Arya, no Estwaine in this chapter, but well at least there's Gwaine. And ArMor of course. ;D Thanks for your lovely review as usual. Kreuse, thank you very much for reviewing, and I really hope that you do get to enjoy this fic, even though you said you were sceptical at first. Anonymus, thanks for reviewing and everyone enjoy!
P.S. I won't be able to update for two days, so I hope that this longer chapter can sort of make up for that. Thanks!
The first time Arthur realized that he no longer saw Morgana as his sister was when he was 12, on the verge of becoming a teenager, and yet still a child in the eyes of adults. And to say that he was mortified was an understatement. The poor boy was terrified at the revelation of his feelings for her.
It was a Thursday afternoon and he and his mates, Leon, Percival and Gwaine who were in the football team with him, were practicing in the large field within the grounds of Pendragon Manor. Uther had the goal posts built once Arthur successfully tried out for the school football team and was quite proud of his son, who was the youngest team member in a group of children whose ages ranged from 13 at least, to 15. He had no doubt his son would do him proud.
The boy was currently kicking the ball listlessly, much to the aggravation of his friends who were waiting for him to pass the ball over to them. Gwaine, easily the oldest there at the age of 15, who was given the role of goalkeeper, had had enough of Arthur's unresponsiveness and yelled, startling the boy out of his thoughts. "Oi Arthur! Get your head out of the clouds mate! We've been waiting for the ball forever!"
Arthur jumped a little at Gwaine's booming voice and hurriedly kicked the ball towards him and the dark haired boy waited expectantly for the ball to fly over his head. The ball however, flew up spectacularly when Arthur kicked it and just fell back right in front of the blonde. The other boys groaned and Gwaine rolled his eyes. "Gee Arthur, couldn't have kicked the ball any harder could you?"
Arthur raised his hands up in surrender, "I'm sorry! I was thinking." Leon grinned and took the youngest boy in his arms, ruffling his golden hair. "What are you thinking about eh mate? Oh I know! Arthur's in luuuurve!" Percival and Gwaine howled in laughter as Arthur glared at all of them. "No I'm not! I wasn't thinking about Morgana!"
Gwaine's brow raised in interest, "Oh? Who said we were talking about Morgana eh mate?" Arthur groaned and wished hard that there was a hole where he could bury his head in. He just gave himself away. Leon smiled and bumped his shoulders in a friendly manner, "You like Morgana then, Arthur? Have you told her?"
Arthur looked at him in aghast, "No! Of course not! She definitely doesn't like me like that! I'm like a brother to her, she'd think it was creepy, her surrogate brother telling her he likes her." Percival just shrugged and made an offhand comment as he took the ball from Gwaine and dribbled it. "Well there are other fish in the sea Arthur. I mean who wouldn't want to be with you? You're the bloody heir to the Pendragon fortune; you definitely won't be short on girlfriends."
Arthur directed his darkest glare towards the oldest boy who winced a little, realizing the insensitivity of his remark. "Yeah, Percy. Thanks so much for that. I'll just go and tell the world that I'm available eh, even though I'm just 12?"
Gwaine cut in smoothly, chuffing Percival's head lightly. "Calm down, all of you. Percy, that was bloody insensitive of you." He winked at Arthur, who seemed rather mollified that Gwaine seemed to be taking his side, "Besides, Arthur and Morgana make a great pair don't you think? She'll come around soon Arthur, don't you worry." He patted the younger boy's head, "What'll be will be eh?"
Arthur just grinned at the boy he considered his best friend. "Thanks Gwaine. Let's get back to the game shall we?"
Before anyone could assent to his statement, a girl's voice called Arthur's name out. "Arthur! I'm heading off to the ranch now! Do you want to come along?"
The boys turned to see Morgana dressed in her riding clothes with her riding helmet in hand, waving cheerily at the group. The other three boys called out their greetings, "'Lo Morgana!" Arthur bit his lip; he really wanted to go riding with Morgana, but he couldn't leave his mates hanging just like that. Luckily, Leon caught the conflict in his blue eyes and gave the boy a friendly shove. "Ah, go on with you Arthur. We'll just fool around for a bit before we take off."
