11Contest entry for the Happily Ever After TwiFic Contest
Title: My love is a fairytale
Paring: Edward and Bella
Name: Sanutaz
Beta: Rags Stone
Rating: T
Summary: He comes every night, not just in reality, but also in her dreams. Will that be enough for them? Can they find their happily ever after…
Disclaimer:The following is a work of fanfiction using characters from the Twilight world, which is trademarked by Stephenie Meyer. I do not claim ownership of said characters. No copyright infringement is intended.
My Love Is A Fairy Tale
Bella's POV
It's that time of night when I sit on my bedroom window sill and gaze out into the night. I do this every night at exactly 12:00 am and wait.
He always comes exactly at 12:05 am. He is never late. He moves out of the trees surrounding my house, stealthy and oh-so graceful, and stands right below my window, gazing right at me with those piercing, bright green eyes that tell me everything about him:his love ,his passion, his longing , his desire—everything.
He tells me he can see the same in mine, and then he gives me a smile so powerful it makes my heart skip a beat and makes me go weak in the knees.
It's 12:05 am "He'll be here any second now"
My heart is beating so fast, as it always does at this point in my anticipation, in need and desire to see him, feel him, and melt into him. My heart always melts at the sight of him.
He is late today, as my alarm clock shows 12:06. Something must be wrong; he is never late. In the last three months and five days that we have been seeing each other, he's never been late. Never.
My heart picks up more speed. I'm anxious and scared and disappointed that he is still not here.
It must be his father; yes, there is no other explanation. He must be late because of him. He doesn't approve our tryst—he knows because Edward can't really keep things from him. It's not because he won't—it's because he can't. For some reason his father thinks it's dangerous for us to meet.
My Edward is not a normal human man. He is something else entirely. I don't know what, exactly. He may be a ghost, for all I know, or a vampire.—he is so beautiful and pale—or, as I suspect, he might be a witch like me. I don't care what he is; to me he is my angel. My beautiful angel.
We do not use our magic on each other—oh yes, we both have magic in us
We can tell who we are exactly just by touching each other while using our power, but we don't, because we don't care. We love each other.
We need to have this important talk, we know that, and when that time comes, I wouldn't care. I'm sure he has magic, but he is more powerful as well, and he knows I'm a witch.
It didn't take much for us to fall in love. All we had to do was look into each other's eyes, and we knew.
It was so easy for me. The moment I saw him moving out of the woods in the silver moonlight that very first night and looking up into my eyes, I knew he was meant for me and I was meant for him. He was my soul mate.
Of course I had seen this very same scene in my dream the night before, the exact night I turned seventeen.
Witches see their soul mates in their dreams after they come of age, and that's seventeen for us.
But never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would find him so soon—that very same night. He had said he had been waiting for me for a long time.
I remember that night so clearly, like it was just yesterday. It was the very best night of my life, like all my nights have been since.
I had finished school early that day and was back to my house quiet early.
My mom greeted me at the door with a huge smile and a warm hug.
"Oh, I'm so glad you're home early, sweetheart. Now you can help me bake this strawberry and chocolate cream cheese cake that your grandma loves so much. She called me this morning to let me know she was coming and she pretty much ordered me to bake. I nearly burned down this cheese, and where is that cream you bought last night? It's not in the pantry. I swear my mom and her sweet tooth…!" she complained in one breath.
My mom is not so great in the kitchen but is super awesome in giving hugs and sweet kisses. She loves fashion and is crazy about adventure and new hobbies, which keep changing. Sometimes I can't relate to my mother at all. She is the complete opposite of what I am—clumsy and with zero knowledge in fashion or adventure. I prefer getting lost in my books and music.
Being Renee's daughter meant I had to learn to cook or go hungry. My mom's cooking usually ends up burned or being something so completely exotic, it was probably meant as food for animals on a different planet—my mom loves to experiment.
"Mom, you don't put the cheese directly into the oven without the batter." What was she trying to make? "And the cream is in the fridge," I said as I moved towards the kitchen after depositing my bag on the table.
I moved towards the oven and took the burned cheese out. I have no idea how Charlie survived before I was born. Grandma probably took care of it. She still brings mouthwatering recipes home whenever she visits, and she's the reason I know how to cook so well. I couldn't wait to see what she would bring that day.
We spent most of that afternoon baking and decorating the cake—or rather I did, while my mother stood next to the island gossiping about our neighbors who lived about a mile or two from our house. I don't know how she found out Mrs. Whitefly's cat had been killed and why it had made the town's news or why it was so fascinating to her. She also solved the mystery by declaring it was Mrs. Stanley who had killed Miss Puss. "The name made me laugh silently". And apparently Mrs. Stanley had a grudge on Mrs. Whitefly because she had stolen Mrs. Stanley's high school sweetheart and married him. I rolled my eyes at that. After that, I tuned out my mother and concentrated on baking.
