We Have Nothing Now Between

My Father Liked Me, When I Wasna Being An Idiot. And He Loved Me, Too -- Enough To Beat The Daylights Out Of Me When I Was Being An Idiot. Jamie Fraser

I Prayed All The Way Up That Hill Yesterday, He Said Softly. Not For You To Stay; I Didna Think That Would Be Right. I Prayed I'd Be Strong Enough To Send Ye Away. He Shook His Head, Still Gazing Up The Hill, A Faraway Look In His Eyes. I Said 'lord, If I've Never Had Courage In My Life Before, Let Me Have It Now. Let Me Be Brave Enough Not To Fall On My Knees And Beg Her To Stay.' He Pulled His Eyes Away From The Cottage And Smiled Briefly At Me. Hardest Thing I Ever Did, Sassenach.

Do Ye Want Me?" He Whispered. "sassenach, Will Ye Take Me - And Risk The Man That I Am, For The Sake Of The Man Ye Knew?

I Wasn't Used To Living Crowded Cheek By Jowl With Numbers Of Other People, As Was Customary Here. People Ate, Slept, And Frequently Copulated, Crammed Into Tiny, Stifling Cottages, Lit And Warmed By Smoky Peat Fires. The Only Thing They Didn't Do Together Was Bathe - Largely Because They Didn't Bathe.

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.