Disclaimer: Nope, Twilight's still not mine. :)

AN: First, wow, I didn't realize this one was so short, and it's long than the chapter from Believer! And then, I feel I must explain the timing of this chapter. I'd told you that I'd be ready by last night, and that you'd get it if you reviewed(which you did :D), so I was ready to put it up at about 10 last night, but then my laptop decided to give me problems, because it's very tempermental. :P I fought with it for a while, but it just didn't want to cooperate. So here you have the chapter, now, when my laptop decided to be nice. I must say, I think I kind of like this chapter, despite its shortness. They are parts of these chapters that I might be sort of skipping over, not doing as fully as I could in the EPOV, but that's because they're not different enough from the BPOV to really be that interesting to me. :P Good news is, next chapter starts the part of this story that was the reason I wanted to write this in the first place. So it gets more interesting, I promise. :D

And then, of course, thank you to all my beautiful reviewers! You guys make my day :)

Now, read on!


I realized that I must've gotten the timing slightly wrong as I glimpsed my past self walking into the newsagents just as I arrived with Bella, before being whisked back to my current time.

As soon as I arrived, a memory settled over me - new, and again, remarkably clear.

I'd arrived earlier than usual that day, hoping to see the girl, Isabella, again. Even though I'd only known her for a few minutes, I found her incredibly captivating. She wasn't like other girls I'd known, the ones I barely even noticed.

As the minutes wore on, with no sign of the pretty, brown-haired girl, I walked dejectedly into the shop to buy my daily paper, but today it was without interest as I scanned the headlines automatically for war news. I left the shop after the bare minimum of conversation with the owner, who I'd gotten to know well over the past year or so.

As I left the shop, I looked around, and was delighted to see her standing on the sidewalk, looking around. "Ms. Swan," I called, unable to contain my enthusiasm. She answered me with a smile and I quickly crossed the distance between us, picking up her delicate hand and bringing it to my lips briefly, all the while watching her eyes to make sure what I was doing was acceptable. It seemed to be. "It's lovely to see you again. I was hoping I might," I confessed.

She smiled. "I told you that you'd see me again." she reminded me. "And please, call me Isabella."

I didn't mind agreeing to that. "If you wish, Isabella," I grinned at her, "but you must call me Edward as well."



They were getting along superbly, I noted, as the rest of the memory continued to play out before my eyes. Almost too well, actually, and that was my only worry. He was too intrigued, too captivated, by her. And, if I were to be perfectly honest, I feared I was as well.

I spent the rest of the morning showing her around my neighborhood, telling her about people, all the while becoming more captivated by her.

Finally, though, I decided it was time to bring her back - she'd been with him for almost an hour.


She was considerably less frazzled than yesterday after her sojourn through time, getting right down to business.

"How did I do today?" She asked as soon as we got back.

"Very well," I replied truthfully. "You're a good listener. I never really connected to people all that well, but I love talking to you." The last part worried me slightly, as I was afraid that it was true for more than just my past self, and I knew how bad that could be.

"I'm glad," she smiled. "The plan's going well, then?"

"Yes, so it would seem. The same time tomorrow?"

"That's fine with me,"she agreed readily, "If it won't make him suspicious, my being there so much?"

"No, I love talking to you." I repeated.


As the days rolled by, turning into weeks, I became more and more impressed with Bella; how she expertly gained Edward's trust - slowly and gradually, just by being someone who was interested in what he had to say, how she subtly prodded the conversation towards the war. She was learning so much about him, me, and they were well on the way to becoming fast friends. All this should mean that the plan was going perfectly.

But through all this success, there was a fear, a doubt in my mind that wouldn't go away. I didn't seem to be considering enrolling any more than I had been before I'd met Bella. Actually, the draw, the temptation to lie and enroll, which had existed for me even before she suggested it, seemed to be fading. Instead, my interest was occupied by the charming, beautiful, and somewhat mysterious brown-eyed girl. I was beginning to talk about the war less out of interest, and more because it seemed to interest her. I still scanned and clipped up my newspapers for news, but it was becoming more a habit than something I actually cared about.


This all worried me, but I dared not mention it to Bella - for fear of her becoming discouraged - even if I did have plenty of opportunity to.

Because now Bella and I had fallen into the routine of little late-night planning sessions, to discuss her progress, but they frequently dissolved into simple conversation, and Bella and I were also quickly becoming fast friends. In our second week of knowing each other, I'd even acquired my first nickname . .

"Are you-" she started to ask "I mean, is he-" then "ugh!" she exclaimed in frustration. "It's too damn confusing! You need. . . a nickname or something." She decided.

"A nickname?"

"Yes," she explained somewhat impatiently, "to differentiate."

"Wha-" I started, but she held up her hand, silencing me.

"Shh. I'm thinking."

After a few moments of concentration, her eyes lit up, and she snapped her fingers "I've got it!"

"yes?" I asked, somewhat hesitantly.

"Casper." She smiled. "I'll call you Casper." It sounded somewhat like she was naming a dog.

"Casper?"

"Yes, you'll be Casper," she explained, "And he'll be Edward. Much simpler." when I still looked confused, she added. "You know, like the friendly ghost."

"What?" Did this girl converse with spirits often?

She sighed. "I guess ghosts don't have much chance to watch TV." she laughed. "Casper, the friendly ghost. He's in a movie."

"Let me get this straight. You're naming me after a fictional ghost from a moving picture?"

She laughed again, the sound like bells. "That's about right."


There you have it. :) I must say, I kind of really liked that bit at the end where Edward gets his nickname. :) Well, I hope you enjoyed that, and here's the part of the AN where I ask you to please leave your thoughts in a review! :D

-SkySong