A/N: Oh my goodness... I don't even know what I was thinking... I just REALLY wanted to write a fic where Merlin corrects Arthur's grammar. (Don't ask me why...) So this is what I came up with... And it went from ridiculous to angsty ridiculously quickly! Please review, everyone! I love your feedback, even if it's just a couple of words long!

Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin. I wish I did, though! It would most certainly not be over!

"Really, Merlin! You are so useless! We just got attacked by bandits and you did nothing! It's always me who has to do everything! I defeat all the bandits, the enemy knights… I even defeated that dragon! You have to admit that I did good there!" Arthur snorted as they stood by the lake, panting.

Merlin had simply had enough. He didn't care if it was possibly treason to yell at the king, he'd snapped. He was done. "No, no, NO, you did not do 'good' you did well! And it wasn't really you! It was I!"

"Me too!" Arthur interjected.

"I too, dollophead." Merlin muttered, fed up with Arthur and his arrogance… and his grammatical errors.

"I know you were there, Merlin. You just mentioned that!" Arthur sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Prat. I was correcting your grammar! It is 'I too', not 'me too!'" Merlin shouted, irritated.

"Idiot. That even sounds ridiculous! Come on- 'I like hunting!' 'I too!' You are sooo obviously an uneducated servant! Can't you at least try not to make a complete fool of yourself?!" Arthur cried, exasperated.

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. "Knights are so thick!" Merlin snapped back, "They have even developed their own grammatically incorrect culture!"

"Oh, you did NOT just go there!" Arthur yelled, but there was still amusement in his voice.

Apparently, Merlin didn't hear it. Or didn't care. "Oh, I did! I am so fed up with your 'goods' and your 'me's' and your double negatives! Aren't you supposed to be a highly educated king or something?!" Merlin screamed, throwing his hands up in utter fury.

"This isn't about my grammar, is it?" Arthur asked, finally picking up on his distress.

"What do you think I'm talking about, cabbagehead?! Because it's not like I'd talk to a prat like you about something like Freyaaaa… Arghhh!..." Merlin shouted, trailing off when he recognized his mistake, and turning red as he whirled around to stomp furiously away.

Arthur sighed. What had he done now? The conversation had started out innocently enough, and now Merlin was all upset. And what was 'Freya?'

The king walked quietly over to where his manservant was standing facing a tree, and noticed to his alarm that Merlin was sobbing.

"…Merlin?" he asked, uncertainly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Merlin let out a shuddery gasp for air. "Leave me alone!" he yelled.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "I don't take orders from you, Merlin. What's wrong?"

Merlin let out a small sarcastic laugh. "As if I'd tell you!"

Arthur sighed. "Merlin, I don't normally say this, but PLEASE! I need to know what I've done! I swear, I didn't mean to hurt you, but if you tell me what I've done, I can try to make it right..."

Merlin slumped over a bit, looking utterly broken and grief-stricken. "It's not your fault, Arthur. Not really. And nobody can ever make it right," He whispered.

Arthur turned Merlin around to look at him and was stricken by the amount of pain on his servant's face. "… Merlin. Please. Tell me what's wrong."

Merlin hesitated, but then shook his head. "No."

"Merlin!" Arthur cried, exasperated with his stubbornness. "Please! That's an order!"

Merlin laughed quietly between his tears. "And when did I ever listen to your orders, sire?"

Oh, so now it was to the point of using titles! "Idiot!"

"Prat."

Arthur didn't respond, but rather just stood awkwardly off to the side as Merlin began sobbing again.

"…Merlin? What's Freya?" Arthur asked when his patience had run out.

"You mean who," Merlin corrected him before he could stop himself.

"Alright. Who, then?"

Merlin looked away. "Never mind. It doesn't matter."

"Clearly it does!" Arthur pointed out, looking at him.

"No. Not to you." Merlin muttered.

"I do care, Merlin. You can't be rusting my armor with your tears." Arthur sighed, halfheartedly attempting to make things return to normal.

"You wouldn't care if you only knew," Merlin sighed back, then, more quietly, "Actually, you would. You'd kill me. You'd literally kill me."

