I know, i know, i'm reall really late with getting this part out! I'm sorry! What with going back to school and everything, i haven't had the oppurtunity! *slaps wrist*.

Anyway, here is the final instalment to Man for all Seasons! Hope you enjoy it!

Eventually, the snow in his hands ran out. Taking advantage of the fact that Arthur was momentarily defenceless, Merlin plunged his arm back and to his surprise, felt his fingers hit the smooth surface of one of the balls he had made earlier. Latching on to it, he chucked it as hard as he dared at Arthur. This time, there was no miss. Not having time to react, Arthur once again found himself with a face full of snow.

That did it for the normally unbeatable prince. None of his knights could beat him with steel; there was no way that he was going to allow his servant to beat him with snow. Doing the first thing that came into his head, the prince reacted instinctively. Sliding one foot under Merlin's, he caused the unbalanced boy to fall into the snow, flat out. Then, almost casually, he placed his snowy foot in the middle of his back, leaving Merlin with no way to escape the cold and wetness that was sinking through his clothes with every passing second.

"You prat!" he muttered, loud enough for Arthur to hear him. That also proved to be a mistake. Leaning more heavily on his foot, Arthur bent over.

"What was that, Merlin? You didn't happen to call me a prat did you? Well, you know that I can't let that go unpunished!" so saying, the prince once more filled his hands with snow. Keeping his foot firmly placed on Merlin's back, he used his free hand to pull the edge of Merlin's collar away. Then the charming prince emptied his hands down Merlin's back, making him yelp.

"Oi!" Merlin yelled, shuddering as the snow made its way down his back. Thankfully, Arthur finally removed his foot, allowing the warlock to stand and empty it out of the bottom of his shirt. Merlin stood watching Arthur warily, not sure what the prince's next move would be. But Arthur seemed to have had a new idea.

He was gazing out over the land, back towards the castle, his mind working frantically. There was a steady hill from here back to the castle. How many times had Merlin complained as they tried to plough their way up it to get to the gate? That would mean that to get to the castle again, they would have to go downhill.

"Have they finished replacing the gate yet?" he asked Merlin, who looked at him as if he had lost his mind. Wondering where this change of conversation was going, Merlin debated whether or not it would be safe to answer the question. Arthur had that look about him that usually meant that something crazy was about to happen.

"Yes, they finished it two days ago. Why?"

"Two days," Arthur murmured thoughtfully. Merlin could almost see his brain working, although what he was trying to work out was beyond the warlock. Sometimes, it was just too much effort to work out what was going through that prince's head.

"So that means that parts of the old gate are still there?"

"Yes. They've broken it into smaller pieces for easier transportation but the weather means that they haven't moved it yet."
"Excellent. Come on then, what are you waiting for?" with those words, Arthur strode off, back towards the gate. Utterly nonplussed, Merlin followed him. He hadn't the foggiest idea what Arthur was thinking about and wasn't sure that he wanted to know.

The guard looked surprised to see the prince back so soon after his inspection, especially as he had random wet splashes all over him. Not to mention the fact that the servant following him was completely soaked from head to toe and looking rather warily at his master. However, the guard knew his place and said nothing. Not even when the prince disappeared into the area where the old gate was lying and proceeded to drag a reasonable sized bit back out again did he say anything.

"Are you going to help at all, Merlin?" the prince asked his companion, who hurried over, looking clueless. Handing his load over to the servant, he motioned for him to start dragging it back the way that they had come. Merlin tried, but the gate was so heavy that Arthur was forced to help him if his plan was to be put into action at all. The guard watched with raised eyebrows as master and servant worked together as equals to pull the gate back out of his sight. He had heard that they had a closer bond that normal master and servants, but had refused to believe it. The prince had a track record with being harsh to servants. Maybe for once the rumour was true, for there was no way that this servant meekly responded to anything Arthur threw at him. The wet splashes on the prince indicated this much.

When they reached the churned up snow that indicated where they had been, Arthur stopped again. Impatiently pushing Merlin out of the way, he manoeuvred the gate until it was at an angle that was to his satisfaction. As he set about making quick calculations, it finally dawned on Merlin what Arthur was up to.

