Those Who Go Overseas

by Lapis Lazuli Luna

An eighteen-year-old Misao returns to Tokyo to welcome a new chapter in the lives of the Kenshin-gumi. But when she encounters a girl who fled across the seas from a life of unimaginable horror, she finds herself caught in a dangerous web she can't turn away from ... forcing one Okashira to do whatever it takes to protect her. Aoshi x Misao, Kenshin x Kaoru, Sanosuke x Megumi

14. AN

Author's Note

Hey everyone,

So this is not a real update, obviously. I actually didn't want to do this whole author's note thing because I didn't want to get you all excited about a new chapter only to click on it and be disappointed. However, in light of a few really upsetting messages I've been getting from a couple of my readers lately, I really feel like I need to explain some things now.

First, let me assure everyone that I am NOT abandoning this story. Far from it. This story and its beloved characters are still very much alive and well in my mind. I am even more in love with this story than I was when I first started and believe me when I say it KILLS me to not have touched it for the past couple of months. I am just as anxious as all of you to see the next chapter come to life and I am still 100 percent committed to see this story to the end.

In my absence, some of you have sent me some really sweet and encouraging reviews and PMs just asking how I'm doing and that you hope I'm still going to finish this story, and I really appreciate it. What I DON'T appreciate are the few readers who frankly have been quite rude in your messages and berating me for not updating faster. I get it; you're enjoying my story and want to know what happens next, and I'm glad you like it. But that's no excuse for rudeness. So now I'm actually taking time away from what I SHOULD be doing now (studying) to put some things in perspective because it's upset me so much and I KNOW I'm not the only author who's had to deal with this.

Here's what's been going on with me lately. I am working through my last semester of college as a full-time broadcast journalism student. As if that wasn't stressful enough, I am also working three days a week for literally 10 hours a day as a reporter for our campus' television news station. I absolutely love what I'm doing, but literally every second of free time that I had before has gone out the window, and I go home every day just too physically and mentally exhausted to do anything besides try to catch up on rest and my actual classwork.

I don't know how many of you are authors yourselves, but it is HARD doing what we do. As much as we enjoy it, writing takes an enormous amount of time and mental energy, both of which I've had very little of lately. And it's not like any of us are full-timers on this either. A LOT of us are students. Others work full-time. Others raise families. And others have things come up in our lives where really writing fanfiction would be our last priority. I have been following one author for a long time and got really upset she hadn't updated her story in a year. But then I checked their profile and found out she'd been battling serious health problems and surgery. You just never know.

My last point: I write because I LOVE DOING IT. To be honest, I was almost scared to begin publishing this story last summer because I knew what an enormous project it would be and was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up with it. But I can't tell you how glad I am that I made that decision, because this story and the wonderful friends I've made because of it have made me so unbelievably happy. But the last thing in the world I want to happen is for this to turn into something I'm only doing because someone's pressuring me to update fast or only because I feel obligated to write to make someone else happy. I couldn't possibly live like that and I should hope you wouldn't want me to either. Writing is my PASSION. I want to keep it that way.

Okay, rant over. To all my beloved readers and reviewers, thank you so much for your patience and your kind words. Your encouraging reviews and even your constructive criticism mean the world to me, and I am becoming a better writer because of it. I can't thank you enough. I will see you all in the next chapter! :)

So much love,

Luna

P.S. Also, to clarify for one person in particular, it hasn't been four months. Fanfiction . net clearly posts when a story was last updated, and if you had checked you'd see my last chapter was posted December 18; it hasn't even been three months yet. You know who you are.