A/N: I put this together to answer any questions you guys might have about Hybrid in general. It also explains the ending which I know some of you weren't happy about and I'm sorry you didn't like it. Hopefully after reading through the 'Idea' section of this, you'll understand why I chose to end it that way. It's never a fun thing when a character dies, I know that, but with the whole soul mate, double imprint thing it seemed like the right way to end it and really, if you think about it, it was actually a happy ending. BUT I have some news for those of you who may not have enjoyed the ending: I'm writing an alternate. At the request of one of my favorite reviewers: Lily Swan, who liked the idea of Edward&Elina, I decided to write an alternate ending so that this story could have a happier ending, along with the original. I'm in the process of writing it now, so it won't be up until about the end of this week. But for now, go ahead and skim through this and maybe it'll answer some questions you may have had along the way as well as the reason why I ended it the way I did. There's also details about my next fan fiction at the end, so feel free to take a look and thanks again SO much for reading Hybrid :)

Hybrid: Behind the Scenes

The Names:

Elina: I originally thought Elina was a pretty and unique name, suitable for a unique and pretty girl. But, I also wanted her name to have some kind of meaning in correlation to the story. When I searched the meaning of the name there were various different meanings, but one of them was light. I thought this was fitting because in the story, she comes into a new light about who she is. So, that's why I chose the name Elina.

Donoma: This is the vampire from chapter 4 that helps Elina gain control of her ability. Donoma is a Native American name meaning 'sight of the sun'. I was originally looking for a name meaning 'enlighten' or something along those lines since she enlightens Elina in terms of her ability and how to use it.

Alexandru: Elina's father's name was crucial to me, I wanted it to be a strong name with some meaning behind it. So I went searching the internet and came across this name. It's a Romanian name meaning "defender of mankind". The reason I chose this is because Alexandru's reason for starting The Hunters is to protect mankind from his own kind, vampires.

Ansel: One of Alexandru's followers, which is exactly what his name means.

Alastrann: This is actually another form of the name Alexandru, which I thought was appropriate since Alastrann is like an extension of Alexandru in that he attempts to get his revenge on Elina through Alastrann.

Other names, like Jeff, Marie, Ronald, etc. were just generic names that I chose without attaching any specific meaning to them.

The Outfits:

Unfortunately the links weren't working :( But if there was any outfit, car, detail that you wanted to see please let me know and I'll post a link for it in my profile. I'll have a link to Elina's wedding dress in my profile soon. Otherwise, PM me with anything you wanted a visual for and I'll be happy to give you the link :)

Quotes:

If you hadn't noticed, I use quotes quite a bit in my story. I just think it sets things up nicely, lets you try to guess at what's going to happen without giving anything away. The quote I ended the story with was crucial and I spent a lot of time trying to find the right one. The one I ended up choosing was beautiful, but it wasn't the only one considered. Here are a few quotes I was considering for the ending:

"To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die."
Thomas Campbell

The timing of death, like the ending of a story, gives a changed meaning to what preceded it.

-Mary Catherine Bateson, With Daughter's Eye, 1984

"Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die." – Amelia Burr

I was also considering to add a quote into the letter Elina writes Jacob. I didn't end up doing that, but here's two I considered:

"I don't pretend to know what love is for everyone, but I can tell you what it is for me; love is knowing all about someone, and still wanting to be with them more than any other person, love is trusting them enough to tell them everything about yourself, including the things you might be ashamed of, love is feeling comfortable and safe with someone, but still getting weak knees when they walk into a room and smile at you."

Uknown

"For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul."

Judy Garland

And finally, one that I considered to use at the beginning of chapter 6: Everything Happens for a Reason:

"We cannot be sure of having something to live for unless we are willing to die for it" – Che Guavara

The Idea:

After reading Breaking Dawn and re-reading the series I just felt this huge void because the story was over. It just didn't seem like it was the end for Bella and Edward, they would come across other obstacles throughout the rest of their existence. I started thinking about the idea of vampires and hybrids and all of these 'what ifs' started popping into my head. 'What if someone didn't know they were a vampire?" but of course that's impossible, because once you're changed you have the thirst of a new born, you'd know. So then I thought 'well what if they are half human?' At first I thought, no they would know then too. But then I played around with the idea that maybe the human side could be dominant over the vampire side, and while the vampire is still there it's not as present as it would be in an actual vampire. What if that person was adopted, so she didn't know her parents and therefore had no clue what she was.

