Penname: javamomma0921
Derivative Fiction
Rating: T
Disclaimer: All copyrights, trademarked items, or recognizable characters, plots, etc. mentioned herein belong to their respective owners. No copying or reproduction of this work is permitted without their express written authorization.
Prompt: Face
An Immortal Change
I had changed.
I was looking into the clear, deep waters of the Pacific Ocean. Jasper was hunting and I was just staring at myself, realizing for the first time how much he had changed me.
Of course, my body had not changed. My face was the same, as was my hair. But the image I saw swimming in the water in front of me was different than I remembered. It was softer, happier. It was…content.
So much had changed in the last six months. Usually for our kind, change was uncomfortable at best. I hadn't dreamed that anything as wonderful as meeting the love of my life would change me because I had always associated change with discomfort. But he had changed me as surely as anything before had. I was a new woman, confident and happy with a man who loved me at my side.
Looking into the future, all I could see of our future was happiness. Of course I knew that couldn't be all our life was made of. I knew there would be trials and I knew there would be sadness. But through it all, he would be with me.
I could smell him coming back for me. I breathed in deeply, smelling the mixture of lemongrass and wood smoke that announced his presence. I watched my face light with a smile as I thought of him. I saw the dimples I had never noticed before because I never smiled this deeply before he came.
I spoke the instant his arms surrounded me, leaning against his sturdy comforting frame.
"What has changed in your life?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, burying his nose in my hair. "Since I met you, or during my lifetime?"
"You can start with since you met me, but I want to know it all."
"Of course you do," he said snorting.
I had been sitting on the beach surrounded by driftwood and discarded shells. It was going to be a cloudy day so we could sit lazily by the water even though the pale sun was rising in the east. Any humans that found us would mistake us as young lovers who had slipped out of the house for a rendezvous, not vampires who needed neither sleep nor to have a house. He pulled me back to him and I laid between his legs as he stroked my hair.
"You made me hope," he said finally, looking out at the waves that crept upon the shore. "Before, I simply existed. Now, I hope for the future because I know you'll be part of it."
I stroked his arm as he spoke. I was glad that I had given him hope; he had given me that and more.
"I'm happy now," he said. "Before there was little in my life that made me happy; most of my happiness came from the happiness I absorbed from others. Now, I feel it myself. It's wonderful."
"I'm happy too," I said. "I was looking at myself while you were gone and noticing the changes. Mostly, I think I am just content to be now. Does that make sense?"
"Mm-hmm," he said. "You're not constantly looking forward anymore; you're happy where you are."
I nodded, pleased that he understood. It was so amazing to me knowing that he understood me and accepted me for what I was. It still stuck in my head the words that Maria had thrown at me: I was a "little freak." But he accepted me regardless of what I was. He loved me for that. It was so freeing. We sat for the rest of the morning watching the waves come in and go out. Their motion was soothing and repetitive. As we watched, I learned more about the changes Jasper had experienced in the past and about his biggest change: his transformation.
For the first time, I was glad that I couldn't remember mine. His descriptions were horrific enough. Even this far removed from his transformation, he became visibly tense talking about it and about what waited for him when he awoke. My solitary awakening seemed so much more preferable than the assault to his senses that Jasper experienced when he awoke. I pitied him for the time he spent away from me and hoped that in time I would be able to change his reaction to his past. I hoped someday he could view it with the distance I was able to view my own past.
A/N: Sorry this one was a little later. I had Kindergarten orientation for my oldest today...needless to say I'm feeling slightly emotional! *sniff* Can't believe she's old enough for that! Anyway, I hope you liked this latest installment. It's short but sweet and hopefully sums up the changes that they brought about in each other. Thanks so much for reading! ~Jen