This is basically my take on Season 2 before it comes out, with a little more MerlinxArthur than the series gives us ;P. It starts from Merlin's departure in the season finale, Le Morte d'Arthur. Hope you enjoy reading, and please review!

-Lauren

x.x.x

Arthur watched Merlin as he left, quite confused about the conversation that had just taken place. He furrowed his brows, staring at the door that Merlin had just closed. What had just happened?

Merlin had basically come in, asked Arthur how he was and then told Arthur that he was a prat. Arthur had tried to use his power to get Merlin to defer to him, but as usual, it never worked. Merlin had then gone on to say that Arthur was a good warrior, and would make a good king. Useless compliments? Arthur wondered what they were for. Merlin had then gone on like he was about to leave his job, talking about Arthur getting another servant, but then when Arthur asked whether Merlin wanted to leave Merlin said no. Merlin then said he would be glad to serve Arthur until the day he died. So was he leaving his job or not? Arthur assumed not. Merlin then just called Arthur a prat once again, and left without further explanation.

What?

The whole thing was quite odd. The visit seemed to have no purpose, and Arthur was left confused. Was there something Merlin was trying to tell him, or was Merlin just being an idiot as per usual?

Arthur couldn't tell, and it both perplexed and worried him. There was something about the way Merlin had talked, the way he said 'until the day I die' and Merlin's shiny eyes, that may or may not have been filled with tears, that made Arthur quite concerned. It was that conversation with Merlin that he repeated over and over in his head, trying to get more information from the words, to find something he had missed. Arthur didn't understand.

He sighed. He wasn't going to get any sleep like this. He made up his mind that it was just Merlin getting overly sentimental about how Arthur had been bitten by the Questing Beast and had almost died. You know, Merlin could never be predicted. Maybe he was scared that Arthur was going to die, and had resolved to tell Arthur exactly what he thought once he recovered.

It sounded like a very Merlin-like thing to do, Arthur thought. Feelings and listening and stuff like that. Arthur shook his head and chuckled lightly. Merlin was one funny boy, but Arthur, secretly, was glad to have him as a manservant. Merlin might argue with Arthur and talk back to him and turn up late for work and be absolutely hopeless at fighting, but there was something about Merlin that Arthur liked.

Arthur chuckled and turned over. He wasn't going to lose sleep over this – Merlin was just being sentimental, in his own, odd, Merlin way. Arthur smiled and closed his eyes, looking forward to the morning, when he could slap Merlin around a little and probe into what that conversation was really about.

x.x.x

Arthur awoke to the singing of birds and the touch of sunlight. Stretching and yawning, he jumped out of bed, unusually eager to wake up. There was something inside him telling him that he had to wake up now, as an urgent matter, but Arthur didn't know exactly what it was.

He put it down to wanting to interrogate Merlin. Yes, that would be fun. Arthur grinned and started to put his clothes on – Merlin would be here any minute now. Actually, where was Merlin? Arthur checked the time; Merlin should have been here a while ago.

Arthur had a sinking feeling, a premonition of disaster, but he dismissed it and laughed it off. Merlin was late again. The boy had a habit of turning up late, but Arthur didn't have the heart to fire him. Oh well, Merlin would just have to go to the stocks again. In fact, if Merlin was in the stocks, it would be even easier for Arthur to badger him about the true meaning of last night's conversation.

Arthur chuckled, and sat on his bed and waited for Merlin.

It was unusual of Arthur to be anxious, but after five minutes of waiting, he found that his palms were sweating and he was once again remembering last night's conversation. Merlin had sounded so… serious. The way he talked about how Arthur would be a good king, and getting another servant, and those words – 'until the day I die'…

No, Arthur didn't let himself worry. He just made a mental note to put Merlin in the stocks for five minutes longer.

A few minutes later, Arthur was still waiting and he couldn't handle it. He was jittery, almost shaking. Where was Merlin? Was this all some sort of prank that Merlin decided to pull? Or was this serious? His intuition told him that things were not all well.

A hunter always trusted his intuition.

Arthur jumped up, and stormed out of the room. He was going to find Merlin, and when he did… boy, was he in trouble then. Arthur thought of all the things he could do to Merlin as punishment. The stocks, for one. A whole day of sword fighting – Merlin hated it because Arthur always beat him. Make Merlin clean out Arthur's wardrobe. Take Merlin hunting – hunting was another pet hate of Merlin's. Maybe he'd chuck him in the dungeons for a night.

How could Merlin do this to Arthur?

