41

Edward felt useless as he stood in the middle of the yard and watched the love of his life slip into their bedroom. He'd seen the look of devastation fill her eyes when her parents didn't recognize her, and that's when it hit him like a ton of bricks. He, too, would forget her. They all would. She was willing to sacrifice herself for them, so they could have a second chance, and none of them would even remember that Bella Swan existed.

Edward, Carlisle called out to his mind, causing him to shift his eyes to him. Edward, talk to me.

But he didn't talk to him, he didn't want to talk to the man who had brought her into their lives. Because if he did, he would curse him for bringing him the love of his life, the one person who made him want to live as a vampire just so he could hold her in his arms for the rest of eternity. So, no, he didn't speak to Carlisle, or Esme or anyone else before he turned and leapt up to the same balcony his wife just had and walked into their bedroom, finding her crumbled in a corner with her knees pulled up to her chest.

He walked over to her and sat down, sliding his arm around her waist, and lifting her into his lap. Though no tears actually fell, her body rocked with sobs and she grabbed the front of his shirt, the fabric ripping in between her fingers, not that he cared. He just needed to keep her in his arms, keep her forever. He couldn't live in a world where he didn't remember her. It was cruel, and harsh, and he hated Aro Volturi for being a threat to their happiness.

Edward wasn't sure how long they had been sitting there, wrapped in each other's arms when she pulled her shield from around them, allowing the sounds of their friends and families to be heard. She scooted off his lap, still keeping her knees pulled up to her chest as she looked up at him.

"It hurt."

Though she spoke softly, the fact that entire house became utterly and completely silent told Edward that everyone could hear her.

"My head hurt when I changed them. Like it did before . . . you changed me. My pain was . . . the pain excruciating, but I would live with every day if I had just more moment with them, Edward. I wasn't ready to let them go. I wasn't ready."

"None of us were ready." Edward brought his hand up to the side of her face. "Tell me what you felt when you did it."

Bella shook her head, her eyes fluttering to a close. "I felt sad and angry, and lost and I just wanted to remember that moment, because I knew we weren't going to have many left. I can feel him moving closer. He's . . . eager and excited, and it's nauseating to be able to feel him like this. And I just . . . I wanted one moment that he couldn't take from me, just one more moment where I was their little girl and they were my mom and dad. And I felt this . . . I felt prickle inside my chest and spread through my entire body and out of finger tips like bolts of lightning and I flew backward into that tree, and I . . . I hurt, Edward." She brought her hands up to the side of her head. "I hurt like I was that fragile, sick little human girl hiding in the closet again."

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, I'm so sorry," he whispered, shifting so that he was kneeling in front of her. He places his hands on top of hers, tilting her head back. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

"It's going to hurt," she whimpered. "When I die, it's going to hurt. I can feel the pressure inside my head building, and I understand it now. I understand what I'm going to do."

"What? What are you going to do, Bella?"

She shifted so that she was on her knees in front of him, her hands coming around to cover his as he held her face in his nimble fingers. "The more vampires I cure, the more I turn back into humans, the more the pain will fill my head, because the cancer will come back, and it's going to kill me after all. In the end, I'll be human, too. I just won't get to live."

"So this was all for nothing?"

"No, love, no, it wasn't for nothing. It's to give Rosalie and Alice and Esme a second chance."

"I don't care if they want a second chance," Edward cried out as he scrambled to his feet. "I want you, Bella. I want forever with you."

"I want that, too, Edward, I do, but I can't . . . we can't let Aro Volturi take my power."

"But what about what I want?" Edward dropped to his knees. "I just found you, Bella. I can't live in a world where you don't exist, where I don't can't feel you in my arms." He shook his head. "It's selfish, I know it's selfish, but I've spent the last hundred fucking years alone, trapped in a house where everyone had someone to love but me. And then I found you, and I fell in love with you. I can't live without you, Bella. Please, don't make me live without you."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, walking over and kneeling in front of him, she placed her hands on his chest. "This was not the life I wanted, either, Edward. A part of me wants to be selfish, wants to say fuck you to everyone, to all the little humans that are in danger."

"Then do it," he said, weakly. "For me, for us."

"Edward." Bella leaned her forehead against his. "You know I can't."

"I know." He brought his hands up to either side of her face again. "But I can wish, right?"

"We can pretend that we have a thousand years together. We could travel and you can show me the world, like you said you wanted to."

"We would have so many adventures, sweetheart." Edward pressed his lips against her forehead. "So many adventures."

