Two Sides, Same Coin

Chapter One: Prattish Prince

Chapter Summary: Ever since he was little, Merlin expected that meeting his soul-mate would be like some sort of fairy tale. This is not the case. Or the first of a series of short stories where Merlin and Arthur are soul-mates in a universe with soul-mate identifying timers.

A.N: This is the first of a series of at least two. There might be more. I'm only promising two, though. Also, some dialog is lifted verbatim from the episode. I don't own that. Or the show Merlin. But I really don't on that dialog.

Other Author's Note: If you follow this account and enjoy my femslash/pjo stuff, I've kind of sort of migrated to my ao3 account "sunkelles". It might be good to check that out.

Merlin doesn't know what the ticking timer on his wrist means until he is seven years old. That is when his curiosity finally over-flows and he asks his mother about it.

They're sitting down at the table over a small dinner of soup when he does.

"Mum," he asks, "the thing on my wrist with the numbers, what does it mean?"

His mother sighs. She doesn't seem as though she's ready to answer the question.

"Mum?" he asks. She looks at him.

"It's your soul-mate timer," she says.

"It will zero out when you meet your soul-mate," she finishes.

"Soul-mate?" Merlin asks, because he is suddenly even more intrigued than he was to begin with.

"The person that you are meant to be with," she says in a far-away tone. It sounds wistful.

"Who was yours?" Merlin asks, because he's never really known when to leave well-enough alone.

"Your father," she says, as always, not mentioning his name.

"What was it like?" he asks.

"Like the heavens and the earth stopped and the birds sang," she says with a smile on her face, "Like everyone always said it would be."

"Will it be like that for me?" he asks.

"I hope," she says.

His mother takes a deep breath, and then says to him, "Now go ahead and eat, Merlin. You're skinny enough as it is." Merlin grins, and takes a bite of soup. Then he looks down once again at his wrist. He can't wait to meet his soul-mate.

As the years go by, Merlin ends up nearly destroying a neighbor's barn with Will, having his powers grow, and of course, wondering about his soul-mate. He tries to imagine them many times. Sometimes they are a girl from a neighboring village that he meets in the woods. Sometimes they are a princess. Occasionally they are a renegade knight who comes to protect his village from bandits. The fantasy is ever-changing. But the years pass by quickly. The memories fade together, and his powers grow. As his timer nears zero, his mother decides that he needs to travel to Camelot (Camelot of all places?) to live with her friend Gaius. He respects her decision, though he does not understand it. He does not understand it at all, why she would send him into the lion's mouth, the center of the persecution against magic users. Within her jumbled speech he hears something about "outgrowing this little town". He also hears "unable to protect you" and "destiny", though the last part might have been his imagination.

His timer ticks down to less than four days by the time he is all ready to leave. It becomes evident that he will meet his soul-mate in Camelot.

"You'll have to bring her home," his mother tells him in the morning, "I want to meet her eventually, if she's your soul-mate, then she's family."

"I promise that I'll bring her home," Merlin says, though he's not positive that his soul-mate will be a her. He's always been attracted to both men and women. He doesn't bother to tell his mother that, though, not in this moment. Will drops by that morning and tries to bribe Merlin into staying with his favorite soups. It is unsuccessful, so Will tries to pretend that he doesn't actually care. He is also unsuccessful. But he and his friend have a heart-felt goodbye before Will leaves his home, to give him time to say goodbye to his mother.

They do so outside, with his rucksack lying on the grass.

"I can't believe you're leaving," she says to him, "I know that I was the one to suggest it, but I don't think that I'm ready." By this point, Merlin is the one who is ready. He is ready to meet the new horizons of his life, his soul-mate, his mother's friend, and the new directions his life might take.

"I'll be fine, mum," he says, and he engulfs her in a hug outside their cottage. It's all-consuming, the sort of hug he knows that he needs as he says goodbye. He doesn't want to leave her either, no matter how much he now wants to experience new things.

"I love you," she whispers in his ear, "you will always be my son."

"You will always be my mum," he says. And he keeps his arms wrapped around her for what might be a few more moments, or maybe a few more minutes. He's lost track of time.

"You'd best be off then," she says, nodding towards the road to Camelot. Merlin grabs his rucksack off the ground.

"This is going to be a joy," he mutters, "I love walking."

"You'll manage," she tells him. Merlin smiles at her one last time. Then he turns his back and starts on his new path. He dares not turn around, because he doesn't know if then he will be able to leave.

The first thing that he does when he arrives in Camelot is save Gaius' life. This is a good thing in and of itself, but he ends up revealing his magic by doing this. He's glad that Gaius cares for his mother.

His timer ticks down, and he knows within his heart that it will zero out on this day.

He ends up in the square after delivering medicines, and glances down nervously at his wrist. It's at forty-five seconds when he hears the commotion going on in the square. He sees someone throwing daggers at a boy who's being forced to run around for target practice. A man is taunting him, but Merlin tries not to pay attention to him. The boy drops the target and it rolls to Merlin's feet. He puts a foot on top of it.

"Hey, come on, that's enough," Merlin hears himself saying.

The man turns to him with an incredulous expression and asks, "What?"

"You've had your fun, my friend," Merlin says. He doesn't want trouble. He just wants this bullying to end.

"Do I know you?" the man asks him. He is much too attractive for someone who is acting so awfully.

"Er, I'm Merlin," he says as he sticks out his hand to shake. Merlin really doesn't want trouble.

"So I don't know you," he says. Merlin is beginning to really dislike him.

He says, "No."

"Yet you called me friend?" the man says.

"That was my mistake," Merlin says.

"Yes, I think so," the man says, his blond hair resplendent in the sunlight.

"Yeah. I'd never have a friend who could be such an ass," Merlin says. He turns to walk away, because he wants this conversation to be over. He wants to meet his true soul-mate.

The man snorts, "Or I one who could be so stupid." Merlin stops in his tracks.

"Tell me, Merlin, do you know how to walk on your knees?" he asks. Merlin turns.

"No," he says.

"Would you like me to help you?" he mocks.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Merlin threatens, against his better judgment.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," he tells himself.

"Why? What are you going to do to me?" the man asks with a grin.

"You have no idea," Merlin says. He can feel his anger building. He needs to keep his magic in check. He's in Camelot for gods' sake!

"Be my guest! Come on! Come on! Come on!" he taunts. Merlin's anger consumes him. He can feel himself swing at him. The man twists Merlin's arm behind his back.

"I'll have you thrown in jail for that," he threatens.

Merlin is seething, so he retorts, "What, who do you think you are? The King?"

"No. I'm his son, Arthur," the man says.

"Shit," Merlin can hear himself think. He remembers his timer, how little time he had left and glances at his right arm. It reads all zeroes.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," he thinks as he wriggles in the man- the prince- his soul-mate's hold. He feels a blow to his knees, and before he blacks out, he remembers thinking, "fuck."