"What do you think, Gwen?" Arthur asked while he watched her arranging a vase of flowers.

"Hmm?" she said, glancing at him. "Is something wrong?"

"Haven't you been listening?" he snapped, but Gwen laughed.

"Here and there," she said. "You've been ranting all day…"

Arthur sighed. Gwen was good for him, and he knew it. She didn't take him as seriously as everyone else. She wasn't afraid of offending him like his court seemed to be.

"I think that you don't want Merlin to leave Camelot," she said, slipping nearer to him, "With or without Morgana. You're afraid of losing your friend."

"Friend?" scoffed Arthur. "He's just a servant"

Gwen gave him a dark look.

"All right. He's my friend." Arthur hated giving in, but he was trying to pick his battles with Gwen carefully. She usually won anyway.

"You can't stop him from leaving," Gwen said, fixing Arthur with a hard stare.

"Actually, I could," Arthur disagreed.

"You won't."

Arthur grimaced.

"I hate it when you're right," he said softly.

"No, you hate it when you're wrong," she replied, moving to stand next to him.

Arthur smiled and reached out to her, drawing her into his arms. She brushed his hair off his face and he leaned in to kiss her.

"Here." Merlin pressed a chunk of bread into Morgana's hand. She nibbled at the crust before lowering it into her lap where she stared at it. "You should eat," Merlin said. "When we leave, you'll need your strength."

"Merlin," Morgana said weakly. "Are we really leaving? You're not… not just saying that, are you?"

"No, I'm not just saying it," Merlin assured her. He gently tugged the blanket so that it was covering more of her long legs.

"Why did Arthur change his mind?" Morgana wondered out loud.

"He said it's because you're his family," Merlin said, then corrected himself, "Because you're his only family."

"Oh," Morgana said, nibbling at the bread again.

Merlin watched her in silence. He noted that she still moved with the same cat-like grace that he'd always known. He could see a lot of what he'd known in her right then, but she was different somehow. The emerald eyes that had once shown him despair, anger, lust and hate now stared at him hollowly. He searched them for emotion, but Morgana turned her head away.

"When?" she asked. "When are we leaving?"

"As soon as Arthur gives the word," Merlin said, but he was becoming unsure that Arthur was ever actually going to. Two days had passed, and Arthur had done his best to avoid speaking to Merlin. He hadn't even ordered him around like he usually did. If Merlin hadn't known better, he would have thought that Arthur didn't want him to go.

After Merlin left Morgana, he went directly to Arthur's chambers, determined to finally talk to him. The door was ajar when he arrived and Merlin pushed it open, walking in to find Arthur and Guinivere kissing by the window. They broke apart when Merlin cleared his throat and Gwen threw him a mischievous grin.

"Hello Merlin. Do you want something?" Arthur said, clearly annoyed.

"Yes, I was wondering when—"

"The correct answer to that question is 'no', Merlin," Arthur said sourly.

"Yes, but—"

"Get out!"

Merlin grinned at Gwen who returned the expression. They were both used to Arthur throwing his weight around, but knew better than to back off. He had turned completely red in the face and was clearly not in a good mood for banter.

"As soon as you tell me when Morgana and I can leave," Merlin said quickly, before Arthur tossed something at him.

Arthur became very still. He glanced at Gwen who gave him a firm look.

"Whenever you're ready, Merlin," he sighed. "You can have a horse for Morgana, and enough food to last for two days."

"Thank you, Arthur," Merlin said and turned to escape the room. Pausing, he called back to Arthur, "Tomorrow, if that's all right. We'll leave just before sunrise."

Merlin waited in the doorway to hear Arthur's response. Arthur seemed fixated on watching the floor and Gwen's feet.

"That's… fine," he said, and Merlin hurried to tell Morgana the good news.

Arthur moved to the window, after Merlin had disappeared, and pressed his forehead against the cold glass. Gwen wrapped an arm round his waist supportively and he sighed roughly, his breath fogging up the pane.

"You did the right thing," Gwen said eventually.

"I don't feel like I did," Arthur answered numbly. "How can he just leave? Tomorrow! He's leaving tomorrow. What if he never comes back?"

"He'll come back," said Gwen reassuringly. "He always comes back."

"But what if it's not me he was always coming back to?"

"You're being silly, Arthur. Merlin hasn't replaced you with Morgana. Just like you didn't replace him with me."

"It's just…" Arthur gazed wistfully down at the courtyard as he spoke. That was where Merlin and Morgana would mount their horses and ride away in the morning. "It will be so strange without him around. I don't know that I could adjust to a useful servant."

Gwen laughed and hugged Arthur around his stomach.

"Who will put more holes in your belts for you now?" she joked.

"How do you know about that?"

"Can it be true?" Morgana asked herself when Merlin informed her of his plans. "Are we really to leave this dreaded place? Are you really coming with me?"

