Merlin POV:

It has been a whole year. Gwen made me her advisor. Grief still overtakes me. Gwen gives me time and will helps me so much. I told her that I needed time to grieve Arthur's death. She gave me the week off. I asked her if she wanted to come to the lake with me, but she said that she couldn't. I understand, I don't even know how I am going to make it.

"Gwen. Gwen." She doesn't answer. "Gwen!"

"What? Oh. Sorry, Merlin. What were you saying?"

"I was saying that I would be back in a week." She nods. Tears slide down her face.

"I'll see you then." Her warm voice is replaced by racking sobs.

"Gwen?" I wish I could comfort her. I take her hand.

"Yes, Merlin?"

"Who did you confide in before me? Who would comfort you?" I feel terrible for her loss. That is something we both have in common. Our hearts have been broken too many times.

"Morgana." Gwen sobs, "She was my best friend. I still wish she was here. I know that deep down she still had some good left in her. She gave Mordred a burial. Morgana loved the boy. She had some love left in her. I just wish I had been able to stop her." She continues to sob.

I squeeze her hand, "Gwen, I promise it will be okay. The nightmares will stop soon. I have to go. Promise you will send for me if you need something." She nods. "Okay. Bye, Gwen."

I stand up slowly and walk to the door. I turn around to look at Gwen. She never deserved this. Every time she loved someone they died. Her father. Her brother. Morgana. Arthur. She looks up and laughs through her tears, "Go, Merlin. I will be fine. He was your friend, too." I nod and smile just a little.

I mount my horse and ride toward the forest. I don't know how I kept it together in there with Gwen. I guess I just knew that I had to be strong.

~Three hours later~

I made it. I tie the horse to the tree. It was Arthur's horse. He never named it, but I called it King. I walk toward the lake and sit down. I take off my red ascot and adjust my blue shirt. As I rode, I felt odd, like I wasn't sad anymore. I was happy coming here. I don't understand why though. It was like Arthur hadn't died.

I wade into the lake. "Freya! Show me the Excalibur!" Freya's arm emerges from the water, holding the sword. I grasp her wrist and try to pull her up. "Freya. Please come up." Words appear on the sword and disappear as I read them.

I can't. Use the water to see me. Use your magic.

I haven't been able to use my magic for a long time. Not since Arthur died. I try and almost succeed. A rippling picture of Freya appears. "Merlin. You made me feel loved." Her sweet voice fills my ears.

"Freya," I whisper. Then the image fades and her wrist goes back under the water, with Excalibur. I go back onto the land. Freya was my love story. Our love burns brightly and I will not consider it a lost cause. Tear stream down my face. "I cherish the time we had," I whisper, hoping Freya had heard.

I walk along the lake gathering wood and lay it out on the ground. I want to learn magic again. I hold out my hand and feel my eyes glow gold. A flame flickers and dies. "Come on! Magic, work!" I sigh and fall back on the sand. How am I going to do this? I haven't used magic in a year.

"What? The most powerful wizard can't conjure a flame?" I hear a familiar voice say. But, that voice. It can't be. I sit up, and in front of me, staring at me with blue eyes, is Arthur. No. It can't be. It isn't.

"No. It isn't you. It can't be. I'm imagining things. Who are you?" No. It isn't him. It is a trick. "Freya! Excalibur!" Freya's arm extends and throws me the sword. I catch the handle and point the sword at my best friend. The person who looks like Arthur steps closer. "Don't come closer. Who are you?" I am shaking. The sword wobbles slightly in my trembling hand.

"My God, Merlin. It's me, Arthur. Come on, put the sword down."

Arthur POV:

"Merlin, come on. Put it down." He won't. Merlin just gives me a cold look. He doesn't believe me. Of course he doesn't! He thinks I died. Well, technically I did. But, magic brought me back. I have to explain it to him.

"No. Not until you tell me who you really are. You are not Arthur. You are not Sire. You are not my friend. My friend wouldn't lie to me. Now, tell me who the hell are you?" Merlin, he isn't like this. What happened to him?

"Merlin, it really is me. It is Arthur. You were right, Merlin. The lake healed me. I wasn't dead. Only unconscious. Please, Merlin, believe me. The lake healed me. I was able to tumble into the water before you lit the raft on fire. Merlin, I would have tried to find you, but I wasn't strong enough."

I hear Merlin sob, and for once in my life, I truly regret everything I put him through.

"Merlin, if you have any magic, use a spell so that you believe me, but try to trust me. Even without the spell, you know deep down that I wouldn't lie to you." I stand there. And then I speak in the nicest tone that I ever could, "Merlin, please, I beg for your forgiveness. If you don't believe me, run that sword through me right now. If you have absolutely no doubt that I am King Arthur, run it through me. Because there is one thing that I know more than anything." I sigh, "I do not want to live knowing that you hate me or that you don't trust me. I don't want to live in a place where you are not my friend." I put my hands up in surrender and fall down to my knees. I close my eyes. I don't want to see my only real friend kill me.

I hear the sword fall to the ground and I breathe a sigh of relief. Merlin looks at me accusingly, with a little fear. "How could you? How could you not even get word to me? I felt as if I had died. You should have seen Gwen today! She was weeping beyond belief!" Tears stream down my friend's face, "What were you planning on doing? Were you going to just show up at Camelot and say that you were alive? I probably would have killed you. Right about now, I might kill myself! You don't know what it was like. I wouldn't leave my room for weeks. After Gwen's coronation, she stayed in hers, too. We tried to comfort each other."

"Merlin, I can't even begin to imagine what I put you through."

"Believe me, you can't. You know, Gwen and I have a lot in common." His voice gets even colder, "It seems that every time Gwen and I get attached to someone, they either turn on us, or die."

Tears are still streaming down Merlin's face, "Merlin, there is one more thing that you need to know."

Now pure fear plays across Merlin's face, "What else would I need to know? If you tell me that Morgana or Mordred is in the cave that you emerged from…"

"No. It's not that." I take a deep breath. "Merlin, I have magic."