Oh, wow. To me, the epilogue made the story. It overwhelmed me - I laughed, I cried. You are truly a gifted, remarkable writer and I thoroughly enjoyed this. It is an interesting juxtaposition, the writing in Castles and then this one. I think its lovely to see how you've changed and improved - a real testament to your note about never giving up! Bravo, superbly done! I hope the ff8 remake pulls you back and we get more works from you, someday :) and above all, thank you for never giving up and sharing your beautiful stories with us!

I really liked Castles in the Sky, and this was very sweet also. You came up with a lot of interesting and believable stories for how the characters have progressed with their lives. I tried so hard not to cry at the end, but I ended up crying pretty hard. Even though it was a tearjerker, I liked how you had little humorous bits in there too. That part with Squall thinking about Irvine being good with alcohol but not so great with women and guns was hilarious. Nice work!

Funny what you did with Biggs and wedge there! I never thought of rinoa as being the castle! This was a very cute story. Thanks for writing it!

this was very touching, too bad I only have one chapter left :( I almost forgot who Robert was. And I love that they're TAP dancing! hahehehehahha. I also think Squall and Rinoa are nuts for talking way too much during this precious limited time, too many jokes and nonsense things. But I understand it breaks up the seriousness since Rinoa is so dang fragile. Every time I read them arguing about something trivial, I'm like, "C'mon! You're wasting time talking about Zell's radishes or whatever!"

yaay, I'm here to start reading this! I got that AHA moment when I realized the only person missing from that party was Ellone at first! Of course, Ellone could help her! Now I see why this turned into so many words! Lots of loose ends to tie up and people for Rinoa to see.

That last review was me...oops

Definitely a tear jerker, but a fitting end to a great story. Rinoa temporarily getting her vision back at the cost of ellone life was hard to swallow. Overall the biggest thing that happened for me was that this fic has made me want to read castles over again. As a matter of fact... I will.

Not Dr. K... Hilarious

What a tear jerker that was. Although the pet rock thing was pretty funny. Rin seeing her daughter had to be nice. But as nice as it was it got progressively worst as fats as emotions go. Seeing Ellone like that had to be devastating. So much so even squall cried.

I finally finished this! Ack! It has been a busy and hectic summer so far, and I haven't had a lot of time to just sit down and read!

Anyways, I absolutely love how you wrote this. It actually really made me think about how much blindness could affect someone, and I found my heart aching for Rinoa. Everything about her being able to see the world for one last time, and Squall offering to be her vessel; it was just so freaking bittersweet! It's so sad that she will never get to see Brooke, but it is good to see she took the high road and stayed strong following her experience. I felt so sorry for Ellone, too; she did make the obvious choice when it came to her death, but it was still terrible that it had to happen. She was a good reminder that nothing comes without sacrifice.

I also really enjoyed the humour you laced through the story, like how Squall got into a battle of egos with a rock. That actually had me cracking up, because you can see how flustered he would get after everyone egged him on about it.

Thank you for posting this story; I think it's one of your best.

Alright, finished!

Now to try and organize my thoughts into a review...

On the details side, I love how absolutely visual these last two chapters are-of course they need to be since she's seeing everything, but style-wise the storytelling is wonderful, since the first three chapters are more sensory/emotional, so when you get to the part where Rinoa is able to see everything, the difference is so clear to the reader. The change in now describing in so much awestruck detail what she is taking in beautifully separates when she can and cannot see. So it's not just nice to read from a standpoint of the reader being able to visualize things so nicely (I love the 'dancing in a rainbow' part fo her dress, for instance!), but in addition to that visualization the style drives the poignancy of these precious moments.

The other more detail oriented note is how fleshed out the other characters' lives are-I can say from firsthand experience it's not easy trying to come up with stories for that many people that far into the future! But having those histories and family ties for the others makes everything so much broader and more realistic. And I giggled a bit at the quip on Quistis' twins and how every social group has to have someone with twins, as one of my friends gave birth to twins last year-and Billy and I were so very much hoping that she got the twins card out of the way for our group and that we would only have ONE baby-so I sympathize greatly with Squall and Rinoa on that one! I also like the choice of name for their second baby-we were actually considering that as a middle name if we'd had a boy, as it's a family name on Billy's side and he considered for years legally changing his middle name to Brooke. And I'll now stop talking about my personal life. :D

Finally, and I have said this with basically every review I've left for the 'Castles' 'verse, but the best thing about this whole universe will always be, for me, Squall's devotion. It's very much my headcanon that he will do basically anything for Rinoa (and if it happens they have children, for his family as well), and this story presents that in such a pure, unironic way-from the very beginning, when he's still awkward and closed and trying to figure out what went wrong but willing to fix it, to being grown and taking all of these pictures and the wonderful way he bonds with Skyler-it just really fits into how I see him aging, and being comfortable in being open around the people who mean the most to him, and especially to Rinoa.

