Balinor is a coward.

He had already known that after escaping Camelot and leaving Kilgharrah there, proceeding to hide out in the forests for nearly 18 years.

But this just accentuates the fact: he doesn't have the courage to tell Merlin that he is his father. And, out of all the things in the world, the rejection and heartbreak on his son's face is what he fears most.

Gaius had offered to break the news for him, but he figured that Merlin would definitely not take it well if his parents were not the ones to do it.

It wouldn't be much of a stretch with Gaius, though. He's noticed how fatherly Gaius is to Merlin. It's in their interactions, and the love and fondness in Gaius's eyes. He has to push down the spark of jealousy that arises, for he owed Gaius, and would always owe him. (He also has the old physician to thank for this whole thing. Without him, Balinor would have never escaped, would have never met Hunith, would have never conceived Merlin. But actually, it was Uther who had started the chain of events. So really, he has Uther to thank for Merlin? Nope, that isn't happening.)

In conclusion, Balinor's life is complicated, and it all stems from his birth and his cowardice.

Hunith comes a few days later, accompanied by two of Camelot's guards.

Gaius had sent a letter (with the vaguest information possible), asking her to come and help him with something regarding Merlin.

Arthur and Merlin had been told that she had missed her son and had wanted to come visit, especially after the dire circumstances of their previous meeting. ("Aww...Merlin, your mother misses you! And you miss her too, don't you? You're such a girl, Merlin.")

So when Hunith enters Gaius's chambers and sees Balinor, she immediately drops all of her belongings, gasping at the sight of a man she hasn't seen for years.

"Balinor!" she exclaims, rushing to him and throwing her arms around his neck. He wraps her in his arms as well, and they stay there, happy in each other's presence.

A few seconds later (Or was it a few minutes?), she looks up at him, tears in her beautiful blue eyes, and asks, "It's really you?"

"Yes, love," he replies with a smile, "it really is."

She immediately frowns in worry. "Why hasn't Uther killed you on sight? Surely he must have seen you in the castle."

"Well, I helped him with the Great Dragon, and he had no choice but to agree to my demands."

She nods, and then turns to the third occupant of the room, as if just noticing that Gaius is there (which is ironic, since this is Gaius's chambers). "Is this what you wanted to speak to me about? Does he know?" she asks, gesturing to him with a tilt of her head.

Gaius nods. "Figured it out before I had the chance to tell him."

Hunith takes a few seconds to absorb all the information. "We have to tell Merlin, don't we?"

"Yes." Balinor runs a hand through his hair. "We didn't know how to break the news, especially because I don't exactly know what it's like to be a father."

She smiles that beautiful smile of hers that he had missed. "Nonsense, you'd be a natural at it! I just know it!"

He laughs (she always managed to do that), and they share a kiss, one that he wishes he could prolong, to make up for all the years he had been gone. But then Merlin bursts through the door, and promptly freezes at the sight that greets him. "Uh...Mother? Balinor? Gaius? Why is...why are they...Gaius! They're...they're kissing! They know one another?! What is going on?"

They quickly break apart, and Balinor figures this isn't the best way to tell Merlin, but he's already seen them together, so they just have to go with it.

"Merlin!" Hunith scolds. "You are still as skinny as the last time I saw you! You need to eat more!"

"I do eat enough," he grumbles, "but this has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with you two, who are...lovers? Eww! I don't want to think about that. If I didn't know better, I'd say this was sorcery. Or is it sorcery? Maybe it is! There is no logical explanation for this! I feel like my brain-"

"Merlin," Gaius says, infamous eyebrow ever-present.

"Sorry," Merlin mumbles, abruptly stopping the flow of words.

Hunith steps forward then, hands brushing Merlin's hair back with care. "There's no easy way to say this, my sweet Merlin."

"Just say it, Mum. It can't be that bad! For all I know, it could have just been love at first sight or something as horridly romantic as that." He looks expectantly at Hunith, with all the trust of a son. And Balinor can't quite bare to look at him because he knows that that trust will vanish once he hears the truth.

