Aramis slept through the night for the first time since Savoy…waking only once, and only long enough for a drink of water.
Athos and Porthos had mixed feelings about it, afraid at first that he was unconscious. They felt better when he woke, and dared to hope that no nightmares were plaguing him, which was surprising after the ordeal that Aramis had been through that day.
Treville had stayed long into the night, and Athos and Porthos could see the guilt that clouded his features. They eventually told him to go to bed, and with a sad nod, Treville eventually left. It disturbed them to see their captain accept such blame, though it wasn't surprising considering the situation.
When Aramis woke the next morning, he was quiet, even managing not to groan from the pain still in his head. He lay there silently, watching Porthos and Athos, who were faithfully dozing in chairs on either side of his bed. He thought back to the day before, to Athos and Porthos saying that they would never leave him. When he said that he believed them, he'd told the truth…but he'd believed that about Marsac, too.
With a sigh, Aramis closed his eyes and laid an arm over them, suddenly feeling useless.
"Aramis?"
Startled, Aramis moved his arm away from his eyes, finding that Athos was awake.
"Feeling any better?" Athos whispered, so as not to wake Porthos.
Aramis hesitated. His head was still aching and he felt utterly weak, but he didn't feel quite as sad...at the moment, anyway. "I feel…somewhat lighter," he answered.
"Lighter?"
"Mentally," Aramis explained. "I know that you and Porthos are my friends—better friends than...Marsac." It was still hard to say his name. "But what the two of you said yesterday...I really needed to hear that. Thank you."
"You're welcome," said Porthos.
Aramis turned his head, to find his other friend awake.
Porthos chuckled before turning serious and reaching over to clasp Aramis' arm. "That's what we're here for, to help you."
Aramis smiled, but it quickly faded. "Your whole lives have revolved around taking care of me for a month," he said. "Aren't you tired of it?"
"No," Porthos told him. "We care about you and want you well again."
"You would do the same for us," said Athos.
That was true; Aramis would. Feeling a little choked up, he held out his hands to grasp his friends'. "Thank you," he whispered again.
"No thanks needed," said Athos.
Aramis squeezed their hands before letting go.
After that day, Aramis finally began to improve. Athos and Porthos' declaration that they would never leave him was what lent him the strength to go on despite the nightmares and Marsac's betrayal.
And through it all, his friends continued to supply him with chocolate.
One day two weeks later, Aramis woke up in his room alone. It was a rare thing, and since his head wasn't hurting badly, he decided to go outside for breakfast to join the rest of the garrison. Getting himself dressed took longer than he expected after having assistance for so long from his friends, and he truly realized just then how much weight he had lost. He looked at his reflection in the mirror for the first real time in six weeks and was shocked. Even with two shirts on against the chill that he still felt, his jacket was noticeably too large. Adjusting it as much as he could, he decided to force himself to eat that day as much as possible.
Crossing to the window, he looked out to see musketeers milling around, awaiting breakfast. He spotted Porthos in the middle of the yard talking to one of them, and he quickly turned and grabbed his hat before heading for the door, wanting to get outside by himself, before Porthos came in.
The fast motion made Aramis dizzy, and he had to stop for a moment to catch his breath. Placing a hand on the wall, he left his room and headed down the hall before stepping outside, trying to look as healthy as he could.
Porthos started heading towards the stairs, intent on checking on Aramis, when he stopped in shock at what he saw: Aramis had reached the stairs and was slowly descending them, holding onto the rail. Porthos knew that his tight grip meant that he felt dizzy or weak—or both—and he quickly headed over.
Aramis saw him and held up a hand as if telling him to halt, which Porthos hesitantly did. Aramis continued his descent and stepped off the bottom step with a slight smile.
Porthos couldn't stop himself from smiling too, and he grabbed his friend in a tight hug, catching him by surprise.
Aramis chuckled as he was dwarfed inside the larger man's arms.
The obvious feel of Aramis' thinner frame wasn't even enough to take away Porthos' happiness. Aramis deciding to come outside to join his comrades was a huge step in his recovery. He released his friend and guided him over to the table where they both sat down.
Everyone else eventually noticed Aramis and headed over, glad to see him up and around.
Athos had just left Treville's office and headed for Aramis' room, but he walked in to find it empty. He was surprised, and quickly headed outside to see seemingly everyone clustered around the table. He was surprised to see Aramis sitting there and watched for a minute, pleased to see Aramis looking better than he had for the past six weeks.
Some of the other musketeers moved so Athos could sit down beside Aramis, and he gave his friend a genuine smile, glad to see him participating in life again.
Serge came out with breakfast not long after, and expressed his joy at seeing Aramis outside. He piled his plate high with food and commanded that he eat it all.
Aramis blinked. "This is more food than Porthos can eat!"
"Hey!" Porthos exclaimed. He peered at Aramis' plate before saying, "No it isn't."
Everyone who heard him laughed.
Aramis ate more than usual, but he couldn't finish it even if he'd wanted to; the long weeks of hardly eating had made his stomach shrink.
"Don't make yourself sick," Athos said, watching as Aramis lingered over his food.
Aramis put his fork down, giving up. "I looked in the mirror," he said.
The other two waited for him to continue.
"All these weeks, you two have dressed me when I needed to be, and since I trusted your judgment on my appearance, I didn't pay attention to it." He looked down at himself. "I look like the wind could knock me over. I didn't realize that I was starving myself."
The others were overjoyed that he'd come to that realization, but before they could answer, they suddenly heard, "Aramis!"
Looking towards the stairs, they spotted Treville walking towards the table.
"It's good you see you out here!" he said with a smile. "Feeling better?"
Aramis nodded. "Yes."
