Everybody has said their part, and I feel it warranted to speak mine.

I love Lawson's style.  Nothing seems forced, and the characters all have
some extra life breathed into them.  That makes it especially painful to see
one of the characters die in Richard's stories.  Not once have I read a
Lawson Story, and not been moved.

I wanted to write something that hasn't already been said about this story.
I wanted to say that this wasn't a sad story, because of everyone that
Atsuko(I will not call her Nuku Nuku.  That would do her a dishonor.)
touched.  I wanted to say that I hate Richard for writing this.

I can't say anything.  None of that would be true.

For the first part, I can only write something that I already wrote to
Richard.  All I can do is cry.  Cry for the love that Kei and Atsuko never
got to share.  Cry for the pain that Atsuko's passing inflicted on everyone.
Cry for him, and the hell that it must have been to write that.  For the
second item, about it not really being all that sad due to the lives that
Atsuko touched, I know that this isn't true.  Death is a sad thing.
Especially to see someone lose the core of who they are.  While the memory
lives on, you still have to adjust to the fact that they are gone.

As for hating Richard, I don't think that this is possible.  It was a sad
story, and yes I cried.  Yes, I wish that things turned out better.  But if
they did, if Richard had sugar-coated it, if he _had_ tacked on the happy
ending, it wouldn't have been a Lawson story.  Then, I would be angry.  Then
I would have written him about catering to the whims of others.  Then, I
would have been upset because Richard would have posted something that
wasn't his.

Tonight, I will mourn the passing of one Natsume Atsuko.  Tomorrow, a new
day dawns, and I will remember how I felt when I read that story.  I will
carry that around in a corner of my heart, and maybe become a better person.
That is the purpose behind all stories, novel, fanfic, or otherwise.

Thank you for reading this.

Jonathan Farber