Fic: Sanctuary

[shimotsuki]

Title: Sanctuary
Author: shimotsuki
Rating & Warnings: PG; mild profanity
Prompt(s): a prank, "I’ll have a blue Christmas without you..." -Blue Christmas
Format & Word Count: Fic, 3045 words
Summary: Tonks wasn't going to go to the Burrow on Christmas, until she got Molly's owl.
Author’s Notes: Whew -- made it! This story stands alone, but it is part of the

Comments

[shimotsuki]

Aw, thanks! I did want to leave them in a little brighter place at the end, heh. But there's a few months to go before the hospital wing, so yeah, someone needs a little more shaking. ;)

[solochan]

The image of them sitting silently together with al these turbulent emotions really made me want Tonks to shake him as hard as he possibly could. She loves you dammit!

Very well written I really liked it =D Thank you for sharing it!

[shimotsuki]

Thanks so much!

Remus does have trouble seeing what's right under his nose, doesn't he...

[katyscarlett76]

Another great piece from you, there's just so much emotion all through this and real emotion too. You can feel Tonks' frustration that they're just teetering on the brink of something amazing but he just won't let go. All the little touches that show how much he loves her even though he won't admit it himself. Just him confessing that he missed her is such a step forward and almost feels like a declaration of love even though it isn't. And his use of "we" in the "we can never have", shows just how mutual the feeling is even through his noble prattish-ness. I've alwways subscribed to the view that they were a couple before HBP but your writing almost convinces me otherwise (I say almost as my personal canon will always be that they were).

I just loved this :) And I love the idea of them ganging up to prank the twins ;) (That bit were the twins prank upset him because they reminded him of Sirius was just so gut-wrenching, made me feel his loss all over again)

[shimotsuki]

Oh, thank you so much! It's reassuring to hear that the emotion felt real, and I'm so glad you picked up on all the ways that Remus is letting on more to Tonks than he knows, heh.

Glad the Sirius moment worked. I frankly would have expected to see Harry missing him a little more at Christmas in HBP, too.

As for the R/T timeline, I completely agree that it fits with canon to have them get together in OotP, and I always like reading that version of events. It's just that when I first started imagining their backstory (before I had discovered fanfiction, or even fandom), this was how I thought of it.

[more_ruthless]

It always amazes me that you can continue to write a series of fics that tie together yet stand alone perfectly. And the anguish between them is so clearly felt from *both* of them, not just one or the other.

Another heart wrenching yet lovely addition to your Kaleidoscope series. Thank you so much for giving this Holiday present.

[shimotsuki]

Thank you so much for the kind and encouraging words. I really enjoy writing this series, so it means a lot to know that you enjoy reading it!

[gilpin25]

All the way through this I was thinking it had to end sadly - again - for both of them, and do neither of them any good in doing so. But it was lovely to read, and wholly satisfying for where they are now, for them to acknowledge that what they both needed was a bit of peace from fighting on all fronts. Sanctuary at Christmas, indeed.

I thought you told this story very skilfully, with a great understanding of the characters: Tonks can barely stop to chat and gulp her tea down, Remus is all alone by the sea, yet it couldn't be clearer how much they want to be together if they both shouted it out loud (well, Tonks does try that one;)). I loved how Remus is giving himself away more and more: the 'we', the missing her admission, and the way he holds onto the scarf. Tonks, meanwhile, hides nothing except her growing maturity when she realizes he doesn't need another argument; it's such a shame he doesn't take seriously her point about her realism towards their situation.

I also thought you used the prank prompt very cleverly.

[shimotsuki]

As you know, it's a little hard to write R/T in HBP, because canon has them fighting and unhappy the whole time. So this story couldn't give them any sort of real resolution, but I'm glad you thought the idea of a temporary truce for Christmas made for a satisfying ending! (And usually my one-word titles are a sign that I've given up trying to find a good one, but as soon as I thought of this one I knew it was exactly the right title for this piece, lol.)

I'm glad you noticed Remus's little signs, especially the scarf. Also that you thought the prank prompt worked -- at first I was all, "how can I use such a fun silly prompt for HBP Christmas?", but I think being forced to fit that in stretched this in a good way.

Thanks so much for the comments. :)