Emerging Swan

Epilogue - Warrior

You fascinated me
Cloacked in shadows and secrecy
The beauty of a broken angel
I ventured carefully
Afraid of what you thought I'd be
But pretty soon I was entangled

You take me by the hand
I question who I am

Teach me how to fight
I'll show you how to win
You're my mortal flaw
And I'm your fatal sin
Let me feel the sting
The pain
The burn
Under my skin

Put me to the test
I'll prove that I'm strong
Won't let myself believe
That what we feel is wrong
I Finally see what
You knew was inside me
All along

That behind this soft exterior
Lies a warrior

Warrior ~ Beth Crowley

***

A/N

Couldn't resist the song. It's part of the soundtrack to TMI 'City of Bones' film. To all who are a fan of the books but haven't seen the film -- it's not bad, but I'd go for the show. (The show gets better as it progresses, I promise. I'm hopeful that it might even be good by the end of this season). To all who haven't read the books -- what the hell have you been doing?! :D And yes, the little boy in this chapter is somewhat based off of Jace. While I don't like spending an epilogue all on children rather than E&B, this, I think, consolidates the characters. There's E&B fluff in here too, of course!

And, YES, the 'he' 'she' crap, as well as what Bella was taking about in the prologue, should become fairly clear by the end of this.

So, enjoy this last one, folks!

Lucy xX

***

Bella Cullen, 2020

Events: 2020

After many questions to Carlisle regarding the possibilities of a pregnancy for me, Edward and I eventually resigned ourselves to the fact that even if we did conceive, it would most probably be dangerous for me. Regardless of technologies and medicines available, the risks would apparently be high. Feeling utterly dejected, we left the idea of a pregnancy alone.

So, instead, we looked into adoption. While originally - having been told after four months of paperwork and official inspections that we were able to adopt - we had been looking into younger children, one child in particular caught both our eyes at completely different times.

The first time I laid eyes on the boy in question was seeing him walking outside and getting into a minibus with his carer and three other children - all of which were several years younger than him. I felt incredibly sorry for the boy, and wondered why he wasn't with other orphans of his own age. That would be kinder, surely?

When I mentioned this to Edward upon leaving that day, it turned out that Edward had already seen the boy, and had found out his name - Alex. I couldn't get his closed-off face out of my mind for several days. By the time we met with our social worker again to discuss the actual adoption of a child, Edward and I had discussed Alex plenty. Obviously, though, we would be working alongside what was recommended.

But when our social worker began to talk about the most suitable children for us, I ended up blurting out that we'd seen an older boy. Edward shot me a warning glance as I spoke, but our social worker - Heidi - merely nodded at me to continue. I told her that we'd both noticed him on his own and not with people of his own age, and told her what Edward had found his name to be, but Heidi shook her head about me.

"You're talking about a very delicate case. Alex had a difficult childhood. His mother left him and his father less than a year after he was born, and she never saw him again. His father died right next to him in a horrific car accident eight months ago. Alex saw it happen, and his father's injuries were extensive. I'm sure you can understand that—"