Not so very long ago, I was completely in love with the television series, Merlin. Don't get me wrong, I still love the show, but I've moved on from being "in love" with it by this point. I'm sure it will eventually end up being the same for Glee and Doctor Who too. But while I was there, I wrote this shameless piece of fluff. I had an idea, and so I ran with it. It's not very good. It was the very first fan fic I ever wrote. I did have it up on Livejournal for a bit, but figured it was crap and took it down.

Now, since I am worried about my laptop crashing with all of my stories being lost forever, I decided to upload this online. Since I already have a account, I figured this is probably the best place for it. Feel free to review, if you're interested. Hope you like it!


Colin Morgan looked up from his homework on set, the shade making it hard for him to be able to see what he was working on. In front of him and down the stairs, Bradley James was sparring with the fight co-ordinator, going over the moves again and again to make sure he had them memorised. With a shake of his head, Colin smiled softly to himself. Bradley was a great guy, and when he really got going in Arthur mode, he was very focused.

Problem with the world was, everyone expected him and Bradley to be "A Couple". Not that he minded, cause Bradley was such a good friend. But Colin wasn't really interested in Bradley that way. He was funny, sensitive, and a bit of a prat sometimes, but overall a great guy. And the fact that Bradley wasn't interested in him either was kind of a deterrent. They had talked about it while filming season two.

"Ya, sorry mate," Bradley had effused. "It's not that I don't like you or anything, I just happen to like girls. I mean, uhm, I like you as a friend and all, but not quite like THAT…" Bradley had gone quiet, and he flushed to the tips of his ears.

"Ya," Colin had replied. "I know. That's how I feel too! Poor fans who really want Merlin and Arthur to be together." And they had laughed and gone to lunch with Katie and Angel, and Santiago had joined them.

Now it was a year later, and Colin and Bradley had been finishing up with Season Three. This fight scene was supposed to be a culmination of a lot of different loose ends being tied up within the Merlin world. He, Colin, was supposed to play Merlin with more fervor than he ever had, and it was taking its toll on him. He was spending more and more time as Merlin, and less and less time as Colin. He didn't even remember the last time he had gone out with his friends just to hang out. Granted he didn't really care much for the clubs that Katie and Angel like to frequent, and Bradley liked to spend most of his weekends playing some type of high contact sport, usually football.

Colin usually found a quiet, out of the way place to read, or wandered down to the park and played a few games of chess with the old men who showed up everyday. His Golden Lab, Tess, was usually his constant companion. Well, she really belonged to the gentleman he leased the flat from, but Mr Doherty never minded if Colin "borrowed" Tess for an afternoon.

After a while, Colin noticed that Bradley and the stunt co-ordinator had stopped practicing, and were looking in the direction of the "drawbridge". As soon as he noticed them watching, he heard the faint but unmistakable strains of Bryan Adams' "Summer of 69" floating on the breeze. Standing up, he put his homework down, and started walking towards the outside of the castle. As he passed Bradley, he gave a sharp tug on Bradley's tunic, and Bradley started walking with him.

As they got out onto the main lawn, they saw that a section of the lawn had been cordoned off, and in the centre of the opening a horse was… well, it was DANCING. To the MUSIC. To Bryan Adams' bloody music!

Looking more closely, Colin noticed that a set of speakers had been run out from a small laptop computer, and it was being run by a woman who was smiling and laughing while watching the horse dance. As he watched, the song changed, and now the haunting melody of "Bring Me To Life" by Evanescence floated out over the small crowd that watched mesmerised. As Bradley and Colin walked over the rope, they noticed the girl had left the laptop and was walking out to the horse. As the horse's silver-grey coat shimmered with the fluid movements, the woman began to dance too. It was a slow, sensual dance, depicting the mood of the music that echoed over the ground. As the music came to the chorus, the woman executed a fantastic leap, and landed lightly on the back of the horse, who had no tack or gear on it at all. She performed several tricks while the horse was dancing, leaping to the left and right, spinning in circles, and making small jumps over imaginary hurdles. At one point, at the end of the song, she jumped back down from the horse's back, and performed an exquisite curtsey to the horse as it bowed back to her.

The crowd broke into instant applause. The woman spun around, noticed Bradley, Colin, Katie, Angel, Anthony and Richard all in the audience, and dashed to the laptop to stop the music before the next song started. With a small, secretive smile, she started the next song.

"This one goes out to all of our Merlin cast!" She shouted to the crowd. The melodic strains of "You're the Voice" bounded out over the crowd, and many of the girls in the crowd squealed. "I know you know the song, so sing the chorus with us!"

As the crowd began to sing with the woman, the horse began to do its spectacular dance again. Leaping from side to side, crow-hopping and spinning, it made it seem as though it was just dancing for the sheer unadulterated joy of the music. The woman grabbed the hands of a few of the girls standing by the side and pulled them under the rope. Dancing along to the song, she called "We're not gonna sit in silence, we're not gonna live with fear! Woahhhhhhh!"

She grabbed Colin's arm and pulled him in too, and he grabbed Bradley's tunic, who in turn grabbed Anthony and then they were all climbing under the rope, and dancing with this wild wood sprite and her magical horse. At the end of the song, she curtsied again, this time in the direction of the Merlin cast, and the horse bowed too.

Turning down the music a little, the woman allowed the horse to dance or not, as it will, and put random music on. "Can't Fight the Moonlight" by Leanne Rimes softly played over the grounds. Some of the smaller children wandered up to the woman and asked if they could pet the horse. Giving a small smile, she took the hand of one of the smallest children, and walked all of them over near him.

