A Need for Christmas

Hello, hope you are having a good day. This story is another Christmas Mergana story loosely based off the chapter Need in my story Christmas Prompts, but this will go deeper and will not be as rushed. If you like this read Christmas Prompts and Second Chances.

Merlin woke up feeling lonely again. It was three weeks till Christmas and Merlin couldn't stop feeling lonely. He knew that he should be happy. I mean come on, Christmas was his favorite holiday. Why did he feel upset? Still, he forced himself out of bed and got ready for work. He made sure that he had everything but felt like he was missing something. Something he needed. He sighed knowing that the need was why he was upset. He walked out of his room and saw that Gaius was making breakfast.

"Ah, I was about to go wake you." Gaius said. He noticed that Merlin just sat down and didn't answer him, so he sighed and sat down. "What's wrong, Merlin?"

"I don't know. I wish I knew. I feel like I need something, but I don't know what." Merlin sighed.

"How long have you felt this way?"

"Since Arthur and Gwen got married, I guess."

"Now, you wish you could experience something like that?"

"I guess."

"When I was your age, most of my friends were getting married. It's normal to feel this way. It will go away."

"I hope so."

"Sometimes, it helps to follow the need you feel and see where it takes you."

"Thanks, Gaius."

"Now, you should hurry up. You'll be late for work."

Merlin ate his breakfast and went to work. He was washing the floor when Arthur and Gwen came in. They were happy and laughing. Merlin sighed as the need grew bigger. It got to the point where he got up and left the room surprising Arthur and Gwen.

"Where did he go?" Gwen asked.

"I don't know but I'm going to find him." Arthur sighed.

"Arthur, he has been upset lately. Please be gently."

"I will."

Arthur went to find Merlin. He found Merlin outside sitting on the stairs leading into the castle. He sat next to Merlin.

"What's with you?" Arthur asked.

"It's nothing. I just have some things to settle." Merlin replied.

"Well, you had better do it soon."

"I'll try."

"Good, because I can't have people think I'm upsetting my servant."

Merlin smiled slightly. Arthur pushed him slightly and smiled.

"Come on. You have chores to finish." Arthur said. They went back inside. Merlin finished his chores and went home.

Morgana came in with a pile of wood and placed it next to the fire. She put a few chunks into the fire and shivered as the bitter cold whipped through the hovel. Morgana grabbed her old torn shawl and wrapped it around her shoulders. Morgana noticed green pus oozing from her wounds. She groaned and took her shawl off. She took her dress off and cleaned her wounds. When she was done, she got dressed and put her shawl on. She sat by the fire and tried to sleep feeling weaker with each hour that passed. Within a day, the pile of wood was gone. Morgana got up and went outside and saw that it was raining heavily. She shivered as the cold rain hit her skin. She went get wood. As she walked through the woods, she felt much worse. Her head started spinning. She collapsed to the ground and laid down. She shivered weakly and passed out.

Merlin woke up screaming from a nightmare. Gaius ran in and saw the look on Merlin's face. He went to him and shushed him. He pulled Merlin into aa hug. Merlin put hand on Gaius' shoulder as he cried.

"It's alright, Merlin. It's alright." Gaius whispered. Several minutes later, Merlin calmed down. He laid down and Gaius rubbed his shoulder. "What was it about?"

"I was in a pit with Aithusa. I looked up and they opened the door to the pit. They dumped blood all over us. Then they were beating me and hurting Aithusa. I was terrified. I couldn't get away. I can't close my eyes; the nightmare won't go away." Merlin explained.

"Shh. Everything will be alright, Merlin. Just sleep."

"I can't."

Gaius uttered a spell and Merlin's eyes became heavy.

"Sleep, my boy." Gaius whispered. Merlin closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Morgana woke up and saw that she was on the forest floor soaking wet. She got up and stumbled over to her hovel and went inside. The fire had gone out. Morgana laid down on her bed and tried to warm herself up. She became very weak and fell asleep.

Merlin woke up that morning feeling very strange. He went through out his day wondering why he felt so strange. When he got home, he sat down at the table and watched Gaius make dinner.

"Gaius, I feel very weird. Like I'm ill but I'm not. Like I'm fighting an infection but I'm not." Merlin said. Gaius checked Merlin over.

"You are in perfect health, Merlin. Maybe it's the effects of the spell or the nightmare." Gaius answered.

"Maybe. Maybe I should go to bed early."

"That may help."

Merlin ate his dinner and went to bed. After spending several hours trying to sleep, he got up and went to the window. He could see the woods in the distant. Something inside him told him to go there. He ignored it and went to bed. He finally went to sleep. For the next few days, he felt drawn to go to the valley of the fallen kings.

Morgana woke up every once in a while, but felt weaker and colder each time. Finally, she managed to drag herself out of bed. She went to the fire was and grabbed what she needed to clean her wounds. She cleaned her wounds and felt very strange. Like she was needing something. She looked outside in the direction of Camelot and felt like she needed to go there.

"Why do I have this feeling?" Morgana whispered. She went back to bed and tried to feel better. For the next few days, she felt much worse and so did Merlin.

TBC

Hope you like this story.