Thank you! Yes, poor Watson -- I can only imagine that he would feel such a sense of loss, loneliness, duty, despair, and loyalty -- especially late at night. He was always writing and keeping journals, and it seems only natural that he would do the same through his "letters" to Holmes.

Oh, and the ACD bit actually happened (well, maybe not the writing to Watson, but the question and answer when ACD said that Holmes was "too old to serve" and then, on more thought, wrote LAST. As soon as I found that out during my research for this, I just knew that I had to incorporate it into the story.

So glad you liked it! More (cheerful) parts coming... soon(ish)