Here's the chapter 11. Here will be the Morgana-Hunith interaction you asked for , so not much adventure or Mergana.
This was difficult to write, as I'm not really good in writing emotional parts, so I would welcome any suggestions to change some parts…
Review please!
Follows and Favs make me very happy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.
Before they knew it Morgana and Merlin had left the shop and where out in the road leaving the owner of the press centre shocked. They were expecting it wouldn't be very easy to find an issue of a magazine that was published 20 years ago but it having been banned the very day it was out, that was more than they could handle.
They started walking back home in silence, each one focused on their own thoughts.
"What are we going to do? I can guess we won't be able to find it online, so…" Merlin started the conversation.
"There is still a chance that some of the villages hear will have it. Withdrawing an issue from every village in England is impossible, is it not?"
"Ok, we can easily go in the evening to check it out." He suggested, glad they had found a next step. Morgana simply nodded and Merlin took notice that she was subconsciously shivering from the cold.
"Morgana put on your coat. Now." he told her, realising she had took it off while waiting at the press centre and had forgotten to put it back on. She had been in the winter weather with a shirt for more than ten minutes.
"You will be lucky if you don't catch a cold."
Apparently, she wasn't and after an hour or two she raised a fever. Even though she insisted it was nothing important and she would be perfectly fine to go with Merlin to the village he surprised her and teamed up with his mother. They decided she would stay at home, with Hunith. Hunith had said
"It's a simple cold. If you stay at home, keep warm and rest, you will probably be fine in one or two days."
Morgana agreed finally. Merlin kissed his mother and her goodbye –Hunith discreetly leaved for the kitchen at that- and left to check the press centres of the three nearby villages. He took with him a map his mother had scribbled him so that he wouldn't get lost, a hooded jacket in case some of Uther's men appeared and the previous issue of the Observer.
Morgana was lying on the sofa with a blanket wrapped around her and a cup of hot tea with honey next to her. Hunith was up, tidying the bedrooms. Morgana was feeling guilty. She should be helping, she thought. She had come into their life, and now by behaving like a fool and forgetting to put on her coat she had made them have to look after her too. She felt stupid. And, like always, she knew that there was a huge story unfolding around the "Vivian thing" she had heard Uther say and she had no clue whatsoever how to continue if Merlin didn't find something.
Merlin. This, among many other things was something Merlin didn't have to do, still he offered to. He was being so good to her and in return she was being just Morgana, who apart from good looks and witty answers to his comments, in her mind had nothing else to offer as requital. Another thought crossed her mind. This was how she was getting by all this years. With her stubborn and bossy character she had always felt that was normal. She had never thought how much she was relying on others to survive, or probably she had refused to, as it was ruining her desire to be in control. First Uther, then Sefa, her flat mate during her first years in University, then Draco, and now Merlin. They all had raised her and supported her when they didn't have to. And now what was she? A useless painter having no source of income, no qualifications, no family. Good job, she thought. Unless she did something soon, she was going to starve one day or another.
She hadn't realised she was crying until Hunith came next to her and shook her gently. Heavy water droplets were falling from her eyes to her cheeks and then on the blanket that was pooled around her waist. Her eyes were puffy and red when she looked up to face Hunith.
"Morgana, what is wrong?"
"I'm fine, sorry about that, I don't know what came over me." Morgana quickly apologised, embarrassed at her behaviour.
"No you are not" she insisted as she fetched her a glass of water.
"Here" she told her as she handed it to her. Morgana took it with a grateful look on her face. After she had finished, Hunith asked her again.
"Now, will you tell me what's wrong? Is it something about Merlin? Is he mistreating you? I will tear his head open if he does I promise you."
"No, of course not. He's just being too good for me" Morgana mumbled between silent sobs.
"Whatever do you mean by that?" Hunith inquired with a curious expression in her face.
Morgana decided it was not the right time to play coy. She would tell that wonderful woman in front of her everything. She already felt her like her mother and she trusted her as such.
"I just mean" she started slowly. "that since I first met him I have dragged him into an impossible series of events and a lot of dangers. I really didn't mean anything to happen this way, it just sort of…happened. The one moment he had spilled a bottle of orange juice on me and he offered to take me to his flat to get my clothes dry and the other I was left homeless after a quarrel with my ex and had to ask him to spend the night there. And since that, the combination of Merlin's vast goodwill and my bad luck got us in this place."
Hunith was looking at her in silence. Morgana continued
"Merlin's great. Honestly, I've never met anyone like this. He's so generous and so helping and so different from me and I think that since I can remember I have always been using up other people's goodwill to go by and …"
Morgana stopped for air and looked at Hunith. She sighed.
"Don't ever think about yourself in this way again Morgana. I have known you for less than a week and I can already understand why Merlin loves you so much. And about what you said that you are using people and never help back think about something; If Merlin was in danger or asked you to do something for him, wouldn't you do it at once?"
"Of course I would" Morgana said quietly.
"There you go. See? I think that what's happened to you is just that you wanted a normal life and you never got one. Plus, you never had anyone to care for you that needed something back from you. But believe me when I tell you that I, who have lived a perfectly normal life, with nothing unusual apart form the last week you visited us have nothing for you to be jealous of."
Mg stopped to think about what she had said. She was right, Hunith. She could make herself useful in other ways and she could just take pride and pleasure in who she was and how unusual her life was. She gave Hunith a faint smile. She smiled back.
"See? Got you smiling!" she said. "And just for the record, Merlin loves every part of this investigation. He's always been one for adventure"
They spent the next hour talking about all sorts of things; Hunith told Morgana how she had met Merlin's father, Balinor and some moments after their marriage than sent them both into fits of laughter. Morgana told her some details about her relationship with Merlin which was something Hunith was very curious about.
Morgana had joined Hunith to the kitchen were they had started to prepare supper when the door burst open and Merlin came in, breathless, sweating and looking as if he had been running. He closed the door behind him, locked it twice and then looked at his mother and his girlfriend.
"Guess who's here, looking for us."
"Oh my god" Hunith exhaled sitting on the nearest chair.