"Throw me a bottle of water, Merlin," gasped Arthur as he came into his apartment, trying to catch his breath. His shirt stuck to him, wet with sweat, and he fanned himself with his hand.

Merlin turned around, grabbing a water bottle from the counter of the kitchenette and tossing it at Arthur. The blond caught it and screwed off the top, downing the contents.

Once he finished, he looked up at Merlin. "What're you doing here?" he asked, opening the fridge and peering inside. Empty. Well, he was a college student…

"Morgana called me," Merlin said. "She had another nightmare."

"She called you instead of her therapist." Arthur grabbed the mustard bottle and studied it, decided he couldn't eat it, and put it back. Looking at Merlin, he queried, "She remembered?"

"Yeah, she was nearly in tears, poor thing," said Merlin. "She kept trying to apologize again. She insisted that she'll stay good this life."

"She says that every life."

"Maybe she will this time. She did apologize…"

"She is nice," said Arthur. "Maybe it'll be one of those lives where she doesn't stay evil very long before coming back to our side. Those are always the easiest."

Merlin nodded. "That's not why she called, though."

"Why did she call?"

"Last life."

The smile dropped from Arthur's face. "What?"

"Her nightmare was of my… curse wearing off. Apparently, this is the last reincarnation. She saw me with gray hair, too. I have felt older recently…"

"Wait," said Arthur, walking over to the couch and dropping into it, sweaty clothes and all. "We… we won't get reborn anymore? At all? So… what'll happen?"

"I don't know, I've never died before," said Merlin with a shrug. "Whatever happens to normal people."

Arthur sighed. "Well, that sucks."

"It might be nice," said Merlin comfortingly. "You still have a good seventy or eighty years left anyway."

"Unless we all die young, like last life."

"That was your own fault," reprimanded Merlin. Some lives were better than others. Merlin hadn't aged through a single one of them, and he noticed that everyone seemed to change together. There had been the life where everyone had been really religious, which had been nice since no one really got in that much trouble. Of course there were still some problems—Gwen had nearly joined a cult until they brought her to her senses, and everyone had quite a time convincing Lancelot that just because he was Catholic didn't mean he had to own enough candles to burn down his house. And Gwaine… Gwaine and religion didn't mix well. After remembering their old lives (everyone remembered in their late teenage years or their twenties that life), quite a few of the Knights of the Round Table had a huge faith crisis, until Merlin explained to them that their religions weren't necessarily wrong; the reincarnated group were just the exceptions because of Merlin's curse. Overall, that life hadn't been so bad.

The previous life, though… Oh, that had been a nightmare. Merlin liked to believe that Arthur was always just a Jerk with a Heart of Gold (an expression he found on the internet), but sometimes that heart of gold was buried deep. Very, very deep. Last life, Uther had been rich but obsessed with his job. Gorlois had lived longer (he usually died early, but sometimes he made it into Morgana's teen years or even her twenties), so Arthur did not have her influence. Ygraine had died early. Arthur turned out more Jerk and less Gold. All of them had been rather mean actually. Arthur got into drugs, to name one bad thing, with his cronies following him as always. Almost the entire lot remembered just to be killed the next week in a drunk-driving accident. (When Gwaine was reborn, Merlin made sure to have a very serious talk with him on the subject.) Merlin had been traumatized. More so than he usually was after they began dying off.

The lives had been good, bad, and everywhere in between, and in a bunch of different countries. (The whole group had gotten very involved in the French Revolution, and Merlin would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the life where they ended up as spies for opposing countries. It was very exciting, and Merlin had written one of his novels on Arthur and Gwen's star-crossed romance of that life. The end of that life hadn't been fun at all, though.) Merlin had trekked around the world searching them out, from Arabia to Australia. They were Americans this generation, which was fine. Merlin had nothing against America, and he rather enjoyed the generations spent there. Still, England was always his favorite. The nearer to Camelot, the better.

Arthur, still sitting on the couch, sighed, which dragged Merlin back to the present. "I think you like the prospect of dying," he accused. "It's not that great, trust me."

"Neither is living a thousand years," said Merlin. In truth, he'd thought dying sounded rather attractive ever since Nimueh put the curse on him and his friends as a bit of petty revenge. "Plus, the after-part might be fun, right?"

"Maybe," said Arthur. He didn't practice a religion this life. "Should I inform Lancelot and Gwaine when I see them that this is… you know, it?"

"I'll tell them. Percival, too."

Arthur raised his eyebrows. "Oh, are we going to meet Percival soon?"

"I saw him in the store yesterday," Merlin told Arthur, rubbing his hand across his short hair. "I guess we'll meet him soon."

"Oh, good." Arthur grinned. "It's always fun when he remembers."

"Better than when Lancelot remembers," muttered Merlin. Arthur winced. That was the truth. Lance was rather… high strung… most of the lives. This life, most of the boys (Arthur, Leon, Lancelot, Gwaine, etc.) remembered their previous lives when entering college , a few years ago, not too long after Merlin introduced himself to them. It had not been pretty.

Arthur got too his feet as Merlin spoke again, "Don't worry, Arthur," he said. "It won't be as bad as you think. It's just dying. Everyone does it. And it's still a long way away."

Arthur shrugged. "It still kind of blows my mind, though. I got so used to there being… more." He shook his head. "Well, I stink, and I have plans, I'm going to shower. Tell Lancelot and Gwaine I say hey when you see them."

"Who are you going out with?"

Arthur rolled his eyes but smiled. "Amy."

Merlin looked reproachful, and Arthur groaned.

"Please, Merlin, don't… It's only the first date. I'm not doing anything wrong."

"Just because you haven't met Guinevere yet this life… Just… don't get too attached to this girl, Arthur. You don't want to break her heart when you meet Gwen. It might be very soon, too."

"It's just one date, Merlin."

"And don't mess around. Gwen won't be happy…"

"Gwen 'messed around' last life," pointed out Arthur, but he didn't really mean it. He was pretty responsible this life, having used up enough recklessness for five men last time.

"And Arthur…"

"What is it, Merlin?" Arthur gave him an exasperated look. "Can I just go take a shower, alright? You're turning into my mother more and more." Ygraine still lived this reincarnation.

Merlin couldn't help smiling. "I was just going to tell you to enjoy yourself. The new restaurant a couple of streets down is very good, if you want to take her there."

Arthur blinked.

"I'll show myself out then," said Merlin, and turned to leave as one of Arthur's cushions slammed into the back of his head. He laughed and threw it back before skipping out of the room and out of reach. Life to life, that throwing things bit never got old…

A/N: I usually don't like reincarnation fics, but I decided, what the heck, I may as well write one. It was kind of fun. And if anyone is wondering about the candle comment… I'm Catholic myself, so I thought it would be funny, since our churches do have a lot of candles. So, anyway, I know it was short, and no, I'm not going to continue it. I'm not really sure how I feel about the story, so if you would review and tell me if it's any good… that would be nice.

And who else thinks a spy story with star-crossed-enemy/lover Arwen would be epic? Sigh...