Don't get me wrong: I love my mother a lot, but she is just too over-imaginative and silly for my brain to keep up. Only God knows how I ended up being her daughter. I was much more like my dad, Charlie.
It was almost six-thirty when Gran showed up. I had already showered, finished my homework, and was sitting on the couch waiting for her while my mom sipped her tea.
I heard the crunch of the gravel and skidding of car tires, and I was out of my seat before the door-bell ring could ring.
"Gran! "
I jumped into her waiting arms—not literally, of course. She hugged me tightly, and I returned the hug just the same. "It's so good to see you." I could see my dad in my peripheral vision; he must have picked her up on his way from the station.
"It's really good to see you, too, sweetheart. You look so beautiful, and oh my, you are just turning seventeen in a few hours, Bella! I've waited for this day for a long time. I have so much to tell you, my dear." She chuckled when I turned curious.
I had not seen Gran in weeks, and I had really missed her. But what was it that she could not wait to tell me, and why my seventeenth birthday? "Was that why she was here?"
I didn't care. We made our way into the house; my dad kissed me and my mother on the cheek as he moved inside towards the living room.
I took the lasagna form Gran's hands and put it into the oven to heat, took the plates out and started to put them on the table when Gran entered the kitchen.
"Let me help you with that, sweetheart." She started to place forks and spoons strategically next to the plates.
"So, Bella, how has school been?" Gran asked.
"It's been great; we are working on Romeo and Juliet this semester, and I just finished a paper on their tragic love."
"Oh it is tragic, my dear. No two people in love should suffer from something like that, especially when it's true love."
"Gran, do you believe in true love and soul mates?"
"Why, of course, my dear. True love does exist!" she replied happily. "That's one of the things I wanted to talk to you about."
Just then Charlie entered with my mother in tow. "Mmmm…. it smells wonderful in here, Bells!"
"Have a seat, everyone. I'll get the lasagna out," I said.
After dinner, my parents moved to the living room to probably have some wine. My dad would prefer beer over wine any day but he could never go against Renee. This was her newest interest—to have wine after dinner.
Gran and I made our way to the back porch. Gran took a seat on the swing next to me. I love sitting here in the evenings while I read my one of my favorite classics. It is always pleasant here, and so serene, and sometimes the moonlight makes it even more beautiful. That night, it was one of those nights when the moon was out in its full glory, showering the trees with its silver light and making them look surreal and fantastic—something described in a fairy tales.
Gran placed her hand in mine, staring at me, her face serious. She made that face when she was going to say something important.
"Bella, have you been practicing?"
"Yes."
"Show me."
I moved my other hand towards the flower beds, closed my eyes and concentrated. When I could feel the slight shift in the energy, I opened my eyes. The flower buds started to bloom and change colors. I tried to produce a slight sparkle of glitter to float above them.
Then I looked at Gran, trying to gauge her reaction, but she didn't seem to be impressed.
I tried again.
This time I moved my hands in circular motion, and the breeze started to pick up and the whoosh of the wind was audible as it started moving in swirls. It started slowly, and then picked up pace, swallowing up the mud and grass and lifting it into the air.
"Stop, Isabella."
Oh no. She said Isabella; that wasn't good.
"Bella, this is something you could already do, even before you turned sixteen."
"Yes, I know that, Gran, but back then I had to concentrate a lot and had no idea of balancing the energy properly, and just simple things such as lifting a book and placing it back by using my mind would drain me completely."
"And how do you feel now? About balancing?"
"I have been practicing a lot on using the energy surrounding me rather than my own and trying to balance it, and it seems to be working, because I don't feel like I'm about to faint."
"So you have been reading the books I gave you," she replied with a smile.
"Of course I have. How could I not? Magic is in my blood, and I need to know how to use it properly without causing anyone harm, and you are the only one who can show me how."
"You're still in the learning stage, Bella, but I can definitely see improvement, and you have so much potential, my dear. I'm so pleased to know you have been working on your energy balances. It's the most important thing; if you don't know how to gain energy and use it by making it your own, you cannot do magic."
"Gran…" I started slowly. "Why do you think mom skipped it?"
"The only explanation I can give is… it was because she rejected it, Bella."
The magic in my blood had been passed on for many generations. It was passed on to Gran from her mom, and from her to my mom, and then to me. It was passed on only to the eldest daughter, and every generation had one. It was a blessing and a curse.
Where I saw it as a blessing, my mom somehow took it as a curse. Not the part about having a daughter, but the part about the daughter having magic, and mom had somehow rejected being a witch.
