Yes, everyone - making an AU in which season five actually has a (somewhat) happy ending. Arthur lives and Merlin is made Court Sorcerer. Arthur and Guinevere have children and Camelot is happy. (For once.) I suppose this is just wishful thinking, but...I needed to give all of these people a happier life after season five. :/

Enjoy!

Court Sorcerer Merlin wasn't surprised to see five-year olds Elyan and Ella Pendragon running into his workspace at dawn. He was actually awake at this time and was seated on his bench, flipping through the pages of a large, worn book. "Uncle Merlin!" The children shrieked, jumping onto the warlock's lap.

Merlin grunted at impact but smiled all the same at the children's shining faces. "Good morning, you two," he said lightly. "Did you sleep well?"

Elyan nodded enthusiastically, while his twin sister grimaced. "Elyan snores a lot," she said in a staged whisper. "Do you think you can do something about that, Uncle Merlin? It's annoying!"

Her comment immediately triggered a pout from Elyan, who retorted, "I do not snore a lot! You're only coming up with an excuse for not sleeping!"

Merlin lifted an eyebrow and looked down at Ella. "Why aren't you sleeping?" He asked quizzically. The young princess stuck out her tongue. "Sleeping is boring," she admitted. "And I'd so rather be awake, Uncle Merlin." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I tried to see you last night, too, but then Father caught me and told me to go back to bed."

Merlin's grin widened and he patted Ella's head. "Well, next time you want to visit me, just do it during the day, alright? That'd be a better time," he said simply. Though the princess didn't seem to like the idea very much, she shrugged. "Fine," she said slowly. Her eyes brightened and she sat up quickly, saying, "Do you think we can go exploring the castle tonight?"

"Er…I don't really know what your parents might think of that, Ella," Merlin replied carefully. Ella rolled her eyes and said, "Mother and Father don't let us do anything. It's so boring."

Before Merlin could reply, there was a loud, "Elyan! Ella!" from outside. To Merlin's amusement, both children jumped and ducked underneath the bench. Merlin peered down at the twins and asked, "Did you tell your father that you were going to be here?"

"We told him we were…gonna go somewhere…" Elyan whispered. "But…we sort of woke him up. And he was chasing us around so…"

His voice trailed off as the door suddenly flung open. Arthur Pendragon came strolling in, his arms crossed and an indignant expression on his face. "Merlin, have you seen the children?" He asked, already peering around the room. Merlin crossed his legs casually over the bench and replied, "No. Can't say I have."

Arthur groaned and brought his hands to his face. "Those two will be the death of me, Merlin. I swear they live to wake me up at ungodly hours…" He murmured, shaking his head. Merlin let out a small laugh, causing the king's head to snap up in annoyance. "It's not funny!"

"Oh, no, sire. It's not funny at all," Merlin replied, though he couldn't help but to snigger at the situation. Arthur shot a glare at Merlin before saying, "And Guinevere's still sleeping. She's been as equally tired these last few days and she needed it. Elyan and Ella have been making her run around in circles – do you know what they did to her dress the other day?"

When Merlin shook his head, Arthur went on, "Elyan and Ella ripped it up and declared that they were going to play dragon-and-princess. Apparently, some of the bits of dress were supposed to be the dragon's tail and the other bits were going to be the princess's long, flowy hair." He sighed. "Ella told me that she wanted purple hair so badly and that this was going to be the closest resemblance to it…"

Merlin smiled. "Must have been fun," he commented cheerfully.

Arthur snorted. "Fun for the kids, yeah – but those two can run faster than a group of horses. And the fact that there are two of them makes things difficult."

Suddenly, Elyan's head popped up from in between Merlin's ankles. "Actually, Father, I would prefer to hear you say that we're faster than a pack of wolves. You know, since wolves are vicious! And strong!" He beamed up at Arthur and Merlin.

Arthur blinked at the sudden appearance of his son and his head immediately turned to the warlock, who was giving the king a sheepish smile. "Merlin! You liar!" He cried indignantly. Merlin lifted his hands. "I couldn't help it, Arthur – besides, I'm sure Elyan and Ella didn't mean any harm."

Ella, too, kicked herself out from under the bench and scowled down at her brother. "Why'd you have to give ourselves away, Elyan?" She asked, exasperated. "Can't you do anything right?"

Elyan scowled and scooted away from Merlin to glare back at Ella. "I can do something right! I was the one who cut up Mother's dress properly!"

"That doesn't count!"

"Yes, it does!"

"No, it doesn't!"

Temporarily forgetting Merlin's fib, Arthur shot his friend a tired look, as if to say, see what I have to go through? Merlin simply grinned in response.

