Arthur weakly opened his eyes in a dazed confusion. He felt he was laying down on a soft surface which he soon realized was a bed. He slowly brough himself up and held his head letting out a grown.

"Whoa whoa now take it easy lad" a voice let out "You've had a rough experience". Arthur looked over to see Merlin walking over to him.

"Merlin! You're back!" he exclaimed as he jumped up and hugged the old wizard

"Well yes, yes, I am" Merlin chuckled as he hugged him back. Arthur then let go and continued to question him.

"Well how was your meeting? Did everything go well?"

"Well" Merlin then cleared his throat "I um.. I ah.. I had to leave a little early because of some unforeseen circumstances back here that even I didn't foresee happening" Merlin admitted

Arthur then looked down to feel his chest and felt no pain there or anywhere on his body

"But that is all taken care of now" Merlin continued "thanks to last minute timing, rest, lots of sunshine and good will too" he pointed over to some cards on a table which were from a variety of sources; the committee members, Scrooge and his nephews, Launchpad, Webey, Ludwig Von Drake, as well as Cloud and Tifa.

"But what happened?" Arthur asked "I can't seem to remember any of it" he said scratching his head "The last thing I remember is Cloud and Tifa coming to help me and then everyone started fighting and then Sephiroth" he paused for a moment to catch his breath "he. he slashed me"

"Oh lad, I wouldn't worry about all that now" Merlin said with a arm placed over his young pupils shoulder "You've got a long prosperous future ahead, I can see it" he said waving his hand through the air.

"If you say so Merlin, I believe you" Arthur nodded. He then looked over all the cards left for him "How is everyone doing?"

"Everyone? Well everyone is doing quite fine. They each worry about your recovery, above their own duties as a matter of fact"

"Well that's awfully nice to hear. Is there anything else?"

"Well Scrooge and Launchpad are gone" Merlin told him.

"Gone?! What happened to them?!" Arthur exclaimed with concern

"Nothing horrible at all dear boy, in fact for them it's rather good"

"Huh?" Arthur let out confused

"Scrooge has been trying to leave for some time, to expand his business and he has finally gotten the chance to do by means of a gummi ship built by Cid and Ludwig. Once it was finished he set off with Launchpad as his pilot to explore new worlds. He has left the children in our care and they still run the shops in the marketplace. And that still isn't all, for they didn't go alone"

"More people left?"

"Why yes. Bodger, Luath and Tao snuck onto the ship while they didn't notice. They're probably hoping that they may by some chance get dropped off in their home world along Scrooge's travels" Merlin then started to stroke his ling beard "I suspect there Incredible journey isn't over yet, but it will hold the results they seek"

"Well that's good to hear. Is everyone alright with it?"

"Well we've all bonded with them but we knew this would happen eventually and we wish them luck" Merlin said "Now" Merlin said as he was about to change the subject "It is my understanding that you were found with this" he said as a book magically appeared into his hands. It was in fact the book Arthur was reading as he met Sephiroth "Everyone told me you were studying long and hard for this test while I was away"

"Well yes, that's the truth Merlin" Arthur nodded to him

"Well then, do you think you're ready?" Merlin asked

"For what?"

"For the test of course" Merlin said surely you must have a good grasp on the core concepts with all the effort you put in"

In the truth Arthur still struggled with most if not all of the material but he was determined to try his best and he nodded in response.

"Mervelous!" Merlin let out and waved his arms in the air "Meet me at my home in the borough, we'll take it at once" Merlin said and then with a puff of smoke he disappeared.

A little taken back and unsure of his own knowledge Arthur let out a deep sigh. He then left the room and walked out of the hospital. He walked down the streets of Radiant Garden to make his way to Merlin's house. As he went to turn a corner he bumped into someone and landed on his back.

"Oh I'm sorry" a woman's voice let out "I- Arthur!" the boy then looked up to see Tifa

"Tifa?" he asked

"I'm sorry" she apologized to him "I didn't expect to bump into anyone. Did you just get out of the hospital?" Arthur nodded "Well it's nice to see you up again" she smiled

"Well it was nice of you to save my life. Thank you and thank Cloud too" Arthur said to her but Tifa was confused by his statement.

"What do you mean? I didn't save your life"

"You didn't?" Arthur let out surprised

"You weren't told about what happened?" Tifa asked and Arthur shook his head "Well this is what happened" she said as she began to tell him

Flashback

Sephiroth had just slashed Arthur across the chest and the boy fell to the ground.

"Arthur!" Tifa cried out

"No!" Cloud shouted

"Hmph" Sephiroth smirked "That light and knowledge wasn't enough" He then snapped around to block Cloud's blow with his own sword and the two were locked in combat. Tifa then ran over to pick up Arthur. Cloud then brought his sword back and slashed at Sephiroth who dodged and slid back from him, smirking as he did so.

