Chapter 3- Reunion of the Musketeers

He came to small town in Normandy... he let his eyes wander around the lush greeneries, He let the gentle yet cold breeze touch his face, then he came upon a stone bridge, he stopped halfway to watch the flowing brook. He wondered when was the last time he felt this kind of serenity. He then remember why he came here... Athos stared at the dirt road that lies ahead of him. He wondered if the person he wants to meet would welcome a reconciliation. " There's only one way to find out. " he said then spurred his horse.He reached his destination before afternoon. He stopped at a distance, still hesitant, he is even thinking what on earth is he doing in Normandy. Then she saw a woman came out of the log cabin. Her long golden hair flowing freely to the small of her back, her face is very familiar yet she is a complete stranger to him, he watched her with fascination as she hung some clothes to dry . The next thing he knew is that he is walking towards the woman who is now aware of his presence and is looking at him intently."Athos." she uttered. Hearing his name snapped him out of his trance " May I help you?"He felt as if everything he's been meaning to say vanished to thin air. "Athos" she repeated, she smiled, she is amused to see his ever elonquent friend can't seem to find a word to say. " Hey, you look as if you've seen a ghost." She chuckled... He put on a sheepish smile " I thought I'd drop by... since I have not heard a word from you" he averted his eyes " Thank you for your concern, i want to write you a letter however I am worried that you're still mad at me..." she said, also avoiding eye contact with the man. "I hope we could still be friends." Athos said looking away

" Of course..." Aramis said with a smile, he turned to see her face, his heart melted as he saw her sincerity and kindness.

" You must be exhausted from your trip, please come on in" she offered.

He followed Aramis to her log cabin, it's a lovely place, there's a small living room where her knitting tools were neatly arranged, a rocking chair facing a modest hearth. The blurred mountain outlines and the meadows could be seen through the big living room window.

" You knit?" He asked while picking up some yarns from her tool basket. " Why? is it that surprising?" she asked as she handed him a cup of coffee. " yes, I never thought I'd see the day that Aramis, the valiant musketeer will exchange her sword for needles" Athos snickered. Aramis rolled her eyes " Well, you should get use to it..."

They were so glad to have finally settled their misunderstanding.

"It's funny how you forgave me so easily" he said casually
" I can't blame you... I kept a secret for so long, it was so hard keeping it to myself Athos. There
are times that I feel so alone, I never should have felt like that if I have someone to tell my troubles to...
but no, I kept it inside" she sounded so lonely.
" well now we know that hiding secrets will do us no good... especially when we have friends ready to lend a helping hand"

then there's silence.
They looked up to the moon hanging low in the evening sky. They could both feel the coldness of the night winds as they watched the fog seeped through the trees.

" You still love him don't you..." Athos asked looking at the clear moonlit sky. Aramis was taken aback by his question but

she smiled " No one could ever replace him...he means everything to me, I will wait until the day I rejoin him... I will remain faithful until then..."

" How I envy him... I wish he could still feel your love, I'll bet he'll be the happiest man" Athos said.He turned to leave but he stopped by the doorway " I wish I could be him..." he said dryly, then went inside the cabin.

Aramis' face turned red as she realized what her friend tried to say. Could it be that he wants to take her lover's place? Or did he just say that because he had been unfortunate with his past love?

Later that night Aramis tossed and turned on her bed... she is trying to relive Francois' memories ... of their lost love.

But for some reason another face appears in her vision, a face a soldier whom she fought side by side with, A friend who's

wisdom is unsurpassed by any other man she knew " save for Francois..." she retorted mentally.

It's happening... her fear is slowly coming to life... She is trying to fight it but in the end she knows that something has to give. She sat on her bed unable to defeat the "treacherous" emotions. She put on a robe and hurried to her kitchen, to her surprise Athos was there. his mascular form leaned against the window pane,looking out the misty landscape.