He may never look at Balinor that way.

Hunith sighs. "Balinor is your father, Merlin."

Merlin steps back, eyes widening. "My father?" He looks up at Balinor in a new light, with new knowledge. "My father!"

Balinor tries to smile, but he thinks it turns out strained. Merlin looks down at the floor, wringing his hands out, and then looks up again with tears in his eyes and the expression of a kicked puppy.

Just as Balinor had feared.

"You knew!" He turns to Gaius. "You knew too, didn't you?" He runs a hand through his hair, a habit seemingly taken from Balinor though he doesn't know how. "I deserved to know."

"I'm sorry, Merlin," Hunith consoles him softly. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"You already did," Merlin whispers. He turns to Balinor, who has frozen in place. "Especially you! You couldn't have come back during all those years, at least once? Just once!"

"Merli-" he tries to say.

"I deserved to know," Merlin says brokenly, storming out of the room.

Silence fills the space until Gaius says softly, "Just give him time and space to calm down. I'm sure he's not that angry. He just has a lot to process right now."

Balinor simply sighs. This was not how he had wanted it to go.

He spends some more time with Hunith, but their reunion is tainted by Merlin's sadness; and so he leaves to go back to his chambers (which Uther had so graciously provided him with) to recollect and think over his past actions and everything that has happened.

On the way there, he hears muffled sobbing. He peeks around the corner into a side corridor and sees Merlin, his poor son, left with a destiny so great yet a life so sad.

He's not alone, though.

Arthur is with him, kneeling in front of him and getting his clothes dirty for a servant, for his best friend. Balinor watches as the prince demands that Merlin tell him what is wrong in a surprisingly gentle tone, rubbing his hands up and down Merlin's back and letting him cry into his shoulder, soaking his tunic with tears.

At least he has a friend, Balinor thinks. If not a father, then a brother is fine.

As long as his son is happy.

He would do anything to wipe the sadness away.

A few hours later, he enters Gaius's chambers again, wordlessly trying to help him with his herbs as Hunith gets settled in a nearby room (not with him, or Uther would get suspicious).

She eventually comes in afterwards, with Merlin slightly leaning into her side, eyes red-rimmed and almost every bit the girl that Arthur had described him to be.

He slowly walks up to Gaius and hugs him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it," he mumbles into Gaius's robes. "I was just so...angry! And I already apologized to Mum, and she said it was fine. Everyone thinks everything's fine when everything's not."

"Shh...Merlin, it's alright, despite what you may think," Gaius consoles him, and Balinor wishes he could have a fraction of the bond the two of them have.

They break apart, and Merlin proceeds to step up to him awkwardly. "So you're my father."

"Er, yes," he says in response, almost as awkwardly as Merlin had.

"I don't...I don't really know how to act around you. But we can't avoid each other for all of eternity...unless you want to?" Merlin quirks an eyebrow at him.

Balinor chuckles. "I've never had that much patience."

His son gives him a hesitant smile. Not quite that goofish grin that usually lit up his face, but close enough. "So let's start over, I guess." Merlin holds out his hand. "Hello!" he says in a cheery voice. "I'm Merlin, like the scary birds. You've probably heard that I'm the royal prat's manservant, and I happen to be your son!"

Balinor reaches out to shake his hand with a firm grip. This Merlin here was not the one drowned in prophecy and magic, but one with a childlike innocence who just wanted a father. This was a happier Merlin, and he would try his hardest to keep it that way. "Well then. Hello, Merlin. I am Balinor, recently thought to have been the last dragonlord. How have you been?"

"Just cheery, if only Arthur would stop giving me so many chores."

And that is the shaky start to their relationship.

This is THE END, guys! Let's just hope Balinor succeeds as a father.

Thank you for all the follows and favorites and reviews. They all warmed my heart, and I loved contributing to this fandom's life (even seven years late).