So, this is the last chapter! I hope you like it, although it may not be quite as good seeing as AP tests have kind of fried my brain. If you would like an epilogue, let me know in the reviews. The epilogue would basically consist of anything you'd like: an extension of the story, maybe some more Gwaine/Percival, how the rest of Arthur and Merlin's friends are doing in the Spirit World, whatever. Just let me know in the reviews. If I don't get any requests, I won't write one, and I'm marking this story as complete. :) I hope you enjoyed this!

Merlin closed his eyes tightly. No...not now...please, not now…. He knew what was happening and he had come to terms with it a long time ago. He had welcomed it, in fact.

He was dying.

He couldn't let Arthur know. But he would know, in a minute.

"Merlin?" Arthur's nervous voice came again. He shook him. "Merlin!" Merlin groaned and swatted him away weakly. "Merlin, what's wrong? Come on, did you eat something bad for breakfast? Merlin!" He could hear Arthur trying to make light of it, but not only was he failing, the worry in his voice was evident.

Merlin slowly unwound as the pain ebbed slightly and was lying on the shore, his head facing the water. He turned his head slowly to see Arthur's face above his. He blinked, the world going in slow motion and said,

'I'm fine." Arthur frowned at him and pulled him up, looking him up and down.

"No, you're not, you're practically green, we need to get you back to your house, now."

"I agree," Merlin said, before his legs gave way again. He slumped to the floor. He weakly put out a hand to try and cast the spell to send Arthur back across. He was so weak he couldn't make a spark appear. He released his arm and it fell limply by his side. "Can't." Arthur's eyes widened.

"Merlin, you need help. You really don't look good."

"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry my visage offends you."

"No, really, you look sick and you were just convulsing on the ground a minute ago." Merlin glanced up at him.

"I can't. Unless you can swim a quarter of a mile, I can't help you get across," he told him simply, a pouty expression on his face, still sitting on the ground.

"Is there anything you can do? You need to get help, you're exhausted." The aging spell flickered for a minute and Merlin sighed.

"I can try to see if Freya is in the lake. Maybe she can help you get across," Merlin said sleepily. His eyelids were drooping and he started to slump back and Arthur caught him, pushing him back up.

"No, no, no, you're not giving up on me yet. You do not go to sleep, Merlin, do you understand?" the former knight asked. Merlin nodded and put his finger lazily in the water, whispering a spell to summon Freya. She appeared after a tense five minutes of silence, and her image was still flickering.

"Merlin!" she gasped, "Sorry, I'm still getting used to this again. What's the matter with you? You look awful!" Merlin didn't reply, his eyes closing again. Arthur pulled up next to him, and gave him a good smack in the back of the head. It temporarily revived him and Arthur explained for Merlin,

"He just sent everyone back, he had to open a portal or something, and now there's something wrong with him. What do I do?" Freya looked surprised.

"He opened a...portal….? Arthur, what kind of portal?" she asked seriously.

"To send them to the Land of the Dead or the spirit world, or something along those lines."

While he was waiting for a definite response, Arthur smacked Merlin again to keep him awake and he heard a feeble, "Sto-op" from his friend, and took that as a good sign. Freya finally answered, biting her lip hesitantly,

"I think he's dying, Arthur." Arthur looked at her in disbelief.

"What? No, he's not. He's just sick. He's been alive for fifteen hundred years, he's not dying now. That's stupid," he blundered.

"He's been keeping up that aging spell for a year and a half now, not to mention he's done amazing feats of magic in that short period of time on top of that. Plus, he is very old. His body's been worn down, he's burned out. That last spell is what's killing him, it was a huge expense of -"

"He's not dying, Freya, I need another explanation and a way to fix him." He shoved Merlin again to keep him awake.

"Arthur, he can't be fixed! I told you! He's dying and there's nothing you can do!" Freya snapped. Arthur glanced at Merlin and saw a tear running down his face.

"You're not dying, you idiot," Arthur told him, turning his face towards his, "You're not."

"Arthur...," Merlin protested feebly.

"Freya, get us across," Arthur demanded. She crossed her arms.

"I can't."

"Oh you both have horrible attitudes. Yes you can."

