A/N: Here it is! The first part of this story was such a success, I couldn't not make a sequel. If you haven't read it, you definitely should.

A few little boring things: firstly, I am very much aware of how extremely unrealistic these stories are. They're not real, they're not meant to be something that would happen so if you're going to get annoyed by a lot of impossible incidents leading to injury and hospital visits, don't read this and don't read the first one. Secondly, I am not in any way a medical professional and don't know anything about medicine so just kinda go with it. I know it won't be accurate but this isn't a science test, it's entertainment.

This story contains a fair amount of Merlin whump, just like part one did. There's whump and fluff and cuteness and all sorts of general, stereotypical Merthurness and it's also quite long. I'm currently writing chapter 31 and it's not finished yet.

Finally- if you don't like this for whatever reason, you don't have to be rude about it, just don't read it. Of course I'll take criticism and try to improve my writing for your enjoyment but please don't be rude.

I hope you all enjoy and thank you to those who have followed this from the start.

:D

Summary: After the horrors their lives had brought in the past, they had hoped their lives were returning to normality. But everything seems to be tearing them apart and no one really knows how to cope anymore. Will the world manage to break apart the strongest bonds of friendship or will they rise above it?

Chapter 1

"You look so old in that dress," Merlin said to his sister as they danced together. Freya had just married her husband Matthew. The ceremony had been beautiful, on a tiny island which the party had all to themselves. They were surrounded by waters, all sorts of birds soaring overhead and the most stunning scenery around them.

"I believe the word you're looking for is 'mature'," Freya said, "Or perhaps 'beautiful'?"

Merlin shook his head, "No, I don't think so."

Freya rolled her eyes, "You know that prosthetic leg has made you no better at dancing. It's literally like dancing with a rhinoceros."

"Ah, but you see now when I kick you for being mean, it'll hurt a lot more."

"You couldn't stand on one leg long enough to kick me without falling over."

"If you're just going to be unkind, go and dance with mum."

"You started it," Freya laughed but she wiggled out of her brother's arms and crossed the floor to find Hunith. Almost immediately, a different set of arms wrapped themselves around Merlin's waist and a set of lips pressed themselves to his neck.

"You look stunning in that suit. I really need to get you wearing one more often."

"But then it wouldn't be special."

"Don't care," Arthur mumbled, "You're special all the time."

Merlin turned around to look at Arthur, "Are you drunk?"

Arthur shook his head, "I haven't touched a drop of alcohol."

"Really?"

"I don't want to forget how handsome you look," Arthur kissed Merlin happily. "Morgana sent me a photo before of Belle riding on Killi's back."

"Arthur!"

"What?"

"Why do you have your phone on at my sister's wedding?"

"I was taking photos," Arthur defended, "Shall we dance?"

"We've already danced. I want to sit down."

"Are you ok?"

"Just a bit out of breath."

"Inhaler?"

Merlin shook his head, "It's not that bad. Don't fuss."

"Here," Arthur poured him a cup of cool water and they sat down together. "Your mum definitely cried more today than she did at our wedding."

"Freya's the youngest, she hasn't got any more children to get married now. And she must like Matthew more than you."

"Understandable. He gets into considerably less trouble," Arthur chuckled.

"You know, I don't think Matthew's ever been to hospital."

"Looks after himself, does he?"

Merlin shrugged, "He just doesn't have people wanting to kill him all the time."

"Neither do we anymore. Didn't stop us."

"That was your fault," Merlin laughed.

"It was not! Blame Aithusa."

"She didn't do anything. You tripped over her."

"She was in the way!"

"You should have seen her."

"Except I didn't because there I was holding a large pot of boiling water."

"Which you then spilt all over me!"

"You're not allowed to argue at my wedding," Freya came over to join them and sat down, "Are you having a nice time? Isn't it beautiful? You didn't have an entire island for your wedding."

"That's because getting here involves boats."

