the tears well up in his eyes. In fact she never batted an eyelash. She seemed carefree as she drove away from the town that once held her captive.

~0~

I really wished that Bella could have had the perfect life. But I knew deep down that no matter how this life played out, she could have cared less. To her a life without Edward was not really a life at all. I tried desperately to wrap myself around this, to understand it all but I couldn't. Why Bella even considered life as a human, I would never fathom.

Before my eyes and as the years passed, I watched Bella grow from an awkwardly balanced child to a beautiful but even more ungraceful gangly teenager. It was humorous in a sense that the girl could find herself tripping over air it's self. I watched many a child take to this balancing act only to grow out of it in their late teen years. But never Bella, she seemed to really have to pay attention whenever her feet touched the ground.

Her life was not an easy one, not by far. She took on things that no child should have to take on. Bella managed every morning to get her mother out of bed just so she could go to work. And what little money her mother did bring home, Bella took on the responsibility for looking after the finances. She cooked, cleaned and still she pulled off good grades in school.

She watched her mother go from one failed relationship to another. Bella vowed to herself that she would never love like this. She wasn't going to follow in her mother's footsteps. At one point Bella even stated that she didn't want love at all. But even I know that the human heart is a fickle one and changes constantly.

Eventually her mother finally settled down when she met and married a minor league baseball player named Phil Dwyer. I could tell that Renee was torn between wanting to go on the road with her new husband and staying home with her daughter. Bella could also see the stress that this put on the newly married couple and in an act of selflessness; she made the decision to move to Forks, Washington to live with her father.

And although Renee expressed overtly to Bella that she didn't have to go and that she didn't have to do this, Renee was thrilled inside and thought that it was time for Charlie to take over the parenting duties.

~0~

Bella was by far one of the most stubborn people I had ever come across, a trait that certainly rubbed off from her former self. But at the same time she was one of the easiest people to get along with also. Both Charlie and Bella were quiet and didn't mind it so much as they found it relatively comfortable. But in the night while the torrential rains whipped at the house, she let her emotions run free.

Even though I agree with Bella that time spent on earth was likely just a game, I should have known all along that God would give her exactly what she wanted. The second that Bella stepped onto the school premises, I knew that the Cullen's were amongst the teenaged populace. I smiled with glee as I walked beside her going from class to class. She had yet to run into any of them and I wondered if she would feel anything for Edward, Rosalie and Alice.

At lunch she finally spotted the family and Jessica a rather chatty girl was only too happy to fill her in on the strange and exciting family. Edward seemed to have a flair for reading the thoughts of others and picked up immediately that they were being discussed. It was sort of comical in a way knowing that Edward was frustrated beyond belief for not being able to read Bella's mind. Rosalie acted as if she could careless about the new student and Alice sat back with a smug smile on her face that no one seemed to notice.

They had definitely captured the interest of Bella as she turned in her chair every so often to catch a glimpse of the Cullen's. I waited for something to click between Edward and Bella but nothing happened of the sort. I've seen love at first sight happen thousands of time between lovers and soul mates. Edward's frustration grew by the second and he began to resent the girl for coming here. Maybe I was wrong in my assumption of her getting what she always had wanted.

I was definitely proved wrong. As his frustration with the inability to read Bella's mind grew so did his bloodlust. Her interest in him took the form of anger now as she realized and most likely felt the frustration and the animosity pour off him.

He never acted on that lust for her blood. Edward bolted from the room as the bell rang and soon left the school all together. Bella wanted to confront him about his strange behavior. But never got the chance as Edward didn't come back. She seemed to take some kind of relief in knowing that Edward was gone and at the same time wondered where he was and what he was doing.

I wish I could of told her but six days later for whatever the reason may be; Edward decided to come back to school. Despite the relief that she felt, Bella still looked for him on a daily basis and her heart sank when she didn't spy him in the cafeteria. But when she arrived for biology her heart sped up anxiously when she saw him sitting there at her lab table.

Interest was there for both parties. Edward's was a little bit more reserved than hers, feeling that he was a monster and frequently berated himself for falling for her. He considered several times on leaving her before things could escalate even farther. But it was on his nightly visits to her bedroom that he heard Bella tell him in her sleep that she wanted him to stay.

And stay he did. They were not like any normal couple as there was nothing ever normal about their relationship. I watched as she fell head over heels in love with him and she even considered becoming like him. Only Bella could go from an immortal angel to wanting to become human only to become an immortal again. I laughed at the irony of it all. Edward wholeheartedly disagreed with her becoming a vampire. He clearly made the choice for her that he was not going to change her. His intention were for her to live as normal of a life as possible. But Bella was relentless and down right stubborn with her persistence.

As ever with the world of immortality you run the risk of danger. Especially when the love of your existence becomes an interest to others of the same kind. Edward often joked that Bella was always in danger, a magnet for all things trouble.

My efforts were very much in vein as I tried desperately to stop her from falling victim to James. God would not allow me to interfere in this situation. James was indeed dangerous but his mate Victoria was much more devious and diabolical in her thoughts and actions and I wondered really who exactly was the real leader of their vampire coven.

I could only sit back and watch as my shouts fell on deaf ears as James lured Bella away under the false pretence of kidnapping her mother. There was no doubt in my mind that Bella would have been changed that night if Edward hadn't been as quick as he was.

If it had not been for the heroic efforts of Edward, Bella would have gotten her wish at immortality. With much effort on his part, Edward sucked the venom from her blood. I wanted to laugh but couldn't really find the humor in it to do so. Edward berated himself for becoming a monster and almost killing her once again. And again he pondered the thought of leaving her for her own good but he didn't know how.

