Spirit to Flesh: A Twific by LittleWing, betad by the wise and wonderful Jessica1971

I don't own Twilight or The Love Letter. I'm just playin around and havin a ball. No infringement intended. No money made. Viva Le Fan Fiction!

Chapter 9: Through the Eyes of Another

Bella ran her hands over her bare arms again. Everywhere he touched, she felt alive.

After he was gone, she'd felt the heat of him linger on, keeping her warm, turning her body from girl to woman there in the woods.

Bella arched her back, letting her nipples break the surface of the bath water as she closed her eyes and relished the sensation of cool air against her hot sensitive skin. The feeling reminded her of how the cool air had rushed between them just before he was gone.

As she relaxed her back and returned her body to the water, she began to feel slightly light headed from the steam. The unusually hot bath had been her attempt to recreate the feeling of heat she'd felt when he covered her body completely. She wanted to feel submerged again, encased and enveloped by him. She had never wanted anything this much in this way before in her life.

She was aware of herself in a completely different way now. She knew his touch was responsible, but she could not understand how or why. It was as if she suddenly understood what her body was made for, why her hands were so small. "So they fit perfectly over your heart," she whispered, bringing her hands out of the water to marvel at what they had done. They had touched him, without her permission or understanding. They simply knew where they belonged and acted on their own.

As Bella wiped the sweat from her upper lip, her body shivered at the memory of his fingers touching her mouth, feeling her words as she told him out loud what she had only admitted to herself in silence. She tried to imagine what might have happened if their lips had touched, but couldn't. Bella could not imagine her body more aroused that it already was.

It had been hours since their encounter, but his power over her had not diminished. It had deepened, penetrating from the skin of her arms down to her bones as she lay there on the forest floor. The sensation traveled down her legs to where his thighs had been pressed against her, and up her spine where the feeling lodged in her brain. She played each caress over and over until he owned every part of her, until her hands became his, trailing over her wet skin.

Feeling heavy from the heat of the bath and the weight of her desire, Bella stepped carefully out of the tub. As she reached for her towel, Bella caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and stopped to take in her naked form, glistening in the candlelight. She had never really looked at her body before. She had seen it, many times of course, but had never really looked at it as she felt compelled to do now. In fact, she couldn't take her eyes away. He loves this body, she thought. He loves me.

Bella took in the shape of her legs, the swell of her hips, and the curve of her waist as she watched her smile grow. "I am beautiful," she whispered to herself. "I am beautiful to you." Bella watched the fluidity of her form as she moved closer to the mirror. That clumsy girl has grown up to become this, she thought in surprise. I have become this.

As she stood directly in front of the mirror, she released the clips from her hair and was mesmerized as she watched it cascade in thick, rich waves of brown down her back and over her breasts.

She ran her hands over her cheeks, chin, and mouth, feeling like she was seeing herself for the very first time as a woman. Perhaps it was because he could not see her today that she felt the need to do this visual appraisal so thoroughly, to take in what he could not, to love herself this way, for him.

"It is for you that I endure. It is for you."

Bella leaned in then and kissed her reflection in the mirror.

"I love you," she whispered to him and herself.

A/N: I just had to write this scene because I love how being in love with someone makes you feel about yourself. Feeling that awakening for the first time is amazing, don't you think? I hoped to capture a little of that magic here. Let me know if I did or I'll quote that Rod Stewart song and ruin the moment. I know this one is short, but remember Ch. 10 posts tomorrow and it is a long one (at least for me). I want to give a big grab ass and sloppy kiss to GreenEyedGirl17 for recing Spirit to Flesh yesterday and everyone who read and reviewed my story. You guys give me so much joy. I can't explain......xoxoxoxox