So, this is kind of my challenge to myself. I'm writing one fanfiction for each episode of Merlin. Some are one-shots, some are longer stories. I ran out of ideas for fanfictions so this is how I'm dealing with that. If anyone has any prompts for me, feel free to leave it in a review and if I write it after I finish writing these 65 stories, I'll dedicate it to you… so, thanks. And I give you Season 2 Episode 9.
Summary: This is a short(ish) One-Shot. Merlin and Freya live out their forever in one short date before Freya dies. It is her gift to him.
Story 22: Before I Close My Eyes
"One day, Merlin, I will repay you. I promise," Freya told him gently.
"I don't want you to repay me. I don't want a one day promise. I just want one more day," Merlin told her. He held her close to him. He knew it was coming, any moment now she would close her eyes and she would never reopen them.
"If that is how I can repay you then so be it," Freya said. She put her hand over her stomach and muttered something under her breath.
"What are you doing?" Merlin asked.
"It's a spell, one of the only that I know. I learned it after I got cursed," Freya explained softly. "It preserves someone's body exactly as it was when they cast the spell. There are nasty side effects though, which I learned very quickly. I began to take on the qualities of the bastet in my human form. It is how the druids figured out I was behind the attacks. I ended the spell, but it was too late. I was hunted after that." She shook the sadness from her eyes. "For one night though, it's worth it." She looked down at her stomach and then back up at him shyly. "I was able to close my wound. It in no way will save me, once I break this spell, I will die."
"One night," Merlin muttered softly. "We better make the best of it."
Merlin left Freya where she was for only a moment. He returned as quickly as possible with an entire picnic basket. "Leohtbora," Merlin whispered, making hundreds of tiny dancing flames appear. He stationed them sporadically around the clearing where they were sitting, being careful to have them avoid the trees. Then he set a cloth on the ground and guided Freya over to it.
"For one night, you are a princess," Merlin whispered. "We have the mountains and the lake."
"And each other," Freya told him.
Merlin nodded in agreement. For hours they dined on grapes, and cheese, and bread. It wasn't much, but it felt like a feast to them.
Merlin watched as Freya ate the last grape. The juice from it spilled over her mouth slightly. Merlin reached over and cleaned it off, leaving behind a scarlet path in his wake. She was blushing, Merlin realized. It almost made him feel satisfied to know he had the same effect on her that she had on him. "I've never met anyone like you before," he told her. "It's not fair that we only get one night."
"It's not fair," Freya agreed. "But it's what we've got. We could have had less. Be grateful for this Merlin. I know I am."
"I am grateful," Merlin assured her. "Every moment we spend together makes me grateful… it's just… I'm going to miss you."
"And I you," Freya told him seriously. "You are not like other men. Most people see the creature I turn into and they want to kill me."
"It's because they don't know you," Merlin told her. "Not like I do."
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Freya asked him, her eyes were dancing with curiosity.
"I've… I've never felt this way about anyone before. I think… I think I love you," Merlin told her. A soft pink spread across Freya's face. She didn't say it back, but Merlin didn't need her to. He was content with knowing that she felt some sort of affection towards him.
He glanced down at her lips and then back up at her. The burning desire behind her eyes told him she wanted it just as badly.
He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. She was weak from her wounds, but she was strong enough to give him this.
It was soft and gentle at first, but then it escalated. Merlin broke apart their kiss. "This isn't right," he told her.
"I don't care," she insisted. "I have spent my whole life hearing that the things I do are wrong. This feels right Merlin. I'm not afraid."
"I don't want to hurt you," Merlin whispered.
"You won't," Freya assured him. She pulled his mouth back down towards hers. "It is as you said. We best make the most of our one night together. We have a forever to live in a matter of hours."
Merlin couldn't fault her logic. As they resumed their kiss, something took over both of them, something that neither of them had expected.
They may not have known each other long, but they could not deny the love they shared for one another. It was stronger than anything they had ever felt before. As they lay together until the early morning hours, that is what they cared about. They were preserving their love in their memories. Memories that they would never forget.
Freya turned towards Merlin as the sun rose. "It is time," she whispered.
"I'm not ready," Merlin told her.
"You have to be. No one can ever know about this. It's too dangerous for you. Especially not Arthur. He can never know," Freya warned him. She gave him a nervous look before she kissed his cheek. "I couldn't bare for anything to happen to you. I… I love you." A tear fell down her cheek.
Merlin wasn't sure how to describe what he was feeling right now. He was euphoric to have found someone like Freya, but it was cruel that she was being taken from him so soon. "I love you too," Merlin said after a long moment had passed. Tears fell freely from his eyes, but he wasn't ashamed of them. He kissed her one last time before he stepped back. He held her hand as she chanted. He knew the moment that the spell had been lifted, because she fell to the ground. Merlin caught her and gently helped her to the ground.
"Will you promise me something?" Freya asked right after she lifted the spell. The color was already draining from her face. "Will you promise me that you will never forget me?"
"I promise," Merlin choked out. He held her until she died in his arms, the whisper of his promise still on his lips. Even as he gently lifted her into a boat and pushed her out into the lake as the sun set. He raised his hand and willed the fire into existence. Just like that, Freya was gone.
"I promise," he whispered one last time as he watched the flames die down. There was nothing left of her. Nothing except his memories.
What did you think?