"You can't be serious!" he exclaimed, looking at both the gate and the prince in horror.

"Oh, yes, Merlin. I am. This is our transport home," Arthur finished his calculations and went to climb onto the gate before he realised what was missing. Undoing his belt, he told Merlin to do the same. Lashing the two of them together, the prince then tied it to the gate, making a rough steering mechanism.

"On you get," he told his servant, not missing the horrified looks that he was receiving. Climbing on himself, he positioned himself at the back of the gate, the belts firmly wrapped around his hands. Wishing that he could be anywhere but here, Merlin sat down in front of Arthur, sliding himself in between the belts.

With a delighted chuckle, Arthur then told Merlin to use his hands to get them moving, digging frantically in the snow himself. Very slowly, the makeshift sledge began to edge forward, eventually gaining more speed as the momentum of the slope started to carry them itself.

Both passengers jerked their hands back in as the sledge sped up. Soaring down the hill, Merlin squeezed his eyes tightly shut, wanting the hellish ride to be over. Arthur, on the other hand, was loving every moment. His eyes were open wide, drinking in the sights as different parts of the kingdom flashed past him. He could just about register the shocked expressions on people's faces as their crown prince went shooting past them on an old gate, his servant looking terrified in front of him.

Whooping with delight, Arthur realised with a start that he hadn't thought of how they were going to stop. The hill led straight into the castle, meaning that if he didn't do something soon, they were going to crash headlong into a brick wall. Pulling strongly on one of the belts, Arthur succeeded in turning one of the front corners of the sledge, sending them spinning around and slowing them down considerably. The turn had been so sharp, however, that both passengers were thrown out and dumped unceremoniously into the snow.

Merlin lay where he landed, hoping desperately that if he didn't move, Arthur would forget that he was there and so not be able to come up with any new type of torment. Arthur, however, sprang immediately to his feet, a manic grin spreading across his face.

"That was smooth," Arthur looked up sharply at the voice, finding himself face to face with Morgana. A small smile was playing teasingly across her lips as she watched Arthur bend down to untangle the belts from around his feet. His smile faded somewhat when another figure came into view behind Morgana, obviously having been accompanying her on her daily walk.

Uther, however, just stared at his son, eyebrows raised. He said not a word, trying to hide his emotions behind the iron mask that he always wore. It wouldn't do for Arthur to notice that his father actually approved of him having fun for a change; it made him a lot more manageable when he was needed for duty. Last winter had taught Uther that much. A bored Arthur is more than a match for anyone. Striding off, Uther motioned to Morgana, who hurried to join him. It was only when they had passed beyond Arthur that the king allowed a smile to grace his features, something that he was not used to doing. Morgana saw it and smiled herself, mouthing something back to Arthur.

Merlin had just managed to coax himself up out of the snow again when he noticed how tense Arthur was. Following his gaze, Merlin felt his heart drop when he saw the king striding off, looking impressive even over snow. However, Morgana turned just before they reached the corner and mouthed something that looked a lot like 'he's fine' back to Arthur. Thinking that he had misinterpreted the sign, Merlin glanced at Arthur, noticing that his shoulder's had sagged in relief.

"I'm hungry," the prince announced suddenly. Grabbing Merlin by the arm, he then marched back to his rooms, barking out orders to a poor boy that they past along the way to fetch them some food.

Once they had reached his chambers, Arthur's pretence vanished and he burst out laughing.

"You should have seen your face, Merlin!" chuckling to himself, Arthur climbed out his wet clothes, throwing them over his shoulder to Merlin, who dutifully picked them up again. By the time that he was dressed in something warm and dry, the food had arrived. Several types of piping hot stew made its way onto Arthur's table, and the prince eagerly pulled some of them towards him. To Merlin's confusion, he kept pushing some to the other side of the table. Rolling his eyes, Arthur saw that the idiot was just going to stand there.

"Well? Eat something then, Merlin. We still have to get the gate back up to the top of the hill again."

"What?" Merlin exclaimed. Once had been more than enough for him.

Too busy shovelling the hot food into his mouth, Arthur didn't respond, but instead gestured for Merlin to sit down.

