Status: I'll write as the story comes to me.

The True Meaning of Fidelity.

A Nocturnal Prologue...

Edward Cullen sat in awe as her tiny hands swept across the ivory keys. Every note hit exactly right, in rhythm, in tempo, in every sense that the sheet music could convey. On top of her utter perfection and mastery of the piece, she also managed to captivate the audience with such feeling; their breath matched very legato, every rest, every accidental, and with every movement of her delicate little fingers, she held her observers by their heart strings.

"How old did you say this girl was?" The vampire boy asked his collage professor, of whom was currently seated next to him.

The elder man, still completely enticed by the small girl, whispered back, "Just turned seven..."

The two men watched with interest as the girl's dusty brown curls bounced about her shoulders. Her head frequently switched from the music and keys in front of her, to the many eyes fixated on her. Instead of being intimidated as most young girls would be, but beaming with excitement as her leafy green eyes darted around, taking in each member of the crowd. Edward found himself mildly surprised when the two bright green orbs flitted past him. Most humans stopped and stared at this stunning humanoid, often in admiration or in and inquisitive sense. But, this little girl completely skipped over the vampire, to look at the old man next to him.

She beamed up at her teacher, an adorable grin pronouncing over her face, revealing her missing top front tooth. After noticing her piano instructor in the crowd, she seemed to play with even more vigor, becoming more profound in the way she acted as a puppet master over the audience's emotions.

At this point, Edward glanced around, taking in the crowd's expressions. Most sat in a quiet awe, much like he had just moments before. A few select members, held small smiles or smirks, having heard this wondrous girl play before. His amber eyes darted to the girl's parents, two studious musicians themselves, each holding calculating looks has they nearly glared at the girl on stage. The vampire boy furrowed his brows a bit at their faces, but figured it to be as all parents treated their prodigal children.

The piece finished with a quiet chord resolve, leaving the audience in silence for a brief moment, as her tiny hands left the keys to rest on her lap. Immediately, the entire crowd stood to applause the child, including the ever-so critical Edward Cullen.

The professor beside him was probably one of the most enthusiastic clappers, calling to Edward as he praised the child, "Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! There's a reason I wanted you to meet this one, Cullen. She may just hold some competition for you! She also dances, oh, such a charmer this one..."

~~~

After the concert, Edward and his teacher stood in the bustling lobby of the concert hall. It was at this time, the vampire realized something very peculiar. Now that the music had stopped, and the excitement of hearing that girl play died away, Edward finally realized that the murmured thoughts of other's he pushed to the back of his head had been gone. Not until he had stepped out of the auditorium, and the last few notes of the piano faded, had the white noise voices he kept to the back of his head had returned.

Had he been so absolutely captured by that little girl's music, that he had been able to forget about his vampiric gift? Perhaps...

"Hello!" A chipper voice greeted the brooding boy.

Edward snapped out of his thoughts, eyes instinctively darting left and right to find the owner of the voice, but no one was there, until he realized the voice came from below.

Standing only a few inches away from him was the same beaming little girl, who's music had made him subservient enough to almost feel human again...

"My name's Cecille!" She continued, tugging at the long sleeves of her plain black dress. That same missing-tooth smile never leaving her face, "Did you like the song?"

Edward's eyebrows slowly disappeared into his hairline. Somehow, he believed the voice of this little girl would be much more... Eloquent. Rather, she sounded like any other girl her age, with a lispy innocent voice.

"Yes..." He finally answered, his voice far-off, "I enjoyed it very much. Chopin, am I right?"

The girl nodded, musty curls flipping about, "Yup! Dr. Nigel helped me with it." She, of course, was referring to the professor who had accompanied Edward to the concert. "I did really good on it, too. Dad said if I have ten good shows in a row, then he'll get me a puppy. You know what number this is it's number seven, so that means--"

"Speaking of Dr. Nigel," Edward humorously interrupted the girl, glancing around to find his companion missing, "Do you happen to know where he went off to?"

Needless to say, Edward found out during the few seconds before the little girl answered. He heard the elderly man's voice in deep discussion with two other people in the next room over.

"He went to talk with mom and dad about my next show." Cecille sounded almost bored with the whole concept. "They told me to stay here with you... What's your name again?"

"Edward Cullen." He answered, watching Cecille as she rotated her upper body, causing the hem of her dress to swish around her knees.

Without looking up, she continued, "How old are you?"

"Seventeen." Edward gave her his default response.

At this, she stopped, "No you're not."

Again, Cecille had caused the vampire's eyebrows to raise, "Oh? And why do you say that?"

"I got a cousin who's seventeen. You act much more grown-up." She answered smartly, "You're older than seventeen."

The vampire smiled down at the child. She had magically charmed his heart in a way that he had never really felt before.

Kneeling down to the little girl's level, Edward whispered, "Do you want to know how old I really am?"

Her green eyes widened with curiosity, and she leaned forward, as if about to be told a secret.

"I'll be turning one hundred soon."

Eyes still wide, Cecille whispered, "I knew it!"

Chuckling a bit, Edward sensed the return of the three other adult parties, and rose.

"Cecille." A high-pitched voice called from her horse-faced mother. "It's time to talk to the paper."

She pouted, rushing to her parents as they approached. "But mom, they always ask the same questions!"

Ignoring the whining seven-year-old, the two parents, both incredibly plain looking, turned to Edward.

"Ah, Edward," Dr. Nigel took him by the shoulder, "I see you've met our little prodigy." He then turned to her parents again, "Steven, Merissa, please meet Edward Cullen. Only seventeen, already surpassing most of the professors. Edward, this is Steven and Merissa Bovier, little Cecille's parents."

Edward smiled politely, nodding his head to the couple.

Mrs. Bovier obviously blushed, "Why, hello Mr. Cullen," while her husband just nodded his head stiffly.

