Aramis had no sooner finished his soup than the door started to open, and Madeleine bounced into the room. Seeing Aramis awake, she raced across the room towards him, blonde hair flying out behind her.

Porthos, a little nervous of her possibly bouncing up on the bed when Aramis still hadn't recovered completely from his concussion, he gently caught her around the waist and stopped her.

"I think Aramis is very glad to see you, am I right, mon ami?" he asked his brother.

Aramis reached out his hand a little way, and Madeleine immediately grabbed hold of it. "You're getting better!" she said with a big smile. He smiled back, and squeezed her hand gently in reply.

Porthos said, "And we have you to thank that we are finally all together again. I ... we want to thank you, Madeleine. Your papa took you away so fast when we arrived, we didn't have a chance." Seeing her father had come into the room behind her, Porthos amended his words, saying, "Your papa needed to get you home because you were so worn out from the excitement, right?" he asked, looking at her father again.

Guillaume nodded his head. He wasn't much of a talker, and stayed in the background,content to let his little daughter do all the speaking for the moment.

Madeleine started to ask, "Why couldn't you ta...", but Athos headed her off, saying to her, "You can talk more to him later, Madeleine. We put something in his soup that is going to make him fall asleep rather quickly." She was just a little girl and naturally curious, wondering why he just lay and stared at nothing when she had been there before. But they didn't want to upset Aramis with anything right now.

Aramis was already becoming drowsy, his eyelids drooping as he smiled at the little girl. Porthos took away the bowl and spoon, then gently guided the little girl to a seat, so she could sit beside Aramis for a little while. She smiled up at him, then her gaze returned to the now sleeping Aramis, as if she was a little afraid he might return to the unresponsive man whose behavior had so frightened her before.

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Treville came through the door a little later, after Madeleine and her father had departed. He was barely inside before he said, "How is he?"

They filled him in, and Treville's taut shoulders relaxed. He was more worried than he had let on about his marksman, and hearing their account finally allowed him to have some peace of mind.

He said, "I have some news," looking down at the slumbering Aramis. Leading Athos and d'Artagnan to the other side of the room, leaving Porthos, who wasn't about to leave Aramis' side at this stage, and they all sat down. Athos and d'Artagnan looked curiously at the Captain, wondering what news he brought.

"The farmers who attacked Aramis were dishonorably discharged from the army," he began, not really shocking his men. "I don't know how they obtained the land given to soldiers who performed honorably. We will get to the bottom of that. Suffice it to say, they had records of brutality both against the enemy and within the army camps. They would pick fights over card games, verbal disagreements, and other things. They killed two soldiers because the men turned them in for being absent one night when they wanted to go into town for some "action", as they called it.

The leader called Black Wing had a vicious temper and had been highly trained in weaponry, so that made him a natural leader for the others. We will look into whether any of the other soldiers who obtained land did so rightfully. For now, I can just say I am very glad this ended with Aramis returned to us. Considering who we were up against, it could have turned out far worse," looking over at his sleeping marksman with a fond smile.

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While the others took advantage of their brother's slumber to eat a simple but delicious meal that Marie had made for them, all but Porthos. He wouldn't leave Aramis' side, as each time he had awakened, he looked immediately for his brothers in a slight panic. Porthos wanted to be with him if he woke up to prevent that.

Sure enough, only a half hour or so after he had fallen asleep, Aramis awoke. Right away, his eyes looked for his brothers, and he found Porthos smiling back at him. His whole body relaxed.

"You can't get rid of us that easily, mon ami," Porthos teased him.

Aramis felt a little foolish now, his eyes downcast.

"I'm a grown man, Porthos," he sadly answered. "I can't be afraid every time I wake up that you won't be with me. I'm a Musketeer. I have never before had fear like this. When will it go away?" he asked plaintively.

"Aramis, I doubt if anyone has gone through the traumas you have, not once but twice now. It's natural for you to be a little nervous that we won't be here. But I tell you now, we aren't going to be far from your side for a while, til you are back up to strength. You won't be able to shake us off, you know," with a small grin at his brother.

"None of us, Aramis," Athos added. He and d'Artagnan had left their dinner as soon as they heard Aramis' voice.

"But I don't want you to have to nursemaid me like this," Aramis went on.

"Aramis, how many times have you nursemaided us in the past few years-through illnesses, gunshot wounds, and other things. We enjoy returning the favor, and it is absolutely no trouble at all, brother."

There really wasn't anything Aramis could say to that. He just lay there, feeling blessed to have these men as his brothers in his life.

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Athos felt like he needed to finally speak to Aramis with what he had kept bottled up inside for so long. So, when Aramis woke next morning and while d'Artagnan and Porthos went to get some supplies, he sat down next to Aramis on the bed and took his hand.

Aramis saw the look on his brother's face, and concerned, asked him," What is wrong, Athos?"

Athos took a deep breath, and spoke. "Aramis, I wanted to wait until you were stronger before saying this. I...I..." he stopped, and Aramis became worried.

"What is it?" he asked, beginning to get a little worried.

"Aramis, I need to apologize to you. I am the reason you first walked unaware into the danger lurking for you. I am so sorry."