Bella sighed and looked at the doorway just moments before the sound a timid knock came, and Edward groaned as he stood up, already knowing that Carlisle was going to be standing on the other side of the door when he opened it. He gave him a look of sorrow and pity that annoyed Edward, but it didn't matter, not in the end. He would still get the love of his life, while his was going to die a painful death to save them all. In that moment, all Edward could think was fuck all of them for making her put their needs before his, before hers.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Carlisle said, his butterscotch eyes shifting from him to Bella, who was still kneeling on the floor with her arms wrapped around herself. "It's time to go met the wolves."

Edward sighed and looked back at Bella, silently raising an eyebrow. She simply nodded as she stood up. "We'll be right down."

"Edward, I . . ."

But whatever Carlisle was going to say, however he thought he could make things better, he wisely chose not to say it before he turned and headed back downstairs. Nothing would make the fact that he was going to lose the love of his life and not even remember her, better.

Edward closed the door and looked back at her. "We don't have to go, if you don't want to."

"I don't," she admitted. "But I can't stay locked up here, either. We don't have much time, Edward. He's quickening his pace as we speak."

With a nod, Edward stretched his hand out to her, and when she threaded her fingers in with his, he pulled her against him, causing her to laugh. It almost sounded real, too. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she murmured.

Together, Edward and Bella made their way from the third floor to the first floor, where everyone was waiting for them. There was look on each and every one of their faces, a mixture of hope and fear and anxiety, but Edward did his best to ignore them. He knew it wasn't logical, but Bella wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't because if them, because of Rosalie who wanted the chance to grow old with Emmett, or Esme who longed to be a mother again. Or Alice who had lived in a time where her ability made her a pariah, an outcast. No, if they hadn't wanted a life as a human, Bella wouldn't be so willing to die for them. But them, again, maybe she would have. Bella was better than all of them, after all.

"Who is coming with us?" Edward asked.

"Me and Tanya," Jacob said, standing up with his imprint in his arms. "Figured they'd be more willing to talk to me rather than you. In theory, at least."

"Jasper and I are going, too," Emmett said, folding his arms in front of him. "In case the dogs get out of hand."

Jacob rolled his eyes, but didn't counter the claim, something that told Edward he wasn't sure what kind of . . . welcome they would get, either.

"Alistair and I are going, as well."

At Carlisle's words, everyone turned toward the dark-haired vampire with blood-red eyes. He simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "I'm curious."

"Then let's go."

As the eight of them walked out of the house and headed into the woods, Bella leaned her head on his shoulder. He smiled and released her hand before wrapping his arm around her waist, just enjoying the feeling of her in his arms for as long as he could.

"Do you still think it's worth it?"

Everyone turned toward Alistair who was walking on the other side of Carlisle, but his eyes were focused on Bella.

"You changed them and they forgot you even existed. Was it worth it?"

"Yes."

"Yes?" he laughed, the sound echoing around them.

"Yes." Bella stopped and shook her head. "Was I ready to let them go? No, I wasn't. I'm not ready to let any of you go. Believe it or not, Alistair, I happen to like being vampire, too. I lived a life filled with pain and sickness, and then I got the chance to live, to really live, and I took it greedily, but I'm willing to give it up, not just for Carlisle and Emmett and Jasper, so they can be the men their wives need them to be, so they can have the chance to have the lives they wanted, instead of what was forced onto them. You see, I said yes, they didn't. So while I want this life more than I've ever wanted anything, it will be worth it when the world doesn't end."

"You are not like I expected you to be," he said, shaking his head. "I can't imagine how hard this choice has been for you, and while I don't want to be a human again, I'll fight alongside you, Bella, because you're the kind of person I wish I could be."

"That's nice, I guess. In a backhanded, insulting kind of way."

Alistair laughed and started to walk again. "Sorry, if I'm not a sentimental kind of guy."

"Whatever."

The rest of the pack hadn't arrived when they reached the treaty line. They stood shoulder to shoulder, waiting for them. It didn't take long before Edward could smell them, the odor that Charlie once referred to as a skunk's ass after a hard rain. He shifted his eyes down to Bella, who tried to smile as she looked up at him. He would miss her father, her mother, and he would miss her. Somehow, he would find a way to remember her, to love her every second of every day he spent as a human, and when the end of his life came, he hoped that he would be reunited with her.

