Summary: It wasn't even Merlin's idea but then stuff happened and there was shenanigans and the end result was Guinevere being reduced to 5 inches.
AN: Golden Age AU post-season five fic where Arthur and Gwaine lived but Merlin's magic was still revealed.
I picture Siobhan as Jenna Louise-Coleman.
MERLIN MERLIN MERLIN MERLIN MERLIN MERLIN MERLIN MERLIN
Merlin would like to go on record and say that the spell wasn't even his idea. Here's what really happened:
Arthur was busy signing papers. Gwen was busy with her ladies in waiting. The knights were busy training. Merlin's wife, Siobhan, was off at the market with their three-year-old daughter Ganieda and one-year-old son William. Antigone, Arthur and Gwen's fifteen-year-old ward who usually watched her younger adopted siblings, was away with the Catha Priests. She had already been gone a month and would still be gone for the next three months learning more about her magic, and training with the priests since she was one of the last high priestesses alive. With her absence in mind, the Pendragon children decided to seek out their Uncle Merlin for some entertainment. Usually, that translated to magic shows.
Nine-year-old Llacheu, with his straight brown hair mopping against his tan forehead and dark blue eyes, liked to pretend that Merlin's magic didn't leave him awestruck and that he was too old for such child play. However, he was Arthur Pendragon's child, so he didn't pretend very well.
Six-year-old Amhar, with his curly brown hair, his mother's soulful brown eyes as well as her freckles spotting just about everywhere on his brown face, usually joined Merlin in performing the spells or paid rapt attention to use the spells later. Amhar, like Merlin and Antigone, was born with magic. Merlin figured that it was from Arthur's side of the gene pool since he was born of magic, thus essentially a magical being. Amhar was levitating things before he could even walk. For the first time, Arthur was glad his father wasn't around to meet his grandchildren, because he feared what his father's reaction would be to having a warlock for a grandson and finding out Arthur had adopted a high priestess and was raising her as his own in the same castle where Uther condemned so many of her kind to death.
Lastly, four-year-old twins Meredyth and Victoria with their bouncy curls (Meredyth's dark brown and Victoria's blonde) and blue eyes just watched in wonder clapping their hands and begging for more, practically worshipping the ground both Merlin and Amhar walked on.
Meredyth and Victoria were currently busy running around the chambers Merlin was given when he was appointed court sorcerer, playing with the large dog statue Merlin had brought to life.
"Can we keep it Uncle Merlin, please?" Victoria asked, making her eyes wide in a perfect puppy dog pout. Merlin and Llacheu (though he would deny it) near melted at the sight and if Arthur were there, he'd probably be a puddle at the young princess's feet too. However, Amhar was in the room and, besides his mother, he was the only one who could resist Victoria's pout (mostly because he taught it to her).
"Mother would never let you keep something so big." He commented.
"Oh please! Please, please, please, please, please!" Victoria begged with her pout still in full effect and it looked as if she was very nearly about to be on her hands and knees begging. Amhar just shook his head.
"Can't you shrink it then?" Meredyth asked in her usually timid voice. She was shy and mostly kept to herself or stuck to Amhar's side and though the young warlock could resist Victoria's pout, he usually gave in with Meredyth if only to see her smile.
"I can't, but I guess Uncle Merlin can?" He phrased as a question, looking to his uncle.
See? The spell wasn't even his idea, but with all the children looking at him with various degrees beseeching expression on their faces, he gave in and decided to comply but that doesn't mean the dog did. Merlin tried to direct the spell at the dog, but every time the wave of magic went towards it, it ran off, causing Merlin to shrink something else. After three tries, he had managed to shrink the oak desk and everything on it, his wife's jewelry chest (which she was going to kill him for) and a mirror. The dog finally sat still, and Merlin quickly hurled the spell towards it. Just then, the door opened, and it ran away but the spell hit the person at the door. Merlin and the children watched in horror as the person got smaller and smaller and smaller until they were about the size of Merlin's thumb.
"Oh my gosh." Amhar uttered in shock.
"Ooh Uncle Merlin, Father's going to kill you." Llacheu said, smirking but he was still worried and he didn't draw his eyes away from the door frame.
