If you don't read my other Merlin fanfic "Age of Dragons" then I need to apologize again for not posting anything last week. My computer broke down last Wednesday and I got it back this Thursday, which is why I couldn't post chapter 12.

This chapter was supposed to be posted last week, but because I'm posting it now, I'm one chapter behind. (That's because chapter 17 is supposed to be a special Christmas chapter and is supposed to be posted on 24th, which is Saturday.) I haven't even started writing chapter 14 yet though, so I'll start working on that asap and once I'm done with that and not behind anymore, there will be two chapters in one week. Not yet though, I wouldn't be able to finish chapter 14 in time.

Anyway, enjoy the hunting trip! ;)

CHAPTER 12
A Magical Shooting Star

"There is another thing that I should probably mention." Arthur said without a warning when Merlin was closing the gate. Firstly, he used the key and then (not only to impress Arthur, but Merlin didn't exactly exclude that possibility), he used magic too. They were leaving the house so they could go into the town and find horses (if there were any) and then finally get into the forest. Merlin wasn't very happy about that, he knew Arthur wouldn't actually kill anything since he already explained to him he can't do that, but... a hunting trip? On horses?

But you know what? Arthur was right. It might help him remember because as Arthur said, they used to spend a lot of time in a forest together, riding horses. And even though Merlin didn't even remember if he could ride a horse, he would sure as hell try.

"What?" Merlin asked without turning to Arthur. "Did you want to take anything else other than those big thermos with hot cocoa? Because you know, I could take a whole tray with lunch on it too and have an extra horse carry it."

Arthur rolled his eyes at that. "Seems you've recovered a few things from that head of yours." He raised his eyebrows, waiting for Merlin's response, but Merlin just rolled his eyes in return and sighed.

"Okay, what did you want?" He asked.

"When I woke up, I... watched the tv." Arthur started. Merlin let a tiny smile play at the corner of his lips, not looking up at Arthur.

"And what did you watch?" He asked instead, while he started walking away from his (their?) house. Arthur started walking beside him as he continued.

"Merlin, the storm wasn't everything that happened when I returned."

That made Merlin stop and turn to Arthur with a question written all over his face. "What do you mean?" He asked carefully.

"The lady in the picture said that some people felt dizzy and others had gold eyes, just like you." He said hesitantly, and Merlin realized that... before Arthur died, he had never really showed him his eyes when he was using magic. (At least that's what he thought, Arthur said he lied to him until the very last day.) That was probably why every time Merlin used magic in front of him (and it wasn't that often), Arthur was staring into his eyes. Merlin found that quite cute to be honest, but... there were more pressing matters at hand.

"So... do you think those people have magic?" Merlin asked. And then his eyes widened as he realized what that would mean. "Do you think magic is coming back to the world? That I wouldn't be the only one with magic anymore?"

Merlin didn't know if he should be happy or scared. According to what he knew, magic wasn't a part of this world anymore, save for himself and probably a few cursed objects left from the medieval times. But if magic was back and not only good people were able to use it... it would create chaos. Everything would be different. It would be so easy to rob a bank for example!

"I don't know, Merlin, I was never good at discussing magic, for that I had the council who lived in the time before the great purge, like Gaius for example. He was the one who was able to recognize if the threat to the kingdom was of a natural kind or an enchantment."

"Who's Gaius?" Merlin couldn't help but ask. He knew he heard that name before, but he couldn't really place it. When Arthur frowned at him though and raised his eyebrow, Merlin frowned back and rolled his eyes a little. "You probably forgot because of your unnatural stupidity, but I don't have my memories, so maybe you could help a bit." Merlin was surprised when Arthur kept frowning at him with a worried expression.

"But... I already told you who Gaius was." Arthur told him, and Merlin was taken aback. What? "Yesterday, at the lake, remember?"

Merlin felt panic spread through his body and it wasn't because Arthur was still looking at him with that ridiculously beautiful face and eyes and hair and- okay, it just wasn't because of that. Why couldn't he remember Gaius when Arthur already told him about him? "Oh, yeah, I remember." Merlin lied, snorted slightly and looked down, continuing on his way to the town.

