Announcing...the winner of our Songfic Contest! (finally)

Alright, I know it's been FAR too long since I said I would announce the winner of ths Songfic Contest, but...I have judged the entries and picked my prey. 

The winner is...

Secret Valentine by Natalya Karlina! Based on the song "Secret Valentine" by We The Kings.

Here is her banner: 

(clickitey for full sizey)

And Natalya also wins the honor of being in Untypically Jia's fan fiction, "Edge of Night." She will be naming a character after you in her popular work of FF. It's a great read, so go check it out at her blog, Twilight Continues.

Here are the lyrics to the song, Secret Valentine:

Soft kiss and wine

What a pretty friend of mine

We’re finally intertwined

Nervous and shy

For the moment we will come

Alive

Tonight

Secret valentine

We’ll write a song

That turns out the lights

When both boy and girl start suddenly shaking inside

Don’t waste your time

Speed up your breathing

Just close your eyes

We’ll hope it’s not for nothing at all

Lay down, be still

Don’t worry, talk they will

I’ll be loving you until

Morning’s first light

Breaks tomorrow, I’ll take care

Of you

Tonight

Secret valentine

We’ll write a song

That turns out the lights

When both boy and girl start suddenly shaking inside

Don’t waste your time

Speed up your breathing

Just close your eyes

We’ll hope it’s not for nothing at all

When guilt fills your head

Brush off, rise up from the dead

This is

The moment that we

Will come alive

Brace yourself for love

Sweet love

Secret love

We’ll write a song

That turns out the lights

When both boy and girl start suddenly shaking inside

Don’t waste your time

Speed up your breathing

Just close your eyes

We’ll hope it’s not for nothing at all

We’ll write a song (we’ll write a song)

That turns out the lights (turns out the lights)

When both boy and girl start suddenly shaking inside

(Nothing at all)

Don’t waste your time

Speed up your breathing

(Nothing at all)

Just close your eyes

We’ll hope it’s not for nothing at all

Nothing at all

And here is her story (rated G):

Secret Valentine by Natalya Karlina

Has it ever occurred to you how two people meet? What roads do their lives take to bring them together? How many years do they have to look for each other? If we could only remember every day of our lives in minute details (not that it won’t drive us crazy), so that then, when we are together, we could share our recollections and see where we were at the same moment. Because sometimes, when we are alone, we wonder where our would-be beloved is, and when it would be the first time we meet. But what if it is not just a normal person we are destined for?

