As ever all publicly recognized characters are the property of their owner and creator Stephenie Meyer, who is in no way affiliated with this piece of literary fiction. No copyright infringement is intended.

Second chapter, posting has changed to every Monday and Thursday so the last chapter will be up on 28/10/10, meaning it'll be done before NaNo :)

I've had some lovely feedback about the prologue, so thank you very much to my reviewers, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

A Love Story For The Ages

A Twilight Fanfiction by missrebecca

Chapter 1

Edward had forgotten her. How her skin was milky white and her hair was so dark against her pale skin. Her lips a ruby red. He'd forgotten what they felt like, to be pressed under his own in a chaste kiss suitable for a betrothed pair. He'd forgotten how one night he'd felt her. The curves under her dress and the sighs over his face. He'd felt the soft skin of her collarbone under his lips that night. But he'd forgotten, until he saw her again.

It was eighteen years after he died. Eighteen years after a vampire named Carlisle had found him and 'saved' him, damning him to eternity on the earth but saving him from death. He'd never really known whether to be grateful.

But then he'd seen her. Her hair was shorter than he remembered but her eyes he would never forget. Such a deep shade of brown, he'd seen nothing like it till then. Her face was the exact same heart shape, her lips still an enticing red. She was smiling, with a man he assumed was her father. And he remembered.

Dinners with their families. Chaperoned evenings to the theatre. Nights in playing chess. Drinking tea on the porch swing. Sneaking in and out of windows. Being so deliriously in love they knew not what to do with themselves.

She would be over thirty years old now. Most likely married, with children, though seeing her then she didn't look much older than she had the last time he'd seen her; through feverish eyes in the hospital he'd died in. How could he have forgotten her?

He'd been walking with his 'family', when it happened. He'd suddenly stopped and a flash of images took over his mind. It lasted only a few seconds and none of the surrounding humans noticed, but his family did, questioning him in their minds as to what was happening. But he'd ignored them, transfixed as he was on the beauty and impossibility that was her.

Before long they'd had to move, his sister found a dying huntsman whom she couldn't bare to leave; and so Carlisle had changed him. He'd never seen the girl again.

He kept a look out for her though, every month running back to that town to check the papers for news of her. On his second trip he found it - a month before her eighteenth birthday, his Bella had died.

~O~

He'd convinced himself he had been hallucinating, transferring a latent human memory onto the image of this girl, who just so happened to look like her and share her name. A complete coincidence. But the second time he saw her, he thought for sure he was going mad.

She'd turned up in England, as they were visiting Carlisle's human home. Her hair was long and curled just so beneath her hat, nearly eighteen years after he'd last seen her. She wore a blue dress, with a wide neck to show her glorious collar bones, the same ones he wished he could kiss like before. And she'd smiled, introducing herself.

"Good evening. I'm Bella and you are?" She was so much more confident than the other girls her age, not afraid to approach the strange people in the corner.

He'd tried to hear her thoughts then, to see if maybe she recognised him on some level, but found he could hear nothing. It surprised him and left him unsure of how to continue, though he figured being polite would help.

"I'm Edward, it's a pleasure to meet you." He'd kissed her hand then, just lightly on the back of her knuckles, inhaling her delicious scent, like freesias. He'd pulled back quickly though, appalled at himself, as he felt the familiar pooling of venom in his mouth.

They'd talked well into the night, as though they'd known each other their whole lives, which he supposed they had, even if she didn't remember it. He remembered how easy it always was, how they'd just seemed to click and how he'd begged his father to speak to hers about them courting. He'd needed to know her, as more than just the girl he met at church. He enjoyed watching her as she spoke, noticing all the little mannerisms and nuances that were so typically Bella. How her cheeks would flame when he stared too long, or how she bit her lip and always gesticulated wildly. She was bright and life and he could feel himself falling in love all over again.

He'd walked her home that night. Long after everyone else had left the dance hall. He realised it may not be prudent to keep a young girl out this late, but it was a summer night, and the light had not yet gone from the sky. At her doorstep they'd stopped, neither wishing to say goodbye to this wonderful person they'd each met.

"Edward," she'd started, placing a hand on his arm, seemingly not bothered by his lack of body heat, "This may sound strange, but I feel I know you, from before today. It's strange, really. I suppose it just means we get on well doesn't it?" She'd laughed then, her voice like bells cutting straight into his dead heart.