"Do you?" Arthur asked, doubt clearly present in his voice.

"Yeah, of course, I was just joking." Merlin told him, not looking at him. Then he tried to turn it all into a joke by insulting Arthur, which already seemed to be nearly a half of all of their conversations. "You're dead for a few years and completely lose your sense of humour, you should watch more comedies on tv."

Arthur didn't comment on that although Merlin was sure Arthur didn't know what he meant by comedy. He was glad when Arthur repeated who Gaius was in his next sentence.

"Gaius was a court physician, a father figure to you and you lived with him in his chambers." He said, and Merlin kept silent, pretending he already knew that. After Arthur realized Merlin wasn't about to say anything else, he sighed and continued. "Anyway, I don't know much about magic, that was what I was trying to say. And the lady on the tv said it was just hallucinations."

"She's just trying to cover it to not raise any panic." Merlin said. "Now come on, we need to buy phones first because if we get lost, we'll need them. Also, forests are dangerous, not much has changed about that."

"You're forgetting I am a knight, Merlin." Arthur said as he kept walking next to him, along the road where Merlin got hit by the car.

"And you're forgetting that you don't have your sword here, and as I've already told you, you can't just kill someone these days." He informed him. He didn't want to end up in a prison if Arthur killed someone.

Arthur sighed. "I don't even know where my sword is." He mumbled under his breath as they continued walking. (It was probably still in the lake, waiting for the right century with the right Arthur who needed it to save the world.)

And they kept walking until they made it to Glastonbury. They didn't talk much, but it didn't take long to reach the town. Only about half an hour, besides, they would have plenty of time to talk in the forest, Merlin was sure of that. He also took two sleeping bags (thank god he found them under the stairs) and a lot of food and money for the phones. Of course he wrote down Agatha's phone number and kept it in his pocket, he wanted to add her into his contacts as soon as he had the phone.

When they finally arrived to Glastonbury, Merlin almost forgot about how many people gave them odd looks before Ag picked them up for the concert. It was like they were popular now, but no one actually wanted to know them, maybe because they were afraid.

Regardless, they found a shop with electronics and Merlin started looking around to find the best phones they could have, and maybe the easiest to use too because of Arthur, who was currently looking all around the shop at the little flat black boxes with big curious eyes. Merlin couldn't help but roll his eyes fondly at that.

"Just make sure you don't drop it." Merlin told Arthur when they were leaving the shop, both with a new smartphone in their hands. "The screen might shatter and then we'd have to buy a new phone."

"I'm not as clumsy as you are, Merlin." Arthur rolled his eyes as they crossed the street and continued walking, not really knowing where to go. "What are you doing?" Arthur asked when he saw Merlin was touching the screen of the black device and obviously doing something.

"I'll have to teach you how to use this," Merlin mumbled as he kept touching the screen. Then he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a little piece of paper. "I'm adding Agatha's number so we can call her."

"She won't hear you, she's not here." Arthur frowned, which made Merlin chuckle.

"It's all technology, clotpole." He smiled fondly. "Here," he took Arthur's phone from his hand and started doing the same thing he did with his phone. Then he handed it back and smiled up at him. "Now you have her number as well."

Arthur looked at the phone in his hand all confused and then looked at Merlin with suspicion in his eyes. Merlin rolled his eyes at that. "You can call her without her having to be here." He explained. "Her phone will ring and she'll answer and hear what you're saying from here."

"That's like magic." A little smile appeared on Arthur's lips as they continued walking.

"A little bit, yeah." Merlin mused. "I read in my diaries or in the book of magic, I don't know..." he started, "that sorcerers were able to communicate telepathically. In their heads. I don't remember doing it, but it must have been pretty cool."

"Cool?" Arthur asked.

"That means awesome. Amazing. Very interesting. Things like that."

"Oh."

Merlin smiled at that and put his phone into the pocket. "I can show you how to use it once we're in the forest or back home tonight." Arthur paused when Merlin said that and Merlin turned to him, frowning. "What?"

