A/N: Someone brought to my attention that I misused a unit of measurement on chapter 9 - I'm so sorry to anyone that was bothered by that! I will be more careful with that in the future. Thanks for letting me know!

Arthur sighed, fiddling with a small trinket he'd once gotten from Merlin a few years back.

"Here," Merlin said, handing Arthur a tiny wooden figurine of a knight riding a horse, sword lifted into the air. It was Arthur's birthday, and Merlin had woken him up a bit late because of it and gave him a particularly extravagant breakfast of Arthur's favorite foods. "I'm sorry it's not more," He said a bit quietly.

Arthur smiled. "No, Merlin. It's perfect, I love it. Here, it'll be right on my desk in the mornings. I'll even take it with me on hunts." He set it down happily on his desk and saw out of the corner of his eye Merlin's smile grow wider in pride. "Did you make it?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah, I did. I'm so glad you like it," He added, beaming. Arthur gave Merlin a smile of pride. He knew Merlin could be artistic, but he was proud that Merlin finally branched out to showing other people his designs. He'd never gotten a proper look at any, just glimpses of paintings through a crack in Merlin's door when he visited Gaius, which was infrequent enough thanks to his reluctance to accept help.

He placed it into his pocket, approaching Gwaine. He sucked in a breath as he reluctantly continued walking, tempted to turn back to spare himself the harshness of Gwaine's words. He knew he had to do this, though.

Thankfully Gwaine was alone, reading something from a little notebook, so he cleared his throat loudly once he reached Gwaine, who was standing with his back to Arthur and hadn't noticed his arrival.

"I want to lift the ban on magic."

Gwaine's head lifted a bit, and without turning around, he replied, "Do you?"

Arthur didn't know exactly what reaction he'd been expecting, but he couldn't help but think that wasn't it. "Yeah, I do."

He braced himself for another rant that would result in something Arthur had overlooked being brought painfully to light, but Gwaine just turned around, patted Arthur on the shoulder, and said, "Well, you best be off and do it then."

Gwaine started to walk away, and Arthur frowned, turning around to face Gwaine who was still walking away. "What the hell? I thought that's what you wanted."

Gwaine stopped, still not turning to look at Arthur, and said simply, "Yeah, I do, and so does someone else."

He resumed walking away, leaving Arthur irritated that he'd once again failed to maintain the high ground next to Gwaine. Obviously he should've told Merlin first, but he couldn't ignore the burning feeling in his chest telling him he needed to prove Gwaine wrong. He was strong enough to change the rules about magic. He was - he had to be, and he needed Gwaine to know that. He knew Gwaine was right, though, so went off searching for Merlin.

It'd been a few days since Merlin had completed the third potion for Gaius and proved he was able to cure the most basic of ailments. He'd then gone with Gaius to help those who called for a physician, where during such calls Gaius would stand back in case Merlin proved unable to assist or attempted to do so incorrectly so that he could take over in those cases, but the day proved uneventful and Merlin knew exactly how to take care of each patient's ailments. Gaius was thankful, as he felt using his magic to strengthen potions today would only quicken the fate he knew was coming.

He went to bed that night feeling worse than the night before, breathing labored and having to keep a towel next to his own bedside to wipe his forehead clean of sweat. He didn't bother Merlin with knowing that he was ailing - it would only make the boy sad for longer. As long as he could postpone Merlin's grief, he would, no matter his own discomfort - he had grown to care far too much for Merlin to allow him undue sadness. Merlin was like a son to him, the son he never had.

The next morning Gaius awoke earlier than usual. Being a physician he treated chronically ill patients frequently, so the burden of knowledge about death weighed heavily on him. He felt healthy today, as if he hadn't been sick at all. As much as he wished it were, he knew that it was not the product of his resting.

"He had one last good day," Mrs. Rodenbhurg said through tears. "I-I thought he had recovered.."

He pushed the memory of his numerous patients recalling their spouse's last day, and greeted Merlin, who groggily stumbled out of his room.

"Ah, good morning Merlin! I've made your favorite!"

Merlin smiled despite his tiredness and sat down at the table where his bowl sat of rice with milk, cinnamon and sugar. It was something Hunith used to make that Gaius got into the habit of making on days he could get the necessary ingredients for Merlin. He took in Merlin's face, his kind eyes, and turned around for a moment so Merlin wouldn't see the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes.

Gaius was not afraid of death; one of numerous benefits of being the court physician. Despite his knowledge on the subject being painfully abundant, he knew that death seemed far more often a blessing than a curse. He couldn't help but think of all the things he would miss - Merlin's next birthday, his smile. He would miss Merlin. He would miss his son, not by blood but in spirit.

He blinked a few times to clear his eyes of the tears that blurred his vision and sat down across from Merlin to enjoy breakfast, to enjoy this breakfast, which he felt certain might be his last.

"Ah, Merlin, I was wondering if you'd like to spend the day here with me. Just this once, I don't mean to bother you but I could use the help with some potions."

Merlin sighed. "I'd much rather do that, honestly. Arthur has me preparing him for some hunt today I have to go with him on, I really do wish I could stay. Maybe tomorrow?"

Gaius smiled sadly. "Maybe tomorrow."

As Merlin finished his breakfast, he got up and headed for Arthur's chambers.

"Goodbye, Merlin."

Merlin looked at Gaius with a bit of an expression of confusion since Gaius didn't usually go out of his way to say goodbye. He shrugged it off, as Gaius occasionally seemed oddly sentimental. "Bye Gaius, see you later!"

Merlin left, not staying long enough to notice that Gaius didn't say it back.