Author: LadyFromPoland

Disclaimer: I don't own "Merlin". It is a TV show which belongs to BBC.

Warnings: SLASH

English is not my mother language.

I wrote that chapter thinking about the last scene from the previous one. Enjoy!

„Tale as old as time..."

Chapter 9
Friends

It was Sunday evening. Hunith was sitting on the kitchen chair, looking at her plate. Her sight was empty. She didn't eat anything. The woman hadn't had appetite since Merlin was gone.

Suddenly someone knocked at the door. Hunith sighed heavily but she came up slowly to that door. She was really surprised when she saw Nimueh.

"Can I come in?" The young girl asked her. There was something dangerous in her voice.

Hunith moved to let her in.

Nimueh gazed around and frowned, not even trying to hide her disappointment. She was a daughter of one of the most influential man in a town. She wasn't used to modest houses.

After a while she turned around and looked directly at the lonely woman. "I'm here to hear from you where the hell is Merlin."

Hunith didn't like the tone of her voice. It was way too bossy as for the girl about her age.

"I insist," Nimueh said.

"I've already told it in an inn. He's a prisoner of a very dangerous and mad prince."

"Nonsense!" The girl snorted.

"That's true!" Hunith had tears I her eyes. Nobody believed her. Nobody was going to help her poor son. "You may not believe me but I'm telling the truth."

"I am not so stupid! I know what you want to do!" Nimueh smirked. "You want to separate me and Merlin."

"What are you talking about?" Hunith was shocked.

The girl laughed. "Tell me... what would such a prince want from Merlin?"

"How can I know?" Desperation was heard in her voice. "That man is crazy!"

"Sure!" Nimueh rolled her eyes. "Just tell your son, when you see him, that he cannot escape me. I hope that he'll come back soon or I'll stop to be nice to you."

Then she turned on her heel and came up to the door.

"What do you want from my son?" Hunith asked her.

The girl turned her head and smiled at the older woman bitterly. "He's different than the other men. And I like when someone is unique. I just want to have him!"

"He's not a toy!" Hunith protested. "You cannot just have him."

Nimueh laughed. There was something disturbing in her laugh. The girl didn't say a single word and closed the door.

Hunith couldn't stop the hot tears that started running down her cheeks.

oOoOo

Arthur truly wanted to have a friend in Merlin. He became calmer and always tried to fight back his negative emotions. The dark haired boy appreciated prince's behaviour. He was even a bit stunned by the truth that Arthur was doing it for him.

The fair haired man was willing to finish the book that he had started reading for Merlin. The boy was enjoying the sound of Arthur's voice. He read quite slowly and still had some problems with longer words but Merlin was proud of him. The boy helped the blonde a bit so it all started to go well.

"Look Arthur!" Merlin said one evening when they both were spending time in the library.

The prince looked up from a book. Merlin was looking directly at the window.

The boy stood up from the carpet and came up to the window.

"What are you doing?" Arthur asked him.

"Come here," Merlin said quietly.

The blonde put the book on the little table and slowly walked towards Merlin. The boy glanced at Arthur, grinning like a child who got his dreamt toy.

"What's going on?" the prince asked him.

Merlin couldn't help but rolled his eyes. Arthur was sometimes so hopeless.

"Snow!" the boy said enthusiastically. "The snow is falling!"

The prince looked through the window and saw lots of white snowflakes, connected in a beautiful dance.

"Isn't it amazing?" Merlin asked the other man, surprised that he didn't say a single word yet.

Arthur still remained silent. He watched the winter dance, being very focused on it.

"Hey? What's wrong?" The dark haired boy was worried about his new friend. He put his hand on prince's shoulder to let him know that he wasn't alone with his troubles.

"Everything is fine," Arthur assured him after a while.

"Are you sure?" Merlin looked at him carefully.

"Yes..." The prince smiled a bit. "That snow... I don't really now why... But it makes me feel strange."

"Strange?" The boy frowned.

Arthur nodded. "But it doesn't mean that it's unpleasant. No... it feels like an old and blurry memory from my childhood."

"Then why is it strange?" Merlin tried to understand prince's point of view. But it didn't make any sense.

"Because I don't really know what is that memory about. It seems to be nice and sweet. Just like you are. But it's everything that I know."

Arthur realised that he called Merlin sweet and blushed deeply. He became way too honest in his own opinion. It started to be more and more seen with every next day.

Merlin was confused hearing Arthur's words almost as much as the prince. The boy felt that he really shouldn't have heard that. However he wasn't able to stop such a pleasant feeling somewhere deep in his heart. It was even more disturbing than blonde's words. Merlin was glad that the other man couldn't read his mind.

The silence between men was way too long to be comfortable. The only solution for that awkwardness was to start a new and safe talk.

"I hope that it will be snowing all night," Merlin said finally.

