First Sergeant Lovato

Acknowledgements

Okay, this story (series?) has gone on for 4 years now. It started as one chapter I wrote on a whim while deployed in Afghanistan in 2012, and that chapter never saw the light of day till 2013. There is one person who is responsible for me starting to write more of it and put it online, and she knows who she is if she ever reads this.

Ironically, even though the incarnation of DSL that's on this profile isn't the first, this was something I never thought people would like to begin with, and it's become my most successful story ever.

I want to clear something up: this last chapter prior to this is the end of this story. I will not continue it from here, I refuse to write "filler" to pad it out further. I never even planned to write this sequel after finishing DSL. But you guys wanted a sequel, and I eventually caved from the overwhelming demand, which is a first for anything I've ever written. I hope it was satisfactory and had enough closure.

I want to thank everyone who ever commented on it or tweeted about it from it's inception and multiple revivals over the years, you are the reason it went on this far. It's amazing to me to see new people finding DSL and liking it even to this day, and it makes me so happy to see. But all good things have to come to an end, and now this one has.

I thoroughly enjoyed writing this story and it is sad for me to say goodbye to these characters who have developed over the past 3 years the story has been online, but I'm happy with how things turned out.

I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

-Neil