Soul Fliers

Epilogue: Jewel

'Every jewel is precious in its own way.' - Xlara Conners

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"Alice, have you seen Bella anywhere?" I asked my sister. Bella's scent had led me to her room, but it had also led outside and into the woods… I had looked everywhere I could think of but I still couldn't find her.

"Not since a couple hours ago," she said nonchalantly, brushing aside my slight worrying. "She'll be back soon, though."

"Okay," I sighed, knowing that was all I was going to get out of her at the moment; she was online shopping, and shopping was always the best way to distract her from what was going on in reality. She would probably prefer to be in an actual mall instead, but it had been sunny outside for a few days and so she had to make do with this.

I walked down the stairs, settling at my piano. I hadn't played it much since Bella had entered my life, wanting to spend all my time with her, and so I played a couple of scales to check the tuning. It was still in check, and I ran through songs I knew off by heart – a song I had wrote about Esme, a song I had wrote for Alice – before moving onto a new tune that had been weaving its way through my thoughts ever since the battle.

There had been a long mourning ceremony, and a large celebration to celebrate the lives of all the ones who had fallen in the short but devastating battle. The hardest part was seeing the twins that Bella had spoken of so fondly and joked about with Ronald; Loriane's stomach had been nearly gouged out, and her brother had sobbed over her body for hours, not letting anyone else near her. Looking at how much they looked alike, it was almost hard to imagine them apart. They fit each other so perfectly that if they hadn't been related they probably would have been mates, as disturbing as that kind of sounds.

Though many of the Soul Fliers died, the worst thing to happen to our division was one of the wolves had been ganged up upon, and had received many deep gouges alone the face and the legs. Carlisle had dressed the wounds to keep out the infection as the cuts healed quickly, and the wolves had left hours before us, though the infamous Jacob had tried to stick around. He had grown tired of my glaring after only ten minutes, taking off to after the pack to try and catch up. Bella had smiled slightly at me, knowing the cause for his abrupt departure.

I had stayed near her side during the ceremonies, and had clung to her when she finally allowed the tears to fall. She had sobbed with all the others of her kind while my family and I wished that we could share in our grief in the same way, but our tear ducts hadn't shed anything but venom since our change.

As my fingers danced over the keys, I remembered the trip home; Bella hadn't moved from my lap the entire way, gripping my shirt as she slept and pulling on my hands when she was awake. She didn't talk much, but we all knew she was grieving. Even though it was apparent that she had hated the man with a passion, she was too sweet of a soul to handle the idea that she was the one who ended his life. She was the one who had thrown his body into the fire (they cremated all of their bodies, as was tradition) and said the prayer, ending it with a fluttering of her hands that resembled a bird in flight.

The melody I was weaving was bright and joyous, with a fierce and beautiful tone running underneath it. At times the chords clashed together, creating a cacophony of sound, before smoothing out again and streaming back into the main theme: love. No, this song wasn't love; this song was Bella. I could practically hear the bright colours she was always wearing in the notes, her personality and her fighting racing through the happy notes in a quick dance. As it fell to an end, an eerie tone joined the harmony, once again clashing through the piece as it came to the inevitable end that all songs need. I had never written a song as quickly as I had in those moments.

I had been so into my playing that I hadn't taken noticed of the thrumming heartbeat and the soft footsteps as the entered the room. I only became aware of Bella's presence as she began clapping behind me. I turned towards her, smiling as I took in the wide smile on her face.

"That was lovely, Edward," she said. "You told me you could play; I should have assumed that you were amazing." If I could have blushed, I would have at that moment. "Will you play for me later?"

I was confused, and I'm sure my face showed it. "Why not now?"

She laughed at me, skipping forward to grab my hand and pull me out of my seat and out of the room. "Because I have other plans for us at this moment, my dear."

"What other plans?" I asked her, trying to remember if we had decided to so anything together today.

"You'll see," she smiled back at me, jumping into the air and shifting midway. I don't think I'd ever get used to how beautiful she was in this form – she was too amazing that I couldn't find a word to describe her properly. I couldn't quite believe she was mine, but she reminded me of that fact every day.

I followed after her as she weaved in and out between the trees, leaving me deeply into the forest. I didn't have the slightest idea of where she was leading me, but in a few minutes I could see the tell-tale sign of light shattering through the trees – there was a clearing up ahead.

I ran faster, knowing where we were going now, and as I stepped out into the light I took in the scene. Someone – Bella, I'm assuming – had been by to lay out a picnic blanket and enough food for one, with the classic red and white checkered blanket and everything. There was a vase of bright purple flowers in the middle, and I could smell the sweet scent coming off of them; it was all over the clearing. There was twinkle lights sprung up in the trees that were connected to some sort of mini generator – I guessed that they would come on later.

"I felt so bad about cutting our date short," Bella said quietly from behind me. "I wanted to make it up to you somehow."

"Bella," I laughed, shocked that she had done this. "You don't need to feel bad about that – I completely understand why you did that."

"I know," she spoke quietly again. "But… I still wanted a first date. Can we try again, forget the last one happened?"

I gathered her in my arms, laying little kisses all over her face. She giggled before clasping my head in her small hands and pressing her lips firmly to mine, leaning in to me as she showed me how much she loved me. I sent my love back to her through the contact, as well, hoping she would feel it. I knew she had when she smiled.

"I think I'd be filling to do anything for you," I said as we broke away, leading her towards the blanket and sitting down, pulling her into my lap. I took one of the flowers from the vase and placed it behind her ear, breathing in her scent with the scent of the lovely foliage. She bit her lip, reaching for her food (would you guess that she had a salad?) and eating it slowly, leaning into me all the while. It had been rather late when we started out here, and before she was done eating the twinkle lights came on, lighting up the meadow with a soft, flickering light. I smiled, burying my face in her neck, delighting in her giggle.

"Does this make up for me basically cancelling our date?"

"Of course it does; I'm just glad that you're with me," I told her, laying her on her back on the blanket, hovering over her. She giggled again, before sighing as I began lifting her shirt up over her head.

She was wearing green.

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Life was perfect after Bella; I will forever be glad that she picked me over her, and would always wonder if there were other immortals out there. If we could exist, and the wolves could exist, and Bella's kind could exist, surely it was possible that there were others. Bella had said that she didn't know for sure, but there were stories of her kind going up against immortals that were unlike us and the wolves, and we could only assume that they were of a different species. Carlisle and Jasper were at work once again, but the research was proving to be just as futile as the search for Bella's species had been. We wouldn't stop, though; not until we'd proved for sure whether there were others out there or not.

I had to agree with the person who had written the legend of the Soul Fliers, though; the immortal species had definitely returned and helped us. The 'Bringers of Light' had brought light into my eternal darkness, and I would forever cherish the bright spark of fire they had sent me.

I would forever cherish Bella.

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And that's the end. It's all over. Other than the outtakes, you can say 'bon voyage' to Soul Fliers. I really enjoyed writing this story, but in a way I'm also glad it's finally done. Now I can focus on other things.

Let me know what you think, and if you have anything you would like to see in an outtake, let me know!

Review and remember me.