Arthur's Awakening PART 1: s/12014508/1/Arthur-s-Awakening-PART-1

The sun rose upon a beautiful ancient city of Camelot, but it rose upon the modern day with Arthur as its King. Armoury, swords and chainmail were kept and candles were used by night. Even the Queen Elizabeth lived there as a part of the friendship between the modern world, and there were many modern changes with an additional extension of the castle but in the medicinal traditional way and magic users flourished from all over the land with Merlin as their teacher, Gwenivere is the head of the court and Arthurs Knights followed among the round table.

Two worlds had combined, the old and the new. And tourists would come in everyday just to explore give their love and respect. Merlin and Arthur would come out to do a tour for the new people that come in among the people that lived in Camelot.

"Come on that's enough" Merlin gestured his old self when he was terribly younger.

"What?" Arthur said.

"You've had your fun my friend" Merlin smiled as Arthur approached him, "Do I know you?"

"I'm Merlin" Merlin reaches out his hand to shake the strangers hand but Arthur doesn't shake the hand. "So I don't know you" Arthur stopped in front of him, "Yet you called me….friend"

"That was my mistake"

"Yes, I think so" Merlin agreed, "Yeah. I'd never have a friend that would be such an ass"

Arthur snorted, "Or I would be so stupid. Tell me Merlin, do you know how to walk on your knees?"

"No" Merlin gave a straight answer. "Would you like me to help you?" Arthur smiled at him.

"I wouldn't if I were you"

"Why? What are you going to do to me?" Arthur sniggered. "You have no idea"

"Be my guest" Arthur then puts out his arms wide, gesturing to the crowd around him. "Come on, come on. Come oooon"

Merlin then attempts to punch Arthur who grabs his arm and twists it round to his back, holding him. "I could put you into jail for that" Arthur said.

"Who do you think you are, the King?" Merlin asked. "No, I'm his son. Arthur"

With a chuckle from the audience, Arthur let Merlin go. "And this is how we met" Arthur announced. He didn't want to damage his partner who is nine months pregnant with a huge budging belly. Merlin had been complaining about his back lately so he has been going easy on him. During Merlins extra rest he would have one of his Knights guard him.

"I'm surprised too, he was a real prat way back then. Not like the ancient and glorious King that the legends tell you" Merlin said, which made Arthur glare at him and the audience laughed.

"Shut up Merlin" Arthur responded. "See? He's rude too" Merlin added, Arthur gave him a further glare.

"Anyways. Today is December the 25th, the day I pulled out Excalibur from the stone. Although a certain someone made the stone part up and made me believe it" Arthur rolled his eyes at Merlin, Merlin laughed quietly to himself. "We hope you enjoy the museum, thank you" Arthur bowed.

"FOR THE LOVE OF CAMELOT!" The audience roared and cheered with applause. This always made Arthur and Merlin smile. After this tour they were taken back inside the castle by the guards.

"Merlin, are you alright?" Arthur asked his partner. "Yes, just a little dandy" Merlin said, "Thank you, I'm sure that we will safely bring birth to Maree so I am a bit excited on the side"

"Gaius says that she is very healthy, so we may have a beautiful little girl in our hands soon" Arthur assured him, putting his hands on Merlin's carefully looked after stomach and they feel a lick landing on his hands. They both chuckled, "She's quite active lately"

"Then we better be ready" Arthur then leans in to kiss Merlin, "I have some papers to do, be careful and I will see you soon to get ready to bring her back to the world"

"I will have Gaius ready and waiting. Gwen wants to help as well" Merlin nodded. "Good. The more help, the better. I will see you later"

"See you Arthur" Merlin gave Arthur a hug before they separated ways. For a while he decided to go to the great hall to meet up with the Knights along with their new recruits. It had been months since they started taking up new knights and training them with Lancelot being their mentor to keep the old traditions alive.

"Merlin!" Gwaine and the others called out to greet him. "You are getting quite big!" Lancelot commented. "It's rather exhausting actually, the more I walk the more tired I get" Merlin stretched out his back, "Gaius has been helping me with some stretching routines"

"Aren't you due soon? We have celebrations tonight" Percival asked. "I won't be attending them tonight I don't think, I have preparations to bring Maree back into the world tonight, if not tonight, then I don't know how long I am going to be in bed for"

"Well then, best of luck Merlin" Elyan said. "Thank you everyone" Merlin really appreciated the support he received throughout the whole process. "How are the recruits going?" he asked.

