Yay!! Me first!! Yes, Wendy, I know I still "owe" you, and I didn't get a chance to fdk on the last part, but I jumped at the chance to be the one to start your final fdk folder.

And what a tag line, too! *sigh* I would have quoted more, but I would have been in danger of reposting the entire part and getting happy waffy drool all over the school's keyboard.

Sara (who will *still* get that fdk out to Wendy just as soon as she comes back from vacation and figures out that computer situation )

Everybody who wound up a big waffy gooey puddle on the floor in front of your PC, raise your hand....Yep yep yep that's what I thought *sigh* wow Wendy good job as usual.

TEEEEEEJ

Hi,

Great story.

Well, it was finally wrapped up, and only seven instalments after the real climax.

Lex's death was rather convenient, but no less than he deserved.

The epilogue got a bit warm and runny, but I guess you actually wanted to hammer home the so-called 'happy ending'.

Another well done story, but you know what they say... 'you're only as good as your next story, so... Next!

Tank (who figures that now that Bill knows, Wendy will have to write a quick sequel eliminating him... can't leave those loose ends you know)

<big happy sigh> Wonderful! You wrapped this up nicely, and left us no loose ends! (Unless you count this:) I think I'm glad you let Lex die... I was more than halfway convinced he'd survive (which would have been a more fitting punishment for him than death, really, if one looks at what he deserved). But then, as Maria says, we would all have to worry about what else Lex might come up with-- an evil, malevolent man further poisoned by his pain and bitterness... well! <shudder>... glad he's not around anymore.

And I, too, just loved the way you had Henderson and Lois interacting. We saw a few chapters ago that Lois remembered Henderson from the runaway episode, and that she held no grudge against him... and that she was convinced he had no idea who she was. Yet here, again as Maria says, you have Henderson almost like a proud father in the background of her life. Neither one will ever talk about it, but each respects the other-- and it's very obvious, under the teasing and banter. Very nice study of human interaction, Wendy!

You really have made Henderson into a character in his own right, Wendy-- we've got part of the story from his perspective; we've got a very low-key but savvy man figuring out the CK=S angle, when it's not really apparent at all (except to us Folcs, who would never tell, anyway :p ). I also really enjoyed his happy anticipation of how the next six months or so of his life would pan out, work-wise. If this was TV, Henderson (and Yvonne's George!) would get a spin-off show.

And we have some sweet interaction between Lois and Clark-- sweet, but believable. I liked the insight into just how hard it is, for Lois in particular, to ignore her inclination to treat S as CK. She's so comfortable with this relationship now, that she has to keep reminding herself not to lean on him, touch him, or show any admiraton outside of the usual "public meets Superman" stuff. Here's this wary, standoffish woman who really does believe (finally!) that she's loved (and that she's worth loving!).

And you've efficiently included the epilogue right up front, for those of us who would otherwise be clamoring for more. Now who are we going to nag...er, gently encourage??

Two things I was thinking as I finished this story:

A person called Lao Tzu said, "Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; while loving someone deeply gives you courage." That's Lois and Clark, isn't it?

And Dean Koontz wrote, "Destiny struggles to reassert the pattern that was meant to be... and sometimes, happily, it succeeds." That's the whole story, isn't it?

~Toc

AWWWWW

/me fslls into a gooey puddle in bed

Great ending!

I'm too gooey to come up with anything else to say!

JD

Yay! Good ending. Lex is a crispy critter, Henderson is smart, Clark wants to get married, and Lois is staying put! Couldn't have done it better myself

PJ

Awww...sigh...that was so sweet. Laura

I loved the Henderson introspection - always great to have his opinion and some backstory.

Great to have Lex barbecued. He deserved it, to say the least.

And awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!! That epilogue was PERFECT!!!!!!

I love this story, Wendy. Awesome job.

Julie

Henderson thoughts were awesome

Jose

P.S. Next story?

Well, I was trying to decide if I should feel guilty about wishing Luthor dead, but since he is, I won't. *cackle* Glad to see him out of the way. And the walls come a tumblin' down.

I was beginning to worry if Lois would move out. I'm glad to see she's going to stay put. Good Lois! And the whole bit with Henderson, very nice. Wonderful story, Wendy!

{{{{{SIGH}}}}}

This was just excellent!

Wendy

An excellent finish! I love it.

Tricia

I haven't read the comments here..and I'm about 10 parts behind. Just wanted to say that I'm going to wait for the archive and read it in its entirety...then I'll, no doubt, gush about how wonderful it is!

Sherry

Ironic that Luthor gets what he deserves at the hands of his own creation, so to speak, while in the middle of committing a crime. I guess that's fitting.

Excellent ending, Wendy. I'm glad Clark didn't need any sessions with Dr. Friskin after all.

Nan

Wow! I'm overwhelmed and so grateful! Thank you all for your wonderful comments on this final section. I'm especially glad that so many of you liked the Henderson section - that's a part of the story I like a lot myself.

Thank you, Janet! Henderson is one of the supporting characters I most enjoy writing - probably second only to Lex and Nigel scenes. I'm not even sure where the idea came from to have him as the cop rescuing Lois and Lucy as runaways, but I'm so pleased that people liked it.

As for this...
LOL! Well, George definitely deserves one.

Still, I'm glad that even those of you who wanted Lex to stay alive and face his punishment weren't unhappy with his death and the manner of it. As Maria points out:

and Julia echoed the sentiment:
LOL! But, yes, Lex doesn't take setbacks lightly, and even in prison he could be pretty dangerous. There are other advantages to his being dead, as Tricia pointed out:
Yup!


Tank said:
I hope not too convenient!

Nan observed:
That was exactly what I was aiming for, Nan! Glad you saw it. Irony, definitely!

And I'm so happy that you all liked the epilogue as well. (Well, with the exception of Tank, but what's new? <g> )

Thank you so much, Sara, TJ, Maria, Tank, Janet, Jen, Pam, Laura, Julie, José, Karen, Julia, Tricia, Sherry (hope you enjoy the rest of the story when you catch up!) and Nan. I really do appreciate your comments and reactions so very much, and thank you all for sticking with me all the way through this epic. You're wonderful!!


Wendy