Chapter 35~ A tale of a flower

Dear Diary,

Letting go doesn't mean you've stopped caring for someone. You can't erase the past, and you can't stop the future. At some point in my life I realized the only person I have control over is myself. This is what I've learned; I'm stronger now for it. And I'm not afraid anymore because of it.

-Bella

She shut her journal closed and felt the gentle breeze brush through her long brown hair. She got up from where she sat alone in her grassy meadow. Edward was at the house, making preparations for the move with the others.

Bella made her way to a spot just at the edge of the Cullen's vast amount of land. She stood atop a cliff; in front of her was a small gravestone. It marked,

Riley Biers

A son, A brother, A friend

A true hero

Bella had picked a lily from the meadow. It was the only one among hundreds, the colour of snow. Clean and pure, easily blemished and tattered. Esme, an avid gardener, had once told her a lily represented innocence and kindness. It was true that Riley had done bad things, he had been led astray against his control, but his heart was pure.

He had only been realizing that before he died. Bella knelt down, and gently placed it in front of his grave.

If it weren't for him, she would have died that night at the La Push cliffs. She wouldn't have discovered her hidden shielding ability, or how good things could get, even after a storm. He had brought back some of the life in her after she thought it was gone forever.

She let her head drop down for a moment, and then she got up and took a last look at his grave. Then she turned to head back up the hill. Edward greeted her by the pond just before the house.

They stood by the water; Bella stared at the ripples in the clear pond.

"Remember our meadow, the way the flowers changed to purple in the spring, all the days after school we spent there? Remember how we used to lie for hours, just talking about nothing really? Or how much fun we had with Emmett and Jasper? We made it Edward, we all knew there were going to be difficult times, but Victoria didn't win, Kyle didn't win, we won."

"We talked about marriage a lot," Edward said.

Bella smiled, "At the time I thought the idea to be crazy."

"Something tells me we're going to be okay," she finally said.

Bella rested her head on her mate's shoulder. He smiled and leaned down, kissing her passionately, and she responded to it. It was nothing but them and the sound of the wind rustling through the Forks pines.

Edward heard their names being called in his family's thoughts.

"Hurry up, let's get a move on," Emmett called as he hopped in his brand new jeep.

"It's time to go, fiancé," Edward said, smiling his crooked smile.

Bella chuckled, "I'm gonna miss this place."

And she was truthful. Forks had been her home, but now she had owned up to the fact that she had a family, she had Edward and wherever he was, she was home.

"We'll come back," he said. "We've got an eternity after all."

She had an eternity to be with him, to see the world, to live.

They walked hand in hand to meet the others, their trunks packed, ready to start a new path.

The End