I do not own Merlin.

Chapter 6 - The Reveal

"Morgana!"

Merlin cradled Morgana's head in his arms as he turned to the older dragon. "What happened!?" He asked before refocusing his attention on the girl in his arms. He leaned his head down to make sure she was still breathing.

"She's not dead," Kilgharrah responded. "Only experiencing the effects of a healing spell." Aithusa gurgled, confirming the other dragon's diagnosis.

"Is it normal for her to faint like this?"

"She has been under the Teine Diaga for quite some time now," he reminded him. "Her mind was not completely her own for almost a year, and it is exhausted."

Merlin nodded in understanding. "How long do you think she'll be asleep?"

"That depends on the Lady Morgana," he answered. Merlin turned his head to look at Aithusa, who was nipping at Daegal's fingers. He reached over to place a finger under the baby dragon's chin, lightly scratching him.

Aithusa gurgled in response to the affectionate touch. "Thank you," he whispered. He faced Kilgharrah again. "Thank you both for your help."

"I doubted your judgement regarding the Lady Morgana," he replied. "For the time being, it seems she is not on the path of darkness. Hopefully it shall remain that way."

"Why were you so quick to think that she would be on this path?"

Kilgharrah raised an eyebrow. "She plays an important role in your destiny with Arthur which has been foretold for many years," he informed. "There was never any collection of tales where the witch would become your ally, but destiny is not set in stone." Kilgharrah prepared to take off. "I have you to thank for reminding me of that. Come, Aithusa."

Merlin and Daegal waved goodbye to the dragons as they flew away from the clearing. They looked back down at Morgana's sleeping figure.

His servant scratched his head. "How are we going to sneak this past the guards?"

Luckily, due to the time, there weren't many guards on high alert. As a precaution, they covered Morgana's face in case they did run into one, but the guards didn't seem too interested. He was a trusted knight, and it was late so the guards were too tired to bother. It only served as proof to Merlin's argument that Camelot needed better guards.

Daegal didn't follow Merlin as he went up to put Morgana back in her chambers. He laid her down on the bed, and instead of returning to his own room, he waited with her in case she woke up before dawn.

He wasn't sure what to expect from her when she woke up. He'll need to explain to her what happened, and he was afraid of how she would react. He didn't know how much she remembered, and there was a chance that she probably didn't remember most of what happened.

He took a deep breath, resting his head on the edge of the bed while he sat on a chair beside it. It wouldn't hurt to get some sleep while he waited.

"Merlin?" He picked his head up at the sound of her voice. "Where am I?" Morgana tried to rise from her bed, but a throbbing pain in her head pulled her back down. "My head hurts," she moaned.

"Hey," he mumbled softly as he brushed hair out of her face. "You're in your chambers," he told her. "I'm not sure if you remember, but-"

"I do," she interrupted. "For the most part." She could recall the meeting with the dragons. It was a little foggy, but she remembered. She panicked a little as more memories of her under the spell came to light in her mind. "Merlin, I'm-"

Merlin shook his head. "You don't have to explain now. It's late. You should go back to sleep."

Her voice sounded weak as there were sharp pains in her head. "Will you stay with me?" She lifted up the covers, silently asking him to hold her in bed. He was about to protest, but she stopped him. "Just for tonight? Please?"

He sighed quietly before taking off his boots as he climbed into the bed with her, giving in. Fortunately, he wasn't wearing his armor so there wasn't a hassle. Her eyes fought to stay open as she wrapped her arms around him and snuggled into his chest. Merlin kissed the top of her head as she quickly fell asleep in his arms.

"Good night," he whispered.

The next morning, Merlin awoke to the sound of the door opening. He tried to gently get out of the bed without waking Morgana, however, the girl in his arms only hugged him tighter. He struggled to get out of the bed, but it was too late.

Guinevere had closed the door, and almost backtracked out of the room when she saw the two of them together. Her lips parted in surprise, and she bit her tongue to hide her amused smile. She silently placed Morgana's breakfast tray on the table, and looked to Merlin questioningly.

