A/N: This is the sequel to The Movement of the Earth that I swore I wouldn't write, which goes to show you how good I am at keeping promises to (the husband) myself. I maintain it isn't really my fault. Thanks to Sam Uley's control of story karma I'm missing part of my finger, eating crow, and beginning another foray into WIP World. Don't worry, I've already refilled my meds.

Some housekeeping before we get started (because I learned my lesson from last time)...

Note for FFn Readers

I know lots of people prefer FFn for reading fic; the search engine is wicked and the mobile site rocks. That being said, I recommend popping into LJ from time to time; the postings there have art and links to stuff. My LJ is listed as my homepage on my profile.

Disclaimer

While it will be nothing as (horrifying) extensive as Movement of the Earth, this fic will still involve a great deal of borrowing from the books (sometimes in the form of plot points, sometimes in the form of revamped scenes, sometimes - God help us - in the form of direct line lifts). What matters is this: the books, movies, and Twilight Saga universe all belong to Stephenie Meyer. I am only taking the (lead-filled) toys out for a spin. I make no claims to her work, and please smack me if I ever do.

Warnings

First, there's the standards: Language, violence, references to adult behavior. I'd give this one a heavy PG-13 or a light R rating.

Next: How much information to provide about the content of a fanfic is a controversial subject. Some readers prefer a heads-up for disturbing and/or intense material; some readers prefer not to be spoiled. In the interest of providing for both camps, I've decided to toe the line. If you want the additional (lightly spoiling) warnings, please PM me. I'll respond as fast as I can.

Regardless of whether you wish to read the more detailed warnings, allow me to emphasize something: this story will get very dark. Just so you know.

Research

At various times I will be touching on the bureaucratic mechanics of Native reservations. Let me be clear: I know very little about this subject. sleepy_sheep683 has been kind enough to share her extensive Human Nature notes with me, but I'm still mostly winging it. The mistakes I will make are entirely my own and I apologize in advance for any offense that I may cause with my clumsiness.

Likewise, I will be making generalized cultural references (generalized because the Twilight Saga pretty much invented its own tribe and then used the Quileute name), and while I will be as careful with such things as possible, nothing can change the fact that I grew up a suburban white chick and have no life experience with these matters. More advanced apologies.

On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I've already put in more time and effort towards cultural sensitivity than Meyer ever did. Do you know she didn't once thank the Quileute nation in her acknowledgments? I checked. Muse she bows to in every single book, but nothing for the people whose name she (bastardized) borrowed. Who does that? I'm just saying, people.

Okay, I guess it's a little early in the game for my unhealthy Meyer-issues to take over. Moving on.

Writing

So. Yeah. The Movement of the Earth was 70% intellectual experiment, 30% story. I went on a (genuinely interesting, at least to me) mission to comprehend the writing styles and approaches of Stephenie Meyer and then see if they could be integrated into a functional plotline. In the process I lost my fucking mind.

The approach will be a wee bit different this time.

Going:

-Meyer-grammar. Punctuation abuse shall be henceforth at a minimum - though I'm sure Reasoning With Vampires would still chew me up and spit me out.

-Meyer-pacing. I'll be making the flow decisions now, thank you very much.

-50% of Meyer-voice. See below.

-Most canon events. I kinda murdered the original plot in the last fic.

-Scheduled bi-weekly updates. If I tried to do that for three straight months I'd drop dead. My rough plan - my very, very rough plan - is to update every Wednesday, but if I can't do it, I can't do it.

Staying:

-Canon continuity. Just 'cause we're in new territory doesn't mean we'll be bucking what was already there.

-50% of Meyer-voice. Bella's still Bella (and also there's plot devices to think of), but if a sentence just flat-out makes my eyes bleed then I'm changing it. In addition, not everything will be Bella POV...

-Cliffhangers. They please me.

-Twi-cheese. This is intended to be an alternative resolution to the Twilight Saga, so expect a bit of genre-appropriate melodrama. You know you secretly love it.

-Sanity updates. Because it's possible that later, after my brain has blocked out this experience, they will be my only reference to what I was thinking as I wrote.

It should also be noted that there may be possible hiatuses for personal maintenance. Last time I let my pride get in the way and didn't take the breaks I desperately needed, and the result, well... let's just say that if I start yelling at phantom Meyers again I'm gonna go stare at a lake for awhile.

Thanks

I've got to kneel to gypseian . First, she expanded my music library by about 150 songs and therefore pretty much found half the soundtrack for this fic. Then she voluntarily began podfic'ing The Movement of the Earth (after explaining to me what the hell a podfic was), which will be available for download as soon as it's finished. And now she'll be podfic'ing The Fire of the Sun as we go. I am overwhelmed.

Many, many thanks to sleepy_sheep683 for letting me shamelessly steal her Human Nature research. Any accuracies on Native culture are entirely her doing, because without her I'd be making shit up as I went. She is all British and awesome and stuff.

untilwebleed took pity on me when I threw myself at her online doorstep and pled for art. Her lovely banner is exactly what I wanted. You are made of win, darling.

Also, lots of kudos to the Twitter crowd, for being cheerleaders when I needed it and being pestering when I needed that too. Y'all know who you are, and I send snorgles.

I suppose I should also thank Sam Uley for instigating this whole thing, but I can't quite bring myself to do so. We'll see how much of my finger grows back first.

Eighteen to twenty-three (long) chapters. Goal: wrap up themes and threads from Twilight, the first half of New Moon, and The Movement of the Earth into a clean and satisfying alternative ending to the Twilight Saga. Angst Threat Level Blood Red.

Here we go.