A jolt comes, then a tug, as if to alert the aged Merlin Emrys that something is coming. What could have arrived, he wonders. Then, in an instant, as his body transforms from the wizened man he has become, to that of what it was as a young manservant, he knows. He had waited hundreds of years for this, for Arthur's return. Now, over a millennia later, the day has finally presented itself. So much has changed, and so much has been left unsaid. After all of this time, could this truly be what he has wanted from the moment Arthur perished?

Readying himself, Merlin scrambles out of his apartment as quickly as he is able, his limbs strangely nimble once more. Keys in hand, he unlocks his car from a distance before hopping into the driver's side, more than ready to arrive at the spot where he had last bid Arthur goodbye. An immortal with too much time on his hands, he had taken up residence in many places over the years, always being sure to remain close at hand in case this day should occur earlier than it has.

Down winding roads he goes, hoping that he will not be too late, all the while a myriad of different thoughts plague his mind. Would Arthur remember him, or why he had returned? Would Arthur still be his, or a shadow of his former self? All of the possibilities panic Merlin as he continues his short drive to meet his long foretold destiny.

APMEAPMEAPMEAPME

"What, were you worried I could forget an idiot like you?" Arthur queries with a smirk, noting the anxiousness on the face of his former servant.

Warmth spreads throughout Merlin's whole being, brightening his once sombre features as Arthur continues to tread out of the water, still somehow wearing what he had been put to rest in. The Disir seemed to have thought it would not be wise to send him back into the world unclothed. Their attempt at humor, Merlin reckons.

"As much as I could forget a clotpole like you," Merlin replies, grinning from ear to ear.

"Have you been waiting here for me all this time?"

"I do have a life, apart from you."

"Have I become obsolete then, now that you are no longer bound to me by obligation?"

"Hardly. I've had long enough to enjoy a life without you."

"Become a martyr, have you? Did you not have enough of me ordering you about in the last lifetime?"

"I get the sense that it will not be so in this one."

"Really? How so?"

"For starters, your dress is so last millennium," Merlin points out, before muttering the necessary spell to transition Arthur into clothes befitting the current century.

"Anything else?" the blonde asks, admiring the strange clothes he now wears.

Rather than answering, Merlin steps forward confidently, his timidity having been lost with age. Reaching up, brushing the hair out of Arthur's eye's, he stands on his tiptoes to plant a kiss against his left cheek, to which Arthur responds in kind. When they break away from one another, eyes gleaming with love and wonder, Merlin admits, "I've waited over a thousand years to do that. Also," his voice drops to a murmur, "You're welcome."

And the rest, as some say, is history.