Disclaimer: I have no claim on any of the characters from Twilight or New Moon all rights go to Stephenie Meyer.

Summary: Edward leaves Bella alone in the woods after telling her he didn't want her any more. As she is lying on the cold forest floor; Bella remembers three important things. Edward made a promise not to leave her, and Edward never broke a promise, and third it was her body, her heart, what right did he have to make this choice for her? Bella realizes that Edward was covering up his true feeling about her. She goes to bring Edward home.

Last Time:

Jasper POV

There was one more scar on her that I had yet to look at. It was the crescent shaped one on her hand. James had branded her that day, stealing something precious from my brother. Edward had to see reason – and return home. I had no reason to ever believe in fate until it found me one rainy day in a small diner -- when I stumble across my own angel, announcing that I had kept her waiting. Fates cord had firmly wrapped Bella and Edward together (just as it had Alice and I).

Pain had been what had made Edward run. I however, had a strong feeling that it was going to be fate that returned him to us. Bella was Edward's liquor, just as much as Alice was mine.

I soon found myself running a finger across Bella's crescent scar. Seconds later, Bella's body stiffened on the bed. Her heart was pounding rapidly in her chest. Right before a familiar name slipped from her lips.

"No, Edward, don't!"

Chapter 5: Seek and You Shall Find

By TaintedDarkInuShemeeko

Bella POV

The wipers on the car squeaked as they dragged across the windshield. New York was where the Cullen's were at least it's what Alice's message had told me before my stupid phone died. For the hundredth time I cursed my hasty packing before leaving Forks. If only I had grabbed the charger to my phone! I didn't even have a way of contacting Alice as the screen on my phone went blank before I could retrieve her number. Even though, it had been wonderful to hear Alice's voice. It had been a gentle reminder that they did exist.

I was free of Forks now and again steeled my resolve: the only way I was going back was with Edward.

The road stretched endlessly ahead of me and gave me nothing but time to replay the events that set me on this cross county road trip.

"You were just something for me to fill my time with. There was nothing more to it; just the imagination of a silly girl."

"It will be like I never existed."

He had spoken his lies to me and I had easily believed them. After all, it never made sense for him to love me. But as I stroked the locket hanging around my neck, I realized how foolish I had been.

I had been a fool to have doubt when I had been so sure of our love. I wasn't going to give up on us. Human or not, I was going to prove to him how strong I was. I had told him that what had happened with Jasper didn't matter to me. And I had meant what I had said, it didn't matter. All that mattered to me was being with Edward. And now I knew he felt the same about me.

In my reality, I heard the words I longed to hear pass from his lips,

"I do love you, Bella. I can't spend a minute apart from you. I want nothing but more time with you."

"Not being with you will be like never existing."

The only thing I could do was find him and hear from his mouth what the truth really was. He had lied to me once before, how was I to keep him from trying to lie to me again? How could I make him see that whatever the risks, us being together was meant to be? I just had to think of a way to get the truth out of him – to get him to stop hiding behind his gallant justification of trying to 'protect me' and speak from his true heart.

But I didn't really have a plan; I was making it up as I went. There was only one thing I was sure of -- there was something far greater then myself calling out to me causing me gravitate toward Edward, wherever he was.

Edward had once said to me that my time was up the day I met him. I, however, disagreed. My time seemed to end the day Edward left. He was the only one who could mend this hole in my chest. I would find a way to make him take back his lie.

From Forks, I had passed through Idaho, then Wyoming. I stopped in Topeka, Kansas where I bartered my car for another one. With my money dwindling, I took odd jobs such as cooking and cleaning as I traveled.

My travels took me through St. Louis, Missouri and Springfield, Illinois. The tension in my body started to calm and my resolve grew stronger when I passed through Columbus, Ohio, knowing there was only one state lying between Edward and me. After seventeen days of driving I was almost there. My heart flooded with excitement as I passed a sign that read Welcome to New York.

My excitement was short lived though as I was suddenly faced with the fact that I still had no plan. Panic set in. I just couldn't lose him! There had to be something I could do. My head ached as I tried to figure out a way for this to work out. What was it I could do to show him that he needed me as much as I needed him? The fact that Edward was so thick headed made it hard to figure out how to show him what he meant to me. The only answer I had was his family. I had to hope one of them knew of a way for me to reach Edward.

Even though the temperature was freezing and the rain was slowly turning the roads into an icy mess, I continued to drive. It was a risk I was willing to take after such a long journey. I was just too close to my destination to stop now.

