I remembered reading this ages ago. 2002 - 2003 in fact. Hell that's 6, 7 years ago now? All my mates in school read it, it was like canon for us. So nostalgia struck, and I just HAD to go through it again. Ah, still brilliant. Thanks for keeping the memories alive :)

this is a beautiful and dark work, enthralling and horrifying. The breakdown of human and government action is masterfully wrought within this love story. Wonderful job. I was anticipating all sorts of endings, and can say that I am pleased - you managed to carry through the message of the story without leaving the human side of it in a state of complete despair, a mix of disillusionment and hope. Wonderful, wonderful story.

This story ended years ago, and must be, with complete certainty, the best piece of fan-fiction I have ever read.

Not much more can be said. Every emotion I've ever felt was stirred up by this story.

Wow.

Hi, I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your story. I can see how much time you had to spent writing it. Thank you, it´s one of my most favourite ^^

I didn’t even realize there was an epi. It’s kinda nice that everyone got back together to look at the memorial together. By the way you talk about it can I assume you’ve never been? I have and…it’s interesting. There’s a big difference between the Vietnam Memorial and the other memories in DC. Architectural, it really is a piece of work. Emotionally, damn…When I went it was summer so DC was packed with tourists, and they were behaving like tourists. Being loud, laughing, taking pictures, you know that sort of thing. But the moment you walked through the Vietnam Memorial, you shutted up, children were hushed or not taken through at all. It was dead silent. People walked through silently as they looked through all the names, maybe pausing over specific ones, but it was just incredible. Almost indescribable the way it made you feel and the way the atmosphere changed when you entered it. I’ve never had that with anything else.

Anywho, if you HAVE been to the memorial…ahaha, you just got my take on it. Good epi, I didn’t think it was necessary, but like I said it was nice to see everyone back together in a safe area. But jeez, what the hell happened with Farf? That crazy, crazy bastard…I’m glad Ken forgave Youji. I knew he would, but it was nice to read.-FG

That fucking bastard! That son of a bitch! I want to strangle him, that asshole! Just wring his fucking neck in, I could KILL Youji! ARGGH! And this whole time, up until now I kept thinking, “Hell I love Youji,” and he was such a powerful character, but then I learn this? /screams internally/

Whew. But I’m okay now, I guess like Ran…I understand, granted I’m still pissed off! But I realize he had some twisted good intentions. But now Kenny’s all messed up and doped up. I hope he’s able to get off them one day.

Le sigh. Dear me, this was such an incredible story. DEFINITELY one of my all time favorite fanfictions! If I sit back and think about everything I read…I just get blown away. And I sorta don’t want to think about because even though most everyone made it out, alright, Omi is still gone. How could you kill a child?! How do you sleep at night knowing you did that? Ahaha…no, I understand. Its what made the story real. I mean I still think it would have been great if Omi had lived and all the guys got to meet up again after the war, but that wouldn’t have been realistic, that would have been a fairytale and as much as I love them, I think what you did suits the story FAR better.

Schu’s got himself a wife huh? That doesn’t sit well with me. It’s too weird, and you said Farf went where? I don’t even remember, I just note that they’re all separated trying to get on with their lives.

And, ahaha, I knew you didn’t kill Ran off. Did Patricia, or Patty, or whatever that girls name was saw she saw a redhead wandering around at some point? Obviously that was a clue that it was Ran, I just didn’t know if he’d gone completely crazy and was one of THOSE homeless Vet’s from Nam. That’s the one thing I really worried about, but I’m glad he’s okay.

I’m glad everyone, even if they had to die to get it, is okay and is finally getting the chance to have a little peace. I have finals girl and what am I doing? Shoving them aside to read this glorious piece of writing, I’ll probably regret it come the day of finals, but for now I think my mind needed the rest. I’ve experienced so many emotions with this story. For the most part I was depressed…but in a good way. There were sparks of happiness because you had that comic relief of Schu, Omi, and Farf, and I was glad for that.

They were just little content moments but it was nice to get away from the depression this story made me felt. Like how Omi kicked everyone’s ass at poker, that cracked me up, and it still does but then I remember Omi and how he died and ugh…

Oh God, this was so good. I can’t stop saying that.

Another thing that made me laugh was Willy Ng’s prostitutes and how they really only knew how to say something like: “me make love to you long long time,” I mean, it’s actually horrible. That they sell themselves and that its pretty much the only English they know, but I at times I was clutching to any sort of thing that would make me laugh or smile in this.

Of course all the Ran/Ken moments were incredible, and I love how they stayed “manly” if you will, but were still obviously very much in love. It wasn’t gag love, like I think you might have said at one point. It thought it fit perfectly, and actually the idea that they spent like ten hours only making love, that made me laugh. They missed their pick up because of it, OH how we get distracted! Hehehe, :D

It’s interesting because there are not a lot of good WK fics on this site, in my humble opinion. At least not good ones that are FINISHED. And I’ve actually come across this fic more than once, how could I not? But I simply DID NOT want to read about anything concerning Vietnam. Why? Because I KNEW it would be depressing, its Vietnam for crissake sake, so I avoided it like the plague and was content reading the other few incredible WK Ran/Ken fics. Finally though I caved because there’s nothing left for me to read and this one got so many reviews.

So I caved, and prepared myself. As you might know, I love this, and naturally all the preparing I did was in vain because I was still thrown. Half by your writing skills, half by the content. I think there are a lot of fics on here that have good content, but I just cant read them because I cringe at the horrible writing skills. It aches me, but whatever, we can’t all be fantabulous like you are.

You better have written something else…I’m going to go look. Hopefully something a little more uplifting? Maybe even some original fiction? Who knows, but I’ll go look.

