A/N: And here it is. This is officially the last chapter of this story, which I really adored writing. I will write another proper Merlin story soon, after I go back to my other fanfic waiting. So, keep watching! :)
Epilogue: Lily's last day
Time was passing by in Storybrooke. The inhabitants had not yet decided to go back to the Enchanted Forest or stay.
Anton and the dwarves had once again planted magic beans, while Lily was given one for the day she'd return to Camelot.
Which she could begin to decide.
She was like a zombie. Dead inside. Walking around, eating, sleeping, because she had to.
But nothing more.
She barely spoke a whole sentence to someone who dared talk to her.
Gwaine was living with her in her house, while Neal had moved back to Granny's.
Emma was with Hook, against all her parents could have said against it.
But Lily...
Lily was with no one. Because she herself was only the shadow of her past self.
Two months had passed thus.
And it would have gone like that for a long while again, if something unexpected hadn't happened.
One morning, Lily went down from her bedroom to see the kitchen empty.
Usually, Gwaine would already be up. He would have swallowed half the content of her fridge, and would have waited for her to salute her and then go for a run into town.
When he didn't wait for her, he always left a note.
But this time, no note.
Something twitched in Lily's heart. Something she had not felt in a long time.
Worry.
She cursed under her breath and grabbed her car keys, driving right into Storybrooke.
She was looking for a brown unkempt mane, and then...her instinct kicked up.
She sighed and followed it. The hitch.
She stopped her car right before Granny's.
And she was right to do so.
At the exact same time, Gwaine came flying through the door, Rumpelstiltskin high on his heels, his cane in the air as if he was about to beat the knight to death.
His face was contorted in rage.
Belle, kneeling behind him, was crying and yelling at the same time.
Gwaine grunted but stayed on the ground. He had a deep gash on his forehead, and his nose was bleeding.
Lily growled and slammed her car door behind her, striding right to her father. "What do you think you're doing?"
She heard some people whisper as she passed them, but kept her green eyes locked onto Gold's grey ones.
He grimaced. "He insulted me. This man insulted me!"
She snorted and knelt to check onto Gwaine. He hadn't fainted, but his breathing was laboured. "And what deserved such a treatment?"
"He said I was a bad father."
"You're not a bad father." Gold's gaze softened. "You're no father at all."
Lily didn't even wait for an answer. She grabbed Gwaine's hand and helped him up, supporting his weight until they reached her car.
When he was seated next to the driver's seat, she cast one last glance at Rumpel. "Stay away from us."
The return trip was awfully quiet.
Gwaine was grunting from time to time, as he wiped the blood off his face. It kept dripping over and over again even as he did that.
Lily needed to take care of it, and quick.
Once they were home, she helped Gwaine to sit onto her couch, and stared at his wound.
"I'll be right back. Do not move."
She saw a glimpse of surprise in his brown eyes, but didn't wonder.
She knew exactly why he was surprised.
She hadn't spoken a single word to him if he wasn't prying it off her.
Lily went to her bathroom, grabbed the first aid kit under her sink, and hurried back to the living-room.
Gwaine's eyes locked onto her, and didn't let go, as if he was afraid she'd leave and never return.
She opened the kit and grabbed the bottle of alcohol, as well as a cotton she soon imbibed.
"It'll hurt."
He smirked softly. "I've lived through worse."
She sighed and slowly wiped the blood off the gash on his forehead. He winced, but otherwise didn't move.
"It'll need striped. You'll have a scar."
He chuckled. "I've been told women loved scars."
She huffed. "Not all do."
"Do you?"
Her gaze locked with his. His was full of hope, and worry.
She cast him a small but genuine smile. "Do not ever leave me like that."
"It worked, didn't it?"
"Yes, it worked. But I almost died of worry."
"Then I won't leave your side ever again." He grabbed the hand that was still stroking his forehead, and kissed her knuckles.
That's when she noticed.
Her free hand moved to his hair. "You've cut it."
It was no longer reaching his shoulders. He had cut it short, shorter than Merlin's or Arthur's even. His hair was now the length of Percival's.
"It's been a while now."
"I wasn't paying attention."
He smiled. "Now you are. What do you think?"
She glued the last stripe onto his skin and smirked. "You're gorgeous, as usual."
"Mmh. Gorgeous, eh?" His hands slipped to her waist and pulled her to him, so she straddled his thighs. "You are gorgeous."
Lily snorted, though her gaze was still tenderly locked onto his. "I doubt I'm pretty today. I doubt I've been pretty these last weeks."
"You'll always be the prettiest to my eyes."
She noticed how he didn't push her. How he didn't make the first move.
That was her choice.
So she leaned in, very slowly, as slowly as she managed, and touched his lips with her own.
What started out as a tender kiss soon turned into a much more heated one, similar to when they had been on the edge of death so long prior in Camelot.
Lily fully sat onto Gwaine's lap and glued her body to his, deepening the kiss.
She wanted to be never parted from him.
Never.
He was the one who broke the kiss to breathe.
His wounded forehead touched her. "I've missed you."
"And I you, sir Gwaine."
He chuckled. "So..."
"What?"
"When are we going home?"
Lily smiled widely. "Pack your bags, honey."