"Alright, you two," Arthur said, stepping in between his children. "Don't fight. Why don't we go down and eat breakfast instead? We can play something else, later – that doesn't require cutting up dresses."

Elyan and Ella quieted down and looked up at their father with hopeful smiles. "Does that mean you're not mad at us?" Ella asked. Arthur sighed and rubbed his eyes. "No, Ella, I'm not mad – I never was mad with you two in the first place, though I am a bit tired. Mother and Father need to sleep sometimes."

"But sleeping is boring," Ella complained. "And you look funny after you wake up. Your hair sticks up everywhere, like Elyan's. And Mother can take a very long time to get ready."

"My hair does not stick up –" Elyan started to shout before Arthur quickly interrupted, "That's because we're not as fast as you two."

Elyan and Ella looked at each other, and, satisfied by their father's compliment, shrugged and smiled. "Alright, Father," Elyan said. "Breakfast sounds nice. Can Merlin come, too?"

Arthur looked over at Merlin and smiled. "'Course."

Ella shrieked in delight and immediately ran over to the warlock, grabbing his hand. "Come on, Uncle Merlin! Breakfast time! Breakfast time!"

xXx

It was a completely normal breakfast with the Pendragons this morning. And by completely normal, Merlin meant slightly chaotic, which was quite ordinary. Elyan and Ella were peppering Merlin with questions about sorcery and begging for stories. (The twins absolutely adored Merlin's stories, especially ones about Arthur as a prince. And Guinevere as a handmaid, though Merlin was always careful not to talk about Morgana. He had agreed with Arthur and Guinevere that they wouldn't talk about that until the two were a bit older.)

After the twins exhausted Merlin out of answers and tales, they went on to debating about whether or not they should play the unicorn-and-knight or troll-and-king. (Merlin and Arthur and Guinevere had to avoid looking at each other at the mention of the troll-and-king game. Sadly, those three knew the reality of that game all too well.)

Ella and Elyan immediately erupted into a loud, long argument about how Elyan would (or would not) be the troll in the game. ("You would be the troll! You can be stinky!" Ella exclaimed. "So can you!" Elyan shot back. Ella crossed her arms, sticking out her tongue. "No, I can't! Girls can't get stinky!")

Then, the argument turned to who would be the king. ("Only boys can be kings," Elyan said smugly. Ella pouted. "Fine!" She snapped. "Then I'll be the queen! And you'd be a rubbish king!" At that, both Guinevere and Arthur and Merlin had to end the argument before Elyan could begin throwing a fit. The solution included many "Elyan would be a wonderful king,"s and "Ella would be a wise, clever queen"s.)

Ella and Elyan then started jabbering about what future adventures they would have when they 'grew up'. ("I'm gonna get a pet dragon!" Elyan shouted, to which Merlin gently corrected, "Dragons are not pets." At Elyan's disappointed frown, Merlin quickly went on, "We can meet a dragon, though. Kilgarrah is friendly enough, once you get past the…er…riddles." Arthur snorted at that bit, mumbling something that sounded like, "Friendly – ha!")

Last but not least, Ella started complaining that Elyan was kicking her from the under the table, which started up yet another argument. The twins ended up crawling underneath the dining table and kicking each other. The adults had to crawl underneath (bumping their heads in process,) and yank them off each other before anything else could happen.

Needless to say, when breakfast ended, each adult was very relieved that they had only escaped with a few bruises and their throats were only a bit sore from shouting and protesting.

However, the relieved, calm feeling only lasted for a few minutes before Merlin walked into his workspace to find that Elyan and Ella had taken something from one of the shelves and were running out the door.

xXx

The sound of feet thundering throughout the hallways of Camelot's castle was heard by everyone. The servants and handmaids automatically sidestepped in preparation for what to come – and sure enough, two laughing, shouting children ran past seconds later. The members of the servile household immediately sighed in relief and carried on in their business.

However, several poor, unsuspecting servants did have to press themselves against the wall as an equally loud warlock ran past. "Sorry!" Merlin shouted over his shoulder, cringing at the surprised expressions that were displayed on the victims' faces. "Sorry, sorry, sorry! I've just got to catch –"

There was a loud bang from around the corner, causing Merlin to end his sentence abruptly. He groaned and shouted, "You shouldn't have played with it!"

The servants exchanged weary, tired looks before going back on their way. This was becoming a regular occurrence for everyone now.

At this very moment, Merlin was standing above one of the mischievous children. "Elyan," he said sternly at the young boy, "where is your sister?"

