Gwen gave a gasp of a sob and brought his hand up to her face and kissed it. Arthur wanted to reach out, wanted to comfort her... but it felt wrong. Lancelot deserved this moment alone with her, even in death. Perhaps especially in death.

"Lancelot..."

Arthur's head swung round, and he stared at Elaine. "You!"

But Elaine wasn't looked at him, she was staring at Lancelot, and her face was that of a woman who had lost the very last thing she had left. "Lancelot." It was a whisper, a cry, a pained whimper.

Arthur staggered to his feet. Perhaps he might have reached for his sword, but before he could he saw Morgana. She had aged. The years had marked her even more completely than they had marked Merlin, but he would recognize her anywhere. She was staring at him now, and she was crying, and suddenly she rushed forward and hugged him.

Probably there were a dozen reasons why he should have pushed her away. A dozen accusations he could have made. But in that moment all he did was hug her back, because in his mind he could never forget the little girl he'd grown up with.

"I missed you so much," she whispered.

"I know." And he did know. He couldn't imagine what she'd been through, and right now, with the world falling apart around him, he didn't have it in him to feel anything else but how good it was to see her again. No matter what mistakes she had made.

"I'll do it." It was Elaine who had spoken. Everyone, except Gwen, looked towards her. Elaine was staring at Lancelot, a raw, shattered expression on her face. "It will be my soul that will send him back. The world needs Emrys. It does not need me." She pulled her gaze back to Merlin.

"You don't have-" he began.

"I know. But I would do it. To save you, Emrys. To save the hope of Albion. And I pray that you are right when you say that Arthur is the key. But he must swear to me: on his honor, on Camelot, on Guinevere, on anything scared to him, that he will protect Shalott, that he will take care of my people, and take no vengeance against them."

"Arthur would never take vengeance against innocent people."

"He must swear it!"

Merlin looked towards Arthur. "Promise her."

"What are you talking about-"

"Just promise!"

"Okay, okay I swear! Now what are you talking about?"

"We're sending you back," said Merlin simply, but with just that slight touch of pride he always showed when he knew he was exceeding Arthur's expectations.

"Back? Back where?"

"To when you vanished."

Arthur blinked. "Is that...is that possible?"

"We think so. We only have the shards of the Orb of Cronus left, instead of, you know, an actual orb, but with my power, Elaine's and Morgana's, we should be able to make them work."

Arthur stared at Merlin. It wasn't just what he was saying, it wasn't just the tantalizing promise of hope and home and the possibility that it might actually be possible to wake up from this nightmare world he had found himself in. But there was an energy, an excitement in Merlin, that reminded Arthur so much of the Merlin of the past, as if in the past ten minutes he had grown twenty years younger.

Guinevere looked up, from where she was still kneeling besides Lancelot's body. "You mean...undoing all of this?"

"Yes," said Merlin. "We send Arthur back through time, and all the things that lead to this moment, it all gets undone. There's another chance. A chance for things to be done right."

Gwen stared down at Lancelot and closed her eyes. "I would like that." She sounded weary.

The sound of shouts, and the clash of steel seemed to intrude on all their consciousnesses at the same time. Merlin glanced towards the doorway.

"But we don't have a lot of time. Elaine: you know the ritual?"

"I do. But it's not fast."

Arthur took a deep breath and drew his sword. "I'll buy you as much time as I can."

Gwen leaned forward and kissed Lancelot on the forehead and then stood to her feet and drew her own sword. "As will I."

Arthur held her gaze for a moment, he wanted to protect her, wanted to keep her safe, but this was her fight, perhaps even more than it was his. She had taken charge for nearly twenty years, and he'd be a fool to try and stop her now, or to believe she'd listen if he did. A smile flickered across his face at the thought of it.

"Gwen..." Morgana whispered..."I wish...I wish there was time to say...so many things."

"Perhaps there will be, if this spell succeeds." She reached out and took Morgana's hand for one brief instant, and then towards the hallway.

"Arthur." Merlin stepped towards him and lowered his voice. "I don't know if this will work or not. I don't know...but I have faith in one thing: that there is hope." He smiled and there was a familiar, mischievous glint in his eye. "Even if that hope comes in the shape of a prat of a prince going back in time and not screwing things up worse than they already are."

Arthur chuckled and clasped his shoulder. He then turned serious. "I hope there's a time somewhere where you don't have to face so much alone." He shifted his sword in his grip. "I'll hold the door as long as I can. If anyone can make the spell work, it's you."

He turned on his heel and followed Gwen out into the hall.

Merlin closed the double doors, and with a flick of magic moved furniture against it, holding it fast. He then turned back towards Morgana and Elaine.

Elaine had knelt beside Lancelot's body while Merlin and Arthur talked. She reached out now and took his hand and stared wistfully down into his face, before leaning down and whispering in his ear. Merlin couldn't make out the words: were they an apology? A declaration of love? He'd never know, but he saw the loss on her face, the pain as clear as day, and then she stood.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked. "I am still willing to sacrifice my own soul for this spell."

"No." She shook his head. "I refuse to let you. I will not assist in any spell that would take Emrys from this world. You may still believe in Arthur, but I still believe in you. We'll both roll the dice of fate and hope that our two visions can somehow combine." She held out the shards. "Let us begin."