Arthur realised that his heart was pounding madly, and he was almost in a state of terror. He tried to distract himself by being angry at Merlin, but really, Arthur was desperately worried for Merlin's safety. Had Merlin rushed off and done something rash? Merlin wasn't the most logical of people, or the most capable, or the most rational, or the most sensible, or the most… Well, Merlin had idiocy, he had bravery, he had loyalty, and he had adorableness, but that was about it.

Arthur doubted that a dirty great monster would refrain from killing Merlin because he made a stupid comment, or rushed in blindly, or smiled that funny smile of his.

If Merlin was in trouble, he needed Arthur.

Arthur knocked furiously on Gaius' door, like he was trying to knock down the door with his fist. There was no answer for a few moments, and then Arthur got desperate. Fear welled up inside him, like a torrent of terror that threatened to overwhelm him completely. He forced himself to stay calm. Gaius was probably already on his rounds, and Merlin was probably sleeping like a log in his room, too deeply asleep to hear Arthur knocking.

'MERLIN!' Arthur shouted, trying to be as loud as possible. A few servants gave him odd looks as they passed by, but Arthur paid no attention to them.

Still no answer. Where was that boy? Arthur lashed out with frustration, and kicked the door down in one shot. His foot stung, but that was the least of his problems. The door fell to the floor with a resounding crash, but Arthur didn't pay one ounce of attention to the mess he had created. Instead he sprinted in, finding no Gaius working in the main room. He opened Merlin's door without knocking, expecting to find Merlin lying on the bed, about to get the biggest earful in his life, but instead Arthur found Merlin's bed empty, and no explanation.

He shouted with frustration, and kicked the door off the hinges by accident. He did one quick round of the chambers to make sure that there was no one around, and found nothing. Arthur felt the anxiety take hold, but he refused to let fear into his system. That would be the death of him.

WHERE WAS MERLIN?

Arthur thought quickly. Who might know where Merlin was?

He ran out of the palace, jostling past peasants as he attempted to rush down the main street of Camelot in search of the blacksmith's house. Rather rudely, he opened the door to Gwen's house without knocking.

'Gwen!' he shouted. Gwen heard the urgency in his voice and rushed over quickly.

'Arthur!' she said, flustered and surprised by his unorthodox greeting.

'Where's Merlin?' Arthur asked quickly.

'I'm not sure, sorry,' Gwen said honestly. 'I was helping Merlin look after his sick mother last night, but I don't know where he is now. His mother's staying with me at the moment – Gaius left last night, and then Merlin left as well – I took her here, she is slightly better now. Do you want to talk with her?'

'Yes,' said Arthur. 'Where is she?'

Gwen showed him to one of the rooms, where a sickly looking woman lay in bed. Merlin's mother was sick? Merlin had not said a word to Arthur about this – he felt slightly bad for making Merlin work while his mother was ill.

'Where's Merlin?' he asked Hunith. Hunith smiled – Merlin had told her all about his master, Arthur, and Hunith knew that this was the prince.

'I don't know,' said Hunith weakly. 'I'm sorry – I wish I could tell you, but after he and Gaius left I don't know where they are.'

'Hope you get well soon,' said Arthur gruffly, as he left. Nobody knew where Merlin was! This was terribly odd.

Arthur knew Merlin – Merlin would never leave his mother while she was ill unless it was something gravely important, even more important than taking care of his mother. Where was he? He hadn't gone off on a mere whim – this was something important, and that was what scared Arthur.

Who did Merlin think he was? Was he trying to go and retrieve some sort of rare cure for his mother's illness? Would that put him in harm's way?

Merlin! Arthur cried silently, at the end of his tether. He could not bear the thought of Merlin, poor incompetent Merlin, out in the wilderness alone with old man Gaius, trying to fight a devilish monster. Why hadn't he asked Arthur to help him? Arthur gladly would have gone along to aid Merlin – hadn't Arthur already showed that he really did care about Merlin's affairs, when he went back to Merlin's hometown with him?

Oh God, it all suddenly came together for Arthur. The ominous conversation about getting a new servant, and 'until the day I die'. The way Merlin had almost been crying throughout the whole thing. Arthur had merely treated him with the same sardonic remarks he always unloaded on his manservant. Oh God, Merlin had been saying goodbye, before he rushed off to do something rash, something expected to die doing. And Arthur had never said a kind word in the entire conversation!

Arthur realised this all at once, was filled with horror, and burst into an extremely rare display of tears. Merlin! Merlin was going to die, and Merlin had said his goodbye – Arthur just hadn't realised it. Oh God, Arthur should have known, he should have realised, he should have gone and stopped Merlin, stopped him at all costs and kept him safe…

But now, because of Arthur's incompetence, Merlin had left, and he might never return.

