Three years later...

Home Safe

Athos stayed with Sylvie in the room Constance had set up for them at the Garrison, but he was hardly ever there as he and the other two Musketeers spent most waking hours in Aramis' room. Constance and Sylvie came to visit but often didn't spend too long there. Luc was also a regular visitor. He worried about his old mentor. Aramis hadn't woken up yet. The Queen also came and sometimes even came with the young Dauphin. Risky move, thought Athos, as they were often there at the same time. He didn't voice his concerns though. That would get him into trouble with Anne. Right now they had to focus on Aramis and what was best for him.
"Surely seeing his son will give him the motivation to want to recover," Athos thought to himself. He believed it too. Porthos continued to stay in the room Aramis had set up for him in the palace before they went to Grimaud's house.

Athos, D'Artagnan and Porthos were sitting by Aramis' bedside.
"Wh... Where am I?" All looked at each other in relief. Aramis had finally woken up.
"Hi. Porthos, go and get Michel. And D'Artagnan, Luc and Constance too. Constance is good in situations like this. Luc will want to see him now he's awake." Porthos and D'Artagnan left the room.
"Where am I?" Aramis asked again.
"We're safe. We're home, brother. We're back in Paris, in the palace." Aramis sighed.
"Thank God," he said.
"You just rest up now. Hmm?"
"Where's Porthos? D'Art... D'Artagnan? The Queen?"
"On thier way. Luc too."
Soon Porthos, D'Artagnan, Luc, Constance and Michel were in the room. Michel stepped in to check on his patient. He smiled when he saw Aramis awake, as did Luc.
"How are you feeling?" The physician asked the Minister.
"Terrible," Aramis replied.
"You're going to be fine," Michel continued. "You just need time."
"It doesn't feel... Feel like it," the Musketeer groaned.
"I know," Athos cut in. "But you will. Trust me, Aramis." Michel checked over his cuts and bruises.
"Once he's able to walk again, I'll put that arm in a sling." He left the others to it. Luc took D'Artagnan over to one side.
"Is it OK for me to talk to him?" He asked the Captain. D'Artagnan glanced at Athos who nodded.
"Yeah it's fine," the Gascon replied. "Go. He'll want to see you." Luc sat in the seat that Athos had occupied earlier. He clasped Aramis' good hand in between his own. The Musketeer shifted his head so he could see the boy.
"Oh, Luc," Aramis whispered.
"Aramis, I'm so sorry."
"For... For what?" Aramis asked.
"Everything. If I had gone with you that morning, if I'd stayed when I came later on. If I... Oh I don't know. Just it feels like it was my fault."
"Luc, that's stupid," D'Artagnan said, making his way over to his cadet. "You are not to blame. Nothing could have prevented what happened. It was no ones fault except Grimaud. OK? It's not you in the slightest." Luc nodded.
"Luc, it's hard seeing someone close to you hurt. You feel you could have done something to stop it from happening." For the first time since Aramis woke up, Constance spoke. "But you couldn't. And that doesn't mean you're weak or stupid, it's just the way it is. I spent four years waiting for D'Artagnan to return from war and everyday I would get the feeling he was injured. But I knew to think better of it. If he died it was at the hand of a Spanish soldier, not me. And I would keep his memory alive for him."
"But unfortunately for her, I'm still breathing," D'Artagnan joked. Luc gave him a limp smile. Constance's words seemed to have made him feel a little better.
"All of us have lived our lives in fear of danger and death," Porthos chipped in. "But that's part of your duty as a soldier. If you die, you die in service of your King, for honour. At the house, Aramis was doing his duty and that was what he saw it as. He knew what he had to do and it got us home. It got him home."
"And I could not be any more proud and happy to have you as one of my cadets," said D'Artagnan.

The talk of what it meant to be a true Musketeer was interrupted by a new presence. Anne had entered the room. All of them, with the exception of Aramis who was currently immobile, bowed.
"Michel told me Aramis had woken up." Luc gave her the seat he had occupied. Aramis sensed the new visitor and his eyes fluttered up to meet hers.
"Your Majesty," he said.
"Thank God you're alive. I will leave you to rest and come back later. Oh, and Porthos, I've been told there is someone waiting for you by the gates by a servant who passed me on my way here knowing you'd be here." Porthos frowned and both he and Anne left the room.

Porthos made his way down to the entrance to the palace. He smiled when he got there. His wife stood there, with thier child.
"Why haven't you come to see me?" Elodie asked him, looking slightly hurt.
"I've been a prisoner for the last week," he said. "I'm here now though. I've missed you so much." They embraced. Porthos looked down at the girl he had more or less adopted as her father died at war.
"Marie-Cessette. She's gotten so beautiful."
"Yes she has."
"Come in. The others would love to see you again." Elodie and Porthos and Marie-Cessette went back up to Aramis' room. She gave a shy hello to the boys and was shocked when she saw Aramis.
"Grimaud's brother did that to him."
"Thank God it wasn't you," she replied.
"Yeah," said Porthos. Grimaud had still attacked him on the road though. But they were home, safe and apart from Aramis, unharmed. They were safe with the ones they loved. That was all that mattered.