Song: "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Category: Gen (Canon)
Characters/Pairings: Arthur, Merlin
Rating/Warnings: K+, implied character death
Word Count: 299
It had been a week since Camelot fell with the battle of Camlann. Many brave and loyal men (not just knights, but villagers) had fought and died in this war. The air still reeked of the warriors sweat, blood, and tears. Smoke and ash still permeated the trees, rocks, and grounds on which Merlin walked, even in the outskirts of the once great city.
Even the warlock had been injured in the fight. The wounds were more mental than physical, but they still hurt just as badly as a stabbing. He'd watched so many friends of his (Gwaine, Leon, Percival) all fall with him unable to do a thing about it.
In his hands was a bouquet of wild flowers he'd picked that morning. Merlin laid them at the base of a grave marker that sat nestled in the base of a valley untouched by time or war. You were once my one companion. You were all that mattered. You were once a friend and father, was crudely carved on the stone. For a moment, the warlock stared at the spot with his lips drawn into a tight line.
Feeling a hand upon his shoulder, he looked behind him and smiled at the exiled king. "I will forever be indebted to his selfless deed. I would not be here if Gaius hadn't sacrificed himself," Arthur said. His voice was grave for indeed Mordred had dealt him a mortal blow, but the physician had bargained with the Fates and the Fates relented, thus Arthur lived to see another day – another life.
"I will not waste the gift I have been given. The Golden Age of Camelot isn't over, not yet. I shall restore peace and nobility to land. Until I have no breath left in my lungs, I will fight."