Thank you so much for creating this story! It’s been such a pleasure to read and be melancholy and cry, and laugh, and finally just sigh with this contentment because even through the horrible ordeals all the guys have gone through, there’s still an air of a happy ending. I know that’s not the case for a lot of Vet’s but it’s nice to read about people who did get to experience happiness again.

Shine on you crazy diamond! -FG

OH MY GOSH. How do you kill everyone so well? With Brad and the Dean Martin playing in the background. Oh my gosh, incredible.

And I didn’t mean to say that you would be predictable and kill everyone off. I say that because it makes me feel better. That way when someone dies, like Crawford, I don’t feel as sad. That way if anyone does live, I’ll be surprised and full of joy. I’m just setting myself up for the worst. You really are a talented writer. I haven’t had to set up my emotions like this before with anyone else.

And the issues with Swanny, damn is he losing it. He’s gone, he’s fucked, and I love it. Because I feel for these characters. As fictional as they are they represent real people and I love that so much. I love historical AU’s, they are simply the best to me because they’re always so incredible! So much work, but so much talent! Ugh! Where was I five years ago!-FG

When Omi died I kinda smiled grimly and thought, one down, everyone else to go. Horrible, but yeah, YOUR FAULT!

Nah, honestly someone has to die right? We’re reading about Vietnam, if someone didn’t die, if someone we all loved didn’t die, it would only show your incompetence at making a Vietnam fic. People died, lots of them, in shit filled brutal ways.

And as much as I hate to say this, the way you described Omi’s death, and his body conditions and the way Ken clutched to him, asking him not to go? Fucking brilliant. Again, smiled grimly, but you did good with that. Hella good. Omi, check. Only Youji, Ran, and everybody else to go. Sad.

You know, you’re cruel. This should be labeled DRAMA/ANGST. Not drama/romance. Yeah there’s romance but that’s a part of drama and there’s way more angst and tragedy in this than romance. You did this to pull people in didn’t you? That’s devious.

And you know what I just realized? You wrote this story FIVE YEARS AGO! I was 15 when you wrote this! Damn…how does it feel to get a review five years later? You might not even do the fanfiction thing anymore. Weird. –FG

/shakes head/ why am I even reading this? I know I’ll be depressed in the end. Look at what I have so far: a Vietnam vet, doped up on Benzo after the war and him reminiscing on the war itself. I already know every fucking person except him dies. Why should I read about?

I’ll tell you why, because you write well. That’s why. Also I can admit, I’ve learned more about Vietnam from your story than I ever learned in school. -FG

Read this again and it is still great!

I just spent about three hours reading the last 10 chapters, and I was at a loss for words for a while. This has got to be the most heartbreaking fic I have ever read. I'm skeptical about AU fics, but this fic was far better than many war movies. The characters were complex and human, and the descriptions of war were so unnervingly vivid I felt queasy while reading them.

But above all, you made me cry. I got tears in my eyes when I read about why Ken had gone to Vietnam, but I really broke down for Omi's death scene, Brad's death scene (the small details in that scene, like the Dean Martin song playing in the background and the message scrawled in blood were what made the scene so terrifying real), the final scene in Washington at the Memorial Wall, and many, many of the scenes with Ran and Ken. I was terrified that you were going to kill Ran off... like Aridetta said,I was hoping so badly that the vet would be Ran, but I dreaded that Ken might find out Ran is dead, and lose himself to despair. Chapter 19 was just beautiful... my god, I was crying from joy and relief. That scene was the kind of breathtaking beauty and sadness you don't see often, yet alone on

I'll stop my overly-sentimental gushing here ;), but this story is never coming off my favourites list.

I read it all in one fell swoop. Now, I am truly at a loss for words. Actually, that isn't true. What I want to write right now is

"OMG.THat was so f**ckin awesome. LVOE, LOVe, lOVe!"

Errors and typos galore. But you wouldn't take me seriously if I did that. I'm not usually such a fangirl, but I just can't help it. That was one of the most engrossing and satisfying reads EVER. I couldn't tear myself away. It was so EXCELLENT.
You write the quintessential RanxKen. Your portrayal of them is the OTP I fell in love with.

*Completely unrelated, but I thought I'd share nonetheless: I wanted to read this last night, but was down so I had to wait until today. And guess what? Today is Thanksgiving! That last line was perfect. Everything about this fic was perfect. Thank you for gifting us with it.

I'm going to make this short; I love this fic and I'll love you forever for writing it. It is probably one of the best stories on this site and, even though I think you're not going to post any more fics, I will be waiting.
Thank you very much, you're a very talented writer.

Wow. Now that I've reached the end I'm so very glad I read it. Ran and Ken ended up back together, no thanks to Youji... *pokes Youji with a stick* Wow, I've cried about five times from sadness reading this, and two from happiness. It's nearly impossible to sum up everything that this piece made me feel, (especially since I normally don't really leave reviews unless I really like the story, thus I don't like writing long ones at all) suffice to say that this was so moving, I'm sure I'll remember it for a long time to come, and in my mind, it's equal to, if not above many so called "timeless classics" I've read. I feel slightly silly saying this, but this was on the verge of inspirational, really. I've learned two very important lessons from it. One, keep your keep dry. Two, don't ever leave your fiance by going to Nam. I feel like this has changed me a bit, opened my mind and eyes more to what vets go through and how easily things can-... I'm rambling. O_o Oops. Thank you. Thank you very much for writing this.

~K-chan

*cowers* Being the emotional wreck that I am, I'm totally scared out of my mind when i think about how this must be ending. I don't know why i torture myself and plan on reading this straight through, but I guess that shows what a good writer you are. O_O *takes a deep breath* On to the next chapter...