A/N- This is it, the end! it's so crazy and I want to thank you all for staying with this. I never expected this much success! Now, there will be an epilogue thing Thursday, so this isn't really the end, but it's the last chapter of the actual story. I hope you enjoy!

"Merlin?" Arthur was lying in his makeshift bed next to Merlin's. After Hunith had come home, she had redressed Merlin's bandages and then made them dinner. Now it was night and Arthur and Merlin were supposed to be sleeping. However, sleep kept evading Arthur, so he thought he would see if his new friend was awake.

"Yes, Arthur?" So it seems he wasn't the only one having trouble sleeping.

"Do you like it here? In Ealdor?"

"…Yes. Its home and-"

"But what if it wasn't home? What if you'd grown up somewhere else?"

"Well, I guess it would be harder to adjust to this life, but I like the simplicity of life here. Everyone works together, you work for your food, and you live."

"And you're okay with that?"

"Sure, why wouldn't I be? It seems to work for everyone else here."

"Yes, but don't you ever think you could do more?"

"What more could I do?" Merlin turned to look at Arthur then. The older boy looked like he was at war with himself. "Arthur, what is it?"

"Just… thinking is all."

"Are you going to leave?" Now it was Arthur's turn to look at Merlin. The boy was smarter than he gave him credit for. Merlin stared at him with those big blue eyes. So young, but also filled with a sort of unexplainable wisdom.

"No, I'm not going to leave."

"Good." Merlin rolled back over and stared at the ceiling. "You know, you're one of the best friends I've ever had."

"From what I hear, that hasn't been many."

Merlin was not to be put off by Arthur's comment. "I mean it. Even if I'd had a hundred friends, I still think you'd be one of the best."

Arthur didn't know what to say. Emotional talks and feelings had never been his thing, never been his Father's things. "Umm… Thanks." They laid there in silence for a few moments before Arthur just decided to buck it up and say how he felt.

"You're one of my best friends too, Merlin."

"Thanks" The younger boy turned to look at him with genuine delight on his face. Then they both started quietly laughing for no reason.

Hunith had always been a light sleeper, and she was particularly easy to wake up that night. She had been doing the calculations in her head, and if she was correct, that meant the king was due at any time now.

She hadn't had the heart to tell Arthur or Merlin. Arthur, for fear he would run away, and Merlin, for fear he would treat his new friend differently. So she had kept quiet, watching their strange and heartfelt interactions from afar.

She heard them around midnight; the sound of hooves, of voices too loud for so late at night. She got up and put her shawl around her shoulders, grabbed a lit candle, and made her way toward the door. She creaked it open and saw, looking extremely out of place, King Uther and four knights of Camelot. Their voices carried through the night; they were asking the villagers where she lived.

She approached the group cautiously. "Your Majesty?" She addressed the king and bowed her head. "I am Hunith."

Uther climbed down from his horse quickly, probably too quickly for a king. "Where is Arthur?" This man wastes no time Hunith thought.

"He's in my house, over here." Hunith started to lead the way, very aware of the king assessing her clothes and the state of her house. Hunith opened the door quietly and hoped that the men wouldn't be too loud; she didn't want Merlin to wake up.

Uther was taken aback at the conditions his son had been living in. The house he entered was small, and when he saw his son he was shocked to see him sleeping on the floor in peasant garb next to another boy. That's right, hadn't Gaius said this woman had had a son as well?

He slowly walked over to Arthur, ignoring the eyes of everyone in the room on him. He kneeled next to him and lightly brushed the hair off his young face. He had meant to wake him up right away, to give him a lecture. But when he saw Arthur lying there, he decided the yelling could wait till morning.

Uther stood up and walked toward Hunith, reaching into his pockets and withdrawing a small bag. "Here, this is for your trouble."

Hunith stared at the bag of coins. "I couldn't accept that."

"A debt needs to be repaid." It was Uther's only way of saying thank you, with material things.

"Thank you." Hunith bowed her head and accepted the money.

Uther made his way back to Arthur, and, as gently as a man like Uther can, picked Arthur up off the floor. The boy next to him rolled over at the disturbance, but Uther did not notice.

And then, without another word, the Prince and the King were gone.

"Mother?" Merlin groggily called out.

"I'm here." Hunith hurried over to her son, kneeling next to him.

"Where's Arthur?" Merlin pushed himself up into a sitting position, looking around tiredly for his friend.

"He's gone, honey."

"Gone? Gone where? To the climbing tree? The creek?"

"No, Merlin, he's gone home."

"What? But he said he wasn't going to leave!" Merlin tried to stand up, but started to fall back down when he put pressure on his right ankle, having forgotten it was hurt. Luckily, Hunith caught him before he hit the ground, and carried him over to sit on her bed.

"His father came and got him last night, sweetie," Hunith explained.

"But… but he can't be gone. He never met Will; we never got to go on another adventure. He… he was my friend." And then Merlin couldn't help it, he cried. Hunith gathered him up in her arms, letting him cry into her shoulder.

"Shhh, it's okay. It'll be alright." She continued to whisper these comforting words into his ear, rubbing small circles in his back. And Merlin cried for his friend, thinking he would never see him again.

Arthur rolled over in his sleep and was surprised when his hands didn't touch the dirt floor of Merlin's home, but rather grass. His eyes shot open and he saw he was in a clearing, surrounded by trees. When he turned the other way, he saw a circle of men sitting in a circle. His body tensed and then relaxed when he saw they were knights of Camelot.

One stood up and made his way towards Arthur. Arthur sat up, realizing it was his father. Uther stopped a few feet short of Arthur, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

Arthur stared, confused at how he was feeling. One of the most prevalent emotions was anger. Anger at being taken away, anger at his father for forcing him into coming back home. But, he was also happy and relieved. He hadn't to make the choice about coming home, his father had made it for him, and he was a little embarrassed at how glad he was to see the reason he had run away in the first place.

"Arthur?" Arthur responded to his name, and quickly got up and ran to his father. Uther, for once, did not admonish Arthur for his unprincely behavior, but knelt down and embraced his son. "Oh, Arthur. I missed you."

"I missed you too, Father."

Both boys missed each other in the next few weeks. But slowly, as time went on, they started to forget about their adventures together.

Arthur was thrust back into training. His work outs increased, as did the amount of times he was asked to sit in on counsels.

Merlin's ankle healed and soon he was backing to helping around the village and playing with Will.

Life was normal for both of them, with only a few minor details changed. For one, Arthur was a bit more forgiving, a bit more understanding. It was barely there, noticeable only to some, but there all the same.

And Merlin stopped the harassment from the other boys in his village. Not to say that they were friends, but they stopped bothering him and Will.

Eventually, the few days the prince and the warlock had spent together became nothing more than a distant memory for all.

There, I hope that you enjoyed it! Epilogue will be up Thursday! (And I think you're all going to like it! I know I do!)

-princessmelia