Hi, I just wanted to inform you that the timeline for this story has changed slightly. Instead of being 3 years since Merlin came to Camelot I am now making it around 6…so this fanfiction is now taking place sometime after season 4 episode 2.

The rest of this story is going to be in Merlin's point of view most likely so I'm going to stop saying it. Although, if there is a point of view change I will acknowledge it, don't worry.

Thank you once again for review and alerting…Also, I would once again like to thank my beta KeshoBesho who told me that this chapter wasn't bad like I thought it was at first.

~Please Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin. :(

CHAPTER FOUR

"What. Is going. On?" A very harsh voice demanded once again, this time just slightly slower and a bit more incredulous.

I panicked. All the magic in the room immediately ceased, I hadn't even seen who was there yet, all I knew was that someone was here. Someone who may or may not know about me. There was a resounding crash as all of the once floating objects fell unceremoniously to the ground, some of the glass breaking. The whirlwinds abruptly spun out of existence, the orbs of fire sputtered a bit but then winked out of this plane. The still sparkling dust lost its shine, reverting back to normal dust floating in the air on a breeze. As for the lights in front of me they flared brightly before joining the rest of the magic in a world of oblivion.

I was frozen. I couldn't look up. I couldn't face the person who had walked in. It didn't matter who it was, all I knew was that they had seen me using magic and I was going to die. The thought wouldn't leave me alone, it just kept repeating, stopping all other thoughts. Nothing else would process. I was going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die.

Once again I was pulled from my mind by a voice, this time I recognized it. "You know, you could've at least locked the door."

It was Gaius. I had never been so happy to hear his voice in my life. My head snapped up so quickly I was sure to get whip-lash. The sight of my mentor, friend, and guardian filled me with so much relief I felt as though I was going to burst with the emotion. As it happens I did.

"Gaius!" I stood up quicker than a normal human necessarily could and rushed towards the man. Once I was close enough I ensnared him in a huge hug. I couldn't stop myself, so much relief was pumping through me that it was palpable in the air.

"Oof!" The noise was made as soon as my arms encircled my uncle and although there was a bit of indignation in the exclamation it was mostly just surprise.

I kept him in that embrace longer than strictly needed. I just couldn't seem to let go. The relief did slowly ebb away, leaving in its place a type of nervousness.

"Merlin, you can let go of me now." Gaius' voice startled me slightly and although I had already come to the conclusion myself that I had been holding the man for longer than I probably should've when I stepped away I couldn't seem to stop the blush that began to burn on my face.

"Um…yeah, sorry about that. I thought you were someone else when you first walked in." My hand had once again taken a residence on the back of my head, rubbing up and down softly, nervously.

"I can tell, but really Merlin, you didn't even think to lock the door when you were going to be using magic so blatantly?" his tone was slightly harsh to the untrained ear, but being around him so long I could read the concern that was laced in the undertone of his words.

I smiled at him just a bit sheepishly. "Well.." I wasn't allowed to finish my sentence as Gaius had decided to look around the room and his eyes settled on something-someone.

"Merlin." The tone of Gaius' voice had changed drastically now. It wasn't that concerned, this time it was reproaching. I immediately stiffened and my hand stopped its movement on the back of my head.

After the initial shock I laughed nervously, trying to ease the tense atmosphere Gaius' tone had created. I failed quite marvelously.

"Merlin. Did you show Gwen your magic?" his tone was now calm, the sudden change in tone scared me more than his reproachful one just seconds ago. This tone was one I had never heard him use before. It was…scary. Perhaps even more frightening than all of the sorcerer's I had faced together. It was ridiculous that just a tone of voice could frighten me so much, yet it did.

"Well, not so much as told her as…she walked in on me doing magic just like you did. Although, not to the degree of magic you observed." I decided to be completely truthful, because that was best right?

"You mean, you were just doing magic without any thought and anybody could've walked in and seen you?" his voice was strained, he was trying to maintain a cool demeanor but his mask was slipping, cracking.

"I would've thought that was obvious when you walked in…" my voice trailed off when I saw the expression on my guardian's face. Perhaps I was pushing it too far.

"If I may interject." Gwen's voice came as such a surprise to me that I jumped almost a whole foot in the air. "I'm perfectly fine with Merlin having magic."

The statement was said so casually. I saw Gaius blink several times, obviously startled by the firmness and protectiveness enlaced with her words. If I hadn't known it was ridiculous I would've assumed the words were said with magic.

I couldn't help but turn and look at Gwen then. She was still by my side now even after all of the betrayal magic had brought upon her. She was still one of my best friends, despite her new found knowledge. She was even defending my use of magic to Gaius. It was truly surreal to feel so accepted and loved. A smile, completely unwarranted given the situation, was spreading slowly, but steadily across my face and into my eyes.

"In fact, " Gwen continued on when she realized neither Gaius or I were inclined to speak at the moment. "I think it's brilliant, beatific if I may say so. Now that I actually look, magic fits with Merlin perfectly. They were made for each other."

I'm fairly certain my smile deepened at the compliment, I couldn't help it; I had never been treated like this before. With the emotions that came with Gwen's words I was utterly speechless. I wanted to say something, but I didn't know what words could encompass what I was feeling. There were so many emotions. So, I did the only thing I could think of. I once again pulled Gwen into a hug. I seemed to be overly emotional today.