"But… where's Mommy?" Meredyth asked, tears filling her eyes as she wondered where her mother was. Merlin walked closer to the door and crouched down, his face still frozen in shocked horror, and was terrified at what he saw.
"Oh no! Gwen?" The children crept over and peered over his shoulder and sure enough they saw their mother standing at about five inches tall in her red velvet dress and with her crown on. They all turned their heads down in shame and repentance as they saw that she had a glare of disapproval and disdain on her face and her hands were planted firmly on her waist.
"Gwen, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen." Merlin said as he placed his palm on the floor for Gwen to climb on. She did after a moment and Merlin held her up to eye level. Just as he did, she slapped his nose with her tiny hand, causing it to sting a little.
"Ow, Gwen." He exclaimed. She began shouting in a squeaky voice, but they didn't understand what she was saying. She was too small. She seemed to realize this after a little while and stomped her foot on Merlin's hand in frustration. Usually Gwen would be very calm about this, but this wasn't the first incident where Merlin and her children's antics put her through the ringer that month. In Antigone's absence, Merlin had caused multiple large beanstalks to grow out of the castle courtyards and it attracted several giants which trampled the lower town. The children kidnapped a mermaid from a lake and housed her in the castle, trying to keep her as a pet… against her will. That had led to a long lecture from both Gwen and Arthur about respecting people's wishes and how it was wrong to try and own a person, even if they were half-fish. Just that week Merlin's attempt to gift Gwen with someone to help her with the kids to make up for Antigone not being around took a sudden turn when the woman turned out to be an evil witch who ate children and tried to kidnap Meredyth and Victoria. Needless to say, Gwen was tired and she didn't have time for this. She loved her children, but they all had Arthur's knack for getting into trouble and between her husband, her children and her best friend Gwen was surprised she wasn't sprouting gray hair from the stress.
"How do we fix Mommy?" Victoria asked.
"I'll just get the reverse spell from my spell book." Merlin said confidently.
Arthur never has to know of this incident, Merlin thought.
"You mean the spell book that was on the desk? The desk that you shrunk?" Llacheu pointed out. Merlin turned around and sure enough the desk and everything on it was Gwen's size and much too small to read. He turned to the queen and flinched at the stern glare on her face. Even in miniature, the High Queen of Albion scared him.
"Why would you try to make the dog that small anyway, Uncle Merlin?" Amhar asked.
"I was going to adjust the size afterwards." Merlin moaned, wiping his hand over his face.
"That wasn't a very smart plan." Amhar told him in a soft reprimand. The child was the least troublesome of the five and had his mother's wise head. Meredyth did too, but she usually got dragged into things by her twin sister, who either got dragged into said things by Llacheu or dragged him into her own mess. Antigone usually got sucked in while trying to get control of the chaos and then all bets were off. It was pretty much a given that at least one room in the castle was being destroyed and probably half the lower town.
Merlin sighed at Amhar's words. Arthur was going to kill him and then Siobhan would bring him back to life only to kill him once more.
"We need to tell Father." Llacheu stated.
"I know." Merlin agreed.
"Llacheu?"
"Yes, Uncle Merlin?"
"Tell my wife and children I love them. I fear I won't survive once we see your father." Llacheu laughed but nodded his head in agreement; Gwen was shaking her fist at them impatiently. She had things to do that didn't involve being smaller than her children.
"One thing Uncle Merlin. Can you fix the dog first?" Victoria asked, batting her eyelashes and of course Merlin complied, even though Gwen was stomping on his hand so hard that she was leaving bruises.
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Arthur was sitting at his desk looking through the latest repair requests from the council. He loved his children dearly but when they were with Merlin, bad things tended to happen that led to the destruction of the lower town and/or the citadel to various degrees. As High King of Albion, the five corners of the kingdom were experiencing a greater period of peace and prosperity than ever before with Camelot at the epicenter. One would think all would be peaceful and Arthur could kick back, relax and enjoy his good work but with children like his, who were like natural disasters when together, Arthur didn't even dare dream of such a moment of relaxation because surely Camelot would fall to ruin in his absence at the children's hands. Arthur, however, couldn't really say much about it because when his children were with him, he usually got sucked into their plans or they got sucked into his and mayhem ensued. He left the disciplining to Guinevere and spoiled his children as much as she let him. He was wary of that. He knew his father had spoiled Morgana and look how she turned out. Arthur was very particular not to make the same mistakes Father did in raising his children, especially with Antigone.
