A/N: Okay, I'm sorry but I'm not going to be able to respond to your guys' reviews. But, here is the next chapter! Thank you for being patient with me! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I wish I owned King Arthur, but I don't.
Chapter 7: A True Understanding
"All things will be answered in time," Merlin said.
"Okay, I know you're Merlin and all, but how did you get here?" Shantal asked, raising an eyebrow.
"All things will be answered in time," Merlin repeated.
Joe had pushed his way through the group, standing in between Lancelot and Kalanie. The Woad, who had pulled his sword on Kalanie, retreated to Merlin only to receive a glare from Lancelot.
Arthur approached Merlin. "How about we take a seat?" he suggested.
"You all may, I will stand," Merlin said.
The group settled in. Kalanie sat beside Lancelot on the couch, Joe curled up on Lancelot's lap. Galahad sat beside Kalanie, Shiana on his lap. Gawain then sat next to him. Tristan stood up, leaning against the wall. Shantal stood beside him. Bors and Dagonet stood off to the side. Guinevere sat in the armchair, Arthur standing beside her.
The bruise on Guinevere's face made Kalanie gleefully smile. Shiana nudged her to make her pay attention.
"I know you wish to know why you are here and, the girls, how to get you back," Merlin said.
"But I don't want them to leave," Joe said.
Kalanie gently pushed his bangs out of his face. "They have to. If they didn't, it would change history."
Joe pouted and pressed against Lancelot's chest. This caused Lancelot to tense up. He wasn't used to affection from a child – especially this child.
Merlin gazed at Joe for a moment. "Do not fret," he said. "Knights, you are here to experience the difference you will make in the world."
Arthur furrowed his brow in question.
"You girls, will certainly be able to return the knights to their time. I cannot take them back with me. They will have to come back during the next natural occurrence."
The girls stared at him in confusion. "We don't have those here."
"Lightning? Earthquakes?" Merlin asked.
"Oh," Kalanie said. "The last earthquake was in like… 1997 or something like that."
"Awhile ago," Shantal agreed.
"We'll have to take whatever comes," Shiana said.
"My parents are going to be home in like, 5 days," Kalanie said.
Joe sighed softly. "I still don't want them to go."
Lancelot looked down at him but said nothing.
"How'd you get here?" Shiana asked.
"That is not of your concern," Merlin said. "Next natural occurrence, girls." He turned and walked down the stairs. There was a creaking noise and he was gone – his friend as well.
The group sat there in silence for a moment. 'What are we going to do?" Shiana asked.
"Leave Roman business to Romans," Kalanie said, quoting Lancelot. Her friends chuckled, along with the knights. She stood up and saluted them before going upstairs. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass. She filled it at the water cooler and began to chug it.
"Careful," Shantal said.
Kalanie turned around. "I can see you don't want them to go."
"Duh," Shantal said, giving Kalanie a look.
Kalanie shrugged. "Joe's grown attached to them too."
"Yeah, I know. It's scaring me," Shantal said, leaning up against the counter. "Usually he tends to beat up the guys around you."
"He's already beaten up Lancelot," Kalanie reminded, chuckling.
Shantal chuckled. "That he has. Pity too. Now I can't have godchildren. Hey!" she exclaimed as Kalanie threw a towel at her. "It's true."
Kalanie gave her a mock glare. "Unfortunately, it won't last that long." She set down her glass. "Keep recording with the camera though."
"Will do," Shantal said. "We should go back down and play your fight."
Kalanie laughed. "We should." She walked over to the stairs, Shantal following. They went into the living room, Kalanie sitting down on the couch beside Lancelot, who was telling Joe a story of a mission.
"I need your attention, please. We have a feature presentation from Kal," Shantal said, hooking up the video camera. She pushed play. The fight between Kalanie and Guinevere came on. Shantal retreated to an armchair.
Kalanie watched with pleasure as she got in a few good hits. The knights saw everything from beginning retorts to the last punches. "What a show," Kalanie said, smirking as she stood up.
Lancelot stared at the dark television screen, thinking. "That clears a lot up," he mumbled.
Joe blinked. He hadn't seen the whole fight. "That looked painful."
"It was," Kalanie mumbled. "Now you all know." She walked into the middle of the living room. "Both of us are at fault. I refuse to take full blame for this." Guinevere glared at her but remained silent. "Now, it's over, it's done. Guinevere, I cannot hold a grudge unless someone steals my chocolate." She earned a laugh from her friends and brother. "Thus, I apologize."
Everyone stared at her, Guinevere's face full of confusion. There was a long silence.
"Are you all dead? Say something," Kalanie said.
"Have you ingested any controlled substances in the past hour?" Shantal asked.
Kalanie smiled. "No Tallie, but thanks for your concern." She looked at the others. "I give up." She shook her head. "Wait… where's Shiana and Galahad?"
"Galahad went downstairs and Shiana went with him," Arthur said.
Kalanie and Shantal looked at each other. "She wouldn't," Shantal said.
"Would she?" Kalanie squeaked.
The two instantly took off down the stairs, nearly tripping over each other. They ripped the door open to see Galahad and Shiana sitting against the wall. Shiana's hand was in Galahad's, her thumb stroking his affectionately.
"Wait! No godchildren yet!" Kalanie and Shantal shouted in unison, landing in a heap on the floor.
Shiana stared at them. "We're just holding hands. We weren't going that far."
Kalanie and Shantal sighed in relief.
Shiana smiled at her friends. "Don't worry."
"Kal, Lancelot has never heard 'Not Yet Dead' by Spamalot… but I can't find the video," Joe said, jumping down the stairs. "You guys sing it!"
Kalanie looked at her friends. "It's been a while… and I've only heard the song so we to do our own performance."