It was a usual day on the Pacific coast. The sun was shining in the sky, though heavy clouds were gathering to bring rains again. There was no one on the beach. The only sound came from the gulls crying and flying above the ocean to get some food, and from the waves crushing against the shore. At least those were the sounds that a normal human ear could perceive.
“I can’t help loving these funny gulls, they make me heart fly with them,” exclaimed a young girl sitting on the sand. “Don’t you like them, Kadi?”
“You know I don’t… actually”, answered a woolly-haired dog that was that girl’s only friend who followed her everywhere.
Leah was a Quileute girl living with the tribe for eighteen years since she was born and lost her family during a winter storm. During that storm she also lost her eyesight. In spite of the fact that the Ocean took her family away and left her nothing but blindness, she never felt bad or angry because of it. This is how it was supposed to be, she would always say.
Leah was always a black sheep among Quileute children of her age. Of course everyone, both young and old, pitied her, but she didn’t need it and never asked for it. She had something about her that made everyone want to be near her. She had red curly hair, unimaginable for the Quileutes, which attracted them as something out of the ordinary; but the real reason they liked it, unaware of it, was that Leah’s mop of red curls reminded them of the sun that was so rare in those lands. Her eyes possessed even more power over the tribe people. They were aquamarine, color of the Ocean, not brown as all the Quileutes had, and the Ocean was something sacred to those Indians: fishing and hunting in the Pacific made a great part of their lives. She had full lips, a slim and low figure like any of the Quileute girls. The only thing they didn’t appreciate was her pale skin as if she were a moon child.
All her life Leah kept at a distance in the tribe which had always made it hard to approach her, and finally they would give up. No one would bother her any more. That’s how she ended up with Kadi being her only friend. And that was one of her secrets. Leah could hear animals and birds speak, and she was sometimes seen walking in the forest or along the beach with Kadi and talking to him. Actually it seemed as if she was talking to herself. And that, of course, also kept the tribe people away from her.
“Who is coming, Kadi?”
“No idea, it’s just an old woman, I don’t know her, but she seems to know you, she’s heading towards us…”
“I think I know what she wants, I heard earlier today, in the village, that they had sent for another healer… Can’t they just understand I’m so tired of this!” Leah did not believe her eyes would see again. Sometimes darkness was so comforting. Though she hated herself for this, for feeling so pessimistic, she had no strength and will to fight. Or she had no reason, yet.
“Hello, there! How are you feeling today, my dear?” the old woman had a singing and soft voice.
“Thank you, I’m fine. My name is Leah.”
“I know your name, and mine is Valentina. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too. And I know why you’re here. Sorry, but all your efforts will be useless.”
“No, my dear, you do not understand why I came to see you.” She sounded pleased and sad at the same time.
“Then, why did you come? No one wants to talk to me.”
“You’re right, and that is exactly why I’m here. I don’t care whether you can see or not. I want to help you in some other way. Just let me do it, you cannot hide from everyone, including yourself.” Valentina sounded very sure and persuasive.
“But how can you help me?”
“I can listen to you. I’m sure this would be enough. Trust me, Leah. Open your heart!” For a moment Leah felt like she was talking to her mother, she wanted that old, unknown woman to hug her, she was so willing to share her secrets with her.
“You were actually only partly right, when you said I couldn’t see…”
“You are good at arguing, you know,” Valentina laughed.
“You promised to listen to me!”
“I’m sorry. I will behave myself. Go on!”
“Well, as I said, I can see, in some way… I see in my dreams, and it’s so wonderful! But the fact is that my dream repeats every night, sort - um…”
“Okay, just tell me what you see in your dream.” Valentina helped her out.
“I see Him! The one I’m always waiting for and who I’ll be waiting for all my life!”
And Leah told Valentina about that greatest secret of hers. She told her that in her dreams they always met on a boat in the Ocean. The boy was beautiful, at least for her, though there were moments, when she felt that His beauty was changing, she could not say for sure. But in her dreams nothing mattered. And they were so close as if they’d met in real life. She felt somehow He was dreaming about her, too. Leah saw the boy very clearly almost in every dream, but sometimes the images became blurred.
“I think I know why this is happening. I wonder if this is because at times you move far away from each other in real world: you travel east, and he might be travelling west. You have to look for him across the Great Water. You meet in the Ocean because it’s there where your worlds actually meet, and then you part moving in opposite directions…”
“Wait!” interrupted Leah. “You said I had to look for him!”
“Yes, this is exactly what I have in mind. One of you must look for the other one; this is the only way you’re going to be together. And I feel that it’ll be easier for you than for him. Later you’ll understand.”
“But how?” Leah was so stunned by the mere idea that had never occurred to her, as impossible as it was.
“I don’t know, you’ll have to figure it out for yourself, and besides you have a friend and protector, and your guide,” said Valentina looking at Kadi.
“She’s just winked at me!” exclaimed Kadi terrified.
“Calm down, my friend!” said the old woman.
“You – also - can hear him?!” exclaimed Leah astonished.
“As well as I can hear you. But do not be afraid, I’ll keep your secret as I keep mine.”
“Thank you. So you think I can find Him, really find Him?” Now Leah was more inspired, as the idea was sinking in and becoming more real.
“I believe that love and devotion can do miracles, and you’re a strong person.”
And by saying that, the old woman Valentina, that was more than just a healer, put on the light in Leah’s heart that had been also blind for so long. She gave her the reason to live on, to be someone, someone to love and to be loved. She might not heal her eyes, but she healed her soul, made it wake up.
“I can’t just thank you, because it wouldn’t be enough!…”
“You don’t need to thank me. I helped you to reveal what seemed to be so obvious, that sometimes only a stranger can see…Just promise me one thing.”
“Anything!” Leah was more than eager to give everything she had to that wonderful woman.
“You’ll never give up and turn back, no matter how hard it gets. And keep your love deep in your heart; don’t let anyone mislead you. Trust your own heart, it will tell you what is right and what is wrong! Promise not to forget this!”
“Oh, I promise!”
And off Leah went to search for Him. She and Kadi boarded a boat going west, to the unknown land and unseen adventures. They were going across the Great Water, and it was then that they could really feel all its power and strength, that was somehow communicated to every cell of their bodies.
Everything was just so perfect that anything bad would seem out of place. That night Leah dreamt her usual dream she was never bored with. She was seeing Him and trying to tell Him that she was coming… And suddenly He was GONE! Not that he just slipped away as it had happened before – He was gone in a flicker! As if some wizard had waved his wand and made Him vanish.


