AN: Here is a little something to hold you over until season 3!

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin in any way, shape, or form! I do own Elizabeth Malinor and any other characters I make up!

Enjoy!

It had been a good few weeks since Merlin had freed Kilgharrah, and the Great Dragon himself had wrecked havoc on Camelot. It had also been a few weeks since Merlin had found his father, lost his father, discovered he was a Dragonlord, and stopped Kilgharrah himself.

However, it had also been a few weeks since Elizabeth and Morgana disappeared in Morgause's clutches.

The entire castle had been on edged. Every waking second Uther spent (and he barely slept) was spent creating search parties and fretting over the fact that Camelot's daughters were missing.

But out of everyone that was worried about the two of them, Merlin was worried the most, especially for Elizabeth. He had poisoned the girl, for goodness sake. He knew that Elizabeth didn't become the vessel on purpose, but he still felt horrible over the fact that he had done it. He didn't want to do it, absolutely not at all. His hand was forced, and he just had to hope and pray that when they found Elizabeth-and they would find her, Merlin would be sure of that-she'd understand that. She would have to.

Merlin was walking in the hallways of the castle, bringing Arthur his dinner, when he heard footsteps behind him. He stopped and turned around, looking around at what-or who, really-could have made that noise. He just shrugged it off, before starting to walk again. Then, the footsteps started once again. He turned around, faster this time, and was able to catch a glimpse of a body. Once again, he shrugged it off and went to Arthur's chambers, giving him his dinner. Arthur had ordered him to get him some more bread, so Merlin left the room and began walking back towards the kitchens. As he did, he heard the footsteps again, but this time, he was much faster, and was able to clearly see a body, the glimpse of a...dress? He thought oddly as he ran after it, determined to find out who was following him.

Merlin looked around when he got to the corner, but couldn't see any signs of anyone being there. He looked around once more, before being forced to leave it alone and get Arthur his bread before he threw a shoe at his head.

Merlin had been doing errands for Gaius the next day when he heard the same footsteps, but this time, he didn't waste any time at all; he just ran right after whoever was following him.

He had finally reached the person-who was definitely a girl, he could tell by the dress and long hair-and grabbed her by the arm before she could run away. "Oh no, you don't!"

Imagine the intense surprise on Merlin's face when the girl who turned around turned out to be Elizabeth.

"Lizzie," He breathed, not believing his eyes.

"Hello, Merlin," She chirped.

"What-what..." He trailed off, not knowing where to start. Just as Merlin stood there, there were countless Knights who were scouring all of the Five Kingdoms for her, and here she was, her arm in Merlin's hand. What was going on? "Where's Morgana? How did you escape from Morgause?"

Elizabeth shrugged at the first question. "Don't know where Morgana is. The second question is easier, though. I didn't escape Morgause."

"What do you mean?" Merlin asked, scrunching up his eyebrows, much like Elizabeth did. He just shook his head. "You know what? It doesn't matter. Let's just tell everyone that you're back!" Merlin said happily as he began to drag her off.

Elizabeth dug her heels into the ground. "Oh, slow your roll, there tiger," Elizabeth protested. "You don't want to tell people that I'm here."

"Why not?" Merlin asked. "Uther can call off his men, Arthur can return, we'll have a feast to celebrate your return ready by the evening!"

Elizabeth clicked her tongue. "I still don't think that it's a good idea."

"Why?" Merlin repeated.

He got his answer when he heard some Knights walk down the hall, Sir Leon leading their way. Elizabeth turned to where Sir Leon was and began jumping up and down. "Hey, Sir Leon! Look, it's me! It's Elizabeth! I'm here!"

No matter how much noise she made, Sir Leon paid no attention to her. Oh, he gave Merlin a polite nod when he passed by them, but that was it. He didn't scream in surprise when he saw Elizabeth-he didn't even acknowledge her.

Merlin looked over at Elizabeth, confusion building up inside of him. "What's going on?"

"What's going on is, I'm not Elizabeth," She answered, then she tilted her head to the side. "Well, technically I am, but technically I'm not. I'm just her memory, a memory that only you can see."

"Why can only I see you?" Merlin questioned.

"Because I'm inside your head, Merlin," She answered.

Merlin furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

Elizabeth shrugged again and started walking away. Merlin, however, wasn't about to let her leave so easily. He followed her, and grabbed her arm again. "What do you mean?" He repeated.

"Why do you think you're the only person that can see me?" Not the Real Lizzie asked. "I'm in your head, I'm a part of your imagination."

"Well, then, begone," Merlin said, waving her away.

Elizabeth chuckled. "Oh, it's not going to be that easy, Merlin. I'm here because of how you feel."

"How do I feel?" Merlin asked.

Lizzie poked him in the chest. "That's for you to figure out," She said, and with that, she was gone.

