Grayember13: Thanks, I'm glad you like it!
Sakhr al-Jinni: Haha! Perhaps, it is getting a bit racy. I hope it's not too much.
IcarusLSU: Thank you! Maybe I should write another fic entirely about Morgana's mishaps with domestic items.
Dragifever: Thank you! We'll find out about Mordred's dad soon.
Renaissancebooklover108: I'm really looking forward to writing the trip to Thorpe Park, too!
ScarletBanner: Alvarr is mentioned quite a bit in this chapter, but I hope you still get the same sense that we've moved away from it all. I'll try not to break you're heart with merlin and Mordred, but only time will tell :) I'm glad you like New/Old Morgana, too!
Gespav: Thank you! I hope it gets better from here! Hopefully the quality in my writing (if there is any) won't take a dip.
"I'm really going to miss you," Morgana says sadly, winding her arms around Hunith and not wanting to let go. Although she had only been staying with them a week, Hunith was already a massive part of her life and it was scary to think about what might have happened if she hadn't been there.
The three of them; Morgana, Merlin and Hunith are stood outside the front of the house, with Merlin helping the taxi-driver load the suitcases into the boot.
Their last day together had been spent feeding the ducks at the park, which was a personal request from Hunith. Merlin wasn't very happy about this because the whole time they were there, Hunith had told embarrassing stories about Merlin when he was younger. Morgana said that the one where Merlin fell into a river and was completely black with mud for a day was her favourite because it sounded like something she would do, but she hadn't and he had and that was all the more hilarious for some reason. She said that Hunith should start writing books about Merlin's clumsiness and get them published and made into a TV show and "he'd be the male version of Miranda Hart!"
They had also played another round of charades, Morgana and Hunith's request, because they teamed up together when it was Merlin's go and looked at the things on his card when he left the room.
He had cooked his own 'special recipe' spaghetti bolognese for dinner, something he was very proud of, while Morgana had quietly slagged it off, saying it tasted no different from any other spaghetti she'd eaten. Merlin had then muttered under his breath about watching her try and cook a half decent meal without killing anyone and Morgana had immediately silenced herself, continuing to eat.
"I'm going to miss you, too," Hunith pulls away from the embrace and sees Morgana's tear-filled eyes. "Oh, don't cry, silly! You'll set me off!"
Merlin chuckles as Morgana sniffs hard and puts on a smile. He sets the last case into the boot and comes up behind Morgana and Hunith.
"Group hug?" He offers and Morgana and Hunith swamp him, nearly suffocating him in the process. After holding his breath for as long as he possibly could, Merlin peels himself away from them and gasps for air. "We'll see you again soon," he says, still breathless from the hug.
"Yes, and we can keep in touch on that Skype thing," Hunith promises, blinking back tears just like Morgana.
"Definitely. Now, go – before we all start crying! And you don't want to miss your flight," Merlin reminds her and Hunith nods.
"Don't start crying, don't miss flight. Got it. Oh, and Merlin,"she gestures for him to come forwards and hugs him tightly before whispering to him. "Make sure she keeps eating."
Merlin pulls back and frowns at her words, but smiles and nods so that Morgana wouldn't ask questions. "See you again soon."
"Yes, bye, son. Bye, Morgana!" Hunith says, trying to be cheerful. Then she slips into the back of the taxi and waves to them out of the window as the vehicle drives away.
After Hunith is out of sight, Merlin takes Morgana's hand and leads them both back indoors and straight upstairs. The sun has set early and there are no lights on inside, so they walk around in the dark. Morgana pulls on his hand when they reach the landing, bringing them to a halt.
"What is it? Are you afraid of the dark?" Merlin asks teasingly and Morgana scowls at him.
"No, you moron. Where are we going?"
Merlin sends her a reassuring smile that is hidden by shadows. "To bed," he says simply and pulls them into their room. "I thought we could do with an early night."
Morgana pauses and cocks her head to the side, taking a different understanding to the words. "Merlin..." he stops undressing for a moment to listen to her. "You know we're not allowed to do this yet?"
Merlin looks at her in complete confusion before stripping down to a pair of thin sleeping trousers and nothing else. "Not allowed to do what?"
"Um, have sex?" Morgana puts it bluntly. "We still have about a month to go."
