Well, however long it took you to get around to it, I am glad that you finally did. I just wish I could have made it a more 'happy' process :)

Thank you so much both for tackling this longer story, and for the thoughtful comment - especially in regards to the concept. I've had more than one or two people comment that that was the one part they didn't really care for in the fic, even if they liked it overall.

And yeah, heh - I wasn't going for the death just for angst, I wrote it was the only seem that seemed right in the context of everything. It's so much easier in some ways when the happy ending fits