"The Final Test" (Rose)

I excuse myself from the room momentarily, pausing outside the door in the hallway for a breath. Still clutching the silver pitcher of wine in my hands, it's suddenly ice cold to the touch. Or is it me? I wouldn't be surprised if all the blood has drained from me completely.

"Rose!" Arthur's voice booms into the hallway, sounding mighty proud of himself. "What're you doing out here?" While I attempt to make my pitcher discreet, he continues. "Did you miss my present to Morgana?"

"Of course not, your Majesty," I try not to swallow so obviously hard. "It's a beautiful dagger, Arthur. You have magnificent taste." I wonder if my face is as gaunt and green as I feel.

"Thank you," his semi-goofy grin seems to widen and pride seems slightly more puffed. "I do have to give some credit to Merlin for his honest critique of the original dagger. It was certainly practical but not very pretty. And, speaking of pretty, you look absolutely lovely tonight."

I am still processing the remark he made about Merlin when he compliments me. "O-oh," I clam up. "Thank you, Sire," I give a slight bow.

"Have you had a dance?" he quizzes with an odd look on his face.

"Not yet," I shake my head.

He holds up a finger, sticks his arm into the doorway. "Ah," he seems to grasp something - or someone - and pulls. "Merlin!" The serving boy stumbles into view, having to make very awkward movements to prevent splashing wine all over us. "I am feeling rather benevolent, so I am temporarily," he leans in closer to Merlin, "And I mean temporarily, relieving you of your serving duties."

Merlin blinks in rapid succession, making sense of what just came out of Arthur's mouth. "What shall I do with my newfound spare time?"

Arthur releases his grip on Merlin's shirt, "Dance." He walks over to me, waves down another servant to take our pitchers, and takes my hand to place it in Merlin's. "It is unacceptable that this beautiful woman has not had a dance all evening." It takes everything in me not to say something or fight it for a plethora of reasons. As we touch, Merlin glances at our hands and my face nervously. I smile horridly shyly up at him. I'd love nothing more than to dance with Merlin, but after what we've been through the past few days and tonight, it is about the least ideal circumstance for us to dance together. "Have fun, you two," he shoves us through the door as the music begins to swell and fill the room once more.

"You really don't have to do this," I glance over at Merlin, catching him slightly smiling at our clasped hands. Forcing the confusion away from my brain as his facial expression immediately drops.

"We don't have to if you don't want to," he replies meekly.

"No, no, I do!" I say far too eagerly. I clench my abdominal muscles to steady myself, feeling rather foolish. "But, considering…everything, I want you to know you owe me no obligation."

"I don't feel obligated," he gives my hand a little squeeze, turning me to face him over by the wall on the portion of the room for dancing. "Gaius said we ought not be worried. Maybe this will be the final test."

"Test?" I inquire.

"Perhaps, we can balance out the night. Maybe one thing in the visions came true, but this one doesn't have to," he shrugs.

"But doesn't us dancing together increase the chances of things going wrong?" I contest.

"Perhaps," Merlin tilts his head. "But we could look at it as a chance to talk about what's occurred going unnoticed or as a chance to prove to ourselves that, like Gaius said, not all of the visions are inevitable." A slight desperation flashes behind his eyes. Maybe he's right. He also really seems to want something - anything - to cling to that goes against the visions.

"To show that what happened doesn't have to mean anything," I nod slowly, preparing myself. "Alright."

He shakily takes both of my hands in his, positioning them properly for the vigorous dance picking up. He raises his eyebrows with another shrug and awkward but adorable sideways grin. And we set off, as on edge as two ninnies can be.

Nerves wrack through me as we begin to rhythmically hop to a classic keep up with one another rather well, as it turns out, and Merlin lets out a nervous but relieved laugh as he concludes the same. I follow his lead as he twirls me around, sending my mind and body reeling. I instinctively know how to respond. My feet are light as feathers, adding flare to the dance as we go. I even challenge him a bit to keep up, earning an impressed glance here and there. As time ticks on, it seems that our worries melt away with each movement - shedding like a cocoon, slowly but surely, revealing something brilliant and beautiful within.

Soon we are laughing unabashedly, spinning like there's no tomorrow. My leaping heart crashes to my feet as the song ends. I am grateful there were no interruptions, but I am selfishly sad the dance is over as quickly as it began.

Merlin opens his mouth to speak but Arthur's voice comes through instead. "Here!" he jokingly knocks into Merlin, handing him a goblet. "That wasn't half bad, but the wine will make it better." He extends a second goblet to me, which I gratefully accept. "And for you, madam. You dance most delightfully. You actually made Merlin look nearly good for once."

"Begging your pardon, Sire," I curtsey in thanks for the drink, "But I believe it was Merlin that brought skill to that jig."

"Perhaps I should take that wine back, Rose," he smirks playfully. "It sounds as if you've been drinking already."

I nearly spit the sip of wine in my mouth out with a laugh. Merlin's laugh rings out, the tips of his ears red. Based on his facial expression, I can't discern whether it's from what Arthur said or what I did.