~~~

Edward returned to his current home with the pleasant image of Cecille forever imprinted in his mind. The little girl undoubtedly stole his heart, as children have a tendency to do, but he suspected her music had something to do with it, too.

He walked in the front door, humming the melody of Choplin's "Nocturne, opus 27" so quietly no human would hear it hidden beneath his breath.

"Edward!" Alice called, being the first to see her brother walk through the door. She rushed to his side as he made his way to the nearby sofa. "How was the show? Good, right? That little girl is breathtaking, isn't she?"

The copper-haired boy rolled his eyes at his sister. He knew full well she saw this concert even before he did. "Yes, it was very good. You should have come."

"It was invitation only." She pouted.

"Has that ever stopped you before.

~~~

It was another few weeks before Edward thought of little Cecille again. He was quietly reading in his room, when he heard the gentle whisper of his vampiric mother's inner voice calling to him. With inhuman speed, Edward smoothly waltzed into his kitchen, "Yes, Esme?"

"You've received a letter in the mail..." She stated, head tilted in an odd manner as she delicately examined the envelope in her hand as if it were a foreign object from another planet, "But we never get mail..."

Just as curious as his mother, Edward stepped forward, "Well, who's it from?"

"Curtis."

"Curtis?"

"Yes, the Institute." Esme handed the envelope to her son. "Do you have any idea why you got it?"

Edward didn't answer for a moment, struggling to delicately tare open the letter without shredding the paper completely, "Well, my piano tutor happens to be a Curtis professor. He'll occasionally send me concert invitations through the mail..."

It took a mere second to read through the entire letter, but he found himself taking another few minutes to absorb it's material.

It was in fact a personal letter of sorts, from the desk of a Dr. B. Nigel. The gist of the three paragraphs said that Cecille Bovier's next piano recital was canceled, due to a recent tragic incident. Leave it to a college professor to use and entire page to say that.

Immediately feeling a pit of dread boil in his stomach, a dread for poor Cecille. Without really thinking, Edward had grabbed the plastic off-white phone from the kitchen wall, nearly breaking it's shell in the process. He forced an unnecessary breath to calm his nerves. Punching in the memorized number, Edward became drastically more level-headed by the third ring when Dr. Nigel finally picked up his phone.

"Hello?" The old man sounded tired.

"Dr. Nigel," Edward greeted, "It's Edward Cullen."

"Ah, Cullen," He seemed to brighten a bit, "How can I help you?"

"I'm just calling with inquiry over Cecille Bovier. I got your letter, and it said something about a 'tragic incident...'"

"Mhm, yes, very tragic indeed..." His thoughts seemed to drift with his words.

This only left Edward in suspense, "Is there something wrong with her?"

"With her? Of course there is, she's in the hospital!"

"The hospital? Why's that?" He tried to sound nonchalant, but there's not a person in the world who wouldn't concern themselves over that little girl.

There was a small scuffle on the other end, like papers moving around, "Her house caught fire three days ago. She has second degree burns on her feet and legs, the poor thing."

"Oh, her parents must feel terrible..."

"That's the worst part!" The doctor declared, "Her parents didn't survive!"

Edward was floored by the old man's bluntness. "But what'll happen to Cecille?"
♠ ♠ ♠
"He walked in the front door, humming the melody of Choplin's "Nocturne, opus 27" so quietly no human would hear it hidden beneath his breath."

Anyone else see the humor in that?

Anyway, this story has a bit more of a somber tone than Peacekeeper... And I apologize to any of my Jacob/anti-Edward readers. Just to clarify, Edward's character frankly bores me, and tends to leave me feeling contradicted and pissed off, but he is the only one that fits into my story. Of course, this is my interpretation of Edward, so he might be a little bit different.

Lastly, it's 3 o' clock once again, and I feel a need to update something, so why not post a new story? Here we go...

Bye-bye my loves.

Ruby