AN: Am I the only one who thinks the Merlin writers tend to overlook any sort of sibling relationship between Gwen and Elyan? I mean me and my brother are more like Morgana and Arthur but even we sometimes get along.
He remembers when she was born.
Three year old Elyan sat in the forge with his father. He was only little but Elyan knew something was wrong. His mummy didn't get out of bed that morning and Gaius and some ladies came into the house and he and his daddy weren't allowed in. Rather than frighten his son; Tom had decided to let Elyan into the forge; something which excited the child. Daddy never let him into the forge before. After watched his daddy shape the metal into different objects and beat them with a hammer for a few hours; a woman burst into the forge and whispered something into Tom's ear. Tom grinned and picked up Elyan and carried him into the house. His mother was sitting up in the bed smiling as she nursed the screaming bundle in her arms. Tom set Elyan onto the bed and gently took the bundle into his arms to show Elyan.
"Meet your new sister Elyan; what do you think?" Tom asked. Elyan studied his new-born sister for a moment before frowning at his parents.
"I wanted a brother." Elyan admitted honestly.
She remembers when she got him out of trouble.
Seven year old Gwen slowly made her way back from the meadows. She had gotten into an argument with some of the boys again. It wasn't her fault; they wouldn't let her play so she had to fight them to show that being a girl didn't mean she couldn't play. However as she walked Elyan sprinted past her grabbed her by the hand and pulled her after him. Together they ran until they hit a dead end. Elyan had gotten into an argument with some squires as he delivered some metalwork up to the castle and was being chased. As the boys advanced, Gwen had had a sudden idea. It worked on the boys' mothers whenever they wouldn't let her play. Gwen hid her face in her hands and began screaming loudly. A pair of knights who had been walking past hurried over and Gwen began to pretend to cry and the squires looked scared as the knights looked at them.
"What happened?" one of them asked Elyan who did some quick thinking.
"We were up at the castle delivering work our father just did and they chased us for no reason. Gwen's only seven and they're twice her size." Elyan lied.
"You lot, up to the castle now. Don't argue!" the second knight snapped. The squires looked at them and ran off. The knights left and the siblings grinned at one another and returned home laughing. It was the first time Gwen got Elyan out of trouble but it wasn't the last.
He remembers the first time she got her heart broken.
Elyan opened the door and was slightly shocked to see Gwen lying on their shared bed. Not only was she home from work earlier than usual but it looked like she had been crying. Gwen never cried; not even when she was cutting onions. Elyan knew straight away that something was seriously wrong and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"What's wrong?" Elyan asked.
"Daniel," Gwen replied. Elyan frowned; Daniel was a stable boy up at the castle who had been courting Gwen for the past few weeks. While she liked him and their parents had approved, Elyan wasn't so sure. Call him a protective brother but he had trusted Daniel about as far as he could throw him.
"What did he do?" Elyan asked. If Daniel had done anything to hurt his sister….
"Me and Morgana were walking and we seen him. He was kissing Lucy," Gwen whispered. Lucy was one of the other maids who worked in the castle. Elyan's face hardened and he got to his feet.
"I have to go," Elyan replied and walked off.
Five minutes later Daniel had a black eye and a bloody nose.
She remembers the day he left.
Tom and Elyan argued for hours. Tom wanted his son to settle down and work whereas Elyan had a sense of wanderlust that he was finding harder and harder to supress. Gwen lay in her bed, pretending to be asleep but her hands were clamped over her ears as she attempted to block out the men's yells.
In the middle of the night when Tom was asleep, Gwen heard Elyan moving around and sat up in bed. They looked at one another for a moment in silence.
"Don't leave me El," Gwen whispered. Elyan walked over and hugged her tightly, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
Then he was gone.
He remembers when she told him about Tom.
"So how long until we get home do you think?" Elyan asked. "We could surprise Father if he's still working."
Gwen looked at her hands while Arthur, Merlin and even Morgana looked stricken and Elyan knew he was missing something. Gwen raised her head and looked her brother in the eyes. As their eyes met; Gwen didn't have to say a single word. In that moment Elyan knew. The look told him all he needed to know.
She remembers the last thing they said to one another.
"For God's sake Gwen what the hell happened to you?" Elyan yelled.
It was the middle of the night and they stood in their old home; the way so many years beforehand he had argued with Tom over leaving Camelot. Yet this time it wasn't him going and it wasn't Tom who he was yelling at.
"I don't know!" Gwen yelled for the hundredth time; tears were running down her face and her mind was a mess. She just wanted everything to stop. No, she wanted everything to go back. Before Lancelot, before the kiss, before everything went wrong. For a moment they looked at one another before Elyan hugged Gwen tightly.
"Take care of yourselves." Gwen whispered.
"We will, someday you'll come home." Elyan whispered.
"No I won't." Gwen replied and at dawn she left.
He remembers when she came home.
Elyan and Gwaine held onto one another for support as they made their way to the Throne Room. The battle was over and they had won, not that he had done much fighting. Gwaine had fought to get them food, Gaius fought for his life. What did Elyan fight for? Percival had taken Gaius to his chambers and Leon had joined the recovery of the wounded and bodies meaning Gwaine and Elyan went to get medical treatment and wondering what they would see in the hall. Before he had gone; Leon had cryptically told both his friends that as far as he knew there would be a 'pleasant surprise' for them with Arthur and Merlin. Elyan didn't care; unless the surprise was a pile of food as big as him or his bed that would be enough. They opened the doors of the throne room and were greeted by the sight of different fighters getting treatment for various injuries. Elyan was looking around the room and didn't see the figure running towards him until their arms wrapped themselves around him and squeezed him tightly.
"Thank goodness you're alright, I thought you were dead!" Gwen said as she hugged Elyan as tightly as she could.
"I'm fine but you're squeezing too tight." Elyan replied. Gwen let go and studied her brother. Elyan bore the signs of his torture not just in his appearance but in how he stood and the pain in his eyes.
"Leon said you'd been tortured." Gwen muttered as she hugged him again.
"I was locked up with this idiot for a week, what did you expect?" Elyan joked as Gwen hugged him again. They didn't say anything; they just hugged each other as tightly as they could; grateful that the other was alive and safe.
She remembers when he became an uncle for the first time.
The men had sat for hours outside the chambers. As none of them were physicians, none of them were allowed into the room. After what felt like eternity Gaius had opened the door to let them in. naturally Elyan and Arthur were the first through the door and approached the bed where Gwen was sitting up. She was exhausted and looked like she'd had the living daylights knocked out of her yet she was grinning as she offered Arthur the bundle in her arms. Arthur's eyes welled up as he held his son for the first time before passing the baby to Elyan. Elyan studied his nephew intently. His skin wasn't as dark as his and Gwen's but there was a tuft of dark hair on his head; he was going to be curly like them. As Elyan held his nephew; the baby opened his eyes for the first time and looked at his uncle. Elyan found his own eyes were welling up.
"Are you crying?" Gwen asked as Elyan handed the baby back to Gwen.
"Of course I am. He's got your looks and probably Arthur's brains. The poor child is doomed!" Elyan joked. Merlin laughed and Gwen pulled a face at Elyan who retaliated by thumbing his nose at her before they both grinned. Despite everything that had happened over the years; they were still brother and sister and nothing could ever change it.