It's finally here! The last chapter! And the happy ending you all have been waiting for! Enjoy! ;)

CHAPTER 12
A Promise of a Good Future

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Epilogue

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Two weeks later

The first rays of sunlight reached the window in Arthur's chambers and make his cheek feel warm. Soon the light reached his eyes too though and he had to squint them, wishing he could go back to sleep and forget everything about the world.

But the rays won and made him open his eyes slightly. He sighed.

Another dreamless night. Another night spent in his bed, alone, without Merlin. Another night when it wasn't Merlin who woke him up, but-

"Good morning, my lord."

Arthur groaned as he heard George's annoying voice again and closed his eyes, trying to return to that empty darkness. George was a good servant. He very rarely made mistakes, he even returned everything back on its right place after Uther had Arthur's room searched through, but... no one could ever replace Merlin.

His goofy grin, big ears and blue eyes full of love and happiness. His warm hands on Arthur's cheeks and in his hair as his pink lips touched his in a gentle kiss.

No one could ever say his name the way Merlin did.

Not that George would ever call him by his name, it was always my lord or sire with him. And jokes about brass of course. A lot of jokes about brass.

"Hello, George." Arthur sighed as he rubbed his eyes with his fingers and slowly sat up.

George bowed and immediately went to pick some suitable clothes for Arthur. When he returned he put his arms behind his back and looked up. "I have prepared a breakfast for you, my lord and picked the clothes." He informed him.

"Thanks," Arthur just nodded.

And then the morning went by as the last fourteen morning. George stood in front of the changing screen while Arthur changed behind it, then he led Arthur to the table to assist him with breakfast and fresh water, and he told Arthur about his responsibilities for the day.

Oh, that was another thing. Since Uther died, Arthur had to become the king of Camelot, and responsibilities of a prince were nothing compared to the ones of a king. Arthur realized that during the last two weeks that Merlin was still unconscious. Or in a coma as Gaius said he feared.

Arthur couldn't stop thinking about what Gwen told him were his father's last words. She said she was there with him when he died. And that he wanted to see him, talk to him. But they never had the chance to finish their conversation that Arthur had started after he and Merlin escaped the dungeons.

Gwen said Uther wanted him to know that he was sorry. And that broke Arthur's heart all over again.

Arthur was also sad because Merlin missed his coronation. Not that it was a big deal anyway, but... it sort of was. It was a moment Merlin's been waiting for and he wasn't there to see it. There was a lot of noble people – lords and ladies – and his knights and Percival with Lancelot, Gwaine and Gwen and Gaius, while he swore the oath and Geoffrey put his father's crown on his head.

Merlin would have loved to see that. He wanted to wait, but the members of council told him he couldn't wait any longer. That it was important to show the people of Camelot that he was ready to be their king.

Even when he thought he wasn't.

And then Arthur left his chambers, leaving George behind to his duties, and he went to Gaius' to visit Merlin. It's become another part of his daily morning routine – to visit Merlin and talk to him about what was happening in Camelot. He wanted to believe that Merlin heard him. And then when Arthur had to leave again, he never forgot to kiss Merlin.

For good luck.

Arthur slowly walked down the stairs into the courtyard, deep in his thoughts. He halted in his steps as he noticed Sir Leon helping with the repairs of the castle as he had asked him to do.

A sad smile crossed his face.

The two towers that had fallen down on the courtyard and killed three knights had already been removed, but the damaged ground was yet to be repaired. Together with another tower that was still lying outside the walls, and the walls, and the gate too and majority of houses of the Lower Town.

It was a great battle with a big advantage on the enemy's side. But they managed to beat them at last and save the castle, and most important of all – save the people of Camelot.

As Arthur started to walk across the courtyard again, he noticed Gwen and Lancelot, hand in hand walking through the gate that was next on the to-be-repaired list. He smiled at them and they smiled at him as they saw him and they bowed slightly. Arthur was happy that Gwen found someone to love again. Even when she loved Arthur, she always loved Lancelot too. They belonged with each other, just like Arthur belonged with Merlin.