Oh, she had magic in her blood, but she didn't bother using it. However, sometimes it came out when she was angry or sad.
Gran had been disappointed, but her disappointment had quickly turned to joy when she learned that her granddaughter had inherited her witch blood and had not rejected it.
Nothing could have made Gran more ecstatic. She tried to teach me control, which I really needed to learn when things started to float on their own whenever I was in the room. I never did it on purpose; my subconscious would use the energy of my emotions and transmit it to my surroundings, she had said.
Gran had given me her journals as a guide and asked me to keep one myself.
"Now, Bella, I want to discuss some very important things with you," Gran said suddenly, bringing me back from my thoughts.
"The magic you have now is at its basic level, but I can see a little more than basic in your condition."
"In my condition?" I asked. I couldn't understand what she meant by that.
"I think you have a lot of latent magic inside of you that is going to come out very soon, and I'm afraid as to how you are going to handle it. It's not that I don't trust you, Bella, but that much energy can become pretty overwhelming."
"But how is that possible?"
"I have a theory. Bella, from what I have seen, when you perform normal magic you do just fine and in your basic level, something like what you did just now. But when you are not really trying to do any magic, and at times when you have no hold over your emotions, I have seen your magic go beyond your years and turn very powerful.
"Do you remember the fire in the kitchen a few years ago?" she asked.
"Yes, the oil from the cabinets above the stove fell onto the fire, magnifying it."
"That was what we told you."
"You mean the oil was not the reason the kitchen caught fire?"
"No, Bella… the stove was on, and your mother had forgotten to put the pan onto it, and the fire suddenly erupted, catching a life of its own, and reached five feet high, causing the cabinet to catch fire. I have never been more relieved of your mother being so scatterbrained that she forgot to be in the kitchen at that time or… I don't even want to think of what would have happened to her if she had been there at that time."
A shudder went through me just thinking about it. The whole kitchen had been burned to soot, even after Gran had tried stopping it using an air charm.
"Oh, so it was magic."
"Yes, and it was your magic."
"What? But I never …"
"No, you didn't. Do you remember you had been upset that day? Some book of yours had been stolen at school and you were sad because it was so important to you, and suddenly you had this phone call from a friend of yours who revealed you the culprit's name"
"I got so angry."
"Exactly."
It was my precious diary and that vile Jessica had stolen it to torture me.
"So, while I was on the phone…? Oh…"
I had almost burned the whole house down and most likely almost killed my mother, too.
"I'm so sorry, Gran. I had no idea…"
"Bella, stop. It's not your fault."
"But..."
"No buts, and I'm not trying to make you feel guilty, here, Bella. I'm trying to explain to you how powerful your magic really is, and you were just thirteen then. You have a lot of potential, my dear, and it's going to increase to its maximum once you turn seventeen."
"But what's your theory?" I had not forgotten about that.
"My theory is that when your mom rejected her magic, she most likely transferred it all into you."
"So you mean…"
"Yes, Bella. I mean you have acquired both yours and your mother's magic, which would make you very very powerful, and once you find your mate…"
She said that last part very softly, shaking her head.
"My mate?" I asked her, my voice shaking slightly.
"Bella, when we witches find our true soul mates we become very powerful, and nothing can defeat the combined power of mates. Their magic is beyond the norm... But the crux of the matter is finding him or her."
I looked at her puzzled… she must have seen some questions on my face, because she suddenly said, "Oh yes, there are male witches, too, just not in our family." She laughed as if enjoying an inside joke. "But, Bella, sometimes our mate may not be a witch. He could be completely human."
"Did you find yours? Was Granddad your soul mate?"
I could not believe what I was hearing—soul mates did exist. I had always been a sappy romantic, so this topic got my full attention; I wanted to know everything. I wanted to find my mate wherever he was.
"To answer your questions, yes, I did find my mate, and no, your Granddad was not him, but that didn't mean I loved him any less."
My expression must have been one of shock, so she began explaining.
"You see, Bella, your mate could be anywhere in this world, and finding him will have to be a combined effort. Which means you can find him only if he wants to be found."
"I don't understand."
"Bella, we get to see our mates once we come of age, which is when we turn seventeen. You are going to dream about him, Bella."
"I'm going to see him in my dreams?"
"Yes. Once you're ready, you will start to see him in your dreams, and if the feeling is mutual, you even get to communicate in each other's dreams. It's really wonderful," Gran said wistfully.
"When I turned of age, my mate was already married. He did not wait for me. He had already seen me, but I was still young, and he fell in love with his wife—not the same kind of love, of course. I guess we could call it human love, and after a few years I met your Granddad, and from that day onwards I have never been unhappy. We loved each other very much." She smiled, and I smiled in return.
