This is my new favourite fic. Ever. It just rings so true, and has the honour of being the first Hornblower fic that actually made me cry. Its sweet and its sad and it doesn't really have a happy ending, but you just know that in the end everything is okay. I haven't read the books, but from what I know about them, it does a pretty good job of reconciling book 'verse with movie 'verse. Read it.
Never Too Late