Summary: A millennia after Camelot, Arthur and Gwen run into each other in a coffee shop... literally.
Reincarnation sucks.Arthur thought to himself as he sat at a table in the tea shop of the mall he was visiting.
It had been a year since Merlin found him. One day, he just waltzed into Arthur's office at Penn Industries and started babbling about destiny and cryptic dragons and waiting 1000 years. It had frightened Arthur because growing up he spent his nights with dreams and nightmares of events he couldn't possibly have been involved in seeping through his mind. Merlin had been in a lot of those dreams and Arthur thought he'd finally lost it when he saw the scrawny man standing across from him. Merlin muttered a spell and suddenly all those nightmares and dreams became memories of a time long since passed.
It was a disconcerting thing, having memories of two separate lives in your head. Things got jumbled up sometimes and he had to pause, sort his head out and try to remember the differences between his life now and his life then.
In his life then Morgana and Morgause were his enemies, they hated him and wanted him dead. In his life now they were his sisters, Faye and Anna respectively. They were his best friends and they told each other everything. In his past life Mordred was like a brother to him, almost like a son, until they killed each other. In this life he was Matthew, his 8-year-old nephew, Anna's adopted son with her wife Nimueh, Naomi now, Matthew's biological mother. In his life then, he had Guinevere. He was happy and had his true love with him. He got to wake up next to her every day. In this life, he was alone. He couldn't find her. He tried yellow pages and the internet but hit a dead end.
What would he say anyway? 'Hi, I'm your husband from a past life' or 'you know all those Arthurian legends? Well, it's true, somewhat, and that's us.'
Merlin had had enough of seeing him mope about. He suggested Arthur date until he found Gwen but then again Merlin was happy and didn't want Arthur not to be. He had everything he had wanted and more: he had Arthur back. He was friends with Faye and Anna. He had run into Gwaine or Gavin apparently. Arthur was pretty sure something was happening between he and Merlin, but he didn't say anything about it or ask. Arthur, for his part, couldn't bring himself to put himself out there like that anymore. Ever since he remembered, he shut down emotionally to other women because they weren't Guinevere. There was every possibility that this Gwen was completely different to the past Gwen. She could be married, or she could even be dead. He didn't like lingering on those thoughts. So, while Merlin was ecstatic that his loneliness was over with their reunion, Arthur's had just begun. Where Merlin found the other side of his coin, Arthur was faced with the realization that he was missing the other half of his heart and she didn't even know he existed. Hell, he hadn't known she existed until just recently.
Arthur sipped more of his coffee before looking around the tea shop. It was decorated for Christmas; a small tree was on the counter by the register. Tinsel and garland hung from the windows and paper snowflakes were pasted to the glass as well as a paper Santa on the door. He noticed three women staring at him and giggling from their table. The two blondes and redhead waved at him. He waved back with a smile that was false, but they ate it up. Before he remembered, he was a playboy. He had money, his father was a business mogul and so was Arthur in his own right. That afforded him some fame and women came along with the limelight, but he was never serious about them, it never lasted any more than a year. Now that he knew there was something real, something else that was so pure and beautiful that he could attain, he couldn't cheapen his experience with Gwen by dating airheaded models or beautiful gold-diggers anymore.
Even though he hadn't finished his coffee, he figured he better leave before one of those women across the way tried to talk to him. They were gorgeous but he didn't really feel up to flirting and exchanging numbers when he would just ignore her and not return the call anyway. He picked up his cup and his bags of last-minute Christmas shopping, got up and turned only to collide with a woman... hard. She fell to the floor immediately with her bags and the pastries she held in her hand, her small frame no match against his build. Her full cup of iced coffee splashed all over Arthur's black, wool jacket and his coffee cup fell to the floor, spilling all over, narrowly missing her. He stepped back on instinct and slipped over some of his spilled coffee. The result was both sprawled on the linoleum with the items from their bags strewn across the floor while they laid in puddles of coffee.
In other words, it was a disaster.
It was quite spectacular. Like something from a movie or a cartoon, but it was still a disaster. He could hear the woman groaning in pain. He would be doing the same if he didn't have the wind knocked out of him. The shop was silent as the patrons took in the two slightly writhing people splayed out on the floor until a worker spoke up.
"Please go back to your meals while we clean up this mess, ladies and gentlemen." The male worker said before walking over to the two who were quickly recovering but were still laid out.
"Are you both okay? Please tell me nothing's broken, the boss will have my ass." The man said worriedly.
"No broken bones, just a bruised ego and a bit of vertigo. It'll pass." The woman Arthur collided into said, causing him to freeze. He knew that voice, he'd know it anywhere.
No, I must've hit my head or something because it can't be her.
"What about you, Mister? You alright?"
"I'll let you know once my lungs catch up with the rest of my body." Arthur answered, sitting up slowly. He was afraid to see the woman because if it was Guinevere what would he do and say? But if it wasn't, his heart would break. As soon as he set eyes on her as she sat up, he knew it was her. Her dark brown curly hair was much shorter than it had ever been, cut to reach an inch or two above her shoulders, but it was still her. The same face, same voice, even the same smell of lavender and wildflowers wafted from her. Arthur quickly stood up as he observed her. He ignored the stains on his jacket and the soreness setting into his back as well as his bags which were on the floor and held his hand out to help her up.
"Thanks. I'm so sorry, I was in such a hurry I didn't watch where I was going." Gwen explained apologetically as they picked up their bags and put them in a booth while a man came over with a mop to clean up the coffee. He decided to play it cool with Gwen and act like he didn't know her because the truth was he didn't.
"I was just as much at fault, not looking either." Suddenly Gwen's eyes widened and she grabbed some napkins from the table closest to her and began dabbing at the coffee on his jacket.
"Oh, your jacket… and my coffee… and it's wool."
"It's okay, really."
"I'll make it up to you or something."
"Honestly, I'm fine. It's just a jacket. Could have been worse. You could have had hot coffee." Arthur said, joking a bit towards the end. Gwen giggled a little before nodding.
"I suppose so."
"You lost your coffee and cookies. Let me buy it back for you." Arthur said looking at Gwen calmly though inside he was nearly bursting with the need for her to agree.
"Oh, I couldn't ask that."
"You're not asking, I'm offering… if it's okay." Arthur said in a softer tone than he intended but Gwen seemed to soften to it.
"I suppose so. I'm Guinevere by the way but most people call me Gwen." She said offering her hand to him as they walked towards the front counter.
"I'm Arthur, it's lovely to meet you Guinevere."
"Arthur and Guinevere, like that old king and queen from those ridiculously convoluted Arthurian legends." Gwen noted with amusement clear in her voice.
"Just like that old king and queen." Arthur reiterated giving her a look that was so wholly intense she couldn't look away. She felt as if she knew him from somewhere, his eyes were so familiar. She wanted to stare into them until she remembered exactly where she knew him from but he looked away before they could continue their staring match. She had a feeling though that she had all the time in the world to figure him out.
Maybe reincarnation isn't so bad. Arthur thought to himself as Gwen stepped up to the counter beside him. It felt like he was rushing towards something, something brilliant and he was more than prepared to do it if it meant being with her.