A/N: Someone mentioned they were struggling to read this because of their own cancelled holidays at the moment. If it's really that bad for you, you can easily skip the next couple of chapters, it was just intended to be a nice break for them, some cute fluff, you won't miss anything particularly important. I hope you get your holiday at some point.

I hope everyone's ok and coping with everything. Enjoy :)

Chapter 36

When Arthur woke up the next day, he was surprised at how well he felt. His travel sickness hadn't lingered as it often did. Being careful not to disturb Merlin, he crawled out of bed and opened the huge curtains to reveal the view which seemed to get prettier every time he saw it. Then he got back into bed and took Merlin in his arms, chuckling at how easy it was to manoeuvre him. It was rare now for Arthur to wake up before Merlin but he enjoyed it when he did.

He picked up his phone and opened the messages from their friends' group chat. Arthur had sent a photo of their view the previous night and it seemed from their responses that everyone was very jealous. A few of his friends were still awake to talk to, even though it was very late back in England. So Arthur messaged Gwaine, Lance, Morgana and Percival for a while. Just over an hour after Arthur had woken up, Merlin started to squirm in his arms and began to wake up. Arthur said good night to Gwaine and Lance who were the only two left on the chat and turned his attention to Merlin instead.

He mumbled something which Arthur couldn't understand but found adorable and then buried his face into Arthur's shoulder, wiggled about for a few seconds and then seemingly fell asleep again. Arthur smiled, kissed Merlin's head and then carefully extracted himself from the bed. Merlin didn't protest, making Arthur suspect he probably was fast asleep. He pulled some trousers on, smirking when he remembered the reason for his nakedness, then went downstairs and made some breakfast. He heated pastries and washed fresh fruit and spooned some yoghurt out of the tub, quite proud with how it looked when he was done.

It took a lot of effort to rouse Merlin again. He seemed to have turned into some sort of koala and was adamant to do nothing but cling onto Arthur and sleep.

"Come on, sleepy," Arthur said, "Breakfast will get cold. Sit up."

Merlin pouted and wiggled into a seated position, taking the coffee and the food from Arthur gratefully, "This looks amazing," he yawned, "Where'd you buy it?"

"Oi! I made it."

"From scratch?"

"Grew the raspberries myself," Arthur said sarcastically, "Hang on." He picked his phone up, "This is going to make everyone jealous." He filmed a quick little video which would play on loop, showing Merlin, the food, the beauty of the cabin and the insane view out the window. He posted it on his social media with a cute little caption and the location tagged.

"My hair looks insane," Merlin groaned when Arthur showed him it.

"You look stunning," Arthur said, "Ok, you can eat that now. We'll wait for Gwaine to reply and complain about how unfair it is that we get to be here while they're all at home."

"Gwaine won't be up at this time. It's really late back home."

"He is up. I was talking to him earlier. Eira's not well. She's been sick dozens of times. They're taking it in turns to stay up and make sure she's alright. Gwaine's on shift."

Unsurprisingly, a few minutes later, Arthur's phone pinged. Gwaine had, after all, messaged Arthur about his post.

"How long did they all keep saying that we deserved better than what we got?" Merlin asked as he popped a blueberry into his mouth, "Every time I coughed someone went off on a rampage about how difficult our life is and how we didn't deserve any of it. And now we do get a break it's unfair?"

Arthur smiled, "It's not like they're not going to get a holiday too anyway. Pretty much all of them have booked."

"I guess I wouldn't want to be up doing baby vomit duty while my friends were living in luxury to be fair," Merlin said,

"It'll be us when they go away. We're looking after Eira while they go to Turkey."

"Yeah, I know. Hopefully she won't be sick, though. Anyway," he smiled, "What have you got planned for today?"

"Nothing until dinner. I thought we could have a lazy day and explore the site. Maybe walk around the lake."

"Where are we going for dinner? The restaurant here?"

"Not tonight. I found a little restaurant place not too far away. It's popular with the guests that stay here."

"How far?"

"Twenty minutes. It's not too fancy or anything. I've saved the posh one for a different night."

They went for a swim in their little pool before lunch and then walked the full length of the lake slowly, taking hundreds of pictures and getting back in time to shower and get dressed for dinner.

"How do you keep track of everything?" Merlin asked in the car on the way home, "If you've booked so much and planned everything, how do you remember?"

"It's all on my phone," Arthur said, "I put everything on my calendar as I booked it."

"How much did you plan?"

Arthur shrugged, "A fair amount. Maybe something for every other day, not including meals. I wanted to leave plenty of free time and time for you to choose things to do."

