The two seishi allowed their eyes to meet quietly.

This time for certain, they would part ways for the last time.

"Take care-a yerself, okay? I mean it."

"And you do the same, Tasuki na no da."

They clasped hands solemnly. Chichiri told Tasuki, "…If anything happens to you, be sure to call out to me no da."

"Yeah, I know," Tasuki said again. "An' you gotta keep on studyin' t'make sure you c'n hear my voice jus' right." Chichiri slipped off his mask. Looking at his true face, Tasuki said, "Yer gonna start travelin' again, huh."

"…Yes."

"You never told me how y'got that scar-a yers. But whatever happened, I hope that th' one that came with it – th' wound on yer heart – I hope that heals up…"

Chichiri smiled slightly and slipped on his mask again. His shakujou rang out with a 'clang' and his kesa fluttered and whooshed about them on the snowy mountain.

And this time for certain, the two seishi would travel through Chichiri's kesa for the last time.

--Excerpt from "Sanbou Den: Volume One"--

Author's Note: 6/17/07
Phew… well, it's certainly been a while, hasn't it? It might be fair to say that I've been avoiding this fanfic, or rather, that I've been avoiding the inevitable. I had felt it coming for almost a year and a half, and maybe longer – I'd just been hoping to ignore it until it went away, or maybe until I came up with a solution. But I can't. I wanted to, because I never wanted to be that author who half-finished and then just disappeared, and I certainly never wanted to leave the readers hanging, but there's no avoiding it, now.

I'm discontinuing Rhapsody of the Fallen Stars, and I'm doing so for two reasons. The first is a small one, but still worth mentioning:

RFS has been dancing along the path of melodrama for a while, and the next story arc was going to throw us all into a world of angst and pain the likes of which few authors have dared to tread. If I wanted to avoid that (which I did), I would have had to completely revamp the second half of the Second Movement, and at least a couple chapters of the Third. But to do that, I'd also have to ignore half of the oh-so-subtle (read: glaringly obvious) plot hints I'd been tossing out since I began the fic, most notably Tasuki's character development. All-in-all, to fix the fic would have been an incredibly messy process… but one I might have been willing to undertake, if it weren't for my second reason, the enormous one that's been glaring me in the face for at least a year now:

I don't like RFS anymore.

There, I said it.

I began writing this fanfic during the end of my freshman year of high school. I haven't written a word of it since the middle of my senior year, over a year ago. You'll notice a common thread here: high school. Which might explain the huge piles of steaming angst and melodrama that filled each and every chapter and seemed to fairly choke the story from front to back. It turned Chichiri into a depressed teenager, Tasuki into a weak-willed husk of his former self, and even gave Koji a touch of the "brooding lover" routine. I don't know if I was really that inwardly angsty or if I was just trying out a new style of writing, but regardless, once my hormonal life evened out I began to realize that this kind of constantly somber, dramatic style just wasn't my thing. I like comedy. I like action scenes. I like a little light romance. And yes, I like some tragedy and drama and Deep Inner Feelings thrown into the mix, but not 24/7. I started to make myself depressed with all the depressing talk, it seemed.

All of this has combined to make me look at RFS now, five years after its creation, and cringe. The only parts I can read now and honestly take pride in are the moments between Koji and Shuu, and of course Genji's scene-stealing moments, both as an adorable child and an observant adult. They, combined with all of you readers, were the only reason I didn't officially quit this thing a year ago.

But well, everything comes to an end, and when it came down to it I thought it'd be better to give RFS an honorable death, at the end of one of its lighter chapters, then to try to drag it out into a melodramatic grave. And for all the complaining I'm doing about it now, I think I'll look back on it happily. It gave me a good chance to try out a lot of different writing styles and themes, and for that I'm very grateful. However, I think it's time to set it to the side and move on. I'll leave it posted here, in case anyone feels the need to go back and reread (and cringe like I did, heheh), but that's all. Also, since writers who don't finish their fics drive me bonkers, here's what I'm going to do:

If you PM or e-mail me, I'll send you a copy of the (extremely) rough draft of Verse Ten, as well as a summary for the rest of the story, complete with choppy scenes that I've written up here and there (and probably a few smartass comments about plot developments from yours truly). I know it's not the same as reading the actual fanfic, but at least this way you'll be able to know what happens, so you can sit back and go "Oh, so that's how it worked out!" And to be honest, after reading it, you'll probably understand why I decided to let it go. :)

Well, I guess this is the end then, everyone, or at least the end for this particular fanfic. It's been fun while it lasted, and I hope you had some good moments reading, even if it didn't end in quite the right spot. And hey, if you're still craving some writing from me, rest assured that I don't intend to retire just yet. The edit for Fushigi Yuugi: The Next Chapter is still underway, and Broken Wings, the FY fic I've started up under a shadow account (penname: Tangerine Infinity) is starting to pick up speed as well. You have to give that one a couple of chapters to get going, but luckily the chapters are shockingly short (for me, anyway), so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. I also have tentative plans for a Les Mis-esque retelling of the Fushigi Yuu-niverse, and possibly an Ouran High continuation story in the near future. I'm also playing with a number of original stories, so who knows? Maybe one day you'll even see my name in an actual bookstore… though I'm not counting on that day coming any time soon. :) Lord knows I've still got a lot of improvements to make.

And, if you're hungry for some other FY goodness, the really good kind, then why not give Roku Kyu's fanfics a try? Drama without the cheese – it's a beautiful thing. I'd also recommend her C2 group, "Hidden Classics of FY Fanfiction."

Thanks for sticking with me over these long years, minna. I truly appreciate all the praise, encouragement, and constructive criticism you've given me over the past years. While there's no way I'd be able to list everyone, I do want to especially thank reviewers Alaia, Amaya-san, and Roku Kyu, who gave me exceptionally long, well thought-out, and extremely helpful reviews. Also a huge "doumo arigatou" to Val-chan, my beta, who single-handedly saved numerous chapters of RFS and always had an encouraging word when I got too down on myself about a certain scene or plot point. Thank you all so much, and I sincerely hope to hear from you again.

Your Authoress—
Dee