Chapter 12 ~ Time

[openfire]

1. Why is Edward now willing to change Bella into a vampire (provided she marries him) after being dead set against it for so long?
I think that he knows that she will find someone to do it anyway, even if he was still dead set against it. I think that if Bella was going to be a vampire, Edward would prefer it to be him who changed her, as that seems much more...romantic? But at the same time, partly cos of the time he grew up in, he doesn't think it's right to do something so personal without being married. Which is actually incredibly sweet of him I think.

2. Why is it still so important to him that she marry him before he changes her? Is there more to this than a strategy to delay her?
I don't think it's to delay her. He knows that she could get Carlisle to do it if she wanted. I think he thinks it would be "right" if they were married first. He wants the connection of being married. If means a lot to him, as he is that boy.

3. Why is Bella so panicked at the thought of marrying Edward? Is there more to her reaction than she is saying? Does she actually understand her own reasons completely?
I think she is panicked because she is embarrassed. She doesn't want to have to tell people (esp. her parents & her school friends) as she assumes that they will assume she is pregnant. Like she says, times have changed, and people don't generally get married straight out of high school. I think her reasons, while valid I suppose, are a little silly. And in exchange for Edward turning her, I think she is getting a good deal!

4. After the epiphanies of NM, how could Edward still imagine being immortal was more important to Bella than her love for him?
I don't know. I guess cos he feels she could do so much better than him, and maybe the reason she is with him is not cos she loves him, but cos she wants to be immortal. Actually I think that isn't true; I think he must know she loves him and wants to be with him forver because he is Edward, and nothing else.

5. Edward says that changing Bella is the most selfish thing he will ever do. Why is he nevertheless prepared to do it? Is this morally weak of him?
Because she will find someone else to do it anyway! As much as he think it's the most selfish thing he'll do, he still wants to do it. He wants to be connected to Bella in every way possible. It is not morally weak of him; she will find a way to become a vampire at some point anyway. But it would mean so much more to Bella, and Edward, if he were the one to do it.

[futurevampire]

1. Why is Edward now willing to change Bella into a vampire (provided she marries him) after being dead set against it for so long?
He wants it so much, and it's already been decided that she will be changed no matter what, so he just gives in. Plus, he really wants to marry her.
2. Why is it still so important to him that she marry him before he changes her? Is there more to this than a strategy to delay her?
He wants to be sure that she truly want HIM, not just eternal life. He wants her to do this for the right reasons. He also is the gentleman who wants to marry her, because he loves her and wants her forever.
3. Why is Bella so panicked at the thought of marrying Edward? Is there more to her reaction than she is saying? Does she actually understand her own reasons completely?
I don't know what her problem is with that. She's just been raised not to get married young, and with the frame of mind of present culture...she is too young. She just can't get over that and see that that doesn't matter, in their case. She explains it pretty well, I guess.
4. After the epiphanies of NM, how could Edward still imagine being immortal was more important to Bella than her love for him?
Edward hates himself. He thinks he's a monster, and he STILL can't get it into his head that she loves him, because he can't love himself or find any reasons why anyone would. He doesn't see himself clearly.
5. Edward says that changing Bella is the most selfish thing he will ever do. Why is he nevertheless prepared to do it? Is this morally weak of him?
He wants to be selfish so badly. He would rather do it than have her go to Carlisle; he wants it to be between them. It's not very weak of him to give in, because he's been against it so strongly for so long, there isn't anything for him to do about it anymore. There's no point to fighting it, so he'd rather just accept it, since he wants it so much anyway.

[misskiley]

1. Why is Edward now willing to change Bella into a vampire (provided she marries him) after being dead set against it for so long?
He is trying to prolong it as long as possible. He has to do whatever he can, knowing that Carlisle will change her after she's done with graduation.

2. Why is it still so important to him that she marry him before he changes her? Is there more to this than a strategy to delay her?
He knows it's the one thing she would hesitate on,.. but Edward wants to marry her; plain and simple. It's important to him,.. and he knows Charlie and her mom would want to see it too.,

3. Why is Bella so panicked at the thought of marrying Edward? Is there more to her reaction than she is saying? Does she actually understand her own reasons completely?
I believe she does. I feel the same way.. you don't want to be that hick from a small town getting married out of high school to your sweetheart. She is completely right in the way she is thinking.

4. After the epiphanies of NM, how could Edward still imagine being immortal was more important to Bella than her love for him?
I don't know.. sometimes I don't understand Edward and Bella.. he has to of realized that nothing is important with him to her. That kind of surprised me.

