A wondrous world which seemed to consist of nothing but the colour blue in all its iridescent shades opened up, inviting him to explore, allowing him to dream... wanting him to find all the treasures, all the wonders, all the loss and all the pain it had to show to him.

He entered through a portal made of delicate moonbeams, woven into elaborate arches overgrown with the sweetest petals - not roses, not gardenias, but flowers made from precious stones. Most beautiful of all were the tiny sapphire blossoms, braided into the moonbeams and moving gently in the breeze.

No, it was not the breeze of a warm summer wind, nor was it a cold winter gale. It was the pull of the Sea, beckoning him to travel onwards and up, but not yet. There was still much to explore in this blue, blue world.

He swam, his arms stretched forward, led by the current to where he needed to go. His feet were kicking the water away gently, propelling him forwards past sparkling shells teasing him with glimpses of tiny pearls, forwards past beautiful and treacherous swirling plants, reaching for him, wanting him to stay down there with them and winding themselves around his long legs, not caring if he drowned. But he resisted their allure, swimming on and on, ignoring the mean shark lurking behind a rock, the sharp and dangerous edges of the coral reef.

His legs were growing tired and, while he was miraculously able to breathe, he did not think he could go on like this forever.

But still, he was not meant to leave this blue paradise. The water cradled him gently in its embrace but, at the same time, it kept him below, covering him like a heavy, impenetrable blanket.

There, up ahead, lay something which looked familiar... the large rotting hull of a ship, sad and lonely at the bottom of the Sea. It should not be there, he thought. Ships could not exist in this world - the men on them could not. Not like he did, anyway.

When he reached the wreck, he saw ropes cutting into the flesh of men, keeping them imprisoned in the Sea's merciless, possessive grasp. He saw shreds of sails... no, not sails... bandages, covering fatal wounds and hiding bluish, dead faces from his eyes until he was right beside them.

He swam onwards, kicking faster and more frantically.

A rusty canon lay there beside the wreck, a discarded toy of war - it would never take another life. Muskets and knives, pistols and swords - all floating aimlessly without the steady, determined grip of a murdering seaman.

There... another body, mangled and contorted but still recognizable - an old sea captain who had lost his love of the Sea and of his ship long, long before they had conspired to kill him.

Passing by the bow of the dead vessel, the traveller could make out a name - Justinian. He was distracted by that name - it stirred memories, unpleasant memories, and he made the hazardous flaw of remaining still, staring at the plaque, laid bare like a lamb for the slaughter.

And that was how it could approach him so unnoticed, so secretly, that he did not know of its presence until it was right beside him, stretching dead, icy fingers towards him.

When he turned, his mind on other things, it was staring at him from hollowed eye sockets - the soul was gone from them, and so was everything else. The Sea and its creatures needed nourishment, after all.

He tried to kick himself away from it, horrified and suddenly in need of more breath than this unique place allowed him. But it followed. The cursed thing followed him across the bottom of the Sea, no less determined for lack of life. It wanted him. Oh yes, it wanted him badly. It had a score to settle with him and it wanted to spend the rest of eternity doing so.

He was desperate and alone, and it was coming closer and closer. And unless a miracle would occur, it would keep him down there forever.

The Sea heard his silent plea for help, it seemed, for a bright beam of light suddenly sliced through the waves above and reached all the way down, cutting him off from the dead thing, and with it, the light brought a white, spinning form, slowly drifting down towards him.

He saw with relief that the corpse was terrified by the light, shrinking away from it and retreating back to its eternal, freezing prison somewhere in the gloomy depths of the wreck where it had done its worst, once upon a time.

The traveller watched the white shape floating towards him, and he did not fear it. He reached out and it fell heavily into his arms, the weight it did not have on its way down from the surface returning to it so it made him stagger to his knees in the sand and mud.

He knelt, clutching it, parting the white folds of fabric to see what it was. And then he cried bitter tears which were washed from his face by the Sea, not one of them falling on the body in his arms, on the unseeing eyes, the pale, pale skin, the golden hair drifting in the water. He stroked over the cold forehead and kissed it gently, kissed his friend good-bye one last time.