“No!!!”
“What’s happened, my son?”
“Nothing. Just a nighmare. Go back to sleep, mom,” Anwell jumped up from the bad dream on all his four paws, and now he was standing and shaking his head. Of course nightmares are not something you can shake off so easily. And it was the worst nightmare that he’d ever had. And the worst part of it was that he couldn’t share it with any member of his family.
It was Anwell’s deepest secret that was the sweetest and the bitterest at the same time. It was his sweetest secret, because he was always dreaming of Her, the girl he had such strong feelings about. And it was the bitterest secret, because in his dream Anwell was a human, just a common boy with two legs. And in his family it was strictly forbidden to even think of transforming to a human, though he didn’t know why. Not that it wasn’t impossible to become a human.
His family and their friends were bears capable of assuming a human’s form. There had been times when they had transformed a lot. Sometimes it was actually convenient to be a human, because they didn’t sleep during winter, for example, and that saved a lot of time. And there had been mixed marriages, and Anwell was the last one born from such marriage for the last twenty years. His father, Arthur, had bear parents, but had spent most of his life among people. He trusted them and loved them. He found his future wife Anna, Anwell’s mother, in one of human settlements. Anna was a human by her appearance, but she was a nature child in her soul. She could hear every creature speaking, and signing, and crying, and whispering. She could stay days in the forest living among animals. It fascinated her. And that was what brought Arthur and Anna together.
One day Arthur went hunting and never returned. Humans killed him, and no one knew whether it had happened merely by accident. A war started between bears and people (mostly on the part of people), especially after Anna, with a newborn Anwell, had escaped with Arthur’s family into the woods. People started hunting bears, though the latter never hurt a single human. They were preventing murders to honor the memory of Arthur they had lost, and to show respect to Anna they loved so much. Bears had gone deep into the forest and took a vow to stay in their bearish forms forever. They’d rather die than become murderous and evil people again. The only human being their children had ever seen was Anna. But no one asked about her past; in fact she fit perfectly there, and was treated as a friend. And the young ones had never been told the reason why they couldn’t become a human, as well as they had never heard Arthur’s story.
That’s why when Anwell dreamt about Her, he knew she was a usual human girl, like his mother. It was an every-night torture for him to see Her and know that they were not meant to be together! NEVER! There were girls in his family that were waiting for Anwell to call one of them his wife. But he didn’t see them. He looked - but saw only Her!
Anwell was a half-blood child that made him the most beautiful bear in that family. He was not clumsy and shaggy as his friends or any other bear there. Of course he was beautiful only for those of his own kind, he knew it. He would be too horrible and scary for Her. But in his dreams he was a human, he saw it in Her eyes, and it felt different. Anwell had always been afraid to share the dreams with his mother. Until last night.
In the morning Anwell decided to talk to his mother and tell her about the nightmare. Her reaction wasn’t the one he’d expected. Anna hugged her son with all her might, looked him into his eyes and went out of the cabin. When Anwell tried to follow her, she stopped him with her hand and said that she was going to talk to their Chief.
Anwell was lost in his thoughts trying to figure out what was going on, why she would need to talk to the Chief, and what his reaction would be. As he waited he heard no one crying in anger, no one came to punish him. But he wasn’t relieved. Eventually his mother entered the cabin looking glad, annoyed and pensive at the same time. However she wasn’t annoyed with Anwell, as she smiled when she saw him. He looked at her pleading to explain everything, but she only hugged him and said that they had to wait. When the right time came he’d know everything.
“So you said that she suddenly vanished in you dream?” asked Anna looking happy this time.
“Yes,” sighed Anwell.
“What were you talking about?”
“Nothing. I told you we haven’t spoken a single word to each other… Though, wait! I remember! She was trying to tell me something that night…”
“What exactly was it?”
“Just give me a sec - She wasn’t really saying this, she was communicating it to me with her eyes - She mentioned a boat, but I thought it was the one we met on in our dreams,” Anwell was sad and angry with himself, because he couldn’t remember anything. He was just a stupid bear!
“Do not be upset, my dear. I think I know what she was trying to tell you. We can only hope I’m right - You see, in your dreams you met at some certain point. If we come to think that it is right in the middle of the way between you and her, we can explain why she disappeared that night,” said Anna, and it seemed like she did believe in her theory.
“Please tell me, mom. At least this will give me hope.”
“Okay, now. She actually crossed that middle and she is on the way to you right now!”
“But how? - Can it be true?” Anwell’s hazel eyes were so wide open that any minute they were going to say good-bye to their master.
“Everything is possible, but we have to wait as I told you. This is the only thing we can do now.”
“Mom, but what is She did find me?” Anwell suddenly sank onto the floor as if he had no legs at all. “I’d be a terrifying and monstrous Bear for Her!”
“No, do not tear yourself apart now. Trust me! You’ll wait and see that nothing is impossible.”
“Alright, I trust you.”
As days went by waiting was becoming more and more unbearable, especially when he didn’t see Her in his dreams any more. He really believed She was somewhere looking for him, and sometimes he was afraid to even go wandering around the forest, as She might see him and run away scared to death.
“Do not be so silly, my love”, said Anna to her desperate son. “There is no use in torturing yourself. You have to do something to help her, and sitting here hiding won’t do any good.”
“So what shall I do?”
“Just keep on living as if nothing has happened”, Anwell’s mother knew how he must be feeling, she didn’t want to hurt him by saying such things, but it was only for his good. Sometimes it is useful to bring people to reality, to bring them down to the ground.
“Okay, I’ll try to be the usual Anwell.”
And Anwell kept his promise, though the closest people knew it was only a mask. He seemed cheerful and carefree, but somewhere deep in his heart and in his mind something troubled him all the time. Even the sun was raining on him.

