A/N: Thank you GuestM, emrysmorgan, Buckhunter, PadrePedro, Guest, pallysAramisRios, and SnidgetHex for reviewing! Final chapter!

Chapter 11

Lancelot woke to stillness and an odd mixture of floaty heaviness in his body. It felt…real. Solid. As awareness gradually morphed into something tangible, he opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. He was lying on a soft bed, in his room in Camelot.

Lancelot sat up quickly, only to abort the attempt halfway when the movement tugged painfully at his abdomen. Falling back onto his elbows, he brushed his hand over a bulge of bandages beneath the white shirt he was wearing.

"Hey," a surprised voice said, and Lancelot looked over as Percival got up from the table where he'd been eating and hurried over to the bed. "You're awake. How do you feel?"

Lancelot gazed up at him, still utterly perplexed. "Alive."

Percival's mouth quirked with a grin. "Yeah, Merlin used his magic to heal your wound. Well, the worst of it anyway. Apparently for an all-powerful warlock, he's rubbish at healing spells. But we got you back to Camelot and Gaius patched up the rest of it. You've been asleep for three days."

Lancelot's jaw went slack at that last bit. "What?" He pressed a hand to his wounded stomach again, wincing at the pain. He didn't understand what had happened. He'd completed his task. He'd known giving the spark to Merlin would remove his enhanced strength and near invulnerability; he should have died.

He snapped his head up. "Has anything else happened?" Maybe there were yet more seals to break open and threaten the world…

Percival shook his head. "No, and Merlin's pretty confident the whole end of days thing is over. At least, that's what the dragon told him."

Lancelot's head was reeling. "Where is Merlin? Is he all right? Did Arthur…?"

"He's fine," Percival assured him. "He's with Arthur in the council chambers right now. They've been having a lot of discussions about repealing the ban on magic."

Lancelot threw the covers back and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"Whoa, where are you going?"

"I want to see them." Lancelot got to his feet. His stomach muscles twinged at the movement, but they could bear it.

"I could just let them know you're awake," Percival countered. "They'll drop everything and come here."

Lancelot shook his head. He couldn't explain his urgency, his need to see for himself that everything was all right.

Percival finally huffed and went to grab a pair of boots for him, and Lancelot consented to letting his friend put them on for him. Then they headed down to the council chambers together. Lancelot looked out every window they passed, trying to extend his senses as far as he could in case there was a disturbance somewhere out there. But he didn't detect anything, and he couldn't tell if that was because all was quiet or because he'd lost that ability along with the spark.

They entered the council chambers, and Arthur and Merlin looked up from the table they were bent over. Merlin's face broke into a beaming smile and he hurried forward to envelope Lancelot in a hug. Lancelot winced as he inadvertently bumped his wound.

Merlin pulled back with an apologetic grimace. "Sorry."

Lancelot waved off the apology. "I'm all right."

Arthur came over and embraced him as well, albeit more gently. "It's good to see you up and about," he said with a genuine smile. "We were all worried, even though Merlin assured us you were fine. I have half a mind to reprimand one of my best knights for lazing about for three days, but you did deserve it."

"I think your body just needed to adjust to being mortal again," Merlin piped in.

Lancelot slowly shook his head, still not sure what to make of everything. "I don't understand. That- that wasn't the plan."

"How do you know?" Merlin countered. "It wasn't like that ancient order gave you the details of your mission, now did they?"

Lancelot's brow furrowed. No, they hadn't, but… "What about the Seals of Fate?"

"Kilgharrah said that with Morgana's defeat, the last bit of the Darkness's influence in the world was destroyed and the balance restored. Everything's back to normal, no more disasters. Even the elementals went back to sleep."

Lancelot hardly knew what to say. He'd been so focused on this end goal for so long that now that they had reached it, he didn't know what to do with himself. He hadn't given any thought to the after, only what needed to be done.

He looked between Merlin and Arthur. "And…you two are alright?"

Arthur nodded. "I remembered the words of a trusted friend. But if either of you keep any monumental secrets from me again, you're spending a week in the dungeons."

Merlin rolled his eyes.

Arthur shot him a stern glower. "We'd better get back to work. But if you're up for it tonight, Lancelot, we'll have a feast to celebrate."

Lancelot just nodded.

"You'll be needing food and sleep like a regular mortal again now," Merlin said. "Though, I'm very curious if you can still wield the elements. We'll have to try that out soon."

"Can you please wait until I've officially made magic legal," Arthur huffed with a long-suffering glare.

Merlin grinned and flashed Lancelot another smile before heading back to the table and the official documents he and Arthur were apparently going over.

Since Lancelot had nothing to do with that, he turned to go back to his room, Percival accompanying him. Much to his consternation, that little jaunt had exhausted him, and he was leaning heavily on his friend by the time they returned to his chambers.

"I can't believe it's over," he murmured as Percival helped him back into bed.

"I can't believe Merlin has a pet dragon."

Lancelot blinked at Percival, then let out a laugh. "Don't call Kilgharrah a pet to his face."

Percival grinned back. "You hungry? There's still some food left."

"I suppose I am."

Percival brought over the half-eaten plate he'd been dining from and handed it to Lancelot. He picked at the food tentatively before his hunger awakened with full force, and then he devoured every last bite.

Percival grinned. "I can send for more."

Lancelot shook his head. "Wouldn't want to ruin my appetite for the feast later."

"I should probably help get ready for that. You need anything?"

"No, thank you." Lancelot gave his friend a grateful smile. "I'll see you tonight."

