#annlet

That's a really perceptive question — and not a "dumb little detail" at all, because I was very deliberate about my tea choices in that fic! Honestly, it means a lot to me that you still think of LOA at all after all this time. I was in a very different headspace back then, in terms of my passions as well as things going on in real life, and though I hate to say it, you're right: it's hard to imagine getting back into the headspace that would be necessary to finish it. Which is bittersweet, because it meant a lot to me, and I wasn't that far off from the planned end, relatively speaking. (Though with my tendency toward verbosity, who knows.) So like, just the fact that you still care enough to ask? I really appreciate it.

To answer your question, though: yes and no? It feels vain to essentially write meta about my own story, but let me explain.

No: I don't think I did have a particular tea chosen for Hewlett to love. And if I'm recalling correctly, I believe that's because, to me, a great part of the appeal of Annlett as a pairing was the idea of two people who care deeply for each other despite their differences -- differences that cause strife between them, yes, but a strife that is overcome more by compromise and by complementing each other's differences than by either of them being converted wholly to the other's side. In the show, of course, their differences were far more life-and-death; in LOA, I adapted them into other conflicts, including the contrast between Hewlett liking coffee and Anna liking tea. IRL that would just be a totally harmless difference of taste, of course, but due to the way I chose to set up LOA, in the story it acted as a running analogy for Anna and Hewlett's other, more serious differences and disagreements. And rest assured: in LOA, the plan absolutely was for them to ultimately overcome those disagreements. They were both going to have to come to terms with secrets they'd kept and wrongs they'd committed, and they were both going to have to grow (not change to suit the other, but grow), but they were absolutely going to have a happily ever after.

And yes: I did have a particular tea picked out to symbolize that.

Most of the chapters in LOA were titled after a particular type of tea. (The remaining were titled either after scientific concepts, due to Edmund's affinity for science, or allusions to Turn.) I used to keep a running list of teas with interesting names or interesting ingredients so that I could pick an inspiration for each chapter and theme the mood or events of the chapter around the qualities of that tea. I still have that list, and there's one on it that was — nearly from the beginning! — marked as the theme for the final chapter of the fic.

The final chapter was going to be inspired by yuenyeung, which is a mixture of coffee and tea. The name — or so Wiki tells me; it's been a while since I researched this, I'd have to look further into it to verify — "refers to mandarin ducks (yuanyang), a symbol of conjugal love in Chinese culture, as the birds usually appear in pairs and the male and female look very different. This same connotation of a 'pair' of two unlike items is used to name this drink." That was exactly the note I wanted to end LOA on: the idea of two people who seem very different and yet who come together to create something wonderful, something that is neither wholly one of them nor wholly the other, but a blend.

Ok more wholesome meme to compensate for the last one

@oyster-angel-hewlett

Sharp tongued rejections were something Tanner was not fully accustomed to and apparently they did not go-over well with his ill-temperament. Unfortunately, it took Anna far longer to register that fact than it should have; given her previous interactions with the Queen’s Rangers. Anna had spurned his romantic advances a few times before at the tavern. However, this time he became violent.

The scuffle had been more intense than the brunette had expected. One moment she was being wrestled to the ground, the next, she was fumbling for his gun. Unfortunately, Anna isn’t fast enough on the draw. Tanner anticipated the move and in the batting of an eye his gun is pressed against her. Before she can so much as react there is a thundering pop, which, resounded through the maze of trees and rang with a frightening intensity through her ears.

An incredible heat embeds its way into her lower abdomen as the musket-ball buries itself deep within the tissue. It takes a few moments for the thrum of adrenaline to wear off so that Anna can assess her wounds. Her hand immediately flies to the fresh injury, where her fingers become inked with crimson. In the span of one horrible moment, Anna comes to comprehend what had just happened. “Y…. y… you shot me.” Anna grumbles.

“You attacked me. I was defending myself.” Comes his sharp reply. It doesn’t matter that he is purposefully twisting the truth.Tanner observes his handiwork without an ounce of sympathy etched into his cruel hues. Instead he turns to another ranger who, had heard the shot. As they disappear, she could hear them discussing justifiable excuses for inflicting harm upon her.

She closes her eyes against the incredible surge of agony stealing through her veins. When Anna is finally able to see through a sheen of tears, she finds herself abandoned. Accompanied only by the conspiratorial whispering breeze and the steady rush of the Sound.

The brunette desperately strives to pick herself up off the ground. However, with every slight movement the pain is amplified. There is no way she could get to help. At least not in her present condition. This would be where she’d die if no one would find her.

Anna nuzzles her face into what little grass the icy tendrils of winter had failed to choke out of existence. The very same chill sinks into her bones like a deep frost, snatching all warmth; save for the pool of scarlet liquid sliding between her trembling fingers. Derelict curls of brown stray across her face, standing in stark contrast to the ghastly nearly ashen hue of her skin.

In spite of her best efforts to remain alert and conscious, the darkness swoops in. Resisting the tug of exhaustion is futile. Her tear encrusted lashes become heavy, weighted down with the same hopelessness stealing into her soul.

Anna knows naught what time it is when the sound of shuffling boot-steps finally fills her ears. Subconsciously the brunette curls onto her uninjured side in an attempt to protect herself from further abuse.

“You need to wake up because I can’t do this without you.”

Edmund’s voice is all-encompassing and smooth like honey. His words drift over her like carefully placed blanket. Anna had thought no one would miss her. Yet, here he was… urging her to live, to bring him purpose. Surely, Hewlett’s presence must be borne of a dream. Or perhaps, it was an apparition of sorts. “E… Edmund.” Her hushed, groggy, and hollow voice cuts off.

Anna strains comply. If only she could force her eyes to open. Yet, none of her efforts seem great enough to yield the results that her beloved Major requested. Her fingers twitch slightly, indicating that she is fighting to return to him. She is weak, far too much so to move much more than she already had.