A/N: Here it is... the final chapter. Sorry it has taken SO long getting it out... but I'm pleased with the way it has ended. I know there are several loose ends, but as you can imagine they were easily tied off... the Cullens are good at that type of thing.

Enjoy!

Chapter 9

"Oh,' I said teasingly, 'you have no idea how wild my imagination can get! Try this one on for size… let's say you and your family decides to play a friendly game, I don't know, basketball, soccer…something competitive, right? And this psychotic nomadic vampire shows up, and decides to make a game out of getting me away from you and draining me himself. So you, in your over-reactive, emergency scenario state-of-mind send me with Rose and Emmett back to Phoenix, but the nomad tracks me there while somehow confounding you who remain here trying to track him… he gets me alone in let's say… an abandon warehouse and starts to decide how he's going to kill me.

You see, he'll have to do it in a way that will make you want to chase him forever, making his eternity seem all that more exciting. A constant cat and mouse game for him.

Then you catch on and fly like a demon down south to rescue me… hopefully it would end happily, but honestly, you have no idea how much trouble I could cause you."

By now Edward was in hysterics… if he had actually had a need for breathing, he would have been gasping for air and begging me to stop by now. I could hear laughter coming from downstairs as well.

"Oh, Bella… honestly, I can tell you are going to make eternity seem like a blink to me." He said after he had calmed enough to speak.

I smiled. "You sure you'll want me that long?" I asked quietly.

Edward's face grew serious now. He was about to speak when Carlisle and Esme came back through the door.

"It's arrived… whenever you two are ready…" Carlisle said.

I looked at the clock on the desk. Six hours had passed since Carlisle had left the room. Much of the time, I realized had been filled with an uncomfortable silence until I gained the courage to ask about the taste of blood.

"How did you get a bed so quickly?" I asked looking from Carlisle to Esme and back again.

"Oh, honey, not just a bed, but a whole bedroom suite, décor and all." Esme answered.

"Everything from Port Angeles, I had a rush put on it all… you'll soon discover that what you can't accomplish with your new powers, your new bank account can fill in." Carlisle laughed.

It made me a little uncomfortable to think of myself using the Cullen's money like that… and so soon… three days from now. Esme interjected into my discomfort… most likely from the expression on my face.

"Bella, what's ours is now yours as well. When you wake up, dear, you will be a Cullen, not only in name, but in practice. After all… since you and Edward…"

Edward cleared his voice rather loudly leaving me to wonder what 'Edward and I' meant.

I stood as if to face my execution. Which, in theory, was exactly what I was facing… only at the end of my death I would awake to a new sort of life; One where I would no longer want for anything.

Well, now that's not entirely true. I would always want for Edward… I just hope I would not bore him too soon.

We walked together up one flight of stairs. Carlisle and Esme, hand in hand leading me, alone, in the middle, followed closely, somberly by my executioner.

As we reached the room Esme opened the door and lead me in. She brought me to the bureau and opened it. She pulled out a lovely cotton and lace, long sleeved, ankle length shift.

"I bought this chemise for you… not only will it make you a bit more comfortable than your jeans and shirt, it will also be much easier to bleach later on should you choose to keep it and wear it again." Esme explained.

Edward cleared his throat lightly. "Bella, we all have our clothes we wore as humans packed away and preserved against the ravages of time; it sort of helps us to remember who we were and that we too were once as human as those we crave now. Most vampires are nomadic and even those who are not find it easier to take a human life if they separate themselves from it, which is exactly why we try to do the opposite. She bought you a shift so that if you choose to never look at it again, you can do just that… but also so that you can remember the things you're wearing with more fondness than you would after knowing what is about to happen."

"We don't mean it to sound so oddly ceremonial, Bella,' Carlisle said, 'it's just that we are trying to think of everything we can to make this easier in the long run for you. I expect that it's all going to be quite a shock for you and we'd like to ease this transformation in any way we can think of."