—Stay—

Bella tried to put a brave face on as she stood with her toes on the treaty line. She hadn't wanted to come with them. She would have preferred to stay locked in their bedroom with Edward's arms wrapped around her, holding her while she grieved the loss of her parents. She put on a brave face and told them they were worth dying for, but if she were being honest with them, and herself, she would admit that they weren't worth it. She didn't want to die, and she certainly didn't want a painful death. She'd had a painful life, so why would she get a painful death, too?

"They're coming," Carlisle murmured from right next to her. She looked over at him and he looked down at her, smiling, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "We should talk later."

She simply nodded and looked away. There wasn't anything to talk about. She hadn't been prepared to lose her parents yet. She hadn't had her chance to say goodbye, to prepare her heart for losing them. She hadn't thought it through, hadn't considered the fact that they wouldn't remember her, that to them, she never existed. They were on their way back to their lives in Phoenix with no knowledge that she had ever been a part of their lives, their daughter. The memories she had of them were hers and hers alone, something that hit her harder than she expected.

She smelt them before she saw them stepping through the tree line. Leah Clearwater led the way. Bella remembered her from the deepest, parts of her mind, the way the two little girls would run around the reservation, chasing Jacob Black and Sam Uley. Back before she got sick, before they forgot about her, before they turned against her.

To Leah's left stood her little brother, Seth, who wasn't so little anymore. He towered over his sister by a solid foot. He smiled and she smiled and for a moment, they weren't vampire and wolf, but old friends.

Surrounding them were other young members of the pack: Brady Fuller, Embry Call, and Quil Ateara Jr. The five of them stopped on the other side of the treaty line, their arms coming up in front of them, all of them shirtless with exception of Leah, who wore a tank top despite it being cold outside.

"Thank you for meeting us," Carlisle said, putting a hand up in peace. "I know it's a lot to ask."

"It is." Leah shifted her eyes to Bella. "Been a long time."

"It has. Last time I saw you didn't have a tail."

Leah smiled. "Nor fangs for you, Swan. Or is it Cullen now. Heard you got hitched."

"I did," she replied before she said, "I'm sorry about your father." Bella looked from Leah to Seth before turning to Quil. "And your grandfather. They were good men."

"No, they weren't," Seth disagreed, and when she looked at him. "They started this war, didn't they?"

"It would have happened sooner or later. It's only a matter of time before they came for me."

"These Sentinels, or whatever, you're called, this Aro guy is one of them?"

Bella nodded. "It's a long story to tell, and I don't have time to get into all of it right now, but we need your help. This isn't just about me, or us, even. It's about your people and the humans who deserve a chance to live. The people who are coming want to take my power, and if they get it, they will kill us all, and I do mean all of us. You, your families, your people, me, and we can't let that happened."

"Why should we trust you?" Brady asked, tilting his head to the side. "You killed Sam. You killed Paul and Jared."

"I did," she admitted. "They almost killed my parents, almost killed Jacob," she added, gesturing to the man on the other side of Tanya. "They killed Emily Young."

"We know." Leah gave Brady a look and he simply nodded and took a step backward. She shifted her eyes back to Bella. "We've heard a rumor that you intend on reversing the cold ones curse."

"I am," she confirmed. "You know what that means, don't you?"

"It means that we'll never have turned," Leah said. "They trigger our change, which means if they never existed, we won't exist. Like this at least."

"That's right."

Leah opened her mouth several times before she shook her head. "They say that the only way to do that is by sacrificing yourself."

Bella didn't reply, which seemed confirmation enough for Leah, who brought her hands up to the back of her neck and shook her head. "Why, Bella? Why would you do that?"

"Because it's the right thing to do," she said, feeling Edward's arm tighten around her. "Trust me, this . . . this isn't an easy decision to make, but it's the right decision to make."

Bella paused, shifting her eyes up to Edward for a moment before she looked back at Leah and took a step over the treaty line. While Brady, Embry and Quil gasped and moved away, Seth and Leah stood firm, their eyes locked on hers.

"I'm asking that you help us keep them contained long enough for me to do what I have to in order to save the world. Please, Leah, for Emily, for Harry, for Billy, for my mom and dad, please help us."

Leah shifted her eyes to Seth, who nodded before turning to Brady, Embry, and Quil, who all nodded, as well, before she turned back and faced Bella. She took the two steps toward Bella and held out her hand. "We'll help you save world, Bella. We'll help."

Thank you for all the AMAZING reviews! Imma go cry in the corner now.