"So what's on for tomorrow?"

"You just wait and see."

Merlin never could have guessed half the things Arthur had booked for them to do. In the first week alone they went on a helicopter ride to see a glacier, went bungee jumping down a creek and hiked up a mountain to see the sunset and stargaze. Most nights they'd either cook a quick dinner in their cabin or go to the restaurant at the resort and then sit on the patio by the fire and watch the stars, cuddled up together.

"I could never have even thought up something so beautiful in a dream," Merlin whispered to Arthur. They were sitting together on a rug still halfway up a mountain and staring up at the stars.

"What's been your favourite thing so far?"

"This," Merlin replied immediately, "Easily."

"Not the bungee?"

"My heart rate still hasn't returned to normal," Merlin chuckled, "It was fun," he said, "But terrifying. This isn't terrifying."

"Walking home might be."

"What's been your favourite?"

"Probably this as well. Although waking up on that first morning to the view was brilliant."

"It's all brilliant. I could sit on the patio and watch the view for days and it wouldn't even start to get boring," he sipped his hot chocolate from the thermos they'd brought.

"And there's still two weeks to appreciate it all."

"What are we doing tomorrow?"

"I haven't got anything planned until dinner."

"Good," Merlin laughed, "It's already past midnight. I don't even want to begin and think about what time it'll be when we get back."

"Walking down this in the dark will be fun," Arthur said.

"We brought torches, we'll be fine."

"Are you cold?"

"I'm fine. Look how the stars reflect the water. It's so clear."

"Like the stars are on the ground looking up as well as in the sky looking down."

They were on one of the mountains around the lake which the cabins surrounded. It was a short drive and a long climb to get to the viewpoint where they were now sitting. But it was worth all the effort for what they'd seen. A thousand shades of pinks and reds and oranges as the sunset followed by the darkest sky but brightest stars they'd ever seen. Sitting by their fire at night and looking up at the stars was something they'd done a lot in the week they'd been there but being able to see the golden lights of the resort below and being above everything else was better.

"Right, come on then," Arthur declared a long while later when they were getting far too comfortable for their own good, "I don't want to sleep up here all night."

"Can we come back again?"

"Of course."

Very slowly and carefully, they made their way down the hill and got into the car.

"I'm tired," Merlin said, "It feels like we've done loads."

"We have," Arthur said.

Merlin got his phone out and started looking through the photos they'd taken, "They're amazing," he said, "How are we ever going to choose some for an album? There are too many."

"I'm sure we'll manage. We could make a few if we have to."

Merlin's phone pinged a few times.

"Group chat?" Arthur asked.

"Freya," Merlin corrected.

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah. I think she's twigged that I'm worried about her so she's going out of her way to reassure me."

Arthur smiled, "Does it reassure you?"

"I'm not sure," he yawned and lay back against the seat, "If I fall asleep will you get me ready for bed?"

"You hate it when I do that."

"I'm too tired to care."

"Liar. You'll wake up and shout at me."

"Probably," Merlin laughed, "Gwen thinks we faked those photos."

Arthur snorted, "Of course she does."

"It did look like something out of a fantasy movie," Merlin said.

Arthur stopped the car outside their cabin and fished the key out. "Do you have enough energy to walk?"

Merlin rubbed his eyes and nodded but waited until Arthur had got out the car and opened his door before he got out. While Merlin went upstairs, Arthur put the kettle on and made them both a cup of tea. Merlin was standing by the window wearing a jumper and pair of joggers, staring at the stars.

"Come on, mister," Arthur said, "It's past your bed time."

They climbed into the bed together but still looked out the window at the stars.

"Have you got anything you want to do while we're here?" Arthur asked Merlin.

"No. I'm happy to do what you've planned. I like the surprises."

"Sure? I don't want to control everything."

"I'll tell you if I think of something," Merlin promised, "Right now, though, I just want to go to sleep."

"Same," Arthur put his empty mug on the bedside table and kissed Merlin goodnight, "Don't wake me up early."

The second week was a lot more packed with activities. They went whale watching, visited glow worm caves and hot springs, and went of multiple hikes as well as going out for dinner a few times. Merlin enjoyed every single second of it. It was the most beautiful and action packed holiday he'd ever been on and spending every second of it with Arthur made it even better.

On the Monday of their last week there, Arthur was driving them back to the cabins after swimming with dolphins in a rescue centre a few hours away.

"Was that better or worse than the whales?"

"Better," Merlin said immediately, "So much better."

