Last chapter!

It's sad to see this end...

A massive thank you to everyone who has reviewed, put this story on alert and added it to their favourites.

Enjoy.

Merlin opened his eyes and awoke to the familiar sight of his bedroom. The smell of potions and unclean washing entered Merlin's nose. He looked to his left to see Gwen lying on one side of his bed. Her hair was a bit messy, but she looked peaceful. Merlin guessed that she had been there some time and then guessed that he had been asleep for a while. Merlin gave Gwen a little shake.

"Gwen... Gwen... Wakie... Wakie..." Merlin shook her gently with his arm that wasn't in a sling. Gwen murmured something and slowly started to wake up. She lifted her head and looked into Merlin's clear blue eyes. Gwen smiled and threw her arms around Merlin.

"Oh Merlin, we thought you were really gone this time." Merlin pulled Gwen away and gave her a goofy grin.

"Now Gwen, you're never, ever, going to get rid of me that easily," he smiled. Gwen looked down as she tried to control the little bit of laughter she had.

After a while, Merlin wanted to get out of bed. Gwen tried and tried to get him to stay in bed, but Merlin ended up making his way down to the main room of his and Gaius's chamber. The first thing Merlin noticed was that Gaius was making breakfast. He also noticed that it was egg, ham, chicken, vegetables and bread with a big cup of water. Merlin's smile was so big it covered his whole face.

Gaius turned round to start putting the food on the table. He almost jumped back in surprise when he saw Merlin sitting there. Gaius shook his head with a smile on his face, and then set the food on the table. Merlin did not hesitate and dived straight into eating his food. Gaius sat down on the other side of the table and Gwen joined them.

"We're glad to have you back Merlin," Gaius said all of a sudden. Merlin looked up.

"I'm glad to be back. Did you know that Uther is more of a prat than Arthur is?" Merlin said, with a mouthful of food. Gaius and Gwen laughed. "Did I miss anything whilst I was away?"

"No," Gaius said.

"But you've been asleep for two days now. You missed Gwaine having his banishment lifted." Gwen added. Merlin snorted.

"I'm glad I missed that! He'd drag me down to the Tavern and that would be worse than my trip with him and Uther!" Merlin said, putting some more food into his mouth.

"Speaking of Uther, he wanted to see you." Gaius said and Merlin raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Where is he?"

"Not sure, but I'm sure you'll find him." Merlin nodded.

"I'll go find him after I've spoken with Arthur and seen Gwaine then."

Merlin walked along the battlements. He saw Uther looking out over Camelot. Even from a distance, Merlin knew what the King was wearing. He had a fine pair of brown trousers on with nice, fancy leather boots. He wore a white top with a leather jacket and leather gloves. He wore his crown proudly on his head. Merlin smiled at how the King had changed so little after everything they had just gone through. He walked a little bit closer. Uther hadn't noticed him and Merlin guessed that he was in deep thought. Merlin was now only a metre away from the King and he was still unnoticed. He too looked out over Camelot. He watched the people below walking, going about their day-to-day lives, smoke fly into the air from shop fires and everything else that stretched beyond Camelot. It was quite hot and it was nice to have the cool wind whip around his face. The wind lifted Merlin's hair off his face and let it fall back down when the wind was finished.

Merlin turned to the King. The young warlock cleared his throat and the King's head snapped up.

"You wanted to see me Sire?" Merlin asked, putting his hands behind his back. Uther sighed.

"I want to say... Thank you..." Merlin raised an eyebrow.

"Is there any reason in particular as to what you are thanking me for? Because, I'm a little confused." Merlin said. He wasn't lying; he really was confused as to why the King was thanking him. He was unsure what he was begin thanked for.

"Yes, yes there is Merlin. I'm thanking you for being extremely loyal to the Pendragon family. You stood by my side all the way through that crazy... adventure of ours and didn't question me once. Not to my face at least. You did as you were told, even though I wasn't always right. I will admit that I thought that you were... useless, but you have proven me deeply wrong. You saved my life just as many times as I saved yours... maybe more. You have not only proven yourself to my son, but to me as well. You have saved both of our lives... numerous times, even though we both don't always deserve it –"

"What makes you say that?"

"I and Arthur are both complete prats and both have short tempers," he said, meeting Merlin's eye. Merlin opened his mouth in shock of what the King had just said. Merlin went to say something, but Uther raised a hand to silence him. "I read the first entry in your 'diary' that you wrote in whilst we were kidnapped." Merlin hung his head in quite a bit of shame. Uther pulled Merlin's 'diary' out of his pocket and tossed it to Merlin. He caught it with one hand, the good hand, the one that wasn't in a sling. Uther eyed Merlin's sling and sighed.

Suddenly, a shout echoed over the battlements and Uther looked away with a smile on his face.

"Merlin..." Arthur bellowed from somewhere far away in the castle. Merlin looked at Uther and bowed. He turned and walked away. Merlin heard Uther sigh in the distance and something twisted in Merlin's stomach. He couldn't walk away now... Merlin turned round sharply on his heels.

"Sire," he said, making Uther's head snap up. Merlin looked at him with a plain, but respectful face. "I saved you every time, because you deserved it... You deserved to live. I know that you and Arthur are prats and short tempered, and you are going to kill me later for saying that... However, you do what you think is right, and like Arthur, I will respect you for what you do. I have stood by Arthur all this time and I'm not going to stop now... and he stands by you... Therefore, it doesn't take a fool like me to wonder where I stand when it comes to you... I would do everything we have just done, all again for Arthur... and you Sire" Uther looked at the servant in silence. Merlin nodded at him and turned to go find Arthur as he screamed Merlin's name again.

"Why?" Uther asked. "Why would you do that?" Merlin turned round and locked his eyes with the King's before saying the eleven words that would haunt Uther forever.

"Because I'm happy to serve Arthur, until the day I die." And with that, Merlin turned, and walked away, thinking of an excuse to tell Arthur.

Uther would kill him if he breathed a word of what he had just said.

Gwaine placed Merlin's drink in front of him. Merlin was already regretting coming to the Tavern with him. He took a little sip of his drink whilst Gwaine drank his all in one go. They both placed their cups on the table.

"Do you think anyone will ever come to Camelot requesting Raven, Usher and Joey?" he asked, smiling like a Cheshire cat. Merlin shook his head as Gwaine grabbed his drink and took a gulp of it. Merlin wasn't going to have it anyway.

"Shouldn't... Even though I'd do it all again... I hope no one comes for Raven, Usher or even Joey." Gwaine nodded in agreement, taking a sip of Merlin's drink again.

Unknown to Gwaine and Merlin, a man on the other side of the Tavern sat down with his friends, passing them their drinks. They were all quite old and skinny and the one that was passing the drinks out was just in Camelot for a few days.

"Got any good stories for us old friend?" asked one. The old man nodded.

"Oh yes! A great one about an unlikely fighter and his father. A man named Raven, fought and defeated Ulric's best fighter... twice! He's as skinny as a twig. And his father, Usher, don't get me started on how he can fight with a sword..." The man chatted all night about Raven and Usher, adding Joey in every now and then, not knowing that two of them were just across the Tavern.

They may be putting it behind them, but Raven, Usher and Joey, will never be forgotten...

Was the ending good?

I shall be back soon with another story. Not sure what it's going to be called, so just look out for my name... I'm also not sure how I'm going to write the summary either...

Review please!