Editing old works

I am editing my longest fanfic and I just... I started writing it five years ago and I finished it three years ago and A LOT has happened with my writing since then. I mean, I LOVE that fanfiction, it is probably one of the accomplishments I am most proud of in my life (cause it's very autobiographical and it just means so much to me), but... I cringe while editing it. First of all, I wrote it at a stage where I was "afraid" of using the word "said". Someone I really looked up to had said never to use said in your writing, cause it made it flat and boring. So I used EVERYTHING ELSE UNDER THE SUN and it's just.... My characters are exclaiming and inquiring and shouting and gasping and announcing all over the place and it's just... no *shudders*

Second of all, I characterised someone in a way that I really regret and really dislike now. I am trying to make small changes so he is more likeable but it's just... it's hard reading your own stuff and thinking "if someone else wrote this I probably wouldn't read it"... 

I hope I can do it justice by editing it. I don't want to change the feel of the story, but I think I am doing so anyway by my edits. It's more mature now, which I feel it should be. It will hopefully be a little easier to read as well. 

That being said, despite the massive cringe, I don't for a second regret writing the story or getting a tattoo to commemorate it. It's still my baby and I still hold so much love for the story and the characters, even if they are a little all over the place.