Twilight 月 Incandescent Moon

Chapter 15: In Memory of Lilia Reed

(song - A River Flows In You by Yiruma)

Chapter 15 - In Memory of Lilia Reed

　

　

"Friends, Family, we have gathered here to celebrate the life of Lilia Lynnet Reed. She lived life to its fullest, even with the short time on Earth that she had with us. I bet that we can all say that she brought a bit of happiness into all of the lives she touched, that have come here today to pay their respects." The priest began, holding the bible in his hand as he began the cerimony.

A crowd larger than the one at Maddison Davis's funeral had gathered at the edge of the forest. Within the final hours before her death, Lilia had been able to force her hand to move so that it pointed at one of her drawings. The forest. The message had been clear that she had wanted to be burried in the forest and not among the dozens of coffins that were already in Fork's cemetary.

Both Seth and Dr.Cullen had been in the room when she had miraculously willed her had to move. It had probably been the thing that took the last of her energy, causing her to die hours later in the late afternoon. By this time, Seth had been ordered to come home by his mother over the phone. He had just walked in the kitchen door when the phone had rang, Carlisle's private phone number appearing in the caller I.D.

Seth hadn't had the nerve to pick the land line phone up. He left it to ring for his mother to come in and eventually pick it up herself. He knew what the call had meant. That his best friend had just died.

Now her folks were sobbing at the front of the funeral. Her aunt was shaking from the sobs and held a tissue to her nose constantly. Phelicia's husband had one arm wrapped around his wife, struggling to keep himself from shaking. No tears came to his eyes, but you could see that he was doing all he could to keep from crying from the back seats.

Lilia's parents and a few of her other relatives had been able to come to attend the funeral. They had all chipped in to pay for the cost of the elegant wooden coffin that their deceased relative now laid in. It was closed during the cerimony. A couple of days ago, it had been open to the public at calling hours. Lilia had been laying inside wearing a beautiful white silky dress that the Cullens had bought for her and given it to the Reeds.

The dress had thin white ribbons for straps, and another thin white ribbon under her bust that tied up in the back in a bow. The rest of the dress was made out of white sheer fabric that flowed down to her ankles, with the under piece being white silk so that she didn't appear naked. Around the top of her head had been a silk, ruffled garland with tiny white roses and green leaves attatched to it here and there.

The only make-up the undertaker had put on her was clear sparkly eye liner to make her white eyelashes glitter under the light. He had also put a tiny bit of color on her to make her the shade she was before death had started to take her. Mickie had donated one of her vials of light pink lip gloss that looked surprisngly looked good on Lilia. The result was that she looked like an angel. Her hair had been left alone and flowered around her, curling here and there.

Now the whole procession was forced to look at the dark wooden coffin that didn't even compare to the beauty of the girl who laid inside sleeping. Anna cried her heart out at the funeral, even more than she had done at her other best friend's. Mickie, the tough one usually, shed silent tears down her face, constantly rubbing them and insisting that it was just something in her eye. Seth just stood, shocked and stunned that his friend had refused Carlisle's offer. He didn't know what had possessed her to choose death over life.

The rest of the funeral was filled with people who had hung out around Lilia during school or had visited her when she was sick. People from her graduation and fourth of July parties had come as well, even if they had only known her aunt and uncle. The Cullens had come as well, silently saluting the girl by standing absolutely still at the back of the gathering.

Billy Black and most of the boys from La Push had come to pay their respects to well, all of them wearing jet black tuxes with white undershirts rather than their usual look of cut of jean shorts. They stood in a line like the Cullens on the opposite side of the group.

Jackson Hall hadn't shown up to the funeral, proving that he had had feelings for the girl after all.

The cerimony was quick and short, like Lilia had asked her aunt and uncle to do when she had attended Maddison Davis's. With the main event over, those who didn't know her well left and went back to her cars while the others filed into two lines to follow the rung bearers. They were Lilia's uncle Tom, her father Michal, two other male relatives, and Emmett and Edward from the Cullen family (who had offered their help).

Together, the men lifted the coffin above the pedistal it had been on and began the trek into the forest. They followed the path that the vehicles had worn into the ground to the site where she would be burried in the ground. The men walked at an even pace so that all, young and old, would be able to follow behind them. The trip in took thirty minutes to complete.

When they had arrived at the burrial site, the men set the coffin down beside the grave for anyone to say their last few words. Among those who had come up to stand with their back turned to the coffin, was Lilia's uncle Tom who rarely talked in his life.

His speech was the longest of all those who went after him, because he had been the first to go up. It was mostly how he had grown a bond that others had called the father daughter relationship, and how he wished that he had had his own children when he was younger with his wife Phelicia. He admitted at the end that he wouldn't trade that time in the world for the the time he had been allowed to spend with his niece, then finished up his speech.

The others who spoke after him were a teary eyed Mickie Anderson, Seth Clearwater who still looked shocked to his core, and Dan Price whose voice cracked several times because he was so close to the verge of tears. He managed to fend them off and return to the crowd before one dribbled down the side of his face. Then, the coffin was lowered into the grave.

The first mounds of earth were thrown in by Lilia's family, the women sobbing their hearts out for her. Her closest friends were allowed to toss some pieces of dirt in as well, before men with shovels moved in. At this point in time, the remaining group of people who had stayed to the end began to slowly proceed back to their cars where they got in and drove somberly home.

　

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Back at the Cullen house, the family members were gathering in their living room silently. They had just arrived home after visiting the funeral. Seth had went to their house after running wild in the woods as a wolf, taking his pain out on the forest after the funeral had finished up. He joined them, prefering to sit on the floor with his arms laying lazily over his partially stretched out legs.

"I still don't get why she said no." He said after a while of remaining silent and staring at the floor. Seth was sitting between the legs of Jasper and Emmet in the break between the two couples sitting on the couch.

"I don't understand it either." Edward admitted, shocking most of the figures in the room."She hadn't chosen it because it was unfair to the other teens facing the same thing she did, or because she wanted to die human. It was if her brain had programed her to accept death rather than some other fate."

"That doesn't make any sense." Seth sighed, not even putting an arguement up against his friend.

"What did you think it was?" Carlisle asked, suddenly intrested in what Edward had said.

"I don't know." the mind reader admitted, causing Bella to hug him more tightly.

This time Renesemee was with them on her mother's lap, but she remained silent after judging the mood of the family. Alice had stayed behind to take care of her this time, letting Esme attend Lilia's funeral in her place. Her excuse was that she'd seen her at calling hours and that was enough for her.

Rosalie and Emmett hadn't known the girl long enough, or didn't have the ability to know her well like Edward or Alice, but remained quiet in respect of the room. Jasper tried his best to keep himself from being overwelmed by the waves of sadness in the room.

Carlisle moved towards Esme who wrapped her arms around her husband once more, one hand rubbing his to comfort him.

Together, the Cullen family mourned.