All right, shamefully late in replying to these, but here I am anyway! smile

Thanks, groobie! I appreciate your support through the story to make sure I didn't second-guess myself too much! I wanted this to be a story about true forgiveness -- not justification or misunderstandings -- but redemption. We all make terrible mistakes at least once or twice in our lives, and Superman being the beacon of hope, I wanted to explore how he could show us the hope of someday making it past our own mistakes. And yes, Lois finally says sorry -- though I think she's been saying it in various ways for most of the story!

So glad you're enjoying, KatharineKent! Lois was thinking of resigning even before her conversation with Clark, but facing what she'd done -- what her article had done -- finally decided her. The conversation on the rooftop was a very important moment, and I'm so relieved that the suspense of it worked so well. This story is so much abstract introspection, and the exciting, suspenseful bits ARE a conversation and a decision made by a character; I was really worried it would bore people, so it makes me beyond excited to hear that the tension comes through for the readers!

Thanks, LMA! I'm taking it as an incredible compliment that my fanfiction story about Superman is 'realistic.' wink Seriously, though, I'm delighted that you understand the truth of the situation. Life wouldn't be fun to live if there were no forgiveness at all -- I say this because I'm usually the one who needs the forgiveness! blush

Thanks for remembering that James had a 'brain trust' (great title!) devoted to bringing back the identity of Clark Kent! It was only mentioned once, and a while ago, so I was worried people would have forgot about it! Hope will, hopefully, start becoming more predominant; not many chapters left after all.

Wow, Virginia! You have a lot of faith in me if you think I can work in a Vatman story this close to the end! smile Clark is human too (in a manner of speaking), and as you pointed out, he does need more to make him take a chance again. So sorry about the diet, but I hope it's worth it in the end! smile

I love your comment about coming full circle, cuidadora! Lois does need rescuing almost as much as Clark now; it's been hard work getting them to this point, but I've enjoyed it! Yes, those pesky cliff-hangers -- I just can't avoid them! wink

To me, the fact that Lois still letting Clark into her heart, DC, is one of the best things about this story -- she has no reason to think he'll ever forgive her or be willing to move on, but she still tries anyway, and that's her redeeming attribute here. She keeps trying -- so no suicide!! shocked And yeah, Trask just keeps getting worse, doesn't he?

It WAS hard seeing Lois leave after we'd gone through so much to get her and Clark together, scifiJoan, but it was a necessary step. They both needed to see what they had without the other. I COULDN'T leave the story off here -- though I put off writing it for a long time, because this seemed like the only option for a while. I hope you'll be as happy with the ending that eventually revealed itself as I was!

So sorry I was so late -- trying to balance some things out so I get a bit more time for writing and posting! Thanks for the wake-up email, DC! I can always count on you to remind me, in a truly friendly way, that I'm being horribly remiss in my online duties! smile

Glad you're enjoying, SupesFan!