Author: eibbil
Story: Finding the Key
Status: WIP
Rating: PG
Genre/Subgenre: AU/IC Drama
Chapters: 4, 14,720 words
Published/Updated: Nov 25, 2008/Dec 14, 2008
Summary: Bella woke up in the Phoenix hospital and couldn't remember how she got there. A year later, she's living in Jacksonville with her mother, but she still has no memory of her four months in Forks. Can she recover what she lost by returning?
Story link: http://www.twilighted.net/viewstory.php?sid=1539
Forum link: http://www.twilighted.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=1694
The opinions expressed here are my own, and are not made on behalf of twilighted.net.
blondie’s recommendation:
The premise of the story is that James’ attack on Bella resulted in her losing her memory of her time in Forks, and has no recollection of the Cullens or vampires. She’s spent her senior year in Jacksonville with Renee on the recommendations of her doctors, but her recovery is incomplete. The story opens as Bella decides that she must return to Forks in order to find the key that will unlock her memories.
Though Bella meets several of the Cullens, she feels only twinges – she doesn’t have any huge revelations (so far). Bella’s frustration is palpable, as it should be for our smart, perceptive teen. The detail incorporated into her memories shows how the author has dug deep to stay within the canon:
Voices speaking, but not words I understood. Music playing in my head, Debussy coupled with songs I didn't recognize. Screeching tires and soft, lyrical laughter. The crack of a baseball connecting with a bat – Charlie’s nightly baseball obsession mixing in with the random images, no doubt. Tree limbs flying, car doors slamming, the smell of lasagna. My blood type, cellular mitosis, trig equations. Salt air, rushing waves, and dancing blue fires.
Edward is kept in character, too, trying to maintain his distance, punishing himself for her sake:
When Alice had had her vision, when she'd told me Bella was coming back, my only thought had been to stay away from her. Horrid as the interminable days without her had been, I knew it was for the best. Bella was free of me, in the best possible way. Free to live her life without fear or pain, without the danger inherent in being anywhere near me.
Thankfully Edward isn’t quite as stubborn as he was in new moon, but the author has given him new challenges to face. The first challenge is how does he explain vampires anew to Bella? In many ways Edward got off easy when Jacob spilled the beans on the ‘cold ones’ in twilight; how will he handle broaching the subject this time?
Writing in canon is very demanding, but eibbil is up to the task. The research required to find the details that really make a story ring true can take an enormous amount of time. It is clear that eibbil (libbie spelled backwards, in case you hadn’t caught that) has invested a lot in this story, noting, for example, how Bella’s truck was never found after her trials in Phoenix. It’s a small detail (Bella didn’t drive the pickup to AZ, remember?), but it opens up so many believable possibilities for the author to work with.
This story is in its infancy, so many, many questions are yet to be answered, but this is the perfect time to add it to your alerts. The compelling writing and attention to detail will draw you in, as it has me, even this early on. I can’t wait to see where the story will take us – everything is familiar and yet unknown – the exact feeling an in-canon AU should have.
blondie is the award-winning author of thirteen posted stories of varying lengths. She specializes in writing in-canon stories; her current WIP is ‘Dark Side of the Moon’, Edward’s version of new moon. The mother of two and wife of one, she has been accused of having Edward locked in her basement, however, since her Northern California home has no basement, she’s resorted to digging holes in the backyard, hoping to find our glittering vampire.
http://www.twilighted.net/viewuser.php?uid=6 blondie on Twilighted
http://www.fanfiction.net/~blondieakarobin blondie on ff
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