For a short stint towards the end of 2022 and the start of 2023 I wrote in a journal to document my feelings, vent, and process a lot of emotions I was going through in what was probably the lowest point in my life. On December 5th, 2022, towards the end of my entry for the day, I wrote this as a sort of afterthought for the day:
I wanted to do some Katawa talk but a fan-fiction caught my eye so might just read that. It’s a story revolving around a character from some April fools joke way back when. Don’t know the details yet but her name is Saki and she doesn’t have a long life-expectancy so there's that. Be back later!
...
Started reading a pseudo Route following Saki and its really good so far, I’d love to finish it in one go like a normal route, but its noon and I need sleep, plus its been six hours already and I just got to Act three.
The next day I made notes of wanting to really try my hand at being creative again. I do not think this was a coincidence. Learning To Fly is the story and work that helped me start writing again and for that I'll forever be grateful to this story, and you, EBJ. I honestly don't know where I'd be right now if it wasn't for that. Definitely in a whole different place in my life. And should the day ever come that I take the necessary steps and become a published author I will be able to trace it back to this as one of the biggest reasons I ever got to that point.
One week later I caught up to what was posted at the time, and that's with 4 days of not being able to ready anything mixed in there. This story had me engrossed from the first chapter and never let me go from the beginning to the end. I'll leave comments about larger parts of the story for later, when I do a proper re-read (I'm still gonna give you the extra-long comment that I usually make for stories here after all), so for now I'll focus on the final chapter and how I feel right now. Which is, to say, emotional. It was just a few years ago when I was at a point in my life where I rarely, if ever, cried at a piece of media. Now here I am tearing up over a happy ending. That would've been unimaginable back then. That is to say, this story has had a major impact on me, and now, being here to see its conclusion, it's... well, it's a lot.
I love the way the entire chapter has this bittersweet, and melancholic sort of background vibe to it. Very fitting for a graduation as that's how it was for me. You're happy to be at that end of the journey, where you're past all the hard parts and all the stress is starting to be a fading memory, but then you have to face the coming future that's arriving all too quickly. Mitsuru and Chisato's situation is an immediate and heart-wrenching reminder of that. The future is coming and will be here with us before we know it. Something I'm sure Hisao will be coming back to time and time again from this point on.
On top of that, graduation's a day filled with... ahem... uncertainty. You're saying goodbye to a lot of people. Possibly forever. Sometimes you work it out to meet up again, like with Lilly and Hanako, but with others it's not always so clear. And on top of that, you're leaving a building and location behind that you'll likely never call "home" or your "second home" again. Worse still for Yamaku students who actually live on campus. Its all just so... sad. but in a way that's hard to handle because it's also supposed to be a really happy and hopeful time. Luckily it isn't the only thing weighing in. In the case of this story, there's Saki's answer to Hisao's proposal. The entire sequence and exchanges related to it were super sweet and enjoyable to read. I love the levels of energy it brought back in to this chapter where needed. It was a nice, revitalizing refresher amongst all the bittersweet-ness everywhere else. A reminder that this isn't just an end, it's a beginning too.
And then there's that ending line... so much tied into 10 short words. It sort of encapsulates everything that is both this chapter and the story in general. There's happiness in it, with sadness lingering just behind, a reminder of the inevitable ending that's to come, but also a promise that the present is worth fighting for. And I feel like I could keep going with that. There's just... so much. It's such a beautiful line for this story.
To wrap up this comment, I once again am promising a long comment somewhere down the line to talk in more depth about this story. I really liked it and that comment is long, long overdue. Moreover, Thanks for an amazing journey EBJ. Thanks for talking to me over the past 9 months and sharing your story with me, as well as listening to some of mine. Thanks for the late night talks, and the pictures, and the discussions. Thanks for writing Learning To Fly. Thanks for helping me get my creative spark back. Thanks for being you. And congratulations for reaching this journey's end! I'll definitely be here for the epilogue!
I have no regrets with the time I spent with this story. It'll be a part of me forever.
). I've basically lived the part of life that Hisao and Saki will get to spend together in the time this story was written, and am around the age where they'll have to go through with the inevitable end of their relationship. It really puts things into perspective.
) The fact that you've stuck with and finally crossed the finish line with LtF after everything is the ultimate proof. You're an absolute warrior, I hope you know that. IMO the best stories are ones where the author has left a piece of themself in it, and you've very clearly done so with this.
). 