"His name is Hero," She mentioned casually. Making sure all the kids were a safe distance, she flicked her fingers in the horse's direction, and it knelt, and lay down on the soft grass. Letting out a soft huff, the horse positioned itself for all the petting it could receive. As the small children swarmed the horse, he barely flicked an ear, and a soft look came into his eyes as they petted, scratched and hugged him.

Colin wandered over to the woman, who looked to be a couple of years older than himself. She had gotten up and was shutting off the laptop, dismantling the speakers, and pulling down the rope barrier. He grabbed one side of the barrier and started looping it up neatly, handing it to her when he got to the end. She flashed him a brilliant smile.

"Thanks," She said softly, her accented voice completely different from those he was used to. "I usually end up having to do this part by myself." Her eyes looked down as she flushed a deep scarlet. The smile was still there though, so Colin replied "You're welcome," in his deep Irish brogue. Her eyes locked with his for just a moment, and she laughed, a throaty, musical sound. The sound of it made Colin's eyes crinkle, and he started laughing too.

"So you're American?" He asked conversationally as he watched her pack up the laptop very carefully in a backpack. He was intrigued about her. She wasn't as pretty, or slender as some of the girls he had dated, and she was a bit older than him, but her smile lit up her face and made him feel as though she was the most beautiful woman on earth.

"Nope. Canadian." She replied mysteriously. "You're from Armagh, right?"

Colin flushed. "Ya… Guess you're a fan, hmmm?"

"Ummmm… You could say that. You're the main reason I wanted to come to France, anyway," She blushed ferociously. "I shouldn't have said that," She mumbled, looking away. Putting the rest of her belongings in her backpack, she stood, and let loose a piercing whistle. The horse didn't move, but a blur of grey streaked out of the forest close-by. It caused commotion with the few remaining people left around, who were waiting for their kids to finish with the horse, and a couple of women screamed and dashed to catch hold of their children's hands. The grey streak flashed like lightning up to the woman, and sat down at her feet, tail wagging, tongue lolling out of it's mouth, waiting for a caress.

"Good Lord," Colin exclaimed. "That is by far the biggest wolf I have ever seen! Not that I've seen many wolves up close…" He slowly placed his hand near the wolf's nose, hoping fervently that it didn't decide it wanted Colin for dinner. The wolf looked at him, with it's yellow, wise eyes, smelled his hand and gave it a lick, then returned all it's attention to the woman.

"What's your name?" Colin finally managed to ask. "And how do you go about charming the animals as you do?"

"Hmmm?" The woman asked thoughtfully. "Oh, well, I just raise them from the time they are babies, and they will do anything for me. And I'm known around here as Ocean."

"Ocean?" Colin asked. "Is that your real name?"

"Actually it isn't," She replied. "But my real name has become dry and dusty from lack of use, so I use the new one now. I prefer it, and the old one stood for something quite different than who I am now." Ocean began walking back to the horse, Hero, the wolf following docilely at her side. "This is Hope, by the way." She gestured to the wolf by her side.

"Hello, Hope," Colin stated politely. The wolf just kind of looked at him and smiled a wolfish grin.

"I'm sorry children, but Hero has to go now. I know, I know," Ocean stated as the children began to get upset at leaving their beloved new toy. "But Hero can come back another day, I'm sure, and he'll get to play with you again then." She smiled a little sadly at the children all around. "One more pet then we have to go…" As the children dispersed with their parents, one little girl stayed behind for an extra moment.

"I won't be coming back," She said in a very quiet voice. "Mummy and Daddy say I'm going to die 'cause I have cancer. Can I touch Hero one last time?" She asked plaintively. Colin's heart nearly broke in two. With a quick look at Ocean, he said "Of course you can, sweetheart. Just let him get up." Ocean flicked her fingers at the horse, and he lumbered to his feet. Standing there, he lowered his head to the girls' level. She touched his head softly, petting his nose and forehead.

In a fit of gallantry Colin lifted the small girl up into his arms. She was so light, he was afraid he'd drop her, but instead placed her, ever so gently, on Hero's back. Holding on to one of her knees to help her balance, he nudged Hero to a walk. He noticed that Ocean had taken up a place on the other side of the small girl. He also noticed her eyes were bright with unshed tears. They did a circuit of the lawn, and then her parents hurried up to the horse.

"I'm so sorry sweetheart," Her mother said. "I know you want to play some more with Hero, but we have to get you back to the hospital now. It's time for your medicine." The girl sighed, and put her arms out for Colin to pick her up again. As he grasped her gently, she hugged him, and laid a small kiss on his cheek. Then she opened her arms for her mother to take her, and they were gone.

Looking over at Ocean, he noticed that she was crying fully now, and he realised his tears were overflowing too. He walked slowly around the horse and put his arms around Ocean, holding them tightly together as they softly grieved for the tiny girl who they would never see again.

"Thank you," Ocean said as she dried the remaining tears on the sleeve of her jumper. "I think you made her feel special when you placed her on Hero's back. Every child should feel special sometimes," A slow stream of fresh tears wandered down her face. "Especially…."

"When they won't be around much longer," Colin finished for her, wrapping his arms around her again and planting a soft kiss on the top of her head. "I know," he supplied, soothing her. She sniffled a little, then looked up at him through wet lashes. "Thank you again," She pulled away a little, then, as though she thought better of it, she leaned up and gave him a soft kiss on the mouth. Flushing, she turned and started walking, Hero and Hope walking faithfully by her side.

"Wait!" Colin shouted after a moment or two. "When can I see you again?"

She turned and at that moment a gust of wind blew up and tossed her hair around her face. "I'll be around," came the soft, wind swept reply.


So? What do you think? Good story or not? Let me know!