“Good morning, Kadi.” Leah woke up in the morning under a big and bushy fir-tree. No one answered her.
“Where are you, Kadi?” Now she was worried. She started getting from underneath the tree, when she heard a roar somewhere near her in the woods, and Kadi barking angrily. For a fraction of a second she was terrified, but then she realized that her friend might be in trouble; that made her get up and run following her instincts and acute hearing. Branches scratched Leah’s face like a wild cat, she nearly felt down several times, but she kept running like a stubborn child. She didn’t even notice that everything had gone silent in the forest.
“Kadi, where are you? Talk to me!” Leah called for her friend.
“I’m here, Leah. Don’t worry. Everything is fine.” Kadi’s tone was confident and calm. “What’s happened to you? You look a complete mess. Why would you need to run after me?”
“How can you ask me this? I woke up and – you were not there. And then I heard that terrible roar and you barking. Of course I thought you got into trouble!” Leah sank to the ground exhausted.
“I’m so sorry I made you worry. I went out to get us some food, especially for you. I was just running back, when I saw a bear. He roared at me, and my first reaction was to defend myself, I wanted to attack. But he seemed to be scared as much as I was, so we were standing there staring at each other. At that moment I noticed that he was rather beautiful for a bear, as if it was just a fancy costume he was wearing for a masquerade, not an animal skin. And in his eyes I saw such desperation and sadness, that if I had hurt him, he’d have been more than grateful for that. And hurting him then seemed out of the question. Finally he spoke asking me what I was doing there. I told him I was not alone, and that we were looking for a guy, that’s why we needed to get to a human settlement. He became somewhat petrified; his eyes looked as if they’d caught fire. He said there was a village nearby, but he didn’t know the exact way there, he only pointed to the west. Then we heard you coming, and that made him even more nervous, he took off saying that his name was Anwell, and asked me to wait for him.
“What do you mean he asked you to wait for him?” Leah was interested now.
“He said he knew where to find what we are looking for. He said he’d find us.”
“So very strange! – But his behavior was even stranger, so he might have told you the truth. But meanwhile we had to find the village. Let’s go.”
The direction was right, and at last they found the village. Leah stopped at the edge of the forest. She had thought it over before how it should be done. She couldn’t see, but He could recognize her, and that was their only chance.
“Kadi, take me to the village and lead me along every street of it. If He sees me, he’ll recognize me, I’m sure.” Leah closed her eyes, though it wasn’t necessary, and inhaled. “I feel we are getting closer. We are on the right way. Soon our journey will be over.”
As they stepped into the village, they were immediately identified ad strangers. The elders were summoned. They approached Leah and her dog, and one of them asked something in an unknown tongue. For the first time it occurred to Leah that they might not understand her. That made her feet soft and nonexistent. Then the same question, it must have been the same, was asked over and over again, until Leah could recognize the language of her people. One of the elders inquired how they could help their foreign guests. Leah explained what brought them there, and added that as she was blind she needed every young man of the village to see her. Everyone looked amazed at them as he translated.
“We can have them all gathered in the main square to save your time,” suggested the elder.
“That’d be great! Thank you so much!”
The gathering was announced for that evening. Meanwhile the elder, who’d spoken, took Leah to his house to have rest and food.


