Aagh! You pound and pound our hearts until they break and then you pound the pieces into tinier pieces and then you pound them too! Arrgh! The agony! The angst! The shattered innocence! The fading memory of goodness crushed beneath so many deaths, so many injuries, so many lives shattered!
Okay, now that that's out of my system...
Like a couple of others, I'm ready for Clark to go home. I'm ready to see him reunited with Lois and watch them work through the agony and heartbreak of learning all over again why they love each other. I can hardly wait for Talan to escort Clark back to Earth and find that Lois is initially thrilled to have him back but has trouble making the huge adjustments in her life to accomodate a spiritually damaged husband as Talan spends her time trying not to think of ways to take out Lois.
And I want to see Lok Sim convince Enza of his love for her all over again, despite her injuries. He's going to have to teach her that, even though her body is damaged, her heart is not crippled. And she will have to face Thia and the guilt she's going to feel for allowing herself to be hurt. She will have to learn to let Thia, whose child mind has seen more horror and pain that most adults face in their entire lives, learn to love her all over again, and she'll have to let herself be loved.
In fact, I think I've found the major recurring B-plot theme in this story, namely that one can love someone despite that someone's not being all he or she expects himself or herself to be. Love can indeed conquer all, if only we will allow it to do so.
Ching and Zara have to adjust to the the fact that Zara will never have kids, not to mention their individual and shared guilt over bringing Clark so far and asking so much of him and taking so much away from him. Lok Sim and Enza have to face the loss of her leg. Talan has to face the loss of the man she loves. Clark has to face the disintegration of his innocence. Lois will have to see her life turned upside down and run through a blender set to 'frappe' once again (by the SAME GUY!). And New Krypton will have to figure out how to govern itself without the kindest, most caring man they've ever been graced with.
Lots of possibilities, Rac, and I'm confident that you'll do a wonderful job exploring each and every one of them.
So where's chapter three? You got it done yet?