Elyan blinked innocently at Merlin, his hands tucked behind his back. "I dunno, Uncle Merlin," he replied in a sweet, light tone. His shining, brown eyes widened. "Have you seen Ella?"

Merlin narrowed his eyes at the prince. He took a quick glance at Elyan's hands and asked slowly, "What's behind your back?"

Elyan shifted his weight from foot to foot and stuck out his left hand, declaring, "My left hand," and tucking it back behind himself, he stuck out the opposite hand. "And my right hand." As he said those words, Merlin couldn't help but to grin at it all – history was, in certain ways, repeating itself. "Very funny, Elyan, but I taught your father that trick. It's not going to work on me now." The warlock said lightly and gently spun the young prince around, despite his protests.

In his hands was a small, delicate amulet that Merlin had been studying over the last few days. Merlin sighed – he loved Ella and Elyan and were as close to them as he possibly could be, but there were times when he, like Arthur and Guinevere, were frustrated. Why wouldn't he? Most of the time, Merlin was completely fine with the twins looking through his things in the workspace, as long as they were under Merlin's supervision and as long as they didn't touch any of the more – ah – dangerous objects. (Arthur wanted Merlin to destroy them as soon as possible, though it was taking longer than originally anticipated.)

As Merlin took back the amulet, there was a loud, surprised shriek from above. Merlin immediately looked up to see Ella falling from the ceiling. (How the hell did she get up there…?)

However, before Ella could hit the floor, Merlin managed to slow her fall (using a bit of magic, of course,) and caught the child. Ella let out a puff of breath and flung her head back against Merlin's arms. "Thanks," she said, wide-eyed. Merlin smiled and lowered Ella to the ground. "You're welcome." He replied and looked back at the amulet. "Did you know what this would do?"

"Um…it levitates things. And people. Um." Elyan replied, being apologetic enough to look down at the ground. Merlin pressed his lips together and tucked the amulet safely in his pocket. "I just want you to be safe." At Ella and Elyan's identical sad expressions, Merlin went on, "I'm fine with you two finding out about certain things, but I have to be around for you to do it, alright? Some of those things aren't always good and I don't want you two to get hurt. Do you understand that?"

Ella and Elyan nodded dutifully. Merlin smiled and stood up. "Now, weren't you going to play with your father? I'm sure he's missing out."

xXx

Indeed, Ella and Elyan were playing with Arthur, but the king was quick to drag in Merlin with the playtime. ("Come on, Merlin, you know you want to play, too!" Arthur said jovially, despite Merlin's many protests.)

And so, in a flash, Merlin and Arthur were pretending to slay imaginary creatures of Dark magic beside the twins. "Watch out, Uncle Merlin! The creature's gonna eat you!" Ella shouted and Merlin obediently dove to the side. The young girl quickly scampered over to the warlock, lifting a stick over him and screaming, "Take that, you ugly beast! Begone!"

Merlin couldn't help himself. He lifted his head an inch off the ground and shared a grin with Arthur, who was staring at his daughter with a soft, happy expression. Both men knew what the other was thinking – it was a beautiful thing to see the innocence of children, especially if those children believed in such things as bravery and courage.

"Up, up, up, Merlin!" Ella shouted, grabbing Merlin's hands and dragging him to his feet. "I only distracted it for a bit! It'll come back!"

Elyan suddenly jumped in front of Ella and Merlin, holding up his own stick with a rather ferocious cry. "Don't touch my friends! Or my family!" He yelled dramatically. He jabbed his stick into the empty air, occasionally letting out cries of valiance. Merlin could tell that Arthur couldn't take it any longer.

His friend swooped Elyan up in his arms and shouted, "Go, Elyan!"

The young boy grinned and squirmed around to beam at his father. Ella instantly snapped into action, wanting her father's attention as well. "I can beat it, too!" She pouted in a cross voice. Arthur smiled down at his daughter and in the next second, he was carefully carrying both of his children into 'battle'.

Merlin couldn't resist, either. Laughing, he outstretched his hand and gently lifted Arthur (and his children) a bit higher from the ground. Ella and Elyan both squealed, watching Arthur's feet hover above the grass. Arthur startled, though he didn't drop his children. "Merlin!" He yelped, surprised. "What are you doing?"

"Only helping you fight off the beast, sire!" Merlin replied cheerfully, sitting down on the grass. Ella and Elyan both cheered, waving their sticks in the air. "Yay! Onwards, Father!" Elyan cried gleefully and Arthur obliged, taking a few tentative steps forward.

