Arthur stood up, turning around and there he was. Everything was in slow motion; he was there, standing before him. He was quick to act, too quick for Arthur. He felt the sword pierce his skin, sink in. The pain was unbearable.

"You gave me no choice."

Pain was rippling through Arthur's ribs, where the sword had been, he could hardly see anymore, it was dim when it had been much lighter before, and the pain was so present. He clutched his ribs to find them bare. It was pitch black then, and then it wasn't.

It was a sunny morning and the pain in Arthur's ribs was ridicules. He sat up in bed and was happy to see Merlin wasn't there. It almost seemed that Arthur was often happy to see Merlin gone, rather than happy to see him there and he knew this was wrong. He wanted to wake up with Merlin wrapped in his arms, but then, he would have to hide his disturbing dreams.

It wasn't just dreams anymore either, they would come on more and more, when he ate, watched the telly, was in the shower. Even last week when he was driving, he had come out of it in a ditch and from then on, he let Merlin drive them. It was scary to say the least and yet, Arthur still couldn't find it in him to tell Merlin. It had been going too well with him, the last three months had been perfect, and it had nothing to do with being a king.

Merlin loved him just for being who he was, he didn't want to be the king now, not now that everything was going so well. Because deep down, he knew Merlin loved the king more, that he would always love the king more.

Arthur let out a moan of pain as he pulled up his tee shirt and saw nothing there, not a scratch or bruise, nothing, but it hurt…as if a sword had just punctured his skin. Just then, Merlin had walked in, he noticed Arthur's distress right away.

"What's the matter?" he asked, walking over, much too quickly. He was on the bed and at Arthur's side, within seconds.

"My side just hurts," Arthur explained. "I probably slept on it wrong. Or it was your damn elbow in my ribs again, you clot!"

"You slept on your other side," Merlin stated, raising his eyebrow.

"What were you doing, watching me sleep?" Arthur barked at him, sitting up. Merlin looked hurt for a second. "Who are you Edward Cullen?"

"Don't liken me to that vampire!" Merlin told him, yanking him back down. "Let me see your side!"

"No, its fine, let me go!" Arthur fought out of Merlin's hold. But it was no use, Merlin was using magic to make himself stronger, Arthur could see it in his eyes, the gold, and then he was on his back and Merlin was pinning him there. He couldn't lie, he was slightly turned on by this.

He jerked his hips up to meet Merlin's, out of both desire and attempted distraction. Merlin glared down at him, as he struggled to re-lift Arthur's shirt up, so Arthur did it again.

"Arthur, stop!"

But Arthur didn't listen and he did it again, and again, and again, and again. It was only when Merlin ground his hips against Arthur's, in return, that he knew he had won. He flipped them other then and climbed on top of Merlin, pinning the man's hand's above his head.

"I'm going to have my wicked way with you now," he smirked, leaning in to capture Merlin's lips with his. He kissed him hot and hungry and it was very nice until he felt himself slipping, into that abyss of King Arthur. No, he refused himself, pulling back from Merlin to shake his head. Merlin just watched him, confused.

He played it cool and yanked up Merlin's shirt, (which was actually Arthur's shirt,) and started to leave open mouthed kisses around his navel. Merlin moaned and arched into him, his fingers pressed into Arthur's back then and Arthur smirked, nosing the shirt up as he made his way up the man's chest with kisses…

He kisses her sweetly on the cheek and moved away from her, he felt gutted, he felt as though he had cheated on her very day, every time he looked at Merlin instead. He couldn't bear to think about him when he was with her but yet, he was all Arthur could think about. He turned away from his wife, heartbroken.

"Arthur…Arthur…" she called for him, but he swore she sounded like Merlin.

"Guinevere…." He whispered in return, he couldn't tell her the truth.

"What?" He blinked his eye opened and stalled, he was on top of Merlin still, but his mouth had stopped working and he just lie there, frozen. It was Merlin's voice who sounded confused from under him. "What did you just say?"

"Me?" I didn't say anything," Arthur shook his head, backing up from Merlin a bit. He had a feeling the mood was gone. Merlin shook his head.