Arthur was alarmed to hear that there was no trace of humor in his manservant's voice. He seriously thinks I'd want to kill him! "No. Never, Merlin. What would even make you think that?!"

Merlin sighed, again and his eyes filled once again with tears. "It doesn't matter."

"Merlin." Arthur growled, "You will tell me or I will make you."

Merlin shrugged. "You'll be furious either way."

Arthur laughed, weakly. "I'm so tired of this that I don't care who Freya is. Just tell me and quit being such a girl!"

Merlin sighed. "Freya was… someone special to me."

Arthur looked shocked. "Merlin are you saying… Freya… is your girlfriend?"

"Was," Merlin whispered, "She's dead."

Arthur gasped. "WHAT?! When did this happen?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Told you you'd be mad," Merlin muttered.

"No, Merlin. I'm not mad, just… concerned about you." Arthur replied. "Please… why didn't you tell me?"

Merlin sighed. "It was like two years ago, Arthur…"

"So I did already know you!" Arthur cried, hurt that he'd never heard of the girl, much less her demise.

Merlin winced. "Well… I'm sorry, it's just… I couldn't tell you. I still can't explain!"

Arthur frowned. "Why?!"

"BECAUSE YOU'LL KILL ME!" Merlin repeated, furious tears streaming down his face.

Arthur shook his head, frustrated. "I told you, that's not true."

"You'd be surprised," his servant chuckled, bitterly.

Arthur sighed in exasperation. "Fine! Can you at least tell me something about her?"

Merlin shuddered, and then a small smile lit up his face. "She was from a small village by a lake and some beautiful mountains," he sighed, "We were going to run away together, to live in a place all our own, a lake, some fields, mountains, a couple of cows, just like our old homes. She had dark, wavy hair, and she was kindhearted and beautiful, she liked strawberries, and…" he stopped talking, suddenly, looking upset again. "… No, that's all."

Arthur felt his heart break a little while his friend spoke. It was clear that he had loved her very much. "…You were going to leave?"

"I'm sorry, Arthur, truly I am, but I loved her. And… you wouldn't understand." Merlin turned away again.

He was wrong. Arthur remembered how he felt about Gwen, and felt for poor Merlin more than the servant would probably believe. "…How did she die?"

Merlin stiffened. "It doesn't matter. It's just…"

"Merlin." Arthur sighed, seriously.

"It was you," Merlin whispered, "You didn't mean to, but you killed her."

"Oh my god," Arthur gasped, "What?!"

Merlin shook his head, "Don't make me repeat myself."

"Merlin," Arthur whispered, "I… I'm so sorry…"

Merlin shook his head again, "Please. No. It's not your fault. I don't blame you. It was my fault. I should have figured out that she was… I should have cured her so you didn't have to…"

"We passed a lake back there…" Arthur realized, desperate to change the subject at least a little from Merlin's tendency to blame himself for everything, "Merlin… was that… did it remind you of your dream with Freya?"

The younger man nodded, tearfully. "More than that… That's where I… I pushed her out in a wooden boat and I… I burned her. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life."

I'm not going to cry! Arthur thought desperately. But he found himself wiping away tears regardless. Not that he'd let Merlin see…

"Well," Arthur sniffed, (still moved, despite his attempts to hide it,) "Maybe we should leave, then. There's really no reason to hang around, I mean, the bandits are gone, no thanks to you. Let's go home."

Merlin looked surprised at his consideration for his feelings. "Thank you, Arthur," he said quietly.

Arthur gave him a terse nod. "Well, come on then."

Merlin gave him a sad smile. "Just… If you could give me a minute, please? I'll be right there."

Arthur nodded slowly to him and set off. "Alright, just don't be too long."

Merlin watched him go for a while, and turned silently to face the glassy water, tears still carving rivers down his cheeks. He wiped them away, and checking one final time over his shoulder for Arthur, he cast a spell into his hand.

Out tumbled a strawberry, petite but perfect, red and ripe.

Merlin smiled, sadly. "I finally figured it out…" he murmured, and left it on the lake shore, a small offering, and a small memory.

Then he shook his head, wiped his eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed, seeming relieved somehow to finally have let out all the pain.

"Arthur!" he called, "Wait up!"