"Thank you." I said… "I can see you have really thought it all out and I want you to know that I really appreciate everything you're doing for me. I'm not sure if this is the path I would have chosen had things happened differently, but right now, I can't think of any family I would rather be a part of for the next millennia to come."

With that I excused myself to the bathroom to change. I emerged in my elegant shift and handed my folded clothes to Esme who left the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.

The black satin-covered bed awaited me. It was so enormous that it easily filled half of Edwards' room. I walked to the bed and before I could lift a hand was picked up and gently laid in the center of it. I looked back at Edward smiling at me gently, sorrowfully.

Carlisle stepped up to the opposite side of the bed… his voice taking on a more professional tone as he explained the following procedure.

"Bella, I've discussed it with Edward and we believe that you may well benefit from the affects of narcotic pain relievers during the transformation.

So, what I'm about to do is start an I.V. in your arm with saline, once Edward is ready to bite I will begin pushing morphine and a general anesthetic through the line.

Unfortunately I will have to remove it in approximately forty eight hours, but hopefully by then the most intense sensations will have given way to your strengthening new system. I would leave it in, but once your skin hardens, I'm afraid I will have a bit of trouble getting it out."

I closed my eyes as he began the IV. I had always hated needles.

Once in, Carlisle nodded to Edward signaling that all systems were go.

Edward nodded back slightly before pulling himself onto the bed next to me.

"Are you comfortable, Bella?" he asked softly.

"Yes." I replied.

"Alright, I'm going to bite you in several places to get the venom flowing more quickly. Then I will… take about half of your blood volume to further speed things along. Carlisle is here and the others are on standby should I be unable to stop. Are you ready?"

I nodded, unable to speak for fear my voice would crack. I was terrified.

Edward leaned close to me, his mouth very close to my left ear. I felt his cold lips kiss my neck lightly before pulling away several inches. He took one last deep breath and that was it.

Like lightning his razor teeth sank through the flesh at my neck severing my jugular artery. I could feel the blood being pulled violently through the opening. I could never have imagined the immense pain of that moment. It was not the bite that hurt, or even the sharp stinging venom that seemed to spread immediately through every vein and capillary that I possessed, but the rush of blood being forced through the hole in my neck. It seemed to last for an eternity.

Just as quickly I felt Edwards' teeth tear at several major arteries in my body. Quickly and skillfully he opened my wrists and ankles as well as one very strategically placed bite as close to my heart as was possible.

Very soon I felt a warm numbness beginning to spread throughout my body. I was losing consciousness. My first reaction was panic… he hadn't been able to stop… I had been drained and now I was dying. I tried to speak, to open my mouth… I had to tell him one last time… I tried to shout "I love you" but my voice was dead in my throat; no words would come. The darkness began to swallow me… I could fight it no longer… I gave in to the warmth of death.

The next thing I remember was the slightest form of consciousness that I could ever remember experiencing. My presence of thought was what awoke me… and then I could feel it.

Fire. The most intense and vehement fire that had ever been let loose on the earth was running through my veins, melting them, searing my entire body in one, unending, white-hot flame.

I knew no sense of time then, though it seemed to, however minutely, grow less and less intense.

After a while I could focus past the flames, and when I did…oh when I did… I could hear the most amazing things.

I could hear tiny droplets of water somewhere above me, spinning, colliding, falling. Then a splash as big as a boulder being tossed into a lake. But there were millions… and I found that I could count them, control them in a way… I could choose to hear them in real time, or in slow motion.

I could hear voices… familiar voices, laughing, talking, and what was so odd is that I could hear every single word, but also judge the exact distance that each voice was from me. Some were as far as two and a half miles, most, however, were less than a hundred yards. The Cullens.

I was at the Cullens' house. My memory shifted into high gear. It was fuzzy, but I remembered being carried here by Alice earlier today. I must have fallen and hit my head… what a klutz they must think I am. I remembered meeting Carlisle and Esme… Alice, Jasper, Rose and Emmett I already knew from school.