Percival, wanting to make amends for his earlier faux pas, patted Arthur's shoulder. "Yeah, go on and enjoy your day with Morgana then Arthur. Who knows, maybe a love story will blossom. Like Romeo and Juliet, eh guys?" Gwaine just guffawed and shooed the grinning blonde away, "Off with you then Arthur! Don't keep a girl waiting, you hear me?" Arthur laughed good-naturedly and ran off towards his best friend, waving at the boys. "Thanks guys! See you tomorrow then!"
Gwaine clucked fondly at the boy's retreating back and turned towards the remaining boys grinning, "Ah, young love. Let's get on with it shall we?"
Morgana was beaming with barely contained excitement as she chirped on about the upcoming lesson to Arthur, who just smiled indulgently at her enthusiasm and nodded along dutifully when she asked him whether he was excited. He loved seeing her smile, see her face light up with joy that was so pure it couldn't have been anything but, especially if her smiles were directed towards him.
Soon they reached the ranch, and as usual Nimueh was waiting for them at the entrance. She laughed when Morgana barreled into her, "Slow down there cowgirl! Morrigan's not going anywhere. Let's go get her and Tarento yeah? Didn't know you'd be joining us today though, Arthur. I thought you had football practice with your friends today."
The blonde shrugged as the trio made their way to the stables. "Yeah, I did. But I got enough practice with them anyway, so here I am." The woman in red smiled at the boy as she proceeded to tack her own horse, Tintagel. "Well, glad you're here. We'll be doing the small jumps today." Arthur just giggled when Morgana let out an excited squeal and hugged him; clearly she had been waiting for this lesson for quite a while now.
The children made their way to the training course Nimueh had set up, astride on their horses, a little apprehensive as to how they would do. Arthur, being competitive by nature was determined to of course, have a perfect go at the entire course. Morgana was just looking forward to having fun. Nimueh smiled at them, "All right. Before we go through the entire course, we'll just practice a little while more on one jump yeah? Arthur, you go first."
After several go's, Nimueh finally deemed them ready to try out the entire course. She had been careful to make sure that even if the children didn't make it over a jump, their horses wouldn't fall and throw them off. The jumps were relatively low and easy to clear, but she didn't want to take any chances. She had grown fond of Morgana, and of course she loved Arthur dearly; after all Igraine was her best friend and she'd do all she could to protect the boy. Besides, she was sure that if either got hurt, Uther would have her head. Literally.
Arthur went first, trotting cautiously as he measured the distance between jumps carefully, and with some trepidation, cleared the entire course without a misstep. He beamed proudly as Tarento trotted across the finish line, tossing his head triumphantly as his little rider patted his neck with affection. Morgana clapped her hands delightedly, pleased with his accomplishment. "Well done Arthur! That was brilliant!"
Nimueh laughed at the girl's joy. "Indeed Arthur, that certainly was brilliant. Great job! Now, Morgana, can't let Arthur upstage us girls now can we?" Morgana shook her head seriously, black curls flying from beneath her helmet. "Course we can't." She smiled cheekily at Arthur, letting him know that she was just joking. "Besides, Arthur's head is already getting too big for his helmet." Arthur just grinned and stuck his tongue out at her. "Good luck 'Ana!"
Morgana advanced towards the first jump, her seat sure and with a whinny Morrigan easily cleared the low fence. With her hands steady on the reins and nudging Morrigan's grey flanks a little, she managed to clear each jump successfully as well and she smiled smugly at Arthur, who rolled his eyes playfully as she crossed the finish line. "There, Arthur. Told you girls could ride as well as boys." Arthur just grinned and shook his head, "Yeah you just got lucky."
Morgana's eyes widened before she narrowed her gaze towards Arthur. "In your dreams Arthur!" Turning towards Nimueh, she looked at the older woman pleadingly. "Let us have another go at the course Nimueh? Just so I can prove to Arthur it wasn't a fluke!" Nimueh rolled her eyes and smiled, "I'm not sure who's more stubborn here, you or Arthur. The both of you are great riders, but" She smiled at the children, "I suppose you can have another round at it." Arthur smirked at Morgana as he rode Tarento to the starting line once more, "I'm so going to beat you Morgana." She grinned back, "Bring it on, little prince."
