March 20th, 2015 at 11:10pm
@ soccerDoRk
Try typing in: http://www.quizilla.com/user/username/profile into the wayback machine. Looks like they've managed to archive everyone's accounts at least once :P
SPOILERS AHEAD FOR LFRD:
I'm so glad you loved LFRD and so mad at myself that I never finished it! I guess I've changed a lot since I wrote that story so it's weird for me to get back into that headspace :P
That being said, from what I remember planning, I was going to have Leon go off to war. While he's fighting, he switches his id tag with another fellow soldier for whatever reason. That fellow soldier dies and the army incorrectly thinks that Leon Sinclair has been killed in action. They inform his family that he's been killed and send the soldier's body back to Napa, closed casket. Naturally, Phoenix thinks Leon is actually dead and is completely devastated. Around this time, she also comes to learn that she's pregnant (totes cliche, I know, I know). Having a child out of wedlock was frowned upon at the time so in order to avoid being estranged from her family and society and also because she's totally panicking, she agrees to marry James Watson soon afterwards. The baby is born and is named Natalie. James pretty much suspects the whole time that the kid is not his anyway as she has Leon's hair and eyes. He doesn't really bring it up to avoid scandal.
Then, a few years later, shortly before the war comes to a close, Leon finally comes back to Napa. Throughout this whole time, he'd been sending letters to Phoenix (though the Dear Darla post box) about how he was doing. But Joseph Lacoste, suspecting Phoenix was secretly corresponding to someone, hid the letters from her so she would never find out. So Leon is annoyed and worried about why Phoenix never replied to him. Imagine his surprise when he shows up in Napa with everyone thinking he was dead this whole time and the news that Phoenix had already gotten married and moved to the city.
He goes to visit her. Their meeting is pretty strained, however, because James insists on being there. He gets to hold Natalie for a brief period of time. Phoenix is so angry at the way he life as turned out---mostly angry at herself---but she takes this out on Leon and before he leaves they have this massive fight (parts of the fight are actually listed in the story summary heh). He takes off and decides he doesn't want to deal with trying to put back his life in Napa anymore and re-enlists. He's later killed in action for real a few months before the war officially ends. Phoenix tries to never think about him again because it causes her too much pain.
Fast forward to the present where Phoenix is dying and reflecting back on her actions. She decides that her and Leon could have never been together because of their parent's tricky and messy past. She also realizes that even if they got past that, they were never really right for each other anyway as the main reason they were together in the first place was just to mutually piss off Joseph Lacoste. She wonders if, despite their past and their present working against them, if she has a chance to make things right with him in the afterlife.
The story basically ends with them meeting in the afterlife. Phoenix sees Leon and says "I found you!". Leon replies, "Yeah, you found me.", which basically echoes their first game of hide and seek in the attic.
The End! :D
Omg.....this is too good to be true!! And yes, I got it to work haha thank you!! :)
Now back to being too good to be true x_x I see the "Spoilers Ahead" alert, and I want to read it so bad, but at the same time I don't know if I'm ready for the end! *reads anyway*
OMG I AM GOING TO COMMENT AS I READ. OMG OMG SO HE is ALIVE!!! OMG ahhhhhh *hyperventilates*
How can James intercept Leon's beautiful letters?! I bet Natalie is beautiful like Leon and Pheonix are!! Omg (prepare for at least a few more omg's because no other word expresses my scrambled, frantic, overly excited thoughts right now) I wonder how heartbroken she is?! But in the hospital scene, Natalie only knew about James though she suspected he isn't her biological father!
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HE DIES?! ALDSJFALKSJFLAKJDSFASDF WHAAAT?
OMG THE ENDING. gasp. she finds him!! They find each other!!!!!! Ugh major heartbreak moment... holy cow how did you think of this?! It's lovely and heartbreaking at once. I am SO glad they have each other though in the end.
Also I wonder if he dies the second time he enlists because he didn't really care to live. Perhaps he is uncaringly careless or his heart is just broken. Anyways, I love love the ending!! I always pictured your story slightly different based on the intro sentences, with them finding each other in the afterlife (because they can't escape each other's loves) and somehow sorting it out/being together again there. So pretty much how you ended it but with the afterlife being the main plot of the story. Don't change yours though, I love it the way it is! Those were just my thoughts when I first read the intro.