"We'll have to set up the camera," Shantal said and ran upstairs.
"It'll be fun to do this," Shiana said.
"We're going to be off key but oh well," Kalanie said. "Come on you two." She went upstairs, Joe following her. She watched Joe bound over to the couch and sit down.
"The girls are gonna sing," Joe said, grinning.
Kalanie looked at Shantal. "Still remember?"
"Of course. Who couldn't remember this song?" Shantal asked, grinning.
"I hope this is better than your other music," Gawain said.
Kalanie and Shantal laughed. "Me too," Kalanie said as they all got set up. "Ready?" They took deep breaths.
"Kalanie:
My name is Lancelot.
I'm big and strong and hot.
Occasionally I do
Some things that I should not.
Shantal:
I want to be a knight
But I don't like to fight.
I'm rather scared I may
Simply run away.
Kalanie:
I'll be right with you
Robin through and through and through
So stick with me
And I'll show you what to do.
Shantal:
We'll remain good chums
You can teach me how to dance.
Both:
We're going to enlist
Shantal:
I'm Robin
Kalanie:
And I'm Lance
All Three:
We're off to war
Because we're not yet dead.
We will all enlist
As the knights that Arthur led.
Shiana:
I am coming too
My name will be Sir Fred
I'll be your musician
Cos I'm not yet dead
Kalanie:
To kill
I will
It gives me such a thrill
Shantal:
To sing
And dance
And keep an eye on Lance.
All Three:
We're going off to war
We'll have girl friends by the score.
Shiana:
We'll be shot by Michel Moore
All Three:
Because we're not yet… dead."
©Lyrics belong to Spamalot's "Not Yet Dead"
The three girls fell down together, laughing. Joe was clapping in excitement and the knights were laughing.
"Everyone know we need to keep an eye on Lance," Bors said.
"And Kalanie," Shantal said.
"Nu uh!" Kalanie exclaimed, playfully pushing Shantal.
"Yes I'm coming back to serve a second term. This time I won the national election," Shantal started singing.
"Oh thanks to you Ohio and your brother Jebidiha. Now we have four more years to rule in Washington," Shantal and Kalanie sang. They laughed and sat up.
Joe yawned. "Kal, we have school tomorrow."
The girls looked at each other. "I am not leaving them alone," Kalanie said.
"We can't stay home," Shiana said.
"We can get this week's work," Kalanie said.
"Let's do that," Shantal said.
"If our parents find out we're absent, we're going to get in trouble," Shiana pointed out.
"Note," Kalanie said simply.
"And be caught for forgery? No thank you," Shiana said. "What would we put on it anyway?"
"Emergency came up. Shantal's great uncle died and we need to go for support," Kalanie said.
"Oh, you're good," Shantal said sarcastically.
"What about me?" Joe asked.
"You're going to school," Kalanie said.
"Not fair!" Joe protested.
"Totally fair," Kalanie said. "Don't argue." She grabbed three pieces of paper and began to write her note. She scribbled a signature that resembled her father's.
"Kal, we should just go to school… I feel bad about this," Shiana said nervously.
Shantal had already foraged her note. "C'mon, Shi. It's possible trouble or leaving the knights alone," Shantal said and looked at her friend.
Shiana sighed and did her note.
Joe was pouting. "This isn't fair, Kal! I'm telling Mom."
Kalanie looked at him sternly. "If we leave the knights alone, Simba may not have his head."
Joe gasped in horror and rushed upstairs. He grabbed his stuffed lion, Simba, and went back downstairs. "They aren't going to hurt Simba."
"Then I have to stay home so they can't," Kalanie said. "Alright? I'll make sure no one hurts Simba."
"Okay," Joe said quietly. He hugged Simba to his chest and looked warily at the knights. This caused Kalanie to chuckle softly underneath her breath. Joe looked at Bors and Lancelot, who were chatting. "Don't you dare hurt Simba," he said sternly, showing them the stuffed lion.
Lancelot and Bors looked over at Kalanie with a questioning look. They said nothing as Joe left to go back upstairs.
"Why would we hurt his… stuffed animal?" Lancelot asked.
"Sh, it was a reason to stay home," Kalanie said and gave Lancelot a gentle kiss. She pulled away and sat down on the couch to relax.
Shantal hummed to herself as she stood there, playing with the buttons on the video camera. She gasped in surprise as Tristan came up behind her. "Oh, Tristan," she said softly. "You scared me."
"I'm a scout, I'm supposed to sneak up on others," Tristan said simply.
"I figured that much," Shantal teased and went back to playing with the camera. Kalanie snuck over and stole it when Tristan tilted Shantal's head up. "Tristan?" she questioned.
Kalanie fumbled with the buttons and then pushed record. She brought the camera up just as Tristan leaned in to kiss Shantal. Kalanie grinned wildly. "Can you feel the love tonight," she began to sing. "Ow," she said as Shiana threw a pillow at her. "Shantal is feeling the love."
She grinned as Shantal made an obscene gesture. Shantal leaned against Tristan slightly. By then, the whole room had fallen silent and everyone was looking at the two. Shantal pulled away and gazed at Tristan gently.
"Oooooooh, Tristan," the group said in unison, earning a death glare from the scout. Then everyone shut up.
The three girls laughed loudly, smiling brightly. The only thing that was worrisome was the next day and if they would be able to get away with their notes.
A/N: What do you guys think? Now, some of you are probably wondering, what in the world was the point of the girls singing that song. Well, one, that's just how they are – crazy; two, my brother was singing it while I was writing and I got the idea, knowing it would fit perfectly with their personalities; three, why not? Haha. Hope you guys enjoyed this :)