absolutely beautiful piece of work you have created

omg that was beautiful

That was all manner a beautiful... Felt tears coming to my eyes as I read, then I finished it and read it again. Amazing.

I haven't been sure about the Rayne ship, but this story lays a plausible foundation. A connection as warriors with dark experiences.

Very well done. Very powerful. Kudos!

Wow! Very nice. I"m glad I found this.

I never saw this before and I'm so glad I stumbled upon it. Very cool!

i really enjoyed this. really.

Very nice! I love the descriptions. I never actually liked Rayne, but this makes them the perfect pairing. Good job. I thought the use of 'you' was really interesting and it made the story-telling unique, although it seems like there should be a bit more of Mal's unique voice in it.

KrisEleven~

Beautiful and heartbreaking and wonderful and unbelievably sad, all wrapped up in a lyrical flow of words that almost made me cry! You did a wonderful job with this, Lirazel!

-Druid

This is beautiful, and very original. This is hands-down one of my favorites!

Absolutely love this story, it is so beautifully written. I love the part where she asks him to dance with her, and his response is so great. I especially like the end, "Hell, little Moonbrain, I'll dance with you anytime." You did a fantastically wonderful job. I'd say the only thing this needs is a sequel. ;)

AWESOME story! D Kickass and brutal, beautiful and touching. Love it!

Um..wow. I'm pretty speechless and at a loss as to how I can express just how much I loved this story. WOW. Where do I begin? That was intense, brutal, violent and yet at the same time, utterly poetic and so beautiful. I adored it.

The fact that the supposed "final" battle is from Mal's POV is very fitting, I like the idea of the captain, in what he sees as his dying moments, thinking not of himself but how he failed his crew - big damn hero indeed. Even though the rest of the characters featured only briefly, I could really SEE them, because you wrote them perfectly.

The most important aspect of the story though (in my opinion), was the River/Jayne interaction, which was dynamite - I love the way she asks for a dance, and Jayne's response; I love your use of dancing as a metaphor for the fight (reminds me of Buffy/Spike parallels), and I love love love how each becomes aware of him/her-self in the other. It's all just perfect.

On the one hand, I adore this as one-shot and wouldn't want anyone to touch it, ever, but on the other hand, I'm curious as to what a sequel to this would be like. Have you ever had any thoughts about that? Either way, this was a BRILLIANT piece of work, and I take my hat off to you! (Well, I would if I had a hat...)

So incredibly beautiful and perfect. Absolutely wonderful piece of writing.