" Good morning" Aramis greeted. Athos turned to the young woman. "Good morning Renee, I didn't disturb you did i ?"
"no not at all" she answered " I just find it hard to sleep.It's cold" she told him she even hugged herself to accentuate her point. He just nodded and look away.

"Athos..."she murmured. " Is it wrong to love again after you lost someone you love?"
" I don't see anything wrong with that... to love is a wonderful thing however to be imprisoned by love is foolishness" he said still looking out the window

"Now I'm foolish?" she pouted " I know he'll never return... but I want to stay faithful so that when we meet again
I could proudly tell him that he is the only man I loved in this lifetime"
" what if he asked if you had been happy in this lifetime? Can you still tell him that it's been a lifetime of revenge and of loneliness because of him? " he turned to face her

" No, I guess not..." Aramis smiled at him.
" I know he wouldn't want to cause you pain " he smiled back at her. " I know he'd rather see you take another chance with

someone else than to spend your life in solitude."
" How do you know what he would like?"
" Because... " he paused " Because I know he is not selfish otherwise you never would have loved him" he sincerely said

She nodded and smiled at him. She never thought that she'll speak to Athos regarding matters of love.
The two friends shared the night sitting by the fire, they spend hours reminiscing the past, the good times they had, the fights they won and the endless chase with the Cardinal's guards. Aramis then realized that she knew Athos for quite a long time now and the man is starting to fill a part of her heart, a fact she is yet to accept.

Morning.

"Aramis... Aramis wake up" Athos softly called. She opened her eyes slowly, she blushed when she realized that Athos
is sitting on her bedside. " I'm going back to Paris, Otherwise I'll lose my job" they both chuckled.
" Oh, I do not want that to happen considering you're the next Captain... I'll fix breakfast ... " Aramis got out of bed and motioned to Athos to step out of the room so she could change.

Soon after breakfast Athos prepared to leave for Paris.
" I would like to thank you for coming here... however I would like to ask one more thing, how did you know where I live? "

He smiled mischieviously " from the Captain "
" Well, you should be going now, here I packed some bread and cheese for you... And a bottle of wine of course."
she said as she handed it to him.

" Be careful on your way..." Aramis said shyly.
" I will... thank you for the warm welcome... I hope you could go back to Paris and be with me, I mean be with us"
Even Athos can't believe what this woman is doing to him, he wants to touch her but he just couldn't so he just let it go.

When Athos is no longer in sight Aramis look around her house... it was different having a man around the house
there is a feeling of security when Athos was there. She imagined him sitting on the chair near the fireplace with a book in hand smiling at her. She shook her head to chase away the thought. She do not want to betray the one she love but by doing so she is betraying her heart. She knew something is happening she is just so afraid to admit it.

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okay Chapter 3 is up... it's not gonna be easy from this chapter on...

next installment may take sometime as I am going back to work after a two weeks
christmas vacation... but i promise that i will finish what i started

Oh, a fanfic on AS ! Wonderful !
Okay, I don't understand everything, but what happens i clear. I really like this chapter, it's a soft scene between Athos and Aramis... it's relaxing, I think. I read several fanfics in french where Athos is really mad with Aramis, here the story begins after... it's new, I like new things. But what is not new is love between them. I can like that sort of stories, but I often ask : "Why ?" Why these two friends would fall in love ? Friendship is beautiful too ! And in my opinion, it's too early for Aramis to fall in love again. I even wonder if she ever can. But it's just my point of view.

But it's true, I saw some small mistakes, like an anachronism (Aramis cannot give coffee to Athos, because coffee was not really known in France in this time), or the same mistake I saw in several sites, I mean the Normandy. Aramis was not born in Normandy. Aramis never went to Normandy. The only one character who was born in Normandy is Jean. Aramis was born in Noisy-le-Sec, where she met François, as it is told in the OVA. And Noisy-le-Sec is near Paris (12-15 km at this time, 6-7 now, Paris is bigger !). But I don't mind, it doesn't change my opinion. I like new things. I like new fanfics, new stories, new points of views. I hope I can read new chapters from you.