The next hour was remarkably loud and cheerful. A few servants (unknown to Arthur and Merlin and the children) had even stopped by the courtyard, staring at the group with such curious expressions that you would think that they were the parents or friends themselves. Despite the previous loudness and interruptions that occurred earlier that day, there was something that each and every member of the Royal Household and Court felt when watching the children play with the adults. Shouldn't every adult feel something? Children had that effect on people, after all – the bursts of laughter, the innocent smiles and childish dreams could melt the iciest of hearts in Camelot.

The members of the Court and Household that had been alive back when Arthur was a child even shook their heads in wonder and amazement – Arthur Pendragon himself hadn't been such an excitable child, mostly because he was always fighting to please his father. Of course, there was the occasional argument that shook the castle between Morgana and Arthur, but besides that, it was relatively quiet.

However, Arthur was (according to several people) a somewhat 'better' father to the twins. He had a sort of kindness and warmth that he displayed publicly to his children, something that Uther had always been careful not to show. So, naturally, the birth of Ella and Elyan Pendragon had certainly brightened up Camelot.

"What are you all fighting this time?" Guinevere asked softly, walking up to Merlin. The warlock turned around, grinning. "Not quite sure – Ella and Elyan weren't very specific, though they were sure to point out that it was just a dangerous beast that seemed to have the appetite for Court Sorcerers."

Guinevere laughed, shaking her head. "The children are rather fond of you, Merlin. I'm sure they only tried to get this 'beast' to eat you to show some abstract form of affection."

"Oh, they did – I swear the twins only made that monster up to have excuses to save Arthur and me." Merlin said cheerfully, turning back to Arthur, who had now released Ella and Elyan. Thankfully, Merlin's magic had extended to them and he was holding all three of them for a considerable amount of time, though he was beginning to feel a bit worn. (It was better than last time, though – before, Merlin could only hold people up for about ten minutes. Practice made perfect, after all!)

"Sounds familiar?" Guinevere asked with a pointed stare at Merlin. The warlock gave his friend a shrug. "Yes, well – I never purposefully attracted monsters or sorcerers, Gwen," he said lightly. "But…yeah, I've saved Arthur's arse more than a few times."

"Which we're all grateful for, and you know it." Guinevere replied quietly, giving Merlin's arm a quick squeeze. Merlin's expression softened and he turned back to Arthur, a smaller smile taking over his face. "Yeah," he murmured. "I'm grateful for it, too…not to sound cocky, just…I'm glad that Arthur's here, like he should be. And I'm glad that Ella and Elyan are here, too."

Guinevere let out a quiet, content sigh and changing the subject, she said, "Oh, goodness – how long have you been keeping those three in the air?"

Merlin shrugged. "To be honest, I lost track of time." He glanced up at the sky to find the sun, which was now high up in the air. "Huh – looks like it's noon," he commented. "And I've been holding them since…" His voice drifted as Guinevere marched forward, her hands on her hips.

"Are you three going to go inside, or are you going to tire out Uncle Merlin?" She asked with such sternness that Merlin couldn't help but to laugh. It was in times like these when it struck Merlin silly how wonderful a mother Guinevere was – she was gentle and patient, just as she had always been, wise and clever, loving and caring, but with just the right amount of firmness and backbone that every single mother should be. At least, that's what Merlin thought.

And Arthur must have certainly been thinking something along the same lines, because he flashed his wife such a bright smile that Merlin couldn't help but to relax at the sight of his friend's happiness. "Sorry, Merlin!" Arthur called. "Got a bit sidetracked – fighting a large monster, you know?"

Merlin's smile stretched from ear to ear as he replied, "Of course I would now, you prat! I was the one helping! If it weren't for me, you'd still be stuck on the ground! It's a good thing I got your back, yeah?"

"Oh, don't get cocky now, Merlin!" Arthur retorted, though he seemed as equally cheerful and pleased with the conversation. Merlin simply rolled his eyes and carefully brought the three down to the ground. Elyan and Ella immediately crumpled to their feet, wearing similar expressions of wonder. "Huh – the ground feels funny," Ella said, pressing her stomach to the grass and tapping her fingers against the dirt. Arthur, on the other hand, didn't fall back as his children did, but he, too, looked rather confused. "I think that's because we've been in the air for so long," he said, stretching out his legs.

"Again, all thanks to me!" Merlin said teasingly and the Pendragons all groaned in unison. "What?"

However, Ella's reason for groaning was quite different from her parents and brother. She walked forward, and flinging her arms around Merlin's legs, she said, "Silly Merlin! We know you're always trying to help us! You don't need to say it again! We know!"

