Post story review replies:

After recently going back over and fixing all the chapters for this story, I thought it might be prudent to shift the review replies from the first chapter of Whole Again to its own page here. This will allow me to continue responding to any additional feedback, and to be honest, I probably should have done so in the first place. So, without further ado, here are the post story review replies for Time Heals All.

Dablackwyrm - No offence taken, I whole heartedly agree. It's one of the reasons why I've taken the time necessary to write up the sequel in advance rather than churn out a chapter every week like I did before. Although it's far too late now, a very merry (retrospective) Christmas to you too. Hope to hear from you soon.

zenith88 - Thank you, I can only hope the wait has been worth it.

BulletWitch1985 - Sorry to hear about your Dad, but I do understand where he's coming from. You'd probably be best off posting a trial chapter of your story and seeing what people think before making any refinements you feel are necessary. As for your 'family drama'… I can only hope things have turned out for the best, for both you and your sister's sake.

I know it was a bit of a bittersweet way to end the story, but I had to let Ellen see her family again. That, and absence is supposed to make the heart grow fonder… As for Ellen's opinion on Angela… Well, you'll just have to see when we get there. I can guarantee there will be fireworks though…

Destiny - why thank you, I hope you like the sequel as well.

Sonachugirl - 'Best R&C Fanfic of the Year'? Aw, you're making me blush! I thought it might be an appropriate title for the sequel and can only hope it lives up to your expectations.

StaticBomb93 - On the plus side, at least you can read the whole story at your leisure rather than having to wait for the next instalment each week. Glad I could bring the memories back, with luck this story will be up to par as well.

Guest - Wait no more; it's here and ready to go! Whether things turn out well for our heroes though… Well, you'll just have to read on.

Jacob Deitz - That could be an interesting idea… I did actually have a plot outlined for a Sly Cooper story set during the second game; involving a paroled thief employed by Interpol as a special constable who goes undercover to infiltrate the Cooper gang. It'll probably have to go on the back burner for quite a while though, seeing as this story takes priority right now.

Demonfox21 - Super Saiyan Ratchet was originally meant as a metaphorical expression of Ratchet's rage at what happened to Ellen; not to be throwing around kamehamehas like nobodies business in a literal sense. That said, it does ascribe to my pet theory that Ratchet is in fact a genetically enhanced super soldier considering he is literally a one lombax army who can bounce off walls and take a rocket to the face without so much as batting an eyelid. Fingers crossed you'll like the sequel too.

Alliance Empire - I wouldn't say it was perfect by a long shot considering my god awful grammar, which I have been recently fixing, but thank you for the sentiment. Hope you like the sequel as well.

GradGirl2010 - Yes they did, after oh so long. I drew a blank on the Atlantis reference though; which part did you mean exactly?

Lightsaviour2759 - Actually, I didn't think anyone would bother continuing to favourite, follow, or review months after the story was finished, so I'm more than happy to be proven wrong. Here's hoping you're enjoying the sequel as well.

Light Seeker 001 - Why, thank you! I did try to keep the Mary Sue effect to a bare minimum, though I would say that since this is fan fiction, one does have to suspend their disbelief just a bit sometimes and let the story run its course. I can't wait to get to Up Your Arsenal myself, especially with some of the things I've got planned. Thanks again!

bajy - Thank you. Hope you enjoy the sequel too.

SmashQueen - Thank you for taking the time to review; I apologise for not replying for so long, but things have been insanely busy for me as of late and the opportunity to sit down and do so just hasn't arisen until now. You make some very valid points, and although I don't necessarily agree with all of them, I appreciate them nevertheless and will try to address them in order.

Seeing as this was my first proper published story, and hammered out in around 6 months, it is perhaps little surprise that the romance between Ratchet and Ellen may have come across as a bit fast compared to what it could have been. I did try to build it up over time, with nothing really overt happening between them until around the mid-point of the story, but with more experience and enough time I could do better. Your analysis of Ratchet's character in the first game is pretty much spot on, but this is fan fiction we're talking about and doesn't have to strictly follow canon to a tee, so why can't he have yearnings for company; romantic or otherwise?

Also, considering how dedicated he is to finding Clank post Tools of Destruction, why would Ratchet not feel the same way for a girl who was not only a close friend but someone he loved dearly? It's only been a year since they were separated after all, and the pain of Ellen's loss is still lingering in his mind, so it's no real surprise Ratchet's pulling out all the stops to find her her in whatever way he can. Not something I'd call weird or creepy, unless Ellen had already moved on and things went into obsession territory, in which case I would wholeheartedly agree.

Dialogue wise... This is something I've tried to address during the sequel with more slower paced chapters in places, allowing time for character development and proper conversation when bullets aren't flying by. You're definitely right with regards to my formatting though, and the often times walls of text from before I got a proper grasp on workable paragraph lengths, use of language, and grammatical nuances. Once I finally finish the sequel and have a chance to do so, I fully intend to go back over both stories and completely rework and rewrite chunks in order to make it actually readable.

While I understand that there are liable to be time differences between galaxies, the very nature of the R&C universe's canon technology often outstrips our own understanding of how the universe works. In this case, the warp drive as used by Ratchet and Clank at the beginning of Up Your Arsenal allowed them to jump from the Bogon galaxy to Solana in an incredibly short period of time; allowing them to arrive within the space of (presumably) hours and help save Veldin, as opposed to potentially years or more given the sheer distances involved. I will be making the time of Ellen's disappearance a fair bit longer than three days though, since it seems way to short in retrospect.

The same thing goes for the probe which kicks the whole story off, although who's to say the blarg hadn't launched several previously over the years? There's honestly a lot happening off screen here, space agencies tracking said probe and its recovery while Ellen is off in Solana, but it's not really relevant to the main story other than as an aside. Perhaps something that could be addressed in an omake at some point? Without wanting to spoil to much for future stories however, I will say that the four known galaxies may not necessarily be as far apart from one another in terms of distance as they seem...

As for your fourth point, that's something I may have to revise a fair bit during during the planned overhaul, although I don't see why Ellen shouldn't have a broad spectrum of knowledge or interests. A fair chunk of them were relevant to the plot and enablers to help her keep up with Ratchet to a more realistic degree, although some can easily be dropped or reworked. An angle grinder is fairly self explanatory though, and the fact Ellen knows what one sounds like kind of negates the need to for unnecessary exposition. Although again, that can easily reworked into something more generic for the sake of ease.

Finally, I do realise in retrospect that having a character info dump at the beginning of the story wasn't the best of moves, and is likely to be the first thing I address upon rewriting the first few chapters. I'll probably have her described via Ratchet's perspective early on instead, or gradually fill in the details over time like you said, whichever works out best.

Thank you for taking the time to properly critique my first proper story, I truly appreciate it and can only hope that you'll find the eventual rewrite/edited version a major improvement.

shadow-dog18 - Thanks! Here's hoping I can live up to your expectations.