Hello all! I'm back with another Merlin fic! This is just supposed to be a fun little fic, a little bit of angst because of...stuff, you'll see. No slash this time, just the Merlin/Arthur bromance that I love so much. I hope you guys enjoy it, and please leave reviews! I know it's a short first chapter, I just wanted to test the waters and see what you guys thought of this idea. I don't own Merlin or any of its characters! Enjoy!

"Don't be such a girl, Merlin," Arthur teased, "You've done far braver things than this." Merlin sighed and replied,

"But sire, if she's a druid, she won't-" Arthur looked at him seriously.

"You've dealt with magical folk before, why does this scare you now?" Merlin shuddered.

"It's just different. I can feel it."

"You can feel it? God, you're hopeless," Arthur said. Merlin's shoulders sagged slightly. He hated when Arthur told him he was useless or hopeless. He knew Arthur didn't believe it, but it still hurt when he said it. The druid woman's house was still a mile away, but that mile passed quickly, and soon enough, they arrived at a humble cottage, hidden well by the foliage.

When Arthur knocked and the woman answered, Merlin raised his eyebrows when he saw her. She was beautiful, with spiraling auburn curls that fell perfectly into place, porcelain skin with freckles dashed about, and sharp, bright green eyes. But she had a thick scar, marring her features, running from the left side of her chin to the right side of her forehead. She gave both of them a look, knowing they were staring at it. Merlin cleared his throat and said,

"M'lady Morean, my name is Merlin, and my companion is the King of Camelot, Arthur Pendragon." Her mouth curled up into an interesting smirk when she heard their names.

"King Arthur and his manservant, Merlin. I have heard and seen a lot about you two. Come in." Her gaze lingered on Merlin and her eyes sparkled as if she knew a secret. Merlin knew she knew who he was. As she turned to lead them inside, Merlin caught a glimpse of the black triskele tattoo on her neck, just below her ear. Morean sat them down on two comfortable chairs and then sat across from them, hands crossed.

"What is it that you require from me?" she asked immediately. Arthur glanced at Merlin and said,

"We...I simply wanted to acknowledge you, a druid, as welcome inside the borders of Camelot. While I have not allowed magic inside my borders as of now, I am allowing peaceful existence of the druids so long as they cause me no trouble or harm." Morean raised an eyebrow and leaned back.

"I was unaware that I was not welcome here in the first place. I was also unaware I needed your permission to live here."

Arthur looked uncomfortable. "Well, ah, yes, you do. As the king, I do have the right to-"

"Do not tell me whether I have the right to live or not to live because I have magic," she hissed suddenly, her eyes blazing, "It was not my choice as to whether or not I have it. You cannot tell me I am condemned because of who I am. You have no right to tell me now everything is okay because you are allowing us to live, but still hidden, away from everyone else." She straightened up, still glaring at Arthur, but visibly calming down. Merlin shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"I meant no disrespect, Lady Morean. It's just that magic has been the root of a lot of-"

"Your problems? Ha, I say. Ha!" she cut him off, "You are more of a fool than I thought, Arthur Pendragon. For it is not magic's fault what it is used for. It is who wields it who is at fault." She said the last part rather softly before standing suddenly.

"I believe you both deserve a reward for coming here." Arthur and Merlin were taken aback.

"No reward is necessary, my lady, we did nothing but upset you…"

"No, I insist," she smiled mischievously again before commanding, "Gehæftan." Arthur yelped as roots quickly started to wind out of the ground and around his ankles. He stood, as did Merlin, succeeding in knocking both of them down. The roots happily looped themselves around them, restraining them too tightly to break free. Morean smiled and told them,

"You'll thank me later. Wanne nædran, bebiede þæt. Gestrenge me nu forwiernan switchangea - Arthur et Merlin!" Her hands were raised and she quickly lowered them, aiming one of her arms at each of them. They both flinched as golden light hit them, and not painfully, started to transform them.

((()))

Merlin woke up first. The roots holding him to the floor had vanished, and Lady Morean was nowhere to be seen. He scowled when he sat up slowly, his head throbbing painfully. He put a hand up to his head before frowning at the hand before him. It was not his hand.

For one thing, his fingers should have been longer and his hand more delicate. This hand was also more tan than his, and scarred and callused in different ways than his own. Merlin looked at his other hand and found the same problem. He suddenly felt a lot heavier, as well. He looked down and found he was wearing chainmail. To be exact, the chainmail the knights of Camelot wore.

