Afterword

And so ends Upon a Painted Ocean. We've traveled from the Caribbean, to England to France, and finally to Crete with Ran and his crew, and I certainly hope you enjoyed the adventure as much as I did. But before I end this off completely, I want to make a few comments about the story.

Firstly, the title, 'Upon a Painted Ocean', is actually a line from Samuel Coleridge's poem, 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'. Back when I was first piecing together the plot, I had flipped through some poems for inspiration and came upon this one. The poem itself is about a sailor who shoots an albatross (a so-called omen for seamen, I believe) and ends up carrying the burden (the bird) of his mistake around his neck. With the amount of angst and painful pasts that the characters of this piece of fiction carried around, I thought a line from that poem would work nicely as a title.

Secondly, I realize that the story has quite a few loose ends still, particularly with the characters of Youji, Omi, Crawford, and Schuldich. Originally, this fic was intended to be 20-plus chapters, with the personal stories of the aforementioned characters intertwined within the main plot. But this whole thing started on a challenge that involved primarily a Ran/Ken pairing, so partway through the story, I ended up re-working the latter half to accommodate this. Perhaps when I have time and feel up to it, (or if there's actually a demand for it), I'll write the side stories for those characters, but until then, this one will have to do.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincerest thanks to those who have reviewed (publicly and privately) this fic. Seeing as there's almost a year's worth of reviews, I won't be able to name all of you, but special thanks to those who have commented on it right from the beginning, and multiple times as well! ^_^

Tschubi-chan - who issued the original challenge and sent comments despite her busy schedule
Erjika - one of the best artistic, whip-wielding chibi-muses a girl can have
Bishie no Miko - for her wonderful enthusiasm and her beautiful reviews
Lady Cosmos - who asked about the fic even though she's not much of a Ran/Ken fan
Daemonchan - where are the chapters you promised me?
Sidara - keep up the great work, and good luck with your original project!
Yoake - a perfect sweetie when it comes to reviews
Lilas - another one of those charmingly enthusiastic Ran/Ken fans
K-chan - who I maintain has corrupted me, even though she's a little more than two-thirds my age
Hallucinogenic - a wonderful reviewer, and who, I believe, is K-chan's corrupt partner in crime
Ana (chbimun) and gal - awesome writers in their own right, but also awesome reviewers as well. And Ana, I read your reaction in response to your review of 'Requiem', and I just have to give you a big hug. The past is something to be reflected upon and learned from, but not to dwell on. Never regret your choices. Take it easy, okay? ^_^
Truth - who is probably one busy woman, but still managed to send me a few emails that totally made my day
siberian - one of the sweetest and most consistent reviewers out there
Ami-chan - who's non-discriminate in her reading, and reviews unabashedly no matter what
Swythangel, Leoangel, dragon-chan, DragonSoul, lorien, Erfaciel, emperessRose, chibi-chan, Lily and all the others out there that have reviewed and/or read the story, but I haven't mentioned.

Thank you so much!

I had a great time writing this story, and I certainly hope you enjoyed reading it. Heck, another few chapters, and I could have easily made this into a small novel since it breeches about the 175-page mark as it is. But whether you liked it or not, please let me know. I like hearing others' opinion, be they good or bad. ^_^

Regards,
Portia