Arthur exchanged disbelieving looks with his knights as he was tugged along reluctantly by Megan. Was this funny little old woman telling the truth about his knights being alive, or were they simply the ramblings of a mind half gone?

Megan gabbled on about the amazing things Merlin had done while they were *ahem* absent. Apparently, he had become quite the soldier. He fought in both world wars (apparently there were two), and in the second one, had saved Megan from getting a foul beating at the hands of something called a Nazi. According to Megan, a Nazi had been calling out to her from across the street, and Megan had approached angrily and smacked him upside the head with her purse.

"A scoundrel, he was," Megan growled, shuffling through a patch of daisies, "He deserved what he had coming. I don't know what happened to that no-good pillock, but I assume he's dead now." Arthur, Gwen and the knights shared incredulous looks at this. They never thought they would hear such things come out of the mouth of such a kindly-looking old woman.

Soon, the group noticed that the woods around them seemed to be getting brighter, rays of golden sunlight flowing in between the leaves, green despite the oncoming winter. They noticed patches of jewel-bright flowers of all breeds coloring the way before them. Gwen gasped in adoration as they came upon a quaint little house sitting beside a lake.

"Oh, isn't it darling?" she asked, smiling as they entered into the shade of its eaves.

"Indeed it is," answered Megan, "I convinced him to let me decorate when he moved in. It was the least I could do, honestly, considering all the times he saved my life. I was quite reckless when I was younger." She laughed heartily. "Oh, how many admonitions I got from him, I lost count." She spoke of Merlin intimately, as though he were a relic of her past, and a precious one, at that.

"Did you love him?" asked Leon. Megan's voice took on a wistful tone.

"Once, I did. My first true experience with love." She smiled slightly at the memory.

"What happened?" asked Gwen, intrigued.

"He kept turning me down when I advanced. And then I realized that I was getting older, and he wasn't aging a day. I began to see him more as a son than a lover, and now I care for him as such." The wistfulness faded from her eyes. "Worry not, he may have been my first experience with love, but he was certainly not the last. Now, let's not get lost in memories. It's not much use to get lost in history when it's happening right in front of you." She then rapped the door with her wizened old knuckles.

They heard the thud of heavy footsteps approaching the door before it was opened by a rather large man. The man had cut-short blond hair, small blue eyes, and bulging muscles seemingly everywhere. He had on a plain grey shirt with three small buttons near the neck, all of them undone, and a faded pair of the strange blue trousers Gwen was wearing. He smiled brightly when he saw who was on the doorstep, and gathered them all in one great bear hug.

"Oh, how I missed you all!" he cried, squeezing ever tighter.

"Hello Percival," Arthur choked. "I would say hello if I could breathe."

"Arthur?" called a voice from within the house.

"Gaius!" yelled Arthur in delight, pulling free of Percival's grip and rushing inside to embrace the age-old physician, as old, creaky and wrinkly as he had ever been, with a permanent scowl on his face. Percival set them all down, still beaming like it was market day, and Gwen racing into the house after Arthur to tearfully kiss Gaius on both cheeks before throwing her arms around him. He had become a sort of father figure after Gwen's father was killed after escaping from prison, in which he was being kept on a sorcery charge. The charge was complete and utter poppycock, but Uther Pendragon never listened to reason once he began thirsting for blood.

After tearful greetings, there came a softer voice from up the stairs, one filled with wonder and nostalgia, as though the owner couldn't decide if the scene in front of him was real, or just a dream.

"Gwen!"

Gwen looked up and covered a hand with her mouth as Elyan came zooming down the stairs with startling intensity, just a blur as he bowled over his older sister. Gwen screamed, half in joy and half in fear as she went down, and soon she was somehow laughing and crying at the same time on the entry hall carpet as Elyan squeezed the soul out of her.

Everyone looked on this touching reunion between siblings, and couldn't resist joining in their little hug fest. They gathered around, and just held each other after so long being apart, sharing in the memories of their past, a time they could never go back to. A time that they thought was lost forever. Gaius looked on disapprovingly, though if you looked closely, you could see a hint of a smile on his naturally downturned mouth. Megan smiled, feeling happier than she had in awhile, seeing the little makeshift family back together again. She decided she would bring dinner for them later, and quietly showed herself out. It was a moment before Gaius spoke up, ending their reunion.