Aramis told him, "You have nothing to apologize for, Athos."

But Athos went on, "If I hadn't upset you so much coming down on you all the time about your relationship with the Queen, you would not have been so distracted on the night you were kidnapped. You have always had such an innate sense of danger. It has saved each one of us many times during missions. But my words caused you such emotional turmoil that you were unaware of the danger lurking when you left the garrison that night. It was my fault."

Aramis looked at his brother with so much love at his painful revelation. "Athos, the only reason you kept talking with me about the subject was out of love for me. I know that. You knew, as I do, that if Louis, Rochefort, or anyone else with an agenda against the Musketeers found out, my life could be forfeit. Your words were meant to shield me from harm. Everything we do for each other is out of love. Please don't feel responsible, mon ami, as I don't feel you are. And always feel free to speak to me on any subject. It is always welcome and accepted, whether we agree on the subject matter or not. We're brothers of the heart," squeezing the hand Athos still held within his.

Athos let out the deep breath he hadn't even known he was holding until that moment, feeling the weight in his heart lifting at his brother's words.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Aramis kept on progressing in healing, and a couple of days later, they finally felt he was over the concussion. Everything else seemed to be almost healed, only bruising still marring his skin.

He had huge gaps in his memory regarding what had been done to him, and may always have them. But his brothers actually were happier if he didn't remember everything he had been through while he was a captive, as they didn't want him to suffer in his memories.

As usual in the times he was bedridden, once he felt like he was healing, Aramis turned into the worst patient-even worse than any of them, and they knew they were bad.

A day later, he finally began awakening without frantically looking for one of them in the room. Now, when he awoke, the first thing he did was ask when they could finally go home, always disappointed when he was told not yet.

They needed to see if he could handle even being upright again, after so long in a prone position. So several times a day, they assisted him onto his feet. After a few tries, they walked him around the room. He tired easily, but that was to be expected. They were very pleased at his progress. Their Aramis was slowly but surely coming back to himself.

Of course, every time they finished his exercise, his question was the same. When would they be heading back home to the garrison, and he showed such disappoint when Athos said 'not yet, Aramis'.

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Then came the day that Athos said yes to Aramis' pleas, and Aramis was like a little boy in his happiness to be finally going home.

All three of them helped out in dressing him, whether he said he was "fine" or not. They knew Aramis, and ever since he began to feel better, all his old habits came back, including denying he was still sore. They just ignored him and helped anyway.

When Aramis was on his feet and ready to go, they each took their leave of Marie, Jacques and Madeleine, with Aramis coming last while the other three waited.

Taking Marie's hand, he deposited a soft kiss to the back of it, saying, "I don't know how to thank you properly," including Jacques and Madeleine in these words, as he looked from one to the other of them in profound gratitude. "Without what you've done, I wouldn't be here now. I wouldn't even be alive to thank you from the bottom of my heart for my life, which you have returned to me."

Marie blushed at the hand kiss, not knowing what to say. Jacques said, "It was our pleasure and our duty as Christians, as well, Aramis. Go with God, monsieur," shaking his hand.

Aramis, with a little difficulty, bent to kiss Madeleine's hand, too. She had tears in her eyes, and seeing them, Aramis said, "Would you come visit me-us in the garrison, Madeleine? We could come get you, or your father or mother could bring you. We could show you the horses, and give you a little tour of where we live. Would you like that?"

Madeleine enthusiastically bobbed her head with a huge grin splitting her face from ear to ear. Aramis gave her a careful hug, befor turning to the door and his waiting brothers, who were grinning nearly as broadly as little Madeleine was.

Once they had passed through and closed the door, Aramis stopped. His brothers looked at him with a question in their eyes. He was silent for a few moments. Then, he spoke quietly, his eyes moving from one to another of his beloved brothers.

"I've thanked Marie, Jacques, Madeleine, and sincerely. I'm so grateful for what they did for me. But..." here he hesitated again.

"What is it, Aramis?" Porthos asked, now a little worried at what seemed to be disturbing his brother.

"I have never properly thanked you," he said. "Both times I disappeared, you never gave up searching, never gave up hoping you would find me. I owe you my life more than anyone. I..."

But they didn't let him get any further. He was gently enveloped in a bear hug from Porthos, followed by Athos, then d'Artagnan. Porthos ruffled his brother's hair, saying, "You don't need to tell us that, Aramis. We would never give up on our brother."

They were all a little teary-eyed now. It was a highly emotional moment.

Athos spoke up, saying, "Aramis, when you were missing, it was like a piece of our hearts was gone, as well. Without you, we aren't complete. We love you, as you love us. It would have been the same for you if one of us was missing. We will never give up on each other." Aramis just smiled, and his eyes spoke clearly with the love he had for them, too.

Aramis insisted he was well enough to ride on his own, and maybe he was. But Porthos insisted on his riding with him back to the garrison. Aramis grumbled, but then sagged against his brother once they were in the saddle, being worn out from not having been on his feet for so long. Porthos refrained from saying 'I told you so'.

As they finally came through the gates of the garrison, Aramis heaved a great sigh of relief. Home again, he thought to himself. I'm home.

Fin.