"Yes I suppose it does." With a promise he would be back to call on her tomorrow he'd left, dropping a quiet kiss to her soft cheek, relishing in the warmth from the pooling of blood there.

As he ran home his heart ached for these second chances he seemed to be getting but would never take. How could he? When she was so alive and he was so…dead. Though he remembered every kiss and touch and caress they'd shared. He remembered how his human heart had beat faster when she was near and how it had been so easy to fall in love. How his mouth had been dry and his hands had shook when he'd finally asked her to marry him. Then the pure unadulterated elation he'd felt when she had said yes.

He could feel it now. That aching in his chest, and the hope blooming there as he fell in love again. What cruel being would hand him his lost love like this, when he was unable to take it, to be with her like he should be? So he'd run. Hunting and draining as many animals as he could in his wake, before running home to face his family and finally telling them the unbelievable truth.

Of course they'd barely believed him. Why should they? They themselves were inconceivable; creatures of the night, dead for all intents and purposes, who fed off the life force of other beings. But to say the girl he was betrothed to as a human, who should be an old woman now, was here, just as young and beautiful as she had been in Chicago, with no recollection of them meeting. It was absurd.

Rosalie had wanted to leave, she didn't want this to upset the balance she had finally found in her life. Her selfish nature couldn't see how she herself had upset the family nearly twenty years previous, by bringing her mate into the home, not that any of them would begrudge her that, though Edward wished she would get some perspective.

His mother, Esme, and Rosalie's mate, Emmett, were simple beings who thought what was meant to be, would be. So seeing as Bella had turned up in two of the places they'd lived, surely it was fate?

Carlisle, his maker and closest friend, was a little more practical. "If this is true Edward, and she is the same girl, there must be a reason for it. What that reason might be, I don't know. But I think it would be wise to leave her be, dragging her into our world would not be wise." He was right of course, he knew Carlisle was right, but it hurt to think of leaving her. He knew he would have to see her one last time.

He'd walked to her house to call on her, hoping to take her to the park and tell her he was leaving. Even though they'd only met the day previous, Edward knew she could feel this connection and it would be cruel to sever it with no prior knowledge.

He'd waited five minutes on her doorstep, ringing the bell till a grief stricken woman came to the door. The weight of her thoughts nearly crippled him, and he knew this to be Bella's mother, and the news she carried almost killed him, but he couldn't show it, for how could he know what she was about to tell him.

"Hello, Mrs. Swan, is Bella here?" He asked, an innocent expression on his face while inside his heart was breaking.

Mrs Swan broke down, her cries echoing down the empty street. A man had come to the door then, wrapping his arms around his wife, soothing her and rubbing her back before she left. Mr Swan had turned to him, a sombre expression on his face.

"I'm sorry to tell you son, but our Bella died last night." At the words, Edward allowed all the heartache he was feeling to show. His Bella was dead, and once again he was alone.

~O~

He never truly moved on. He'd found his human love, fallen in love with her again and then lost her. He wasn't sure he could ever truly move on from that. His family were supportive enough, they allowed him his space and never pushed him to interact with people.

He'd always hoped to find her again, every time he saw a flash of brown hair or pale skin, he would be on edge, hoping it was her, though it never was.

In the seventeen years since he'd last seen her, their family had gained another two members; Alice and Jasper. Alice turned out to be the closest thing to a sister Edward had ever had, he was never so close to Rosalie. She was sympathetic to his melancholic state, and always tried to make him happy and laugh. She was so terribly protective of her family and hated to see any part of it broken or in pain.

But he was empty. Throughout his existence he'd felt something was missing, but simply passed it off as missing his human life; his parents. But now he knew better. This hole inside him, eating away at his dead heart was where Bella should be.

He hadn't felt the hole close when last they'd met, not till she was gone did he realise it was there. Gaping and threatening to swallow him. Edward didn't know how to deal with it. He spent his days pacing his room, wondering what it all meant, pulling at his auburn hair, making it stand on end. He blocked out the thoughts of his family, of their worry. He couldn't think of it. All he could think of was long brown hair, deep chocolate eyes, plump red lips and pale skin pulled over collar bones. He couldn't think of all those parts together or else he'd go mad, but separate he could deal with it. He could imagine that she didn't die…again, and that he would see her again.

