Murtagh Was Right About Women. Sassenach, I

One Dictum I Had Learned On The Battlefields Of France In A Far Distant War: You Cannot Save The World, But You Might Save The Man In Front Of You, If You Work Fast Enough.

For So Many Years, For So Long, I Have Been So Many Things, So Many Different Men. But Here," He Said, So Softly I Could Barely Hear Him, "here In The Dark, With You… I Have No Name.

It Was One Of Those Strange Moments That Came To Him Rarely, But Never Left. A Moment That Stamped Itself On Heart And Brain, Instantly Recallable In Every Detail, For All Of His Life. There Was No Telling What Made These Moments Different From Any Other, Though He Knew Them When They Came. He Had Seen Sights More Gruesome And More Beautiful By Far, And Been Left With No More Than A Fleeting Muddle Of Their Memory. But These-- The Still Moments, As He Called Them To Himself-- They Came With No Warning, To Print A Random Image Of The Most Common Things Inside His Brain, Indelible.

I Will Find You," He Whispered In My Ear. "i Promise. If I Must Endure Two Hundred Years Of Purgatory, Two Hundred Years Without You - Then That Is My Punishment, Which I Have Earned For My Crimes. For I Have Lied, And Killed, And Stolen; Betrayed And Broken Trust. But There Is The One Thing That Shall Lie In The Balance. When I Shall Stand Before God, I Shall Have One Thing To Say, To Weigh Against The Rest." His Voice Dropped, Nearly To A Whisper, And His Arms Tightened Around Me. Lord, Ye Gave Me A Rare Woman, And God! I Loved Her Well.

The Overseer Wouldna Speak To Me Of Ian, But He Told Me Other Things That Would Curl Your Hair, If It Wasna Already Curled Up Like Sheep's Wool." He Glanced At Me, And A Half-smile Lit His Face, Inspite Of His Obvious Perturbation. "judging By The State Of Your Hair, Sassenach, I Should Say That It's Going To Rain Verra Soon Now.