Arthur knew what he had to do. He had to send out a search for Merlin – there was nothing he could hold back on. Not when it came to Merlin. There was too much to risk losing when it came to Merlin – Arthur couldn't bear the idea of Merlin getting hurt, especially not when there was something he could have done about it. Angry at himself, Arthur wiped the tears away furiously and strode down to the Round Table, where he quickly issued the order to search for Merlin. Arthur didn't even bother running the plan by his father – he knew that Uther would refuse, but there was no space for wasting time now. Merlin had to be found, and he had to be found quickly.

The knights were ready in record time, and awaiting Arthur's orders at the palace gates when a servant came running up to him quickly.

Arthur ignored the servant, knowing that he needed to send out the knights now. Not a second could be wasted when it came to Merlin's safety. One moment too late might be the difference between life and death.

However, the servant almost accosted him on the spot, and seemed so desperate that Arthur turned around.

'What?' he spat at the servant. The servant trembled, but passed on his message to the hysteric prince at once.

'Merlin and Gaius have returned to the palace – Merlin is in your chambers, waiting for you.'

Arthur stared, unable to believe this. He quickly called off the knights.

'Are you sure about this?' Arthur asked the servant.

'I'm sure about it – King Uther saw them ride in just a few minutes ago, and since you had issued a search of the entire castle for Merlin, the news spread quickly,' the servant said.

Arthur didn't even bother answering the servant, or thanking him for his work.

He immediately sprinted back to the castle, all the way up to his chambers, flung open the door to his chambers and was met with Merlin, standing by the windowsill, wearing that stupid smile of his.

'Arthur,' he said pleasantly. 'I'm sorry I'm late.' Merlin saw the look on Arthur's face and found himself slightly scared by the mix of anger, frustration, confusion, desperation and relief.

'Merlin!' Arthur bellowed, not sure whether he was about to kill Merlin for causing him trauma or hug him out of relief of his return. For a moment he thought the best thing to do was to do nothing – to act cool and pretend like nothing happened, just berate Merlin for his lateness, and get on with life, but Arthur found that there was too much emotion inside him to remain calm.

He had almost lost Merlin too many times – Arthur could not bear to come close to losing him again.

So Arthur, extremely out of character, ran to Merlin, threw his arms around the surprised warlock and hugged him tightly.

Arthur constricted Merlin like an anaconda; Merlin felt rather suffocated but was surprisingly comfortable in Arthur's arms nonetheless. Arthur surprised even himself with the public display of emotion, but he felt so, so relieved as he stood there, holding Merlin like they were two lovers that had finally reunited. No, scratch that, thought Arthur, that caused a really odd image in his mind.

'Arthur?' Merlin asked questioningly. At first, Merlin had thought it would be better not to question why Arthur was hugging him, but as Arthur didn't let go for almost a minute, Merlin started to wonder.

Arthur cleared his throat and broke away from the hug awkwardly.

'Merlin, where the hell have you been?' Arthur demanded, not looking so affectionate as he had been a few moments ago. Merlin regretted opening his mouth – it always seemed to get him into trouble.

'I –' Merlin hadn't thought about a lie to tell Arthur yet. Oops. 'I just slept in.' Merlin slapped himself internally. What a weak excuse!

Arthur laughed, and Merlin wondered whether he might actually get away with that one. If he did, he would count his lucky stars for saving him.

Then Arthur moved to the door, closed it with a 'bang' that made Merlin jump, locked it and tucked the keys back into his pocket. Arthur then turned to Merlin with an intense stare. Merlin gulped – this didn't look good. He tried smiling at Arthur, but Arthur didn't lose any of the intensity in his eyes.

Arthur took slow steps forward towards Merlin – Merlin backed away slowly, until he hit a wall, and then he started panicking. He tried smiling again, but Arthur just stared.

'Merlin, you are not leaving until you tell me everything,' said Arthur dangerously.

'But –' Merlin tried to save himself.

'Everything,' said Arthur, giving Merlin a severe look. Arthur took a step closer, and Merlin gulped.

'Arthur, I –' Arthur silenced Merlin by placing a finger on Merlin's lips, and a heavy hand on his shoulder, staring deep into Merlin's eyes and sending shivers down his spine.

'And Merlin, don't you dare try and lie to me,' Arthur warned. He stared questioningly at Merlin, demanding an answer. Merlin nodded nervously. Arthur removed his finger and waited.