"Where's Merlin?" Everyone froze and looked around. So their reunion wasn't as perfect as it seemed. They inquired of one another Merlin's whereabouts, but no one had an answer. As time wore on, the worry lines on Gaius's face seemed to carve themselves deeper into his skin. It was quite distressing to watch.

"Are you sure he's, you know…" Gaius began.

"Alive?" asked Elyan.

"He's alive, all right," said Arthur, "He has been for all this time." The ones first hearing of this strange phenomenon exchanged looks of shock, confusion and uncomfortability. Gaius looked unsurprised, and heaved a heavy sigh.

"Yes, I expected he would be," he intoned sadly, a new kind of melancholy sucking the life out of his eyes, "That poor boy."

"You knew this would happen?" asked Arthur, detaching himself from the rest of the group to stand before Gaius.

"No, I did not know that we would somehow be brought back from the dead, if that's what you're asking," Gaius snapped, "I estimated that Merlin would live far longer than the rest of us."

"And why's that?" asked Percival, dropping Gwen back onto her feet, having finished

hugging her.

"He's a sorcerer," Gwaine stated. He seemed as though he were still trying to wrap his head around the idea. Looks of incredulity circulated around the room, coupled with shocked gasps and shouts. Again, Gaius looked unsurprised. Arthur assumed he would, seeing that he harbored Merlin for more than 10 years, and probably taught him everything he knew. He had dabbled in sorcery in his youth, after all.

"But… how could he not tell us?" Percival asked, a betrayed look crossing his features.

"Yeah, he was our friend. He must of known that we would have protected him no matter what the cost," agreed Leon.

"I still have no idea why," Arthur answered, remembering Merlin conjuring a dragon from their campfire, controlling the winds to befuddle the minds of invading Saxons. Merlin killing a group of soldiers without even touching them. "I never got to have a word about with him about that. I expect to when we see him again." That was when Gaius piped up again, sitting down in a rather squishy armchair in the sitting room.

"None of you understand him at all, do you?" This remark was met with silence as everyone turned to meet the eyes of the wise old man before them.

"What are you talking about?"

"You say that telling you would have made his life so much simpler for Merlin if he just told you what he was, and yes, that would be true. But it would have made life hell for you. Arthur, you've been taught ever since birth that magic and those who practice it are inherently evil, and that nothing of that sort would ever be tolerated in Camelot. Your father even told you that magic killed your mother. What would it have been like to know that your dearest friend held the same power that killed her? How would it feel to know that your personal servant, the man closest to you, had the power to overthrow your kingdom with just a few words? How do you think you would react if your entire moral system was challenged, maybe even broken? And you," he said turning toward the knights, a fire in his eyes. "You are knights of the round table, whose lives are dedicated to upholding the morals and laws of Camelot. The laws against magic are the most serious and heavily enforced in the entire kingdom. If you found that Merin practiced magic, then you would have had no choice but to enforce the law, in other words, execute him, whether you watch him die or execute him by your own hand. Or else you defy the oath you took when you were knighted, you lawfully betray your kingdom, and face exile and death."

Leon stood ramrod straight, his eyes fixed on something in the distance, like any good soldier, Elyan was studying his shoes, Gwaine stared at Gaius, shame apparent on his face, and Percival sank into a chair. Arthur felt his heart sink in remorse. He remembered being angry with Merlin when he first showed him his true self, and what he could do. He had called Merlin a liar and a traitor even while he dragged his unresponsive body to the lake of Avalon in an attempt to save his life. He had called Merlin hopeless and useless, even while he put his life on the line for the good of Camelot as well as Arthur's life. How ungrateful he had been! And still, Arthur didn't know the half of what he'd done for him. When Merlin returned to his home, Arthur would be sure to apologize for how he had treated him.

"You're right, Gaius," Gwaine declared.

"How many times have we mistreated him?" asked Leon. "How many times have we teased him for being useless, for being an add-on?"

"Too many," Percival put in.

"Oh, will you all stop wallowing?" Gwen asked, straightening to her full, rather unimpressive height. "We will make it up to him when he comes back. But now, let's go find something to eat." She stalked out of the living area and into what everyone assumed was the kitchen. It had a table, counters, cupboards and a plethora of other strange doohickeys that no one had ever seen before. There was a silence following Gwen's exit.

"Well," Gwaine said finally, "That was some group therapy session."

"Agreed. Let's never do it again." Arthur replied before following Gwen into the kitchen.