A gorgeous story. It's a catharsis for Sherlock as well as me and I just love it. You really understand Sherlock's character; your depiction of his grief and acceptance is very believable and beautiful.

This is such a beautiful story - thank you for sharing it! Such melancholy. And what perfect symbolic use of the beehive for Sherlock's musings. I'm now wishing so hard that John had still be around to meet this older, wiser Sherlock... but if he had been, would that Sherlock even exist? Only the best writing leaves you pondering like this. Kudos!

My first thought was, "How dare Mary die?!" And then, "Ok maybe that's reasonable, but the baby should've lived!" Then John died and I could only cry the rest of the fic. I really felt all the regret and sorrow, which I suppose means you did good job. :) I'm just less depressed now because this had a kinda happy ending. I was afraid Sherlock was going to die peacefully in his sleep as he thought of John, which would've made me cry more. This was so sad, but it was a great fic, and I love it. c:

Lovely. The utter mundanity of John's death on the floor of a bakery was wonderfully captured, and it was beautiful to read Sherlock's growing understanding. Nice work.

This almost made me cry. I don't think you need to apologize for any similarities between your vision of John's death and any one else's. It's right in line with his character and your story is very unique in it's own right. Very well written. Thanks for posting!

Very oowerful, yet ever so heart breaking for Sherlock to lose his friend and live all those years alone.

"...Sherlock never is able to catch a whiff of warm bread baking again without finding himself kneeling among a chaotic scattering of battered cane chair-legs on a scuffed and grubby, blue-and-white tiled floor..." like how you very realistically put this olfactory memory high on the list of triggers for Sherlock. Smells are powerful and add an additional sensation for the reader to imagine.

"It wasn't an intellectual brilliance - it was something very different to that - but that didn't make it any less important." - yes, and I hope in time this will become more apparent as the television series moves forward too.

Reflective piece. Rather read like a eulogy of sort. Sentimental. The analogy was quite lovely though. Thank you for sharing.

Very nice, very well done. My personal head canon is that they grow old together, but this is a completely legitimate, plausible take on a realistic alternative. Sherlock will eventually become the good man that Lestrade envisions in ASiP; there's no question that a much older Sherlock will look back on the man he used to be with distaste, and reflect on John's influence and friendship with gratitude. You've done a wonderful job of depicting that process and I hope to see more of your work soon.

Beautifully written. Very moving and true. I am in tears.

This was very beautiful!

Wow.

Just... wow.

This is a remarkable piece of writing, just so you know. I *sincerely* hope that the show does not go this direction, but this was incredible and moving and surprisingly deep. You've written a future Sherlock who comes to grips with grief and growing up, and you've done so very believably.

I will definitely be on the lookout for more from you!

Such lovely thoughts! Thank you for sharing! I quite enjoyed reading it! It made me think of The Beekeepers Apprentice, which is a darling book!:) Well done!

Waaaahhhh that was so perfect. I love it. It is similar because that was spot on about our John.

This was absolutely a magnificent character study and a wonderful character development all wrapped up 4,721 words. While it is sad that old Sherlock cannot tell his young friend about his revelation, the realization of John's value has made Sherlock a good man even if it were a delayed reaction. Love the analogy of the bees! Thank you! I'm glad you shared this beautifully written work!

Well...wow.

That was a hard read...a painful read. But lovely and eye-opening, too. A great progression in Sherlock's emotional growth!

Loved Sherlock's observations about Mycroft, and how we the reader can read between the lines to realize how frightened poor Mycroft must be over the notion of possibly losing Sherlock, and knowing that the loss of John could easily bring that about, so he uses his wiles to prevent it. Loved how he knew just how to get to Sherlock, too!

The analogies with the bees was beautifully done...great way to work Sherlock's later-in-life hobby. His slow, philosophical working through the pieces gave me a lot of satisfaction from Baskerville and Reichenbach fallout. I do feel like Sherlock is casually cruel in the unthinking way of a child sometimes, and had no notion for how much John cared. His dawning realization in this story really seemed true to life to me.

Thanks for sharing that...of course I'm in pieces over here now, but I'll forgive you for that...eventually! :-D