Characters: Gwen, Merlin, Arthur & OC

Pairing: Gwen/Arthur (romance), Gwen/Merlin (friendship), Merlin/Arthur (friendship)

Rating: K

Timeline: Modern Reincarnation AU

Summary: Arthur and Merlin find Gwen but the circumstances aren't as easy as they thought it would be.

AN: This is a sequel to my previous drabble, 'Gratitude'.

Finding Her: The Reunion

Merlin and Arthur walked in silence towards the apartment door. It was almost surreal that they were there and this was happening. The entire round table along with Mordred and Morgana had waited on baited breathe for the queen's return. They had started to lose hope that she would come back especially since she couldn't rise from Avalon like the others had. Freya kept promising that they had worked something out on the other side and she was still conversing with the Triple Goddess and when they were finally informed that Guinevere had been reincarnated and was out there somewhere the entire time, it was like both a slap to the face and a sigh of relief.

Gaius had taken up the mantle of searching for Gwen along with Mordred's magical help as Morgana and Merlin's magic was needed against Nimueh and Morgause. The men had gotten lucky when they found a newspaper article online with Gwen's picture in it. The story said she was a teacher and the city where she lived were lauding her for having the entire school she worked at create mother's day cards for the mothers of children who died in car accidents involving drunk drivers. The article stated that she was a London native but lived in Dublin, Ireland and Merlin and Arthur we're on the next flight out. It was risky for the two of them to leave with the ever present threat of the enemy high priestesses but they we're confident that the others could handle it, they trusted Morgana and Lancelot who they had left in charge.

"Are you sure about this?" Arthur asked as they got off the elevator on Gwen's floor.

"How do you mean?"

"From what Gaius said, she may not remember us. What if she wants nothing to do with us? Even if she does remember, whose to say she hasn't lived her own life. I mean obviously she has but what if she's married or something?"

"You're rambling." Merlin simply commented, he didn't answer any of Arthur's questions and that didn't go unnoticed by the former king. The truth was Merlin was just as worried as Arthur was about how this whole thing would go down. He didn't know how she would react or what her life was like, they hadn't even stopped to gather more information on her once they found out where she was.

"Here it is: apartment 310." Merlin announced. The two men stood at the door neither of them knocking, both were too afraid to.

"Should we dare to hope, Merlin? Hope that this will all work out?"

"Well, I've been getting by on hope for over a thousand years and even though I had to wait, things are working themselves out." Arthur nodded.

He had learned to master the art of patience ever since Merlin blew up at him at the hospital a year ago. If she didn't remember they could work it out somehow. If she was married it'd be harder, if she had kids with her husband... well that'd crush him but he was being presumptuous. He'd cross those hurdles when he got to them.

Arthur sucked in a breathe before he finally knocked on the door. They could hear shuffling from inside, the walls weren't very think and they could make out a woman's voice along with another one.

Finally the door swung open and there she was. Her was hair was cut short to just below her ears in a bush of springy, brown curls. She wore a red and white checkered shirt that seemed too big for her, probably belonged to a man, along with denim capri pants. She fit right into modern society but a strong scent of lavender along with cinnamon wafted over to them, her expressive brown eyes pierced through them with their familiarity. Her presence was undeniably familiar and just standing in front of her caused a wave of calm to sweep over the two men.

"Guinevere," Arthur said breathlessly. It felt good to say her name and actually see her face. Her eyes widened slightly, her mouth opened a little and she looked kind of confused.

No one calls me Guinevere, not even my parents. She thought to herself.

"Do I know you?" She asked, looking between the two men. They looked like polar opposites. Blonde hair against dark, sun-kissed skin against pale white, muscular build against lanky. She'd never seen either of them before in her life, she'd remember seeing this duo walking around together. Their faces fell a bit after she asked that question. She was almost overcome with the urge to comfort them but she resisted it, she didn't even know them. The blonde man recovered first.

"I know you don't remember us but we can help you, right Merlin?" Arthur said before looking to Merlin. Gwen quirked an eyebrow before looking to the lanky man as well who, even at his age, blushed from the attention.

"Well... I mean..." Arthur looked away as an idea suddenly came to him.

"I think I can help. Just trust me, Guinevere."

"What do you mean-" Before she could finish her sentence the man's lips were on hers. She briefly closed her eyes and was kissing him. There was something familiar about his lips on hers, something inside of her felt like this was right... and then she remembered that he was a stranger. Her eyes burst opened and she brought her knee up to his groin. He immediately pulled away from her and fell five feet away against the wall hunched over in pain.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, what the hell were you doing?" Merlin asked in almost as indignant a tone as Gwen though there was surprise in his voice too. He obviously didn't expect that kiss anymore than she did and he wasn't moving to his friend's side. She was surprised he was taking her side. It barely registered with Merlin that he had fallen back on that old habit. In the past he and Gwen had formed an united front against Arthur when he had stupid ideas or when he had a moment of arrogance. Arthur rolled his eyes as that old habit Merlin had employed wasn't lost on him.

"I thought it would work. It worked in all those fairytales and movies." The blonde man explained, grunting a bit at the lingering pain.

"What worked?"

"True love's kiss." Arthur answered a bit reluctantly, only just realizing how ridiculous it sounded. Merlin and Gwen looked to each other.

'Is he serious?' Gwen's face said.

'I'm as lost as you.' Merlin's face said back. Before they looked at Arthur like he had two heads.

"Did you hit your head earlier or something that I don't know about?" Merlin asked.

"You're supposed to be on my side, Merlin!"

"Not when act like a madman. You do realize those fairytales are just stories and those movies aren't real right? I thought I explained this to you."

"True love's kiss worked before with Guinevere and I. She broke the enchantment I was under with Vivian."

"She isn't enchanted, she's reincarnated." Gwen looked between the two men.

They're mad. She concluded.

"Well, we need to get her home, back to the others."

Home? I am home. Why have I entertained them this long? She asked herself.

"Well, my breakfast is getting cold so I'm going inside. You two would do well to leave me alone especially you, Blondie, or you'll be kissing the inside of a jail cell next time, loverboy." She said sternly before turning to go inside.

"Wait, Gwen we have to-" Merlin was cut off by Gwen closing the door in his face and locking it behind her. She sighed once she got inside and looked back to the door.

He was a good kisser. She mused, licking her lips.

Stop it Gwen, he's bonkers. She shook her head before going back into the kitchen/dining room.

"Who was that?" Jeremy asked, looking up from his plate of pancakes, eggs and sausages.

"I'm not sure." Gwen said, looking at the door once more before turning back to the table and sitting across from him. She noticed a mug there but all she could see was whipped cream and cinnamon. She smiled widely.

"What is it?"

"Hot chocolate. We haven't had it in awhile." He replied. He picked up his mug and held it out.

"Cheers?"

"Cheers." She replied, clinking her cup against his before they both took a sip and then laughed at their dual chocolate mustaches.

"Thank you love." She said, giving him another smile.

"Anytime Mom." The ten year old replied.

My home is here, with my son. Gwen thought, putting those strange men away from her man.

AN: Jeremy looks Noah Cabey-Gray as a kid obviously.