Hello readers,

I started this story when I was a teenager and I forgive myself for the way my story has aged in the seventeen years since I wrote it. I realize that most of my stories, not just this one, were a way of understanding my own trauma and experiences. No, I wasn't victim to a mind controlling parasite, but I faced trauma of the "normal" variety in my young life. As an adult, I have revisited this story with some measure of cringe amidst my happiness of the universe I created. I was a child, barely 18 years old when I started writing, and I still love this pairing.

I started playing Resident Evil 4 in virtual reality recently and I have fallen in love with the story, and Leon, all over again. I am curious as to how my reading of the VR version of the game will alter the story as I rewrite it. I still don't like Ada and will have to do some research into her character now that I have YouTube to watch the games I never played. I am looking forward to revisiting the world and discovering more about myself as I create new journeys for these characters.

I am not the best writer—I know very little if anything about grammar and could seriously use a beta reader to help me. If anyone would be interested in helping me, I would appreciate a private message with a sample of writing or something along those lines. Until then, all you'll get is me and what I can produce on my own.

Can I finish this story at last? I mentioned in a previous update that I had lost the "planning" pages of the story years ago when my hard drive broke—before I backed anything up. I remember vaguely the progress of the story and the major points—but my memory of Ada's role is gone and so is the ending I had envisioned for the characters.

I don't know what the end of their story will be. I don't care about the rest of the universe of Resident Evil—and as mentioned in the past this story assumes that the time that Leon was in Spain was closer to two weeks, not a single day. To me it always seemed highly improbable that the events in the story transpired over such a short period of time. I will continue to, by using flashbacks, flesh out the "history" of Leon's experiences in Spain rescuing Ashley.

Now I write to those people who have returned to this story after many years. I have removed all the previous chapters of the story. I hope that doesn't break your heart. I do this because I no longer approve of not only my terrible writing but the progress of the story as I see the characters fitting it. You will still have the same bones, but the meat of the story will be different. I hope that is okay.

Finally, a note to new readers. Thank you for giving this pairing a shot—for reading this far if you have. I hope to write something new. I am currently two chapters into a rewrite and about two hours into the game. I'm taking my time and making notes. I hope to have many flashbacks to develop the traumatic experiences that have shaped the growth between these two characters.

Thank you and please enjoy,

Luky

2-9-2022