"You said Guinevere!"

"I did not!"

"You did, you said Guinevere," Merlin insisted, sitting up and knocking Arthur off him completely. Arthur jerked up quickly, knowing he would have to make a run for it any second now. "Arthur…"

"No, Merlin, no…" he shook his head, as he stood up. "I didn't say Guinevere, I didn't do anything, alright, just drop it!"

"I know what I heard, Arthur!"

"I don't give a damn what you heard, Merlin!"

And then Arthur was marching from the room, slamming the door as he went. He was panicking, he couldn't let Merlin find out he had been remembering. He sat down on the sofa and glared over at Mr. Noodles who, jumped up in surprise, and then fled from the couch. Arthur put his face in his hands upon hearing the bedroom door open.

"Arthur!" Merlin called after him, matching the haste Arthur had left the room in. "You need to tell me the truth right now!"

"Tell you what exactly?" Arthur asked.

"Tell me if you're remembering…"

"I'm not," he lied. Merlin huffed then and came and sat down next to him.

"You're lying to me!" Merlin announced, looking angry and hurt and concerned all at once. "You've been mumbling things in your sleep, things only the king would know." Arthur just shook his head, he didn't know what to say to that, he didn't know he was doing it. "I thought maybe you hadn't known what you were dreaming; that you couldn't remember your dreams when you wake up, but now I don't think that's it, you know something….you're remembering!"

"I'm not!" Arthur all but yelled, panicking still. He just knew Merlin would want him to remember, all of it, and he just couldn't. Not if it meant Merlin would love the king more.

"Why are you lying to me?" Merlin asked. "You know how long I've waited, why would you keep it from me?"

"Because you'll love him more than me!" Arthur finally yelled, Merlin jerked back, mouth falling open, but Arthur ignored it. "I want you; he doesn't deserve to have you. And you'll want him rather than me!"

"But…" Merlin shook his head now, mouth moving faster than his words came out. "You are him; I've told you that from the beginning, you've always been him. He is you."

"I'm not…I'm nothing like him," Arthur turned away. There would be no reasoning with Merlin over this. Rightly so, he supposed, but he refused to remember, if Merlin wasn't happy with this Arthur, then that was just too bad.

"Arthur…please," Merlin said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You are, you are so much like him." Arthur said nothing, he couldn't. "You don't have to let this knowledge change you, you…you don't have a kingdom to run anymore, you can be free to do as you please."

"You're talking to him, not me!" Arthur barked.

"There is no difference," Merlin said, sounding teary already. "Please, Arthur," he snuffled. "I've waited so long, I love you, and remembering isn't going to change anything, because I've always loved you and I always will."

"It won't be the same..." Arthur trailed off, looking back at Merlin to see his reddening eyes. "I don't want to lose who I am to him."

"You won't, you don't have to let it change you," Merlin said again. "Please Arthur, Please…"

"I can't…"

"Please, I've waited so long for this…." Merlin begged, tears rolling down his cheeks. "Please..."

Arthur didn't know if because he hated seeing Merlin like this or because he loved him so much, he supposed it was both. But either way, he closed this eyes then, and once more let his mind be open and clear. It took next to no time at all for a million images to flash across his eyes.

Flashes of light and gold and red and blood and Merlin and the king...himself. Men and woman and children and people he had all seen before, all known. His wife, his knights.

A boy walked up to him and stuck his hand out to him, Arthur didn't take it.

He laughed as the same boy picked a berry off his face.

The boy, who was so much more a man now, was hurt and Arthur screamed, he couldn't lose him.

And then he, himself, was lost, the last thing he saw was the blue of Merlin's eyes that struck him to his bones and made him feel loved as he slipped into nothingness.

When he blinked his eyes open again he almost had forgotten where he was, but he remembered then, he had remembered the feeling of being free, to do as he pleased, to feel loose from the lack of weight on his shoulders. He looked over and there he was.

"Merlin…" he mumbled, finding it hard to use his voice.