Which made his smile disappear. But then he noticed Gwaine with Percival laughing together as they were walking to Leon to help him with the repairing and Arthur had to smile again. Because not only have Gwaine and Percival become good friends, they have also become knights.

Yeah, that's right. Arthur ignored the ancient rules about knight being only noble men. Right after his coronation, he gathered Gwaine, Lancelot and Percival and knighted them for their bravery during the battle. They all deserved that.

Just as Morgana deserved what Arthur did to her. He had to admit that it felt wrong to do – he will always think of her as his sister and abandoned family – but he had to let the citizens of Camelot know of her actions. And so he had publicly declared her an enemy to the throne and to Camelot, and told people that she was a sorceress.

Not that she would mind. One day when his patrol returned to Camelot, they had very interesting news for him – Morgana had become the queen in Cenred's kingdom.

Cenred was dead after all and Morgause was too, and there was no one to take the throne because Cenred had no family. And his army had been taking orders from Morgana and Morgause for some time already so it made sense that they returned to her. He hoped she was happy now and that she wouldn't try to take over Camelot again.

He didn't know if she would call the land Morgana's Kingdom, but she had every right to do so. Well, as long as she didn't try to take Camelot.

Arthur finally reached Gaius' chambers and knocked on the door. When he heard Gaius' reply, he opened the door and went inside. When he saw Gaius' sad, old eyes, his hope got shattered all over again like every morning for the past two weeks. The little shake of Gaius' head while he gave Arthur this look of sympathy, meant only one thing – Merlin hasn't woken up yet.

"Good morning, Gaius." Arthur tried to smile slightly, but it was hard.

Gaius bowed slightly. "Good morning, my lord."

"Please," Arthur raised his hand as he closed the door and walked closer to the old physician. "It's Arthur for you and for all of my friends."

Gaius nodded with a ghost of a smile on his lips. Then Arthur grew serious again. "How is he?" He couldn't help but asking, because even though Gaius shook his head and had a sad expression, it didn't meant Merlin was dead. And that meant that he had to feel somehow, so that was exactly what Arthur was asking.

The old man sighed and led Arthur to Merlin's little chamber. Percival left right the day he and Merlin with Gwaine came back home, and with the help of his new friends, he found a place to stay in. And then he together with Gwaine and Lancelot have been given a better places to stay in because they became knights of Camelot. The knights of the round table...

Arthur only had to work on the round table part, he still didn't have one. But it was a good idea, right? A symbol of equality – just like the old kings did in their time.

"His condition hasn't changed." Gaius said and brought Arthur back to reality. There were flowers next to Merlin's bed from random citizens of Camelot – he almost forgot that while declaring Morgana an enemy, he also told people that Merlin was the hero and the one who deserved their thanks. A lot of people heard he was a sorcerer, so he also had to explain where Merlin's loyalty was and that he was born with magic and couldn't help it. Of course, the members of council (excluding Gaius) weren't very happy with that, but Arthur was the king now and he got to decide about Merlin's fate.

Gaius sat down on Merlin's bed and put a hand on his ward's forehead. He shook his head slightly and sighed. Then he carefully opened Merlin's eyes and nodded when his pupils were blue – just like they should be.

"Is he better or worse?" Arthur asked.

"He is the same." Gaius bowed his head and slowly stood up again, turning to Arthur. "I'll leave you alone."

Arthur nodded as a thank you and as soon as the door closed, he knelt down beside Merlin's bed and entwined their fingers. A tear rolled down Arthur's cheek as he couldn't stop thinking about what Kilgharrah said.

Merlin is strong. But I cannot know for sure that this will not kill him.

Arthur pressed Merlin's hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. "I hope you can hear me, Merlin." He started as he did every morning. He took a deep shuddering breath. "I wish you would be here with me. I miss you."