"I was thinking..." Arthur started. "That we could sleep in the forest. Overnight."

"What?" Merlin's eyes widened with confusion. Damnit, when he packed the sleeping bags, he didn't mean to use them for sleeping, just so that they wouldn't have to sit on the cold ground.

"We did that a lot, back in Camelot. And I hoped it would help you remember." Arthur shrugged and although Merlin appreciated that Arthur was being honest with him for once, he didn't really like the idea. Arthur seemed to know that, so he hurriedly added. "We have enough food and we can find some nice place and just give it a chance, will you? I can still boss you around."

Merlin sighed at that. "I don't.. I-"

"Merlin." Arthur told him and looked into his eyes seriously. "It's not often that I say this, so be happy that I even consider doing this, but here we go... please."

"I'll have to make you say please more often, this is ridiculous." Merlin rolled his eyes. Before Arthur could reply to that though, Merlin added. "Fine, I'll consider sleeping in the forest." He told him. "But it depends on how far we'll go from home."

Merlin smiled fondly when he heard Arthur's mumbled "yes."

When they turned around to walk away again, something stopped them. It was a man, who was standing in the middle of the road, looking all confused and scared. Arthur could swear that man wasn't there a second ago, and thank god there were no cars around when he appeared out of nowhere.

He was dressed in a warm coat and a purple scarf, he had one ski-stick in his hand and ski-goggles that he just removed, only to stare at everything around him with his... gold eyes. There was no doubt, he must have used magic somehow to transport himself and he had no idea what happened.

"Merlin?" He heard Arthur's voice behind him and all he managed to do was that he nodded his head. "Magic."

"Excuse us, sir?" Merlin tried to approach the man with his hands in the air to show it was alright. "We saw what happened, I can help y-"

"I'm alright!" The man yelled at him with his eyes still wide. He turned around and realizing he was standing in the middle of the road, he quickly took a few steps back. His eyes glowed gold again and even though Merlin didn't see anything happening with magic, the guy started running away from them. "I'm alright!" He yelled.

Merlin didn't even try to follow him, the guy clearly didn't want their help.

"Aren't we going to follow him?" Arthur asked and when Merlin turned back to him, he shook his head.

"I don't think he'd let us." He said. "Let's call Agatha. You want horses and I have absolutely no idea where to find them."

Arthur was a little taken aback by how quickly Merlin decided not to help that man. He must have changed over the last thousand years, he was all alone without him here after all. But he was still his Merlin, and nothing would ever change that. Besides, that man ran away from them.

With that he nodded and they went to sit down on a bench that was near them and Merlin pulled out his phone. He found the contact list and called the only number that was there. Agatha Black. He would have to add Arthur's number too so they could call each other.

The phone rang a few times as they waited for her to pick it up. Finally someone did and Merlin smiled. "Hi Agatha." He said.

"Hi," Arthur added, trying to get his ear closer to the phone that Merlin held in the air between them. The one who answered wasn't Agatha though.

"Oh hello, this is Morgan." Morgana answered and both Arthur and Merlin widened their eyes. They did not expect her. The first instinct that Arthur had was to ask "what have you done to her and where is she now", but it seemed Merlin didn't want to reply that.

"Hi," Merlin started awkwardly. "Where's Agatha?"

"She's in the bathroom, but she'll be out in a minute. She doesn't get many phone calls, I tell you, but it wasn't anyone from family so I thought it was an ad or something." She paused. "Why are you calling?"

"We're in town and we forgot to ask Agatha something." Merlin forced a smile. "I don't suppose you would know the answer..."

"Depends on what the question is," she replied and he could almost hear the smirk in her voice.

"Well, do you happen to know if there are any ranches around Glastonbury? Or some place where we could borrow horses for a few hours?"

They could both hear Morgana laugh a bit. "Horse lovers, aren't you?" She asked. "Well, It's been ages since I rode a horse, but there is a place like that in Glastonbury. It's on the opposite side of the town from your house. I'm afraid you'll have to walk through the entire town to get there, but once you're there, look for a man called Phillip." She advised them. "He knows me, I used to go there a few times when I moved here."