I was so deep in thought I didn't register what was happening until it was too late. The sliding sound of my tires alerted me first. The car then started to hydroplane on the road as a scream erupted from inside of me. The vehicle careened sideways on the road before descending toward the railing of the bridge.

"Oh God, Edward, I love you!"

As those six words left my lips, the only thought that registered in my brain was that I was going to die without seeing him again; without Edward ever confessing his lies.

These violent delights have violent ends.

* * * *

I vaguely remembered how weightless the car felt as it soared through the air before it plunged into the icy water. I also remembered panic digging its nails into me as the car start to sink and fill with water.

Anything else that happened to me was lost until I heard Alice's voice. At first I wasn't even sure if Alice was real. There had been several moments that I had thought that Edward was right beside me, only to find out that he wasn't real. So I wasn't sure if I could trust that this was real. Her bell-like voice was calling out to me, leaving me with only one thing to do and that was to test it out.

"Alice?"

In the hazy fog I was floating in, I heard her answer me.

"It's okay, Bella, I'm right here."

It took me several minutes to realize that the chattering of my teeth was what was making talking so difficult. Though it was a struggle I was able to find my voice again, "I'm cold, so cold."

Even though my body was freezing, the feeling of a cold hard hand against my flesh was comforting to me. I felt someone's nimble fingers (Alice's no doubt) slip through my hair. My body was then pressed against someone's firm hard chest. Struggling to keep my eyes open, the only thing I could make out was the warm butterscotch color of a pair of eyes. Then the dark claws of unconsciousness began to pull me back into its grip. Struggling to resist, I called out to the one person that I could remember having such warm eyes.

"Ed-ward, don't g-o, don't lea-ve m-e."

Everything had been so dark and silent. Then there were voices echoing through the darkness. Something in the back of my mind was telling me I knew who the voices belonged to. The throbbing of my head was making focusing difficult. I had thought of trying to open my eyes but then thought better of it.

As I allowed myself to give into the now feathery arms of unconsciousness, the voices were growing softer until they faded. But bright sunny dreams didn't await me in the darkness. The forest was suddenly all around me again.

"No, no, no! Anywhere but here," I cried.

My plea wasn't answered.

Edward's image appeared several inches in front of me.

"You're no good for me, Bella. And I'm not good for you either."

My breathing was coming out in labored gasps. I started to shake my head in disbelief. The hole in my chest twisted at hearing his words.

"No, no, this isn't real now; this is all inside my head. You lied to me; everything you told me was a lie!"

I wasn't aware that I was crying until my tears ran down my cheeks.

"You broke me, Edward. How could you do that to me, to us? You threw me away, but that's not the worst part. You ripped the center of my heart out and took it with you when you left. As far as I'm concerned, you took a part of my soul too."

All of the anger I had been keeping bottled up at Edward boiled over at last, causing me lash out at the person who had put me through so much. I wasn't completely aware of what I had done until I registered the loud smack sound. I had just let my tempter get the better of me and I had slapped Edward.

"I'm not giving up on us and I'm not going anywhere until I find you."

"Bella, promise me you won't do anything dangerous or reckless."

For all of the effort I put into the slap I had given him, it had done nothing to this shadow of Edward that I saw inside my head.

"Good-bye, Bella."

Edward then disappeared just like he had two and a half months ago.

Now that I knew the truth that had been hidden in his lies, hearing those words again shouldn't have hurt, but it did. Just as I was about to give in to the pain in my chest, the sound of Alice's voice echoed through the woods.

"You're safe now, Bella. We're not going to run anymore. I promise you."

The bright green forest started to tip and roll as if I was standing in a boat. There was a strong tugging feeling from deep inside my chest. Almost as if something was trying to get me to follow. The forest soon melted away, to be replaced by a snow covered field. It was very familiar to me, but I couldn't remember where I had seen it before.

Then it came back to me -- the Cullen baseball field! I was standing in the empty field where I had joined the Cullen's eight months ago on a stormy afternoon. Something soft landed on my nose causing me to look up into the sky where a dozen or so more snowflakes came dancing down. Out of all the places I could have visited in my dreams, why was I here?

As I searched my surroundings, two dark shapes stood out in the distance. I squinted against the snow fall to try and see the figures better. As I tried to see who it was, the tugging sensation took over my body. It was bringing me closer to the dark figures.

