Alright guys, you've convinced me :) Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it!

Chapter Twenty Six

Dear Ares,

I think the time has come for me to tell you the truth. I owe it to you - mostly because our destinies have been intertwined in a way I can't even begin to comprehend, let alone explain.

I have three things to confess. Three pretty big things. So I hope you're not reading this on your phone in the middle of a meal with your friends or something.

The first one is that I know who you are.

I've known for a while now, Arthur, but I haven't been able to tell you. Mostly because I didn't want to stop this… our letters. They're the highlight of my week. But I was scared that if you found out that I knew your true identity, you would get conscious and start holding back, and I didn't want that. Ares is a lot more open than Arthur is, and I didn't want to silence him.

It can't have gone unnoticed by you that strange things have been happening to you. More than anything, I hope this letter helps you understand. I just want you to know, I'm not doing this for me. I don't want to be thanked or acknowledged… I just want things to become clear for you. I don't want you to be confused or worried or afraid anymore.

Which leads to my second confession.

I have magic. And I use it for you. I use it to protect you.

Do you remember the day you were enchanted? Well, I suppose you don't. But do you remember the moment you woke up to find Gwen kissing you? That wasn't Gwen… that was me. I took on her form and broke you out of your enchantment. The enchantment was going to make you do something awful to someone you loved, and someone had to kiss you to break you out of it. I thought… well, I thought Gwen was the one who had to kiss you because I heard that there was something going on between the two of you… that's why I took her form. I hope you remember that kiss. I certainly can't forget it.

Not even if I wanted to.

I saved you from the werewolf too. I was hiding in the woods, and thank god I got there on time. I can't even bear to think of what would have happened to you if I had gotten there late.

I'm also glad those boys reached you in time to see Professor Septus turn back into a human. I hope he gets locked away for a long, long time. I'm relieved you're not going to have to worry about him anymore. I wish I had gotten there sooner to prevent you from being wounded at all, but you're alive and that's all that matters.

I told you a long time ago that I felt like I've spent my whole life just floundering. Like I've travelled down several roads, only to ultimately realize that I have no idea where I'm going. That I was scared because I didn't know what my true purpose was. It's because I was born a child of magic in a world where magic has been banned. It's difficult, being more powerful than anyone I know and having to live like a shadow. I didn't understand why I was given my powers. I thought they were a curse. I felt like a lamb bred for slaughter.

But I know the reason now. The reason is you. You, Arthur Pendragon, are my purpose in life.

I'm scared to admit the third thing, but given that this might be the last time I'll ever talk to you, I think I have to.

I love you.

I love you so much I can't even begin to express it. I'm not even going to try, because I'm sure I'm not capable of doing so. You've… changed me. Sometimes, when I write to you, I don't feel like I'm getting to know you, I feel like I'm remembering you. Like we'd lived another life together, sometime long ago. And deep in my heart, I almost believe that the universe brought us together because you were my other half. Like your atom story. Perhaps you don't feel it, but when I get your letters, Arthur, I feel like I've found the other half of my atom in you.

I guess that's kind of stupid of me to say. You don't know who I am. Well, you do. I've put my heart into these letters. All these opinions and jokes and stories… they're all me. But you don't know who I am in real life. And given all that I've said to you, you probably don't want to know either.

So I have magic. It doesn't change who I am or what I feel about you. Having magic is like having a birth mark or AB negative blood. It's a part of me but it doesn't change who I am. What I'm trying to say is that not all people who have magic are evil. Yes, there are some sorcerers who have been using their magic for evil, but I'm not one of them. Most of us aren't.

I've been put on this earth to protect you, Arthur, and I'm proud of that. And I wouldn't change a thing. So even if you go through the rest of your life hating me and don't ever want to talk to me again, I just want you to know that I will still never stop protecting you. You're the reason I was born, my life's purpose, and I will die making sure nothing ever happens to you.

