Disclaimer: I do not own BBC's Merlin. If I had, I would've made it so Morgana would still be alive.
(A/N): Oy! Thank you for the reviews! I realized that some of my characters were a bit OOC. I'll try to fix that in later chapters. Anyways, enjoy! R&R!
"Merlin. Meet Morgana, my sister," Arthur introduced. "And Morgana, meet Merlin, my best mate." Arthur leaned closer to Morgana. "Play nice with him. God knows what you've done to the other people I've introduced to you," he spoke through his teeth. Morgana nodded distractedly, staring at Merlin with a strange expression. "You okay Morgana?" Arthur asked.
"Oh. Yeah. I'm good here," Morgana replied as she snapped back to the real world, a dazed look still evident on her face. "Nice to meet you...Merlin," she said slowly, trying to let the name familiarize with her again.
Merlin on the other hand had his jaw drop all the way to the floor. "I'm sorry Morgana" Arthur apologized. "Merlin here is usually a bit more decent." Arthur nudged Merlin to close his mouth. With a shake of his head, Merlin tried speaking, but no words came out. "And he's usually not this mute... Merlin, you okay?" Arthur asked with a worried frown plastered on his face.
"What? Oh.. Um yeah. Hi! I'm er, Merlin. You must be Morgana, the person I'm supposed to distract since Arthur want Gwen all to himse-" Arthur nudged Merlin, hard. "Hey! What's that for Arthur!" Merlin turned around, rubbing his arm as his face turning into a pout. "That hurt."
"You can't tell her the plan!" Arthur hissed at Merlin, ignoring the fact that Morgana was right next to them.
"I thought you already told her!" Merlin accused wide-eyed.
"We were supposed to distract her! If I tell her the plan, how are we distracting her? Use your brain clotpole!"
"Hey! That's my word!" Merlin then turned around to see Morgana giggling at the pair. Her hand was over her mouth, a simple gesture, but at the same time, it looked like she was an angel that came down from heaven just to taunt him of what he couldn't have.
"So...What do we do now?" Merlin asked as he glanced at Arthur.
"We go with the plan," Arthur replied, determined.
"Um, sorry to interrupt your mini-quarrel session, but what are you planning to do with Gwen? And how does it involve with me?" Morgana questioned, amused.
"Well...Arthur wanted me to distract you so he could finally ask Gwen out on a date." Merlin nonchalantly explained while Arthur had a face full of disbelief.
"Merlin clearly doesn't know what he's talking about," Arthur sputtered. "Do you, Merlin?" Arthur gave Merlin a look saying "don't you dare."
"Er...No. I'm just a manservant serving Arthur Pratdragon. How may I help you today? Distract Morgana? Splendid! Now out you go Arthur, no need to make Gwen wait for that future lovemaking session." Merlin shot back, a full fledged smirk on his face.
"So Merlin," Morgana giggled. She then looked up at Merlin through her eyelashes. "How are you planning to distract me exactly?" she said suggestively, making Merlin gulp and the tip of his ears red. Merlin gave Arthur a pleading look.
"Morgana. Play nice." Arthur reminded. Then, he patted Merlin's shoulder. "Well, I'm off. Wish me luck!" The door closed, leaving an awkward Merlin alone with an equally awkward Morgana. Merlin didn't know what to do. Should he remind her of the past? Should he just forget about it? Never in a million years had he thought that he would meet her again. And she was also the sister of his friend of 7 years!*
"So..." Merlin kept his gaze down to the floor, scared at what would happen if he would look up. Does she still recognize me? Does she still consider me as a friend? For all he knew, strange emotions started stirring again. Strange emotions that only happened when she was around. Strange emotions that started at the night of the fair...
Screams of laughter surrounded the pair as they walked from booth to booth. "Merlin!" Morgana called out. "Can we at least play some games? We've been walking around for days!" Morgana complained.