Arthur turned in his seat, affronted. "I'm not little Morgana! Besides, I'm older than you!" Determined to get the last word, Arthur returned his focus to the task at hand and nudged the stallion to a trot, sailing over the first jump smoothly. As he did in the first round, Arthur managed to clear every jump without knocking into any one of them. He smiled victoriously at Morgana as he rode by her, "See if you can beat that Morgana."
Morgana just snorted and Morrigan's ears flicked back in amusement at hearing her rider produce such a similar sound to her own snort. "We'll see. Come on, Morrigan, let's show him what we can do." Morrigan nickered in agreement and her hooves kicked up elegantly as they started the course. Of course, with Morgana so determined not to let Arthur upstage her, she cleared the course perfectly with ease, and though Arthur pouted at her success, he was inwardly glad that she was triumphant.
Nimueh cut in before both could demand yet another rematch. Knowing the two, they'd just clear the round again and again and yet still demand that they try it again. "All right you two. Stop bickering now all right. The both of you were wonderful and as a reward, you'll have the rest of the lesson off, and you can do whatever you like with your horses." The children stared up at her with glee and attacked her with tight hugs. Nimueh just laughed and pushed the duo forward gently. "Go on then, you can go for a nice little ride up the hill there. In fact," a mischievous gleam entered her deep blue eyes, "I think you've earned the right to gallop don't you think so?"
Arthur and Morgana were ecstatic. They had accomplished galloping but Nimueh never let them gallop without her supervision. For her to trust them to gallop without her was a huge accomplishment and they immediately jumped to it, swinging up their horses and waving to her as they urged their horses into a gallop up towards the hill. Arthur called back to Morgana, his golden hair streaming behind him as Tarento reveled in being given his head. "Race you up the hill! Loser has to tack down both horses later!"
Morgana yelled back at him, crouching low as Morrigan quickened her pace. "Not fair Arthur! You cheated! You had a head start!" Arthur just laughed and called back, "What's the matter Morgana? Afraid you'll lose?" Morgana gave a growl of exasperation and flicked her reins, "Come on, Morrigan, don't let me down now. We can't let Arthur and Tarento win."
In the end, neither were losers as they reached the hill top the same time. Panting, they slid from their horses and grinned at each other with exhaustion. They tethered Morrigan and Tarento to the old tree and let the horses graze to their heart's content while they flopped down onto the green grass. Arthur lay back on the grounds, staring up at the blue sky. For once, there was no grey tinge indicating rain. He sighed happily as Morgana moved to lie next to him. It was perfect.
The dark haired girl smiled at her best friend, "That was quite a race wasn't it?" He nodded back contently, "Yeah it was. Though I would've won you know." He smirked at her, knowing his next comment would rile her up. "I just let you gain a little on me so you wouldn't lose." Morgana huffed and bumped his shoulders, "Liar! I wouldn't have lost to the likes of you!" He just grinned and poked her, "Nah, just pulling your leg Morgana. We tied; let's just leave it at that." He turned his gaze back towards the skies, "It's too perfect for us to ruin it with arguing."
Morgana smiled, "All right. But just this time." She slipped her hand into Arthur's shyly, and was gratified when he squeezed her hand. It was a beautiful day with the wind crooning her soft song into their ears, caressing their hair motherly as the grass wavered gently beneath them, tickling them to sleep. It seemed as though all of nature paused for a moment to admire the two children who were once history's greatest figures of legends, and as Tarento raised his head to stare at a blackbird who was currently perched on the branches of the tree, it seemed as though a melancholic sigh sounded through the air, and with a flash of amber the bird disappeared once more, leaving the snoozing children undisturbed. The days were drawing near when they would be reunited, and Merlin anticipated slipping into their lives once more as he knew, this time he would be triumphant in reuniting his king with the queen who was meant to be by his side. It was magic.
