"Merlin," he finally said with a hoarse, anger-filled voice that made Merlin's stomach turn. "What have you done?"

Arthur's first thought, upon seeing Merlin's beautiful face hovering above him was 'I love her'. Followed quickly after by 'Aren't I dead?' and 'If this is Heaven that must mean Merlin's dead too!" That thought had certainly sharpened his senses.

But then Arthur remembered what came before his death: Merlin's betrayal. She used magic, something she herself had said had no place in Camelot. And before that, even, she'd left him alone to 'pick herbs for Gaius'.

As Arthur gazed up at her tear-streaked face, he came to two conclusions simultaneously; one, he didn't know nearly as much about Merlin as he had previously thought he did; and two, he needed answers - Now.

At first, Arthur thought she might never speak, staring at him with such a horrified, sad expression on her face. But then she seemed to take a deep breath, her shoulda squaring subconsciously, and Arthur felt a rush of affection and fondness for her try and seep its way past his anger and confusion.

"Arthur... I know you must be mad with me, a-and not particularly feel all that much warmth towards me right now..." She says, head bowed low in a way she'd never bothered to do ever before - and wasn't that wasn't a sign that something was horribly wrong - and her voice hushed and husky from her tears. "But I vow to you, I am and will always be yours and, and my having... being magic, has never changed that. But it's as much a part of me as you are and..."

Her head is hanging so low now that the curls of her hair hide her face from his view, and anger or no, Arthur cannot let this go on. Reaching slowly, he reaches out his hand to brush her hair behind her ear like he used to do before... Only for her to flinch so hard her shoulders shake with it.

And Arthur, in the midst of a busy university campus during freshens week, stood beside the woman he loved, suddenly remembered himself - or his other self, he supposed - and the strangeness of it; having two different sets of memories in your head; of being dead and yet not; of Merlin being frightened of him... It was all too much.

Arthur reached lower this time, leaving her hair altogether to grasp her about the waist and up into his arms, hugging her close as he headed to what he thought was his flat - everything was jumbled up in his head, a mixture of old and new.

"This doesn't mean I totally forgive you, you know," he mutters gruffly, his own tears lining his eyes as Merlin relaxes in his arms and clutches her arms around his neck as though she might lose him should she let go. "But my head hurts and I realise that the public courtyard in front of hundreds of students isn't exactly the best place to have this conversation, so..."

When Arthur finally put her down in what she assumed was his flat, Merlin's heart was beating out a samba. First she'd thought she'd waited all these centuries for nothing, then she'd thought perhaps Arthur would finally finish her off himself and now, she didn't even know what to think. Would Arthur ever forgive her completely? Was he even the same man, now, in this day and age, influenced as he was by the person he'd been only minutes earlier?

Merlin watched distractedly as Arthur bustled around the room, picking up stray clothing here and there and muttering to himself. When he finally turned back around, they both simply stood facing one another, eyes locked and - in Arthur's case - mouth a thin line.

"Alright," he says, completely still save for his fidgeting fingers. "Now, explain."

"Well... It is the year 2014. In case you aren't quite up to date yet," Merlin begins, starting with the simplest of facts. "Which is quite a while later than you'd have seen me last. And I've been waiting for you, all this time, reborn time and time again, though I never did find you... Until now."

She hesitates, watching his eyebrows raising slowly farther and farther up his forehead, until they were almost hidden behind his golden fringe.

"Yeah... Not very fun, I can tell you that. As for, for the... The magic, God, Arthur, you must know I always meant to tell you, I couldn't not, I love you, but... I wanted to do it at a better time, a more peaceful time. I guess I just never realised I had such little time with you."

"And would you have? If I had lived past that day, would you have revealed such a thing to me? How can I trust you weren't going to kill me yourself?!" Arthur's voice grew increasingly louder, more angry, and Merlin flinched at every yelled accusation.

"Arthur..." Merlin sighed sadly, sinking to the floor on her knees. "Oh, Arthur, never. I'd sooner cut my own throat. Everything I am, all that I have ever been... I am yours above all else, love, please... Please, I have waited for you for so long, with so little hope and... And if you truly cannot stand to see a creature- an abomination such as me any longer, then I give myself up to your mercy, my King. But I will not change. I was born with magic, have had eyes of gold since before I could walk and I could no sooner kill that part of me as I could you, so... Please, Arthur, please don't ask that of me!"

Finally Merlin lowered her head, tears falling freely and hands clutching tightly to her dress. For a second, all was silent save for her heaving breaths, but then Arthur made to move towards her.

Sitting still as stone, Merlin waited for Arthur to speak, and gasped in shock when he gently lifted her up to stand.

His own eyes were wet, in a way she hadn't seen since Uther had died, and her heart clenched at the sight.

"Alright, love, alright. That's enough for now. I... I think I understand. Okay, not really, but... I love you, too. Of course I do. I could no sooner hurt you, Merlin, you know that, you idiot!"

And Merlin laughed, comforted in her lover and king's arms for the first time in centuries.

"I suppose I do. Prat."

Okay, confession time guys... I am a horrible person who just shouldn't post her WIP online. If I'm totally honest, I doubt this thing will ever be finished. I'm in my second year at Uni now myself and have my own research to do, so... It's very unlikely I'll get this finished in the time or to the quality that you probably want it.

I posted this little tidbit just as a sort of apology, really, for my business/laziness. If anyone would like to know how I had planned on finishing this story however, feel free to message me. It was gonna be a long fic, lots of twists planned out, but never executed.

Alright, well, sorry again and happy reading! This fic is officially closed! :(