I also started reading fan fictions and they were all so creative and I loved reading them and reliving Twilight in a new way. I thought it would be fun to try it out, to write my own and carry on the story but through a different perspective. I didn't feel right taking over Bella's point of view or any of the other characters already established because they weren't mine and I didn't want the risk of screwing it up and writing something that didn't sound like Bella or something like that. I figured the best way would be to make my own character, but I wanted the Cullens in the story, that was crucial.

So I just started writing. It was just a story about a girl who starts realizing she's different, that she's a vampire. In the first version (there is another version of the first chapter besides the one posted) Elina would bump into the Cullens, find out what she is, fall in love with Edward and Edward would fall for her but with one obvious obstacle: Bella. But, Edward and Bella are like a power couple, you can't just go splitting them up, they're meant for each other. So I decided maybe I wouldn't make them run away together but there would be an attraction. Originally, the reason Elina runs is because she catches her boyfriend (picture someone like Jason, the relationship set up by her parents) kissing another woman at a party. After I wrote the story up to the point where she runs, I wasn't really feeling it. I decided it would work out better if she'd never had a relationship at all, only a bunch of fools her dad would set her up with at parties that she hated.

The story wasn't supposed to go past the idea of Elina finding out she's a Hybrid. It was a story of self discovery, that's it. But as I continued writing, nearing the eighth chapter I realized that the story wasn't really going anywhere specific, that there had to be something more and it was staring me right in the face. While her mother is dead, her father still lived. That opened a door of questions like where was he, does he know Elina's alive somewhere, does he love her, does he hate her, what's he been up to for the past 18 years... that's when everything unfolded. Jeff was already in the picture by this point, so it was almost too perfect to turn him around and make him one of the bad guys, who's really a good guy but who fell into the wrong crowd in a sense. So, the whole Hunters concept was born and that was played out, and in turn played into the whole 'finding herself' thing because it's here that she realizes she's a strong, independent woman. She meets her father, and sees where she came from and sees who she really is. Being half and half works to her advantage, it's who she is and she accepts it fully.

I originally ended the story here. Elina gets rid of the hunters, goes back to Jacob and everything is great. At first I thought I was really done and we could all assume they had a happily ever after.

I left the story for a couple of days but I still felt the urge to write more. I realized I left the fact that Jacob imprinted twice wide open and it just wasn't sitting right with me so I returned to the story.

I knew from the moment I began writing the real ending that Elina was going to die. It was the only way to justify imprinting twice, and to me it was a really strong ending.

I know it's not the ending everyone would want or expect, because ideally they'd get married, have kids and grow old and die together like in Elina's vision of her life with Jacob that she reveals in her letter to him. But to me, it was exactly the right ending and I thought it tied well to Elina's feeling about soul mates at the very beginning of the story and I liked the idea of tying everything into the concept of soul mates. Elina was never a believer in soul mates, but Jacob imprinting on her proved her wrong and her death answered all of her questions about soul mates before. And in a way she was ready to die, it was just her time because she had completed her life. She didn't die not knowing who she was or with regrets or any of the issues she has with herself at the beginning of the story. She was fully content with everything in her life and that's why dying and moving on was so easy for her, because she didn't have any unfinished business.

So, hopefully you guys weren't too upset with the fact that she died and that you understand why I ended it that way. To me it was a happy ending. Elina went on to a bigger journey and Jacob had the love of his life. And to me it just made the ending of the story more final. I don't feel the need to go back and write more because Elina's story is over, her life was lived.

And that's it! I hope you enjoyed getting some extra insight to the characters and the little behind the scenes kind of thing. If you have any questions at all about the story feel free to message me, I'd be glad to answer any of your questions!

I'm working on another fan fiction at the moment, but I'll post it when I have at least the first few chapters completed, so it'll be a while before anything is up. It's called The Observer and it gives you the chance to see all of the events of Twilight through someone's eyes other than Bella's, through the eyes of a complete stranger. Think of it as an outsider's, insider view of the Cullens' arrival to Forks, Bella's arrival and Edward and Bella's relationship.

So, stay tuned and hopefully I'll have the intro and first chapter up soon! Updates won't be as quick with it, since I'm still in the process of writing it and it's at the beginning stages right now, but I'll try to update as often as I can.

Thank you for reading Hybrid, and thanks to all of the reviewers who took the time to tell me what they thought of Hybrid. I really appreciate it!