I had never seen Gramps; he died before I was born.
"I got to meet him and his wife a few years before your Granddad died. All four of us had lunch together." She laughed loudly.
That must have been some lunch.
"Did you always keep dreaming about him, Gran? You know, even after…?"
"No, Bella. I just had one dream about him. In that dream, I had seen him getting married to his wife and leading a happy life. I knew that if he'd wanted to, he could have been my mate, but he choose to be with someone else, and I respected that and blocked him from my mind, causing it to break the whole connection. When we reject our mates, the bond completely breaks, Bella."
Suddenly, I had a thought.
"Do you think my mate has already seen me?" I asked.
"Maybe, Maybe not. If he has already turned seventeen, he will have seen you and is probably waiting for you."
"Or probably not," I replied forlornly.
"Bella, just because it happened with me doesn't mean it's going to happen to you as well. I'm sure my beautiful granddaughter is going to get her happily ever after and that her Prince Charming is waiting for her," she replied, giving me a hug.
I smiled wistfully, hugging her back. I didn't have the heart to correct her; I wasn't beautiful, and if my could-be mate had already seen me, he was probably wishing he hadn't and most likely cursing his unlucky stars to have found a match in me.
I went to bed early that night. Gran had given me a lot to ponder, and my thoughts were moving at a speed of a mile a minute. Everything was a jumble—nothing made sense. Rationally, I understood what Gran had said, but my mind was still trying to find sense in everything she had said, and also the things she had not said.
She had cryptically let out that I would understand it all when it was time, just before going to bed in the guest room she occupied whenever she was here.
I had this feeling that I was flying, but when I looked at myself, I was standing completely still. I looked in front of me and noticed that I was standing in front of my window, looking towards the forest. A slight breeze was blowing, bringing with it the earthy smell of the ground and the fragrance of fresh green leaves. I took a breath, enjoying the intoxicating sent.
There was someone among the trees not far from me, just beyond the yard, and suddenly he came out looking at me, a beautiful smile on his face, before whispering, "Bella."
The breeze brought his velvet voice to my ears, and a slight shiver went through me. It was not because of the cold. Suddenly he was right in front of me. He had been so beautiful from a distance, but he was magnificent up close. My breath stopped in my throat. He smiled again, and I inhaled in a gasp… So beautiful.
"Bella…" he whispered again, moving towards me.
"You don't know how long I've waited for you," he breathed in my ear.
And suddenly I was wide awake.
I had seenhim! He was beautiful.
I smiled.
He said he had been waiting for me, and the smile started to grow into a full grin, which turned into a loud squeal.
Realizing how loud it was, I quickly closed my mouth with my hand and turned to the door to see if I had woken anyone. When there seemed to be no movement, I released the breath I had been holding and turned to my alarm clock. It showed 12:03 am.
"Happy birthday to me," I whispered.
I could hear wind picking up in a distance and realized my window pane was making a rattling noise because of it. I got up from the comfort of my bed to close the damn thing.
I came to a standstill when I looked outside. It looked exactly like in my dream, only it was more beautiful.
The moon was shining brightly in the sky, and there were hardly any clouds in the distance, which caused the whole place to light up and look like silver. The trees shone in its beauty. The flowers I had made to bloom in the garden looked like exotic bouquets from up here; the wind brought their fragrance to me, mixed with the forest smell. I inhaled deeply.
The trees were swaying in the breeze, looking like they were dancing to the tune of the wind.
Then I saw it: a slight moment in the distance… He was there!
I could not believe this. Gran had said it could take years to get to your mate, so I didn't expect to see him the very same night of the dream. Was he really there? Or was my mind playing tricks on me?
Someone came out of the trees and stopped just inside the shadows.
I could not make it out from this distance, but it seemed like he was looking at me. Was it really him, and not some intruder trying to steal?
When I kept looking at him, he came out and stood in the open space in the backyard below my window. I sucked in a shocked breath. The dream had not done him justice at all.
He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Suddenly his eyes locked with mine and time stood still. Nothing existed but him and me. He had the most beautiful bright green eyes I had ever seen, like fresh grass under the sunlit sky.
Then he smiled the most blinding smile; it was crocked, and at the same time absolutely perfect.
"Bella," he said.
His voice was like melting honey, and I felt a shiver run through me.
I kept staring at him like an idiot. I didn't know how to react; my heart was beating loudly, and my body felt like it was being pulled to him, like magnets.
Slowly, I saw him lift himself into the air. I gasped again.
He kept moving towards me above the ground all the while keeping his eyes locked with mine. He came to a standstill when he was on eye level with me.
He was even more gorgeous up close… So beautiful.
I couldn't blink my eyes, afraid that he would disappear into thin air if I did.