"Modern day recruits are actually better than we thought. Though the process of becoming a knight isn't as easy way back in our time. It is a tough role to gain"

"Quite funny isn't it? They have it easy in some ways, but we have some things that are tough for them"

They all agreed. "Yes, it is strange"

"When are able to come to the tavern with us after birthing Merlin?" Gwaine asked. "When I am finished breast feeding" Merlin replied, "Beer is not good for a child". Yes, the ancient tavern was revived a month ago and Gwaine owns the place so he doesn't owe anyone any money anymore. No more receipts for Arthur which was a huge relief because of his sudden interest in different kinds of alcohol after he came out of the lake and ended in a situation when he couldn't pay for anything. Other than that Gwaine was worse of a drunk than centuries ago.

"Oh I see" Gwaine was in disbelief. "We will be waiting for you"

Suddenly Merlin felt a huge release of water flush out of his body, his eyes widened and the Knights backed away at the sudden pool of water below Merlin. There was a few gasps from some of them and a silence in the entire room when all the other recruits realised what just happened. "Was that….." Gwaine started.

"I think my water just broke" Merlin whispered. "Argh!" He grabbed onto his stomach when pain hit him. "Oh god, that's painful!" He winced, eyes shutting tight and teeth grinding down hard.

The Knights then clicked and went into motion, "GET THE KING! AND GET GAIUS!" Percival yelled, Lancelot ran out for the King and Gwaine ran out to get Gaius as fast as they could which left Elyan, Leon and Lancelot to look after Merlin.

"I hope that Arthur isn't a fainter" Lancelot chuckled as he put an arm around one side of Merlin, Merlin chuckled back but he then groaned from the pain as Leon took the other side and they started to get Merlin to his chambers in a hurry but steadily held him. "Let's hurry"

"I'll take care of the mess" Elyan said. "Thank you, sorry for that" Merlin said.

"Think nothing of it Merlin"

Halfway onto Merlin's chambers Arthur came rushing through the hall like a mad dog, "MERLIN!" he approached his partner, "Are you alright?" Merlin nodded, "Take deep breaths just like Gaius told you"

"I am! And it isn't working you prat!" Merlin complained, painting. Then a contraption hit him, "ARGH!" He yelled in pain. "Shit Arthur, it really hurts…."

"Come on!" Arthur hurried Leon and Lancelot up, and they got him to his chambers where Gwen sat inside, once they got in Gwen immediately noticed what is going on. "Merlin!" She yelped.

"Get the warm blankets ready!" Arthur told Gwen and she went off to work without a word. Dismissing Leon and Lancelot, Arthur started taking Merlin's robes off and laid him on the bed. Then Gaius came in a hurry, "I came in as fast as I could! How is Merlin?!" He looked panicked.

Merlin was panting, sweating and taking steady breaths but clearly in a lot of pain. "Does this answer your question?" He said, "It hurts!" But Arthur was there and took his hand, "Here, squeeze it tight as you need to" He kneeled down next to him, looking calm but very nervous.

Gaius went to Merlin aid immediately, he got onto the bed and observed his situation carefully. "You are doing good Merlin, keep breathing. How many contraptions have you had?"

"Two" Merlin panted out, "How long is this going to take?"

"Depends on how much effort you put in how hard you push Merlin" Gaius said, "How is that supposed to help?!" Merlin yelped when another contraction hit him. "Here, have this" Gaius gave him a tonic for Merlin and he swallowed it immediately, "For the pain"

Arthur became quite uneasy and started stroking Merlins hair to try and calm him down a bit because at this point he is becoming quite panicked. "It's going to be alright Merlin"

"Merlin!' Gwen came back with some heated blankets and placed one on top of Merlin's belly to ease the pain further, Merlin gave out a small sigh but was still in pain. "Are you alright?" She asked. "A little…."

"Alright Merlin, it is time to push, I can see the head now" Gaius said, then Merlin turned his head to Arthur, "Don't you dare faint on me" Arthur laughed, "I will make sure of it. Now let's push"

Merlin took in a breath and heaved, pushing with all his might but it was painful to even push as well. His head threw back from the pain and squeezed Arthurs hand real tight, his other hand gripping the sheets. Arthur got a small towel and dabbed his forehead from the sweat.