"You're gonna pay for that" Cloud yelled

"Pay?" Sephiroth mocked "There's nothing you can do to stop me Cloud. If anyone you can only blame yourself" he said as Cloud tensed up even more. But before he could retort the wind suddenly started to pick up and blow harshly in their direction. Tifa cradled Arthur with one arm but shielded her face with the other while Sephiroth and Cloud stood stoically. Then the wind formed into a small cyclone that manifested between Sephiroth and Cloud. Then out of the small cyclone sprung a very infuriated Merlin.

"Sephiroth! Sephiroth!" he barked as his hat fell over his face and his glasses down his nose. Correcting the both of those he looked clearly now to see Cloud. But with an angry brow he looked over his shoulder to see Sephorith and then turned his whole body to face him. "Sephiroth" the wizard fumed "What do you think you're up to?"

"Up to?" he repeated "Nothing out of the ordinary" he responded

"OOHH" the wizard grunted "That's exactly the king of answer I'd expect from you" he pointed with his cane "But you have no right to torment these people, especially that boy"

"Don't I? The boy should have known his place"

"As should you" Merlin said as he waved "I will not have any more of this. Stop this now or I will stop you myself" the wizard threatened.

"Hmph. Then it's time" Sephiroth said as he gripped his sword and charged Merlin.

Waving his cane in the air Merlin then pointed it forward as a blast of light flew towards Sephiroth. But before it could hit him he teleported away and the blast made a small explosion as it hit the ground and everyone covered their eyes.

Merlin then turned over to Tifa who still held onto Arthur. He then walked over "Thank you dear" he said "But I will take it from hear"

"Will he be okay?" she asked

"He may be out for some time but it's nothing I can't fix" Merlin said

End of Flashback

"Oh so that's what really happened" Arthur said after Tifa finished

"Yep" she nodded "He left his meeting just to come back for you. He cares a lot about you and said he has a lot of faith in you" she smiled at him.

Arthur smiled "Well then I'm going to prove him right. I have a test to take now" he told her

"Good luck" she encouraged him and then he ran off.

Arthur ran off to the borough and into Merlin's house. He was immediately met with cheers from anyone else. Archimedes landed on his shoulder, the Gullwings encircled him, Yuffie hugged him, Cid patted him on the back (a little too hard, so much that he almost fell over with Archimedes), Leon nodded to him and Aerith was glad to see him.

Merlin meanwhile stood in the back of the room next to a desk with a sheet of paper on it along with a few books under his arm and Arthur walked up to him.

"Merlin I just wanted to say-"Merlin put his hand up

"Times wasting boy, let's get started" he said motioning to the desk. With a fierce determination Arthur nodded and took his seat.

"Good luck!" Cid shouted across the room but he was quickly shushed by Merlin.

The entire room was quite as Arthur took his first test. If anything important had to be discussed it was taken outside out of respect for Merlin's wishes, although he had to go out occasionally to shush Yuffie whose voice penetrated the walls.

Merlin would watch over the boy as he took the test. As time passed he noticed a growing frustration in the boy's face as well as a lack of answers written on his page. Merlin then took out his pocket watch and noticed that three hours had passed since the test started. He then glanced over at his answer sheet to notice that he had only 5 of the 20 question test completed and even then only 3 of them were right.

He then noticed something else. Along the sides of the paper were scribbles. Those scribbles were small excerpts from the books he was given to study with. Merlin thought back to something he said about the boy.

"That boys got real spark, lots of spirit, throws himself heart and soul into everything he does"

Merlin then looked back at his pocket watch and then the boy. He let out a deep breath and walked over to the boy.

Arthur was currently pondering the answer to one of the questions but then a hand covered his paper. He looked up to see Merlin face full of compassion and compromise.

"Am I out of time?" he asked

"What oh no lad, not at all" Merlin said

"Then what is it? I think I think I know the answer to this one"

"Well about that, why don't we, don't we.." Merlin stuttered

"Is it time for my sparring match?" Arthur asked

"What oh no, it's just that umm.." Merlin again stuttered as Arthur continued to look up at him from his seat. Merlin then took a deep breath and exhaled. He then closed the test book in front of Arthur "You know what lad why don't you take the day off." He insisted "You've worked ever since you got here"

"Really? You mean it?" Arthur asked getting up

"Why of course I do"

"But what about the test?"

"The test? We can reschedule the test" Merlin said "Look outside, it's a beautiful day. GO out explore. That will be your lesson for today"

Arthur smiled "Thank you Merlin, for everything"

Merlin smiled back "You're very welcome Arthur" he responded. Merlin then guided him along with his arm "How run along lad, there's a whole world out there to explore"

Archimdus then perched himself on Arthur's shoulder and volunteered to go with him. The two then walked out the door to further explore the world.

"Aw that was sweet" Aerith said after they left.

"Hmph" Cid let out "The teacher game to stressful for you?"

"Not at all" Merlin turned to him and responded "I'm too busy enjoying the benefits"

"And what does that include?"

"Having a great student" the wizard smiled.

Thanks for reading!

Comments/Reviews are appreciated

Stay tuned for next time when Tifa needs to pay off a debt to a malicious loan shark, and Leon may be the only one who can help her.