Of course he wasn't even sure if he wanted to see her again. Wouldn't it be better to only fall in love with her once, to only know her again for a day, than to know her like he used to, to be consumed by her and then to leave her? Because he'd have to lose her, he couldn't tell her about him, that was against all the rules and he could hardly drag her into his life anyway. What then? He would stay with her till she got old and died, but what of him then? Or was he to change her, damn her to this half life, this mere existence just so he never had to lose her again?

He wasn't sure he could deal with that.

~O~

In 1969 he saw her again. They were living in New York, and he'd managed to convince Alice and Jasper to see Led Zeppelin with him, one of the only modern bands he actually enjoyed. Jasper had been nervous at first, being around so many humans, their blood pumping was sure to be a challenge, but Alice's reassurances that he wouldn't hurt anyone boosted his confidence. And it was there he saw her.

Swaying her hips to Dazed and Confused, wearing flared jeans and a multi coloured paisley vest top. Her hair reached her waist, falling in soft waves as her hands ran through it, before circling above her head. He'd never seen anything so radiant and before he could stop himself he was next to her.

"Hey." He murmured as the band had a pause between songs

She replied in kind, smiling as she turned before abruptly stopping. He watched as she frowned, biting her lip softly. Just like Bella, he thought.

"Do I know you?" She asked, placing a hand on his arm before pulling it back. "Damn you're cold, man." She spoke like she was thinking, staring at her hand. Could she remember him? He didn't dare hope, but if she did what would that mean?

"I don't think so, and yeah, bad circulation."

"Frigid."

They stopped talking then as Robert Plant started into Communication Breakdown, and the crowd began jumping, singing and dancing and generally going a little crazy. Edward loved it. In a place like this the thoughts of humans were simply a hum in the back of his mind, but if he were to concentrate he still couldn't discern individual thoughts. It was bliss.

He spent the rest of the night next to her, breathing in her intoxicating scent, trying to penetrate that silent mind of hers and simply relishing in her presence. Before long the set was over and people began filing out.

"Where are you going now?" He asked, not sure what he was about to do but knowing he couldn't let her walk out of here and never see her again, New York was a big place after all.

"I'm going home, how about you?"

"Can I walk you?"

"Sure." She shrugged, grabbing his hand and leading the way to the doors. Her hand was tiny in his and he relished the contact, the pulse of static he seemed to get from their connection.

Once outside they met Alice and Jasper, their thoughts in sync as they wondered who this girl was and what was going on.

"Hi, I'm Alice, Edwards sister, you are?" She asked, bouncing up to her and holding her hand out for her to shake. It was then that Edward realised he didn't know her name, as far as he knew this was Bella, but he'd never actually asked.

"Bella, it's nice to meet you." Her cheeks blushed and Edward almost laughed at how predictable she was.

"Anyway, I promised to walk you home didn't I? I'll see you guys at home." He steered her away, trying to get away from the questions flying at him, they were so shocked that this could be Bella.

"Edward." She murmured, turning to watch him as they walked in silence, "Suits you really. But are you sure we haven't met before?"

"I'm positive." He lied.

As they walked they discussed their lives, though really they only discussed Bella's, Edward managing to deflect all questions back to her. He discovered she was studying the classics at university, how she was fascinated by Oscar Wilde and adored the poetry of W. B. Yeats. She had turned to walk backwards when speaking of poetry, and how it was her first love but her mother made her take English instead to "keep her options open". Bella didn't enjoy being told what to do. She was a free spirit, free to be and do as she pleased. She was waving her hands about and speaking of the passionate love this man felt for a woman named Maud Gonne, though she rejected him all his life, and how that came into his poetry.

"She who had brought great Hector down," she quoted, "'And put all Troy to wreck.'" she sighed then, turning to face forward and falling into step with him, "Don't think I haven't noticed the fact you haven't answered any of my questions. What exactly are you hiding?"

"Absolutely nothing." He smiled, "Where are you from anyway? You don't sound like a local girl?" he asked, wondering if she had always been in the city, simply waiting for him.

"I was born in Skibbereen, a tiny island off of Cork, Ireland."

"But you don't sound Irish either?"