"Good Merlin, keep it going" Gaius encouraged Merlin to push even father. Merlin pushed but the pain only increased, the more he pushed the more pain hit him. "Her head is out" Gaius said, and Merlin was already exhausted.

"Poor darling, you can do it Merlin" Gwen went over and held his other hand. "Thanks Gwen" then he turned to Arthur who is bright red in the face and looks like he has a battle of his own.

"You aright Arthur?" He asked. "Yes, just trying not to faint" Arthur shuddered. Merlin smiled, "Hold on" He then pushed even further with all his might, a large groan of pain coming out of his mouth as his head bent back into the pillow. "Argh, Arthur, this is so painful…." Tears started to emerge from Merlin's eyes. Arthur wanted to soothe him so he brought his lips to kiss him, hopefully to distract him from the pain, he felt Merlin let out a heart-warming sigh as Arthur rubbed circles softly onto Merlins stomach. "Come on Merlin, you can do it. Use my magic to push harder"

Merlin smiled, and then his eyes shone gold before he could do a long big push before a squeal came from little Maree. She was finally out, Merlin sighed of relief when the pain finally left his body but more than that Gaius carefully took a hold of her and Gwen started cleaning her.

"She is a wonderful healthy baby girl Merlin" Gaius smiled as little Maree cried in his hands and Gwen gave her to Merlin when he stretched out her arms for her. "My baby" Merlin cried, driven to tears. He grabbed her gently and placed her onto his stomach to hold her, "Little Maree" Arthur moved closer to Merlin so he could put his hand on her as well. "It's okay, Papa's here" Merlin soothes her. "Sssssh" He places a kiss on her head, "Thank you so much Gaius, Gwenivere" Arthur said.

"Our pleasure" Gaius said, Gwen moved over to see the young child. "Hello little one"

Maree cried softly, "There there" Merlin soothes her, he was also crying, "You're back my little girl" he sniffed, hugging the little bundle in his arms. "I will go out to tell the Knights that everything is okay" Gwen said before going out.

"She's beautiful Merlin" Arthur said, getting a blanket and putting it over the little one. "She is, she is perfect Arthur" he said, pressing a kiss on her forehead and she settles down a bit. "There we go"

They then heard some cheers out the door, must be the knights. Arthur smiled. "Phoo, I almost fainted for a moment there"

Merlin honked Arthur's nose, "Dollop head"

"I'll clean up Merlin, you should rest" Gaius said, "Keep her close, she will know your scent by now" And he was right, Maree was breathing and she had fallen asleep on Merlin's chest up close.

Once Gaius finished cleaning up Arthur put some blankets over Merlin so he can let them both rest. "When you feel better we can take a bath to clean up. I'm going out to see the knights alright?"

"Okay, they can come in if they want to" Merlin accepts a kiss from Arthur before he leaves. Shutting the door after himself, he greets the knights outside.

"How is Merlin?" Lancelot asked, the others eager to find out. "He's tired but he and the baby are happy and healthy"

"That's wonderful news Arthur! So Gwen told us that you have a beautiful baby girl?" Elyan asked.

"Yes, would you like to come in and see her?"

They all nodded in agreement, "Come in then" And Arthur opened the door, and everyone came straight in. "Merlin!" Gwaine said, Merlin lifted his head. "Guys"

They all awed at the little human being in Merlin's arms, "She's a beautiful little one"

"Well done Merlin, you did it"

The sunset rose lit up the room through the window, "Beautiful sunset" Elyan said, and he opened the window.

Soon suddenly butterflies started to fly in and gather before landing softly on Merlin, Arthur and little Maree. "Magic" Arthur gasped softly, "They know she's born"

Merlin appreciated the presence of the butterflies and Maree squirmed a little as their wings touched her head. And then they noticed, that the butterflies gathered on top of their swords as well as they shone against the sunlight.

The moment couldn't get any better.

"Arthur, are you crying?" Gwaine asked. Then Merlin looked at him in surprise to see a King with tears rolling down his face. He didn't notice he was crying but his heart was filled with emotion. Merlin grinned at him.

"Shut up Merlin"