Arthur looked up as the door opened and Merlin and his four youngest children walked in. He took one look at Merlin's guilty expression, Llacheu looking like he was struggling not to laugh, Amhar's apprehension, Victoria's satisfied smirk as she held a small dog and Meredyth looking like she was ready to burst into tears and sighed exasperatedly.
"Merlin, there had better not be any pixies trying to seduce lords away from their wives again." Arthur warned.
"No, that's not it—",
"If there are any manic nymphs running about—",
"Not that either."
"Giants?"
"No."
"Drunk Gwaine in his birthday suit?"
"That was only twice and not my fault."
"Children-eating witches?"
"Nope."
"Sea hags?"
"No. Just let me—"
"Then what did you do?"
"If you'd let me speak, Sire." Merlin said through gritted teeth. Arthur narrowed his eyes at him but nodded. Suddenly Merlin got nervous. He started shuffling his feet awkwardly and kept glancing towards his hands, which were held out in front of him.
"Well, you see, the thing is, well, um…"
"What?" Arthur said, getting annoyed. It was only then he noticed Merlin had his hands clasped together, holding something.
"What's in your hand?" Arthur asked. Merlin didn't answer and didn't look like he was going to anytime soon, so Meredyth did it for him. She was impatient to have her mother back.
"Mommy." She said, pointing towards Merlin's hands. Arthur's face turned up in confusion.
"What are you talking about, sweetie?" Arthur asked, thinking his daughter must've been confused about something.
"Uncle Merlin was trying to shrink this dog for the twins and accidentally shrunk Mother instead." Llacheu explained.
"You did what?!" Arthur shouted, getting up and advancing on Merlin with murderous eyes.
"It was an accident! I didn't mean to! But the blasted dog kept running and then Gwen walked in and the shrinking spell hit her and now she's, well… like this." Merlin said, opening his hands and showing a very small, very upset Gwen sitting in his hands with her arms crossed over her chest and an angry, impatient expression on her face.
"Guinevere?" Arthur asked, shocked. Gwen seemed to smile when she saw him, stood up on Merlin's hand and waved. Arthur held out his hand and Gwen jumped over to it, hugging his thumb before looking accusingly over at Merlin. Meredyth, who still had tears in her eyes, walked over to her father, her blue dress fluttering behind her, and peered at her mother in his hand. Gwen smiled at her daughter reassuringly, which caused Meredyth to smile and hug Arthur's leg looking for reassurance.
"You'd better have a way to fix my wife." Arthur told Merlin with a threat clear in his voice while stroking Meredyth's curls and glaring daggers at his once manservant. He'd probably have hit Merlin already if the kids weren't present.
"There is. I mean, I'm sure there is. It just isn't available right now." Merlin stammered.
"What do you mean?" Arthur asked through a clenched jaw.
"Uncle Merlin shrunk his desk. His spell book was on it, so it shrunk too." Llacheu explained again. Amhar thought his older brother enjoyed making their father angry to the point where he turned a rather comical shade of red and smoke was practically blowing from his ears. Victoria noticed her father's predicament and saw that he was that close to hitting Merlin, so she put the dog down (which she now decided started the entire mess and not her vehemently pleading for said dog), walked over with her red dress swishing behind her and hugged her father's other leg, rubbing his back in a bid to calm him.
"It's okay, Father. Uncle Merlin and I will talk to Aunt Siobhan and see if she can do anything." Amhar offered, picking up the dog and ushering Merlin and Llacheu from the room before an irate Arthur could respond. Arthur looked down at his miniature wife who was still hugging his thumb and his two daughters hanging onto his legs.
It's going to be a long day.
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Merlin ushered the princes towards his bedroom without thinking much of it and instantly regretted it once he got into the room when he saw his wife holding the miniature jewelry box in her hand with a furious expression, his daughter playing on the bed and his son sitting in his crib playing with a rattle. Merlin tried to sneak back out the room with the two boys, but his daughter called to him happily.