Edward… what must he think of me? Was he even here?

"I'm here, Bella." I heard his velvet toned voice call to me. "How is the pain?"

"Pain? I don't feel anything… what did I injure this time?" I asked… I kept my eyes closed; I could not bear the thought of him looking at me, amused by my human clumsiness.

"I see your memory has been affected, that should clear soon." Carlisle said as he entered the room. I could hear every scratch his shoes made on the plush carpet. Behind him I could hear five other sets of feet shuffling into the room where I laid.

Boy, I must have really done it this time if the whole Cullen family had to come in and see the damage.

"Wow, she even gives you a run for it, Rose."I heard Jasper whisper. I could not imagine Rosalie ever being anything near clumsy.

I heard Rosalie punch his arm… no, what I actually heard was rock hard skin colliding, first with each layer of fabric Jasper had covering his arm and then smashing against what sounded like granite.

"She gorgeous…" Alice said quietly.

"Yes, very, very well turned out. She was adorable before, of course, but her face is stunning." Esme replied.

"Who are they talking about, Edward?" I asked quietly, my voice hoarse and my throat burning and dry.

He laughed quietly, but it was Emmett's loud, boisterous voice who answered my question.

"They're talking about you, goof ball. Your transformation turned out to supply my brother with a total hottie, Bells." He laughed.

My eyes flew open.

I sat bolt upright. The room was awash in colors… not just the normal ones, but colors I had never imagined could exist, much less have seen.

"Alright everyone, you've seen her, now let's give them some privacy… she'll be with us for some time to come, so…out, all of you." Carlisle said and followed the mumbling crowd outside of Edward's room, shutting the door.

"Are you thirsty?" Edward asked tentatively.

"A little… could I have some water?" I asked.

I made the grievous mistake of looking at him… I could not tear my eyes away.

It was certainly the boy-god I had met that first night in Greece, but he was now even more beautiful to my eyes. I stopped breathing…

Edward laughed lightly. "You probably shouldn't try that until you're more used to your new body, Bella… it gets uncomfortably pretty quickly."

I just stared at him.

"Breathe, Bella… even though you no longer need to. And I don't think water would make your throat feel any better." He said gently.

I tore my eyes from him.

"I'm… like you?" I asked, terrified that if I voiced my hopes I would awake from this beautiful dream.

"No, Bella… you're so much more." He answered.

Edward grabbed my hand gently and pulled me out of the bed and toward a large full length mirror.

In the mirror stood Edward, but beside him was a creature entirely foreign to me. She was about my height, though she looked a few inches taller, with deep mahogany brown hair, where mine had been dull and mousy. Her skin was marble white and crystal clear, her ruby lips matched perfectly the shade of her eyes. Her features reminded me of someone I had seen before… someone I knew well, but could not seem to remember just now. She was dressed in a lovely cotton and lace shift… just exactly like the one I remembered Esme handing me only moments ago.

I gasped at the realization… it was me next to Edward in the mirror. Edward smiled.

"They were correct, you are exquisite, Bella." He said softly as he stared at my reflection.

"Edward, you never answered my question…" I said, my voice was like the sound of angels singing on a soft, dew covered spring morning.

"And what, exactly, was that?" he said teasingly.

"If you were sure you would want me for all of eternity…" I said, the tension growing inside me as the seconds, now seemingly much longer than I had ever remembered them being as a human.

"Of course I will Bella… I could never stop loving you no matter what gulf could separate us… I'm in love with you even more so than you think you are with me. You're mine now, forever and I couldn't be happier."

"Yours forever… I like that." I said.

"So do I, Bella. You're my immortal." He said before kissing my lips ever so gently.

~The End~

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I really appreciate the reviews and everything. I hope you will like my other stories (can be found in my profile) and thank you again for sticking with me. You guys are the reason I write.