So here we are finally. At the last chapter of this story. I do hope that in some weird way that you did enjoy it. Maybe a little different from what I have done in the past and maybe something that I won't do again. I am slightly deciding on a few things.

Right, well, I think I am going to take another break while I attempt to try and get the motivation to finish planning my next fanfic and then actually write it. And probably sort out my head again...

It's a nice day to start again.
It's a nice day for a white wedding.

Chapter 26

The investigation lasted longer than most of them thought but Merlin was glad that it was all over and done with now. Alvarr had been put away for a number of different convictions and Cenred was currently on trial for similar charges.

With him more or less healed, Merlin felt like life was going back to normal. There was no reason for Uther to keep firing him and, even if he had to hand over all the money given to him while he was dealing drugs, things just felt better. The knowledge of just having a stable job was the biggest relief of it all. No more sneaking around and keeping secrets from everyone. He could just get on with life.

"How do I look?" Arthur asked.

Merlin smiled. "As handsome as ever."

Arthur pulled his jacket down and looked at Merlin's reflection in the mirror. "You know, you only get away with comments like that because you are my best friend."

"I only say them because Gwen likes to see you squirm as well."

"Morgana and I had this conversation once, in front of dad as well, about if we were gay, who would we be with. I said you. Morgana obviously said Gwen."

"Who wouldn't say Gwen?"

"I know right."

"The only problem with that whole conversation was that you aren't gay."

Arthur gave him a small smile. "It doesn't mean that I don't see it." He turned to Merlin. "Do you think that you will be happy with Morgana?"

"I think so. We are seemingly beginning all over again and it is going to take us a while to get back to the point where we were when I was 16. It is going to be a journey. I am just glad that you are finally marrying Gwen."

"I was surprised when dad mentioned it. I think he had a bit of a scare when Alvarr pointed the gun at him. He realised that I was in a happy relationship and that he should stop getting in the way of that. Dad's also tried to make the effort to meet Gwen's family."

"Really? I can understand him having a bit of a scare but that isn't your dad."

"Tell me about it."

Merlin knew that he had started to think about it all again. About whether it was all worth it and how easily it was to put fake information out there about himself and Uther.

"Stop it."

He looked up at his friend. "I'm not doing anything."

"You're thinking again. I know that it is easier said than done but it is all over now. You can start to focus on the future now."

Merlin smiled at him, knowing that Arthur wouldn't understand all the thoughts flying around his mind.

"Gwen, I need to apologise for being such an awful friend."

Morgana couldn't quite believe why a smile rose up on Gwen's lips.

"Morgana, you aren't an awful friend. You have your moments when you don't think but that doesn't necessarily make you an awful friend."

"I was the one that brought Alvarr in your lives."

"But we know that there is more to it than that. You weren't totally to blame."

"Thanks for that."

"Look you know what I am trying to say. At least things are getting back to normal."

"Normal? Getting married isn't normal?"

"Isn't it? Isn't it the natural progression of a relationship? If you didn't run away, you might have been married."

"Back then there was probably not might about it."

"Are you happy Morgana?"

"I am not going to lie. There is so much that I regret and if I could take back the last eight years, I would. I know that half of what has happened would have basically not happened if I just sat down a spoke about what was going through my mind at the time."

"You did what you thought was right at the time. You wanted to find out the truth about your parents."

"I am just glad that, as you said, things are going back to normal. Uther will never be my father but I am looking forward to the job he has lined up for me and the training that he is going to pay for."

"There is probably one part of Alvarr's plan that was not far from the truth. Arthur doesn't want the company. He is only doing it because Uther wants him to."

"I don't really want the company either. Merlin said about all the places that he wants to visit and… I kinda want to make it happen for him." Morgana paused for a moment. "Maybe when the time comes, we will have to have a conversation about joint running it."

"I think that there would be no better compromise."

Morgana watched as Gwen straighten up her veil before handing her flowers over.

"Ready?" Morgana asked.

"Now for the best man and the maid of honour."

Merlin found himself smiling as he turned to Morgana and held his hand out to her. She took it and he led her out to the dance floor where Arthur and Gwen were having their first dance. It wasn't too long before the rest of the guests joined in and Merlin could feel some sense of calm. The majority of the day was over now.

"Are we alright?" He asked.

He could tell that Morgana was taken aback by the question. "Why are you asking that?"

"It was something that I was thinking when Arthur and Gwen were taking their vows. They have always been alright. They may have had their arguments but they have always seen passed that and no one else has ever got between them. I more wondered whether we would be the same."

"Merlin, we were and we will be again. Look, I know about the plans that you made and I know how far Gwen took it. She still has the scrapbook you know."

"I do. I used to find it and look at it. Thinking about what we could have been and had in the moment. If my plans went to plan, we could have been married for six years by now. Or it's something like that."

"And if I wasn't in the headspace that I was, I might have liked that."

Merlin shook his head. "There is only one thing that I believe in now. That is karma. There is good karma and bad karma and things happen for a reason. We weren't ready for that type of commitment. We were only children. It wasn't meant to be."

"I tell you want wasn't meant to be. You not, not being a doctor. You are far too clever to just let it go to waste being Arthur's PA."

"Then you should see the amount of work that Arthur actually does. I have had to learn a lot about business very quickly. Arthur can't see the patterns but I can. Sometimes he can articulate what he is thinking but I can. In a weird sense, Arthur is just the front man. There is more than just me. There is a team of us, making sure that Arthur succeeds in the way that Uther wants him to."

"You won't have to do it all by yourself. I will be there with you now."

"I think by the end of it, all four of us will be running that company."

"I see no better team." She smiled widely at him. "We will make it work this time. We will learn from the mistakes that we made the first time around."

"We will. We will finally have the story we should have had the first time around."