Am very relieved to hear the authoress herself confirm that Unohana did indeed love Ukitake, which arguably makes the ending a happy one, or less-sad one.

Agreed on many of your points above: It did read quite like a treatise on death and the distinction between compassion and love; filial and eros if you would. I also had a bit of trouble linking Ukitake's history/philosophy on death to the rest of the story, when Unohana enters the picture. That said, the doctor's detatchedness to her entering a relationship with the sickly captain has a tenderness of its own. Also agreed on the lack of a perfect love, even though, admittedly, I thought these two might had the potential for something close to one due to their (I think) compatibility. I'll keep that in mind for future reference.

Am looking forward to your further takes on these two, and I was very happy to read all the reviews and comments you got for the story as well. I will attempt to write a fic for these two in the near future, one that'll continue this dialogue of ours about this pairing.