Forever (Joanne x Twilight)

Prologue - 'light in the darkness.'

"I'd never given much thought to how I would die. But dying in place of someone I love, seems like a good way to go."

///

August 2007, Corsham.

For Dianne Claire Buswell, saying goodbye to her mother and two brothers was the hardest thing she had ever done.

Growing up in Australia was great: ever since she was a baby, she was always surrounded by the glorious western Australian sunshine that left happiness in its wake. There was nothing like stepping out doors and feeling it's rays cast a sparkling glow on your skin, making warmth spread throughout every inch of your being and make all the bad in the world dissapear, even it was just for a little while.

Her childhood was filled with playing with her older brothers on the sandy beaches of Bunbury, often getting distracted from her classes by the enchanting views outside and dancing her heart out without a care in the world. When she was four she had been to watch her older brother - Andrew - in his dance competition. And the rest they say, was history.

Dance had kept her going, even in the darkest of times. It was a reason to think past the misery the people at her school had caused her the past few years and focus on something positive; something that made her feel alive rather than want to curl up in a ball and cry the pain away. But as the conflict worsened, dance could only provide so much light in the darkness.

One evening when she and her family were sat down for dinner, Rina had suggested that she moved across the world to live with her father, who lived in Wiltshire and worked in real estate. Not that her parents were divorced, in fact they loved each other very much. But last year he had made the move on request of his colleague who desperately needed him to move over to help with the expansion of the company, and he had resided there ever since. It was tough on the family, but they made it work.

As she sat in the backseat of her dad's car, just having been picked up from the airport, she felt the cold, English air flood into the car and float into her lungs. Flying on her own hadn't been easy, but it had been a great way to reflect on her past, present and future.

And how she was going to adjust to the British weather, which clearly wasn't on anyone's side.

"You alright back there?"

Despite having lived in England for just over a year, especially in an area with strong West Country accents, he still sounded very Australian. He looked through the rear-view mirror.

She smiled, catching his eye. "Yeah. Just...thinking." A light drizzle of rain started to appear on the window. She frowned. "Dad, is the weather always this miserable?"

He chuckled. "You'll get used to it, Dot. We did have some sun yesterday, though. I wonder if it'll come out again."

"Maybe." She sighed.

Here she was, only having been in the UK for less than an hour and she was already making small talk about the weather. She reverted her gaze back to the world through the window, which passed by in a whirlwind through the glass that was dotted all over in delicate raindrops.

///

"Dot." Mark smiled. "Come and meet some of the people I've been working with. They've been dying to meet you."

Mark lead his daughter into and through a local pub. They had quickly dropped the bags back at the house before taking a walk to the village centre. It was comprised of a few shops and services, plus a few pubs and parks. Similar to Bunbury and no where as busy as a city like London or Perth, she had quickly gathered.