A/N: Just a little something I wrote a long time ago and stumbled on just now.

Caleb's Lost Love

Caleb Brewster was not the kind of man to get involved with a woman. Not that he didn't like them, he did, his relationships just never lasted more than one or two nights. He knew that not a lot of women found him attractive. He wasn't the tall, handsome officer type who would make the ladies swoon, he knew that. He didn't care that much. He had only ever loved one girl, apart from his mum, and he knew she loved him back.

And now that girl lay wounded in his arms, too weak to even open her eyes, and there was nothing he could do about it.

He shed a tear and caressed her long, black hair. Even now, hiding his face in those locks gave him some sort of comfort, however small it was at a time like this.

She tried to raise her head, but he shushed her and kept caressing her almost manically.

He had known her since he was eight years old. In the beginning they had played together, carelessly enjoying the long, warm summers, neither of them in a hurry to grow up. As time passed they grew closer, and an unbreakable friendship came of it. They spent all their time together, and when the young man Caleb Brewster had to go fishing for whales to earn a living, he knew without a doubt that she would be waiting for him, until he got back home.

She was the only girl he had ever told "I love you." And although she had never said the same to him directly, he knew deep down that she felt the same.
They had been together through thick and thin. She had saved his life on more than one occasion, as he had hers. Together they made the perfect team.

But not anymore. He had been so stupid to bring her to battle. He simply couldn't do it without her. She had taken a bullet – probably one that had been meant for him – and now she lay dying in his arms.

Tears were streaming down his face, and he didn't register what was happening around him, until his best mate and superior, Ben Tallmadge, put a hand on his shoulder.

"Get it over with." he said quietly and handed Caleb his pistol.

Caleb wiped his nose with the back of his hand and took the pistol from Ben. He pointed it at her head, taking a deep breath.

"I love you, lass!" he whispered and pulled the trigger, relieving the black mare of her pain and increasing his own tenfold.