I just read all five segments in one shot, and my heart is broken into little itty-bitty pieces. Beautiful work! There's something very cathartic about reading stories that don't necessarily end happily - but you did this so wonderfully well. This last one was a particularly lovely way to wrap off the series. The last couple of sentences sealed the beauty.

I'm blabbering, I know - but I think you can get the gist of the gushing? :-)