Chapter Notes: One last time...thank you for everything...all the ones who read this, favourited it or put in on their alert list...and especially those who reviewed...

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When Arthur and Merlin arrived at the castle Gwaine nearly fell off the castle wall where he had been sitting and waiting for the prince to return, feeling guilty because he had given him a hard time. None of this had been Arthur's fault and it was not at him to blame the prince.

"GUYS!" He yelled, running through the quiet castle towards Gaius' chamber where the friends, safe for Hunith who had had to return home, had gathered to honour Merlin's memory and share their grief. Later then to worry about Arthur's whereabouts.

"Guys! You have to come and see this you won't believe me! He yelled bursting through the door of the chamber in question.

"What is it" Lancelot asked agitated. "You'll wake up the entire castle with your yelling!"

"It's Arthur...he's back and Merlin's with him..." he yelled running out of the room, the others following at his heels.

"What?" Gaius yelled rushing after the young warrior towards the stables where Mystery and Valor usually stood.

And there they were. Merlin and Arthur were just dismounting their horses as the others burst into the stables.

Completely taken off guard Merlin found himself in a bear hug by Gwaine while Morgana and Gwen both hugged the young prince. Merlin smiled and closed his eyes for a moment, revelling in the magic of the moment. They were finally reunited. Everyone asked had a million questions about the what and who and how and Gwaine did not let go of the warlock once.

Arthur pulled back a little, allowing his lover the moment with his friends, his emerald eyes never once leaving Merlin's face. Gaius went to stand beside him, patting his shoulder affectionately after he had hugged Merlin tight, making sure that he was truly there.

"So you did it...You managed to bring him back after all...thank you." The old physician said lowly as to not disturb the excitement of the youngsters.

"Nah...I did nothing. I don't even know how he found his way back, I'm just glad he did...I have a feeling whatsoever that I have that dragon to thank for that."

Gaius smiled amicably.

"Maybe, but it was you he came back for."

"Nonsense." The prince argued "He came back for you, and Gwaine and the others, not even I can tell how much he cares about you..." Arthur said, trailing off.

"Maybe you can't, and you are right. I know how much Merlin cares about each of his friends there and about me, about Gwaine especially...but he didn't come back for any of us." He hurried to finish as he saw the flash of pain in the emerald eyes at the mentioning of Gwaine.

"When we performed the ritual, I was begging him to come back with all the strength I could muster, and I could the connection between Merlin and Gwaine and how Gwaine tried to pull him back. But it didn't work. And don't even try to tell me that your whole heart was in on the ritual because I know better than that. I don't know why, but you held back. And this is why it didn't work." Gaius said, holding the gaze of the prince's eyes with a serious expression.

"Don't argue." He cut Arthur off as said opened his mouth to do so "as I said, cares a lot about all of us, maybe more than anyone can grasp, but none of that mattered. It was you unconditional love and devotion, your readiness to let him go in order to fulfil his wishes and make sure he was ok even if it meant that you would have to suffer which brought him back. It was also his love for you, so strong that it could surpass even death."

Arthur didn't respond to that, taking his time to process the information. His eyes still on Merlin he realized that Gaius was right and he felt as if a shadow was lifted off his heart.

"Thank you Gaius." He said, and the old man just smiled and waved him off as they continued to watch the others.

It didn't take Merlin long to realize that Arthur was no longer by his side and he felt fear hit him for a split second, before he felt the Arthur's gaze on him and he turned to meet it, earning a fatigued smile from his blonde prince. Merlin shot Arthur an answering smile, freeing himself from Gwaine's hold with a grin.

He looked into the faces of his friends and he was beyond grateful to have all of them. But he was tired and he only wanted to retreat to a more quiet place with Arthur and sleep for a month. And they all looked like they should do the same.

"Ok guys, I think we should call it a day. I really missed all of you, you wouldn't believe how much, but I am drop dead tired and I can tell that you are, too" he started "and to avoid any further unhappy incidents I'd strongly suggest we get some rest and sort things out tomorrow." He added in an attempt to lighten the mood.

The others just nodded, suddenly realizing how tired they were. The y said their goodbyes to Merlin and went to their respective sleeping places. Gwaine, Gaius and Arthur stayed with the raven haired boy, looking at him expectantly.

Merlin walked over to Arthur, entwining his fingers with Arthur's, looking up to the physician and the warrior. Both of them shot him an understanding smile and Gwaine spoke up.

"It's alright, I'll take care of Gaius. You go..."

Merlin felt a surge of gratefulness for his friend's understanding, seeing Gaius nod slightly. He couldn't believe that he deserved a family that amazing.

"Besides," Gwaine added to break the awkward silence "That damn bad is too small for the two of us anyways so you better don't show up to sleep there any time soon." Which earned him a playful punch in the arm by Merlin and an amused look by Gaius.

"Oh the size of MY bed won't be a problem. You'll just have to sleep on the floor then, no harm no foul huh?" Merlin answered with a wide grin.

"Get lost" Gwaine yelled jokingly, pulling Gaius out of the stables, both laughing.

Merlin shook his head while he looked after them with a smile.

"Unbelievable..." he muttered before he turned to Arthur.

"Let's get some rest ourselves, shall we? You look like you're about to fall asleep right where you stand and I'm not carrying you" the prince teased and they made their way to his chambers.

xxXxxXxxXxx

"I almost forgot," Arthur said a while later. They were both ready to go to bed now and Merlin was already half asleep, Arthur walked towards him, holding something in his hand.

"What?" Merlin mumbled sleepily as his prince joined him in the large soft bed.

"I kept this for you, I thought you might want it back" Arthur answered, handing Merlin's red neckerchief back to him. Merlin smiled softly as he took it.

"Thank you" he mumbled, tucking it under the pillow snuggling closer to Arthur's warm chest.

The blonde loosely draped his arms around the warlock, holding him close, but not too tight. He sighed in contentment as a deep tiredness settled in on him, not the exhaustion of a haunted man, but the content and peaceful tiredness of a happy one.

"Good to have you back Merlin." He said lowly, closing his eyes.

He felt his lover smile at that.

"Good to be back. I missed this." came the tired reply.

"It hasn't been the same without you" Arthur confessed.

Both of them took a deep breath, contemplating their situation. Merlin was a warlock, Arthur the future king of Camelot, a kingdom where magic was punishable by death. Even if no one would find out about Merlin's magic, Arthur would have to marry someone he could produce an heir with. Merlin on the other hand would have to stay in the background, making sure that he was safe.

All those very distant problems aside, it was still very likely that Merlin's return would come at a high cost they did not know of yet.

Merlin sighed, chasing away the doubts and worried that threatened to overwhelm him by thinking about Arthur's words from a moment ago. He chuckled lowly as he found an innuendo in them.

"I hope so." He said dryly, before sleep finally captured him.

The tired prince shook his head at that, catching up on Merlin's intention. He quickly dismissed all of his insecurities and doubts, settling comfortably into his pillow, completely content with listening to Merlin's steady breathing, as sleep claimed him as well.

And as they were drifting to sleep together, they found that none of the obstacles they were to face mattered. They would find a way to make things work because they always did. They had people they could rely on and even more importantly, they had each other. That was all that counted.

*~ The End ~*

Chapter End Notes: It's a wrap... this is it...I'm kind of sad to see Sacrifice end...I will miss it...-.-

I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it ;D

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Thank you for reading :D

Love, CrazyIsTheClue

BTW There will be a sequel if anyone cares to read it ;D