"No, Arthur, I can't. First, I don't actually have the power, and second, he needs to die here. This was always where he was meant to die and if he doesn't, it will change his destiny. Let's not have any more unplanned problems, shall we?"

"Saving him is not an 'unplanned problem'," Arthur snapped.

"Yes and neither was resurrecting your friends, but it causes other problems that we can't have."

"We'll deal with it, we always do. That's what we do."

"Concerning Merlin, Arthur, I really don't know what the repercussions would be, it could be much worse than what you've just had to deal with. And either way he'd have to die."

"God…" Arthur muttered, his voice barely more than a whisper. He bowed his head to absorb this for a minute before raising his head and asking, "Is there anything I can do?"

Freya sadly shook her head 'No'. Arthur sighed and nodded at her, and she disappeared.

"Freya-" Merlin asked weakly.

"She's gone, Merlin," Arthur told him quietly. He slid his arms under Merlin's armpits, locked his arms around his chest, and pulled him into his arms. Merlin could barely stay awake, and he let Arthur drag him. Arthur cradled his head.

"You're not really dying, are you?" he asked stubbornly.

"Course not," Merlin joked, his voice rasping and weak.

"Okay," Arthur said. He held his friend tightly as if afraid if he let go he would lose him.

"Arthur-"

"Shh," Arthur said, "Save your energy."

"No, really-"

"Merlin, shut-"

"Arthur," Merlin said with renewed strength, "This is important." Arthur was silenced and Merlin continued, "When I'm gone, and you need to talk to me, just come here and ask for Freya."

Arthur frowned at him. "I can do that without magic?"

"Not exactly." Arthur frowned more.

"Merlin, I know you do magic and Freya can do it, but I'm not about to go do that. I can't just do magic."

Merlin coughed and a few drops of blood landed on his hand.

"Merlin….?"

"Hang on, shut up, just listen," Merlin said quickly, "I've changed my mind. This will be easier. You can't forget this. It's hard to learn, especially if you don't know how to do magic, but I think you'll get the hang of it." He coughed again.

"Merlin, how do I do it?" Arthur demanded. He wasn't so keen to learn magic so much as how to see Merlin if he really was dying.

"Arthur, I'm sorry," Merlin said quickly, his breathing getting short and shallow. He clung to Arthur's arm and Arthur pulled him upwards into something more like sitting and more towards him.

"No, no, there's nothing to be sorry for," he said softly, changing gears directly, "You're staying here with me, you're fine. We're going to be fine. We'll get out of this stupid town and go to….we'll go somewhere else. Just you and me." He was shaking him softly to keep him awake. Merlin leaned into him, nuzzling his chest and with every breath he was breathing in Arthur's scent. It was familiar and reminded him of home and made him feel worlds better. But it didn't take away from the fact that he was still dying. He coughed again, getting more blood on Arthur's t-shirt.

"Sorry," he apologized again quietly, "And I'm sorry I have to leave you."

"You're not leaving," Arthur said firmly, tears sneaking past his eyes and starting to fall down his face, "Tell me how to fix you."

"You can't fix me, Arthur, I'm not broken," Merlin replied wisely, "Someone was told me we're two sides of the same coin. As long as I'm with you, I'm complete."

"Don't get all cheesy and sentimental on me, Merlin," he snapped, "You're not saying goodbye. And if that's true, where does that put me? Without you, what am I?"

Merlin made an effort to roll his eyes. "An arrogant asshat with no one to remind you where you stand," he snorted. Arthur gave him a weak smile.

"So stay."

"I can't control that," he whispered, coughing into his shirt again, "Sorry…"

"It's a red t-shirt, it'll blend, its fine," Arthur waved his apology off. Merlin closed his eyes and Arthur took a sharp intake of breath.

"Merlin!" he shouted, shaking him back awake.

"Sto-op," came Merlin's feeble protest, "You're going to shake my brains out if you keep doing that."

"You can't leave me," Arthur whined, pressing his forehead to Merlin's.

"Arthur," he said seriously, "I survived without you for a long time, and that was with unrequited feelings and the burden of a destiny I had to carry alone."

