You know the drill, I own Katie and her past and that's it. I do not own Episode one of Series 3 this will be and AU version as always and as always, enjoy. I just need to add that I know this is chapter 12 again but for some reason this was deleted so I'm uploading it again.

Arthur rode on one of his trusty horses, followed by a band of guards, and Merlin. They galloped through strange countryside, Merlin wouldn't stop whining and had decided to resort to calling Arthur "Dollop head."

They were trying to find Morgana, the woman had vanished over a year ago and Uther was using all of his resources to try and find his ward. Arthur often contemplated over how Uther was using so many men to get Morgana back but no one had been sent to get Katie back, not like the first time she left.

Merlin whined as much as possible to annoy Arthur. He missed the warmth of the castle and the musty smell it had, it beat galloping on his almost-ex's horse. Katie had been gone for over three years and Merlin missed her terribly, that horse was the only connection he had with her. She had only been around him for a few days but she had made a huge impact on him and he couldn't understand why.

The whole group moved forward, Merlin felt more and more miserable. They trotted through the forest, a strange mist hung over a glade they passed by, it was eerily silent.

There was a loud yell and out of the mist a gang of men ran at Arthur. As the gang of men ran at Arthur and his men there was a whiny from a horse to the right of them and the sounds of hooves. A girl flipped off of the horse and she pulled out a sword to make contact with the one aimed at the man she loved.

She shoved her sword into his chest and turn to grin at Merlin, "Miss me?"

"K-Katie…" Was all he could manage.

"You can thank me later." She laughed, making her way into the battle.

She noticed Arthur and he stared at her, "Kathryn?" He shouted.

"What can I say? I have good timing." She laughed. Katie hit one man with the hilt of her sword, in the face, and he felt back. She had missed the feel of bones breaking under her sword. She heard a scream as she absentmindedly stabbed a man.

After they had finished, a pile of wreckage in front of them, Arthur embraced Katie, "I missed you."

"You always do."

"You've been gone a while."

"How long? You loose track of the days on the road."

Two years, five months and two days. Thought Merlin, "Around two years." He shrugged.

"That long? I meant to come back sooner."

"How did you find us?" Arthur asked, dragging Katie's attention away from Merlin.

"Well, you and your men found my camping site, you stayed there for the night actually. I stayed in the shadows, I didn't want to be found straight away. I followed you here and it's a good thing I did."

"We would have survived."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." She laughed. Her face turned dramatically and she turned around.

"Kay-"

"Shh." She said covering Merlin's mouth with her hand. The contact sent electricity through her.

In the mist a figure moved towards them. She moved forward and Merlin instinctively reached out for her, grabbing her arm. Katie turned to look at who was holding her back and smiled reassuringly. I'm not losing you again. He thought at her, not bringing himself to say it.

Soon the figure was clear, it was Morgana. Arthur ran forward to get her and looked at Katie. She rushed forward, "Let me take her on my horse, I can get back to Camelot quicker than you. I'll meet you there."

Katie picked up the woman and placed her upon her horse. Katie got up and held onto both the reigns and Morgana. She rode quickly and avoided as many jolts as she could. Arthur and his group kept up at first but soon enough Kathryn vanished from sight.

Katie sped through the forest, egging her horse on and putting spells on her trusty stead to make her move faster. "Don't give up, not yet." She kept whispering, almost to herself.

Morgana seemed to be drifting off and Katie became more and more panicked. When Katie reached Camelot she took the, now completely unconscious, Lady Morgana to her room and fetched Gaius. "Gaius!" Katie yelled, once she burst into his quarters.

"Yes?" He asked worriedly, he turned to look at the door and paused, "Katie? You're back!" His grinned and Katie shook her head.

"Morgana's sick, she's in her room."

"You found her?"

"Arthur did. No time to explain." She rushed towards the other woman's room before Gaius could even process what was happening.

As soon as he arrived, Gaius got to work, checking over the woman.

Katie was shocked later on, when she saw Arthur and his men racing towards the citadel in pitch darkness. She had seen something move in the darkness and performed a spell so she could see what it was. "How'd they get here so fast?" She whispered. They were at least a days ride away. She ended in her head.

Arthur ran through the halls, dodging every guard. "Is she alright?" He asked the room, as he burst through the door.

"She has no physical problems." Gaius replied solemnly.

Arthur sat by Morgana's bed and held her hand. Katie bowed slightly and left, thankful no one was asking any questions.

Merlin was pacing in his and Gaius's quarters. Katie had a hunch he would be in there and rushed towards the room. "Hi." She said as she walked in.

Merlin chuckled softly, "I thought I had only imagined you were back."

"I'm sorry it took me so long to return. I wanted to come back sooner but I-I had things to do."

"What kind of things?" He asked, surprisingly paranoid.

"It doesn't matter now, I'm back. Now, tell me everything that happened over the past… since I've been gone." She demanded, sitting on one of the benches.

Merlin stayed quiet for a little while. "Merlin, it's me. You can tell me anything." There was a pause and she guessed why he was so reluctant to tell her anything, "I left you, you were allowed to fall for someone else." She said nervously.

"You know?" He asked, horrified.

"I couldn't leave and not check up on you every now and then." She smiled forcefully. "Don't leave anything out."

Merlin started summarising the past two years, five months and two days since she had been gone. "Gwen and Arthur? You must be joking."

"I'm not, honestly. They are… in love." He averted his eyes as he said the last two words.

Katie put her hand on Merlin's, "I'm not leaving you again. I promise." She stared into his bright blue eyes and felt the same sensation she had felt when they had kissed for the first time. "And I'm sorry if I confused your feelings."

"No, it's fine. I'm not confused, you left and then you were fine with me seeing someone else." He said, looking at their hands, but not retracting his.

"No, I wasn't. I just don't want you to feel like you need to hide that sort of stuff from me. As soon as I heard about it I wanted to come back and fight for you."

"Why didn't you?" He asked, hurt.

"It wasn't time yet." She whispered.

"It's time now?" He laughed sarcastically, taking back his hand and standing up.

"It's almost time. I came back slightly early." She smiled reassuringly, trying to justify herself and failing miserably. Merlin wouldn't look at her. "I came back because I… I missed you. It was just luck that you camped near me, I was making my way back to Camelot when I heard your voice. I thought I was dreaming at first but you are the only person I know who would dare call Arthur a 'dollop head.'" Merlin softened and laughed quietly.

"I missed you too." He smiled, sadly, turning towards her. Katie stood up and smiled, walking towards hi slowly.

"You're thinner than when I last saw you. You're hair's shorter too." She observed wanting to touch said hair. He smiled warmly. "Has Gaius been starving you?" Katie asked, sort of concerned.

"No, I just…" He drifted off.

"Just what?" She smiled and he took a step backwards, realising how close she was to him. Katie's face screwed up and Merlin closed his eyes mentally shouting I'm sorry!

There was a sort of awkward silence. "I didn't think you were coming back." He almost whispered.

"I'll always come back. I told you I would." She smiled.

Gaius walked into the room and Merlin immediately looked towards him, glad for the extra person in the room. "Did she say anything?" He asked, too quickly.

"No, Merlin." Gaius sighed and stood by Katie, "Thank you for bringing her back. I'm glad you're back, too." He smiled at her, embracing the girl.

Just so you know I will be uploading these very slowly because I'm at uni now and it is CRAZY! I will try to upload as much as possible.