A/N: I didn't want to leave this unfinished. Apologies for the delay. The next chapters should be uploaded fairly quickly, though. I just need to finish editing them. Thank you for your patience.

Merlin walked beside the river, noting how beautiful it was at night. His mind wondered to Morgana, whether or not she was awake yet and if she was what she had fallen in love with. He was regretting his actions more by the second, but knowing Morgana this would be the only way to return the boy to his parents. He had always loved to see the proud humiliated, but Morgana… He didn't want to hurt her, not really.

"My lord!" Trickler said, running in from the woods. "Morgana has awoken!"

Merlin turned to face him, "Really? What was the first thing she saw?"

Trickler grinned, "Well, during my forest wonderings I found a group of mortals rehearsing a play very near to where my queen was sleeping. The most dim-witted of them was playing Pyramus, and when he had finished his scene and was resting I turned his head into that of a donkey. The others were so horrified when they saw him that they ran away. He started singing and woke Morgana... I'm sure you can guess the rest."

While Trickler had been telling the story Merlin's eyebrows had been lifting higher and higher up his brow, "I'm... not sure if I should be pleased or angry..." He said once Trickler had finished his story. "I'd like to see it, though. Did you manage to help that mortal couple I told you about? Or were you too busy turning people's heads into various farmyard animals?"

"I did it. I told you not to fear didn't I?"

"Shh!" Merlin said, "I hear them coming."

They became shadows as the two mortals came through, so they wouldn't be seen. At seeing the man Trickler's eyes widened.

The girl came into view first, obviously angry, "I'm not coming with you, Cenred! Not until you tell me what you've done to Arthur!"

"I haven't done anything to him! Why do you treat me like this when I love you so much?"

She turned sharply, "You don't love me, otherwise you'd let me be with Arthur. That's why you've done something to him, because you're jealous."

Cenred grabbed her shoulders to stop her from walking away, "Has it crossed your mind, Guinevere, that he might just have left you while you were asleep?"

Guinevere shook her head, "He wouldn't do that, he loves me. I'm going now, I hope you never find your way out of this forest." She walked away, leaving Cenred standing alone.

"You can't fight me forever!" He called. He groaned and leaned against a tree, "I'm so tired. There's no point in trying to talk to her while she's like this... I might as well sleep..." He knelt down and rolled onto his side, falling asleep.

Merlin frowned, shaking his head, "He should be in love with a girl with fair hair, I think he called her Vivian. I don't know who that other girl was."

Trickler laughed nervously, "Well, you know... sometimes these things happen... and when they do there's no point in blaming anyone. Especially when they didn't mean any harm and-"

"Trickler…" Merlin said, "What did you do?"

Trickler started trembling and tripping over his words, "W-well, you told me that I had to find the man and woman and put the juice into the man's eye. And I did. Only I think I found the wrong man..."

Merlin's expression fell somewhere between furious and dumbfounded. He felt one of the muscles in his face twitch. "What?"

Trickler made a whimpering noise and backed away a little, "W-well… how was I supposed to know there would be more than two mortals in the wood tonight? You never told me what they look like!"

Merlin groaned and rubbed his forehead, "Why did I ever think this would be a good idea? Alright, we need to clear this up. The man asleep there is Cenred." He said, pointing to the sleeping figure. "And the girl he was arguing with, I think he called her Guinevere, was the girl you saw."

Trickler nodded.

"So, who did you give the juice to?"

"A man she was with, one with fair hair."

"They mentioned an Arthur, I suppose that's him… oh God." He massaged his temple. "Trickler, go and find Vivian, try to lead her here. I'll put some more of the juice onto Cenred's eyes. "

"As you wish." Trickler muttered before disappearing between the trees.

Merlin knelt down beside Cenred, dropping some of the juice onto his eyelids, "When you wake she will shine as brightly in your eyes."

"My lord!" Trickler cried, running back to his master, "Vivian is near, and Arthur too."

"Good, maybe we'll be able to resolve this quickly. Come on, Trickler. We need to hide." He muttered as he slipped back into the shadows, just before Arthur and Vivian walked into view.

Vivian was growing more agitated my Arthur's affection. "Will you please leave me alone?" She shrieked, "And where is Gwen?"

"How should I know? Why should I care? I have you…" Arthur said, reaching out to try and touch her hair.

"Oh, stop it!" She cried and backed away, "I know you don't mean it! Oh!" She squeaked. She had tripped backwards over something. When she looked to see what it was she had a sudden sinking feeling in her stomach. "Cenred…" She whispered.