"Even though it took ages to get your wet suit on?" Arthur laughed.

Merlin scowled at him, "You try getting into a skin-tight wetsuit with one leg. It's really hard. But it was definitely better than the whale watching even with that."

"Good," Arthur sighed in relief.

Merlin frowned curiously, "What do you mean? Did you think I wouldn't enjoy it?"

"It's not that," Arthur said, "I just tried to save things I thought would be really special for the last week."

"So every time we do something are you going to ask me to rate it?"

"No. I was just worried about those two. I didn't know which one you'd like better and I couldn't move anything else around so I had to choose."

"You chose right," Merlin said.

"My logic was that with this you'd definitely get to see a dolphin but with there's never any certainty that you'll see a whale."

Merlin nodded, "Are we doing anything tomorrow?"

"Not until the evening. Up for another late night?"

Merlin nodded, "What are we doing?"

"Surprise," Arthur said, "Not telling."

Merlin rolled his eyes and looked down at his phone, "Morgana's really jealous," he laughed through a yawn.

"Which photo did you send?"

"The one with both of us when we're kissing the dolphin."

"Cute. Are you tired?" he chuckled as Merlin yawned again.

"We've done a lot over the past few weeks," Merlin objected, "And it's getting a bit late."

"Do you want to find somewhere to stop off for dinner or wait till we get back and order it from reception?"

"Order it," Merlin rested his head against the seat, "I can't be bothered to have etiquette in public while we eat. How far away are we?"

"Still way over an hour."

Merlin resigned himself to looking out the window after putting some music on. Not even ten minutes later, he'd fallen asleep in a position that didn't look at all comfortable. In fact, Arthur went as far as to stop the car and move Merlin so his head was no longer pressed harshly against the window and the seat was reclined a bit. The fact he didn't stir at all showed how tired he was. In all fairness, going on such an exerting holiday within a year of waking up from a four month coma would be extremely taxing for anyone and Arthur was pleasantly surprised at how well Merlin was coping. They'd climbed mountains, spent full days outside, gone on all sorts of adventures and Merlin had been up for all of it. It was tiring enough for Arthur and he had no health problems.

Somehow Arthur missed the tears in Merlin's eyes when he woke up but he didn't miss the way he was attached to his phone the rest of the night as they ate.

"Who are you texting?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"Just Freya." The waver in his voice didn't go amiss.

"How is she?"

"Anxious to give birth by the sounds of it."

"You had the dream again, didn't you?"

Merlin nodded sadly, "I don't know why."

"It might be anxiety. She'll have the babies soon."

"We'll have just got back from New Zealand and we'll have to go to Ireland."

"It's fine. It'll be exciting."

"Hopefully."

"It will," Arthur assured him.

Merlin had never seen anything so beautiful. They'd left the cabin just after lunch and driven for hours and hours until they reached where they needed to be. He'd been starting to get jittery in the car in anticipation because Arthur hadn't told him a thing about where they were going. He'd simply made several flasks full of hot drinks and packed them into the back of the car along with warm clothing, lots of blankets, some sort of permit and a hamper filled with food. Then he'd told Merlin to put something comfortable on and driven.

About three quarters of the way there, they'd had to stop and put jumpers on because of how cold it was getting. They were nearly at the most southerly point of the island and it was night time so the temperature was considerably colder.

"Did we drive all this way just to go star gazing?" Merlin asked when Arthur declared they'd arrived and was forcing gloves, fluffy socks another jumper, a hat and a coat at Merlin to put on.

"Kind of," he said, picking up the rest of the bags, "Come on."

"Where are we going? We're in the middle of nowhere, Arthur!"

"It's worth it, I promise. It's just a little walk."

"Do you want me to carry something?"

"It's alright."

They walked for a couple of minutes until Arthur pointed out a huge rock. "Can you get up there?"

"If you help me."

"Ok, hang on," Arthur scaled the boulder which was surprisingly flat at the top and set out a blanket before setting the hamper and his rucksack down and holding out an arm to pull Merlin up.

"Why are we here?" Merlin asked once they were sat down and nibbling on some food.

Arthur checked his watch, "You'll find out in a few minutes hopefully. I wanted to get here early so we'd definitely see it. You haven't looked at the news recently have you?"

"Not while we've been here."

"Good. Do you want your coffee?"

Merlin nodded and took the flask, "Thanks. We're not driving home tonight, are we?"

"No," Arthur assured him, "That's the really fun bit."

Merlin looked at him sceptically, "Go on."

"We're camping in the car."

"No we're not."

