Chapter 11- Epilogue

The next few weeks passed in relative ease for the Musketeers. D'artagnan continued to get his strength back, although he annoyed Aramis constantly with his persistent attempts to push his weakened body past its capabilities. One such time, Athos and Aramis had gone to visit D'artagnan to find him sprawled in an embarrassed heap on the floor, unable to get up and with his main gauche lying next to him. When asked what had happened and hauled back to bed, he had admitted sheepishly that he had been trying to practice some moves, afraid that he would have become rusty without practice.

Aramis tutted as he checked his healing wound had not been torn open and that his fever had not returned. Although slightly warmer than before, it appeared the Gascon had done no lasting damage.

"All the same" Aramis sighed, "I'm taking your sword away for a while. It's for your own good" he hastily added as D'artagnan opened his mouth to argue.

Remembering Treville's words, Athos waited until Aramis had left the room before saying:

"Raw talent cannot be forgotten, no matter how long you go without training."

Athos would later find himself in the tavern, staring into the abyss of his bottle and wondering how a few simple words could provoke the Gascon to positively light up and swell with happiness.

THE MUSKETEERS

A few days later, Aramis finally gave in to D'artagnan's persistent nagging to let him out into the yard. The three men forced the Gascon to sit at their usual table, D'artagnan all too willing to comply and enjoy the Sun on his face while he watched the three men train.

Soon, however, D'artagnan's hands were itching to hold his sword again.

"Please?" was all he needed to say to Athos when he returned to the table, knowing that his tutor was more likely to say yes than the overly protective medic.

"Only if you're feeling up to it" Athos replied stonily. "I am trusting you to make the right call here, any consequences are on your head."

D'artagnan nodded happily and leapt to his feet to retrieve his sword.

"If he ruins any of that fine needlework…" Aramis said, running his hands through his sweat soaked hair. "I'm not sure this is the best idea."

"If he says feeling up to it, he'll be fine" Athos replied firmly.

"This is D'artagnan we're talking about!" Aramis hissed. "The lad would hide a shot to the heart if he thought it would stop him from becoming a musketeer!"

Athos simply shook his head in exasperation and walked away, leaving Aramis to mutter angrily to himself as D'artagnan came back down the stairs.

The Gascon gave a few experimental swings of his sword, a slight grimace the only external sign that his wound was stretching slightly. Athos' eyes narrowed, but he did not comment; D'artagnan had said he was up for the fight, and Athos believed him.

All the same, as they began sparring, Athos kept his strikes light and slow, not wishing to press D'artagnan too hard, but the lad was having none of it. His returning strikes came fast and hard, forcing Athos to switch to the defensive.

However, just a few minutes into the session, Athos could see D'artagnan was beginning to tire. His strikes became clumsier and he began to favour his uninjured side. Athos knew it was time to bring the fight to an end, twisting out of the way of a particularly clumsy attack and watching as the Gascon overbalanced onto the ground.

"Not bad for an injured recruit" he said dryly, watching as D'artagnan slowly pulled himself to his feet. "A lesson into how to fight through injury without your enemy noticing where your weak spots are will be needed soon, however."

"How about now?" D'artagnan replied eagerly. Despite the fact the pain in his side was reaching a rather uncomfortable level, and his legs were feeling rather too wobbly for his liking, the rush of the fight had put him in a better mood than he had been in in weeks.

"No" Aramis stated firmly from their table. "I would suggest that that is enough for today, we do not want to tire D'artagnan out any more." He shot a meaningful look at Athos, who took a closer look at D'artagnan and saw the pale pallor of his skin and decided to take Aramis' advice.

"Don't worry" he muttered to D'artagnan has he walked past. "We'll go again tomorrow."

THE MUSKETEERS

As the weeks stretched on, D'artagnan's strength bounced back in the way only a young man's could. His training sessions with Athos, Aramis and Porthos returned to their regular frequency, with Athos always around to give advice when he fought the other two. Not only was D'artagnan's swordsmanship improving, but Aramis had taught him to shoot just as well as any other man in the regiment and Porthos was in the process of teaching hand to hand combat. D'artagnan was having a bit more trouble getting to grips with that skill; being small and slight, he could dodge attacks easily, but his strikes were not as powerful as the other men's.

Treville continued to watch D'artagnan with increasing interest as the weeks went on. The Gascon was streets ahead of his current recruits, and as Athos had once said, he could easily become one of the best, if not the best Musketeer in the regiment. Treville knew that was partly down to his tutors, but also his raw talent and willingness to work hard. Athos' new teaching technique involved more praise, but also more work, and the Gascon was flourishing under his guidance.

Rather than hearing D'artagnan train alone, Treville often heard Athos sparring with him late into the night. The former Comte hardly ever spent the night in the tavern anymore, so this new training regime was clearly of mutual benefit to both men. D'artagnan was helping to smooth out Athos' rough edges by giving him something other than his demons to focus on, and in return Athos' attention was transforming D'artagnan's potential into skill.

Treville smiled from his place on the balcony as he watched D'artagnan disarm Athos for the third time in a row. His job could be incredibly difficult, but it was moments like this that made it worth it.

Well, there you go! I really hope you enjoyed that last chapter, thank you to everyone for bearing with me while my creativity abandoned me for a bit. I would absolutely LOVE to receive some prompts if there is anything you want to read, I don't think I've ever enjoyed writing fanfiction more than I am at the moment! So feel free to PM me if there's anything you would like, preferably D'artagnan angst centred :D

As always, reviews are greatly appreciated and genuinely do make my day!