"Okay, thanks." Merlin thanked her and was glad that she didn't seem to want to expand their conversation any further.

"Bye! And good luck!" She said and the phone went silent again.

"I don't think we should go there." Arthur voiced his thoughts as soon as the phone call ended. "It's Morgana, she could do anything to us. And you've seen that man, magic is coming back to this world and-"

"And I really doubt that Morgana remembers that we used to be enemies." Merlin interrupted him, standing up. "She seemed friendly, didn't she? And at least we know where to find your precious horses now."

Arthur rolled his eyes at that. "Okay," he agreed as he stood up as well. "Let's go then. But if something happens, you can expect I told you so."

"You're such a dollophead, really." Merlin chuckled quietly as they started walking again, in the opposite direction than where his house was.

"And you're still an idiot." Arthur replied, but followed his friend anyway.

xoXÖXox

"I don't understand this," Arthur said as he was sitting on the borrowed horse in the middle of the forest, sort of leading Merlin and sort of examining his new phone at the same time. It was late afternoon and the golden sun rays looked almost too pretty between the green and yellowish leaves. It was beginning to be autumn again and the chilly air was only another proof of that.

"I could imagine you don't." Merlin replied from behind Arthur, following him on another horse. If he was being honest, he did enjoy the ride. It felt like something he forgot but still knew how to do, sort of like riding a bike. Although he wasn't sure if he could do that too.

He liked the nature all around and he just hoped Arthur was right and that it would help him remember. And unlike Arthur, he knew how to use his new smartphone, so he quickly opened the camera and took a picture of the sun between the leaves all around them. He smiled when he saved the picture and put the phone back into his jacket's pocket.

"It's... it's..." it seemed Arthur couldn't find the right words to describe his new possession, and Merlin wasn't surprised. It was actually kind of cute. Everything Arthur did was cute. But he shouldn't be thinking about that right now, it was just making him blush.

"Okay, why don't you put the phone away, and actually focus on the horse, okay? You have to lead it, it doesn't know you and doesn't know where you want to go."

Arthur huffed and put the phone away, almost forgetting to turn off the screen. "I don't care where we go, I just wanted to take you into the forest. I don't even know where we are." He admitted, making Merlin roll his eyes again.

"I don't remember these woods, I thought maybe you would... a little." Merlin told him, but he knew it was no help at all. They were lost, but even if they were, the trip was nice.

"Even forests change over time." Arthur told him as he stopped the horse suddenly. They came upon a little clearing with a thick old tree in the middle. It looked old and very magnificent. And without saying anything else, Arthur dismounted and tied the horse to another tree, slowly going to the old oak tree in the middle.

"Arthur?" Merlin asked, his voice a little hesitant.

But Arthur didn't seem to listen to him, or hear him at all. He touched the trunk of the old tree and stayed like that, bowing his head. And that was when Merlin realized what was going on.

"I remember this tree." Arthur said in a voice that was a bit too quiet.

"Arthur-"

"We can stay here," Arthur cut him off as he turned back to him and took Merlin's reins, leading him to the same tree he had tied his horse to. Merlin understood what that meant - Arthur didn't want to talk about his feelings, but he never did. That was what Merlin learned from his diaries (that he might have peeked into during one restless night) and from the way Arthur usually behaved.

"Okay," Merlin said as he finally dismounted his horse, following Arthur's example. He went to the tree and touched it with his own palm. Arthur was by the horses, hopefully not looking at him, but Merlin didn't really mind. They both knew he was trying to get his memories back and if this tree has been here the entire time, then maybe he could remember something about it, recover it from his memories.

He closed his eyes, but felt nothing.

After a while he sighed and gave up, turning around and noticing Arthur was looking at him and holding his phone again. "Hey Merlin!" He exclaimed. "There's a mirror!"