Merlin tried to talk slowly to delay his demise. What would Arthur do to him if he lied? He shuddered at the thought of the stocks.

'Okay,' said Merlin. 'Well, you know how Gaius said that one bite from the Questing Beast would kill you?'

'Well, obviously it didn't,' said Arthur impatiently.

'Actually, it did,' said Merlin seriously, waiting for Arthur's reaction.

'What?' said Arthur, confused. 'Merlin, are you mad? I'm standing right in front of you, in case you haven't noticed.' Arthur flicked Merlin on the head. Merlin rubbed his head, hurt.

'I know,' said Merlin. 'But the thing is…'

'What, Merlin?' Merlin paused. Arthur's presence was intimidating, and he was standing very close to Merlin and looking at him with that stare. The stare that says – go on, if you dare.

'You were going to die,' Merlin said, continuing. 'But…'

'But what, Merlin?' Arthur pressed.

Merlin paused. He didn't know whether to tell Arthur the truth or not. For one thing, Arthur had demanded it of Merlin, and Merlin wasn't very good at lying on the spot. Arthur would surely know if Merlin was lying… but what if he didn't lie, just concealed the magical part of the truth? Would Arthur guess? Merlin had to take his chances; it was better than Arthur finding out his secret.

Not that he didn't trust his friend… Merlin just knew now wasn't the right time for Arthur to find out.

'There was one thing that was going to save you,' Merlin said slowly, stalling for time.

'Gaius' potion,' Arthur finished.

'Yes,' said Merlin.

'That doesn't explain your absence all morning!' Arthur shouted at Merlin, causing him to flinch.

'I slept –'

'Don't try that on me, Merlin,' said Arthur dangerously. Okay, so it was pretty stupid to use the same lie twice.

'Okay. Well, in the potion… There was a special ingredient in it.'

'Special ingredient?' said Arthur, raising an eyebrow.

'Yes, a special ingredient,' Merlin said. 'I had to travel to go and get it… it heals everything that might otherwise kill a man,' said Merlin. It wasn't far from the truth.

'What was this special ingredient?' Arthur asked.

'A flower,' lied Merlin quickly. 'From the Isle of the Blessed.'

'The Isle of the Blessed?' Arthur asked.

'Yes,' said Merlin. 'Anyway, you got better.'

'Evidently,' said Arthur. 'But why weren't you here this morning?'

'My mother has been sick,' said Merlin. 'I needed to go back to the Isle of the Blessed to get a flower for her.'

Arthur paused; Merlin awaited his jurisdiction. Would Arthur believe him? Merlin waited in anticipation, smiling at Arthur, trying to win him over.

Arthur, finally, sighed.

'Merlin, wouldn't it have made more sense to come back with two of these flowers on your first journey?' Arthur asked.

Merlin laughed with relief. Arthur believed him.

'Yeah, it probably would've,' said Merlin sheepishly. Arthur chuckled and walked away, unlocking the door.

'Don't ever scare me like that again, Merlin,' said Arthur.

'Yes, sire,' said Merlin.

'Next time you plan to go away, warn me first, will you?' Arthur said.

'Okay,' said Merlin.

'Is your mother better?' Arthur inquired.

'Yes, thank you,' said Merlin. The two of them paused, and silence filled the room for a few moments.

'And what was that whole business about calling me a prat last night?' Arthur inquired. Merlin stopped in his tracks, thrown off-guard by the question. He'd thought the questions had ended.

'I –' Merlin cursed his bad lying skills. 'I, just thought I'd come for a chat before I left. You were being a prat, so I called you one.'

Arthur looked at Merlin quizzically. He knew he wasn't getting the full truth – had anyone ever told Merlin that he was a terrible liar? Because someone really needed to tell him before he got into big trouble. However, Arthur decided to drop it. He'd interrogated Merlin enough for the time being. Now, for the punishment.

'Merlin, I think it's time for some sword practice,' said Arthur, his eyes shining with glee. Revenge was sweet. Arthur sadistically watched Merlin's face turn to absolute horror.

'But – your arm is still injured.' Merlin floundered for excuses. Arthur grinned. He rolled his arm around, looking relaxed.

'Nah, I think it's fine,' Arthur said.

'B-B-But –' Merlin stuttered.

'Come on Merlin,' said Arthur, throwing his arm around Merlin's shoulders and steering him towards the door. Merlin was powerless to stop Arthur – Arthur was far too strong for Merlin's meagre strength.

Merlin shook his head – he always seemed to end up with the bad end of the deal.