When there was no response from Merlin, Arthur sighed and started talking about everything he could think of.

"George brought me a hug breakfast today again." He said. "And let me tell you he is much better servant that you ever was... but no one can replace you Merlin. I woke up alone again." He gently kissed Merlin's knuckles and closed his eyes again. "In other news, Lancelot and Gwen are together. And Leon with others continue with fixing the walls. Oh and I finally got rid of the dragon dagger yesterday. You would never guess where I've put it!" He let out a watery chuckle as he tried to smile and looked at Merlin. "Into the lake again, the same where you hid my sword. I guard that sword well by the way." He added.

Then he sighed deeply and put Merlin's palm against his cheek. How much he missed that contact. When Merlin put his hand on his cheek in the evening and brought him closer to kiss him good night.

Arthur smiled at the memory and leaned into the hand.

And then a miracle happened. The hand pressed back. It was very, very weak, but it was something and it made Arthur pause instantly and look at Merlin.

"Merlin?" He said his name and for the first time in the last two weeks he was almost sure Merlin heard him. He took Merlin's hand into his to check if it wasn't just his mind playing tricks at him, but then Merlin's fingers twitched.

They twitched.

"Gaius!" Arthur immediately called the old physician into the room because this was it. This was the moment they all have been waiting for. Merlin was waking up from his almost eternal slumber, he was coming back! Back to him!

Gaius rushed into the little room and knelt down beside Merlin's bed on the other side. He turned to Arthur. "What happened?"

Arthur showed Gaius Merlin's hand in his palm. "His fingers moved." He said. "I'm sure, Gaius. I know what I saw!" He quickly added when he saw Gaius' sceptical glare.

But then Gaius nodded and his eyes widened when Merlin's fingers twitched again. "See?" Arthur smiled and turned to Merlin. "Merlin do you hear me? It's me, Arthur!"

Merlin's little finger moved and his brows furrowed with clear disgust as if he could feel the horrible taste in his mouth. And then he clicked his tongue and Arthur was sure Merlin felt it, because even though they made him drink during the past two weeks, no one could brush his teeth.

"Merlin?" Gaius tried gently and put his hand on Merlin's forehead again.

"Ga..." Merlin moaned very silently. Arthur squeezed Merlin's hand in his and kissed his knuckles again. Merlin noticed that and slowly turned his eyes to Arthur without moving his head. A beautiful smile appeared on his face as he saw his prince. "Arthur," he mumbled and squeezed Arthur's hand back.

"You should rest," Arthur told him, but Merlin did the exact opposite. He turned his head and blinked a few times and then cleared his throat. Suddenly he felt so much alive.

"What happened?" He asked as he tried to sit up. Gaius tried to stop him, but Merlin sat up anyway, appreciating Arthur's hand on his back that supported him. Then Merlin narrowed his eyes. "And why are there flowers all around my bed?" He asked suspiciously. "Um... Arthur?"

Instead of an answer, Arthur and Gaius started laughing.

They had tears in eyes and were happy that Merlin was back. But they were both going to have one hell of a time explaining to him what happened during the two weeks... and that he'd been unconscious for that long.

xoXÖXox

A week later

"Come on, Gaius, please!" Merlin pleaded as he sat down to the table. There was a bowl of soup for him prepared by Gaius, so he took the spoon and stirred it a little. "I haven't been outside for three weeks, that can't be healthy! And Arthur has to deal with George."

Gaius sighed for at least the tenth time for the last week. Then he calmly turned to Merlin, his patient and said, "Merlin, you should rest for at least another day. You're not strong enough to go outside!"

"I'm fine!" Merlin argued as he stood up and turned around on the spot. "I can run, I can walk, then why can't I go outside?"

"Is this really about you going outside or is this more about you spending more time with Arthur alone?" He asked with clear suspicion in his voice.

Merlin opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. Then suddenly the door burst open and the king himself – Arthur Pendragon – walked in, dressed to go outside.

