Merlin ran. The houses flashed past him but he just kept running – there was no way he was going to be too late. He had worked too hard to miss it.

Gaius came out of one house and stopped. He had never seen Merlin run so fast. "My boy! Is something wrong?" he shouted after his ward but it was too late. Merlin had already speeded past, not sparing a glance in his mentor's and friend's direction.

He left behind a cloud of dust. With the help of his magic he was running a bit faster than would be normally possible. But the townspeople had already gotten used to their one special member – nobody batted an eye at Merlin doing something out of ordinary. And no one actually cared how he did it – magic was not outlawed, in fact, most people didn't even believe it had ever really existed and had just laughed when their king announced that magic is welcomed in his kingdom. Some even gossiped that the king had gone a bit mad in the head, what with him spending so much time with "the strange boy from Ealdor who ran into old doors" as they good naturedly called Merlin. And they couldn't have thought of a better nickname because Merlin really often ran into doors in his hurry. And he always seemed to be in hurry.

But this time was different – he ran like the wind. Still, the townspeople, while at first registering this change, soon put it down to just another of his peculiarities. They didn't care how he ran – they knew he was a good lad who was always ready to help. And they were ready to help him – if he ever asked. But he never did, and that made the townspeople respect him even more and helped them understand why their king wanted to be around him so much. In fact, they were pretty sure Merlin was running to his king right now.

But they were wrong, the last thing on Merlin's mind right now was Arthur. Sure, Arthur still was on his mind but right now he had been pushed in some compartment near the thoughts about dogs and Gaius's potions. In short, he wasn't at the forefront of Merlin's mind as the warlock rushed through the town. He had a life besides Arthur and this concerned his "other life" as he had deemed it in his head.

So he ran even quicker, making sure not to disturb the people, or the animals, or even the plants. Merlin believed in everything having a purpose so, even though the plant on the ground might have seemed worthless to someone else, he saw it's potential. The young warlock imagined that the plant could one day be discovered to hold the key to curing some horrible disease or just taste good in tea. Whatever the case, he was careful not to step on it.

While he thought about the possible uses of the red flower he almost squished, he had inadvertently slowed down. "This won't do" he thought. "I have to focus if I want to make it." So he pulled his thoughts away from the plant and focused on the road ahead. He was almost there. "I just have to run past this curve in the road and then turn left and I'm there!" he thought in joy and let out a happy squeak.

"Rushing somewhere?" a voice stopped him as he started to turn into the curve. "You didn't think I would let you do this alone, did you Merlin?" the voice mocked with no ill intention. It was Arthur. He stood propped against a nearby tree and looked at his friend disapprovingly.

Merlin broke into a smile. "I wanted to go and get you but there was no time. There is no time now either, so hurry up if you want to come, royal clotpole." he made an exaggerated bow and rushed past, taking his king by the hand like a child.

Arthur tried to protest but found himself unable to. He knew how much Merlin had waited and worked for this and if the only way for him to be there too was by being dragged like an insolent child, then so be it.

They rushed further and finally turned left. A magnificent view opened to their eyes. Plants of every colour encompassed a beautiful pond. The moment was perfect – Merlin had somehow used his magic to make all the flowers turn into butterflies at the same time. Merlin had rushed here all the way, so he still had some time to get comfortable and take out the mirror he always kept in his pocket. "Gaius, watch this and get ready to be amazed" he said to it and put it on the grass beside himself. Then he started to watch the change – each flower bloomed fully, opened its petals as wide as it could and then slowly closed them. Then the motion repeated again, faster and faster, making the petals look more alive with each move until the sky was cowered with butterflies of every colour and the rest of the flower retreated into the ground with a small puff of colour. Everything was reflected in the pond, making the effect double. Arthur watched in awe while Merlin was grinning from ear to ear.