He released him and watched as he floated upwards again, to the surface where the sun was shining and the clouds came to play in the sky and to dance to the tune of his dead friend's fiddle.

Onwards... ever onwards he swam. He wanted to stay and grieve, lay down and rest at the bottom of the Sea, but soon, he would run out of air. He kicked harder, determined to cover a greater distance.

There, what was that? Something sparkling up ahead of him, twirling in the water like a child's toy.

Reaching out for it, he recognized it. A compass... he himself had once thrown it into the Sea, and now he was there to catch it! He wanted to take it with him as a memento, but he found it fixed in place, forever spinning around its own axis there, a few feet above the ocean floor. No matter. He did not need a compass to find his destination.

The water ahead of him was darker, murkier... but there seemed no alternative but to swim through it, no choice to take a safer path. It was as well he was not a coward.

He kept swimming bravely - not as quickly, but more carefully for fear of what he might find in the dark. But a glint of silver distracted him momentarily and he changed his path.

His throat closed when he recognized the tiny silver loop - an earring, not yet dulled by the rot and decay the Sea brought upon all that was held in her arms. That earring belonged to a loyal, wise old friend who still wore it now. An eternal smile was etched into the kind face in front of the traveller's eyes and he returned it with unceasing gratitude to the man who had once saved his life. But his smile began to fade when he remembered how he had not been able to save that friend when he himself had been dying slowly of hunger and sickness.

The thought had barely settled in his mind and turned into unreasonable guilt when another body floated by him - a man with scars all over his body where he had been whipped and beaten. This man wagged an accusatory finger at the traveller, frozen in that pose until the end of time.

The traveller shuddered, hugging himself fearfully in the cold darkness before heading onwards. Onwards... would there be more death still?

Yes. There always was where there was war. Countless losses, such a waste of human life! Good men, giving their young lives for nothing nobler than politics... such as those two men over there.

The traveller recognized their faces, too. He never forgot the faces of men who fought with him, beside him or for him. Nor the faces of men who fought against him - he did not want to forget them, either.

He swam forward until he reached one of the two bodies, cradling it in his embrace and remembering the days when there had been life in those pale blue eyes. Stroking the dark curls swaying in the current, he noticed that the other drifting body remained nearby, heedless of the movement of the Sea and how it cruelly separated everything else. No, the body of the tall, blond man remained close, his dead fingers reaching for the one in the traveller's arms.

And the traveller was merciful, grasping the cold hand and drawing the corpse forward, releasing the one he was holding and connecting their hands together. Astoundingly, they remained connected, lifeless fingers laced together just firmly enough to keep them from being separated ever again.

Contented, the traveller continued on his pre-destined path, relieved when he finally saw the faint glow of clearer water up ahead, water not dulled by the blood from battle-wounds.

But he had not reached that lighter spot yet, first he had to make it past the tiny bridge up ahead. It was an odd bridge - not separating two sides of a river, but instead separating the traveler and the people on the other side. Many of them he did not recognize, some he did and they made him shudder with disgust or pity, for many of them were either wielding heavy blades or they were the unfortunate souls of the enemy. Some were headless corpses, floating aimlessly but never making it across the bridge. There was a young woman, too, and many children.

The traveller felt so very sad for them, knowing there was nothing he could do for them. The few who were still alive on the other side of the bridge would never let him leave again if he should dare to cross. He felt helpless, and he grieved for them. But he continued onwards wearily... This was not the end of his journey.

Just as he thought his strength might leave him, a hand reached out to him and he grasped it gratefully, knowing with absolute certainty that he was safe now.

He smiled happily when a very familiar face appeared before him, dark eyes winking at him. The lively, healthy young man to whom they belonged reached out to him with both hands now and drew him close, embracing him warmly. The first trickle of warmth he had felt so far down here in the land of the dead.

Rubbing his face against the cheerful red coat of his companion, the traveler felt himself drawn onwards, not even needing to use his owns arms and legs to propel himself through the water. He relaxed into the close embrace and rested for a while.

But the journey was not long. His playful companion soon woke him again with a tender kiss, turning him in the water until they faced another figure up ahead.

