Pravda by Thorne (PG-13)

[poohmusings.livejournal.com]

Fandom: ALIAS
Pairing: none
Author on LJ: akathorne
Author Website: http://www.geocities.com/thorne06/
Why this must be read: Amidst the overwhelming plethora of Sydney/Vaughn fics that were written and posted after the Season 1 finale, it was nice to find this simple yet emotionally packed story that dealt with Sydney's feelings upon opening her eyes and seeing her mother before her.

Thorne deftly takes you into Sydney's mind as Irina's surprise reappearance in her life makes her deal with anger, sadness, and hope. I love how well Thorne sets up each emotion, first giving us Sydney's surface emotion, and then quickly darting underneath to show us what Syd's really feeling:

Thoughts burn through me, caustic fury wells inside me. (Waited? For what? Where have you been, Mom? Why did you leave?)

She steps into the light, and the world tilts sickeningly. She has changed, but not so much that I can’t see the woman who packed my lunch and sent me off to school twenty-two years ago.

My mother (my mother is dead; that is Irina), paces toward me, slowly, her eyes hungrily studying my face.

I am so afraid of this woman.

And the ending ... Man, the relevation Sydney has at the end of the story is heartbreaking. I still hold hope that the show will one day give us the self-aware and flawed Sydney that Thorne has painted.


Pravda