"Papa!" Ganieda exclaimed, climbing off the bed and running over to her father. Merlin would never admit that he partly picked her up so that Siobhan wouldn't hurl a fireball at him. He held the girl with his black hair and blue eyes close to his chest and kissed her forehead as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. Merlin would also never admit to half using his daughter's utter cuteness and affection towards him to ward away the anger growing in his short but scary beloved. She did soften at the display before her and instead turned to Amhar and Llacheu for answers.
"Uncle Merlin shrunk the jewelry box, the desk, his spell book, a mirror and our mother." Amhar told her.
"Since the spell book is shrunken, he doesn't know how to turn her back and Father's furious." Llacheu continued. Siobhan sighed and shook her head. She was much too young to feel so tired, but when it came to her husband and cleaning up his messes it was like looking after a child.
"My spell book is with my sister and I don't fancy going into Lot's kingdom now. It'll be sunset by the time she lets me leave. Gwen will just have to tough it out tonight until I can get the spell." Siobhan told them. Merlin eyed Llacheu and Amhar, indicating to them that they were going to be the ones to break the news to their father. If Merlin showed his face, he'd likely not leave with his head on his shoulders (not that he was going to fare much better with his wife, but he had Ganieda and William to protect him). Llacheu reluctantly left the room and Amhar followed, putting the dog down.
"What exactly did you do this time, Merlin?" Siobhan asked glaring at him. Merlin put on a face of perfect innocence whilst hugging Ganieda closer to him.
"It wasn't my fault, it was his." Merlin said, pointing to the dog that sat still under Siobhan's glare and stared up at her with eyes even more innocent than Merlin's.
Oh, now you wanna sit still, Merlin thought. The dog walked up to Siobhan whimpering slightly before nudging its head against her leg. Siobhan looked at Merlin with a raised eyebrow.
Of course, she'd take the dog's side over mine, Merlin lamented.
"At least I still have you." He said to his daughter. Ganieda took one look at the dog and began squirming in her father's arms.
"Doggie!" She exclaimed, stretching her arms towards it. Merlin put her down whilst shaking his head. He looked to William in his cradle, but he didn't even spare his father, his eyes enraptured with the dog that now ran around with Ganieda.
"It really is his fault. He wouldn't sit still while I tried to shrink him." Merlin grumbled, kicking the ground and crossing his arms like a child having a tantrum. Siobhan smiled at him indulgently before walking over and wrapping her arms around his neck, leaving Ganieda to run off playing with the dog she decided to name Squishy.
"Aw, you're not going to throw yourself onto the ground and begin crying, are you? Continue this tantrum just a bit more?" She teased. Merlin glared before realizing how childish he was acting and unfolded his arms to envelope his wife in them instead.
"I suppose we'll have to put the extra locks on the doors so Arthur doesn't kill you in your sleep."
"I have you to protect me at least." Merlin said smirking.
"Oh yes, the great and mighty Emrys hiding behind his wife's skirts… sounds about right." She teased further. Merlin shut her up the only way he could, by placing his lips on hers and kissing her passionately.
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It was dusk and Arthur was tucking his children in. Usually, Gwen would be with him, but she was busy being taken care of by her maid who was shocked at the Queen's appearance, but not surprised something had happened to her. Gwen apparently had to be dressed in doll's clothes and most of it was itchy and/or made completely out of lace. Though she usually wouldn't make a fuss, there was no way she could sleep comfortably in some of the offered clothing and she felt like a toy or plaything instead of a grown woman who was a wife, mother of five and a queen.
"Papa?" Meredyth said.
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"Is mommy going to stay little forever?" She asked, looking up at him with big blue eyes.
"Of course not. Aunt Siobhan will fix Uncle Merlin's mess." Arthur told her in a reassuring tone with a hint of teasing underneath it before kissing her forehead.
"Actually Papa, I begged Uncle Merlin to shrink the doggie because Amhar said it was too big for me to keep. I'm sorry, I didn't mean for Mommy to be hurt." Victoria said with tears gathering in her eyes. Arthur quickly went over and scooped the girl into his arms before kissing her forehead and stroking her curls.
"I know you didn't mean it and Mommy does too. She isn't hurt so you don't have to worry about that, but next time you want a pet or something you should ask me and your mother, okay?"
"Okay." Arthur kissed her forehead again before tucking her in.
