I wrote this quite a while ago, and just recently rediscovered it. It's very short, I know, but I didn't want this little fic to go to waste!

They stood together, the tallest and the smallest, both with identical looks in their eyes. Anxiousness, nervousness, shame, but also excitement.

"Merlin... Do you really think this is going to work?"

"There's only one way to find out," the young warlock answered, looking up at Percival, who had been staring straight ahead before turning to meet his gaze. The knight gave him a small nod, and in unison they both faced back forwards. The call was made, the sound of the horn echoing from the land around them. Then, slowly, as if from a dense mist, the familiar forms began to stride into their view.

All at once, the four called out the name of their respective best friend, their brother in bond.

"Merlin..."

"Percy."

"Gwaine?"

"Arthur!"

They fell together, each keeping a strong contact with the other. The living Merlin and Percival could not help but speak through tears, rushing out apologies of being unable to save the other, and desperate statements of how hard life was without them. Gwaine laughed off Percival's rare show of emotions and punched his shoulders, saying sweet murmurs of how he was just a big softie, how much he had missed the big guy. Arthur reassured Merlin, telling him that there was nothing more he could have done, that he could not wait for the day when he could return, so that he could once again walk with Merlin by his side, this time knowing that Merlin was his protector.

All too soon, their forms began to flicker. Merlin's hold on Arthur's clothing refused to release. He didn't want him to go, not again. He couldn't handle saying goodbye again. Arthur assured Merlin that it was alright, giving him the promise of his return. He put his hand on Merlin's shoulder in that proud way he always had, and with that, he receded back to the dimension of the dead.

Gwaine had leaned forwards, and Percival down, touching foreheads as they had so long ago on that dreadful day. Percival's hands dropped from Gwaine's shoulders as the latter stepped away, offering Percival his same old grin, and for a moment, he seemed to be more alive than he had ever been before, then he, too, disappeared.

A bond had formed between Percival and Merlin that day. On the way back home, after they had recovered from their refreshed grief, they swapped tales of the golden days. They had smiled, even laughed, and in their hearts, they both knew that they had discovered the first day of a new, close friendship all over again.

And Arthur and Gwaine, watching from the heavens, could not have been more proud.