After not hearing from Sherlock for over a month, John manages to get time to try and call him, only to get voicemail and not the smooth baritone he was hoping for. Failing in his attempt to call the man he's come to think of as a friend, the doctor waits another few weeks before he takes some time in his tent one morning and pulls his pad out, imagination running wild with reasons he may not have heard back. When it seems like an eternity has passed, during which he merely sits with pen poised over paper, he finally starts to compose his letter as he tries to keep his concern in check.

~oOo~

Dear Sherlock,

I realize that in the course of this letter I may come across sounding more like a spurned lover than a concerned friend, but I am concerned and perhaps confused. I have spent the last ten minutes trying to figure out a way to word this. What happened? You have never been late on a letter, never waited this long to write, and you previously told me to call whenever I could, but this time my call was quickly and deliberately sent to voicemail. So perhaps you can see why I might be a little confused and concerned. I am going between wondering if you are hurt or fell back into drugs, or if you decided that it just wasn't worth the time or attention of your brilliant mind to write back to a plebian soldier like me. Afterall you have made your opinion of soldiers in general quite obvious.

I thought we had formed a friendship however, and a deeper one which owes more consideration than merely discarding the other person callousely. Apparently I was mistaken on some point. If you had wanted to stop writing, I am a grown man not some wilting flower, so you could have just said that you wznted to stop, and while I would have missed your letters a lot, I bloody well would have lived, and been quite alright. now I just find myself wanting to get my hands around your throat for handling things this way.

On the other hand, if I'm wrong and it's something like you're hurt or fell back into drugs, thrn I will be angry with you for a whole different reason. I would rather you be ignoring me because you wish to end your association with me rather than because you went back to drugs.

This is the only reason I hate that our friendship is through letters. It's too easy for someone to be fickle and change their mind, leave one person hanging, or if something happens to you I would never know, or if something happened to me over here you would have no way of knowing. Though I imagine that you have more resources available to you to find out what happened than I do. I just wish I knew something.

If this is the last letter, then I want to say that my life will be much more dull without you in it, I will miss your way of seeing the world, even if it is usually rude and/or condescending. I had looked forward to meeting you this Christmas, but it looks like it will be me alone in a hotel room with take away and a bottle of wine, since it's too late for me to change my plans now. I guess things do not always work out, but it never stops hurting when you're let down. I'm sorry that I couldn't get to know you better.

Goodbye, Sherlock, and thank you.

Sincerely,

Captain John H. Watson, M.D.

~oOo~

Upon receiving this letter which arrived a few days after he returned successfully from Florida, Sherlock goes into a brief state of shock. For the first time his thoughtlessness has consequences that he actually cares about, even though that was not even a blip on his radar when he left for the States. The idea of not writing to John, not having the odd army doctor in his life causes him a bit of distress. That is not what he wsnts at all. Almost immediately he starts to make plans to set his world right again, and fix his mess. It's a lesson that comes late, though he believes if he acts quickly it may not be as dire as it seems

I kind of love this letter, because it is a little short, but it's also emotionally confused because John doesn't know what to think, but he wants to cover all his bases, especially after Sherlock made the point of saying John could call any time. :) And maybe John is a bit of a pessimist, but I like to think of him as a realist, he knows Sherlock will probably get bored with him eventually, or at least bored of writing letters.

I hope you all enjoy this, I have their first meeting in the works in just a few chapters. Enjoy! :D

Reviews/comments welcome!