"Sleep tight you two."
"Night Papa." They chorused before he smiled and left. He looked all the way down the hall where Antigone's room was and smiled sadly at her absence. He knew she was doing it to better herself and she had both his and Guinevere's blessing to stay with the Catha for a few months, but that didn't mean he didn't miss her. They hadn't ever been apart for this long in the ten years she had been his daughter. Arthur sighed longingly before moving to go to Amhar's room. Arthur walked into the room to see Amhar sitting up on the bed levitating three spell books in front of him, gifted to him by Gaius before his death.
"Hey, what are you up to?" Arthur asked. Amhar sent the books to the side table and looked up at his father with a look of disappointment.
"I was looking for some answers to fix Mother, but I couldn't find anything." Amhar said, looking down.
"You know it isn't your fault, right?" Arthur said, walking over to the bed and sitting next to his youngest son.
"I was the one who asked Uncle Merlin if he could shrink the dog for Victoria and Meredyth."
"And Merlin was the one who agreed. What happened to your mother was an accident, she knows that and so do I. It's not your job to fix this, let the adults worry about it. We'll have Guinevere fixed in no time." Arthur assured. Amhar nodded and moved to go under the covers.
"You know I love you, right?" Because Amhar and Antigone had magic, Arthur was extra protective of them. It made him even more remorseful and feel even guiltier for the years that magic was banned in Camelot. He knew that one day his son would know that his grandfather and, for a time, his father prosecuted and oppressed his kind. Arthur only hoped his son could forgive him like Antigone did when he eventually finds out and knows that Arthur loves him no matter what.
"I know, Papa. I love you too." Amhar replied. What Arthur didn't know was that Amhar already knew. Amhar was smarter than most other six-year-olds and he loved reading. When he was in the library, he happened across the records of the Great Purge and he knew what was done to people with magic. Amhar had gone to his Uncle Merlin and Aunt Siobhan to talk about it and they told him the truth about Uther Pendragon and his Aunt Morgana, but they made sure he knew that his father was different, that he freed magic in Camelot and it would never be made captive again. Arthur kissed Amhar's forehead and tucked the boy in before leaving and moving to his eldest child's room. Arthur sighed before opening Llacheu's door. As he suspected, he wasn't in there.
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Gwen sat patiently on the folded towel placed on the bed side table that was doubling as her bed. Llacheu snuck in once the maids left and started talking to his mother. It was hard at first because he couldn't hear Gwen and she had to use signs and symbols to get her point across, but they managed it. Arthur walked in and silently watched the two interact.
"I'm sorry, Mother. I'm the oldest and I should've been more involved in controlling and curbing the twins." Llacheu said. Gwen waved her hand as if swatting a fly to show that it wasn't a big deal.
"I hope you can forgive me." Gwen thought for a while to see how she could say that there was nothing to forgive before deciding that she'd just tell him the next best thing: she pointed to herself, made a giant heart with her fingers and then pointed to Llacheu who smiled broadly at that.
"I love you too, Mommy." Gwen smiled sweetly at hearing Llacheu call her 'Mommy' instead of 'Mother'. This happened a lot. After the fallout of the chaos they created, the Pendragon children would accept their part in it and apologize for their actions. Gwen and Arthur always waved it off, but they were happy that their children knew when they had contributed to a bad situation and knew how to deal with guilt. They didn't want them becoming anything like Uther regarding blaming things that happen because of their own actions on someone else.
"Hey, you ready bed, son?" Arthur asked.
"Yes, but I can do it myself. I'm a big boy." Llacheu answered, obviously embarrassed his father heard his moment of vulnerability and quickly scurried from the room before Arthur could answer. Arthur shook his head, but he was used to Llacheu's behavior by now, so he let it go. He'd talk to him later. Arthur walked to Gwen and sat on the bed, so he was eye level.
"You okay?" He asked.
Gwen nodded.
"Merlin and Siobhan are working on something. They're going to see her sister tomorrow."
Gwen gave a thumbs up to that.
"I'm going to get changed and come back and we can settle down."
Gwen made a gesture as if she was sleeping.
"Tired?"
Gwen nodded.
"Go ahead and sleep, I'll try not to snore tonight, wouldn't want you getting blown away."
