Kind of a sad ending, I guess. Sorry. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how difficult it would be to present a cheerful ending without losing the meaning behind it.

What meaning, you ask? Well, I hoped it was obvious. As Helga saw, in the end, there is Someone out there who cares for her. And for everyone. She needed that, even more than she needed to make reparations with Arnold.

Arnold's death at the end should've come as no surprise. I tried my best to make it obvious that he was hanging on to life by a thread, and that, at any time, he could die.

I've probably disappointed some of you by wrapping it up like that. I'll admit, I surprised myself by dropping the ending in so quickly. If you're a bit disappointed, I apologize. But this was the vision I had for the story from the beginning, triumph through tragedy. If I tried to please everyone, I'd have an even more convoluted story than I do now.

I just want to thank everyone for the great reviews. Things Change, Feelings Don't was my first fanfic ever, so it was a real challenge for me. So was this, but in a way, they're so connected that it feels like one, continuous narrative. Keep writing great stories, so I have a reason to come back to Fanfiction.net!

Branden Johnson (Lambogod)