𝑺𝑶𝑳𝑺𝑻𝑰𝑪𝑬 [𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑹𝒀 𝑷𝑶𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹/𝑻𝑾𝑰𝑳𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻]

𝐵𝑅𝐸𝐴𝐾𝐼𝑁𝐺 𝐷𝐴𝑊𝑁

Edward tucked Bella back into bed, cleaning off the feathers in her hair and spending the rest of the morning tidying up the bedroom around her. He had been surprised when he had come to realize she fainted, believing Bella was merely aiming to lay on the floor on her own accord.

He recalled she was quite prone to fainting, even doing so once when he had gotten too close to her and she claimed he had 'dazzled' her too much to the point of fainting. Edward frowned as he had missed this critical moment, glad that she had fallen slowly and had not harmed herself.

Edward performed a medical check on her immediately after he realized what happened, making sure her fainting was not due to something much more serious. And when he had realized it was just from the shock of the news, he placed her comfortably in bed in order for her to sleep it off.

He then made his way to the kitchen, knowing that Bella had been hungry before they began to speak. And with nothing to occupy himself with but his guilt, he began to prepare multiple courses for Bella to choose from when she awoke.

As he went through courses, he recalled the previous night when he had made the decision final. It must have been the fifth time he swam to the coast, when he realized he could not live with the guilt. That he could no longer live that charade.

He would not be like the first Edward Mason, living two separate lives. Two unhappy lives, never fully satisfied with either. Never truly happy. Edward would choose to be different. Even if that meant breaking another promise.

Edward's will power to remain with Bella lay in complete and utter shreds by the time the sun was barely breaking through the horizon. And a relief, so exquisite it was nearly pain, washed through him at the finality of his decision.

For the first time in months, he could truly breathe again. For the first time since he was bound by duty, he could see the beauty of the world so clearly.

In other words: he had hope.

And yet, as he viewed the breaking of dawn, of the appearance of indirect sunlight being scatted throughout Isle Esme, he thought of nothing but of the possibility of what else this life could bring. Of the possibility of keeping the promise he made to the dark-haired woman that changed his entire life...He knew his hope was folly.

It would have been so easy to ignore the past and allow himself to relive the one perfect night with Gwen Organa months ago during the Spring Festival, to stay in a time when the sound of his name on her lips didn't burn with guilt and omens. But the guilt from their separation was too sharp to allow for fantasy.

He had let her go. He had made her a promise and then let her go. And now, he knew for her to be moving on. To be with someone else, someone alive, someone with a soul... Because he had been too cowardly to keep with their plans to remain friends, for him to follow her to the corners of earth.

To think, a predator such as him to be such a coward...

His eyes remained on the rising sun, its rays cascaded onto the world, bringing the scene of Isle Esme into full view, adjusting the brightness and contrast. The ability to once again breathe in relief brought peace to him, as he recalled one of the last conversations he had with Gwen:

"You're going to do great things. You're going to live and love someone alive. Someone who will not hold you back. Someone who will not make empty promises...I want you to know, everything I told you was true Gwen. I once thought of Bella as a meteor brightening up the black hole that I was. But you...You're the sun."

"No" Gwen disagreed. "The two of us. Together, we're both black hole suns. One stuck with the other, in perpetual movement."

Edward nodded, "An unexplained pull."