I ran through the bathroom and around the corner, hoping that Jasper wouldn't realise I had run away. I was quickly running through the maze of corridors. Wait. Haven't I seen that painting before? I turned right, around a sharp corridor and found Jasper there, waiting for me. I stopped abruptly and my head fell limp, defeated. I was out of breath and Jasper waited for me to calm down, although I still knew he was helping me.

"Edward's flight is pulling in now. We are going back to wait for him, and you are not running away again." He was angry, but in control.

"I know." I whispered. "I'm sorry Jasper. It was stupid."

"Why Bella? Are you trying to torment Edward? Do you ever believe that he wouldn't blame himself for your death? You know he would blame himself. You know that. And yet you still try." He questioned.

My eyes blinked as we stood up and walked around the final corner to the terminal where Edward would be waiting. I realised that no-one else knew about my mother. I took a quick breath. I started off quietly, but became louder.

"Jasper, this is urgent, James called me, and he has my mother! He's holding her in my old ballet studio. You have to help her Jasper!" I was getting frantic now. "She's in trouble! You have to save her! He's going to kill her! H-He-He's, he's going to…" I felt dizzy and tired, everything around me was swirling and I didn't understand why the colours weren't making sense. I was drifting and floating. Where was I? Suddenly, I blacked-out, and now matter how hard I tried to hold on, thinking of everyone I loved so much, especially Edward, I could do nothing as darkness pushed me under.

*

I was in a dream, seeing many memories that I'd never thought of seeing again. My first words, my mother's second wedding, moving in with Charlie, my first day at school. They were in no order, and utterly random. After what seemed like hours a memory floated through my mind, no less ordinary that the last, but it sharpened my senses. The first time I ever set eyes on the Cullens. Feeling awed. And then I realised what was happening. My life was flashing before my eyes. No! How could this happen? My life was so short, it would kill Edward. Edward. I brought to mind his face as it was in the meadow. His beauty and grace. Memorizing his face, his smooth skin, which sparkled, his perfect features, his nose, his mouth and lips, his bronze hair, and his eyebrows, leaving at last his amazing eyes. I couldn't desert his like this. It would kill him. I remembered my last conversation, which I had with Jasper, before I blacked-out. He told me that Edward would blame himself for my death. But was I dead? I felt cold, even colder than Edward. What was I missing? Where they waiting beside a hospital bed? Was I gone already? Dead and buried? I hated the thought. I tried to dredge myself back into consciousness, but it was harder than I thought. Soon, I broke the surface, opening my eyes and breathing in a shallow breath. But where was I? My face felt cold and I could see only the hazy grey of darkness. I was in a frilly dress, and there was little room. I groped my hands around and felt numerous flowers surrounding me. The darkness smelled of stale air and dirt. And then, in a sudden click of intuition I knew where I was! I was in a coffin. I searched for the lid and tried to push it open. Little I knew about what was happening on the surface.

Edward's Point of View

Twenty Minutes earlier…

My hands were clenched into tight fists as Carlisle pulled up to the cemetery and we all piled out of the car. I was the slowest, even slower than human pace. Carlisle looked worried.

"Are you sure you're okay Edward?" He asked.

"Yes." I replied curtly.

"I am surprised you came. Very surprised."

"I had to come. Bella would've wanted me to. I still love her." I broke off, feeling sad and heartbroken. I kept remembering how she died. It was almost impossible to grasp. I couldn't wrap my head around it. Jasper told me that Bella had tried to run away, but he found her and she came back willingly, no force used, he then said she was mumbling something about her mother and James, and then she collapsed, the same moment as I walked through the terminal door. I saw my family's faces and instantly read their minds. I was frozen in shock as people noticed Bella lying lifeless on the floor, her only movement was sudden twitches, her arms moving an inch or two, and then falling back, floppy and disconnected. I blocked all the screaming voices in my head and fought to control myself. Oh how much I wanted to run with inhuman speed to save her. I realised how one bite would change her, give her her wish, to become one of us. A vampire. Travelling in the back of the ambulance with her, holding her limp hand as paramedics tried to gain readings, any sign of life from her. They took her to the Intensive Care unit where she was hooked up to a machine, which got her heart beating again. The next hours were agony, pacing the room, and referring to Carlisle about her condition. He told me, solemnly, that the outlook was bleak. And finally, after a whole day of no change, the head doctor came to me, with Charlie's permission, to decide whether to keep her alive, or take her off life support. They left me to think it over, for a few hours. In that time, Alice came to me, brought me a letter that Bella has said was for her mother, but was addressed to me. With shaking hands I ripped open the letter and read:

I was astounded. How much I loved Bella and how much she loved me. My breathing spiked and was shallow and uneven. Esme walked slowly through the door and held my hand. I saw my reflection in her eyes. Now I knew what it felt like to cry as a vampire.

I wrenched myself back to reality, and my eyes were locked on Bella's coffin, as it was lowered to the ground, and the dirt was filled in. I sat, frozen, unable to pry myself from the seat, wished so hard that Bella was alive and well. I could almost feel her touch…Remember the way we kissed…The w-way we… I couldn't bring myself to continue. I stood as Bella's tombstone was placed, the description reading:

Bella Swan,

A missed daughter, friend and lover.

We will always be with you.

I shook my head. We wouldn't always be with her. She was gone, to a better place – hopefully – and now it was time for us, the Cullens, to move on. They would be the only ones to see my grief, to realise my heartbreak. The ceremony ended, and the crowd that had gathered, all turned to leave; only few stayed to place flowers or possessions that would be kept graveside. I put my hand in my pocket, to retrieve a small locket, which I had had inscribed, reading:

My dearest Bella, look after my heart, I've left it with you.

Turning to check that no-one mortal was looking, I pressed it deep into the stone that was around her grave. Slowly stood up and took a final look. This would be the last time I would be here. I would restrain myself from remembering… but I would never forget.

I turned quickly, and walked away, only barely keeping with the human pace. I caught up to my family, and they all gave me comforting looks and smiles. Dozens of voices suddenly flooded in my head, so I concentrated on blocking them out. This was the last thing I wanted to have on my mind, but it was a good distraction, for now.

"Where will we go Carlisle?" Esme asked.

"I'm not sure. Any preferences?" Carlisle questioned.

"I'd love to go to Antarctica." Rosalie mumbled sarcastically. Emmett laughed.

"It'll be okay babe; we'll get this sorted out." He soothed. "We could wrestle polar bears!" He hooted, and I smiled. It was typical of Emmett to think of wrestling at a time like this. Suddenly Alice's eyes glazed over, a trademark of when she was 'seeing' things. She gasped and I hurriedly looked into her mind. Her vision was a beating heart, which once stood cold, darkness and the smell of dirt. A burning sensation filled my nose and I paused, unsure. Then I breathed in the unmistakeable smell of freesia and my head whipped to Alice.

"When?" I whispered.

"Now." She mumbled, her eyes on Bella's grave. And then, as I was blocking out hundreds of voices in my head, one voice popped in that I never thought I'd hear. The parking lot, and cemetery for that matter, was long empty, so I sprinted over to Bella's grave a grabbed the shovel which lay, unused by the tombstone. There was a blur of dirt and clumps of grass and I momentarily hit Bella's coffin, and wrenched open the lid. Her eyes widened, in awe and gratitude. A smiled broke over my face, and I carefully reached down and grabbed her around the waist, and she threw her arms around me. She pulled back and kissed me with such passion, I thought I'd fall over, if I wasn't completely distracted by the softness of her skin, the warmth which radiated from her. She laid her head against my chest and whispered three words that nearly set my cold heart beating.

"I love you."