"Wait! Come back!" Merlin said, but just received some weird stares from other servants at him yelling at thin air.

Evidently, Elizabeth did come back.

When Merlin was scrubbing Arthur's shoes, she came right over, and plopped herself down right next to him. "Where's Arthur?" She asked.

"With his father, planning another way to try and find you," He said as he tried not to look at a figment of his imagination.

"Well, you know, Arthur wouldn't have to be looking for me if you didn't poison me," Elizabeth said as she innocently twirled her hair.

Merlin's hand froze, and he tightened his grip on the brush. "Don't remind me about that." How could he forget?

"Remind you of what?" She asked innocently. "Of the fact that you tried to kill me?"

"I didn't try to kill you," Merlin protested.

"Oh, so you just put poison into the waters of the person that you love's drink?" Elizabeth asked.

Merlin felt like the wind had been knocked out of him at Elizabeth's comment. He looked over at her, and looked her up and down. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Elizabeth laughed. "Of course you do. Why else am I here?"

"I don't know!" Merlin said. "You won't tell me!"

"You want to know why I'm here?" Elizabeth asked as she stood up. "Fine, I'll tell you, even though it's so obvious. I'm here because you're in love with me, and you feel so guilty and heartbroken over the fact that you tried to poison me and that in order to let me live, you had sent me off with Morgause so I might as well be dead that you're starting to see me. Also, you miss me a lot."

Merlin had no idea what to say. Sure, he cared about Elizabeth with all of his heart and he'd do anything to protect her, but did he love her? Like, love love?

Elizabeth snorted, having access to his mind. "Yes, you're in love love with me."

Merlin dropped everything that was in his hands as it fully hit him. "But...but how could I be in love with you?"

"I don't know," Elizabeth said, breathing air out of her lips. She lifted a shoulder. "I'm hot, there's one."

Merlin furrowed his eyebrows. "On the contrary, I think your skin is rather cool."

"Oh, forget it," Imagination Elizabeth said with an annoyed wave, and Merlin couldn't help the smile that grew on his face over the fact that his imagination Liz acted exactly like the real Liz.

"Uh, I'm nice," She started. "I know about your magic and I haven't breathed a word about it to anyone. I care about people, I'm funny."

"You're beautiful," Merlin let slip before he could really stop himself.

Elizabeth let out a sound of triumph as she pointed at Merlin. "Ha! So you do like me?"

"Of course I do," Merlin said quickly. Of course he liked Lizzie! He liked-no, he loved her smile, her laugh, her eyes, the way her eyebrows would scrunch up when she was confused...

"Oh my God," He breathed, realizing that Imagination Elizabeth was right. He...he loved Elizabeth. "So, you're saying that the reason you're here is because I'm in love with you?"

Elizabeth nodded. "Yup. And you feel so bad that you basically killed me that you can't stop thinking about me, so that resulted in this," Elizabeth gestured down at herself.

"Okay," Merlin said as he stood up. "So how do I get rid of you now? I really don't need you as a constant reminder of what I've done."

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere," Elizabeth said cheerfully. "I'm staying here until you and Arthur can find me."

"But...but who knows how long that could take!" Merlin protested. "I'd really rather not look at the face of the woman that I love everyday, knowing you're not really her."

Elizabeth strolled up to Merlin, and patted his cheeks. "That's not my fault. You couldn't get rid of me even if you tried."

"Why not?" Merlin asked, bringing her hands away from his face.

"Because deep, deep, deep, down inside of your mind," Elizabeth said, poking Merlin in the head. "You still hate yourself and feel guilty over what happened to me. So, you won't let that part go away until you find me safe and sound."

"Oh, no!" Merlin moaned as he crashed back to the ground. "Who knows how long that's going to take! I can't very well be seen talking to the air for long periods of time!"

"Yeah, that is a bit weird," Elizabeth agreed as she sat down next to him. "Don't worry, this'll be fun!"

"Fun?" Merlin asked in disbelief. "Fun for who?"

"Merlin!" Arthur bellowed as he walked into his chambers. "There you are!" Arthur looked around the room, sure he had heard Merlin speaking to someone before he walked in. "Who were you just talking to?"

"No one!" Merlin said quickly. "No one, I was just polishing your boots."

Arthur still wasn't convinced (though he always thought that Merlin was crazy), but shrugged it off in lieu of the new events. "Well, get my things prepared. We're going on another search party."

Merlin nodded. "Yes, sire."

"And don't talk to yourself around the other Knights," Arthur said to him. "It embarrasses me." And with that, the prince left the room.

Elizabeth burst into laughter. "Oh, this really is going to be fun!"

TBC...

Okay, I so wanted something longer, but I simply do not have the time if you want season 3 soon!

So, tune in to the first episode of season 3 next chapter! It's most likely going to be one huge chapter as the episode is a two parter.

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