The Long Walk Home by bsmog
Rating: M
Genre: Angst/Romance
Characters: Edward/Bella
Summary: Broken by his experiences in the Civil War, Edward marches with Jasper and Emmett to Gettysburg. A stolen night's sleep leads him to the girl he thinks could save him, but the battle rages on, and his duty could destroy them both. AH. Canon pairings.
The Long Walk Home has turned out to be one of my all time favorite completed fics. When I first started reading, I had no idea who bsmog was and though I wasn't one for historical type fics, I was looking for something a little bit different and I'm so glad I started following it. Bsmog is a fantastic writer (and an even more amazing person - I know, I've met her in RL!) The Long Walk Home is beautifully written, historically accurate and the characters are so easy to relate to. You can feel every little emotion they have. Bsmog does a beautiful job illustrating the war and what it was like for the soldiers and civilians during the 1860’s. At times, her writing pops off the screen and it makes you feel as though you’re there in the thick of the battle. She provides just enough detail of the war without it feeling like a history lesson.
We’ve been walking forever.
It feels like forever anyway. I can’t remember what it feels like to have one whole day when I’m not walking. Or fighting. We only stop walking to fight. Then we bury our brothers and our cousins and our friends and pick up our wounded and start walking again. Only way a man doesn’t have to keep walking is if he’s hurt bad or dead.
Sometimes I look out at those dead boys all scattered across the fields of Virginia or Maryland and I think I might just like to trade places with them. They just look so peaceful laying there where they fell. Even the mounds of freshly moved soil where makeshift graves mark the final resting place for so many look soft and inviting, though they won’t for long once the scavengers get to them. And their occupants don’t have to walk anymore.
Of course they aren’t peaceful, they’re empty shells that once were men, piled one atop the other in shallow, nameless graves. But I’m empty too, and I still have to keep on walking and fighting.
It begins with Edward, Emmett and Jasper walking along towards another battle. The boys are tired, achy and it seems as though Edward is ready to give up, until they stumble along what looks to be an abandoned barn owned by none other than our three favorite girls: Bella, Rose and Alice. Could Edward, Jasper and Emmett now have found a reason to keep on fighting? Could they have found a reason to come home from that war?
By using multiple POV's, Bsmog gives us a well rounded insight into the events of the story (and the war), which captivates us all the more. The girls are strong and independent, something rare during that particular time period. The boys are young, brave, and exhibit the kind of gentlemanly behavior you'd expect from that particular time period.
So if you’re looking for a well written fic with excellent characterization, passion, action and a bit of heartache stirred in; I definitely recommend The Long Walk Home.
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