Gwen rolled her eyes but signed 'I love you' the same way she did to Llacheu.
"I love you too."
Gwen smiled, before settling down on the towel to sleep. Normally, Arthur would kiss his wife good night, but as she was five inches tall now, he decided against it. Arthur changed and snuggled into bed. It'd been a while since he laid in their bed alone and he felt himself tossing and turning trying to get comfortable. Ultimately, he fell asleep at the very edge of the bed facing the dresser mini-Gwen was sleeping soundly on.
THE NEXT MORNING
Gwen woke up early, as was her custom. Her years as a servant waking up at the crack of dawn didn't break when she became queen and she was fine with that. She stretched and only noticed how uncomfortable she felt as an afterthought. She looked down and immediately noticed she was normal size again. Her head was on the same pillow as Arthur's and her torso was still on the wooden side table while her legs hung off the end of it, hence why she was so uncomfortable. She smiled when she realized the spell wore off on its own. She looked down and noticed she was naked as the doll dress ripped apart when she grew to normal size overnight.
Might as well seize the opportunity. She thought, kissing Arthur's eyelids.
"Mmm," Arthur groaned groggily.
"No dragons in the courtyard." He mumbled sleepily. Gwen giggled at his sleep talk before pressing her lips to his. He responded after a while before freezing. He pulled back and stared at her, his eyes widening quite comically.
"Gwen! You're back! I mean, you're normal!" Arthur said happily, sitting up.
"Mm-hmm, I guess the spell wore off while I was asleep." She said, getting up and slipping into bed next to him.
"You're naked." Arthur realized.
"Indeed." Gwen purred.
"And the kids are asleep." Arthur continued, moving closer to her.
"Yes, they are." Gwen said, moving her lips closer to his but before they could do anything the door busted open, revealing Merlin still in his night clothes.
"Merlin!" Arthur exclaimed, pulling the sheets up to Gwen's neck and shielding her from Merlin's view whilst glaring all manner of sharps objects at the man.
"Gwen, you're back! I mean, I suspected as much when I woke up and the dog was regular sized…"
"Merlin." Arthur said lowly but Merlin continued on excitedly much to Gwen's amusement. She was smiling indulgently behind Arthur, so Merlin paid the man no mind and continued rapidly explaining to Gwen.
"…and so was my desk and my spell book and Siobhan's jewelry box and she said 'I guess I don't have to visit my sister because the spell wears off itself'…"
"Merlin." Arthur said again angrily. Gwen put her fingers in her ears knowing exactly was about to come and her husband didn't disappoint.
"… and then I thought to myself: 'Gwen!' So, I ran out to see if you were okay—"
"MERLIN!" Arthur bellowed at the skinny man who stopped speaking then but crossed his arms over his chest and stood in an indignant stance.
"What? Can't you see I'm having a conversation with Gwen?" Merlin told him with a reprimanding voice. This made Gwen collapse into giggles.
"Get... Out... Now! Before I have to explain to Siobhan why her husband has been cut into multiple pieces and scattered across the courtyard." Arthur warned but Merlin didn't heed him, he just turned to Gwen who smiled at Merlin.
"Thanks for checking up on me Merlin, but I think someone's cranky." Gwen explained.
"Obviously hasn't had his breakfast yet." Merlin concurred.
"You know how he gets."
"Not pretty at all, really." Arthur growled at the two of them talking like he wasn't there.
"Merlin!" A voice that was clearly Siobhan's toned from down the hall.
"Ooh, gotta go. I'm glad you're okay, Gwen. Goodbye milady… Clotpole." Merlin said, addressing Gwen and Arthur respectively before walking back out the room and to his wife, leaving Gwen in giggles again and Arthur in exasperation.
"You let him get away with too much, Guinevere." Arthur told her.
"Me? What about you? Besides he was just being a good friend." Gwen defended.
"Now where were we, my queen?" Arthur asked, turning back to Gwen smirking. Gwen promptly began kissing Arthur's shoulder.
"Oh, is that where we were? Because I thought it was more along the lines of this." Arthur whispered, lifting Gwen's chin and placing a deep kiss to her lips passionately.
"I do believe you're right, my king. It was definitely more like that." Gwen concurred, moving her lips back to his and the two reunited from their time away as only they could.