Wow!! You are an amazing writer! I know I'm always taking my chances when reading fanfic, but I hit the jack pot with this one. I plan on checking out all your stories. Many people don't like season 5, but I've always filled in the blanks with great scenes like you wrote about. I've never liked the FF stories where after the last ep, they go back to being suspicious of each other. And you've just written the reason why they do live happily ever after. Yes! That is exactly what transpired, you have the characters down pat and you gave us a lovely version of events. The only mistake you made was that in the final ep Daniel says that Steele's mother died giving birth. Therefore he could not have remembered her at all. But aside from that, this was a truly wonderful story. Thank you so much for sharing it.

I enjoyed this, thanks.

I would be interested to know why you chose the location you did for Steele's birthplace. I ask because I grew up in a neighbouring town and laughed on reading that part of your story! Thanks.

Beautifully done. Your story brought tears to my eyes several
times - a pleasure to read!

I was so excited to see that you added another installment to your wonderful series... and a much needed prequel at that!
You fill in the gaps that were SO needed in that disappointing last season and make it so much better! THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing your absolutely fabulous stories! They really are a joy to read!

That was FANTASTIC
I cant wait for the next chapter!

Wonderful~~ thanks so much. You are so amazing, can't wait till the next one. -lindsaymc/Lentil

Ms.Gilbert,
When I first knew that you were planning to write a story to fill gaps in SWAK2, I had a lot of doubts on how you are going to make SWAK2 (which for me personally, one of the worst RS episodes second to Bonds of Steele) better. I am so very glad that you've proved me wrong. Your "Requiem in Steele Major" is perfect! Thank you for making time to write these wonderful stories and can't wait for the next SI installment.

Absolutely lovely! Totally fulfilled my sweet tooth, but with just the right amount of thought provoking substance thrown in. I love the scene in which he tells Laura about his mother—beautifully done. Thank you!

Beautiful, as always Ms. Gilbert!
I love the way you weave a tale... and this was so great. I especially love stories that explore what we didn't see between the scenes we did see. This is territory that I don't recall having been explored before and certainly not in this way. Thank you for sharing this with us. Looking forward to the next installment of "Steele Inseparable."

Lovely, as usual.

Wow, so much drama. I'm exhausted! Wonderfully written as usual. I particularly liked the pace of this one, although I could have used less about the caskets and more about the romance! Even though we could assume they would get together in the end, you had us teetering on the edge, feeling their frustration and anxiety. Very palpable. This paragraph is a good example of how well your writing was in this one...

These were deep waters they were approaching, and he felt himself seizing up, like a diver afraid to plunge from the diving board. Not for the first time, he cursed the inability to express himself that always dogged him when he most wanted to be honest with her. Even now he was grappling with the urge to give his glibness free rein and deflect her with a light-hearted quip. Spin it all into some kind of 1930’s screwball comedy. Degrade it to a bedroom farce.

Just fantastic.

R.J.

Wow...this was--beautiful. Steele at the movies, his conversation with Laura, and then telling her about Daniel...I teared up. Well done, Miss Gilbert!

Well, once again, you've captured RS and Laura just as we remember them...And you've given us some much-needed explanation as well! It's funny--when watching SWAK2, I'm just so eager for them to get to the "lights out" that I tend to ignore the yawning gaps in the narrative, but this fills it in and makes it feel complete. Can't wait to see what RS says when he comes back!