“Mom, She’s found me! She’s come here, I’ve seen Her!” spoke Anwell breathless as he came rushing into the cabin and stumbling across his mother.
“Wait a minute, you mean She has found you, are you absolutely sure it was Her?” Anna wanted that girl to find her son as desperately as he wanted it, but she wanted to make sure there was no mistake, so that no one would get hurt.
“I’ve never been so sure in all my life. You should see her to understand there’s no other Her! Now she’s going to that village to look for the guy from her dreams. What am I to do now? How can I go and approach Her, when I’m nothing more than a bear.” Anwell didn’t want to loose her, that was obvious. He’d rather die.
“There, my son, that’s exactly what I want to talk to you about. Just listen carefully, it’s very important!”
“I promise, I have no energy to interrupt you.”
“Ok, then. You remember when I went to talk to the Chief, and told you after that that we had to wait, that when time came you’d know everything. That was our agreement, and the right time has come. She has really found you - I have never spoken much about your father, or I just didn’t tell you what had really happened to him. Almost all the time he stayed human, because he loved people and trusted them. But then they killed him - ,” Anna stopped to regain her control.
“Mom, if it is hard for you, do not - ,” started Anwell, and he wasn’t sure whether it was because he didn’t want his mother to suffer, or whether he was so startled by the truth.
“Stop, you have to know the truth about your past to find your happiness now and live a full life in the future. – When Arthur was killed, I ran away with you and joined this family. And they vowed to stay bears forever. We live so far from humans, because they became our enemies.” Leah stopped and looked at her son.
“But I’m not allowed to be a human!”.
“You are, now, that’s was our agreement, between me and the Chief, but – It’s so complicated. It’s a matter of choice now. If you choose to become a human, you’ll have to tell her the truth; otherwise you will not be able to return to us, you won’t be allowed.”
“I will never leave you!”
“I know, but you’ll never live without her either. So you’ll have to take risks and tell her everything. If she really loves you, of what I’m pretty much sure considering all the way she has travelled to look for you, she’ll understand you, and you can live here.”
“But what if she has a family, it’ll be her sacrifice for me, and me doing nothing for her.”
“So, this is the point. Now it’s your decision.”
Anwell’s hope was fading away again. Suddenly it came to his mind that they just needed to talk, and their love will help them and guide them out of any difficulty.
“Tell me what I have to do to become a human!”
“Very well, Anwell. All you need is a strong determination and belief in your powers, and let the nature do the rest.”
The transformation wasn’t painful or uncomfortable. It felt rather strange and new. When Anwell looked at his human half, he realized he fit so naturally in that form. That’s what he’d been missing all this time. Now he was complete. But as he tried to say something, his mouth produced only a flow of unrecognized and incoherent sounds. He couldn’t speak. That was another challenge. How many were there left to drive him crazy?
“It’s not your fault. You’ll learn. I can still read your mind. – And she will only have to see you, and then nothing will break you apart. We’ll figure it out later. Now put these on – they are your father’s clothes – and go! Good luck!”