"Yes, milady," Merlin said, winking at her.

Morgana's face lit momentarily with laughter and Merlin realised it had been years since he had first seen her. She had been the happiest he'd ever known her to be back then. Merlin unshackled her wrists and lifted her onto her feet.

"Where are we going?" Morgana asked, shying into the corner.

"I'm getting you out of this dungeon. You need a good night's rest, and you can't possibly have that down here." Merlin wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and helped to guide her to the exit.

"Where will I sleep?" she asked.

"Your old room is still empty," Merlin whispered in her ear, his warm breath tickling her icy skin. "Or," he added, "You can have my bed, but it's not really much better than here."

Morgana smiled again and Merlin felt heat wash through his body. If she was happy, even only for a second, then it was all worth it.

"I think I would like to see my old room…" Morgana said, pushing closer to Merlin in the dark corridor. "It's been so long."

"Maybe some of your old clothes will be there, too," Merlin said, hinting that she should change out of her ragged dress.

"Why, Merlin, are you suggesting that you don't like my attire?" Morgana feigned insult and Merlin grinned.

"Yes," he replied. They both laughed then and it felt terribly like it had in the past, before everything had been torn apart.

Merlin led her past the guard who was on duty without causing any fuss. He didn't even blink an eye. The guards had given up questioning Merlin about what he was up to, because he simply told them they could ask Arthur, and they didn't fancy that idea. Arthur didn't appreciate being asked stupid questions, and he was even less tolerant for hearing stupid questions that involved Merlin.

So no one said a word to them as they crept along the hallways to Morgana's old room. The door wasn't locked and Morgana opened the door, her excitement clear. She seemed oddly perplexed to find that everything was as she left it. Her bed was made and one of the drawers was still slightly open from her last day in the castle. Morgana closed the door behind Merlin and they studied the room together.

Merlin opened his mouth to speak, but Morgana hushed him.

"Do you remember?" she asked. "Do you remember bringing my sleeping drafts? Do you remember coming here at night sometimes?"

"Of course," Merlin said.

He felt Morgana brush past him and heat ran up his arm from the touch. Her silhouette stood in the centre of the room, spinning to stare around the room. Her long hair cascaded down her back in black waves and she dropped the blanket from her shoulders. Her dress was truly in pieces now. Barely anything covered her gloriously white skin. She looked like a ghost while Merlin watched her.

Carefully, she moved towards him again. He couldn't see her face and, instinctually, he stepped away from her. That moment felt like they had entered a time slip and gone back to the past. Being with her in this room felt dangerous.

"No one can see us, Merlin," Morgana soothed with a breathy laugh.

"I know," he said.

Morgana stretched out across the darkness and fumbled for his hand. When she found it, she led him to the bed.

"Do you?" she murmured, sitting on the edge. Merlin sat next to her and caught a glimpse of her smile.

"Yes," he whispered as Morgana pushed him down against the mattress.

A shiver ran up his spine as her lips kissed his cheek, teasing him. Her warm body pressed against him and he lifted his hands to hold her. As he kissed her, Morgana ran her hands up his chest, knotting them in his shirt, pulling him to her hungrily.

Morgana's lips parted under his and she felt the fire again; the burning heat that rushed through her body when he touched her. Merlin felt it too and their kiss deepened. He rolled so that she was pinned beneath him. She laughed and he flushed with sudden embarrassment. He would have broken away then, but Morgana's hands caught around his neck and drew him in for another kiss.

"Do you love me, Merlin?" she asked.

He thought for a moment before he answered.

"I do," he said. "And I think I always did. I could never bring myself to kill you…"

"Kill me?" Morgana laughed. "I doubt that you could have!"

"Morgana," he said seriously. "You know that I have magic now, but there's something else. I am Emrys."

Morgana stopped her laughter and furrowed her brow.

"Emrys is an old man, Merlin," she said.

"Yes," Merlin said. "That was me."

Morgana stared up at him.

"It seems we have a lot to talk about," she said, wriggling out of his hold.

"Are you upset?" Merlin asked quickly.

"No," she said. "I'm very surprised."

She snuggled against his side and faced him so that their noses were only inches apart.

"Tell me everything," she said. "Starting from the day you first arrived here. No, from when you were a child, when you discovered your magic."

Morgana listened quietly as Merlin told her everything he could remember about his childhood and his mother. He told her of how he had saved Gaius on his first day in Camelot and how he had seen her at the window watching the execution. He complained about Arthur and how he could never tell anyone about his magic for fear of being put to death.

Morgana lay happily next to Merlin, enjoying the sound of his voice. She wanted to know everything he would tell her. She wanted for this to be the first day of their lives together.

When he finished, he waited for her reaction.

"That reminds me," she said, "I love you too, Merlin."

Please tell me what you think. I was thinking of maybe writing one more short chapter, but for the moment I'm saying it's complete. What do you think? :)