But that wasn't all that Merlin had planned. Arthur looked at his friend and saw a change in the warlock's eyes – there was no more relief at making it in time, now it was replaced with expectancy. So Arthur dragged his attention back to the butterflies.

They were flying in a circle in the sky, reminding Arthur of a day in winter when the nearby lake had frozen over and everyone had gone to skate it. Then too everyone without really meaning to had made a large moving circle. The little insects started to turn faster and faster and the circle started to change till the butterflies flied in the shape of a large butterfly. Merlin started jumping up and down, he was overcome with excitement. "I did it! This is going to be great!" he shouted and turned to Arthur. "Watch this; it's going to be amazing!"

The king still had no idea what Merlin was up to. So all he could do was watch silently as Merlin approached the giant butterfly. "What are you doing?" was all he could say as Merlin was lifted into air. His jaw dropped when he saw that Merlin now looked like some mutant butterfly. "How does it look?" he asked completely calm while Arthur on the ground was still in shock.

"Pretty impressive. For what is basically just an oversized insect" Arthur said trying to regain his pride.

"Can I try?" the king asked, his curiosity overcoming the need to retain his pride.

Merlin laughed. "Well, you could, if you had eaten less in all those feasts."

Arthur blushed, he knew he had a problem but damn it, he was the king and food was tasty. Still, he really wanted to try flying when he saw Merlin floating around, doing loops in the air, and flying close to the king but just out of reach, just to annoy him.

Then he got an idea, he was the king; he could do what he wanted. And Merlin certainly couldn't stop him. "I order you as your king to let me try flying with the butterflies!" as soon as the words had left his lips he saw the fatal flaw – he sounded ridiculous, not commanding.

Apparently, Merlin thought so too, as he started laughing and barely got enough breath back to say "Sure, my butterfly king, but–"but he couldn't continue, as he had again doubled over laughing.

Arthur looked exasperated – he knew he had earned another nickname with which Merlin would tease him endlessly. He fondly recalled the old times when Merlin had just called him a prat.

Meanwhile Merlin had stopped laughing for long enough to eke out "But I advise you to float above the pond, so that if the king turns out to be too heavy for his tiny, fragile subjects he ends up in the safety of water, not lying on the cold hard grass." Merlin again doubled over at his own words.

Arthur definitely didn't appreciate being made fun of but the want to try flying was too big and he just let it slide, content with exacting his revenge at some later time.

So he looked sternly at Merlin who would have tripped when his feet touched the ground, clumsy as he was, if some butterflies hadn't helped out and steadied him. Arthur smirked, he still had plenty of stuff to use against Merlin for his extended butterfly king joke. But that had to wait. Right now the butterflies waited for him.

Arthur stepped forward and got the sudden uneasy feeling that he had started to feel when he became sure he would do this. But he overcame it by reminding himself that he was a king and even if he were in danger, Merlin would save him, like he always did. Arthur looked at his friend, last bits of joking gone from both of their eyes. Their eyes met and the absolute trust they had in each other was there, as always. At once all Arthur's fear was gone and he stepped towards the big butterfly confidently and closed his eyes.

He felt them grab his every inch and when his feet left the ground he opened his eyes. Looking down he saw the pond, grateful that his friend was providing him some security, as he knew that, while the butterflies flew more or less where they wanted, Merlin had some power over them. And he had apparently used this power to give Arthur a nature's safety net.

Feeling safe with the pond below him Arthur fully relished in the feeling of flying. He flew higher and higher, intent on looking at the village from above. He saw the castle, Gaius's house, the town square. The view was breath-taking, he felt freedom and pride, and all his worries disappeared. That is, they had disappeared until he felt some butterflies lose hold of him. Looking around he saw that the big butterfly wings had lost their colour and butterflies were disappearing one by one in alarming rate. He looked at the ground in panic – it was extremely far away. If he fell from this height even the pond would not save him.

All he could do was hope Merlin had a plan. And that it was a good one because he felt even more butterflies disappearing.