Leah could hear there were a lot of people in the square, and it made her heart beat happily – He must be among them, but why haven’t He recognized her yet?
As the elder addressed the villagers, whispers filled the air. She’d give anything to be able to see again, for a moment at least. As minutes went by nothing happened. So that meant nothing – He was not there! That struck harder than she’d thought. And all that hope and longing - She started giving in to disappointment when she remembered the old woman and her final words, “…never give up and turn back, no matter how hard it gets. And keep your love deep in your heart; don’t let anyone mislead you. Trust your own heart…” They awakened her now as they’d already done once before.
“As I understand, no one knows me here. Ok. I’ll describe the person I’m looking for, maybe someone knows him. He’s taller than me, he has short brown hair and hazel eyes – and - ”
The elder didn’t translate and she thought he didn’t understand, so she started repeating.
“No, my dear, I understood it alright. But it’s not for everyone to hear. So you say he has brown hair?” asked the elder.
“Yes, but I thought all of you have, actually. I was just thinking of some distinctive signs, but I cannot come up with anything…”
“This is more than a distinction – brown hair - . Will you please follow me?” As they walked away from the square the elder kept on, “There was only one person that lived in this village and wore brown hair, his name was Arthur.”
“But where’s he now?”
“He is long dead, my dear, I’m sorry… though, wait!” The elder never finished the sentence, as a boy, who caught up with them, ran up to him and whispered in his ear only one word Leah could hear, “Arthur!”
“That can’t be!” with those words the elder headed back to the square dragging Leah behind him. There was an alarm and horror in his voice and in his quick movements.
In the square almost everyone was discussing a new stranger, but they were merely amazed and curious, not alarmed or horrified. What was happening? Leah didn’t understand a thing in this strange village. Then she heard someone saying, “I think he looks like a guy from that girl’s dream!” Her heart sank. And at that very moment she could sort out, among all the voices, the one that turned off the others. He called for her, that was so real and surreal for Leah, “My love, I’m here. You have found me. Don’t you see me?”
“I can’t see you. Come to me, my life!” answered Leah. And as someone’s arms embraced her, the rest of the world disappeared…

I don't know about you, but this story reminds me of a folk tale. I thought it was an interesting story, and I loved how she incorporated non-Twilight things into a Twilight story.

Congratulations, Natalya!