Always yours,

Emrys

Merlin rushed into the room, heart in his throat, to find Percival asleep on the hospital bed, his arm bandaged. He stared at the sleeping figure for a few minutes, listening to the loud tick of the clock in the room before he reluctantly turned around. Immediately an immense relief settled over him when he spotted Arthur slumped in an armchair by the window, looking fine apart from the menacing red scratches on his face. His blood-shot eyes were trained unseeingly on his slumbering bodyguard.

"I heard about what happened. How is he?" Merlin whispered, sitting down on the armchair beside Arthur. Arthur started out of his thoughts and turned towards him, looking surprised and disoriented.

"Oh, hey. I didn't see you come in," he mumbled, looking around the room like he had just woken up. "Don't worry. He's fine," he added. "He just broke his arm. The nurse said they are going to watch him for one day, but based on their tests he seems perfectly fine. They'll let him out tomorrow."

"And you?" Merlin asked, softly."Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I have huge claw marks here," he pointed to the right side of his chest, "but they've bandaged it up and everything. I mean, it still hurts like nothing on earth, but at least I didn't break any bones."

"You were lucky then."

"Yeah," Arthur growled, scratching the back of his ear agitatedly, "I'm lucky. I'm lucky that Percy has to endanger his own life for me. He could have died."

"But he didn't."

"Yeah but he could have. And for what?"

"His job is to protect you, Arthur." Merlin said, trying to catch the prince's eye. "He was hired to make sure you didn't get hurt."

"What if I don't want people getting hurt for me?" Arthur demanded, angrily.

Merlin fell into silence and Arthur sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. I just.."

"I know."

Arthur fixed his gaze on the ground as he traced the floor's zig-zag pattern with his shoe. "Emrys saved us," he said, quietly.

Merlin looked up, surprised, a cold feeling suddenly spreading through him. "Your pen pal?"

Arthur nodded.

"What do you mean? H… how did she save you?"

Instead of responding, Arthur pulled out a laptop from a backpack that had been dumped on the floor beside him. After a few minutes of clacking keys, he shoved it into Merlin's hands.

"Read this."

It was his letter.

It wasn't the full letter... just bits of it pasted into an empty document.

Merlin's heart thudded as he read the words he had so painstaking written the night before. His confession that he saved Arthur from the werewolf. His proclamation that he had magic. The little bit at the end where he explained that everyone who had magic wasn't evil. Everything else was missing - the bit where he talked about taking Gwen's shape. The part where he said he loved him.

But it didn't matter. Because the fact that Arthur had shown him even this much was proof of the extent to which he trusted him.

"She has magic?"

He couldn't bear to look at Arthur, but he forced himself to and his heart ached as he saw the hollow look in the prince's eyes.

"That what it says, doesn't it?" Arthur replied dully.

"So what are you going to do?" He asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

"What can I do?" Arthur moaned, sliding lower in his chair. His lip trembled slightly and Merlin's heart suddenly felt heavy.

"Arthur…" Gently, he reached over and touched the back of Arthur's hand, letting his fingers rest on his red knuckles. But Arthur pulled his hand away, and Merlin was about to bashfully do the same, until Arthur's fingers suddenly entwined themselves with his.

"Do you know how many people I've lost to magic?" He whispered.

And in that moment, with Arthur's hand in his own, it hit him. His entire life, Merlin had thought only about himself. About how he had to suffer and hide his magic because of Uther Pendragon and his selfish ways. But never - not once - had he thought of Arthur. Now, seeing the acute pain in his eyes, Merlin realized why Arthur was so afraid of magic. Magic had stolen his mother away from him. It had made his father go crazy. It had kidnapped his best friend, and incapacitated his bodyguard. So for Arthur to find out that his pen pal - the one person he thought he could trust - had magic… it must have been unbearable for him.

"Well," Merlin said, fighting back the hot tears that had suddenly sprung up in his eyes, "like Emrys said, magic is just a quality. It is the way people use it that determines what they are. Everyone who uses magic doesn't use it for evil things."

Arthur remained silent, still staring at the patterned ground.

