Gosh, yeah, sorry about the slamming start into tragedy! I guess I knew all along that this one was going to be tragedy and a reversal of all that came before, but there's not really a way to signal that to the reader, is there? And I suppose, like you said, it does match the subject matter...

From your comments I'd say you got everything out of this fic I was hoping a reader would get out of it, which is awesome – thank you!

it makes me want to know what helps him recover enough to believe again in truth and love

Hmmm, and now I'm wondering too. I hadn't really thought about that aspect yet, but that's such a good question.