Arthur entertains himself by laughing at his own joke, then bids us farewell. "Enjoy!"

Merlin holds up his goblet. "You did say you would partake when I could."

"Yes," I nearly blush, "But I didn't count on Arthur causing me to choke on it."

"He has his ways of getting the best of all of us,"Merlin comments, putting his drink to his lips. He swallows. "In both good and bad ways."

"One Last Dance" (Merlin)

Thousands of jitters run through me and crash with the overwhelming sense of comfort radiating from Rose. We settle into a conversation as we sip away at our drinks. Warmth and relaxation begins to flow over us. I feel the tips of my ears begin to heat with color as the lightest pink spreads across the apples of Rose's cheeks.

Soon we find ourselves laughing and dancing again. God, if only we could always feel this way. Be together in the face of impending doom and destiny and anything else that comes our way. Before I realize, the music has slowed. Rose's expression slips into shyness as she suddenly looks down, releases her hold on me, and curtseys. She thanks me for the dance and begins to pull away as a look of something like hurt crosses her face.

I catch her hand gently back in mine. "Lady Rose," I bow my head slightly, looking deeply into her eyes, and I swear she is holding back tears. My head swims from her beauty, and my gut lurches with both utter nervousness and a twisted sense of guilt. I mentally shove the guilt aside, convincing myself that it isn't what I said the other night causing her sadness. Maybe those aren't even tears. Maybe I'm drunk.

She seems to have her own inner dialogue going as I pull myself out of mine.

I finally find words to say out loud. "Will you honor me with one last dance?"

As I am about to burst from the tension and silence between us, a soft, "Yes, I'd love to," escapes her perfect mouth. We rejoin, and I inwardly scold myself, reminding myself that I really ought not be noticing things like her perfect mouth, the curve of her waist against my palm, and the surge of electricity that jolts me as our eyes connect.

I may be sweating… Can I blame that on the wine? There are so few moments in my life that feel like this. If I didn't already believe in magic, this right here would change my mind - dancing with the girl of my dreams.

A brief flash of panic seers my chest as I hope I didn't say anything like that out loud.

I didn't. Almost wish I had.

I have, however, been staring. I can't help it. Her eyes are sparkling.

She's smiling, so she doesn't seem to mind my intense gaze. I notice how tense my muscles have been and take a deep breath, joining her with a smile of my own. My tongue feels as if it's in three knots, but I manage to say something stupid like, "This - this is nice."

Her smile takes on a new shape, just a bit more demure, as she replies, "I agree." Then she gives a laugh. Her mind links with mine. 'I would say we should do this more often were it not for the context.'

'Do what? Celebrate the birthdays of our greatest enemies within our own city walls?' I half-smirk, a little lost in my view.

'No,' she visibly shakes her head with a small smile. 'I meant-'

An abrupt, echoing crash resounds in the room, sending us flying apart. Just like the vision. I feel the color drain from my face, down through my body and the tips of my fingers and toes.

I'd been so caught up in the moment, I let my guard down. We look over to see the drunken guest who had crashed into a glass decoration being lifted back to his feet by those around him.

Rose looks as pale as I feel. The circumstance requiring no words between us, I grab her hand, and we set out immediately for home. I'll make up some excuse of my leave and explain myself to Arthur tomorrow. Some things are just too pressing to wait.

As soon as we are in the clear, Rose breaks the silence. "I feel so foolish," she admits. "I almost wish we had just left and missed everything else. But, I suppose, there's no guarantee events would have been different if we had."

I push aside the slight sting of the implication that she would have rather not danced with me. However, given recent events and all things considered, I don't blame her for wanting some peace. "It was my fault," I state. "I encouraged it all."

"Merlin," she stops me at the physician's chamber door, dropping her gaze to her feet. "I enjoyed our time together tonight. Please know that. I only meant that I wish we weren't in this position."

The sting from before is instantly cooled by her words. With a soft smile on my face, I cautiously lift her chin to meet her eyes. "There's no one else I'd rather be here or anywhere else with." I remove my fingers from her skin and turn to press them into the door.

Gaius stands as we enter. "Hello, you two. Nice evening?"

"Well," Rose begins. "Gaius, you're probably going to want to sit down for this."

"What has Merlin done now?" he half-jokingly puts his hands on his hips.

"It's nothing I've done," I cross over to him and begin relaying everything that occurred this night as we take a seat. "Don't you see? It's started. It's coming true."

"You can't be certain about that," he counters immediately.

"We have to stop her," I protest.

"How?" he questions. "Merlin, we don't know when this is going to happen. We don't even know if it will."

"We have to watch her," I retort.

Gaius leans back, eyeing me as if I'd lost a piece of my mind. "Night and day?"

"I was shown these visions for a reason," I reply.

Gaius looks away as he says, "This is madness."

"We're taking turns," I press past his views on the matter. "She cannot be left alone."

With that I rise from my seat and take my turn.