Percival left, and Lancelot lay back against the pillows and closed his eyes to simply rest and be. It was a strange sensation, acclimating to his fully mortal body again. Just when he'd gotten the hang of being partially immortal, he thought ruefully.

A knock sounded at the door at some point, and Lancelot sat upright. "Come in."

The door pushed open and Gwen poked her head in. "I heard you were awake," she said with a warm smile.

He smiled back and got to his feet, feeling steadier again.

Gwen entered all the way, a knight's uniform folded in her arms. "I thought you might like something to wear for the feast tonight, and your other clothes are, um, still covered in blood. And besides, what with you being back to your old self, I thought you might prefer this instead."

Lancelot reached out to reverently touch the red cloak with its gold Pendragon crest. When Merlin had offered him the uniform, he knew he'd had to refuse, had to remember who he was, how he was changed for a purpose. But now…

He swallowed hard against an upwelling of emotion. "Thank you."

Gwen smiled and leaned in to kiss his cheek, then set the uniform on the table and excused herself.

That night, when Lancelot made his way through the castle toward the great hall, dressed in the garb of knighthood once more, he felt a surreal haze, as though this was all a dream. Then he entered the great hall and the joyous carousing snapped everything back into focus. His arrival didn't even cause a stir as it once had, though someone noticed him and called his name.

Elyan came over and threw his arms around Lancelot, followed by Leon and Gwaine. Lancelot barely noticed the twinge in his stomach, he was so elated. They dragged him over to the table to take their seats where he was greeted with more nods and smiles. Food and drink were served with rousing conversation. And for the first time since his return, Lancelot felt like the person he used to be.

Arthur clanged his dinner fork against his goblet. Once the din settled, he picked up the cup and stood. "Today we celebrate for many reasons. Victory against our enemy. And not just those who sought to destroy us from without, but the enemies within—the fear and hatred that have ruled this kingdom for far too long. Magic threatened to plunge us into darkness, but magic saved us as well." He nodded to Lancelot and then to Merlin. "From this day forward, let no magic user live in fear anymore. Let the peace that so many brave men have fought and died for be true peace, which means for all."

He raised his goblet, and Lancelot joined the others in the toast. He noticed a few reluctant faces among the crowd, but change was not wrought overnight. This was the beginning, though, and it was a good one.

Arthur turned to Merlin. "And to Merlin, whom I am promoting to court sorcerer."

Merlin sputtered in response while the knights of the Round Table yelled out hearty cheers.

"Um, not that I don't appreciate the gesture," Merlin said, "but what exactly is a court sorcerer supposed to do?"

Arthur shrugged and then grinned fiendishly. "Party tricks?"

Merlin rolled his eyes at his king, but flashed Lancelot a subtle grin.

Arthur retook his seat and sighed. "Breaking in a new servant is going to be difficult," he lamented. "Although, since you've apparently been protecting Camelot with your magic this entire time, you obviously have time to do both."

Merlin gawped at him. "You're such a prat."

"Just because you're a sorcerer doesn't mean you get to speak to me like that."

"I'm a warlock. Prat."

Lancelot couldn't stop smiling. He'd done it. Camelot was safe, Merlin was safe and no longer had to hide who he was, and he could now have everything Lancelot wanted for him. He'd succeeded in his mission.

The feast was tiring and Lancelot felt as though he could sleep for another three days as he trudged back to his room. Getting out of his knight's uniform was also a chore, and he only had one arm out of his chainmail when someone knocked on his door.

"Come in," he reluctantly replied.

Merlin pushed the door open and slipped inside. An amused smile quirked his lips. "Need help?"

Lancelot sighed. "Yes."

Merlin closed the door and came over to help, lifting the chainmail up over Lancelot's head. Lancelot hissed as his stomach muscles pulled.

"You okay?" Merlin asked worriedly.

He nodded. "It's just going to take some getting used to."

"I'm sure. Here, sit. I want to check your wound."

Lancelot acquiesced, taking a seat and leaning back as Merlin pulled up his tunic and carefully unbound the bandage.

"It's healing nicely, albeit slower than you're used to." Merlin pursed his mouth. "If I could figure out how to give you the spark back…"

"No," Lancelot interrupted. "It wasn't mine to keep."

"Alright. The truth is I don't even know what happened to it. I can't feel that extra power like I did on the battlefield."

"That's because it was only meant to help light the way for you to fully come into your own. As I told you, you are magic, Merlin. The spark just…illuminated the darkness."

Merlin canted a wry look at him. "You spent way too long with those monks."

Lancelot's mouth quirked. "I never expected to be given a second chance at life," he said softly. "Thank you for that."

"You saved my life plenty of times. It was long overdue for me to return the favor." Merlin picked up the bandage and rewrapped Lancelot's torso. "Have you," he added tentatively, "tried to use any magic?"

"No. And I suppose I'm a little nervous to," Lancelot admitted. "I only ever wielded it for my mission. Now that that's over and I'm mortal again…I'm not sure how I'll feel if it's gone too."

"Why don't you try?" Merlin prompted.

Lancelot supposed there was no reason to put it off. He turned toward the candle sitting on the table and stretched out his hand, crooking his fingers as he sought to draw forth the flame. There was a brief moment where nothing happened, then the flame curled out toward him. Lancelot exhaled heavily and twirled it into a spiral.

Merlin whispered some words, adding his own ribbon of fire to intertwine with Lancelot's. He grinned. "To the dawn of a new age."