So, this is suddenly the last chapter, yes, I know, it surprised me too. I would love some imput on what you think of the story. I claim no ownership of "Merlin", no copyright infringement is intended; this story is just for fun.

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Melin had rarely ever been as nervous as when he walked out in front of the castle to meet King Uther and Queen Igraine. "Ah, there you are dear" the Queen greeted him as she stepped out the main entrance a minute later with her husband. The car was already waiting conveniently, but there was no driver. Apparently, the King had opted to drive himself.

Getting into the backseat nervously, Merlin hoped it wasn't far. Surely it couldn't be if the others were riding there? He was broken out of his thoughts by a kind chuckle from Queen Igraine, as he husband started the car. "No need to look so worried, dear. We are not all that dangerous. Not after Uther has his first coffee of the morning, anyway".

"It is evening" the King pointed out, less harshly than Merlin had expected, never really having had a conversation with Arthur's father before. "I have had lots of coffee today". Startled by the realisation that the King was actually joking, Merlin gave a short, nervous laugh. Uther looked at him approvingly in the rearview mirror. "That's better. I don't bite, you know".

After that, the Queen quickly cut in with questions about his work with Arthur, sparing Merlin from having to reply to that comment. After a short ride at a well maintained but small road, Uther stopped and they got out of the car, the King leading the way to a well-lit folly, set up for an evening meal, doubtlessly by some servants who had driven there earlier. The others were already there, too, horses grazing some ways away, Freya looking spectacular as she was laughing in the candlelight. Catching sight of her, Merlin actually stopped and stared, but Queen Igraine was kind enough to gently nudge him along before anyone else noticed them.

Quickly drawn into the cirkle of friends by lancelot and the ever-joking Gwaine, Merlin soon found himself seated between Freya and Gwen's brother, listening to Leon (somewhat reluctantly) relay some gossip on the request (orders) of Morgana.

Merlin had gotten to know most of them through his weeks as Arthur's model and Freya's boyfriend, and he felt more comfortable in this setting than he thought he would, when Lance invited him to come with them.

It felt strangely natural somehow, to sit in an old folly with a bunch of Knights from all over the world, a royal family consisting of a Princess just as scary as her public image was sweet, an apparently not so stern King and a very gracious Queen, and a Prince who just wanted to be left with his easels most of the time. A Prince, he realised with a sense of unrealism, who was quickly becoming one of Merlin's best friends.

It was as he was sitting there, surrounded by these people who were strangers mere months ago, that he suddenly realised it. Those faces, lit by candles, he saw all around him, was not those of only his new girlfriend's friends, but his as well, and Merlin suddenly knew that he wasn't going to ever go back.

He had come to Albion with the full expectation of leaving again, probably quite soon, relocating somewhere entirely new probably, but in that moment it hit him that he was never going to, and more, that he didn't want to.

This was home now, this was where he belonged, these people, so different but so warm, were the people he belonged with. He silently looked around the table as Igraine told a funny story about her husband, years before the rest of them were even born, the King not even pretending to disapprove.

He realised he knew these faces now, that he could recognise the likely reaction of all of them. Freya laughing in that honest, beautiful way of hers. Arthur sniggering over his meal, Leon trying to be appropriate, Percival just eating and smiling. Morgana with that scary, all-knowing expressiopn, leaning on Leon, perhaps for warmth.

They were all part of Merlin's life now, and he would never want anything else. Somehow, they had become family to him. Even Gwaine, with his constant defiance of everything even close to normality or soft-spokenness. Merlin smiled warmly as he laid an arm around Freya, even happier when she immediately leaned into him. Finally, at long last, Merlin had found his way home.