He looked at her, blinked a few times, then sat up and caressed his hand against her soft cheek. "Why have I not seen your beauty until now? You are everything." He whispered. He ran his thumb around her bottom lip, "Let me kiss you."

Vivian's chest rose and fell, her eyes never left Cenred's. Her cheeks had turned to a bright red. This was everything she had ever wanted. Arthur was forgotten for the moment. Now all she wanted was to give Cenred what he had asked for, to kiss him, and kiss him, and kiss him. But something wasn't right, she knew, despite her longing for it to be real. He couldn't have changed his mind so quickly. It took all of her willpower to shake her head. "No. You're making fun of me." She said, scrambling to her feet. She looked to Arthur again. "Is this your idea of a joke? You knew I loved him and you've gotten him to join you little conspiracy. Is this your way of seeing who's the most desirable? You make me sick!" The red on her cheeks not spread to the rest of her face.

Cenred wasn't listening. Instead he was glaring at Arthur. "Do you dare you mock my Vivian?" He spat, getting up off the ground. "Go to Guinevere, I know you love her. You can have her now, Vivian is my love."

"It's not true! I love you, Vivian." Arthur said, looking to her imploringly. "More than the sun, more than-"

"Stop it, stop it!" She cried, clapping her hands over her ears. "It's too much! Where's Gwen, have either of you seen her?"

"Vivian? Are you there too?"

Vivian looked over her shoulder at the sound of Gwen's voice. "Gwen? Guinevere?" Sure enough, she could see Gwen a few feet away. She was tired and dirty, but it was Gwen. Vivian ran to her, locking her in a tight hug. "I'm so glad to see you! I thought you were lost." She let go of Gwen to let her speak.

"I was looking for Arthur." She said, "I heard his voice over here so I came to look. But what are you doing here? Is something wrong back in Camelot?"

"Oh-" Vivian stammered, "Well, you see I thought that if…" She couldn't bear to tell Gwen the truth of why she was there. "Arthur's over there. Please tell him to stop making fun of me."

"What?" Gwen laughed, "That's not like him." She spotted Arthur behind Vivian, he was in a heated conversation with Cenred. She rushed towards him, "Arthur, thank God you're alright. Why did you leave me alone? You gave me such a fright."

He looked at her with a bemused expression, as though it should have been obvious to her. "To be with my love- Vivian."

She was left speechless for a moment, unable to comprehend what he had said. "What? Arthur this isn't funny."

He raised an eyebrow, "I wasn't joking." He said.

Gwen turned around to look at Vivian, "What's he talking about?"

Vivian had assumed that Arthur would stop the joke when Gwen was found. He would never lie like this to her, unless… "So you're in on the conspiracy too! I thought we were friends. We were like sisters. Friends don't play such cruel jokes on each other."

"I haven't done anything to you!" Gwen said, dismayed.

"You've told them to pretend to be in love with me! How could you do this to me? You knew I loved Cenred!" Tears had started to well up in her eyes.

"I have done no such thing! I'm as confused as you are."

"This is not a joke Vivian." Arthur said, "My love for you is pure and true."

"Arthur, stop it!" Gwen snapped, "Can't you see she's upset?"

"Stop what? I cannot remove my love for her."

Cenred shoved Arthur away, "You don't love her like I do."

"I would happily kill you for her!" Arthur shouted back, grabbing onto Cenred's shirt.

"What are you doing, Arthur?" Gwen said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "What's wrong with you?"

"Get off!" He snapped, swiping at her hand, "I wish you'd died in this forest."

Gwen couldn't speak. She couldn't believe she'd heard what she's heard; especially from Arthur's lips. She felt sick. This wasn't Arthur, not her Arthur. While he and Cenred continued to ague she turned around to look at Vivian. She was stood looking at Gwen with the same distrust a cornered animal gives a hunter. "What have you done to him?" She asked with a shaky voice, "Have you bewitched him, or have you always been lovers? This is why you're in the forest, isn't it."

"No!" Vivian said, "I don't have any interest in Arthur."

"Then why are you here?"

"I… I can't say." Vivian said, blushing one more.

"You brat!" Gwen screeched, all the frustration and resentment she had felt towards Vivian over the years surfacing. "You spoiled little brat! You couldn't stand it that Cenred love me and not you, you couldn't imagine that someone might actually find me attractive! Is that why you stole Arthur from me?"

"Is this all part of your joke too? 'Oh, let's all make fun or poor Vivian! No man will ever love her!'"

"What joke? What are you talking about?"

"We will settle this like men!" Arthur shouted at Cenred, loud enough to distract the two women from their argument. He marched away from the clearing, "Follow me if you dare, Cenred. We will fight for Vivian."