The snow was sticking to the two unknown figures. They were too still, like they were statues. But somehow, I knew that they weren't. The wind picked up speed, causing the snow to swirl all around me as I walked closer to them.

Suddenly the figures disappeared in a blur of black and white. There was an eerie metallic scraping sound, followed by the loud smack sound of two boulders hitting each other. I knew that sound! It was the sound vampires made when they collided with one another. Two vampires were fighting just a few feet from me. The hole in my heart throbbed as the two strangers continued to battle.

Why, why did my chest ache at the sight of two unidentified vampires fighting? My breath whooshed out of my body as a familiar velvety voice traveled from one of the vampire strangers.

"I'll never give you the chance to get that close to her."

Edward! His voice was fierce as he gave the other vampire his warning. I had many dreams with Edward in them since he left me, yet I couldn't remember one where he was defending me from a vampire. All of the ones that burned the brightest in my memory were the ones where he left me alone in the cold dark forest.

This dream was new.

Who was it that Edward was fighting with? I focused myself to walk closer to them. I was close enough to him now that I could smell his sweet scent. Glancing over his shoulder I gasped and took a step back as I saw who standing in front of Edward -- Laurent.

Hadn't he had left to go live with the Denali's? My heart jumped inside my chest as I took in the color of Laurent's eyes. They weren't gold or orange, but a deep maroon. Laurent had gone back to killing humans.

His accent was thick as he spoke to Edward.

"Victoria is going to be rather cross with me. She was hoping to kill your mate, in exchange for you killing hers. Seeing how I found you here instead of Bella, you will have to do."

What? No, no! He couldn't do that. This was my dream so that meant I could change what was going to happen.

"I'm the one Victoria wants, so kill me!" I yelled.

Edward seemed to shudder at my words. Laurent, on the other hand, acted as if he hadn't even heard me. Edward crouched as if he was getting ready to brace himself for an attack. A low warning growl rumbled its way free from Edward. Laurent hissed in response and prepared to spring at Edward.

My heart continued its rapid pounding inside my chest. This couldn't be happening! If this was a dream then why hadn't Laurent come after me instead of Edward? I cringed at the sound of tearing fabric and the loud crack of their bodies colliding once more. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as a wolf howled somewhere in the distance.

I could feel the hole in my chest widen as Laurent managed to flip Edward on his back slamming him into the ground. I understood now, I had died and this was my hell. To watch as Edward died for me.

Somehow Edward managed to get the upper hand on the older vampire and he knocked Laurent off of him.

As I continued to watch the battle, I had no hope in putting a stop to it. I caught the blur of something that was orange brown in color move in the snow covered woods. Something was out there watching Edward and Laurent fight.

Edward's head snapped up to look in the same direction that I was looking in. He knew that something was watching them as well. A smirk appeared on Laurent's face as Edward released his hold distracted by the movement in the woods.

"It would seem that I won't be able to finish you off as I had hoped," Laurent lamented.

In the forest, a darker shadow moved along side the lighter one. Both creatures seemed to be focused on Edward. The fury of the snow storm seemed to be intensifying. Whatever had been in the woods watching was now making its way through the tree line. As the first one stepped out into the snow covered clearing, I started to hyperventilate, overcome with fear.

They were horse-sized wolves, one black and one that was a russet in color.

I watched with horror-filled eyes as Laurent took off running, leaving Edward to face the two wolves. There was another howl as three more blurs of color took off after Laurent. There were more than just these two wolves.

"We have a treaty, you wouldn't want to break it would you? I care very little about what your pack does to him." Edward said, addressing the approaching wolves.

Edward was talking to the wolves like they could understand him. I also noticed that he had not moved out of his crouched position. He was waiting to see if they were going to attack. The black wolf snorted and took off after Laurent and the others. The russet one just continued to stare at Edward.

I took in Edward's appearance; his shirt was torn in the front revealing a ripple of muscle. One of the sleeves of his coat had been torn off exposing his marble skin to the snow fall. A low rumble escaped Edward's chest, causing the wolf to growl in return. Edward then took a step toward the massive wolf.

"No, Edward, don't!"

A/N: Okay, I wonder how many of you are cursing me now. The end of this chapter was to show how strong of a bond Edward and Bella have. I hope you enjoyed.

Oh Lunar Eclipse was nominated for a Shimmer Award for Best Drama. I was very surprised and honored to see it in my box. Voting starts after the Holidays on Dec. 27th at shimmerawards(dot)webs(dot)com.

TaintedDarkInuShemeeko