Merlin smiled and patted Ella's head, a familiar burst of warmth going off in his heart. Out of all of the little children that Merlin had met, Ella was probably the one who treated Merlin the fondest, which made him glow with such great happiness. Then again, Merlin was absolutely positive that that was only because Ella was one of the sweetest little girls that he had seen. (Well, besides the arguments and fights she would get into with Elyan…) Still, he wasn't complaining, and he knew that Arthur and Guinevere were just fine with the arrangement as well.

"Ooh, don't encourage him, Ella! Who knows, it might get to his head!" Arthur said teasingly, tickling his daughter in the stomach. Ella started giggling and pressed her face into her father's arms. "Stop it!" She gasped in between her laughs. "S-s-stop!"

Once Ella finally stopped laughing, Elyan puffed out his cheeks and crossed his eyes, causing his sister to shriek in glee again. "Elyan!" She protested, slapping a hand over her mouth. "My – stomach hurts now!"

Her twin didn't bother listening. He started pulling various silly faces to produce more giggles from Ella, which made the adults smile at one another. Precious moments like these were always going to be documented in their hearts, and they all knew that.

"Come on, you two – why don't you wash up. We'll eat lunch and you can play a bit more, alright?" Guinevere said tenderly, wrapping her arms around Ella and Elyan's shoulders. The twins both smiled and nodded. "Will Father be able to play with us, too? It was fun," Elyan turned to Arthur hopefully.

To Elyan and Ella's disappointment, Arthur shook his head. He looked just as sad and frustrated as his children as he replied, "I've got to do some boring things, first. It won't be anywhere near as enjoyable as playing with you two, though."

Elyan frowned. "Then why do you do it, Father?" He asked as they all started to make their way back inside. "It'd be so much easier to play with us, right?"

Arthur ruffled his son's hair. "Yes, Elyan," he replied quietly. "It'd be much easier and better, but sometimes, I've got to do things for other people, too. You can understand that, right? You too, Ella?"

The twins exchanged crestfallen expressions but they managed to bob their heads into a nod. "I wish it wasn't so, Father," Ella said in such a solemn voice that Merlin and Arthur both fought to keep themselves from smiling, "but it's good to help other people."

"As long as you promise to play with us afterwards," Elyan added. Arthur nodded and planted a kiss on each of his children's heads before saying, "Go on, now. I'll see you at lunch."

Elyan and Ella smiled up at their father and walked down the hallway, Guinevere trailing behind in case the two would get into any trouble (again).

Merlin and Arthur, on the other hand, remained where they were. The warlock looked over at Arthur, saying, "It really is a shame." Arthur nodded, running a hand through his hair. "I want to get that speech over with, Merlin," Arthur grumbled. "But it's not fair that Elyan and Ella don't always have a proper father to be around."

"Proper father?" Merlin asked, bemused. "Just this morning, you were complaining about how the children were waking you up too early – and then you ate breakfast with them and played with them for the rest of the morning." At Arthur's bewildered expression, Merlin reassured, "You're doing a great job at being a father, Arthur. Those kids love you and everyone knows it."

Arthur drew out a long sigh. "For the love of Camelot, I hope you're right, Merlin."

Merlin grinned at his friend. "When have I not?" He asked lightly. "And besides, Elyan and Ella are turning out to be good children, just like their parents." He cast Arthur a sly look as he said those words. "They can be very stubborn, but they've got kindness and joy in their hearts, Arthur. I think they're amazing."

Arthur smiled back at Merlin and clapped him on the back with a hand. "You know, Merlin, it's in times like these when I'm very grateful that I didn't chop your head off when you told me you were a sorcerer."

Merlin let out a loud, cheerful laugh. "You wouldn't survive a day without me and you know it."

Arthur's expression softened. "That's right," he replied and sighing again, he took a few steps down the corridor. He stretched out his arms and turned to give Merlin another grin. "And for the record, I think Elyan and Ella are absolutely amazing, too. Only issue is that they can either make you feel five years older or five years younger."

Merlin shrugged his shoulders, beaming at his king. "I think that's a fair price for having children," he replied happily. Arthur nodded, his voice getting quieter as he looked back down the hallway, where Elyan and Ella's bedroom was. "I suppose it is, Merlin," he said. "I suppose it is."

A/N - Well, I always thought that Arthur would be pretty nervous about being a father...and would end up being a better father than Uther. (I suppose Uther was supposed to act stern and everything, being a king and all, but hey, Arthur's obviously different from his father.)

And we all know that Merlin would be an awesome friend of the family, too. XD (Yes, I know that 'uncle' usually applies to the husband or wife's brother, but I know that in some families, people address close friends of the family as 'uncle' or 'auntie'. At least, that's what my family does. XD)

Reviews would be nice! Constructive criticism is acceptable, but flames are not!