~0~

As I watched her lying on the hospital bed, I tried to wrap my mind around the concept of love. The love that both her parents felt for her, the love that Cullen's had but most especially the love that both Edward and Bella had for each other. I cared for Bella immensely and although once she died and left this world, I would miss her greatly, I also knew that I would go on. But these different feelings of love I just didn't get. It was hard for me to see this. Maybe it all boiled down to the fact that I didn't want to become a human and therefore those kinds of feelings were just lost on me.

Edward watched over her with a protective vigil all the while cursing himself for exposing her to the monsters of this world. To Edward, Bella was too good and too pure to endure any of this. Halfheartedly, he tried to convince her to go back with her mother so he couldn't hurt her any more. But stubbornly Bella put up a fight telling Edward that he couldn't leave her.

For now he gave in to her demand to stay. But I knew from the pained look on his face whenever Bella wasn't looking at him that Edward still contemplated leaving and giving her a normal life. But what he didn't know, something that I could clearly see was that she had befriended a boy from the Indian tribe in La Push. The legends and the stories that they told were in fact true and some of the boys in the tribe had already begun to shape shift into wolves.

I had encountered a few shape shifters in my years. I'd never been the charge over one. They were in fact dangerous and very unpredictable to be around. They could shift on the fly when consumed with anger and rage and have been known to maim and kill innocent by standers.

It wouldn't matter if Edward left her for her own safety; Bella was destined to run with the legends and myths of this world. Gabriel had told me that other's waited in the wings holding some claim over her. Lucifer and Lilith clearly did. Edward would always be consumed with her. The tiny tribe in La Push already thought that her involvement in the vampire world was a threat and were just waiting for the Cullen's to mess up so that they could have a shot at destroying the one thing that they were born to do. But who else wanted her? Was she suddenly going to be captured by the Fairy Queen and grow wings? Or drown in the ocean and taken to the mermaid city of Atlantis, which is still governed by Neptune by the way. It sounded ridiculous as these thoughts floated through my head but they were indeed true. But mermaids and fairies were less dangerous than vampires and wolves. And then there were true werewolves but the governing force of the vampire world, theVolturi, has eradicated most of them.

I was told to sit back and watch as this all played out and that's all I could do. But the more I was left to ponder the more I became aware that, yes, this was indeed all just a game.

~O~

The day had finally come when Edward was pushed beyond his limits at keeping Bella safe. On her eighteenth birthday, Jasper, Edward's brother snapped. Bella had accidentally cut herself trying to open a birthday present. The scent of just a small amount of her blood was heavy and thick in the air. Seven pairs of eyes suddenly went from their normal golden honey color to pitch black. Jasper lunged to attack but Edward was quicker at receiving him. Unaware at his own strength in the moment, he meant to move Bella out of harms way but instead he ended throwing her behind him with great force. She crashed through the glass tabletop injuring her arm. The scent of fresh blood was added to the already potent scent that still lingered. Jasper was restrained and taken far from the house. Everyone had left apologetically except Edward and Carlisle.

I knew that in that moment that the decision to leave Bella for her own good had been made. This would no doubt devastate her beyond repair. The girl that vowed that she would never love had indeed fell hard for the one person that she had always wanted. But Edward was so sure that the next dangerous moment wouldn't be able to be stitched up or even land her in the hospital but could only lead to death itself.

I watched helpless as Edward lied to her. His heart shattered into a million pieces along with her own heart as the words left his lips. He whole-heartedly thought he was doing right by leaving her and professing that he never loved Bella. I knew that this was wrong. I wanted to jump between the two of them and shake them both for the big mistake that was about to be committed. Edward and Bella were destined to be together. Mated. What Bella didn't know and what she may never know was that God did hold up His end of the bargain for her. He allowed them to be together even if it were for just a short amount of time. It just not the way Bella had wanted it to be. It was a little unfair really to have something that was within your grasp to grab and take hold of only to have it ripped out from you. And what neither one of them knew was that they both had waited just as long to be with each other.

As he poured lie after lie onto the heart of Bella, she unconsciously wrapped her arms around her waist as if at any moment she would fall apart.

It was a helpless situation and not one that I was permitted to interfere with.

He fled from Bella leaving her visible shaken. Before she had gotten it in her head to follow him, Edward was already miles away. The sky was quickly becoming darker but yet she seemed not to notice. Her mind was set on one thing and one thing only: finding Edward.

Tired, hungry and wet from the pouring rain Bella didn't give up until her body made her. She tripped and fell to the ground where she stayed.

I spied Lilith sitting in a nearby tree watching it unfold below her. Her smug smile made it clear to me that she was going to use this opportunity to make her move on Bella. I could hear Charlie and others calling for her. Bella wavered in and out of consciousness. I did what I could to urge her to get up and answer her father. A part of me was aware that she knew that she was not alone, that I was with her. Her lips parted making motion to speak but nothing came out. I cried and pleaded with her but it was to no avail. She never heard me. Charlie would never get his daughter back. Lilith swooped from the trees and crouched around Bella sending a protective shield around the girl. The shield was so strong that it knocked me backwards a few hundred feet.

"You, angel, need to stay away. Time is mine now." She hissed at me.

Her head snapped around in a quick blur and Lilith opened her arms and welcomed the one person who I haven't seen in nearly six thousand years…Cain.

~O~

AN: Sorry for the cliffie but trust me, it's needed. Next up is Bella's POV and part of that chapter is already written. And for all of you that are worried that I am going to delve into the world of mermaids, fairies and unicorns can breath easier because I am not. This story is going to diverge away from the Twilight cannon. I don't want to retell Twilight. It has been done and done really well I might add. I just want to take this on a different path. You will in the future hear again from Legacy and also Edward's POV. I am also toying with the idea of Lilith's POV. So let me know if you like that idea.

Thanks for reading!