"When did I say about – oh, right, sorry. I didn't mean it like that," Merlin grins sheepishly at her and scratches the back of his head. "You don't have to come to bed if you don't want. I just thought it might be a good idea."
"It is a good idea. I'm knackered, so it's probably the best thing for me," Morgana admits with a tired laugh and then slips under the covers, still dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. "And I've got Morgause tomorrow afternoon so I have to be at my best."
Merlin copies her, joining her under the duvet. "How come?"
"She said she wants to go through what I'm going to say at Court," Morgana sighs. It wasn't something she particularly wanted to do.
"What are you going to say?"
"The truth," Morgana says slowly and the conversation dies out. Merlin clears his throat and tries to resurrect it.
"What's Morgause like? You haven't really mentioned her much."
"I don't know that much about her," Morgana says tiredly, not wanting to talk about this right now.
"Well, what does she look like? Surely that's an easier question."
"A bit like me, but blonde." This wasn't really true, but Morgana didn't want to go into detailed descriptions. "Maybe taller, I'm not sure."
Merlin nods. "Is she older or younger than you?"
"Older. She has a son called Mordred and he's six. I think she might be about thirty, but I can't exactly ask," Morgana snaps with an irritation in her voice that surprised her.
Merlin frowns and starts rubbing circles into her lower back with the palm of his hand, trying to coax this new anger out of her. "What's wrong?"
"A lot, lately. I still can't get my head around it all. About Alvarr and the miscarriage and everything else. These past few months have been difficult and it's really worn me out, physically and mentally."
"I know but try not to think about that now when you're supposed to be going to sleep. Think about nice things instead. That's what everything's about now. Taking all of the negative things away and replacing them with a good thing," Merlin says in a quiet tone, starting to feel drowsy himself.
"Like what?"
"Us," Merlin says, mid-yawn. "Imagine we're on holiday, somewhere nice and hot like Spain or Turkey or wherever. And you're walking along a beach barefoot, and the sand is really warm on your feet. It's almost night, but the sun hasn't quite gone down yet, so there's still a few rays of sunshine."
"Are you on the walk, too?" Morgana asks in a murmur.
"Yes, I'm there. And you can feel the sun warming up your skin, your back and your fingertips. You look out to sea and tell me that we should go snorkelling tomorrow, to sea the fish and the coral, maybe even a turtle. I agree and decide that we should probably go back to the hotel now, before it gets too dark. So, we finish our walk on the beach and head back, ready for a day in the sea tomorrow," he brings the short story to an end, nearly asleep. "Night, then," Merlin whispers finally, but there is no reply.
xxx
"Now, one of the first things we need to do is make something a bit like a diary, where we write down what happened in chronological order. We can try and include times as well," Morgause says without much hesitation. Based on the fact that she worked for the police, she was used to this kind of situation, however Morgana was not and was finding the process of going through what happened over and over again a very lengthy, boring one.
What she really wanted was to spend some time with Mordred, but he upstairs doing homework. She and Morgause had gone up to the school to take him home about 20 minutes ago while they were half-way through talking about the order of events. Now they were back home and trying to pick up where they left off, but it wasn't proving to be an easy task and Morgana got the feeling that Morgause was pissed off about this.
"Right, cool," Morgana tries to sound interested for Morgause's sake, but finds her attention wandering to Hunith and what she might be doing right now.
"We could also do one and you can write down all the days he abused you, maybe try and include some photos of marks or bruises if you have any?" Morgause continues, oblivious to Morgana's lack of engagement.
"Yep, that sounds good," Morgana says automatically. Hunith would probably be back in her house by now, she should probably call her on Skype tonight and tell her about Merlin getting that job in the factory.
"You have photos? Are they backed up on a computer or something?"
"Photos of what?" Morgana looks across the dining table at Morgause who was looking even more irritated now. "Sorry, I was... thinking." Technically it wasn't a lie.
"Photos of any bruises he's given you, evidence of the abuse," Morgause clarifies and Morgana shakes her head.
"I never thought to do that. I didn't think it was worth it because they weren't horrific injuries."
"What's the worst thing he's ever done to you?"
"One time he threw a plate at me once, but he was drunk and I'd burnt the food, so-"
"So that gives him the right to throw a plate at you?" Morgause cuts in, sounding distressed. "Anyway, did the plate hit you?"
