(( Author's notes, etc.
Firstly let me say, thank you all for reading! It really does mean a lot to me to see that some people enjoy reading what I enjoy writing. I cannot stress that enough. This may have been something of an experiment, but I'm going to count it as a somewhat successful one since this is I believe the first multi-chaptered fanfic I've written that I've actually finished…!
I'd like to give some very sincere specific thank-yous to Blackrose, whimperling, The Reader, The Pearl Maiden, and lealila for their kind reviews, critique, and feedback. Thank you guys so much for reading!
Hopefully this will just be one fanfic finished out of many. :) ))
Appendix – meanings of the chapter titles. This is mostly for my own amusement. As this story grew I had a lot of fun wandering around Wikipedia! The first definitions are rather obvious, but I figure I'd better explain the later ones.
Spark: A firey particle produced by one hard object hitting another.
Charred: Severely burned.
Ash: Remains of something destroyed by fire.
Tinder: Dry and flammable material used to start a fire.
Controlled Burn: Regulated fires often used in ecological settings.
Incandescence: Emitting light.
Flame Test: In chemistry, a way to determine what metal ions are in a substance due to the specific color (e.g., color spectra) each produces.
Gromnicy: A large candle traditionally used in Polish folklore; it is lit and placed in the window during thunderstorms to ward off lightning.
Flashover: Fire spreading very rapidly because of intense heat.
Backdraft: When a fire has consumed all available oxygen and suddenly explodes when more oxygen is made available.
Snuffed: Extinguished.
Accelerant: A substance often used in arson to hurry a fire's progression, e.g. paint thinner, gasoline
Herostratic: Like the Greek young man Herostratus, who burned down the Temple of Artemis in an attempt to gain fame at any cost.
Philuméniste: A person who collects matchbooks.
Eschar: Dead tissue that sloughs off the skin after a severe burn.
Anhedonia: Clinical term for lack of pleasure.
Bonfire of the Vanities: As made famous in Italy by Savanarola in 1497, the practice of burning objects that are deemed to be sinful (such as books, pieces of art, etc).
Hearthstone: A flat stone forming part of a hearth or fireplace.
Norman Morrison, 1933 – 1965: Died by self-immolation in protest of the Vietnam war, protesting outside the Pentagon.
Sati: The practice of a widow throwing herself onto her husband's funeral pyre (or being forced to die alongside him).
Shore Pine: A pine tree that relies on forest fires to burn away a coating from its seeds before they germinate.
Now cease, at last, and give way to my entreaties,
lest such sadness consume you in silence, and your bitter
woes stream back to me often from your sweet lips.
It has reached its end.
-Virgil's Aeneid, Book XII