Merlin rolled his eyes at that again, but fondly. He noticed he did that a lot around Arthur, and even though he tried hard not to, the nervous feeling in his stomach returned as soon as he thought about it. "That's a camera." He said as if it was obvious. Well, for him it was anyway.

"Came-a-what?" Arthur squinted his eyes.

"Here, let me show you," Merlin smiled and walked over to Arthur, leaning closer to him, so dangerously close. He focused on the phone in front of them and of course it was set on the front camera. "We can take pictures with it." He lectured the king. "Like this."

He smiled into the camera and made a pose, waiting for Arthur to do the same. Although his smile didn't look very trusting, Merlin snapped the camera and took the picture, quickly finding it in the gallery and showing it to Arthur.

"See?" He smiled. "Now it'll stay there saved forever, unless you break the phone or delete the picture."

Arthur kept looking at the photo for a few moments and Merlin kept looking at Arthur's face as he was looking at the phone, until the king raised his eyebrow. "Well, you still look ridiculous." He commented and laughed when he heard Merlin's very audible snort.

"I wonder if people in Camelot could actually stand you all those years." He mumbled as he went to the horses to get an apple out of the saddlebag they were allowed to use. Before he could take a bite though, the horse nudged his shoulder with its nose and started looking at the apple with big brown eyes. Merlin smiled fondly and gave him the apple.

"You definitely couldn't stand me, and you never hesitated to remind me of that." Arthur answered as he put the phone back into his pocket and went over to Merlin, giving an apple to his horse too. Well, the apple from Merlin's saddlebag of course.

"Hey," Merlin half smiled and half frowned when he saw that. "That was my apple!"

"Oh, sorry," Arthur smirked as he looked at the rest of the apple in the horse's mouth and on the ground. "Do you want it back?" He teased and yet again, Merlin had to roll his eyes.

"Of course not, but you owe me now." He replied instead.

"Sure I do." Arthur laughed and punched Merlin in the shoulder slightly.

"Ow!" He cried out. "Do you usually just punch people out of nowhere? Let me guess, you really miss your sword."

Now it was Arthur's turn to roll his eyes slightly. "It usually worked on the knights," he said, but Merlin was already walking away towards the tree.

He sat down to it, his back leaning against the old trunk and he looked up at Arthur. He wondered how many times they were in the forest together, just the two of them. He wondered if they'd ever... no, Arthur married Gwen, it was obvious he was straight. But that didn't change the feeling Merlin kept deep in his heart.

His eyes wandered to Arthur's face and his hair illuminated by the late golden sun. His eyes were warm and he had an easy smile on his lips, looking at the horse and then turning his head to look at Merlin. And Merlin blushed and looked down, pretending he was playing with his fingers.

When suddenly Arthur sat down right next to him against the tree, their sides touching and thighs brushing together. Merlin shivered and looked up at the king, who was looking in front of him, probably thinking about something.

"When you think about me and you in the forest... what's the first thing that comes to your mind?" Arthur asked all of a sudden, not looking at Merlin yet, but Merlin knew he would look down at him eventually, and he really didn't want him to see his very red face right now.

Maybe it would be better to ask 'What's the second thing that comes to your mind?' because well, neither Merlin nor Arthur were prepared to hear about the first thing that Merlin was thinking about.

Merlin cleared his throat and started playing with his fingers again, looking down. He closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath and then he breathed out, looking up at the trees around him, the sun and the horses... it all reminded him of how he felt when he was home. He didn't feel like that often, not even when he was in his house because it still didn't really feel like his home yet. Maybe with Arthur there, that would change in time, because Merlin felt that if Arthur was by his side and he was by his, he didn't really care about where they were.

"Home," Merlin answered honestly, for which he received a very puzzled expression from Arthur. When Merlin saw that, he rolled his eyes and the precious moment of honesty was gone. "I meant like... it feels familiar." He tried to explain, but he didn't think any word in English could capture what he felt when he was sitting like that right next to his friend.