"Well I wouldn't, I only lived there maybe eight, nine years." She laughed then, "Surely I can pop the accent on though." He smiled at her broad accent, he'd only heard one other Irish person in his long life, and it was interesting to see his Bella as someone from the emerald isle.

She came to stop outside an old high rise apartment block, complete with black metal fire escapes and a crazy hobo out front. He didn't like the idea of his precious Bella living in such a run down place of the city.

"Well this is me." She gestured to the building, but made no move to leave, "I must have seen you somewhere, I'm sure of it." She frowned as she fiddled with her keys, "I must have just been high." She laughed then and Edward was sure it was the most brilliant sound he had ever heard.

"Must have been." He mumbled, feeling terrible for lying to her, the girl he had never had to keep anything from before, but what could he tell her? She wasn't that girl from Chicago anymore.

"So I better be going, are you sure you don't want to come in? Have some coffee?"

"I'm sure Bella, it was lovely meeting you though."

"Cheers, it was pretty fab seeing you too." She turned to enter the building and Edward stood on the pavement, watching as she opened the door and stopped, "Will I see you tomorrow?"

Edward remembered the last time she'd asked that. He'd said yes then, too, but he hadn't seen her tomorrow, because she'd died. Just like this Bella would.

She smiled brightly and said goodbye, but Edward waited, listening to her footsteps as she ran up the stairs and unlocked her apartment door, before running home himself.

There were questions waiting for him of course. Alice and Jasper had filled the family in on what had happened so now everyone wanted to know what was going on, and how that girl could possibly be Bella when she should be an old woman by now, if not already dead.

"I don't know." He replied to all, "All I know is that, that is Bella. Carlisle, surely you remember her?" he pleaded.

"I do, but until I see her I can't confirm if what you're seeing is correct." He replied.

"She knows me." Edward was becoming frustrated, why couldn't they just believe him, "On some level, she knows me, and she looks and sounds just like her, they have the same name!" He threw his hands in the air in aggravation, "I don't understand it anymore than you do, but I'm telling you it's her."

His family watched as he prowled and paced around the living room. Of course they all wished it was true, even Rosalie. Who wouldn't? The love of his life being here after all this time, it would be a miracle. But how would they deal with it if it was true?

"Look, I'm seeing her tomorrow, and I will continue to see her until we leave, so can you just…pretend to be happy for me?" he asked, begging his family to believe him, but knowing from their thoughts they were reluctant to even try.

"Why should we be happy for you?" Rosalie asked. He scoffed, of course his sister couldn't be happy for anyone, why should she be when she herself isn't happy?

"I don't know Rose, maybe because we're family?"

"You'll fall in love with her." She spoke softly, aware he could hear her thoughts before she spoke, "And then we'll leave, and eventually she'll die. Then what? Am I supposed to be happy that sometime in the future you're going to be heartbroken? I don't think so brother."

Edward was floored, but would not be deterred. "I can handle it." Though he wasn't sure if he could. He knew Rosalie was right. At some point they would leave and he would have to leave her, and then sometime after that she would die, and maybe not from old age either. Humans were incredibly fragile beings, and as he remembered Bella had always been clumsy, anything could happen to her.

But maybe this Bella wasn't, maybe she was stable on her feet and didn't trip over thin air. What did he really know about her except that she looked like his lost love, spoke like her, shared her name and seemed to recognise him?

He ignored his families thoughts for the rest of the night, choosing to prowl in the solitude of his room, though the distance really made no difference to a vampire. Sometimes he hated his existence. He could hear everything, including every thought that passed through someone's head. It allowed no lies. No privacy. He knew just how women fantasised about him, and about how they feared him. About how his family feared for him, afraid he was seeing things. They weren't sure if a vampire could go mad, but in their minds, he was.

He'd never been able to predict Bella, he remembered. She'd always surprised him. Everyone else (from what he could remember) was simple. He could tell when someone was lying and everyone hated him for it. But with Bella, he had no clue. She was surprising and he enjoyed it. Apparently she still could surprise him; he couldn't read her thoughts. Nor could he back in England. It was something to think about, but dawn had broken and it was time to see Bella.

She was alive when he got there, bouncing about in corduroy flares and an orange top; she'd always enjoyed bright colours, and thankfully she was alive every day after that.

