Long reviews aren't meant for this. I've read many fics but I think this will always stay my favorite. There's so much being said in words that are lost and unwritten. So much meaning in words that twist and sway like a paintbrush over an empty canvas to give a picture that breathes a thousand emotions.

Every sections breathes the same emotions but in different colours and different pictures and the mind seems to slowly flow from one to the other like a dream where everything is connected but everything is so different.

Every sentence whispers a thought that rouses the deepest of grief and loneliest feelings of loss but there's no depair because there's a stubborness in the current that pushes the reader to take one step after the other. To follow the progress of the story and the tales of the ones in it. There's a gentle pull in the words that seem to try and give an assurance of better days and better nights where the heart won't ache with the loss the story has instilled and tells of a future where there will be happiness again.

There's aechanical feeling to Dons progress. Like his limbs are beyond the progress his mind is still trying to push through. Like his body is trying to make up for the lack of productivity of his mind and his thoughts that are still too painful to touch.

Mikey keeps holding on. There's an almost childish fear of losing what he has left. A fear of a change that brings too little of his brother with him and too much new. There's an awareness and an urgency that is unlike him but in its rarity it pushes him forward the moment he needs it the most.

Raph is lost. I think he feels lost for a long time. Before he finally finds a way to find himself again and what he needs to hold on and move on.

The review is a bit muddled. You probably haven't opened or written in a long time and I don't begrudge your retirement. Just know your readers will always be stunned by the beauty you have sunned from simple words that weight nothing till you made them precious. And a reminder that we will always want to hear if you ever wrote anything again. In the real world or not. Whether it is something of yours in your own world or one borrowed. :)

You killed him and yet I can't seem to find energy in me to hate the fact that you did.

you killed him and created a masterpiece out of it. -sobs-

thank you so much for sharing and creating this endless wonder.

thank you and more power to your talent!

-Tsuki-

Thank you. For without this story, I would not have started crying, therefore I would have not felt a very uncomfortable sting in my eyes, therefore I would not have realized that my makeup is still in place at midnight. Thank you, for the reminder that I need to take it off.

ash

I can never get over how unbelievably sad this piece is, or how well-written. All of the guys' reactions are perfect, and Mikey just about breaks my heart. Pretty much every time I read this piece, I just feel deeply sad and depressed, and then once I get over that, I feel like writing something like this. Translation: you're an excellent writer, as always. Thanks for such a great piece.

*CRIES* *AGAIN*

Wow...this is unbelievable...simply beautiful in such a heart wrenching way. You showcase the stages of grief so eloquently. I'm at a lost for words at the moment...

Great work! ;D

I really do not care for angst, but this is extremely well-written. Brava!

Great story. I can see the family feeling like this if Leo were to die. You are a good writer.

The Bubbly One,

Shell

Fantastic, that's all I can really say. I love how you made each react. I thought their reactions were all in character. Very touching fic, it made me cry. Great job on this.

This was beautiful, my favorite kind of story...and yet, Raph's part was so short. I liked the last line, but what about the years in between? Are we to understand that he raged and grieved the whole time, not accepting it until years later? What happened? What did he do? I know this works well as a one-shot, but could you maybe add a short chapter giving us more about how Raph coped all those years?

But, more importantly, please update Lockdown. I'm begging you, again and again and again I beg you, please don't abandon that wonderful story. Please don't leave us on this cliffhanger for any longer. Please update. Ok, thanks.

this was incredible. you captured the stages so perfectly, for everyone. oh my god, i can't even articulate how intense this story is and how emotional it is making me. wonderful job!

oh you... you... bloody... &*$%#!

tears, yes, on my cheeks as I read this. What I love about this is not just how wonderfully you encapsulate our boys' different personalities in each of their little snippets. It's how you also reveal how damn wonderful Leo was - how beautifully you portray HIS personality through their experiences.

Don, rising to the awful challenge and slowly coping. It's true - no matter how awful something is, as each day passes that state seems normal. How awful and twisted and bizarre, but inevitable. Darling Donnie, doing what he can to keep the family together.

Mikey, trying to immortalise his brother, needing to cling to him. It never being enough. This is where I started to cry.

I hoped more for Raph, would like to read more from Raph, but at the same time, it was perfect and didn't need anymore, even though I want more. Someone, it managed to get their whole fraught yet passionately loving relationship... the fact that Raph's is years later, that he's made tea he's not good with, that there's another cup there, that obviously this is something they did together, that he recalls words spoken to him... gah.

*loves this story all over* I wish I could write story about the Guys like this.

wonderfully done chica! a great glimpse at the whole greiving process. Not too angsty, not too over done, perfect! Its hard to find a good read lately, but this was amazing! KUDOS! D

Very bittersweet, sad, and angsty. Each brother remembering their fallen comrade in the only way they know how.

One with his tinkering.

Another with his creativity.

And a third with his unencumbered salute. The briefness of his part in this one-shot helped to augment that nicely, too.

The only one who's missing in this is Splinter.

And April.

And Casey.

Anyway, nice job!

Be blessed,

Rene'

I normally lurk more than I review, but I couldn't not comment on this. It's simply fantastic. The aftermath of loss-you got it in one. Thank you for sharing this.