The traveller's heart grew lighter still, and he allowed himself to be pulled along to where the imposing figure in a captain's uniform swam calmly up ahead.

His red-and-white-clad companion placed a finger across his cool lips and smiled, and the traveller nodded, trusting him implicitly. He watched his saviour kneel beside him and pick up a few shiny stones and seashells, and then, with a mischievous smile, propelling them - heedless of the water's resistance - towards the calm swimmer up ahead, hitting him squarely in the shoulder.

The figure in red smiled broadly and saluted the stern-looking man clutching his shoulder before pressing a tender kiss on the traveler's mouth and swimming away, splashing in the water with the playfulness of a young dolphin and the grace of a siren.

The traveller watched him leave, until he felt himself turned around to look up into the face which was dearest in the world to him, whether it be above or below the waves, on land or at sea, waking or dreaming...

The love in the smiling brown eyes enveloped him with enough warmth to shut out the chill of the Sea, and he clutched at that man, knowing that right then as well as at the end of eternity, he would be by his side.

They kissed, but their kiss was saltier than it should be even at the bottom of the Sea.

This worried the traveller terribly, for he knew it could only mean one thing - his lover was crying. He drew back, reaching to hold the dear face in his hands and asking his silent question with his widened eyes. 'Why?'

His lover shook his head slowly, stroking the traveller's soft cheek. Then, he lifted his own hand and pulled the ring off his small finger, holding it in front of the traveller's eyes.

The traveller knew what it meant and he shook his head, wanting to shut out what was about to happen.

But his lover knew there was nothing either of them could do and so he did what he had to, sliding the token of love on the traveller's ring finger and kissing his hand.

'Not yet!' The traveller wanted to call out. 'I am not ready yet.'

But water began to fill his lungs. He wanted to say that he needed his lover, but when he reached out, he could no longer touch him - they were deliberately being pulled into different directions by the currents. 'Stay, please!' the traveller wanted to call out, but his vision began to blur from tears and from the quickening swirl of the Sea which had embraced him in a maelstrom.

One last glance was all they were allowed, mouthing the words 'I love you' and 'Forever' before the cruel Sea tore them apart, catapulting one of them towards the light above at so flat an angle that he would surface far, far away, while the other was caught in the current which reversed its natural flow and propelled him upwards, sending him towards the surface and allowing him to break through the waves a mere instant before the water in his lungs would have choked and drowned him.

The next thing the traveller saw was the sun - so bright, so very bright that it hurt his crying eyes. Then, mercifully, the bright disk up above was eclipsed by a human face, looking down upon him even as two strong arms drew him up out of the water.

"You're safe now," a clear, warm voice told him. "Safe with me."

And the traveller smiled, his tears dried by the sun and the wind and the soft lips kissing his stinging eyelids tenderly. "Who are you?" he asked, allowing the kisses and the embrace of the soothing arms pulling him up into the tiny boat.

"Don't you know me?" the voice asked with a sparkle of humor.

The traveller shook his head, his large brown eyes seeking the ocean-blue ones above him. All he could see were those eyes in an exquisite, pale face surrounded by dark locks which curled over the collar of a lieutenant's uniform .

"Never mind. You will." And the lieutenant smiled a smile to make the sun envious, held the traveller the way the Sea never could with her cold arms, and gave him the kiss of life.

Horatio jolted awake, sitting up with a wail of "William!" on his lips.

"Who is William?" a sleepy voice murmured beside him.

When Horatio turned, his eyes met those of his captain and lover. "I don't know," he admitted, sinking back into the sheets and clutching the warm body beside him close.

"Now that you're awake..." Edward Pellew leant on one elbow and lifted Horatio's hand to his lips. "I want to give you something."

Horatio smiled, even while his heart was pounding with fear. He knew, without doubt, what he was about to be given.

And indeed, the captain pulled the ring with the deep blue stone off his small finger and slipped it onto Horatio's ring finger. "I love you, my darling," he whispered.

"Forever," Horatio responded, throwing himself into his lover's arms and clutching him tight.

Edward held him close, his heart heavy with the news he would have to give Horatio today. He glanced over his beloved's shoulder towards the table which held the orders from the Admiralty. "Forever," he confirmed.