His cheeks burned bright red as a blush crept onto his face. He opened his mouth to explain, but he didn't want to wake Morgana. Except, Gwen didn't need an explanation. They were caught in a rather compromising position, but she knew nothing would have happened. He respects Morgana too much to let anything happen.

"It's alright," she mouthed to him. She made her way out of the door, making sure to lock it. As she walked away from the room, a small chuckle escaped from her lips.

Merlin managed a small smile at Gwen exposing them, and he felt Morgana shift her position. He looked down and saw her blinking her eyes open. He heard her groan as she buried her head in his chest for a few seconds before looking up to meet his eyes, her chin resting against him.

"Good morning," she greeted groggily.

"Morning," he replied. "How's your head?"

"Better than last night," she said. He untangled himself from her as he had to attend to Leon for his morning training. Morgana frowned considering he was the one who was keeping her warm.

As he put on his boots, he explained. "I have practice today, but I might be able to finish early and come see you by noon."

"About what happened-"

"We could talk about it later," he said. "I have to go. I'm late." Morgana nodded as he walked out the door, but not before giving her a wave goodbye. He didn't want to leave her so soon, but he felt it was necessary. They both recently woke up from a long night, and explaining everything now would be too much. Not that she wouldn't be able to handle it, but it wouldn't hurt to talk about it in a more relaxed environment.

Morgana sighed, suddenly feeling cold now that he was gone. She looked down at the dress she slept in last night, and groaned. She didn't feel like getting up, but she knew she had to. She strides over to her wardrobe to find a new dress to wear for the day.

She lazily picks out a simple light blue dress when Gwen casually walks inside with a slight grin. "Good morning."

"Good morning," she replied.

Morgana squinted her eyes at her maid, curious as to why she looks so smug. She then looks over to the table in her room to find a carefully placed breakfast tray in the middle of it. Although, she didn't see Gwen come in with that.

"Did you," she paused when she saw Gwen hiding her smirk. "You did."

Gwen laughed. "You forgot to lock your door," she said. "Merlin was awake when I dropped this off," she continued. "I ran into him just now. He's going on a hunting trip with Arthur this morning."

Morgana felt slightly uncomfortable speaking with Gwen like this. It wasn't as casual as before when they would fall into an easygoing conversation. Perhaps it was only Morgana, but there was a bit of tension between the two of them as they stood in the room.

"I thought Merlin had practice?" She walked behind the screen, and began to undress.

Gwen helped with the fastening of the new dress as she responded. "Arthur probably pulled him into it." She noticed her mistress's awkward demeanor, and frowned. "Is everything alright?"

Maybe it was all just in Morgana's head. "I'm fine."

She narrowed her eyes in concern, but she didn't ask her again. It was only very recently that she escaped captivity after nearly a year, and she didn't want to pry on the touchy subject. Instead, she kept their conversation lighthearted and easygoing.

"So you and Merlin," she began. "I mean I knew you two were close, but I didn't know you were that close," she joked.

Morgana couldn't help but feel embarrassed. Her cheeks blushed a bright red, and she was hiding a shy smile. "We weren't doing anything," she laughed and Gwen giggled. There was a short moment of awkward silence between the two old friends, but it quickly passed. "I was afraid to be alone last night so I asked Merlin to keep me company."

When she was finished getting dressed, Morgana walked over to sit down on the bed. Gwen followed, sitting beside her. "Do you want to talk about it?" The lady shook her head in response. "Well, I'm here if you ever want to talk."

Morgana nodded. It started to feel a little more normal between them. However, Morgana couldn't shake the guilty feeling she had as she was the one to help cause the siege a few days ago. And she couldn't apologize for her part in that without revealing her magic so she found it rather difficult to maintain the lightheartedness of the conversation.

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in."

Daegal peeked his head inside. "Uh," he scratched his head as he fully stepped into the room. "Merlin went on a hunting trip this morning, but he should be back soon," he informed her. "He planned a picnic if you would like to join him."

