WARNING! Spoilers inherent. Read this damn fine (top 10) fic before
reading any reviews on it. All time spent trying to decide if you want
to read this fic is just wasted time. GO READ IT NOW!

Hiro was enormously pleased.  Sometimes people didn't know what 
the things he drew were.  Nuku Nuku never had any problems.  "It's 
you!  You are always warm and nice and happy like a cat, so I 
thought that maybe you were a cat."
Nuku Nuku gave him a strange, thoughtful look.  It scared him.  
"I'm sorry!  I didn't mean it.  Hiro is stupid."  He covered his 
face with his hands.

...

Hiro felt his spirits lift immediately.  "You mean you *are* a 
cat?"

...

Nuku Nuku laughed.  "Yes, of course.  I would never lie to you, 
Hiro.  I'm telling you the truth when I say that you're smart.  
You're smarter than I am."
Hiro frowned.  He was stupid, he knew that.  Everyone else was 

...

The only one who wasn't like that was Nuku Nuku.  She was always 
bright and happy and smiling and treated him like a friend and an 
equal and never ever made him feel stupid.  Somehow, though, it 
didn't feel right to have her say that he was smarter.  
"Not true, Nuku Nuku!  You're smarter, you don't have to live with 
us dummies.  You can read and write and do all sorts of 
complicated things.  You're smart."

...

"You wouldn't want them."

...

Hiro grinned.  "All the time.  Soon I read to *you*!"
Nuku Nuku's laughter was light and bubbly, just like her.  "Good!  
Let's go get the books."

     Wow, Richard. Kudos. I like it immensly already.

Kei sat back in his chair.  "I would not dare to tell you that my 
feelings for Atsuko are stronger than yours.  But they are just as 
real.  I love Atsuko.  Marrying her and trying to build a life 
with her is the single most important thing to me, and will remain 
so for as long as I live.  Please do not attempt to question my 
sincerity or imply that I will grow tired of her.  You dishonor 
both me and your daughter."

     Nice work. I was almost tempted to hit the reply button here,
and deal with reading while quotes lined up along the page. (BTW,
that doesn't happen much.)

She wasn't losing a daughter.  She was gaining a damned fine son- 
in-law.

     Good use of the cliche. Don't change that.

Sometimes she'd forget little things, however, like the fact that 
he needed to breathe.

     That was funny.

She's chosen you to be her protégé, and she'll train you for years
and years and then she'll resign as CEO and name you as her successor."
Kei gaped at Atsuko.  She sounded so sure.  He shuddered slightly, 
reeling from the implications.

     I smell "FORESHADOWING!"

liked it.  That changed the love.  It made it more than 'family 
love'.  I call it 'Kei love'."  She grinned affectionately.  "I 
like 'Kei love' a lot."

     Happy days. :)

He pulled a box out of his pocket, stared at it numbly, then 
thrust it at Atsuko.  "Here."

     Ah. Yes. I can relate to him (with the exception that I
don't have a compassionate, kind, beautiful cyborg as a girlfriend).

Suddenly Atsuko pushed him away.  She was still crying, but her 
smile was excited again.  "Oh!  I just thought of something good."
Kei smiled, excited with her.  Anything that made her happy was 
good.  "What's that?"
"Something Father told me about a long time ago.  Mariko, too."  
She grabbed his hands, lifted him from the couch, and began to 
pull him to the far end of the room.  "Something people who are 
going to get married do.  I've been wanting to try it for the 
longest time."

       HAHAHAHAHA! HEHEHEHEHEHEHE! GOD DAMN THAT WAS GOOD!
(OK, It's 8 in the morning, no sleep last night, but that was STILL
GOOD!)

Ryunosuke looked at the clock and blinked.  "Wow, I didn't know it 
was that late.  I thought it was a little past noon."

     You wouldn't happen to be an engineer/Computer Scientist, would
you? You have us pegged perfectly. "What do you mean it's--**3 IN THE
MORNING!?!?**.... OK, one more compile and I'll go to sleep."

>from her.  The most polite way I can think of to rephrase it is, 

'Shut up and get in the limo, Kyusaku.'"

     Another good line.

He did his best not to enjoy the ride, letting the two teenagers 

     maybe make that "to not enjoy the ride". I think it might
sound a little better. I dunno, that might just be me.

radiated happiness, had become a supernova of good feeling.  She 

     Nice description. It fits well.

Atsuko stared at him, her smile fading slightly to be replaced by 
a thoughtful look.  "That's one way of looking at it, isn't it?  
Phases of existence."

     OK. I'm reading this again after I wake up tonight. There is
bound to be several more good things I missed. I'm just glad I 
caught this one.

Akiko snorted in amusement.  "Atsuko, you're a darling sweet 
person and I love you tremendously, but shut up and get into the 
dress."

     PMHOTKIL! (Pounding My Head On The Keyboard In Laughter!)

Atsuko gaped at her.  "You're a cyborg, too?"
Akiko chuckled.  "No dear, that's not what I meant."  She took 
some pins and began marking some areas.
Silence for a few seconds.  Then: "Do you mean that my breasts 
are...."
"Yes, dear, that's what I meant."  Akiko would someday have to 
find out everything Kysuaku had programmed into her databases.  
"Turn a little to the side... that's it.  Lift your arms up.  Now 
stand still."

     NOOOOOOOO!!! I like that. Reminds me of the first NukuNuku 
story I read by you.

She smiled sadly.  "I do not think we should get married."

     Euhhh.
...

Hiro turned to the first page and began reading the words to Yuki.  
As he read, he knew that Nuku Nuku was looking over his shoulder, 
reading with him and Yuki, and smiling her love like she always 
did.

     I can't believe I made it to the end of that story. When 
Nuku Nuku was talking to Hiro, I just had to pause.

myself to be a wuss.  While I'm at it, I'll just mention that 
Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" made me cry, too, and let you 
taunt me all you please.  :)

     Don't worry. I'm crying too. Right now.

Seriously, this is the most depressing story I have ever written. 
I'm very interested to know what your opinions are, and if you 
hate me forever for allowing Nuku Nuku to die.

     Yes. I want to hate you. Your writings so well describe what
happens after episode 6, I almost take it as canon. (Can I inflate
your ego any more?).
     But, I can't hate you. You described what happened so well.
It was "called for", not just sad to be sad.

I added the scenes back in when one of my prereaders felt that 
there was something missing, ending it like I did.  So I added the 
scenes back, and another one of my prereaders felt that the scenes 
were too unnecessarily depressing.  I want to know what you think; 
would it be better to leave out the final stages of Nuku Nuku's 
breakdown?

     No. Keep it there. It needs to be there, much as I don't like
to read it.

     There were a couple of grammar mistakes at the beginning/middle
(I don't know about the end), but I don't know if I can read that
story again in time to write back with them.

     This fic has my "Saddest fic ever" nomination and tied for best
fic.
     Damn. I'm still crying.
--
Ben Kosse bmk7411@cs.rit.edu
BGC Otaku and worshipper of the Red-Eyed Goddess. Member of ShAS.
Anime, RPG's, computers, poetry (read/write), music (listen/compose).
Author of the Bubblegum Crisis theme pack (see the homepage below).
Homepage with anime and other interests. (http://www.rit.edu/~bmk7411)