"Bella," he sighed, moving closer.
His eyes had black specks between the green, making them look even deeper than they already were. I felt myself drowning in them.
He slowly lifted his hand to my cheek; I sucked in a breath. I felt a spark of electricity run through me from the tips of his fingers into me, and my skin burned hot where his fingers caressed my cheek.
"So beautiful," he whispered in his velvet voice.
Moving both of his hands, he cupped my cheeks and stared deep into my eyes. Moving his lips to my ear, he whispered, "You don't know how long I've waited for you. Happy birthday, Bella."
I felt my knees go weak. Until that day, I thought swooning was just a word used in old novels to make the heroine look delicate and feminine. But right at that moment I didn't think it was even the slightest bit overrated. I felt my body turn to mush, and my knees began to shake. I thought I was going to faint.
He circled his arms around me, holding me tightly, and lifting me into the air with him, bringing me out of my crappy bedroom and into the silver night. My hands circled his neck.
We were so very close. I could feel his breath on my face; it was delicious.
We kept moving in the sky above the trees, with the moon in sight high above us. I felt like I was living a fairy tale.
I had been staring into his eyes when I suddenly realized he'd known my name, but I didn't know his.
"Edward," he said.
"Huh?" I asked.
"My name," he replied.
My eyes grew wide. Could he read my mind?
"Yes," he replied softly to my unspoken question, smiling.
"Oh," was the only response I could come up with.
I knew about different kinds of magic, but I had no idea about mind reading. He must be so experienced—he could even fly!
He must be so disappointed, I thought forlornly. I hardly knew how to walk on a stable surface without tripping, let alone fly.
"Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea how amazing and perfect you are," he said, his amazing scent washing over me in waves.
Lifting one hand to rest on my right cheek, he kissed me on my left, which was burning red due to his compliment.
He inhaled, mumbling, "So sweet," and kissing me again just below my jaw, slowly moving towards the hollow beneath my ear, where he kissed me again, sucking the skin there, making me moan. He whispered, "I've wanted to do that for a very long time."
My heart was trying to jump out of my chest.
He gave me crooked smile and rested his forehead against mine. My heart gave a squeeze in return.
Moving my hand from the back of his neck, I placed it on his cheek, and, looking into his eyes, I stated, "You're my mate."
"Yes, and you're mine," he replied with conviction.
We moved towards each other like two sides of a strong magnet. Our faces came closer, lips almost touching, our breaths coming faster. Finally, our lips touched and I felt something like a jolt of electricity go through me, igniting a spark of something I didn't know spread through me like raging fire, sending tingles through my body from head to toe. I had never felt anything like it before. It was all encompassing and earth shattering.
My hand curled in his hair, pulling him closer, and he crushed me to him, tightening his arms around me.
A fire could have erupted around us and we wouldn't have noticed. It wouldn't matter either way, because we were about fifty feet high in the air above the ground, it seemed like we were closer to the moon than the trees.
His lips were the most intoxicating thing I had ever tasted, and I would never be able to get enough of it.
We continued to kiss for what felt like an eternity, but we needed oxygen, too. We parted slowly, and I opened my eyes even slower and looked into his and gasped.
He was staring at me with complete adoration, filled with desire, and with an emotion so raw I couldn't breathe.
I felt myself staring at him with the same intensity.
He was there, and he was made just for me, only me, and he was the most beautiful man I had ever seen.
He was MINE
I felt an emotion so possessive go through me. I didn't even know I was capable of such strong emotion.
He cupped my cheeks and pulled me to him, kissing me again. I kissed him back with the same intensity and more; it was raw need. His need seemed to match mine, too.
My fingers curled into his hair and his were on my waist and hair, crushing me into him.
When we came up for air, we were panting.
Our first kiss had been sweet and intense and amazingly perfect just the way a first kiss should be. But this kiss, our second kiss, was full of need, intense desire and… And love!
Love. Yes, there was no other word for it. It was pure, unadulterated love.
I had never believed in love at first sight before. But this right there, at that moment, flying in his arms, curled around him, eyes locked into each other—it was easy, oh, so easy to say I was falling in love with him.
It may be just a romantic notion, or maybe it was magic, or perhaps it was just us. I didn't care.
I was in love.
For the first time in my life, I was in love, and it was an amazing feeling. I wanted to shout out with happiness and jump with excitement, but that probably wasn't possible fifty feet above ground. I was already in the sky, but still felt like I was on top of the world.
I knew it was true, because I could feel it running through my veins.
Was it this, what Gran was talking about, when she said I would know it when the time was right? That I would understand it?
He looked at me like he felt the same way. His eyes were so intense, looking deep into mine.
Was it love?