"She knows who I am," he said finally, his voice thick. "She's known who I am for a while now."

Merlin remained silent, afraid that his voice would shake if he tried to say anything.

"I've been thinking back, and there's only one way she could have known who I was. That night I was waiting for her in The Bean? She… she must have come in, seen me and left." The pain in his voice hurt Merlin more than he could believe.

"Why would she do that?" he asked, choking the words out.

"Because she knew who I was! Everyone knows what my father's opinion on magic is. She must have seen I was the prince, got repulsed and left! There's no other explanation." Merlin felt a flutter of disappointment as Arthur pulled his hand out from his to clutch the armrest of his chair instead.

"Arthur, don't be stupid. Why would she continue writing to you if she hated you?"

Arthur flinched. "She doesn't hate me."

"Then what's the problem?"

"How can I love someone who has magic?"

The words felt like a blow. It would have hurt less to have Arthur stab him in the gut with a searing hot blade.

The lump in his throat was so big that Merlin couldn't speak, and he turned away to quickly wipe the burning tears that had leaked out of his eyes.

The sudden silence was deafening. Arthur finally turned towards him, expecting an answer, and Merlin quickly faked a smile, hoping the pain he was feeling inside wasn't visible on his face.

"You should use magic related pickup lines!" He said, his voice bubbly. Arthur frowned. "I guarantee you they have a hundred percent success rate." Merlin continued, cheerily.

"Be serious Merlin," Arthur groused.

Looking into those big blue eyes was utter agony. Merlin tried to ignore the way his heart was hurting.

"I am serious, Arthur," he said, staring down at his hands. "Just go up to her and be like 'I'm enchanted to meet you. My, aren't you bewitching'."

"There really are no limits to your wit, are there?" Arthur muttered sarcastically, but Merlin could see a hint of a smile pricking his lips.

"Or how about 'You must have magic, because you've got me under your spell'."

Arthur grimaced.

"I'm not a sorcerer, but I can still make your clothes disappear."

"Shut up, Merlin." Arthur said giggling, shoving him with his elbow. "You are such a clot."

"Or use something a little more fitting for your situation. How about 'you saved me from a giant werewolf, but who's going to save you from my giant…"

"Oh my god, you don't think it's Gwaine do you?"

"What?" For a second, Merlin was taken completely off-guard.

"At one point I saw Gwaine peer in through the glass and then disappear. You don't think he's Emrys, do you?"

Despite everything, Merlin cracked a smile. "You know, that could actually work out really well. Provided of course, you enjoy spending your evenings discussing the intricacies of zombie movies."

Arthur made a face. "I supposed I could live with that. But I don't think I could deal with him eating all the food off my plate when I wasn't looking."

Merlin shrugged. "He's funny, he's attractive, he's good at football… you could do much worse."

"The other day he dropped a bag of M&M's onto the floor and ate all of them, including the ones that had been stepped on."

"So he doesn't understand the five second rule…"

"Merlin."

Merlin snickered. "Who do you want it to be, then?"

Arthur faltered, and for one breathless second, Merlin almost believed that the wistful longing in Arthur's eyes was directed at him. "I don't know," Arthur said, shrugging, "I just don't think Gwaine is the one for me."

"I think you two would be adorable together."

Arthur shook his head, chuckling. "According to you I'd be adorable with anyone I date."

"Except Mordred," Merlin blurted out without thinking.

Arthur looked up at him, an amused smile on his face. "And why wouldn't I look cute with Mordred?"

Merlin shrugged vaguely, "I think Gwaine likes him," he lied, "so it would be rude of me to say the two of you would make a good couple."

"Not that I'd want to date him anyway," Arthur said indifferently, "he reminds me of my ten year old cousin."

Merlin eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to say something when he heard a groan. The two of them spun around just in time to see Percival sit up in his bed, his brow furrowed as he squinted in the sunlight that was filtering into the room.

"Hey you guys," Percival said, spotting them, a wide smile spreading across his face. "What did I miss?"

Two chapters to go!