Life, Death, and the Breaking Dawn

by sweetcatcandy

After Beau Swan and Edythe Cullen marry, "Happily Ever After" hangs in the balance when dangerous forces are set against them after one unforgettable night and a most impossible conclusion. When long-held secrets of the Volturi come to light, will a new acquaintance be an ally or an adversary? Can Beau and Edythe find a way to save the ones they love before time runs out?

1. Author's Note and Preface

Author's Note:

Hi everyone!

This is going to be my first published story here and I'm so excited for you all to have a look at it. Now, before we get started I wanted to add just a few caveats:

Firstly, I'm relatively new to the whole experience of both writing fanfiction and publishing it on a site like this for the whole wide world to see so I know it might start off a little rough around the edges, though I am hoping to continually improve on my writing and storytelling skills over the course of this project. As this is my first-ever fic on this website, please go a little bit easier on me, haha.

Secondly, I don't really consider myself a "Twihard" - I've only ever seen the movies (and I loved them, btw!) and my mom is actually the only Twilight expert in my house. She adored the entire saga (books and all) and everything about it. While I do genuinely respect and admire Stephenie Meyer for her creativity and endless imagination, I've only read excerpts of all four Twilight books here and there over the years. The only book in the Twilight series which I have actually read cover-to-cover is Life and Death. So, while Mom along with Google and the movies have all been consulted and referenced in the making of this fanfic, I still might get some things wrong here and there. Interestingly, I mainly read Life and Death as part of my research for writing another genderbent story for a different fandom but let me tell you, when I say I fell in love with Beau and Edythe's story, I fell in love with Beau and Edythe's story, and it quickly became one of my most favorite books I've read to date! That being said, I was unsatisfied with the ending but then again, that's just for me. Because of that, I couldn't help imagining what Life and Death would have looked like had it ended and went on the same way the original Twilight series did, so here we are.

This leads into my third caveat - Beau is still human in this retelling.

Fourth caveat - I have not written any other genderbent retellings of New Moon or Eclipse so I know this might seem weird, me starting off with a retelling of the final book and all but what can I say? I adore Breaking Dawn, it's my favorite installment in the series, haha. I also felt it would be the one to deviate most in genderbent form so I also wanted to experiment with that a little bit - you'll see.

Lastly, and this is more of an extension to caveat #4, but I just wanted to add that my fanfic takes place in an alternate-alternate universe where I do knowingly bend some of the rules of the original Twilight/Life and Death universe. I will explore these changes more in-depth as the story progresses though, and I'm hoping these changes will work for you all or at least not turn you off from finishing the entire story. This is also more of a minor thing, but I just wanted to add that this story takes place in the late 2010's/Present Day (as opposed to the mid 2000's which Life and Death originally took place in and would theoretically continue in) so there will be some references to technology and pop culture that came afterwards.

Whew - sorry, I know this author's note was really long, so thank you for sticking around! And now, without further ado I present to you Life, Death, and the Breaking Dawn. I sincerely hope you enjoy! :)

PREFACE:

I've had more than my fair share of near-death experiences; it wasn't something you really got used to. And yet, here I was. It seemed oddly inevitable, though, facing death again. Like I really was marked for disaster. I'd escaped time and time again, but it kept coming back for me.

But this time was so different from the others. I ran towards that shadow of Death now, as if I were rushing in to embrace it with open arms. I'm not going to fight. I'm not going to run. It can have me. Maybe it'll be satisfied then. Because even if it was a long-shot; even if there's just one me, maybe that'll be the difference between Life and Death for the ones I loved. Maybe, just maybe, I can save them. Because - if your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it?

If it were for someone you truly loved?