"Arthur…?" Merlin asked, shakily, eyes searching over him.

"Merlin," he answered and it was all he needed to do, because next Merlin was hugging him tightly. He wrapped his arms around him.

"I've missed you so much," Merlin cried. Arthur could feel the wet on his shoulder. Arthur laughed a little then, that made Merlin pull back and look at him.

"I've been here this whole time," Arthur grinned then and lifted his hand, sweeping his fingers lightly across Merlin's cheekbone, wiping away a lone tear. "Look at you…" he mused, too over come with the man before him to stand it. "You amaze me, after all this time and here you are."

"You mean everything to me, I wouldn't…I couldn't..." Merlin seemed lost for words and this made Arthur smile more.

"How you managed to make me fall in love with you twice, is a mystery," he said, letting his hand fall from Merlin's cheek to the back of his neck. "But that's what you've done."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Merlin asked then, leaning into him slightly, again.

"I wanted to, but I had Guinevere and a kingdom to run…of which I wanted to run with my heart, yet my heart couldn't figure out if I wanted you or it's kingdom more," Arthur explained. "I was going to tell you after the battle, after I saw you leave with Gwaine, but I never had the chance. I wouldn't dare tell you after I was wounded, I knew I was going to die, I knew even you couldn't save me." Arthur sighed at the thought. "If I had known then…you felt the same, or that I would one day return, I might have, but I didn't want to hurt you anymore than I already was."

"I've never loved another more than you, you know," Merlin said then, leaning forward a bit more.

"I know," Arthur nodded, closing the gap between them. Their kiss was chaste, but passionate, years and years of love pouring between them. It ended quickly, and Arthur kept his hold on Merlin, Merlin did the same. Arthur kept his eyes shut, taking in the feeling of being with Merlin for just a second longer, before he pushed these thought to the back of his head.

Thinking of now, his mother, Grace and his father, Robin, this life now. It seemed he already knew what to do, he took the king's memories and feelings, still swirling around and locked them, tight, in a chest, always there, in that part of his mind. But that was the past and this was now. He opened his eyes again to see Merlin smiling at him.

"Well that was weird…" he grinned. Merlin laughed at him and pulled him into a kiss. It was quick and short, but oh, so worth it.

"Thank you, Arthur," Merlin said, as he pulled away. Arthur smiled at him.

"You still love me, right?"

"Yes," he answered, as if Arthur was an idiot and he probably was. Merlin stood up then and rubbed his eyes. "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah...a bit" Arthur shrugged, getting up too.

"I could cook us something…"

"Nah, let's go out, we can go to the coffee shop and get some breakfast," Arthur suggested, watching as Mr. Noodles came trotting into the living room. He picked him up and set him on the couch.

"Okay, we can go to the book store and see Gwen after."

"I'm not sure I want to see her…actually."

"Then you wait outside," Merlin said, with a shrug. As he petted Noodles head and then grabbed Arthur's head. They headed toward the backdoor then, where Arthur slipped on a pair of shoes. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Arthur shrugged. Having a bitch of a time trying to get on his damn sneaker.

"What sparked your memory, what made you start remembering?"

"It was the flame's, the one's you turned into a dragon," Arthur answered, finally getting the sneaker on. Merlin made a humming noise.

"That was the first bit of magic I ever showed...-"

"Ever showed me," Arthur said for him, smiling at the surprised looking Merlin. "It was the first bit of magic you ever showed me and I only wanted to kill you a little bit."

Merlin laughed at this, as he opened the backdoor and they walked out hand in hand.

Mr. Noodles jumped up onto the windowsill, watching as his two human's drove down their small street together, laughing, and doing that weird thing, where they shove their faces together. Mr. Noodles thought then, as he meowed and licked his right paw, that he lives with two complete idiots.

(A/N:I had to write something in the cats point of view at least once, it made me laugh so hard. This is technically the last chapter. But there will be a epilogue, so stay tuned for that. I know I have sucked with updating towards the end of this story and I am very sorry! I'll try to have up the epilogue at the right time.)