WOW! that was just great! Seriously, it has been done so well just- oh i dont know where to start! hehe. Just want you to know i love it!

this is very good, and ver powerful. you made me think of a NoojPaine pairing for a while there, though I am a strict follower of the PaineBaralai. Kudos to you and your awesome writing

Thank you so much for writing this - it was really quite wonderful. So sad, yet so in character!

This is so true to the Paine you have created that your readers will follow her even into this bleak future. So often in FanFiction we opt for the easy out, the improbably happy ending. This is a mature work written for people who value the fiction over the fantasy. All too often, it is in such ways that great passions end. Eliot said it, "Not with a bang, but a whimper." The courage of the woman is not the spectacular bravery of the battlefield, although she excels there, but the quiet strength of a person who sees life clearly and without illusion. She knows what is there for her and she will deal with it on her terms.

"When I learned that he'd finally found the death he'd been seeking, I grieved, but I also felt a little relieved that I wouldn't have to worry about him anymore." This is the essence of Paine. She was never one to try to force another into her mold but she cared so deeply as to make other emotions of other people pale in the comparison.

I shall think of this for a long time and re-read it many more times. You have created a flawless summation of what one woman is like and permitted us access into her very soul. This story is far too good to be called just fanfiction. You own the character you have made.

bittersweet and perfectly realistic. I always though the Nooj-Leblanc thing was one-sided, but it makes sense here. The little mention of Paine and Buddy was sweet too- I always thought she got along well with him.