"You didn't like the boats?" Freya seemed deeply offended.

"They make me sick," Arthur reminded her.

"Oh. Well, you might want to get going. The waters are meant to be a little rough later tonight."

"You sound like you want to get rid of us."

"Only you, Arthur. Merlin can stay as long as he likes."

"Unfortunately where he goes, I go, so-"

"It is late," Arthur said, "And if the water is going to be choppy, I'd rather get going soon. We'll see you tomorrow though, right?"

"For brunch?" Freya confirmed.

Arthur nodded, "Congratulations again. Don't have too much fun tonight and definitely don't tell us about it in the morning."

"See you tomorrow."

Leaving earlier definitely turned out to be a good decision. Arthur got queasy enough as they travelled in relatively calm waters. Any worse and he would have been vomiting all night.

"Are you going to show me that photo then?" Merlin asked Arthur as he went over to their hotel room bed and handed Arthur across a cup of cool water.

He took it gratefully and watched Merlin get himself ready for bed with a certain pride.

"Arthur?" Merlin prompted after at least five minutes of sitting in bed looking at Arthur as he gawped at him, "Are you alright?"

Arthur blinked a few times and smiled, "I'm fine. Just thinking about when you couldn't get ready for bed without me."

"Miss it?"

Arthur thought about it, "In a way. But seeing you healthy and able is so much better."

"Well any time you want to undress me- for bed for nostalgic purposes, of course- let me know."

"Willing, are you?"

"Maybe when you're looking slightly less green."

"It's not my fault your sister decided to get married on a stupid island."

"You've always been alright on the ferry," Merlin pointed out. After the first time they visited Ireland together and had ended up spending several days waiting while Arthur's sickness faded, the pair had decided it would be better to drive there instead. So on all their trips since then, Arthur had driven them which had involved the ferry between the two countries.

"The ferry barely moves underfoot. I only ever feel a little bit nauseous."

Merlin slapped him gently, "You've never told me you feel nauseous!"

"What's the point in telling you? You have to visit home and I can't fly so it's the only option."

"You make me tell you every time I sneeze," Merlin pointed out, "Let's be fair."

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Alright."

"Good. So, that photo?"

"What photo?"

"The one Morgana interrupted my sister's wedding for. Belle riding on Killi?"

"Oh!"

Morgana daughter was now nearly three years old and an older sister to her one-year-old brother, Luke. Gwen and Lancelot's son, William, was still an only child, unless you counted their new cat, Griff. Gwaine and Percival had even decided to adopt a little girl called Eira. They had claimed it was because there weren't enough girls in their group but as soon as they'd laid eyes on her in her care home, they'd fallen in love with her. She was sweet and caring and beautiful, even at her young age of five.

Several days later, when Freya and Matthew were on their honeymoon, Merlin and Arthur were in their car, driving somewhere very exciting. After nearly four years of managing their first hotel comfortably, they had finally decided to open up a new one. It was, to their joy, going to be managed mainly by Freya and Matthew. Matthew had recently been fired from his old job and Freya had never really found stability anywhere since university. They'd both always admired what Merlin and Arthur had done with their hotel so when the team in England decided it was time to expand but were still sceptical about trusting other people to manage a branch properly, Freya had jumped at the opportunity.

So now, Arthur was driving to the site where their new hotel was. It was going to be opened in a few weeks, once Freya and Matthew had returned from their honeymoon, so they were going to check everything was up to their standards. Over the four years that Albion had been open, the original hotel had undergone a lot of developments to improve it and make it the most accessible it could be. Therefore, they could not allow their new hotel to be of even slightly lower quality. There would be journalists scrutinising every inch of the new hotel. So it wasn't just their own personal morals that meant everything had to be as perfect as it possibly could be.