Then Merlin turned around and found Lady Morean's full length mirror and screamed.

He tested it once, twice, and three times. The body was definitely his. But it wasn't. He was in Arthur's body. None of this was his. His scream, unfortunately, had awoken the real king, and Arthur slowly opened his own eyes. The minute he saw Merlin he stood and grabbed for his sword. Being in Merlin's clothes, he did not find it. Frustration glinted in his eyes as he quickly approached Merlin and hissed,

"What sorcery is this? What have you done to me?" Merlin stifled a laugh and with his face deadpan, told Arthur,

"Uh, look in the mirror. You're me." Arthur shoved him, not understanding that his friend was in his body and gave a sharp gasp when he looked in the mirror. Then he looked at Merlin again.

"Merlin?" he asked cautiously.

"Yup. Although Lady Morean's gotten off to somewhere, not really sure where, so I guess we're stuck." He put his hands on his hips to emphasize the point and Arthur hissed,

"Stop that. You can't be me." Merlin looked down at his new body and back up.

"Well I am, and there doesn't seem to be an obvious solution. Sorry." Merlin caught a look on his own face that Arthur made that he wished not to see again. Arthur gritted his teeth and pointed out,

"Mer-lin. We can't be seen like this. You can't be me! You'd be a blundering fool and...and I know you have everyone's best interests at heart, but you could easily mess everything up! You don't even know how to hold a sword!" Merlin smirked and pulled a sword out of his belt, twirling it in his hand before doing a couple of fighting moves and then sheathing it again.

"I beg to differ. Besides, this could be fun. Think of what Gwen will-"

Arthur's eyes widened and he grabbed Merlin by the front of his chainmail. "You can't tell Gwen about this. And you can't...Merlin, you have to sleep somewhere else. You will not be in bed with my wife!" Merlin gave a sarcastic smirk and raised an eyebrow.

"Why not?"

"MERLIN!"

"I'm kidding, Arthur, calm down," Merlin laughed. Arthur glared at him and Merlin straightened his face. Or he straightened Arthur's face. Whichever. "Okay, okay, I'm being serious. But you're telling me you don't find this even a little bit funny?"

"No."

"No what?"

"You know what I mean! Don't make me smack you!"

"Ah-ah-ah, you forget, I'm in your body now. The stronger one. Meaning I would be the one smacking you." Arthur looked rather helpless and Merlin felt bad for teasing him. He cleared his throat. "Sorry."

"I should hope so. What are we going to do? We can't fix this without magic, obviously." That was when Merlin suddenly remembered one of the perks about being himself. Magic. He coughed, then started coughing violently and Arthur clapped him on the back. "Don't choke me please, Merlin! You alright?" he asked. Merlin nodded and held up a finger for one minute.

The good thing about the transformation was that they didn't seem to be able to access each other's memories, so that part stayed with them in their consciousness. They only inherited the body and the muscle memory that came with it. The minute Arthur had to act quickly and almost in an instinctual manner, Merlin feared, he would use magic accidentally and his talent would be discovered. Crap.

"I've just decided this isn't funny anymore, this is definitely bad," Merlin said.

"You don't say?" Arthur replied sardonically. Merlin smirked at seeing himself be sarcastic.

"Well, what are we going to do about it?"

"Not sure, but I have no excuse to be on an extended trip until we find a cure, so we're going to have to get back to Camelot and...well, it looks like we're going to have to try our best to be each other." Arthur tripped over a bucket of water. "Look at that, I'm doing well already." Merlin rolled his eyes - Arthur's eyes - and gestured for them to leave.

"Come on then." Merlin smirked and added, "Did you like my eye rolling there? It was a very good impression of you." Arthur glared at him and joked,

"Uncanny."

"You know we're going to have to tell at least Gwen about this, right? And probably Gaius?" Merlin asked.

"Why?"

"Well, unless you want me in bed with Gwen every night thinking I'm you - "

"Alright, alright, we'll tell Gwen...but who says she'll believe us? Gaius will, but Gwen may not."

"That's up to Gwen, I suppose, but I think she'll take the precaution of not being overly friendly, if you know what I mean…"

"Merlin! You're talking about the queen!"

"Yes? And? I'm stating facts!" Merlin replied indignantly.

"Well, stop it." Merlin sighed and mounted the horse with Arthur's help, who looked very unhappy with doing so. Merlin smirked; this could still be fun.