"Yes, Bella. It is."
I sucked in a breath. How easily I could forget he could read my mind when I was looking into his eyes.
I smiled sheepishly, blushing crimson red.
"Don't be shy, my love. You are my life now."
I felt a few tears escape from my eyes. He kissed them away and said, "I love you, Bella. I always have, from the very first moment I saw you."
I couldn't believe my ears. I was ecstatic. He loved me.
I gave a teary reply, "I love you, too," and kissed him.
It is almost 1:00 am now, and I am still waiting. Why isn't he here? I let out sigh and climb into bed, trying to sleep.
I wake up when I feel strong arms surrounding me. I turn around in his arms; he snuggles into me and kisses my hair. I let out a sigh and kiss him. He kisses me back feverishly. His eyes look troubled.
"I thought you weren't coming tonight," I say, my voice thick with sleep.
"I'm so sorry you had to wait, love. Something came up."
"Your father?" I ask, and he nods, hugging me close.
"Want to talk about it?"
"Not tonight, love, please. Tomorrow. I promise to tell you everything tomorrow. Let me just hold you tonight?"
"Of course, Edward. Anything for you, you know that." I snuggle closer into him and tighten my arms around him.
He lets out a deep sigh and buries his face into my hair, inhaling deeply.
We have to have this conversation soon; I have to tell him about all the things Gran told to me. I don't want to keep any secrets from him.
"You know I love you, right? And nothing you will say is going to change that. Ever," I tell him.
"I know, love, and I love you too. Now sleep, my love, dream about me."
"Don't I always?" I reply with a smile, already drifting into a deep slumber.
We sit down under the huge oak tree, situated in the right corner of the clearing of our beautiful meadow. I sit in his lap, my head resting on his shoulder, my hands buried deep in his hair—it was so soft. We hear the rushing of water at a distance. It is peaceful here.
He always bought me here, at this exact same place, every night. We would talk; lay around in each other's arms and kiss, oh yes, a lot of that.
But today we have something important to discuss. Something is bothering him—I can tell. I kiss his frown away. He lets out a deep sigh.
"I was with my father yesterday," he says.
I already knew this.
"And he wanted to tell me something," he continues.
"What is it, Edward? Tell me. You know you can tell me anything."
"I'm just scared about how you will react."
"I won't leave you. I can't," I say, caressing his cheek, and he kisses my forehead.
"Do you know what I am, Bella? I know that you suspect I'm something. Tell me what you know."
I let out a sigh. "I don't care what you are, Edward, I just know that I love you. But because it's important that we have this conversation, I think you are beautiful, for one."
He chuckles softly, kissing my cheek, and whispers, "You are exquisite."
"And I know that you don't sleep; you are always awake whenever I wake up, even if it's in the middle of the night." I look at him for conformation.
"Go on," he says softly.
"You don't come out in the day. You are very pale and really strong; I saw you lift those rocks that night, when you thought I was asleep. I know for sure you have magic, because I'm a witch and I can sense it easily."
He nodded, motioning for me to continue.
"This makes me think you are a witch, too. And as for all the other parts, well… that makes me suspects you are a vampire," I say, chuckling.
His eyes widen and his arms tighten around me.
Am I right?
"You're a vampire?"
"Yes," he stated, his voice hard but still melodious. His eyes were like stone—emeralds.
"Okay," I say, smiling.
"Okay?" He looks incredulous. "Okay? Just Okay? Bella, I'm a vampire. Doesn't that bother you?"
I shrug nonchalantly. "Why should it? I already told you, I don't care what you are, or have you forgotten I'm a witch, too?"
He looks at me like I am crazy, and then he laughs so hard it echoes around the trees, making it louder.
"Oh, Bella, I love you so much," he says, chuckling softly and kissing me.
"This was what you were worried about?" I roll my eyes when he nods. I cup his cheeks and say, "Edward, I could never leave you or stop loving you, even if you were an alien." I laugh. "Okay, maybe not an alien."
He laughs with me.
"But seriously, Edward. I love you so much."
"I love you, too," he replies softly, kissing my head.
"Bella, there is something else I need to tell you, love."
"What's that?"
"I'm shocked that you never asked me how I had dreamed about you when I can't sleep"
Oh, yes, that thought did cross my mind, but I didn't voice it, afraid of the answer, but now I am intrigued.
"I still remember the first time I dreamed about you, Bella. How could I ever forget?"
Is he talking about his human life? I suck in a breath. For how long… He has been waiting for me for a long time. I feel my eyes tear up.
He doesn't notice this; he stares straight ahead, probably reliving the dream.
"You were so exquisite, and we were standing in this very clearing. It was a beautiful night, and you were smiling at something I had said, and then you whispered, 'I love you.' Bella, you have no idea what I felt that night when I woke up. I had already fallen in love with you."