He smiled widely at both Merlin and his guardian. "So where have you been?" He asked. "I've been waiting for you by the horses!"

Gaius raised his eyebrow as he turned to Merlin. Merlin grinned nervously and shrugged. "I can't argue with the king." He said.

"And yet you continue to do so every day." Arthur rolled his eyes. Then he turned to Gaius as he realized what was happening and why Merlin wasn't by the horses as they had agreed on. "Gaius, I swear I will take care of him and the minute he shows any signs of exhaustion, I'll bring him back to you."

Gaius sighed as he looked at Merlin and then back at Arthur. He sighed as he gave up and nodded. "But if Merlin's condition worsens only a bit, he'll stay inside tomorrow too." He warned.

Both Merlin and Arthur nodded. "Absolutely," Arthur agreed. Then he grinned and took Merlin's hand, leading him outside the chambers.

"Bye, Gaius!" They both called and the door closed behind them, leaving Gaius inside as he shook his head and went back to his remedies and potions.

During the last week, ever sinde Merlin woke up and they explained to him everything that happened, a lot of people stopped by into his little room to thank him in person and bring more gifts. Mostly flowers.

His friends visited him often. Arthur was there every day, as long as he could until he had to go to another boring council meeting. Gwen went to visit him too. Merlin was happy to hear that she and Lancelot go together, and he apologized for not telling her about him and Arthur. But she was okay with that, and because literally everyone in the whole city of Camelot knew what he was and what he did, he explained to her how he got his scars. She cried a bit, but then thanked him.

Lancelot, Gwaine and Percival went to see him too. He didn't really know Percival much, but he seemed like a good man. Especially after he thanked Merlin for letting him sleep in his chambers for a night or two.

Merlin giggled when Arthur didn't let go of his hand as they went down the stairs and entered the courtyard. Then he finally let go, explaining to Merlin in a hushed voice that only their friends knew about their relationship, but that he intended to tell the people.

Merlin nodded and the took the horses (with a lot of blankets again) and they left the castle. They rode slowly through the Lower Town, and Merlin was pleasantly surprised to see so many people greeting him and smiling up at him.

"This is much better than when they were throwing vegetable at me." He told Arthur and they both laughed.

And then they reached the forest. Arthur didn't stop until they reached a meadow to which he was leading Merlin. There was a lot of flowers – purple, yellow, red, blue – and beautiful soft green grass. When they dismounted and tied the horses to a tree, Merlin smiled widely and ran into the middle of the meadow, looking up and turning around like a little boy.

He closed his eyes as he looked up into the sun and clear blue sky. He felt the life on the meadow. The insect flying around, the birds calling in the forest, even the bright trees all around the meadow.

Everything was so bright after he spent three weeks in his own bed. Finally the warm sunlight touched his skin, making him feel more alive than ever.

And then he stopped turning around and fell down into the grass and flower, laughing at his own stupidity because now his head was spinning and he couldn't keep the balance.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Then a shadow crossed his face and he opened his eyes again, looking up. And Arthur was standing there above him, with his beautiful smile and eyes full of love and oh so bright golden hair.

"Hello," Merlin smiled.

"Hello." Arthur smiled back and lay down next to Merlin. "Enjoying the trip?"

"Hm," Merlin hummed as he closed his eyes again. "Very much so, thank you." He palpated Arthur's hand in the grass and entwined their fingers. Arthur's hand felt warm and save and it made Merlin smile wider.

And then he felt pressure on his hand and the shadow appeared on him again, shielding the sun. "I don't want to open my eyes if you want me to look at you." Merlin mumbled as he kept smiling.

"No, you're too lazy for that." He heard Arthur reply. And then suddenly Arthur leaned down and pressed his lips softly to Merlin's. When they parted, Merlin was smiling.

"I'm not too lazy for that." He giggled. His eyes were still closed, but then he opened them and put his hand on Arthur's neck, pulling him back down for another kiss.

