Another Merlin fic. I don't own it, BBC does though. This came to me after much reading of Merlin fanfiction. (I've become obsessed with Merlin fanfiction.) It will be slightly dark, not sure how dark, but there will be some violence and of course lots of smut, though that's later in the story. [sigh] I just love this pairing. Again I don't own these Merlin characters and be warned that this is a YAOI story, so don't read if you don't like that style.

Until Next Time

~Reiya

Chapter 5.

The flames, they were reaching higher, devouring everything in their path. He reached out, but jerked his hand back when they singed his flesh. He had to help, some way. He reached again, but before he could touch the flames again, he was falling, blackness swirling around him, blocking the bright flames, engulfing them, extinguishing them and leaving him in darkness.

And he was alone, no sense of what was going on or what was happening. Just floating through the blackness in search of something. He waited, and eventually, the blackness changed. Seemed brighter, less mind numbing. He could feel heat to his left, but it didn't hurt.

But than that thought had him noticing that he hurt. His skin felt dried out and drawn taunt. His leg hurt still, as did his unwounded leg. He felt wrung out, like a rag. His throat was parched and felt like someone had run sandpaper over it. Each breath hurt his lung and sucked away more moisture from his already dry mouth.

It took a few minutes of struggle to get his eyes to work and open up. He was back in the room. The one he'd first woken up in. The heat was the fire place. And the reason he felt so dried out had been because he'd run into a burning building. He winced at the stupidity of it. He didn't know what he'd been thinking. He'd just reacted, his body moving before he'd even thought about it.

He let out a sigh. He really needed to think more often before he went into action. He'd forgotten all about his magic. He was so lost in thought that he jumped when he felt a cool cloth resting on his skin above the collar of his shirt. It certainly helped some. He looked up and saw Morgana staring at him, eyes worried.

He tried to smile, but it turned into a wince as something pulled. "How are you?" She asked him softly. He tried to sit up, but she pushed him back down. "You mustn't move too much. Gaius said you should rest for the time being."

"How long have I been out?" He asked softly, in a croaking voice.

She blinked at him, than answered. "A day and a half." No wonder he felt so thirsty. "Merlin…you can speak?" She asked after a moment.

"Yes, why wouldn't I be able to?" He asked back, confused.

"It's just when we found you, you wouldn't speak and Gaius said that you couldn't speak because you didn't want to and me and Gwen tried to reteach you." She told him.

He frowned going back over the last couple of days, his mind going over the memories. "Oh. Uh...I guess I couldn't, could I. Sorry." He said softy.

She shook her head. "No need to apologize. He also said that you would eventually remember. Oh, here." She held out a cup to him. Helping him lean up slightly, he drank the cool water slowly, letting it slide around his mouth and down his throat, moistening it.

He gave a sigh and a nod of thanks. "Just sleep for now. We can talk later." He didn't even hear her as he went back under.

The next time he woke was easier and it was to his stomach growling from hunger as the scent of food wafted around him. He opened his eyes to see Gaius standing next to the bed. "Here." He held out another cup of water for him, which he drank gratefully.

Sighing he lay back. He watched him go over to the hearth, and ladle a bowl of what ever was in the cauldron over the fire. Coming back to Merlin, he set it down and helped him sit up. Merlin drank the warm broth down slowly, letting it seep into his bones.

By the time he finished drinking the broth down, he was tired again. He tried to stay awake, but Gaius gave him one look and knew he wouldn't be allowed to fight it. Sighing, he lay back down and drifted off to sleep again.

It took him another day and a half to be able to stay awake long enough to talk to them, but at the moment, they were all too busy to talk much. A sickness had broken out in a near by village, which had Gaius working non stop, Arthur was always busy as was Morgana now that she was allowed to work again. Gwen was of course busy, being a servant.

He was glad though. It gave him time to think about what he would say. He wouldn't say anything about his magic. He remembered Morgana and Gwen's warning about magic here. And he wasn't sure if he was ready to talk about what had happened to him and his mother.

So he waited and thought as he grew stronger. He knew eventually he would have to speak, but he still was afraid of what they would say. Words hurt, no matter how you tried to ignore them.

xXx

This one was kind of short, I know. The next one will be longer. I promised to do some explaining, but that will wait till the next chapter, cause right now I'm sleepy and want to finish this up. So I'm stopping kind of early. Enjoy.

Until Next Time

~Reiya