"Well, it should." Arthur raised his eyebrows slightly as he shifted on the ground and looked around at all the glory of the forest, changing from its summer clothes to the autumn ones. "We spent a lot of time together in the woods, either on some mission for my father or on hunting trips-"

"I do remember I hated them." Merlin interrupted him, not really knowing where that thought came from. But he didn't think he disagreed with it.

"-or we travelled with the knights of Camelot." Arthur finished his sentence. "That was later, when my father died and I became the king."

"Knights of the Round Table." Merlin quoted one of many, many phrases used in the books in his room.

Arthur pondered a little of it before he started nodding. "Yes, I guess you could call them that." He agreed after a while. Well, it seemed that was another term created by people who weren't there to actually meet the knights of legends.

"Were we good friends?" Merlin asked hesitantly. He knew that there was a drunk knight or someone like that, he was sure Arthur told him. He couldn't remember the name though, even though they talked about him the day before. Or was it the day before yesterday? Merlin wasn't really sure. "You said we travelled with them."

"We were." Arthur said and when Merlin looked at him, there was a little sad smile on Arthur's lips. "There was five of us. Sir Leon, he was a knight as long as I can remember. Always loyal to the king, both to Uther and to me. Then there was Sir Lancelot. He cheated to become a knight, but he deserved the position. More than a lot of other knights I used to know. Sir Gwaine, that was our funny friend. I think he liked you more, but he was loyal nonetheless and always cheered us up when the situation was stressful." Arthur smiled at that and noticed Merlin was watching him the entire time. "He really loved tavern fights and mead. And then there was Sir Percival. Very strong and not very talkative, but he and Gwaine became good friends. And the last one was Sir Elyan. Gwen's brother."

"They sound like great people." Merlin smiled sadly as he looked down and stopped watching Arthur's beautifully illuminated face.

"They were." The king nodded.

"I wish I could remember them." Merlin added, his voice quiet. Arthur heard him and turned his head to him, looking at his sad little face. Merlin was aware of where Arthur's eyes landed, but he didn't look back. He couldn't look into Arthur's face, knowing how disappointed he had to be that Merlin still couldn't remember anything.

He and Arthur both wished the trip in the woods would help him.

xoXÖXox

They ended up sitting under the tree for way too long, and when they led their horses to a meadow that was nearby, the sun was already setting, casting long almost red shadows behind them. Though the air was still chilly, the sun was warm on Arthur's face and when he closed his eyes, it felt as if he was back in the meadows and fields of Camelot. Back home.

He always thought of Camelot as his home, but the castle no longer existed. Agatha made that clear. And Arthur was slowly realizing that sooner or later he'll have to start thinking of Merlin's house as his new home.

Home was a very strong word. It was a place of his family and friends, somewhere he belonged, where he felt safe. Did he feel all those things at Camelot? Did he still think all those things only with Merlin here? Partly. He'd have to cross out the friends in his list and change it only to one friend. But it was his closest friend. Merlin was family. Which was even stronger word in Arthur's vocabulary.

They ate something and mounted their horses again, getting deeper into the woods. And they kept talking (well, mostly Merlin did), and for a few moments, everything was like it used to be. Like it was supposed to be.

Arthur didn't want to dwell on the thought that Guinevere and all of his friends were dead and not coming back. What he wanted to enjoy, was the only familiar person that kept him company in this world.

When the sun was almost behind the horizon and they realized they had spent way too much time in the forest, Merlin suggested they should return so they could make it home for supper. That he would make of course, Arthur couldn't cook.

"Maybe we could stay here instead." Arthur said after Merlin wanted to turn around. He would very much like to spend the night in the woods. Yes, it wasn't exactly a warm night, but the sky was clear and they would see the stars and it would allow him to stay in his fantasy for a few more hours. A fantasy far away from all the technology in this world.

"What?" Merlin turned to him with disbelief all over his face.

"We're staying." Arthur smiled, and it might have sounded like an order, okay, but he really wanted to stay there whether Merlin liked it or not.

"It's too cold, we don't have blankets and nothing that would make us warm during the night and-"

"I took some blankets." Arthur told him. It was true after all, they were in his saddlebag, ready to use any time they needed them. Arthur was used to taking things like that with him on the travels. And he sort of hoped they could stay in the forest, and even if Merlin didn't want to, he wasn't the one born to give orders.