Arthur smiled as he let Merlin kiss him. It wasn't their first kiss since Merlin woke up, but it felt like the first real kiss. The first proper kiss on a proper lovely place, just like they both deserved it.

Arthur rolled off of Merlin and lay back down on the grass while Merlin lay on him with his chin on Arthur's chest. He was studying Arthur's face as the king closed his eyes and breathed in and out, smiling. And Merlin breathed with him.

In and out.

Then Arthur opened his eyes and looked up at Merlin and Merlin smiled.

"I love you." Arthur whispered.

"You do realize that you never really said this to me before do you?" Merlin smiled back. "It was always he's the love of my life, or I love him father, but it was never I love you."

Arthur ruffled his hair and grinned when Merlin tried to adjust them again. "Just say it back, you idiot." He said.

"Alright," Merlin grinned. But he didn't say it. Instead, he sat on Arthur's stomach and leant down to kiss him again. Only then he finally answered. "I love you too."

The smile that appeared on Arthur's face made Merlin kiss him again. And then he frowned suddenly and rolled off of Arthur and sat down on the ground. Arthur propped himself on his elbow, supporting his head with his hand as he looked at Merlin.

"What is it?" He asked.

"When was the last time you saw Kilgharrah?" He asked and turned to him. "Or Gobeithio?"

"Three weeks ago." Arthur said. "I can't really summon them myself, so I've been waiting for you." He smiled. "Just call them, Gobeithio will be happy to see you."

Merlin grinned as he stood up. "I don't doubt that." And then he looked up to the sky and started talking in dragon tongue, just like Arthur remembered from three weeks ago.

He sat up and looked at Merlin, listening to him talk. He enjoyed hearing his voice after two weeks of dead silence. No, not dead. Only silence. He hated that silence. But now Merlin was back and garrulous as always. He was glad for that.

"They should be here soon." Merlin smiled down at him.

"Kilgharrah injured his leg in the battle." Arthur told him. He wasn't sure Merlin remembered that. The look on Merlin's face confirmed that he didn't.

"Was it serious? Is he alright?" He asked with worry clear in his voice.

"He said it would heal quickly." Arthur stood up and put his hands on Merlin's shoulders. "He's probably already alright."

"I hope you're right." Merlin sighed. Then he looked up happily. "So you're a king now." He said. "You should be able to dress yourself by now." He teased.

Arthur only smirked. "You love dressing me."

Merlin laughed. "I can't deny that." He admitted.

Then Arthur turned serious and he looked into Merlin's eyes. "Once the castle is repaired and people are living their normal lives again... I decided to make magic legal again."

Merlin's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Yes." He smiled. "Everyone already knows you have magic, I made sure everyone knew what you did for me and for this kingdom. And they didn't start hating you, they brought you flowers." He laughed slightly, searching for joy in Merlin's eyes. But Merlin's eyes were hesitant.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked again. "It's been more than twenty years, do you think that after such big battle-"

"I'm sure." Arthur smiled and squeezed Merlin's shoulders. "Of course there will be rules. Like no one can use magic for harm for starters and then some other forbidden spells that could hurt people."

The joy finally reached Merlin's eyes. "I'm looking forward to that." He said.

"Me too." Arthur smiled. "I was also thinking about making you a court sorcerer." He mused out loud.

Merlin gave him a scared glare full of hesitation and refusal. "Not yet, Arthur." He quickly told him. "I'm... I'm not ready for such responsibility, I... I don't know if I'm even good enough for-"

Arthur silenced him with a finger on his lips. "Take as much time as you can." He told him. "But you're good enough. You're the one, I know that."

That made Merlin smile.

And then suddenly there was a sound of huge wings fluttering in the wind above them. They both looked up and stepped away from each other, seeing Kilgharrah flying up there. Merlin and Arthur ran to the corner to the meadow to make more space for Kilgharrah to land.