"Why?" the prince asked him.

"Arthur!" The boy laughed. "You're so oblivious. I dream about snow fun tomorrow."

"Snow fun?" Arthur didn't even try to imagine what Merlin was meaning by that words.

"Snowballs, snowmen, snow angels... Isn't it obvious?"

The fair haired man didn't know what to say. He didn't want to hurt Merlin by stupid accident. "Don't you think that that things are rather for children than for youths?" he eventually dared to ask.

"Why do people think that all true fun is only for children?" Merlin's eyes were so big and blue when he was saying it.

Arthur shrugged. He had never thought about it in this way.

"I'll tell you why! Because they think that having fun is too close to showing feelings. And they don't like showing that they actually care about something. They fear it almost as much as they fear death." Merlin sighed and then continued. "I want to have something from child in myself. The world seems to be better then."

The prince was bewildered. He felt that there was something true in that boy's words. "Will you help me find a child in myself too?" Arthur asked him.

Merlin felt that strange warmth once again. "Tomorrow." He was able to say only that one word.

"Tomorrow," the prince agreed.

oOoOo

Merlin went to bed in a very good mood. He couldn't wait for the morning. It was going to be exciting. Besides he couldn't stop thinking about Arthur's words. The prince had called him sweet and it was at least a bit confusing. Merlin had never thought about himself as if he was sweet. It sounded very girly. Nevertheless he started to like that word.

The boy lay on the bed, humming some old melody from his childhood. It was stronger than him.

Eventually Merlin fell asleep. The word sweet was ringing in his head until the morning.

oOoOo

The first thing that Merlin did in the morning was running towards the window. He was so happy when he saw that the whiteness covered the world, at least within his sight.

The boy ate the breakfast very fast and then he ran to his chamber to put warm clothes on himself.

Arthur didn't show such a great enthusiasm but deep inside he couldn't wait too. The prince had to act just like princes were supposed to behave. He didn't have a face of the royalty so he could only act like one. Merlin, of course, thought that it was more prattish than royal but he got used to it.

It was not a surprise that the dark haired boy was the first one who ran outside. He really looked like a little child.

The prince followed him but he walked slowly. He wasn't used to have some fun. Most of all not because of the snow and winter. However blonde found something what truly cheered him up. Merlin looked happy and it warmed him inside.

"Arthur!" the boy called him and before prince could do anything a snowball reached his his arm.

Merlin started laughing and couldn't stop.

"What is so funny, Merlin?" Arthur asked him and then he grabbed some snow, made a ball of it and threw it at the boy. The blonde laughed as well.

Merlin was a bit clumsy but he managed to throw a second snowball at Arthur. This time blonde reacted immediately.

They started fighting. It was a true snow battle. Arthur was a fast learner and after a while they both forgot that they weren't children any more.

The boy had to run away from the blonde. The prince showed him no mercy. However Merlin didn't care. At home he hadn't had a companion in snow fun. His mother had sometimes played with him on Sundays. But it had never lasted longer than ten minutes.

Merlin was glad that he had now a friend at similar age. It was really nice. Most of people in town thought that he was strange. They had tried not to talk with him too much.

Half an hour later Arthur and Merlin were lying on the snow, looking at the sky. They were taking deep breaths, not even having a strength to laugh.

The prince tilted his head slightly so he could watch Merlin. The boy looked at Arthur too and smiled at him. His dark hair was in wonderful contrast to the white snow.

"And?" the boy asked the fair haired man, raising his eyebrows.

"What?" Arthur didn't understand.

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Have you found a child in yourself?" he said lazily.

The blonde smirked. "I'm not sure yet."

The youth wanted to ask him another question but he didn't manage to. Arthur rolled, pushing Merlin. The boy ended up with his face in the cold snow.

"Arthur! I'm tired," he complained when he lifted his head up.

"I'm a child now," the prince joked, laughing loudly. "You cannot blame me!"

Merlin wasn't going to let it go and flew at the blonde. The boys were rolling on the snow carpet. Once Arthur was on top, once Merlin. It was such an innocent play but in eyes of hidden watchers it had a deeper meaning.

Gaius, Lancelot, Gwen and Helen were watching them through the window.

"Prince seems to be happy," Helen said it in her mother's manner.

"Seems to?" Gwen shook her head. "He is so happy! Merlin is a miracle for him," she said.

"But he won't break the spell, will he?" Lancelot spoke up. "He's a boy after all. The prince needs a love of a woman. And time is going to be up soon."

The wardrobe sighed heavily. It all was so difficult.

"We can only wait," Gaius said wisely.

Helen, Gwen and Lancelot agreed with him in silence.

I hope you liked it. You know what... there's going to be a little surprise in the next chapter. ^^ I'm not even sure if I can call it a surprise but it's going to be at least something new.

Now, please, write me what you think!