5. Edward says that changing Bella is the most selfish thing he will ever do. Why is he nevertheless prepared to do it? Is this morally weak of him?
No,.. Bella knows how Edward feels about the soul thing and she doesn't care. She's going to do it anyway,.. he might as well be the one to do it. He never gave in no matter what until it was absolutely necessary.

[Brienna]

1. Why is Edward now willing to change Bella into a vampire (provided she marries him) after being dead set against it for so long?
He realizes that he has no choice. He wants her to be save and they want to be together. I think he knows that logically, he can't protect her from death eventually.

2. Why is it still so important to him that she marry him before he changes her? Is there more to this than a strategy to delay her?
Marriage is important to him. He wants to do it the right way. He wants her to be his in every possible way, before he physically makes her his.

3. Why is Bella so panicked at the thought of marrying Edward? Is there more to her reaction than she is saying? Does she actually understand her own reasons completely?
I think it just is because she's raised that way by her mom. And because she saw her parents marriage fail.

4. After the epiphanies of NM, how could Edward still imagine being immortal was more important to Bella than her love for him?
Yeah, that's stupid.

5. Edward says that changing Bella is the most selfish thing he will ever do. Why is he nevertheless prepared to do it? Is this morally weak of him?
No, he loves her enough to want to give her anything she wants. And she wants to be like him, so they can spent the rest of their being together.

[wolf-girl0221]

1. Why is Edward now willing to change Bella into a vampire (provided she marries him) after being dead set against it for so long?
He wants her to marry him and he wants to keep her forever. The only reason he is so against it is because he doesn't want her to lose her soul. He knows that the only way to keep her forever is to do this.

2. Why is it still so important to him that she marry him before he changes her? Is there more to this than a strategy to delay her?
He once told her that he wanted her to have human experiences. Marriage is a human experience that wouldn't no longer be 'human' if he changed her. I think he also wanted her to marry him because in his time it was the way one said "i love you". He doesn't care what anyone will think about their getting married so quickly. He just wants to show everyone that he loves her.

3. Why is Bella so panicked at the thought of marrying Edward? Is there more to her reaction than she is saying? Does she actually understand her own reasons completely?
Bella grew up with Renee telling her that marriage wasn't something to be rushed. Also, Bella grew up in this time and in this time most people only get married because they are going to have a kid. She doesn't want to be that girland she doesn't want people to think of her that way.

4. After the epiphanies of NM, how could Edward still imagine being immortal was more important to Bella than her love for him?
I think he was worried about it because she was always saying how she needed to be changed. She never said that she wanted it because she wanted to be with him forever. Once he knew that was her reason for wanting immortality, I think it made his decision easier to make.

5. Edward says that changing Bella is the most selfish thing he will ever do. Why is he nevertheless prepared to do it? Is this morally weak of him?
No it isn't weak of him at all. Edward is never really selfish and if keeping her for all eternity is the most selfish thing he will ever do then I think he is entitled to be a little selfish.

[SkittleE]

1. Why is Edward now willing to change Bella into a vampire (provided she marries him) after being dead set against it for so long?
He's willing to do whatever it takes to marry her.

2. Why is it still so important to him that she marry him before he changes her? Is there more to this than a strategy to delay her?
I don't know.

3. Why is Bella so panicked at the thought of marrying Edward? Is there more to her reaction than she is saying? Does she actually understand her own reasons completely?
Well, I'm not really her, so I wouldn't know. I think she thinks that marriage it a stupid human ritual that doesn't compare to her love for Edward.

4. After the epiphanies of NM, how could Edward still imagine being immortal was more important to Bella than her love for him?
Because she seems so set on becoming immortal, he probably thinks that she doesn't love him as much as the prospect of living forever.

5. Edward says that changing Bella is the most selfish thing he will ever do. Why is he nevertheless prepared to do it? Is this morally weak of him?
I think he's being stupid, this isn't his decision to make, and it never was. It annoys me how he tries to control Bella's decisions. First by taking himself out of her life because he thinks it's better for her, then by keeping her away from her best friend, and now from spending eternity with him.

[Gochiruzeru]

1. Why is Edward now willing to change Bella into a vampire (provided she marries him) after being dead set against it for so long?

Because he realizes now that he can't change her mind, and he decides that if she's willing to be with him forever, then it should be done the traditional way.

2. Why is it still so important to him that she marry him before he changes her? Is there more to this than a strategy to delay her?

A few things. It's partly a way to delay the changing, to give her more time to think about it. Partly because he wants her to have human experiences, and a human wedding is one of them. And third is because he's old fashioned, and feels that marriage is what's natural for their relationship.

