As Horatio sat down on his bed, he started to dimly feel pain in his arm. The blood had soaked the bandages, but it was dark, and most was dry, so the wound must have stopped bleeding. Archie was right . . . He thought to himself, as he closed his eyes and drifted off into the first sleep he had in five days.



"Horatio!"

The room was dark, and Horatio couldn't see the walls, but for some reason Archie stood before him, as brightly lit as if on a deck in full sun.

"At last your asleep!!" He said, beaming from ear to ear. Horatio didn't say anything, except try to remember where he was. Archie laughed, and batted Horatio's shoulder lightly.

"You're dreaming! And don't worry; you'll probably not remember anything when you wake up. By gods, though, you look terrible! Have you not been sleeping?" Horatio knew that this figure knew the answer, as he could see the sparkle of knowledge in its eyes.

"Ah well, hardly matters, as here you are at last!" He laughed with mirth for a minute, but didn't move.

"Are you real?" Horatio asked quietly.

Archie only smiled. "Well, I suppose not. Actually, I'm not really sure what to say . . . Stuck in Purgatory, wouldn't you know. Awful place. Very boring. But don't you worry, I won't leave until you arrive, at least." He smiled, "Hmm. Well, I'm supposed to say something useful . . . So at least I'll try." His smile faded slightly, to be replaced with a worried frown. "I want you to forgive yourself."

"You aren't real." Horatio said, trying to keep his best friends voice out of his mind. "You're dead."

"Of course I'm dead, sir. I think I noticed. But you soon will be too if you don't let it go."

"I don't deserve to live. You do." Horatio said, slightly bitterly.

"If you say that I swear I will haunt you for the rest of your days!" He said threateningly. "Now look, Horatio, I was going to die anyway. If I hadn't done what I had done, BOTH of us would be dead and neither of us would have a good name!" He huffed, but then couldn't stop himself from smiling.

"You always smiled when we were in trouble . . ." Horatio whispered, frowning.

"Aye, and you are in trouble, old friend. I want you to promise to forget about me." Archie stood stiff, the smile was gone from his face now, and he looked resolute in his decision.

"What?' Horatio asked, confused, "Archie, what are you- --"

"Forget. About. Me." Archie said slowly, boring holes into Horatio with his eyes. "I can't let you do this to yourself. Your men need you. The king needs you. And by god, I will not see you run yourself down and push everything onto Bush. You have to forget."

Horatio noted silently to himself that Archie's fists were clamped tight, and he was trembling slightly.

"Archie, but-"

"Do it, Horatio."

"Why?"

"Because you have to!"

"But I can't . . . "

"Horatio, you will forget it. Forget it. Do you understand me?"

"But how . . .?"

"Stop thinking about it. Stop remembering. Give my name to a different face or SOMETHING, Horatio! I'm gone, do you hear? And nothing, nothing can bring me back."

There was a long pause as the two men looked at each other, Archie quivering with silent anger, and Horatio feeling on the edge of despair. The edges of the room weren't noticeable, if indeed, they were there. Horatio said not a word as he saw a small tear fall from the corner of Archie's eye, and watched silently as it fell down his cheek.

"Please, Horatio. Just take what I gave you and forget."

There was another long pause, and Horatio could feel his own tears blurring his vision, as he bowed his head, and brought it back up to look at Archie.

"Aye aye, sir."

And the tear fell.



The end.



Epilogue

***

Six months later, Horatio was sitting with Bush on the mid-deck, tossing a stone back and forth and they laughed and talked together. Horatio seemed to have forgotten, and he was happy again, in charge of his own ship, where the crew seemed to love him, and the French feared him.

Archie sat in the rigging, humming to himself under his breath, smiling as he watched the stone being passed back and forth.

"Don't worry, Horatio." Archie said to himself, though no one would be able to hear him anyway, "I'll make sure those Frogs don't kill you before you're time. Just make sure you enjoy the time you have. The time I gave you." He smiled, his eyes twinkling, "Which I am glad I did."