Arthur and Merlin were delighted and proud with how well everything was progressing. They were both staying in Ireland until the opening night when the rest of their friends would be coming for the celebrations. Which meant they had just over two weeks of waiting in Ireland, watching over the hotel or having a little bit of the oh-so precious and rare time to themselves that they loved so much.

Being able to walk around Ireland hand in hand was amazing. Part of Arthur did slightly miss looking after Merlin. Being able to do everything for him, showing him affection with every move, practically nursing him through his recovery. Arthur was scared that, now Merlin was able to walk again with his prosthetic leg and was as close to recovering as he was going to get, he wasn't being as loving as he should be. Especially now that they were both working full time at Albion. There were no more lazy weekends cuddling on the sofa or nights where it didn't matter how long they stayed in the hot tub because they didn't need to get up for anything the next morning. Their group was hardly ever all together ever more either. Aside from their short little lunchbreaks or occasional pub meet-ups, they only saw each other in meetings. They were all so busy with their children or relationships or pets or family.

Everything had changed a lot. And it was strange because it was such a gradual process. After Camelot had burned down, their lives had changed immediately and extremely. They'd adapted because they'd had to. The recovery from that had taken a long time but they'd fallen into a routine where they all relied on and trusted each other. But now, there was no need to trust each other, because they never saw each other.

Each and every one of them were more independent, less reluctant to go to another for help anymore. It felt like everyone had something else to be focusing on all the time.

"It's almost like having to work," Merlin had laughed when Arthur had voiced a small few of these points but he was sad about it too.

For the year after Camelot's destruction, none of them had led any sort of ordinary lives. Suddenly finding themselves back in a position where they had to work so hard all day, every day was difficult.

Arthur and Merlin's time in Ireland was a lovely, welcome break from their new, full-on life at work. It felt like only a couple of days had passed before everyone was gathering in the foyer of their newly opened hotel, posing for photos together with the same proud grins on their faces that they'd had nearly four years ago when standing in front of Albion for the first time. The hotels didn't have different names. No one had seen much of a point in it when there were only two branches. Maybe if they did ever open up more, they'd rename a few to reduce confusion.

Arthur had refused to let the hotel open until he'd personally checked every member of staff was up to the standard their company required. That involved, aside from having the obvious kind and helpful natures, being able to communicate in British Sign Language and having a good degree of knowledge about other disabilities or illnesses people who visited their hotels lived with. No one expected everyone to know everything. In a way, they were looking for the people who didn't. As long as they were in the right mindset to learn. With the work they were in, new information had to be taken in every single day. Both directly through a guest and indirectly once that knowledge was passed on to other colleagues.

For so many reasons, it had been harder to set up their second hotel. There was so much pressure for it to be a success and they'd also had to juggle managing the original branch. All the while, their ability to work as a team had gradually crumbled.

The opening went well. It wasn't quite as grand as their first, but it didn't need to be. They had opened it for booking to everyone so all the rooms were filled for weeks.

In no time at all, the group were all gathered on the deck of the ferry to go back home, anxious to be reunited with their families. The kids had all either been too young to travel for such an event or been in the midst of a term at school. So Uther had been looking after his grandchildren, Belle and Luke, while William stayed with Merlin's family friend, Gaius, and Eira was staying with a colleague from Albion.

"Your sister is quite a catch, Merlin," Gwaine mused as they stood together, looking out across the sea.

"Careful, Gwaine. She's married," Merlin laughed.

"So are you," Percival said pointedly as he joined them.

"How's Arthur?" Merlin asked him.

"Queasy," Percival chuckled, "But fine. He says it's better below deck."

"Good. He definitely does not want to see that sky," Merlin pointed up where the thick, black clouds were blanketing the usual blue brightness. It had been suspiciously grey all morning but now it looked like hell itself. The waters were getting choppy very quickly, which had done nothing for Arthur's travel/sea sickness. Fat droplets of rain were tumbling down heavily and just as the three men were about to make their way inside for shelter, the entire ferry lurched violently to one side. Percival and Gwaine both instinctively grabbed onto Merlin. There were all sorts of panicked warnings floating on the speakers from the captain, telling everyone to get off the main deck and not to be afraid. Everything was under control, they said.