"Don't remind me," Arthur scowled, "That stupid, stupid destiny…"

"Yes, but without it, we never would have been here, would we?" Merlin reminded him. Arthur seemed to shrug and with his last bit of strength, Merlin closed the space between them and kissed him. Arthur kissed him back, holding his head up. He tasted blood on his lips and thought Merlin's lip was bleeding and then remembered that he had been coughing up blood. He chose to ignore this and let this be his good bye. He felt Merlin pull away and when he opened his eyes, he saw Merlin go limp, his eyes closing and his head falling back against his knee.

"Merlin," Arthur started weakly, "Merlin! No, how do I find you again? Merlin!"

With a shuddering breath, Merlin's eyelids flickered open and he rasped, "My name….my name….Emrys…."

"And what else?" Arthur asked desperately. Merlin shook his head and coughed more violently before it abruptly stopped. His eyes closed for the last time and he let out a heavy sigh. Arthur hugged his body to him, feeling no heartbeat from Merlin when he did.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, "I'm so sorry, Merlin…" Merlin did not reply. He was gone. Arthur swallowed the lump in his throat, but tears still rose to his eyes as he whispered,

"I love you." He had never said it. Not to Merlin. He always felt it, even when he didn't even love him romantically. He always had a special place in Arthur's heart. It was one of the phrases amongst others that Arthur wished he had said to him.

Arthur rocked back and forth, cradling Merlin's broken body to his own. The aging spell had worn off, so Merlin was old again, but Arthur didn't care. He hated himself for making Merlin keep that spell on forever. He knew that's what killed him. But he had been selfish and ignored it because he was vain and wanted Merlin the way he knew him, not the way he was in this century.

When the initial numbness faded away, Arthur stood up slowly, still holding Merlin's body and set his jaw. He would live with this. He had to. He was here alone now, like Merlin. He could do it for the rest of his natural life, and he would have to. No easy way out. He went to the shore and set his broken body down by the edge, so Merlin was halfway in the water. He wasn't sure if Freya could hear him, but he addressed her anyway:

"Freya, take good care of him. I can't give him a proper send-off….there's nothing here. Please do it for me. He deserves it." He could have sworn he heard the lake sigh and he sat down, pulling his knees into his body as he watched the water slowly swallow up his friend. Once it was deep enough, Merlin was completely covered by the water. He assumed Freya would take it from there.

Tentatively, Arthur waded out into the water, feeling the familiar sensation of walking on water. He reached the far shore and found his feet taking him back to Merlin's cottage. He sat dejectedly on the couch, staring at his feet for a while. Merlin was gone. There was no one around to comfort him, even. After a while, he heard a far off bark. He didn't pay it any attention, but it became louder and closer very quickly until it was just outside his door. An animal was scratching against the door, making it thump from the effort of keeping it out. Arthur frowned and approached the door slowly. He picked up a walking stick near the door, presumably Gaius's, and flung it open, throwing the stick at the animal.

The Wolfhound caught it in his mouth and tackled Arthur, pinning him to the floor before dropping the stick and licking his face.

"Bear," Arthur protested, "No, Bear, geroff me. Up, boy, get up. Off!" Bear didn't listen to him and, instead, Arthur was forced to wrestle the dog off of him. Bear was wagging his tail and barked again when he saw Arthur looking down at him now with curiosity. He began to wonder how Bear had gotten off the island, but then shrugged and figured Freya must have done it. He felt slightly guilty for forgetting him, but then, he had been worrying about other things.

He slowly started to come back to life, spilling some food for Bear and making himself a bowl of cereal. He changed into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt and sat on the couch again, still doing things a bit mechanically. He rested his feet on the coffee table and sighed. What was he supposed to do now? Live? How? He knew how to do basic things in the century at this point, but how was he supposed to integrate back into society? Get a girlfriend? Not likely.

However, Arthur did manage to integrate himself back into society after a couple months. He started talking to someone besides Bear in town and began to make some friends. It was still hard, seeing as he still compared all of them to his old friends. He had a lot of friends like Gwaine, a few like Elion and Leon, but none like Merlin. He had girl friends like Gwen and Morgana, but he never dated any of them, turning them down if they ever asked. His memory of the past was still strong and it took ages for him to start putting it behind him. It made it harder that he couldn't tell anyone about it. Who would believe him?

It would be accurate to say that Arthur Pendragon did, in fact, live happily ever after, and it was all thanks to Merlin.