"I'd like that," she answered. Daegal nodded before exiting the room. Morgana followed after him, wanting to speak with him privately. "Daegal." She closed the door to her room, and spoke to him quietly in the hall. "I wanted to- I- I'm sorry," she apologized. "About what happened. I didn't-"

"Don't worry about it," he smiled. "It wasn't you." She wanted to disagree with him, but he didn't allow her. "I'm still alive, and I don't blame you." With that being said, he walked away to prepare their picnic.

Daegal guided Morgana to a secluded area of the woods where Merlin was waiting. It wasn't far from the castle. Daegal grinned at the two of them before leaving them alone.

"Hi," he greeted as he helped her down on to the picnic blanket.

She sighed as he plucked a flower on the ground beside them and gave it to her. "Merlin, what is all of this?"

Merlin shrugged. "I thought it'd be better to talk out here than inside the castle," he responded. "I don't think anyone would walk in on us here."

He started to unpack the basket. "Why are you doing this?" She asked. "You could have died because of me."

"That wasn't really you," he reminded. "You were under a spell. It wasn't your fault." Morgana fell silent. "I'm guessing Morgause initiated the ritual." He reached up to brush the stray strands of hair from her face. "Do you remember what happened?" She nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I tried to kill her," she revealed. "When she cured me from the poison, I thought she was trying to hurt me so I attacked her." Merlin wrapped an arm around her, listening patiently as she explained the events that happened. "After that incident, she let me go."

Surprised, Merlin asked. "Why didn't you leave?"

"She was my sister, and I couldn't simply leave her. She saved me from the poison, and I returned the favor by using magic against her." She snuggled into his side as she recalled what happened. "She apologized for using me as the vessel, but she didn't believe that Arthur would bring magic back to the kingdom." Arthur had failed the test last year after his duel with Morgause.

"Is that when she put you through the ritual?"

Morgana nodded. "She said it was for the best," she answered. "She already made plans with Cenred to take over Camelot, and she needed someone to help carry out those plans." Merlin couldn't understand how she would put her sister through something like that. He felt his jaw clench hearing about it. "I don't really remember going through the ritual, only what happened after."

"You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened while you were under the spell," he told her. "None of it was your fault."

"I should've left when I had the chance," she said. "If I did then-"

Merlin stopped her from saying anything else. "Then she would have found somebody else to do her bidding," he reasoned. "It was completely out of your control," he added. There was a brief period of silence between them. "What you said that night-"

"Some of it was true," she interjected. "But when I woke up after that night, I felt different," she told him. "I felt a little more in control of my thoughts."

He shrugged. "When you hit your head, I used magic to stop the pain and the bleeding. Perhaps it helped a little?"

"Perhaps," she agreed.

He looked down to face her. "I'm sorry if you felt like I didn't trust you, I do. It's one of the reasons why I love you," he admitted. "Because I feel like I can tell you anything."

She tilted her head to face him, brushing her lips against his. "I love you, too," she mumbled before kissing him softly. He brought his hand up to her cheek, returning the kiss gently.

AN: Sorry for the late update! School's about to start and I have yet to finish my summer projects. But I hope I didn't disappoint with this chapter. There was a lot of snuggling lol. Again, thank you for all the reviews, follows, and favorites. They're very appreciated! :)

Patty 4577: lol that would have been a great idea!

KaiaRenkin: Me too lol!

Lya200: Same she's so adorable!

Kumioko: Arthur probably won't find out about Merlin's magic. Aithusa would be cared for by Kilgharrah to do dragon things lol.

currageously: I hope I didn't disappoint with this chapter as Morgana doesn't remember being under the Teine Diaga at the moment. But she is healed for the most part and is finally reunited with Merlin. :)

Meri Ley: Merlin and Morgause's confrontation probably won't come until the final chapter. This fic would probably have around 10 chapters. Thanks for the review :)