"You too- what?" Merlin looked behind his back at Arthur's horse.

"It's in my saddlebag, and I've already decided." Arthur put up his mind and after a few more arguments, it was settled. They were definitely staying for the night and there was nothing Merlin could do to change his decision. "You're going to thank me afterwards, you'll see." Arthur smirked as he dismounted and led the horse back into the forest from the meadow.

He could almost feel Merlin's powerful eyeroll.

"I have a feeling I won't." Merlin replied seconds later, following Arthur anyway.

"You always have feelings and they're usually wrong, I don't think this one is an exception." Arthur said and smiled triumphantly when he found the perfect place in the forest to sleep on. He tied the horse to a tree branch and Merlin followed his example.

"You make a brilliant exception though, did you know that?" Merlin said when Arthur turned to him and stepped aside so Merlin could tie his horse next to Arthur's horse. "I read somewhere that people of higher status were usually clever and good at making decisions."

Arthur punched Merlin in the arm again and instead of replying, he reached for his saddlebag to pull out the two blankets he took from his and Merlin's rooms. "Idiot." He muttered and placed the blankets on the ground, right next to a thick tree.

"Uh, prat." Merlin whispered, and Arthur didn't know if Merlin knew Arthur heard him, but it seemed he didn't care because he started feeding the horses again. "They need water." He said and closed his eyes. Arthur could see his eyes moving under his eyelids and he was wondering what Merlin was doing, when suddenly his eyes snapped open and they were gold. "There's a stream a few minutes from here." He informed him as he turned to him.

Arthur realized he was using the same magic trick he used on his last day. He could see the path ahead. Arthur smiled. "Okay, then go there and get some water for the horses." He turned around to arrange the blankets on the ground and could hear Merlin's groan.

"I'm not your servant anymore." He said, but started walking away anyway, mumbling something under his breath, which sounded a lot like 'Oh no it's okay, I'll just make myself some pail with my magic, don't worry about me Arthur, I'll be fine.' and Arthur couldn't help but chuckle at that.

His old whiny Merlin was still there somewhere, under a pile of lost memories.

"Oh and I took two sleeping bags, they're in my saddlebag!" Merlin yelled at him from the distance, purposely mentioning it late to make Arthur pay for making him sleep in the forest after all.

Now it was Arthur's turn to groan.

xoXÖXox

It has been an hour since Arthur noticed Merlin had fallen asleep. They were lying next to each other, with their heads between the large roots of the tree above them. And Arthur still couldn't fall asleep. They were watching the stars before Merlin fell asleep. Now Arthur was watching on his own, noticing how the stars moved across the sky as the time went by.

When he saw a shooting star, he closed his eyes and made a wish.

Please make everything normal again. I want to be happy.

When he opened his eyes, he looked down at Merlin. His dark hair was falling across his forehead and his eyes were still under his eyelids. His breathing was even, in and out, in and out. Arthur smiled and closed his eyes as well, breathing in the chilly night air and thinking about his wish as he exhaled.

He didn't know if he was happy now. He knew he was almost happy when he was with Merlin, but there was always a part of him that kept thinking, if only our friends could be here too. If only we were back in Camelot. He knew he had to learn to stop thinking about it because other than Morgana and him, there was no one coming back. And even though he knew Morgana was actually reborn and that could mean that others were reborn too, he couldn't think about them as his friends and family anymore. Because even if they were somewhere out there, they didn't know him.

They didn't remember the times when they smiled at each other while crossing the courtyard on a sunny day. They didn't remember any of that, and that made them a whole new people.

Besides, he couldn't even know their names since Morgana's name was different. Morgan McFly or something, he couldn't remember and he didn't even really care.

So he closed his eyes again and took a deep breath, thinking about what he had left. Merlin.

