The alarm beeped incessantly in Merlin's ear, forcing him to reach to his side and turn it off. He grunted and sat up, only to fall back down onto his bed once again. The impact, or maybe the alarm, must've startled Arthur awake, because when he shifted onto his side, rather than still peacefully sleeping, Arthur was staring back at him. Merlin found it hard to pull his gaze away from his lovers, and their deep intensity. Deciding that it really couldn't hurt to continue, he studied Arthur's eyes, and enjoyed every moment of it.

The dark blue color was entrancing, and within its depths Merlin recognized sagacity, playfulness, torment, compassion, and most certainly arrogance. Each were aspects that Merlin loved about Arthur, and what really made him, well, him.

While Arthur's arrogance had come across too strong in his previous lives, each time he was reincarnated, it got increasingly better and less apparent. That was good for a number of reasons, but primarily, it made it an easier experience for Merlin to reveal his magic to Arthur. Each time he did so, Arthur was shocked, which was to be expected, however, in his earlier reincarnations, he was absolutely hurt, and furious with himself for not noticing it. It had really wounded his ego, which had been a big part of him during those times. Luckily he was past that now, and in his previous reincarnation he had been a lot more accepting. Merlin was excited to find out how well it would go this time.

Merlin was startled by that last thought, and quickly moved his eyes away from Arthurs. He had been so sleepy, that he had forgotten something very important.

It was Christmas.

He recalled the previous night, while he was fretting and worried about what he had chosen to get Arthur, and if it was really the right time to give him the gift he had spent so long planning. His doubts resurfaced and Merlin had to fight the urge to puke from nervousness.

He glanced at Arthur and gave his goofy grin in response to Arthur's full- blown smile.

Arthur quickly closed the gap between them and pressed his lips against Merlin's, who sighed lightly in pleasure. Merlin moaned in protest when his lover pulled away, but his face quickly lit up as Arthur muttered,

"Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, Dollophead," Merlin whispered back. Arthur still didn't know where the nickname had come from, but he thought it was cute of Merlin to give him nickname, so he kept it.

Feeling excited, though still uneasy, about his gift to Arthur, he stumbled out of bed like the clumsy person he was, and helped pull Arthur up. Then, he led him through the halls of their home, down the broad, sparkling granite staircase, and finally came upon the beautiful Christmas Tree in the living room.

"Why don't you go first?" Merlin insisted.

Arthur nodded and selected a medium sized box from under the tree that proudly proclaimed "TO: DOLLOPHEAD". Merlin's eyes went wide as he recognized the special wrapping paper he had used so he could remember what was inside it. The first present Arthur had picked had been the one he was stressing about, hell, even scared about.

" Wait!" Merlin shouted, "Let's save that one for last." He couldn't let that one gift ruin the rest of the morning, and though he didn't think it would, he didn't know how Arthur would react. At the very least it would change the mood, well, and their entire lives…

Arthur gave Merlin a sideways look, but set the box aside and chose another. Merlin smiled as he tried to guess which one this was - he had only chosen special wrapping paper for the one Arthur had just set down, so he didn't know about this one. He made his guess and as Arthur pulled the lid from the box, knew he was right. He could tell by the holes in the side that Arthur hadn't seen. Arthur practically squealed at his gift, and thanked Merlin endlessly when he pulled it from the box. In Arthur's strong arms was a small squirming mass of fur.

"Is this a labrador puppy!?" Arthur questioned.

Merlin chuckled and nodded his head. He figured that Arthur would react this way. He had always loved the horses Merlin had given him, so it makes sense that he would like another pet.

"Do you like it?" he inquired, making sure.

Arthur couldn't respond, his face was buried in the puppy's back because he was hugging it so tightly.

"What do you want to name it?" Merlin questioned.

Arthur's head shot up and his answer startled Merlin.

"I like 'Aithusa',"

He responded to Merlin's shocked look with,

"What? Don't you think it fits him? I heard it in the Arthurian legend, and I really like it. Hey, don't you think it's cool that We both have names from the legend?" he said, getting distracted.

Merlin fought back laughter as he agreed.

"Alright, Aithusa it is."

The rest of the morning passed by quickly,each taking turns to open their gifts, and was filled with kisses and laughter. Merlin received a very expensive watch, blue, red, and purple scarves that bore much resemblance to the neck scarves he always used to wear, a brown leather coat, and many other thoughtful gifts from Arthur. With each gift he unwrapped he became more certain that this was the right time for it to happen.

It was noon by the time Arthur unwrapped his second-to-last present, a set of plastic swords and helmets that Merlin got him as a gag gift. Merlin had opened his last present right before Arthur's swords, so know it was time for the present.

Merlin took a deep breath and told Arthur to wait for him while he got some hot chocolate. He strode towards the kitchen and as he prepared the soothing drink, he watched the snow fall onto his large, grassy backyard. The sparkling flakes had a calming effect on him, and he walked back to Arthur with confidence, where Arthur gratefully took a cup from him hand, and returned to the spot where Aithusa was resting.

"Alright, this is the last one!" Arthur explained as he carefully removed the top. Merlin's eyes flashed gold, and the center of the box was covered in tiny flames before Arthur even laid his eyes on the inside.

Once he saw the flames, he quickly jumped up and warned Merlin.

"We have to put it out!" he exclaimed as he ran towards the kitchen. Merlin blocked him so he couldn't leave the room, and felt guilty for Arthur's frightened look.

"No, it's okay. Go look in the box," he said in a soothing tone.

Unnerved, Arthur cautiously approache the gift box, not noticing that Merlin's eyes had begun to flash gold again.

He let out a gasp as he saw the fire transform into a dragon, though his wonder was interrupted by Merlin's sweet voice.

"It's the Pendragon crest," Merlin stated. Arthur gave him a questioning look.

"How have you done this? Where did you buy this? Is it real fire?" he asked, chuckling to himself, "Of course it's not real fire, it would've burned this house down if it was!" he said as he bent down further to touch a small lick of flame.

"OW!" he exclaimed as he discovered it was , indeed, real fire.

"It didn't burn the house down because I'm controlling it," Merlin stated as he rushed to Arthur's side. He quickly grabbed hold of Arthur's hand and touched the burnt finger to his own. With that one simple touch, all the pain was gone, and a confused Arthur turned towards his lover.

"Come, sit on the couch with me," Merlin commanded. Arthur did as he was told, not knowing what else to do. Merlin sat, and gestured Arthur to do so as well.

There they sat, unmoving, for hours as Merlin explained his magic, and their first life together.