My tears fell fast; he has loved me for so long, but for how long? I hope it was just a few months or days rather. I can't think of Edward suffering that long.
Suddenly, he laughs. I am startled, and, wiping my eyes, I ask, "What?"
"Bella, love, you were wearing a t-shirt and jeans," he replies, chuckling. "I could understand all the aspects of that dream, except your clothing. For a long time, I couldn't understand why you were wearing men's clothing. The dreams continued, of course, and I started suspecting my subconscious had some kind fetish of having my woman in men's clothing. At that time, I didn't know I was seeing the future." He laughs again.
I suck in another breath.
"Edward, when did you exactly have this dream?" I ask.
He replies slowly, "In 1918. "
I can't believe he has waited almost a hundred years for me; my heart breaks for him but also fills with so much love for him that I can hardly breathe.
I give him a teary smile and reply, "How scandalous!"
He chuckles, then pulls me close and says, "Now you know how long I've waited for you. But, Bella, I don't want you to feel guilty, love, because I had you with me the entire time, right here." He takes my hand and places it on his still heart.
"That was what kept me going, you know, and the sure fact that I would meet you someday. I would wait an eternity for you, Bella."
I become a blubbering mess at this point.
Once I calm down, I take his face in my hands and kiss him softly, whispering, "I love you. I love you so much!"
"And I love you."
"You still didn't tell me why you were late yesterday," I say.
"Carlisle has been researching for answers, what with me being a witch as well as a vampire; he loves learning something new."
"He doesn't like me very much," I state.
"What gave you that impression?" he asks, horrified.
"He did say you meeting me was dangerous…"
He shakes his head. "It's not like that, Bella. You see, when he changed me, I stopped having the dreams, for obvious reasons. I forgot everything about my human life except the dreams. For a long time, I kept them a secret. I was a witch when I was human, just like you. But when I was changed, I became a witch as well as a vampire, which in turn made my magic expand and become more powerful. I could not keep it intact for long and had to tell Carlisle, and he helped me control it by keeping me calm and helping me fight my demons." He takes a deep breath. "All this time, I had not forgotten about you, and once I got a handle over my magic and my vampire gift, I kept thinking about you."
"Your vampire gift?" I ask, interrupting him. I didn't know he had a gift, so I'm curious.
"My mind reading—I got it once I turned." He takes another deep breath. "I thought I had lost you," he says so softly I wouldn't have heard if I hadn't been concentrating.
"Well, at that time, I didn't know I was going to meet you in 2013 instead of 1918. At that time, I simply thought of you as the girl of my dreams, literally, and my soul mate, my completely human soul mate who loved men's clothing." He chuckles. "And that you probably existed somewhere in the world at that time. I had no idea that the time line to meet the love of my life was far into the future. So, thinking about finding you at that time made me really sad. I was a vampire, and a weird one at that, so you would have run away from me. All these thoughts ran around my head, and when Carlisle noticed and inquired, I told him everything then—about my dreams, about you, and about my fears and longings."
Looking into my eyes, he continues, "After hearing everything, he asked me to search for you. He said true love was very precious and that I shouldn't give up that easily, so we started searching for you"
"Oh, Edward!"
I sniffle; he has had to go through so much for me.
"Of course we couldn't find you; you weren't born yet. We stopped our search eventually, but not because I wanted to. It was because Carlisle said something that was beginning to make sense. He said searching for you all over the globe would be futile. If we had to meet, we would when the time was right, and if we were meant to be, we would meet. Slowly, as the years passed, things started to make more sense."
I frown.
"Your clothing, love," he says chuckling. "Trends and fashion started to change over the years, and that's when things started coming together." He grins.
"It was stupid how glaringly obvious it was. I had noticed your clothes whereas mine were different, too, which I had failed to notice at that time. I was too busy, only seeing and remembering you in my head."
"But how did you find me that very first night? How did you know I was there, at this time of the century?" I ask, perplexed.
"Call it fate, or divine intervention, or just coincidence. We moved to this town just a few months ago; I had this unreasonable urge to come to this part of the world. I don't know, Bella, I just had to be here. And then I saw you, just few days after we had settled down. I saw you near the lake, where you were trying to pick only orange flowers for some reason. You were so adorable, stomping you feet in frustration, trying to find more of those orange flowers. It would have been hilarious at any other time. But that was the first time I was seeing you in reality, so I was speechless, frozen on the spot. You were there, right in front of me, and I wanted to get to you, pull you into my arms and crush you into me. I wanted to help you find those orange flowers. I would bring you all the orange flowers that ever existed on this earth and put them on your feet. But I have no idea how I resisted. I just stood there, watching from behind the trees for as long as you were there..."
