I loved this entire story, but that flashback with Raph and the bug tunnel...it just made my heart sing for him. He really is so special, and it's sad how he doesn't know it. Really well done.

Great story! Absolutely loved it :)

This story was abosolutely beautiful, especially the last chapter. Very well written!

I LOVE this story!

I do hope you'll consider continuing this, it is so well written.

This is absolutely one BEAUTIFUL story! ;;;;;
ThanKyu so much for such amazing work!

Help someone the city's outta tissues! lol
UGH This got me bawling like a baby Oh goodness! ;;;;;;

Amazing story, absolutely phenomenal, would love to see you finish what you started. Please keep up the talented work.
Looking forward to reading more, Rebel in Red

Wow great story! Love the flashbacks to when they were kids, so sweet.

i love that. people see nightwatcher, the absolute scum of human beings that Raph has killed and killed, and who would look past judgement and morals and laws and religious belief bullshit to even glimpse the fact that he's a hero? and not for those acts, necessarily, but maybe despite them? not many sadly. but it's beautful that mikey remembers.

great fic.

beautiful. i'm so glad they finally came to that understanding; silly boys.

so sad. that people would give up hope and write off a person for dead for their own sake. to think that it's better that a loved one is dead, then to have faith and hope just cuz it wears on you is just so utterly selfish. but so many people do it. and it's not fair when there are others who really do loose someone, and would give ANYTHING, wait a freakin' eternity for the chance that they are alive and okay. are there really people like that? people who love like that anymore? everyone deserves someone who'll never give up on them, let alone for their own sake.

i'm glad you addressed Donnie. silly boy, you get a second chance you do things differently. you hold onto it. follow him if you have to, foolish turtle. don't resign yourself to heartache.

huh. casey had a daughter with someone else? really?

it's a small part of the story, i know. but i find it so...sad, when a mother dies in childbirth and the dad takes the baby and goes and marries someone else right after. like, "thanks for the kid, but i need other romantic attachment in my life now you're gone"

not everyone does, of course. but it's such an intense thing, looking forward to a baby with someone you love, and then to even think they'll be taking care of it with another woman just cuz you died...sorta heartbreaking, even if you want them to be happy. (not that replacing you is the only way to do so) ~shrugs~ some people just can't deal with being alone, or with grief. others love far beyond death, instead of running to the ex-girlfriend. some loyalties are beyond death i guess, whereas others cut off completely. depends of the person i suppose, and the depth of the relationship.

other than that, the fic is great. i'm glad you addressed that Don still has issues. his 'reunion' with raph would have been a bit dissappointing otherwise.

I adore this story. It's so...So...(AGH!) There's just so much to say and I am having trouble finding good words for it right now (algebra fries my brain at the moment, need I say more?).

There's so much thoughtfulness, and eagerness, and kindness and GOD I love that angst, it's so amazingly written. You've kept everyone so amazingly in character but matured and developed them perfectly suiting everything that's happened so far.

I especially love Mikey's views on Raph and his brothers. It's mind-blowing to see him be mature enough to let go of those ten years and just take what they have. And when Donnie confronts Raph in those tunnels, sounding so sad and resigned, I almost couldn't keep reading. Raph knows how much pain he's caused and is about to cause, but he also can't stop himself.

I loved how he asked for permission to come home, you know, like Donnie was the only one who could really tell him. I guess he WAS the only one who could tell him, in a way, because everyone else was all forgiving. And the interactions with Leo are amazing. How much he worries and empathizes, and all the conflicting feelings! I mean, come on! "We've waited." That's just the best.

And RAPH! Oh my god, RAPH! I loved it, how he left, and how he called, and how he cried and how he's all hyper-aware and paranoid! I've always loved jumpy, skilled, paranoid Raphaels in stories.

In short, you've got everyone down perfectly. Vulnerable, but not too sappy, and afraid but not really admitting that they are. This story is so sweet and suspenseful, and I can't wait until you post more. Keep it going!

M, it's at the beginning of this chapter where we realise that Raph hasn't just been settling in nice and quietly for the past month back in his old home. The sneaky turtle.

(Also: the phrase "a herd of Michelangelos" cute).

You make a very nice link here between Raph and the 'runaways', families with missing members. It's like no matter how far or fast Raph runs to escape his family, he can't help his obsession with it, with protecting it.

And then, the confrontation with Don! God, it's perfect. And the reader really can't say for sure whether Raph will be back the next day. And Don is so -sad-, it's heartbreaking.

This is a great part of the story to leave Review #100 on, because it's truly impressive :D