Outstanding chapter. Outstanding story!
It's interesting that Clark is still stuttering. Usually a person (who didn't stuffer before) who stutters after a traumatic experience is still suffering the direct emotional impact of that emotional experience. And Clark has been hit with a double whammy, from Logram and from his father's sudden death. Unlike Martha, I don't think he's ready to face the world as the caped hero yet.
But there is hope. And if he could hear Lois from Smallville, there's also hope that he'll confront her and tell her exactly what she did for him, how she not only saved his life, she saved tens of thousands of others through the good things Superman will do in the future. And, most important of all, she saved Clark from certain death.
You are too young to have such a wonderful grasp of both the art of writing and the depth of the human heart, Rachel. I hope this has not been hard-won personal knowledge. And don't think I'm prying, because I'm not.
And I, too, was glad to see Jimmy make the trip to Kansas for Clark. (Also interesting was the similarity between Clark's reaction and Lois's reaction to Jimmy surprising them. Wonder who will put two and two together first?) Clark's decision to be a better friend to Jimmy is characteristic of Clark's personality, but it's also a postitive development in his recovery. He's not there yet, but he is coming along, even if the road is longer than his mother thinks it is.
Keep up the great work! I want to see the rest of this, and soon!