"It hit the wall behind and smashed into loads of pieces. Some of them bounced off and pierced my skin, but none of the cuts were very deep, although they bled quite a lot. They were mostly over my shoulders and arms."
Morgause puts down her pen and looks like she wants to cry. "I just can't believe that I was right next door to you when all this was happening and I didn't know. God, it makes me feel so stupid."
"It's not your fault," Morgana says quickly, surprised at Morgause. A few days ago Morgause had shouted at her, not it seemed as though they were about to hug. Maybe she was like that with everyone.
"I've finished my homework, now can I show Morgana my book of good ideas?" Mordred skips into the kitchen with a drawing pad tucked under his arm. "I've got it here."
"Mordred, we're kind of busy at the moment. Maybe another time," Morgause says wearily.
"But I wanted-"
"Please, Mordred. Not now," Morgause warns him and he nods before taking a seat next to Morgana at the table, opening up the drawing pad to a clean page and taking a packet of crayons out of his trouser pocket. He starts drawing the outline of something, sticking his tongue out slightly in concentration.
"Do cats have ears?" He asks Morgana, putting down his pencil for a second.
"Yes, pointy ones."
"Just two, right?"
"Just two." Morgana watches as he draws two large triangles on top of a circle.
"I saw a cat with three ears yesterday. I was going to stroke it, but it tried to bite me. It went 'meeeaaaooaaww' at me, so I ran away," Mordred says matter-of-factly.
"Really? What did it look like?"
"It had three ears."
Morgana laughs at his reply. "I know that, but what colour was it? Black, grey, green?"
"You can't get green cats!" Mordred says incredulously. "It was white, but it looked a bit dirty. And it was fat. I think it was lost."
Aithusa , Morgana thinks immediately. "Where was it?"
"In a hedge at school. No-one else saw it. I think it was trying to hide."
"I'll keep an eye out for it," Morgana assures him and he goes back to the drawing.
"Mordred, do you have to do that here?" Morgause asks in annoyance. They couldn't talk if he was in earshot. "Morgana and I have to talk about something important."
"I'm just drawing," he says calmly, not looking up.
"Yes, but we need to talk about things. Grown-up things."
"You're talking about someone hurting Morgana, aren't you?" Mordred asks casually.
Morgause sighs and buries her face in her hands. "You were listening on the stairs again, weren't you?"
"Sorry, Mummy," Mordred says, not looking very apologetic at all. He turns to Morgana. "I'm going to colour the cat in green, because then it will be the first ever green cat ever in the world ever!"
"That's really good, Mordred, but could you please finish it somewhere else?" Morgause begs him and nods with a sad expression.
"Fine," he slides off of his chair and drags his drawing pad off the table, disappearing into the living room.
Morgana watches him go, feeling guilty, like she was at fault for the argument. "I should probably go now anyway. Thanks for all your help; we've gotten loads done today and I wouldn't have been able to do it without you. Thanks for giving up your spare time, I really appreciate it." She stands up and so does Morgause, who moves around the table in a swift movement to hug her.
"You'll have to come round another time, do we can do some more."
"Yeah, okay," Morgana pulls back awkwardly from the unexpected embrace. She follows Morgause out to the door, stopping by Mordred on the way, who was sat on the sofa, engrossed in his drawing. "Bye, Mordred," she waves to him and he jumps up and runs to hug her, only able to reach up to her thighs.
"Bye, Morgana."
"You can show me your book of good ideas next time, okay?"
"Yes, and I'll finish the drawing of the green cat !" He promises. "And don't forget to ask Merlin if he's a wizard! And see if you can find the evil cat!"
"Come on, Mordred. Leave the poor woman alone," Morgause says with a forced laugh.
Mordred untangles himself from her legs and glances up at her once last time. "Don't let the bad people hurt you again, Morgana."
The words make her throat tighten and tears gather in her eyes. "I won't, Mordred. Don't worry."
Woo, 29 chapters down! I really liked writing this one because I got to write two of my favourite characters in this fic which are Hunith and Mordred. Hopefully you enjoyed it, too :)
Thank you for reading and please review to tell me your thoughts!
Next chapter: I don't know yet.