They met every lunch for coffee, which Edward would pretend to drink while she told him all about her studies and occasionally he would speak of his own. He was studying chemistry, a subject he had only a meagre knowledge of, so it was something he was enjoying a great deal. Some nights she would invite him to the many parties she attended. And he would watch while she got high or drank too much and laughed loudly and danced freely, but she always came back to him, and he always made sure she got home safely.

Soon spring turned to summer and the days became longer. Bella revelled in the sun, which was a shame as Edward couldn't dare step into the light for fear of exposing himself. So he became photosensitive, allergic to the sun. Bella understood, just like he knew she would. She complained about how they wouldn't be able to lie on her roof together, but she would visit him every night when the sun went in.

When Carlisle first met her, he could barely speak. This was Bella. It was astonishing, and impossible. Edward rejected his impossibility and simply enjoyed her presence. He blocked out the world, the passing days, his family, and devoted all his time to worshipping this woman.

The first time she met Jasper, she blushed, saying she had never met a true southern gentleman. He'd shook her hand and kissed it though he didn't breathe, all the while telling Edward in his mind about how much Bella loved him. How she was inexplicably devoted to him and was incredibly intrigued by him, but confused. Jasper didn't understand her confusion, but Edward did. She remembered him, but didn't understand why. It didn't take much to figure out.

He could barely accept the notion of her loving him, she barely knew him. He was a monster, a murderer, a parasite. How could someone as pure and perfect as his Bella love him?

Summer passed and he ignored his families warnings. It was getting into dangerous territory. The point of no return. She was becoming more confident of her feelings, and more confident around the family, but also more suspicious. She knew something wasn't quite right, but she didn't know what. Bella was a bright girl, Edward didn't think it would take her much longer to figure out.

Mid August rolled around and Bella, Edward and the Cullens headed to White Lake to attend Woodstock Music and Art Fair. Alice had been harping on about it for near to a year, it was the only reason they moved to New York in the first place, and now it was here she was bouncing where she stood.

People will talk about this for years Edward, you'll see.

He wasn't so sure, but humoured her enthusiasm.

The weekend was a roaring success, him and Bella becoming closer than ever. Though she did notice his lack of eating eventually, she was high a lot of the time so it made no real difference.

On Monday, the closing day of the festival, they stood in the crowd listening to Hendrix. Bella had been irritable all day but he just put it down to lack of sleep. But since the beginning of the day she'd been hopping all over the place, scratching at her arms, pulling at her hair. Jasper said she was in tremendous pain but none of them could understand why.

"Hot, so hot. God it hurts. Shit." She was mumbling under her breath, scaring Edward with her words.

"Maybe we should move back to the tent?" Edward asked, placing his arms softly across her shoulders. She flinched as though scolded.

"Don't touch me. God, it makes it worse. Like needles."

They moved quickly through the crowd, trying desperately to get her back to Carlisle so he might do something to help her. As they reached the tent Jasper came running out, attempting to calm her but failing miserably. They settled her on the floor as Carlisle asked her questions about what was happening to her. She said she was burning, like hot needles burning her from the inside. She was delirious and her heart rate was sky rocketing, Jasper had to leave in case he hurt her.

Did you bite her? Carlisle thought, but Edward shook his head. Why would he think that? This is very much like the change, think back to your own. Like hot needles wasn't it?

How could she be feeling such pain as would indicate a vampire change? No venom had come anywhere near her blood. How was this possible? Edward was panicking, seeing his love thrashing and in pain was killing him, what could he do?

"Edward," She murmured, "Edward, I found you, I found you."

"I'm right here, you don't need to find me." He looked pleadingly at Carlisle, "Isn't there anything you can do for her?" Carlisle shook his head sadly, causing Edward to nearly scream in frustration. His love was dying and there was nothing he could do but watch her go.

"Knew I'd seen your face before. Thought you could lie to me." Edward shared a frightened look with Alice.

"But we haven't met before."

"Of course we have. Silly man." Her breathing hitched and became laboured then, and if at all possible her heart beat faster against her ribs, "Love you." Then her heart stopped.