Treville clapped Aramis on the shoulder. "You have no idea how glad I am."
Aramis smiled back.
After breakfast, Treville called muster and handed out assignments. Aramis, still not on duty, watched from the table.
Once they were all through, the musketeers separated to fulfill their duties, and Treville headed to the table with Athos and Porthos in tow.
"Interested in staying outside for a while?" Treville asked Aramis.
Aramis nodded. "If my presence doesn't interfere with your plans for the day."
"Not at all," Treville told him. "You are still their assignment," he said, gesturing with his thumb towards Athos and Porthos. "I think it would do you good to stay outside; you've been cooped up in your room for much too long."
Aramis smiled slightly. He was definitely right about that.
"How's your head?" Porthos asked.
"This is the best it's been," Aramis answered.
"Wanna go for a walk?" Both men knew that Aramis hadn't much strength, and it was going to take a while to get himself fighting-fit again.
"All right," Aramis said. He stood and they headed towards the gate.
Athos and Porthos kept the pace slow for his sake, and they headed towards the marketplace.
The air had a slight chill and Aramis was glad that he was wearing two shirts under his jacket. They approached a cart filled with beautiful red apples, and he bought one.
"That's not gonna gain you any weight," Porthos commented, though he was glad to see Aramis eat it.
Aramis chewed and swallowed before he spoke. "I know. I think it'll be a while before I'm back to my usual appetite." He suddenly looked sad.
The last thing they wanted him to think about was Savoy, so Athos took his arm and motioned towards the bakery that they happened to be passing. "Would you like a pastry?"
"I do!" said Porthos, grabbing Aramis' other arm and walking him inside before Aramis had a chance to answer.
The man at the counter smiled happily to see Athos—his best customer—and waited on them as if they were royalty.
Aramis happened to see the jars of chocolate, and he walked over to them out of curiosity. When he saw the price, his eyes opened wider and his mouth dropped open. "Athos!" he exclaimed. "That's how much you're spending?!"
Athos inwardly cringed, having not realized that he was going to see it. "Yes?" he said.
Aramis looked at him, shocked.
"Hey it's not just him," said Porthos. "Treville and I contributed too."
Aramis just looked at them, not sure how to react. He looked away from them to the tiny card that displayed the price, still looking shocked.
Athos paid for the pastries and they left the bakery, heading over to some benches outside and sitting down.
"I had no idea," Aramis suddenly said.
Athos handed him his pastry. "It's our pleasure, Aramis."
"But why?" Aramis said, looking at him. "Why would you spend so much money on something so unimportant?"
"Because it isn't unimportant," Athos said. "You like it, and you need it, and I'm glad to help you in any way that I can."
Aramis was touched. "But..."
"No buts, Aramis," said Porthos, his mouth full. He swallowed before continuing. "You wouldn't eat; you were wasting away. We had to do something!"
Aramis' emotions were a mess since Savoy, so it wasn't difficult at all for his eyes to fill with tears. "Thank you. I can never repay you both."
"You aren't required to," said Athos, squeezing his arm. "Now eat your pastry before Porthos steals it."
Aramis looked at Porthos, to see him licking his fingers and gazing longingly at the pastry in Aramis' hand.
Aramis couldn't stop himself from chuckling.
The three musketeers spent the day outside, letting Aramis get some much-needed exercise. They went back for their horses after the bakery and headed to a grassy spot near the river where Aramis always liked to go. He eventually fell asleep under a tree, and as his two friends quietly watched him, they saw that he seemed more peaceful.
When Aramis later woke, they were all thrilled that he hadn't had any nightmares.
They returned to the garrison in time for supper, and Aramis was so tired that he could barely stand up once finished.
"You all right?" Porthos asked, noticing that he was paler.
Aramis' eyes were half-closed and he seemed dazed. "Mmm," was all he could get out. His head was throbbing dully, thought it was certainly better than the stabbing pain that he usually had.
Athos took one arm and Porthos took the other, and they gently helped Aramis to his feet and held onto him as they directed him towards the stairs. A few minutes later, they were sitting him on his bed and getting his boots and jacket off.
Aramis gave no reaction at first, eyes closed as they gently manhandled him. He was so used to it by now they he could probably fall asleep in the middle of it. "Mpfh," he suddenly mumbled.
Athos halted as he unbuttoned Aramis' jacket. "What was that?"
"Valets."
Porthos chuckled. "So that's what you think of us, eh?"
Aramis smiled slightly, eyes still closed.
A moment later, they were lying him down, and Aramis gave a sigh of relief as he dozed off.
"Don't go to sleep yet," said Porthos. To Aramis, his voice sounded like it was underwater, and he was suddenly pulled to a sitting position while an extra pillow was shoved behind his back to prop him up.
Aramis opened his eyes when he smelled hot chocolate, and he found a cup floating before his eyes. "You spoil me," he said.
Athos smiled slightly as he handed it to Aramis, keeping his hand under it just in case Aramis was too half-asleep to hold it.
"You're worth it," Porthos told him. "You know that, right? I mean, really know it?"
Aramis nodded as he drank, before handing Athos the empty cup. He looked at them, blinking tiredly. "I thought Marsac was my closest friend for five years," he said. "But he was nothing compared to you."
Both Athos and Porthos smiled at him, and watched as his breathing evened-out in slumber.
"Thank God for chocolate," Porthos whispered, after he assumed that Aramis was asleep.
"Thank God for the two of you," Aramis mumbled unexpectedly.
Athos smiled slightly, watching as Aramis shifted a little and quietly resettled. His face looked more peaceful than it had in nearly seven weeks, and both of them suddenly realized that they'd done it...
…they'd brought Aramis back from the brink.
THE END
