Dave, I've just been irritating people by detailing how I don't like Clark when I don't like him... And now you give us this beautiful, beautiful tale about Clark, where he is at his most absolutely, completely wonderful.

I've been writing that Clark may not really know what his true self is. And here you show us his true self shining like a beacon in the darkness of the night. Like Nicole pointed out in her comment on part four of your story, he really remembers only two things about himself, but they are the essence of what he is, the unshakable foundation of himself as expressed in two sentences:

1) He loves Lois. 2) He is Superman.

In her wonderful Some Kind of Angel, Chris recently talked about agape, divine love, and phileo, the love between a man and a woman. And here you show us that the essence of Clark is indeed agape and phileo. His love for Lois is phileo, and his need to be Superman to the world is agape. Which means that the essence, the truth and the foundation of Clark is love.

I have been saying that sometimes Clark isn't good enough for Lois. Well, in your story Lois isn't quite good enough for Clark. She should have responded with greater love to this unbelievably honest, needy, vulnerable and utterly loving Clark. I'm not saying that you should have written Lois differently, though, because the fact that her love isn't as all-encompassing and incredibly giving as his, makes his love come through in an even more wonderful light.

There is a chilling starkness to the background of this story. Lois turns down Clark when he asks her to marry him; outer space is so cold; and the ending leaves us hanging, not knowing if Clark will even manage to destroy the asteroid, or if he will survive at all, or if his memory will come through intact if he does, or if Lois will marry him if he makes his way back. Against this stark background Clark's vulnerability becomes even more poignant. The utter generosity of his heart, his willingness to lay down his life for the world in general and for Lois in particular. His warmth against the icy cold of space, his small size against the vastness of the universe. His wonderful love and courage against the indifference of the cosmos. His humble humanity as expressed in his ordinary human clothing - no flashy superhero suit - against the non-human otherness of space. The warmth, the love, the true self of Clark Kent against the uncaring mercilessness of the universe.

And the very real possibility that he may die, and so give up his life for the sake of humanity. And for Lois.

And the realisation that if he does die, it won't have been in vain. Because he will have saved the Earth. Saved humanity. And Lois.

Not even if he fails to stop the asteroid will his sacrifice have been totally in vain. Because this is the human condition: that we are mortal. And nothing we can ever do is more beautiful than this: that we do our very, very best, and take on, with courage and love, and to the very best of our ability, whatever the universe is randomly throwing our way.

The kind of love that shines out of Clark Kent in your story, Dave, is the kind that lights up the universe. I can imagine people being disappointed at the way your story ends. The way I see it, however, this isn't a tale about a man and a woman becoming united and getting to live happily ever after. It is instead a story about a man being filled with the kind of love that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 13:7 (damn, if I could only quote the Bible in English!!!). The kind of love that endures everything, believes in everything, hopes for everything, suffers anything. The kind of love that lights a tiny flame of light and life and wields it against the darkness of the cosmos. The love that is immeasurably larger and greater than the tiny body of a man from which it is emanating. And because of that, any epilogue to this story detailing how Lois and Clark get one another - heck, any epilogue to this story at all - can only dim that tiny flame of endless love which your story has evoked, and which lights up the universe.

Fabulous, Dave. Thank you!!!

Ann