The food was delicious; there could be no denying that. The warmth seeped into the warlock, making him feel a lot better. Being inside again made him appreciate just how wet his clothes had been and he had started to shiver slightly, even with the hot food in his stomach.

Once they had finished eating, Arthur stood and stretched. He was smiling again, eager to get back outside and experience the rush that he got from flying practically uncontrollably down at hill. It was an amazing sensation, yet the prince couldn't understand why Merlin did get the same kick from it that he did. Looking at the boy, Arthur frowned slightly. There was almost a slight blue tinge to his lips and he was clearly shivering. Arthur swore to himself, he had forgotten that Merlin was far wetter than he had been and that his clothes were much thinner than the prince's any way.

After disappearing behind his screen, Arthur reappeared again, one of his shirts in his hand, along with his spare jacket. Tossing them to Merlin, he almost ordered his poor servant to get changed. Merlin didn't mind though, Arthur's clothes were a lot warmer than his own. The only problem was that they completely swamped him. The shirt alone almost came to his knees and he kept stumbling over the end of the coat. It was lucky that he was fractionally taller than the prince, or the coat would have to be left behind. As it was, Merlin could just about manage with navigating his way around the hems without tripping up every time.

Between them, they managed to hold the shirt in with a belt and secure the coat with another, meaning that the servant was a lot more comfortable than he had been in his own attire. Following Arthur back out into the snow, Merlin felt like that he could no longer complain. Of course, he didn't want to have to go down the hill on that accursed gate again, but there would not have been many masters who made sure that their servants were warmly enough dressed, aside from Morgana.

They managed to drag the gate back up the hill twice more after they had eaten. Eventually though, even Arthur had to admit that there wasn't enough daylight left for them to carry on safely. Although if you had asked Merlin, he would have said that it was never safe in the first place.

By the time that he had tidied away all of the wet clothes and made sure that the fire was roaring in Arthur's chambers, the sky outside was an inky black. The dark clouds that had been closing it throughout the entire afternoon, promising a fresh load of snow for the morning, obscured the stars. After spending most of the day tired and wet, Merlin had lost a great deal of his initial excitement and was not so sure that he wanted there to be more snow. No doubt Arthur would have thought up numerous amounts of things that for him meant fun, and for his poor servant, some form of torture.

Walking back to Gaius's chambers, Merlin couldn't stop the yawn that he had been suppressing for a while finally break through. He always underestimated how much effort it was to do a simple thing such as walk when it was through snow. And yes, he may have been very wet and cold, not to mention terrified at times, but the day had been a fun one.

"What are you wearing, Merlin?" Gaius's voice cut through the warlock's daydreams like a knife. He had barely noticed where his feet were carrying him and blinked around in surprise when he noticed that he had reached his destination already.

"Hmm?" confused, Merlin glanced down at himself and realised with a start that he was still wearing Arthur's clothes. No wonder Gaius was looking at him funny. "Oh, I got wet, and then Arthur wanted to go back out again so made me put this on."

Gaius raised an eyebrow in his traditional manner when Merlin tried and failed to stifle another yawn. He had heard about their antics when he had been giving the king another balm for his shoulder and was just relieved that Merlin hadn't ended up in the stocks again. It was unlike the king to be that lineate. As the physician looked pointedly at the young warlock, Merlin quickly got the message and crossed the room, heading up towards bed.

"'Night, Gaius," he called over his shoulder as he started to climb the stairs. He was already in his room by the time that the physician answered; amazed at how much like lead his legs were feeling. Climbing out of Arthur's shirt, he pulled his own on and snuggled under the blanket. Realising that he was in for another cold night, he got back out again and reached over to where he had draped Arthur's coat. Spreading it over the bed like an extra blanket, Merlin slipped back into bed, smiling softly as the warmth from the coat meant that he was able to curl up comfortably, without shivering for a change. It was with a smile that Merlin slowly closed his eyes; unable to believe quite how quickly another year had passed. Time certainly flew in Camelot.

That's it, all over for another story! :( Hope you all enjoyed and please remember to review!

Thanks as always to MagicbyMerlin for betaing this for me!