~Epilogue~

The sun beat down on Arthur's face as he laid with his feet dangling into the water. Merlin sat with Arthur's head cradled in his lap, his fingers playing with the blonde locks absentmindedly. Arthur hummed contently, blinking one eye open to squint up at Merlin. Merlin had one of his slight smiles that meant he was really, immensely, happy. Arthur's mouth quirked up fondly at the sight, and Merlin caught him staring, "What?"

"Oh, nothing, your face just looks rather lovely that way."

"What way?"

"Oh, you know, with the sun hitting it like that. You look pretty."

"Pretty," Arthur nods. "You did not just call me pretty."

"Yeah, I did actually."

"I'm going to call you Princess Arthur from now on, just for saying that." Arthur just shrugged and shut his eyes again.

It was one of those hot summer days that left you wishing for it to be fall again. Arthur and Merlin had decided to take a trip to their forest hide-away. They hadn't had much time to do so, and they happily took advantage of the lack of Castle duties that day.

They swam in the water all the morning, often getting distracted by each other's mouths.

Merlin stroked Arthur's cheek fondly. It was times like these that were worth all the responsibilities of the Kingdom put together. They had each other and that's all that mattered. When Arthur's kiss had broken the spell, he had opened up a world that both of them never thought they'd be able to take part in, and nothing could tear them apart.

Arthur had given Merlin his heart, and Merlin was going to hold onto it with all his might, and never let go.

THE END