"I don't follow anyone." Cenred said, but did follow Arthur none the less.

Vivian and Gwen were left alone. There was silence. Both girls were angrier with each other than they had ever been previously. "I'm going back to Camelot." Vivian said, walking away. "I wish I'd never come here."

"You'll never find your way out." Gwen called after her, "None of us will."

"Then at least I won't be near you anymore." Vivian said back, disappearing between the shadowy trees.

Gwen looked around, wanting to cry. She had lost her best friend and her lover in less than ten minutes. She stumbled away through the trees, feeling numb. She just hoped she would find a village, or at least another human being.

Merlin and Trickler had watched all of this from the shadows. A sinking feeling had started in Merlin's stomach and had gotten worse the more the group argued. This was far more complicated than he had originally planned. "Trickler." He said, "If I ever try and be kind again, remind me of this."

"I will." Trickler said.

"Alright." Merlin sighed, "We need to act quickly, the morning's coming and the mortal men looked prepared to kill each other. Trickler, make it foggy so they won't be able to see. Then you can lure them away from each other.

"I could mimic their voices." Trickler suggested, "They will follow the sound and end up further away from each other."

"That's good. They haven't had much rest either; hopefully they'll become tired and sleep again." He brought out a plant. Trickler didn't recognise this one. "This is the antidote to the juice from love-in-idleness. Put it in Arthur's eyes if you find him asleep. He will wake up, love Gwen and remember tonight as a bad dream. Do you remember which one Arthur is?"

"The fair haired one, oh King of Shadows."

"Don't call me that. You then need to find the women and reunite them with their respective lovers. I'm going to find Morgana." Merlin started to walk away, "Please get this right, Trickler."

Trickler didn't reply. He closed his eyes and started to whisper under his breath. Fog rolled through the trees. Moonlight wouldn't be of any further use to the travellers. He crept through the mist, not making a sound. It didn't take him long to find Arthur and Cenred, he just had to follow the footprints and sound of shouting. They had already wondered a little way apart by the time Trickler got there, lost in his fog. He turned his attention to Cenred first, positioning himself on the side furthest away from Arthur. Cenred was leaning on a branch to support himself, clearly exhausted. "Are you tired, Cenred?" Trickler called, imitating Arthur.

"Arthur?" Cenred said, looking around, "You sound strange."

"I sound the same. Maybe your fatigue is affecting your hearing." Trickler said.

"I have twice the energy of you."

"Prove it, come over here and we can duel for the honour of Vivian."

Cenred followed the voice into the fog, stumbling blindly over tangled plants and roots. Trickler left to find Arthur. Cenred didn't walk for very long, the lack of sleep was taking its toll. Walking was becoming increasingly difficult. "Are you there, Arthur?" He got no reply. "I have to sleep." He muttered to himself. "I hate these woods."

Trickler found Arthur soon after he left Cenred.

Arthur was squinting through the fog, searching for his rival. "Cenred? Where are you?"

"I'm here. Have you run away?" Trickler said, affecting a voice almost identical to Cenred's.

"I'm not coward, Cenred." Arthur said, "I'm not like you."

"Then come in this direction. The ground is better for a fight here."

Arthur followed, but his energy ran out even faster than Cenred's had. "I'll find him at dawn…" He said before dropping onto his knees, then falling on his side in a deep sleep. Trickler crept forward once more and dropped the antidote in Arthur's eyes. "There. I hope you appreciate the effort I've gone to for you."

Trickler left in search of Vivian. She was even more tired than the two men had been. It occurred to him that she hadn't actually had any sleep the night. That gave him an idea. Walked in fog of her in the fog and created a light in his hands. "Come on", he whispered to himself.

She looked up and saw the orange glow in the fog. "A light! Thank God!" She said. This seemed to give her a new burst of energy and she started to run towards the light. He led her to where Cenred was sleeping, then extinguishing the light. Vivian looked around, confused. "What? Where's the light gone?" She sighed, she was starting to regret running. "At least it will be morning soon. I just need to rest." She lay down and slept, not noticing Cenred nearby.

Gwen was already asleep by the tie Trickler found her. He had to wake her before leading her to Arthur with the light, where she then fell back asleep, not seeing Arthur through the mist.

Trickle stood back and allowed the fog to evaporate away. The two couples weren't that far away from each other in reality. He had never understood mortals, but that night had confused him even more. "If I never see another mortal again, it will be too soon."

A/N: If writing this has taught me anything, it's that A Midsummer Night's Dream relies entirely on people falling asleep and completely random moments. And that it's very difficult to justify why they're falling asleep at completely random moments.