Date: 26 May 2013 17:56 Title: The Truth Hurts
Well Maren was serious about this relationship, but as for Icheb... I'm surprised Maren didn't see the signs, because didn't Icheb bottle out of their wedding or something?
Good stuff!
Date: 26 May 2013 17:24 Title: The Truth Hurts
This was a powerful look at the transformative power of love. Yes, Icheb did some horrific things in the past. At the time, he may or may not have been aware that they were wrong, but now he does, and is being consumed by guilt.
I love how Maren is essentially saying that person you were no longer exists; I realize that, Harry realizes that and indirectly Starfleet realizes that since they have allowed you to attend the Academy and pursue a career. She loves the person he is now, and the potential for the person he can become, the past notwithstanding. That's what true love is, and what true love does. You captured that in a way that made my heart ache - in the best possible way, of course.
Date: 26 May 2013 10:59 Title: The Truth Hurts
You have a future Icheb - and as much as this moment is a moment of realisation for Maren, that she truly loves him, this surely is a moment of realisation for Icheb - that the dreamed for future he has is not limited solely to a great career in Starfleet, that he can have a love, a life, a family perhaps even - a future more than an ambition, a future where he can maybe learn to forgive himself, where he can repay the pain and horror of his actions not by atonement alone serving in Starfleet but by having a life with love, hope and happiness.
Funny how when you write this pair I often find myself thinking in the shoes or terms of the other. For example this piece is a Maren centric POV and yet I begin by focusing on Icheb. Likewise in the previous it was Icheb's POV and revelation but I found myself thinking as much about Maren. It shows or stands testament to these pair, this couple, of how connected they are how they are indeed a mini collective not just because of their shared mindset and intelligience but because they feel for one another, impact one another's life, have an almost co-dependency type thing in terms of their emotional lives.
There are so many nuggets I love about this piece and the previous. From the obvious Remember that time you tried to kill me? line to the line where Maren assures him that Harry forgives him and that she loves him.
Date: 25 May 2013 19:01 Title: The Truth Hurts
Maren's a sweetheart. And I think we can all identify with her, in some way, when we've come to accept our partners no matter what.
Author's Response:
That moment when you realize you don't love a person because of *what* he (or she) is ... you love him because of *who* he is.
Date: 25 May 2013 12:22 Title: The Truth Hurts
Oh. Wow.
Beautifully done.
*blushes* Thank you, Sam!
Author's Response:
Date: 24 May 2013 23:01 Title: The Truth Hurts
This is really very well done. There were several gems of lines in here, and the emotions were particularly well-parsed out, without being sappy or overly sentimental.
Author's Response:
Thanks! Sometimes it's hard to find the balance with these two because they feel so hard. I'm glad you think I got it right.
Date: 24 May 2013 21:08 Title: The Truth Hurts
Wow. Just, wow. A perfect continuation and resolution of the previous post, a fantastic glimpse not only into these characters, but into something deeper as well. Just seasoned with enough humour ("Remember the time you tried to kill me?") to lesson the toll. A great addition to these ficlets. Loved it.
Author's Response:
Thank you, CS!
Date: 24 May 2013 15:35 Title: The Truth Hurts
In a lot of ways, this is how I had wanted the monthly challenge to go, e. g. someone has done something horrible, and they are forgiven.
But this isn't exactly that. It is not forgiveness that Maren can give here, for she is not the person who was wronged. It's acceptance.
Author's Response:
Exactly. She can't forgive him. He's never done anything to her that needs forgiving (yet). But her love for him, she realizes in this moment, is pretty much unconditional. She believes in him, believes in his innate goodness. More than anything, here, she's tortured by the realization that his own internal pain is so much worse than she ever imagined.
Thanks for the review. :)
Date: 24 May 2013 07:25 Title: The Truth Hurts
Oh, team I/M is pleased. Maren doesn't have to really debate this at all, she knows in her heart that he and she are exactly right for one another ... that the two are best together, better than they ever were apart.
Poor Icheb here. The dude clearly feels hugely guilty over these past sins and fully expects Maren to say goodbye to him. It's a really sad thing that he feels that she'd go ... that she'd abandon him. It's understandable.
United, the two are clearly happiest. This was a sweet piece and one I will remember fondly as you torture write these two in the future.
Author's Response:
Well, it takes an unusual person to absorb a shock like that and not recoil. I think this is the moment Icheb realizes that Maren is his safe place -- that she is 100% on his team and always will be. That's why her initial rejection of him in the Tesseract series stings so much ... he realizes his safe space is gone, and the only person he can blame is himself.