A/N:
Here we are at the end. I feel the need to answer what I feel are some inevitable questions. Yes, the ending was always...the ending. This was never meant to be any kind of AU, and well, Lydia, for obvious reasons, wasn't in any of the films. I wasn't always sure how everything would be resolved, but I always knew Lydia wouldn't make it out of the story alive, because, as was discussed in an earlier chapter, she's mortal. Bernard was always going to lose her, one way or the other. But I just couldn't leave at that, could I?
If you like sad endings, and like the way I ended this, then just stop here. Let Lydia fade away and let Bernard go back to being the Head Elf and maybe feel a twinge of emotional pain every Christmas Eve. More power to you. But if, as I suspect, you royally hate me right now, please read on to the Epilogue and find out what happened after Bernard and William left the Hightower Estate and what they never saw.
Epilogue: Sleeping Somewhere Cold
The layer of snow that glittered on the ground of the lonely English estate left hardly any trace of the footsteps of the two individuals that stood looking through the window at the body of the dead girl. They were tall and slender and both wore thick cloaks and leather boots. The male had a quiver and bow strapped to his back and the stony expression of a soldier under orders. The female wore white and silver, and the experience of millennia flickered in the midnight purple of her eyes. She gestured for her companion to follow her as she slipped through an unlocked door.
They ascended the stairs without hurry and entered one of the bedrooms and stood before the dead body on the bed. It had been placed there by someone who was clearly not in such a rush that they were unwilling to see that it was properly composed. Her hands were folded over her chest, and someone had cleaned the blood from the white skin of her face. In fact, from the shadows of the grounds, the pair had watched unseen as the two males, one much older than his young face belied, the other, suddenly much older than he had been only moments before, vanish from the roof of the house into the night. They had never known that their grief and their disappearance had been observed by the pair that now stood in the otherwise empty house.
"She is only a child," said the male.
"Yet nearly a woman," countered the Lady. "They age much faster than we do, you will remember."
"And die the same way. With all due respect, My Lady, why are we here?"
"We are here for her."
The soldier frowned. "But she's dead."
"There's light in her yet."
If the soldier was astonished by this pronouncement, he showed not a trace of it.
"But why?" he asked.
The Lady did not answer. She laid her hand on the crown of the girl's head and touched her fair hair. The Lady smiled.
"Bring her to Elbereth."
Doubt flickered in his eyes, but he said nothing. He gathered the girl into his arms, and the pair left the house and disappeared into the darkness of the Christmas Eve night.
To be continued in...
Daylight Can Be So Violent
A/N:
Yes, a sequel. The sequel has been planned for a very long time now. I wasn't going to write it. I even thought about putting a summary of what happens then abandoning the thing altogether. But the plot bunny bit me hard, and it turns out the little creature was rabid. So here we are. I promise I will not take 10 years to write this one. Actually I have the entire thing outlined in my mind and will soon have it completely outlined on paper. Three of the first four chapter are complete and only need fluffing. I even know at least how the conflict is going to be resolved and more or less how it's going to end, which is more than I can say for this story for the majority of the time I was writing it. I plan to take a couple weeks the breathe and de-stress. With money troubles, two family weddings, one passed and one coming (and neither of them mine, but I'm the Maid of Honor, baker, and cook in the one coming up) in addition to getting out what is a huge number of chapters for me in a six month span, I need a breather. But then I'll be right back to it, and I am really excited about it.
I need to give a massive thanks to all of my readers, especially the ones who have reviewed and kept me going. Some of you have been here from Day One and that is astounding and amazing to me. You guys have seen me grow and improve as a writer and have, in a way, been with me through some massive changes in my life. Maybe one day I'll be a super bestselling author and that would be awesome, but you guys will always be my first readers and my first fans. I never thought I'd have those. There are parts of this story I don't care for, simply because I wrote them when I was a young writer, and I've improved since then. It would be so tempting to go back and "fix" what I no longer approve of, but I don't want to pull a George Lucas on anyone and change something that might be important to someone. But even more than that, this story is evidence of my growth as a writer, and I can't tamper with that.
There were plenty of times I thought I'd never finish this and times I thought of putting it down forever. But I couldn't do that. I couldn't leave this undone. And all the near 100 reviews and nearly 50 follows and favorites as of my writing this are the reason why. You guys are amazing and wonderful, and I couldn't have finished this without you. I also feel I should thank my best friend and my mom for both continuing to encourage and pester me to finish this as well as reading through drafts for stray commas, continuity errors, and just plain reassurance that it wasn't terrible.
Well that's all folks. I did promise to give credit to where all the chapter titles came from. The sequel will follow the same motif, but I'll put the source of the titles in the chapter itself.
Chapter 1: When the Snow Lay All About
-"Good King Wenceslas"
Chapter 2: Hold You In Their Precious Keep
-Song from the beginning of the first movie
Chapter 3: A Young Boy With Old Eyes
-"One World" – Celtic Woman
Chapter 4: A Floweret Bright
-"Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming"
Chapter 5: Since We've No Place to Go
-"Let It Snow"
Chapter 6: Tidings of Comfort and Joy
-"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
Chapter 7: All Seem to Say, Throw Cares Away
-"Carol of the Bells"
Chapter 8: The Darkness Everywhere
-"Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming"
Chapter 9: Hopes and Fears
-O Little Town of Bethlehem"
Chapter 10: Do You Hear What I Hear?
Chapter 11: Do You See What I See?
Chapter 12: Do You Know What I Know?
Chapter 13: Listen to What I Say
-"Do You Hear What I Hear?"
Chapter 14: If I Cannot Bring You Comfort...
Chapter 15: Then At Least I Bring You Hope
-"The Closing of the Year"
Chapter 16: Hard Time in Bad Lands
-"Good Man" by Josh Ritter
Chapter 17: Accident or Design
-Taken from the clause shown in the first movie
Chapter 18: All Oppression Shall Cease
-"O Holy Night"
Chapter 19: Earth Stood Hard as Iron
-"In the Bleak Midwinter"
Chapter 20: The Night Time Fear
-"No Light, No Light" by Florence and the Machine
Chapter 21: Gilded Over in Purple and Pall
-"Down in Yon Forest"
Chapter 22: The Day Has All But Ended
-"Now Comes the Night" by Rob Thomas
Epilogue: Sleeping Somewhere Cold
-"Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence
A/N: That's it guys. See you next time.