How funny. I seem to have the opposite problem of feeling I need to explain things too much/make things a neat package (which leaves me to feel my endings are in a rut...but this is for your naval gazing).

It's something I toyed with in betaing the story (since I was thoroughly confused the first time) but the mystery is part of the heart--and as you say makes the focus on Atlantis as the protagonist, which was so beautiful. The core of it was it didn't matter who the dream mystery woman was or who Addy could be. I worried my advice and your various changes made the ending *too* clear and thus took away the beauty of it.

You want to have the clues, but not make them obvious. What's the point of reading a whodunnit if you know the butler did it on page 3? And what this was was a type of whodunnit. Even experienced mystery authors seem to struggle with this.

The beauty of fanfic is you can enjoy the wonder of the story, and if you're still feeling a bit confuddled, can *ask* the author. Is it a failure of author? Of reader? Or just a lack of meeting of the minds in that instance? Could be any one of those factors.

Basically, it's what traycer_ said. I think "Roanake" is beautiful as you have it.

You should totally do a dvd commentary on some of your fic (and write more).