Gwen returned the hug almost greedily. My magic flared just slightly and I felt her emotions. At first I stiffened at the sudden onslaught of feelings and thoughts. I immediately relaxed when I actually concentrated on the emotions. They were so peaceful and happy; they were comforting. I almost gasped when I felt how heart felt her words were. She really thought that my magic was amazing. Everything she was feeling was becoming an open book to me. This had never happened before and I couldn't stop myself from looking and feeling at the emotions she projected so openly; at least projected to me and my magic.

If Gaius hadn't cleared his throat to notify us that we'd been standing like that for quite a long time, I don't think I ever would've stepped out of the sanctuary that her emotions had created for me. It was like I had become something that I had read in that magic book Gaius had given me, oh so long ago. Although, I know I had heard of beings that were able to sense other's emotions and thoughts, for the life of me I couldn't remember what they were called.

"You really think that of Merlin?" his voice was unsure and nervous as he awaited a response.

Gwen stepped out of the embrace we had been partaking in for the better part of three minutes. "Yes." It was just one word, but once again it was full of what I at first thought was power. Though, now that I think about it, it may just be the strength of her emotions which I now inexplicably could feel.

"Thank you." The words were sudden and emotional. They were the last words I had expected from Gaius, but perhaps the words I should've been waiting for. Gaius was like my father and even through my haze of fear I should've known that he would be relieved that someone other than himself knew about me and loved me the more for my gift. Loved me for who I was, not who I pretended to be.

Snapping out of my thoughts I noticed that Gwen was now being hugged by my almost crying uncle. She looked so bewildered and yet soothing at the same time I couldn't help but laugh. There was really no other response to the reaction of the girl who had been hugged so many times that day for one singular reason. Her acceptance.

I was still laughing when they disengaged from the embrace and turned to look at me, disapproval thinly veiling amusement in both set of eyes. When I just continued to laugh, keeling over just slightly as I did so, they both joined me. The whole situation was quite ridiculous. I mean, the actual topic was serious and emotion heavy but the reactions from all of us to the revelations were so off-key it was laughable. None of us knew how the other was going to react to the information and when we did learn we were completely shocked. It was just a big circle of confusion and confusion always seems to lead to laughter. At least when I'm involved it does, I wonder why that is?

We were all still in hysterics when a clearing of a throat could be heard, somehow reverberating around the room. The noise had all three of us spinning on our heels to look at the intruder. My hand twitched at my side as I turned, ready to protect and direct magic.

It turns out my worries were completely unnecessary, for in the doorway stood the one and only Once and Future King of Albion, Arthur. Not some evil sorcerer or anything of the sort which needed to be taken care of with magic. I immediately relaxed my hand, feeling slightly foolish.

"What's going on here?" Arthur asked in a serious tone. That was never good, he was only completely serious when something important was happening, or going to happen.

"Nothing really. Why have you come?" I tried to sound nonchalant and casual. In truth I was the exact opposite. Although not because I was nervous that he would find out about my secret, but because the problem he seemed to be facing at the moment was big enough for him to actually come to me for help.

"There's someone who has requested an audience with the King…" I bit my tongue to hold off a laugh at the fact that Arthur still didn't call himself King. He still always referred to himself in the third person when he said "The King" and it was getting harder and harder not to laugh.

"So you need me there to hold your hand and help you through it?" I said, fake sympathy and just a slightly mocking tone inserted in the words.

Arthur huffed and crossed his arms over his chest in a very, "I'm the King" pose. Another laugh threatened to escape my mouth but I pushed it back, laughing when Arthur was so serious wouldn't be the cause of anything good.

"No Merlin. I just thought that since you are my servant you might want to be there." The sarcasm was clear in his voice and to anyone else the words may have been construed as being malicious. Yet to me I knew that they were just his way of saying that he needed me. For what felt like the millionth time in just one hour I felt a warmth spread through my chest. I shook my head slightly as the warmth continued to pulse, I really needed to get my emotions under control.

"You do have a point there, Sire." I put as much sarcasm into the last word as I could and bowed so deeply that it was comical.

I could feel Arthur rolling his eyes at my antics while I was still bowing but he didn't say a word. Straightening I quickly matched Arthur's mood when I saw the look on his face. He was genuinely concerned about something and not just slight concern either. Something about this upcoming meeting was bothering him.

"So, should we go?" There was no more teasing in my tone, for some reason this meeting was important and I was going to make sure that Arthur had someone with him during it that he could trust.

Picking up on my now serious tone Arthur smiled grimly, "Yes." As he turned to leave Arthur's emotions hit me full on and I stumbled slightly at the intensity of them. It was just like it had been with Gwen, I could feel his emotions. This new ability of mine was getting a bit out of hand. Yet, it could also be very useful, if I knew how to control it; or knew for certain that it was an actual ability. The emotions snapped me out of my thoughts, demanding my attention.

There was determination running deeply within him, but that was probably just because of how Arthur always was. The more interesting emotions were the fear and anxiety. They were slight yes, but the fact that they were there was surprising. I had known Arthur for a very long time now and the only times that Arthur ever showed even the least bit of fear was in very dire situations. This meeting, that brought out those types of emotions in the King of Albion, was sure to be interesting if nothing else.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed!

Reviews make me smile and add more Merlin Magic to my stories. :)

Next on Destiny and Love:

They would infiltrate my brain, throwing their worries and fears at me with abandon. I didn't know how much more of this I could take. If I couldn't get a handle on this I would have to become a recluse.

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I tensed at his hesitation, whatever he said next would inevitably change life in Camelot for quite some time. By the way this man was speaking I had to guess that the change would be for the worse.

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