Fandom: THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
Pairing: Napoleon Solo/Illya Kuryakin
Author on LJ: Not to my knowledge
Author Website: None, although
she has a page at File 40.
Why this must be read:
I first read this story when I was too new to the fandom to really appreciate the depth and detail of this characterization. Even so, I fell in love with the complex, fascinating layers of both Napoleon and Illya in this short rumination. Now that I know the characters better, I appreciate the story that much more.
This piece is part of Linda's Third Level universe, but I don't think you even have to know what that means to enjoy the story. Linda certainly has a very *specific* vision of the guys and their relationship and, as presented here, it's quite accessible and believable.
Linda also writes *beautifully*.
After Querido is one of the more "literary" stories I've read in this fandom. The poetic language has a rhythmic cadence that is almost hypnotic, as in this paragraph -- my favorite passage of any fanfiction story:
You count the scars on my body. You touch them with your fingertips and your lips, and you count them out loud sometimes, in Russian. And we remember where I got them. I do the same for yours, and we remember those wounds, too. It pulls us together, it binds us in ways normal people can't understand. The invisible thread of life sewing us one to the other, stitching into my wound and out, into your wound and out, back and forth, until we are wound up together, inextricably woven into the same tapestry of remembered suffering.After Querido