The next day Arthur had woken up to a Not-Merlin pulling back his curtains and he had panicked. Thinking it was all a dream. He had gruffly ordered the man away and lay in bed for another half an hour. Someone entered the room, he assumed it was Guinevere because they hadn't knocked but when he heard that familiar voice his heart jumped, whether from joy or fright Arthur wasn't sure but he was glad to hear the voice nonetheless.

"Are you just going to lay around? I thought we had a feast to attend tonight!"

Arthur's head shot up. "Merlin!" He said happily.

Now Merlin looked confused, had Arthur forgotten everything that had happened yesterday.

"Yes…" Merlin said tentatively, wondering if his king and friend had gone crazy while he was gone and he had simply not noticed until this point in time.

Arthur scrubbed his hand over his face. "I thought it had all been a dream." He said sadly but relieved at the same time.

Merlin chuckled and proceeded to help Arthur get dressed. "You really can't be doing this." Arthur stated. Merlin frowned at him, a questioning look on his face. "You're not my manservant anymore."

Merlin actually looked sad. "Don't look so pathetic Merlin. I have a sort of promotion for you." Arthur told him. Merlin still looked wary.

"If you're planning on making me court jester you have another thing coming." Merlin stated boldly. Arthur chuckled for awhile, he had a feeling it was going to be like that for some time because it would take a long time to believe that it was really Merlin and that each joke was his and that it wouldn't be the last one he heard.

"No, something better." Arthur said finally, turning to look Merlin in the eye seriously. "I plan to bring magic back to Camelot." He said.

Merlin's eyes widened. "Arthur…" He hesitated and Arthur was confused.

"I thought you'd be happy." He said his face falling.

Merlin's eyes widened. "I am… I mean… I will be… I mean… this can't be a hasty decision. I mean I'm happy you decided to do this but… this could cause chaos."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "I am the king Merlin, I do know what I'm doing." He stated. "It's not a decision I just made, it's something I've been working on for about… two years." He hesitated telling Merlin, but there was no point in hiding it, "two years." Merlin would find out one way or another that he was the reason Arthur had changed his views on magic, it was quite obvious.

Merlin shut his mouth and looked at Arthur seriously. Arthur cleared his throat seeing that he had Merlin's full attention. "I need someone to advise me on matters of magic. Gaius knows a good amount it seems but it would be helpful to have an actual sorcerer." He hesitated looking down as he pulled his belt on before looking back at Merlin and straightening his shoulders to look him square in the eye. "I can think of no better man than the one who showed me reason when it came to magic in the first place."

Merlin gulped and then turned away running his hands through his hair shakily. "I'm not sure I'm the right man for the job, Arthur." he didn't look at Arthur. "I've been in hiding for two years, I barely talked to anyone in that time, before that I was a simple servant."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't say simple, you ended up being a lot more complex than I could have imagined, and you weren't just any servant, you were servant to the king." Merlin still didn't look at him and so Arthur's tone turned more serious, "And beyond that you have always been a good advisor, you've always been able to show me what is right and what is wrong, and even when you didn't know you helped me figure out what I believed." Arthur placed a hand on Merlin's shoulder. "Beyond that you have always been a loyal and good friend and there is no one I trust more in the world. You are without a doubt, the perfect man for the job."

Merlin seemed uncomfortable with the blatant display of affection so Arthur was only too happy to change the subject and so he cleared his throat, insulted Merlin, and Merlin quipped back before accepting his new position. It wasn't quite normal after that, it never would be the old normal, but it was a new normal and, in some ways, a better normal and that was alright with Arthur.

It didn't happen overnight but eventually, with Merlin's help, magic was returned to the kingdom. It took quite a few days of Arthur waking up and throwing things at poor undeserving servants who went and got either Merlin or Gwen to come and calm him down before he realized that no, he wasn't dreaming, and yes his friend was still alive.

Despite the fact that they weren't working as closely together Merlin and Arthur became almost more inseparable and together they built the kingdom that had been prophesied for an age. Together, they fulfilled their destinies.

AN: Awww so sad its over but "Yay!" happy ending! Sorry if it was kind of abrupt in the end, didn't mean for it to be but ran out of creative juices and even when I tried later I couldn't think up anything better.

Thank you SO much for sticking with me through this process! It's amazing how many responses I got to this story! On the days I posted chapters there would be over 1,000 views! You guys were all amazing and left me absolutely incredible reviews! I'm so pleased you enjoyed it.

Don't worry this isn't completely goodbye, if you liked the story I'll be posting a new one (not a sequel) October 8. I know that's quite some time away but it will give me time to fully finish the story at the same time it will give me a deadline so I have to finish the story before then.

For now I'll give you a description and perhaps if enough people are interested I'll add another chapter as a sneak peek :) You'll have to leave a review!

Here's the description of my story titled "Innocence and Instinct", so you can see if you're interested:

After Arthur and Merlin are rescued from being imprisoned by a sorcerer named Garlock, Arthur must deal with the nightmares from the days of his torture, but he discovers his nightmare is only beginning when he must try and fix a suicidal Merlin. What happened to Merlin while they were captured and can Arthur deal with Merlin's demons along with his own? Rated M for multiple suicide attempts although not too graphic. Friendship, no slash.

So there you go, if you are interested in reading this story then please follow me as an Arthur or check back after the 8th of October to see if I have posted it yet. It is rated M but only for safety not because it is graphic and I do not believe that it is out of character at all.

Please leave me a goodbye review and thank you again all for being SUCH great fans!

God bless!

FeedtheFlames