3. Why is Bella so panicked at the thought of marrying Edward? Is there more to her reaction than she is saying? Does she actually understand her own reasons completely?

Probably because of her parents, and how marriage (seemingly) ruined their love. She's heard Renee preaching against marriage her whole life, so of course the thought of getting married so young is weird to her. However, I think that her reasons are a bit silly, and there's no reason that she shouldn't marry Edward.

4. After the epiphanies of NM, how could Edward still imagine being immortal was more important to Bella than her love for him?

Because she's not interested in their wedding, which leads him to believe that she only cares about being immortal. He feels that if she's not willing to even marry him, she doesn't love him that much at all.

5. Edward says that changing Bella is the most selfish thing he will ever do. Why is he nevertheless prepared to do it? Is this morally weak of him?

Not really. He's prepared to do it because Bella wants it so much, and he only wants Bella's happiness.

[Tornado]

1. Why is Edward now willing to change Bella into a vampire (provided she marries him) after being dead set against it for so long?
I think he believes that her agreeing to marry him is a sign of a commitment from her. He is also worried that she'll hate him the moment he changes her, so perhaps this is his way of trying to ensure that doesn't happen, although I don't think he would think it would necessarily do that. Also, although I don't believe this is why he originally proposed it, it is delaying her a little, and he wants that.

2. Why is it still so important to him that she marry him before he changes her? Is there more to this than a strategy to delay her?
Yes, as I said above, he wants this sign of commitment from her. As he says in New Moon, if you compare the level of commitment in a marital union compared with bartering your soul as a vampire, if she's not brave enough to marry him ....

3. Why is Bella so panicked at the thought of marrying Edward? Is there more to her reaction than she is saying? Does she actually understand her own reasons completely?
I think that these are largely her reasons, yes. She doesn't believe that marriage is a sign of eternal commitment. It wasn't for her parents. She thinks becoming a vampire is a sign of eternal commitment.

4. After the epiphanies of NM, how could Edward still imagine being immortal was more important to Bella than her love for him?
Because he doesn't think much of himself. He has to find another reason for this to be so important to her.

5. Edward says that changing Bella is the most selfish thing he will ever do. Why is he nevertheless prepared to do it? Is this morally weak of him?
No, I don't believe it is. He's done everything he could do. He left, and look what it did to her and him. He has tried to keep her human, but it gets too dangerous in his world. And they are on uneven footing as a couple as vampire and human. If they are going to continue a relationship, and it seems necessary, given the way they feel about each other, that they do, then they need to take this step.

[TwilightFan87]

1. Why is Edward now willing to change Bella into a vampire (provided she marries him) after being dead set against it for so long?
-I think he knows how much marriage scares her..he's using it as a delay mechanism.

2. Why is it still so important to him that she marry him before he changes her? Is there more to this than a strategy to delay her?
-After we hear his reasoning, from the type of world he was raised in, I saw that this is one human experience he really wanted to share with her. I'd say even more so before he changed her because this way she could have her family and friends there at the ceremony. I think this definitely shows how much of his human life he's drawing from and wanting to experience.

3. Why is Bella so panicked at the thought of marrying Edward? Is there more to her reaction than she is saying? Does she actually understand her own reasons completely?
-Well, I understand her reasons completely because there is that assumption with young marriages..or that they're not going to last if they marry young. Marriage is scary for any age, so the idea of getting married straight out of high school can be nerve wracking for anyone. Plus the whole idea of planning a wedding and being the center of attention in a big ceremony is likely another issue of Bella's.

4. After the epiphanies of NM, how could Edward still imagine being immortal was more important to Bella than her love for him?
[b]-That's a good question..likely because she turned down his proposal and didn't get any happier with it over time. Plus she might be doing it just to keep the Volturi off her back, which could also hurt Edward's feelings.[/b]

5. Edward says that changing Bella is the most selfish thing he will ever do. Why is he nevertheless prepared to do it? Is this morally weak of him?
-He's very, very grudgingly doing it, mostly because she's hell bent on being changed. I think he's done pretty much everything in his power to keep her human and has come up with many ways and ideas to try and make that happen, including leaving. He's doing it to keep the peace with her, I'd imagine. He doesn't want to do it for so many reasons and maybe it is a little selfish, especially seeing how he doesn't believe there's an after life for vampires (though this is contradicted in NM). He feels like she's giving up everything and doesn't want her to do it..is it still selfish if you've stated your case but someone else is willing to sacrifice? I don't think so.