It was about two hours later when something woke him up. A little sound, a voice. The stirring of a body lying next to him, movement under the blanket. Arthur stirred as well and turned to face his friend. But Merlin didn't look as peaceful as before. His brows were furrowed and his eyes were moving rapidly under his eyelids and he kept shaking his hands and head from one side to another, chanting Arthur's name like a charm.

"Arthur, no." He mumbled as little beads of sweat started forming on his forehead and temples, damping his dark hair that stuck to his skin. "No, no, Arthur!"

When Arthur realized what was happening, his eyes widened and he threw off the blanket, immediately getting closer to Merlin and holding his forearms. "Merlin!" He called his name, looking down at his face as he was breathing quickly and shaking his head. "Merlin, wake up, you buffoon!"

Arthur touched Merlin's face and then shook his shoulders, finally shaking Merlin awake. His eyes were wide and full of tears as he looked up into the eyes of the man he had failed to protect. And in the next second Merlin launched himself at Arthur, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and shaking.

"Arthur I'm so sorry I didn't call the dragon sooner, I'm so sorry you died, it was all my fault-" He started mumbling into Arthur's wet shoulder without letting Arthur say anything until the king stopped him.

"Merlin, what are you talking about? A dragon?"

Merlin stilled in his arms, glad that Arthur's hands were on his back, moving up and down. Then he closed his eyes and explained. "I had a nightmare," he started. "It was a memory of your last day and... I remember what happened. I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you." He squeezed Arthur more tightly and kept his eyes shut.

Arthur understood now. "It's okay, Merlin, I'm alive again." He tried to make him feel better, but they both knew that won't work because Merlin's hands kept trembling behind Arthur's head. "It's all in the past now."

"We should be there too." Merlin whispered. "If I had kept you alive, if I had killed Mordred when I had the chance to, none of this would have happened. We would have been in Camelot and you could be king again. Everyone would be happy and alive."

Arthur frowned slightly. He wished they were back in Camelot, but... the future had its upsides too. He and Merlin seemed to get closer even though Merlin didn't remember the majority of his life in Camelot, and they never would have met Agatha.

"You need to let it go, Merlin." He sighed. "What happened happened and there is nothing you can do to change it, even with all your magic." He hoped Merlin would understand now.

The warlock nodded against his neck and sniffled. "Just... just give me a minute." He added as he closed his eyes again and held Arthur in his arms and let Arthur hold him. To be honest, Arthur didn't mind the closeness at all. He didn't mind being close to Merlin in the past either, but they never hugged so often before.

After a while, when Merlin calmed down and apologized many times for being so clingy, they decided to go back home and spend the rest of the night there. The forest was scary in the night, and Merlin refused to sleep there again in order to prevent even more nightmares, so what was Arthur supposed to do?

They woke up the horses and returned to the farm where they had borrowed them. They woke up the owner and returned the horses together with more money for keeping them a few hours longer than they should have, and then they went back to Merlin's house on their own.

When they entered the house and left their backpacks in front of the front door, Merlin immediately started walking up the stairs, probably to hide in his room. Just when he was about to close the door behind himself, Arthur stopped him with his hand on Merlin's wrist.

Merlin looked down at his hand and then up at Arthur, who smiled slightly and sighed. "Good night," he told him, and was happy to find Merlin returning the smile, even though it was just a little smile.

"Good night, Arthur." And then he was gone, behind the closed door, probably in his bed. Arthur hesitated to hug him again (he felt like they both needed it), but he was taking too long and Merlin was already gone.

He sighed and entered his own room, changing into the clothes Merlin bought him for sleeping. He kept the ring on his finger, so he played with it a little as he covered himself with the warm blanket that he took from his backpack. He closed his eyes and thought about the wish he made as he saw the shooting star.

He never really believed that wishes like that could come true, but if magic was real, who he was to say that the magical shooting star wasn't? All he wanted was to be happy again.

And to tell the truth, he felt like... if they were at the end of the world, or anywhere else without any of their friends, just like they were now, all he needed to live happily was his cheeky idiotic friend by his side.

TBC

Well, I hope you liked it! And please leave a review to let me know what you think so far or what you think will happen next ;)