It was obvious the relationship between Angel and Raph wouldn't work. He would never forget that hooker that "stole" his heart. Like Mikey, I wish that Amber recover but there things in her life that cannot be mend.

I couldn't stop reading this story.

Thanks for sharing it.

Raph deserved a woman who really love him to using him as the shoulder to cry on.
Poor Angel! She knows how much Raph loved Amber. But she is making efforts that he would eventually forget that woman and move ahead with his life.

Even though he is angry with her, in his heart he wants her back with him.

He still thinking and trying to forget about Amber while he is making love to Angel. I hope he is not using Angel for erase the thoughts of the other woman.

Poor Raph! And I feel pity for Amber. She is destroying herself with those drugs her unhappy life. Despite what Raph has done for her, she wants to continue live her life like that until she dies from an overdose. He was trapped into this sickly relationship.

Angel would be never like Amber. She is a pretty and healthy girl; the other a sack of skin and bones, but the latter won Raph's heart and soul something that Angel would never replace.

Raph is still to love and protect Amber.

He can't get rid of those Amber thoughts. I hope he doesn't do a crazy move.

Poor Raph! Still looking for that heroin-addicted woman. She threw him out of her life, but he still loves her. I hope Angel can make him forget about her. Raph deserves and girl who is mentally and physically healthy; a healthy relationship.

Raph had a suddenly crush for Angel. She grew up into a beautiful young woman.

Thanks for sharing so much of your head canon with us-actually, I was pleased to see that some of the things you had revealed in our prior conversations actually DO come to light in your fics. I'm glad. When there is so much richness to the world and the story, it would be a shame if so much of it never came out.

Your take on Splinter's lack of involvement during Leo's absence for training absolutely completely makes sense, and it's something I had some trouble reconciling, too. Why WOULD Splinter let the team fall into such a state of disfunction? It's a tough one. For myself, and had to fanwank that a little and say that Raph did not LITERALLY sleep all day. In my blended 2K7 'verse, I have Splinter in charge of the intense training, but Leo (and then Don) in charge of warmups and topside workouts. While that doesn't sound like much, Leo guides the team, makes sure they're staying in shape, working together, and it gives Leo practice leading the team. When DON is doing those things, he starts out with the best of intentions, but gradually slacks off. The number and duration of topside workouts drop of, warmups slowly become shorter and easier... and Raphael, the only remaining team member who would care, has already stopped participating. In my head, there is still training, and Raphael shows up to training still (MOST of the time, unless he doesn't come home at all) but he stops showing up to warmups, and he slacks off in training more than ever before. Master Splinter isn't happy, but it's not really his "territory" to make Raph show up to warmups (he feels if he stepped in and enforced Don's leadership role, he wouldn't be doing Don any favors, only making him seem weak) and he can only do so much to make him work harder in training. As for Donatello slacking off, I think initially Splinter does try and prod him into stepping things up, but he is acutely aware that Don is NOT Leo. And Splinter knows all of them are struggling so hard, which puts him at a loss for how to fix it. He ends up kind of stepping back and waiting to see if they can work it out. So although the team does wane in their fitness and efficiency IN SPITE of training sessions. But you know, that's the best I could come up with, and if it were mine to write, I wouldn't have portrayed him the same way in the movie. (Nor do I agree much with his lack of participation in the 2K12 series).

Also, it turns out I am reading this at a good time, because I have kind of temporarily lost steam on Preludes, and now is a good time to step back a little before I take another crack at it. Which works out, because reading this has TOTALLY snapped me out of my writing. Don't worry, that is actually a commendation. Only the best fics have that effect on me. My mind spins around, sometimes for days, as I absorb and think about what I've just read. Back when I had more time to write, I actually had to consciously STOP reading so much fanfic because when I read a particularly good one, it would take me a while to get my head back in my own 'verse. That's just the way my muse works-I have to be really immersed in what I'm writing, especially in the early stages when the main action and dialogue is taking shape. So right now I'll take a nice break and catch up on your stuff. Happily. :) Then I'll return to my own stuff refreshed and ready to write.

Wow, those chapters just flew by! I confess, I finished reading yesterday because I just couldn't stop, but I didn't have time to review. So i'm going to leave you with my overall thoughts, as I can remember them from yesterday. First, this was a real treat to read. The characters still live on the pages, are still flawed and fragile and identifiable as ever. The slow unfolding of the backstory is well done, drawing us along with the current action while alternating glimpses of how things went so horribly wrong for Amber and Raph... horribly wrong. Do I think that? No, not really. I actually think it was so, so courageous of Raph to say what he felt, even knowing (he HAD to know, didn't he?) where it might go. Because what he said wasn't said out of judgment-it was said out of love. Had they continued on the way things were, I still believe things would have ended for them, and I don't think Raph would've stuck around to watch her slowly deteriorate and die on the streets. And we still don't know why exactly she just took off like that on him-but it's probably the only way either of them could've made a clean break. As for the things that were said... they were rough. Harsh. But spoken in anger, which is not a stranger to either one of them.

And now moving on to Angel. I get why Raph feels so guilty about this-as he said, no matter which way he looks at it, he is betraying one of the women he's been with-but he's really not being as horrible as he thinks himself. Angel clearly wants to have sex with him. I mean... how can I put this? She's not an innocent or a child. Is it his job to refuse her to "save" her, even whens she's not asking for any promises of love or a future relationship? I think it's Raph's overactive feelings of guilt and self-loathing that make him feel this way. Angel is going for PHYSICAL intimacy, and it might be that it's the only way she knows to try and obtain ANY intimacy with Raph (maybe she's even right), but it's not as though he pressured her into it. And it's not as though she tried to create a deeper relationship with him before she slept with him. In other words, she didn't question it... so why should he? I'm sure none of this would make Raph feel better about it, I'm just saying that Angel isn't so clearly the wronged party in my book. And now I'll move on to the next story in the chronology-and I'm stoked to read Angel's side of this in your newest fic, too! Eventually. But I'll probably go and read your other ones first. Cheers, and happy writing!

Dang. You know, I love the constant reminders of how Angel and Amber are different, and how those reminders are both a relief to him, and yet painful at the same time. He's totally right-he should have left. But I don't think many people would have, or even could have. Strangely, I also find myself being drawn in to Angel as a character, wondering what her thoughts are through all of this. I'm betting my ass she's not ONLY thinking the things that she says, and I sense an underlying... dare I say, depth, to her? She's more than what she seems. Even if you didn't intend that, I see her as an intriguing character, which I totally did not expect. And does she know about Amber? Hm. I tend to think she knows something, and perhaps senses even more. Here's where I end for now-more as I get a chance to keep reading!

Aw Raph. Love's a b*tch, ain't it?

Okay, so I was totally hooked since chapter 1, but I burned through the first few just to get a feel for the storyline before reviewing. So far? Riveting. I mean, of course I am a fan of the original stories you wrote in this arc, but you delved back in so smoothly I can't even tell that it's been quite a while since you wrote the others. I believe it's a testament of how full and detailed the story, this world, is in your head. It's wonderful. Your voice for Raphael is, as always, so wonderful. So gruff and sort of self-effacing, and yet so revealing to what is truly in his heart. And to hear that even now, a year after Amber disappeared without a trace, he's STILL so hung up on her that he can barely fathom being intimate with another woman-especially one he suspects wouldn't be opposed to something less... superficial? That's so Raph. It breaks my heart a little. I'll keep reading.