I read Castle in the Sky many years ago, and this follow up was perfect. Thank you, Ashbear, for everything you write and imagine.

Wow. I mean, just wow. I don't know what to say, I'm happy and sad at the same time. I simply loved this one, just as I love all your stories, and you. Thank you for one more beautiful fan fiction.

sorry for not having replied to your private message but I don't have to tell you how busy an messy real life can be...

I'm glad you can still write in all that, especially write such nice stories :) I've enjoyed those chapters almost as much as "castle in the sky". You've managed to insert a touch of fun when it could have become too introspective and potentially "boring", the story is well balanced with all the moods.

I've first been surprised to find an epilogue and I wondered if it wasn't unnecessary but as I was reading it, I understood its point and you are right, it fits :))

thank you for the nice read, you are so talented !

By the time this one's released on the fanfiction list. I was run by excitement aside reading naruto manga (that Obito). Anyways for the review, well it's mixed with happiness and sadness.

Sad thing is: I was right . Ellone will lose her life for her selfless sacrificed for the couple. and about that Rinoa's fear about Ultimecia again will rise again somehow worries me but good thing Squall was there for her. And that 2 am conversation became their routine that started from a broken glass.

Irvine and Selphie have different ways now though the gunman feels very sad for he still loves Selphie. and Zell and Alex becomes couple too.

Quistis has finally found someone for her because in the game she is the only character remains loveless.

I really like the bond that the orphanage gangs shared through the years. And Squall and Rinoa overall overcome whatever adversaries through upon them due to her blindness and grew into grandparents. It made me tear up a little because of the song "Through the Years". And me including to your end credits. actually it's an honor after all you're the one who inspired me to write on this fanfic. And for that, thank you very much. and Good luck to your future projects.

Well, I am glad that you simultaneously-posted this last part that you purposely left as a surprise for me, having beta'd most of the chapters. Grandfather's funeral was today but I purposely left it unread until after, figuring I'd need something happy to look forward to. (spoilers: it was a brilliant idea on all fronts.)

Ok, so this is going to be a general overall review seeing as I don't tell you a lot of my thoughts when sending back beta'd stuff. Basically, I love that it was a story that went beyond the core idea of Rinoa being able to revisit a moment with sight - in other words, I love that it ties in the consequences of when you shelter someone so much that it actually impedes the life you might had led. That and the idea behind Ellone's sickness making the gift so much more precious. I know that you did do it for logistical reasons to avoid that plothole, but it works in that sense too because had she been able to randomly send Rinoa back to the past/present/whatever whenever she wanted to see a particular event it would have cheapened everything - it also speaks to Ellone's character and adds to what we knew about her in the game. I also like how you talked about the consequences of this gift because most stories in this kind of vain would gloss over those in lieu of focusing on the positive - it's just like real life. And Rinoa's right, there really never is enough time to say goodbye.

On this particular chapter. Hehe. As soon as I saw the bit about imaginary holidays, I knew poor Rin (yes, that 'poor' is in the loosest sense of the word here ;D) was gonna get pregnant again. I'm glad it worked out for them and that they got over the fears of the blindness making things too difficult to do over again. Speaking of bittersweet, I really liked that ending to Irvine and Selph's part because it just seems so...them. How they can't get their acts together and let the ships sail (or should that be trains derailing?) away so they collectively missed the boat. Also, I like Zell's dating/not dating magnet. Oh Zell.

Anyway, to avoid the huuuuge laundry list, before I forget, I like that Sky showed Brooke the Castles book and I absolutely love love love the idea of Squall being a huge softie at heart and that quote he made up. It's so adorable, I just can't.

Then again, when can I ever 'can?' ;)