Aw... so sweet. It was great! I love the idea of Tony hanging onto that word the way he hung onto her, perhaps only semi-consciously but tenaciously. It makes perfect sense! The word is a constant, like her, and he depends on its normalcy. But just like the word, she had two sides, and at that moment of truth, he assumed it was back to normal when, in fact, it was upside-down.

I love the flashbacks... it makes the piece really sentimental because you're not just getting an account of those moments, you can see them in your head for yourself. But even though it's touching, you're right. It's not sappy or angsty to the point of despair... it's like things suddenly clicked in his mind and we're seeing the point of realization, between that goodbye and its entailing aftermath.

But that's just me y'know. :) I wrote an Aliyah-ish oneshot named Shalom too... but before the finale, so it's not based on it exactly. In any event.

Nice work!

This was great, I loved it!
And it was a TINY bit sad...
But I still loved it!
Awesome writing :) x

It was sad... but really good!
I love the last line.
x

I liked this a lot. Drawing on the meaning of Shalom was a great idea. Very well written. I like Sad ;) Good Job.

Sincerely,
Valerie Portolano

Aw, how sad! Really good, but also quite sad.

well since you are begging...real nice, almost a bit like a poem in the end. Loved it.

Wow. Once again, great work! Yes it was sad, but I tend to like those ones more. That last line... wow, love it. I'm def gonna have to read more from you.

Hi. Yes, it was angsty as you warned. It was also ambiguous, which was great because so much of what's gone on betweewn them has been ambiguous lately. I'm in England, where we just watched BOUNCE for the first time tonight, so we've not even seen the angst-ridden season ending yet! I liked the way you said that she never used shalom to say goodbye, so when she did, and he was 'so caught up in the word', I could almost feel his heart sinking. I also liked your turn of phrase when she turned away and sent her hair flaring - very descriptive. I can't imagine what next season will bring; Tony's had so much to bear almost since the whole series began back in JAG, it's about time something good happened for him. More about him please, Tiva if you like; I'm sure your Ziva will in the end treat Tony better than the scriptwriters do.

Oh, I don't know. It's pretty sad.

Good little story though, sad and all.

Shalom is a great word.

I stopped begging for reviews,, I never ever hardly get them..
Anyway,, sniffle,, sniffle, sob, Love this,, really Love this. I love stories that use one or two words or images and expond on how they affect the character/s. I am watching Boxed In right now and just sniffling at the chances wasted between the two of them. sniffle, sniffle,, where's that darn tissue?