"We are," Arthur grinned, "I've got a permit so we're allowed as long as we get to the right camping site. Then we'll put the back seat down, cover it with the blow up mattress and cuddle in blankets. I've even brought blockers for the windows so people can't see in."

Merlin laughed, "Well that'll be fun. Does the mattress even fit?"

Arthur nodded, "You know earlier this morning when I said you looked tired so you should have a nap because we'd be up late?"

"Yeah."

"I spent those few hours battling with the blow up mattress and the car to make sure it worked."

"Oh my god," Merlin laughed, "I'd have loved to see that."

"I can imagine it looked pretty hilarious. But I've checked and double checked and I've definitely got everything we'd possibly need and we'll be back for lunch tomorrow."

"But I still don't know why," Merlin smiled softly.

"You do," Arthur turned his head to the sky, "Look."

Merlin followed Arthur's gaze and gasped. The previously completely black sky was now decorated with thick, swirling stripes of bright greens, pinks and purples like someone was painting living strips of ink over a black canvas.

"The aurora australis," Arthur said quietly, "The southern lights. Particularly visible at this time of year from New Zealand."

Merlin didn't know where to look. He glanced briefly at Arthur and felt his heart melt when he saw the colours of the sky reflected in the dark of his eyes.

"You're looking at the wrong thing," Arthur whispered, "It's got better."

Bright lights were darting and dancing across the sky now too. In amongst the purple and green were thin lines of gold.

"A meteor shower," Merlin breathed.

"I've known for ages I wanted to take you to see the southern lights while we were here," Arthur said, "But when I was researching the best places to go and saw the news story about this, I knew it had to be today. But it's more beautiful than I ever could have hoped."

"It's wonderful," Merlin tore his attention away from the natural fireworks and kissed Arthur, "Thank you."

They watched the sky for a few minutes before getting their camera out and taking some photos. Some were exclusively of the sky but their favourite was one they set up with their tripod. It was a little cheesy but they'd managed to get the setting perfect on the camera so that the sky behind them was vibrant, sharp and beautiful and they were two dark silhouettes in front of it, locked in a kiss. You could see the meteors, the stars, the southern lights, the mountains in the background and their outlines all framed brilliantly.

While Arthur was sorting the car out nearly three hours later, Merlin sent the picture to their friends' group chat and read out the responses.

"Gwaine said it's fake," he laughed, "Gwen's typing in caps lock and making Lance promise to take her to the Northern Lights when they're in Norway. Elyan's asking what aperture, exposure and shutter speed we used. Percival literally just said 'That's sick,' and put a smiley face."

Arthur chuckled as he threw a blanket onto their blow-up mattress. He was standing outside with the boot wide open, making the car ready for them to be able to clamber into once they reached the campsite. They didn't want to make a load of noise and disturb anyone else there at such a late hour. They were lucky that they'd been allowed to arrive at such a time, after all and didn't want to ruin anyone else's experience on the site.

"Apparently Belle thinks it looks like we're in a Disney movie but Will thinks the planet's being invaded by aliens."

"Why can't there be a Disney movie where the planet's invaded by aliens?" Arthur asked, "We could star in it."

Merlin rolled his eyes.

"Right," Arthur shut the boot and got in the front of the car, "Ready?"

Merlin nodded, "I told everyone where we were sleeping tonight."

"Oh? Are they impressed with how romantic I am?"

"Leon said that with all the effort you went to driving across the country, could you not have found a nice hotel for the night? He's right," Merlin looked up, "It's you that's been driving for however many hours in a row. I just sat here, don't you want a proper rest?"

"This is more fun," Arthur insisted, "Trust me.

It was, actually, very enjoyable. The owner of the campsite had been staying up late so they could see the starlight spectacle too and there were actually quite a few people arriving around the same time, clearly having been doing something similar to Arthur and Merlin. They hadn't bothered getting changed. They'd only taken off their shoes and coats, Merlin had removed his prosthetic leg and they'd clambered into the back of the car. Arthur had already secured the blockers to all the windows so it was only the windscreen that needed covering before they could settle down together under a huge mound of blankets and squidge as close together as possible.

"It's cramped," Merlin said, suddenly tired now that there was nothing to do.

"Too cramped?"

"Not for one night. If it were for any longer then it would have been. It was worth it."

Arthur didn't respond. He buried his head in Merlin's neck and sighed happily, "This holiday is so magical."

"I don't want it to end."

"Neither do I."

"I owe a lot to your dad," Merlin said quietly.

"Why? Because his money payed for this?"

"No! Because without him there wouldn't have been you."