This is rushed. At least, I feel as if I rushed it. I just wanted to move on, so if it seems rushed I am aware.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, alerted, and favorited last chapter. You guys are amazing :)

Thanks for reading, drop me a comment if you can, and expect a new prompt next time.

Bye!

P.S. I don't know when this story started actually getting a semi-decent plot. It was actually supposed to be plotless, but slowly but surely it's a story aiming towards a reveal... or close to a reveal. We'll see what happens ;)

"Merlin!" Panic shot through Arthur as he watched his friend disappear from view. He tossed his sword out of the water, barely paying attention as it clattered against the dirt shore, and immediately dove under water.

Frantically he began searching, vaguely aware of Gwaine joining him underwater, but he couldn't find any sign that Merlin had been in the water. No familiar, brown jacket, no dark head of hair, no obnoxiously bright smile, there wasn't even any blood, and Arthur had been fairly certain Amelia had stabbed him; there was nothing. Merlin was just gone.

"He's not gone," Gwaine snapped pulling Arthur back from his downward spiral. The blond hadn't even been aware he was speaking out loud, and now he felt annoyance settle in his stomach. Except, he wasn't annoyed with Gwaine; he was annoyed with himself.

"Let's keep searching," Arthur suggested and Gwaine nodded, the two diving underwater again with renewed determination. Even if Arthur had to search all night, he was going to find his friend, and he knew Gwaine would do the same.

Merlin

Merlin awoke to fingers running through his hair. He felt relatively light, could sense the magic swirling around him, leaving him warm and with a sudden, overwhelming sense of home. He peeled his eyelids open, bottle blue eyes scanning the bright, white area he lay in.

"I was hoping you would awake," a familiar voice stated and Merlin tipped his head back, finding himself laying in Freya's lap, the woman in question slowly stroking his hair.

"Freya," he whispered reaching for her free hand. She allowed him to take it, leaning forward to press a kiss to his forehead. "W-where am I?"

"Avalon," she replied quietly, her voice muffled against his hair.

Merlin recalled Amelia coming up behind him, followed by sharp pain in his back. There was no doubt that Amelia had stabbed him, no doubt hoping to kill him before she succumbed to her own injuries. It left him feeling hollow that she had actually succeeded. That is, if she had succeeded. "Am I…? Am I dead?"

"No," Freya responded quietly, shaking her head back and forth. "But you are not completely well, either. I brought you here to heal."

"You said you could not help me."

"And at the time I couldn't," Freya murmured sitting up and resuming her original task, her fingers lightly running through Merlin's hair. "But this, this I can help you with."

"What about Amelia?"

"She is no longer a concern."

They fell into a heavy silence. Merlin contemplated what Freya had just told him, feeling himself relax as she continued to pet his hair. Amelia was dead. Gwaine, or possibly Freya, had killed her. While a part of Merlin felt bad for the sidhe, she was a living being after all, a much bigger part just couldn't bring himself to care that she was dead.

"Arthur will be looking for me," Merlin commented after a beat, looking up to meet Freya's blue eyes.

"When you return, it will be as if no time has passed," she stated with a warm smile. "I've missed you dearly, Merlin."

"As have I you," Merlin responded with a watery smile.

"But I must tell you," she continued her hand leaving his hair to caress his cheek, "that my death, all those deaths, were not your fault. Balinor and Will died protecting you and everyone you love, and I, I died because of a curse put upon my by a vengeful woman."

"I know, but…"

"No buts," she said placing her fingertips over his lips, cutting him off. "We do not blame you. You should not blame yourself. And as for Arthur discovering your secret…" she trailed off, Merlin's body tensing. "He may surprise you," Freya finished before leaning forward and softly kissing his lips.

"We must part ways now," she stated as the room started to dim. "I will always love you, my Merlin."

Before Merlin could respond, or even reach out for her, he suddenly found himself taking in a lot of water. He fought to get to the surface, a pair of arms encircling him, startling him, and he panicked, instinctually attempting to fight his potential attacker off, but a familiar, blond head of hair stopped his struggles in their tracks.

He and Arthur broke the surface, both coughing violently, and the blond immediately began toting the warlock back towards shore. Once on land, Arthur let him go and fell backwards, covering his blue eyes with his hands, just breathing deeply.

Gwaine fell heavily down onto Merlin's right, glancing over at him with a forced grin on his face, his eyes a flurry of fear, concern, and pleading to never, ever, ever scare him like that again. "I'm fine," Merlin whispered hoarsely, reassuring not just Gwaine but Arthur, too. "I'm fine."

Merlin

Arthur had given Merlin three days before he decided to confront the younger man. Gaius insisted Arthur wait a while longer, but the blond just couldn't keep his questions at bay any longer. He sat at the foot of Merlin's bed, watching as Gaius changed the younger man's bandages (and, lucky for Merlin, and a little suspicious to Arthur, the cut had hardly been a flesh wound).

"I will just be outside," Gaius said when he finally finished, gathering his supplies and leaving the room, shooting Arthur a 'be cautious' type look before shutting the door behind him. Arthur didn't need to be reminded, he knew Merlin had nearly died twice in so many weeks; he wasn't going to be harsh and uncaring. Or, at the very least, he would try not to be.

"How are you feeling?" Arthur started off, figuring he could ease into the whole 'so, tell me about your father. Oh, and while you're at it, explain to me why two different enemies have claimed you have broken the law. And if you have, please tell me the truth so I can figure out just how to proceed without having to actually hurt you' conversation.

"I've had worse," Merlin answered truthfully, leaning back into his pillows. He was trying to look relaxed, but Arthur could tell, just by his eyes alone, that Merlin was pretty far from relaxed. He looked tense, maybe a little worried, and, if Arthur wasn't mistaken, he caught a flash of fear flickering in those bottle blue eyes.

"Merlin, I…"

The door burst open, cutting Arthur off, and Gwaine, Leon, Percival, and Elyan ambled in, Gwaine carrying a jar of ale while the other three tried to convey that this had not been their idea with their eyes.

"We wanted to see if Merlin was doing well," Leon stated before Gwaine could open his mouth. "We were not planning on the party."

"Why the hell not, gents?" Gwaine questioned with an easy-going grin, taking a swig from his jar. "We have a lot to celebrate. Merlin, our dear friend, has thwarted death again. He has met it head on and laughed." For good measure, Gwaine threw his head back and laughed a short, bark-like laugh, taking another swig.

"We could come back," Elyan suggested when he realized they had interrupted something.

"No," Arthur replied suddenly not wanting to discuss this at that moment. "We'll talk later." He told Merlin before getting to his feet, heading towards the door. "Take care of him," he informed Percival as he walked out.

"Was he talking about Merlin?" Gwaine asked curiously.

"I seriously doubt it," Percival and Elyan said together, earning them a chuckle from Leon.

As Arthur headed down the three steps, he glanced over his shoulder at Merlin, the younger man watching him curiously. He waved, a wan smile on his face, and Arthur returned the wave, trying and failing to smile back. He knew he and Merlin needed to have a nice, long talk about everything that had transpired over the past few weeks, but in order to do that Arthur needed more time to sort through it himself. Of course, like Gwaine said, he needed all the facts, and the majority of the facts resided with Merlin.

Arthur just hoped Merlin gave him every last detail when they eventually did have their talk.