~O~

Edward was inconsolable after Bella's death. Nothing his family did could lift his melancholy. He was cold. He'd never felt so cold before. They moved swiftly away from New York, but he didn't take notice of where they went. For more than thirty years they moved, not speaking of the girl he'd met and fell in love with. Who'd died in front of his eyes when there was nothing they could do to save her.

He spoke to no one for months, but no one tried to speak to him either. He had cocooned himself in his grief. Perpetually mourning the loss of his love. He stopped hoping to see her, stopped glancing back at girls with long brown hair and pale skin. He stopped seeing the world around him, period.

His family was at a loss. They'd never felt the type of loss he had, never known what it was to lose a life partner, so they had no real idea how to make it better for him.

They moved to the Pacific North West, where the bleak skies would allow them to move freely during the day, and the large expanse of forest would allow for a plentiful hunting ground. It was Alice's idea, because she had a plan.

Three years before the move she had a vision. It was of Edward; happy. If tears were possible she would have cried at the scene, Edward smiling in a meadow with someone there. Though she couldn't see who. She asked around about the meadow and found out from Esme that it was in a place called Forks in Washington state, where she had lived with Carlisle and Edward early in her new life. So she bided her time and when it came to move again she suggested they go to Forks.

They settled in quickly, beginning at the local high school and separating themselves from the human populace. And while Edward mourned the loss of his Bella, Alice began digging.

Carlisle had always kept extensive records of his life. Where he went, who he met, what he did there. He also had an archive of every newspaper printed since he came to America in 1856, and this was just what Alice was after. She spent days on end in the archives, flipping through old papers carefully looking for news of one Isabella Swan, Edwards first Bella.

In the Chicago Chronicle, dated August twentieth 1918 was a death notice. Mr and Mrs Swan's daughter, Isabella had died two days before from unknown causes in a back alley, two streets away from the general hospital where Edward lay dying. She showed the paper to Carlisle, asking if he knew anything about it, but he didn't. August twentieth was the day Edward awoke from his change, so he had a lot more on his mind than the death of one girl in an alley.

It gave Alice a lot to think about. Bella had died the first day of Edwards change, seemingly on her way to the hospital to see him; though by then he wasn't there, Carlisle having already moved him to a more secure location. Why would she have been out so late?

She continued looking through the archives till she found a second mention of Isabella Swan. In the Lake City People she found another death notice, Bella had died of unknown causes on August eighteenth 1935, the same day as his first Bella. When asked Carlisle knew nothing of it, he wasn't sure why they even had that paper as the family wasn't living in Tennessee at the time. She filed the information away to think back to later before continuing with her search.

She found three more mentions; all death notices and nearly all dated the eighteenth of August. One was from the London Times from 1952 and the other was the New York Guardian in 1969, though she had died August 14th then, the last time he'd seen her. The last was dated August 18th 1987, when they'd lived in Ohio, but Alice didn't remember ever meeting a Bella Swan there. Each were for an Isabella Swan and each stated she died of unknown causes, though the ones from New York and Ohio insinuated she may have had a heart attack, though it seemed unlikely due to her age. Only Alice and her family knew how she'd died, though none of them knew why.

Alice wasn't sure what to make of her knowledge, but decided she would simply file it away to think on later. She was thankful for her brother's lack of interest in the goings on of the family; because she simply couldn't risk him discovering her plot.

Their time in Forks was slow and steady, nothing dramatic occurring. Alice was beginning to lose hope in her vision ever happening after they'd been there two years, but she had no way of knowing when it would occur. Edward was just as morose as ever, hunting only when necessary and speaking just as often. Esme was beginning to lose hope she would ever get her son back. She remembered when she'd first met him, after her own change. He had been broody, yes, but also quick witted and often funny. But the years had taken their toll on Edward, after his time away to pursue an alternative lifestyle, and after the many times he had found Bella only to lose her again, he seemed to have simply lost hope. He was no longer living but simply existing. She wished there was something she could do to make it better.

There was nothing anyone could do though, the day Bella died in that field was the day Edward felt his un-dead heart break and die with her. Nothing could hold his interest anymore. Not the blood of the animals he drained or, he was ashamed to say, his family. The creatures who had been with him his whole existence no longer held any meaning to him. He knew how his family despaired for him, wishing there was something they could do to make it better. But there was nothing, he was a lost cause and he had resigned himself to that fact.

It was another morose cloud ridden day in March when everything changed.

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