"It's only been 5 minutes, milady." Merlin clarified. Morgana humphed and guided them to nearby booths. They reached an archery game, where the player would try to shoot the arrow to the bullseye. If you shoot outside the target, you get a small consolation prize. If you hit the outer rims, a medium prize and a grand prize for the bullseye.
"Merlin. Wanna try this?" Morgana asked as she nudged Merlin and pointed at the small booth.
"It has got to be rigged. I mean 2 pounds for only one shot to land an arrow on that miniature target? No thanks." Merlin pulled Morgana's hand and was about to lead her to another booth but noticed that Morgana's feet was sternly secured to the ground. "C'mon Morgana. You don't want to waste your money, do you?"
"I'll do it. Look at that booth. No one's going to it.. We should at least try it out" Morgana reasoned. She gave him a pout with her eyes wide and pleading. Merlin wondered how she could pull it off so easily.
"Fine.." Merlin said reluctantly. He gave her a tiny smile and led her to the booth. "Two arrows please." The booth manager handed the pair two Nerf bow and arrows. Morgana went first. She positioned the bow and pulled the string. Then, she let go. It landed on the outer circle.
"Ha! Merlin, beat that!" Morgana exclaimed confidently, a little smirk playing on her face. Merlin on the other hand was already handing Morgana the second arrow.
"I don't think I can ever beat that," Merlin replied. "I'd mostly just shoot and miss the target by a kilometer." Merlin looked down, not wanting to let her see how much that piece of truth really hurt him.
"I know what you're doing," Morgana walked towards him and stood directly in front of him. "You're scared of taking the challenge," she accused. "Are you, Merlin?" she breathed. The hairs on the back of his neck went up. His breathing grew more erratic. And the way she looked at him, it was... He didn't know how to describe it. All he knew was: He didn't want to disappoint her.
"Never."
"Merlin? Are you there?" Merlin's cobalt eyes locked onto Morgana's green ones. A small smile crept onto Morgana's face. "You never do change do you?" Morgana bit her lip. "How have you been?"
Merlin didn't know what to say. So many questions about how's she been, where did she go all these years, what she did all these years. So, Merlin just simply asked, "Why haven't we met before?" Wait. "I mean," Merlin shook his head. "Aren't you Arthur's sister? How have we not met for the 7 years I've known him?" Morgana looked away.
"My father died," she whispered. "I was adopted into the Pendragon family just recently. I was with my sister in America for a while to mourn for my father."
Merlin regretted asking her. He would've replied, "I'm sorry Morgana. He was a good man," but that would've been wrong. He barely knew her father and he barely knew her anymore. Ten years can change a person. He'd witnessed it himself. So instead, Merlin opened his arms and hugged Morgana. They stayed liked that for minutes but it felt like hours. Then Merlin muttered, "Do you want to grab a drink? I have to get to work soon." Morgana smiled a bit, nodding her head in agreement.
They separated from each other and collected their things―Merlin going to the restroom to change into his uniform. They went into Merlin's truck and drove off to the cafe, but not before turning up the radio to an oddly familiar song.
(A/N): Woo! Another chapter done! It's a bit rough, I know. I tried finding a good part to end this chapter so that's why there's that abrupt end. For next chapter, I'm planning for a full flashback when they were still kids. I hope I did better than last chapter. I tried to fix some grammar mistakes, but it might've escaped my notice, so please tell me so I could reflect upon it and improve my writing style.
Just some a clarification:
* Merlin becomes friends with Arthur when he's 15. And this was just a random age, since 7 is the most magical number according to the Harry Potter wiki. But yeah, somewhere in their high school years. I was about to arrange Morgana to actually attend the high school as well, but realistically, even if she tried her hardest to avoid him, they would've met there since she was bound to meet Merlin at a certain point.
Reviews are my heaven. Even if it's negative, it always gives me that motivation to improve my writing skills. So, please review! I'll see you next chapter!