"Standing there, I knew the part fate had played in uniting us. I had to become a vampire to get to you." He kisses me on the forehead. "I always kept an eye on you. I couldn't be far away, it was physically impossible for me. I watched you from afar."
I remember that day very clearly; I was picking only orange flowers because it was an assignment for biology, and I had to get at least ten of them. I was irritated because I couldn't find them. And all that time, he had been there.
"You should have come out to meet me. Why did you wait for so long?" I ask.
"I didn't want to scare you or freak you out; you had to see me in your dream before you met me, so you'd understand everything clearly. And I wanted to do this the right way."
He smiles, and I smile in return, moving closer to kiss him.
"So, you see, Carlisle never disapproved of us. After he learned that you were also a witch, he just assumed it might become dangerous for us to control magic around each other. He was being cautious."
"Oh," I say. "But that doesn't explain why you were late last night."
"As I said Carlisle, loves to research, and after he found out about your magic, he resumed his search. He was intrigued. Over the years, he has gained a lot of books, and one among them contained legends about witches and vampires. He has been studying it like a mad scientist." He chuckles softly. "And yesterday he found something he wanted to share."
His face is intense as he looks at me.
"What did the legends say?"
"It was about a time, a few thousand years ago, when witches and vampires mated for life. There was story about how vampires had stopped coming out in sunlight because they were cursed. It was about a witch who had put a curse on a vampire who had wronged her."
"It was a witch who caused you to burn in sunlight if you came out?"
"We don't get burned in sunlight, sweetheart."
"Then why don't you come out in the day?"
"I'll show you sometime; it's not something I can explain"
I was really intrigued. "Tomorrow?" I asked, hopeful.
"Okay."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
"So, tell me, what else did Carlisle say?"
"He talked about the actual mating between a vampire and a witch."
"Is that some kind of a ritual?"
"Not exactly. It's pretty simple. It's the same way as the humans mate—by making love—the only difference is this involves biting."
"You mean sucking blood?"
"Hmmm, sort of, yes. It's actually how vampires mate. In the witch and vampire mating theory, it involves both the types. Witches' mating is just by making love and creating magic, not just pleasure, and vampires' mating involves pure passion and the raw need for your mate, which urges them to bite, to claim what's yours. So, combining the two creates the witch and vampire mating ritual, if that's what you want to call it."
Is this how it is going to be for us?
"And there's more, Bella. Those witches and vampires didn't just make love for fun. It had significance, an exchange, or you could say a combining of powers. No witch or vampire would take it lightly, especially the witch. When a witch and a vampire mate, they exchange their powers, Bella. The witch shares her magic with the vampire, and using that magic, that vampire will be able to do anything: eat, sleep and go out in the sunlight, and in return, the vampire shares his strength, power and whatever gift he has, and, the most important thing of all, his immortality, turning the witch into a vampire herself. Only she would be able to sleep and eat whatever food she wanted."
"At that time, this was mostly done to gain power and strength over others and not out of love. Carlisle's theory is that if it's done out of love, it causes both of them to increase in strength and magic, creating a bond so strong between them that nobody can break. They would be a force to reckon with."
I smile at that. All this research was turning out to be very good thing. On hearing where my thoughts were going, Edward says, "It wouldn't be that easy for us, Bella."
"What do you mean?"
"Have you forgotten I'm a witch, too? My magic has already escalated from becoming a vampire, and I'm scared as to how much this could go wrong if I'm not in control of myself, and not to mention your blood and your scent. I don't know if I can control myself, love."
"Edward have you forgotten that I'm a witch, too? And not just an ordinary one at that."
"What do you mean by that?"
I tell him about the conversation I had with Gran. The part about how mom rejected and transferred her magic to me and all the other things Gran had said. He listens to everything quietly without commenting.
"I think Carlisle will be very interested in that theory. Also, not to mention how this would affect us once we're bonded."
I squeal at that. "So we are doing this?" I ask excitedly.
He chuckles, holding me close. Kissing behind my ear on that favorite place of his, he whispers, "I want to do this right, Bella. You might want to call it a ritual, bonding, or anything else that you want, but it all comes down to one thing: making love to the love of my life. Call me old-fashioned but I would only want to make love to my wife."
Looking directly into my eyes, he says, "Marry me, Bella."
I smile a mile long before replying, "Yes."
Hope you enjoyed this sweet story; I had a really good time writing it.
I would like give special thanks to my Beta, Rags Stone; she did a wonderful job even with the time pressure- Thank you so much dear…I could never have been able to enter the contest if it wasn't for you.
Check out all the lovely entries for the contest here- u/4523690/TwiHEAcontest#