When he landed, Merlin immediately noticed the scar on Kilgharrah's leg. He wanted to go closer to it, but then he spotted Gobeithio flying right at him.

"Gobeithio?" Merlin smiled as he saw the little dragon – he grew up. He wasn't that small anymore, more like a dog now. Merlin wouldn't be able to keep him on his shoulder anymore.

But then Merlin realized the young dragon wasn't slowing down. His eyes widened. "Gobeithio?" And then the dragon slowed down right in front of Merlin, knocking him down. They both ended on the ground with Gobeithio happily looking down at Merlin and sitting on his chest.

Merlin laughed. "You can fly!"

"I taught him." The great dragon answered. "It's good to see you alive, young warlock." He chuckled as Merlin smiled and nodded. Then he pointed to his leg.

"What about your leg? Is it healed?"

"Yes, almost completely." Kilgharrah nodded.

"Thank you for teaching him how to fly." Merlin smiled then. Gobeithio hopped down on the ground so Merlin could sit up. Arthur sat down next to him and took his hand.

Kilgharrah nodded. "He can't yet speak or breathe fire and he will heave to practice flying, but he made progress." He said.

"I can see that." Merlin smiled down at Gobeithio. "We'll teach you the rest, don't worry. You're not alone in this."

Gobeithio opened his mouth and Merlin raised his eyebrows when he saw he had teeth. "You grew up." He smiled admirably and Gobeithio nodded.

Then Merlin looked up at Kilgharrah and smiled hugely. "Arthur is the king of Camelot now." He happily told Kilgharrah the news. Kilgharrah nodded and smiled down at the young Pendragon.

"Merlin missed my coronation though." Arthur said.

"I'm sure you humiliated yourself somehow, like tripping over your own feet." Merlin joked, smirking. Arthur chuckled and ruffled Merlin's hair.

"And you'd love to see that, wouldn't you Merlin." He laughed. Merlin nudged him in his hip with his elbow, smiling secretly. Then he looked up at Kilgharrah and added. "And he wants to legalize magic again and make me the court sorcerer."

As Kilgharrah was watching them, he smiled and nodded. "Seems like your destiny is finally fulfilling, Merlin." He said.

And Merlin with Arthur both smiled.

Yes, yes it was.

*THE END*

Alright, so after one month of writing, another twelve weeks of proofreading and updating, this fanfic and the story has come to an end. I'm so happy you guys were here with me every week to read this fanfic, favorite it or give a follow, or even review. Thank you so much for reading this and the previous fanfic "Hungry for Magic" and I hope you liked the story and how I decided to end it. :)

For those of you who read my other Merlin fanfic "Destinies Are Troublesome Things", I'm ill and I spent three days in bed and I couldn't write anything. I'm feeling better now, but I'm still taking medicine (it's so disgusting help) and I managed to write chapter 16 for you. It's not as long as the previous chapter, but it's not short either and I don't know if I'll be able to publish it tomorrow since it's Christmas Eve (and in my country we give each other presents tomorrow evening) and there's a lot of work waiting for me tomorrow, like helping my mom with dinner and decorating the Christmas tree (yup, we still haven't done that)... Chapter 17 was supposed to be a Christmas chapter, but since I haven't written it yet, I made sure there is a lot of Merthur in chapter 16 *wink wink* ;)

And for those of you who ignored the last paragraph, thank you again for reading this story and for supporting it! Also, I always wanted this to be a trilogy and I started writing the third part instead of the 1st one right from the start, but that was more than two years ago and I'm not sure whether it is a good idea to add the 3rd story to the previous two fanfics... I don't even know if it would make sense, but in case I'm bored one day and in the mood to go through five long chapters of an old text full of old grammar mistakes... I decided to make Morgana eager for revenge and leave her that way in this fanfic.

Well, thank you again, please leave a review for this chapter or for the entire fanfic if you want, and most importantly...

...MERRY CHRISTMAS! :D