But Merlin wasn't convinced it was under the control of the staff. The ferry didn't stay steady for more than a few seconds, making getting inside practically impossible. The floor was slippery, the wind made hearing anything difficult and the movement prevented anyone from staying upright. Merlin, Gwaine and Percival were still really far away from the door that led down into the main part of the boat. There were people there ushering everyone inside.

Merlin grabbed Percival's arm, "Find Arthur! Make sure he's alright! You can get inside faster than us, just tell him we're coming."

Percival nodded, shared a look with Gwaine and fought his way over the deck.

"You can go too, if you want," Merlin yelled to Gwaine.

"And have Arthur kill me for leaving you out here?" Gwaine shouted back, "No thanks. Come on!"

They grabbed each other's arm, lowered their heads and continued to walk after Percival. The storm had come out of nowhere with the highest intensity anyone had ever seen.

"Why must you bring your bad luck everywhere?" Gwaine yelled to Merlin, "Leave it behind for once!"

Merlin barked a laugh just as the boat tilted again, violently knocking both men off their feet. They were the only two people left on the deck by then. Everyone else had managed to get inside quickly, being a lot closer the doors anyway. Gwaine skidded halfway back to where they'd been standing originally. They were both starting to panic. The storm was not showing any signs of stopping. If anything, it was only getting hundreds of times worse. If they didn't manage to make it inside, they'd be thrown off the deck.

While Merlin was picking himself up, Gwaine had taken to crawling back towards him. His knees kept skidding from side to side and his hair was dripping like a waterfall. It would have looked hilarious had the situation not also been terrifying. He managed to get across to Merlin pretty quickly with his new technique of movement.

"Get down!" Gwaine shouted, "It's easier!"

Merlin fell onto his hands and knees beside Gwaine. He was right, it was a bit easier to move.

Gwaine laughed, "This is ridiculous!"

Merlin smiled. They were pretty close to the door finally, so clambered to their feet and leant against the wall for support and to catch their breath. Gwaine wiped his face to try and get rid of some of the rain on it, but his sleeve was just as wet so it achieved nothing. He chuckled and said, "Let's get inside."

Merlin sighed in relief as Gwaine reached out for the handle but his face fell when the door didn't budge. "Stop messing around, Gwaine, it's getting cold. Open it."

"It's locked! They've locked us out!"

Merlin shook his head, "Don't be stupid." He reached forward and tried the door too. At first, his hand slipped off the wet, metal surface. But even when he got a good grip on it, nothing moved.

"It's alright," he said, "We can call someone. They'll let the staff know, and they'll come and unlock it."

"You'll never be able to use your phone in this rain," Gwaine said loudly over the wind, "Even if you did, they'd never hear us."

"Look!" Merlin pointed through the glass window. There was water pouring through the gaps underneath and between the doors, flooding the interior. With every lurch the boat took, more seawater crashed inside. "If they hadn't locked it, the entire ferry would be underwater by now. They had no choice."

"This is some sort of crazy sacrifice!" Gwaine shouted as they were both soaked by another wave.

"It's not a sacrifice! We'll be fine. Just find something to hold onto!"

"Stay here where there's at least a bit of shelter."

The entire vessel took a horrible turn, the highest it had ever tilted. It was now perpendicular to the water, threatening to flip completely. From inside the ferry, there was a series of crashes and screams but Merlin didn't hear that. He was too busy falling from where he'd been standing, straight towards the water. Gwaine had just about managed to grab hold of something to stay as steady as was possible. Merlin had not been so lucky.

He plummeted straight into the sea, the boat following soon behind. The passenger cabin was now in the water, the base of the boat pointing to the sky. Everyone was underwater and no one resurfaced.