Hunting trips. Gwaine now hated hunting trips just as much as Merlin, 'cause for days he wouldn't be able to hug his little girl, to hear her babbling, laughing, to see her cute smile or her big, beautiful eyes. For days, he would be worrying about her and her secret, if something happened to her, he wouldn't be able to help her. That little angel had completely changed his life.

Four knights, the king and his servant were waiting for Gwaine. Since Katherine arrived to his life, he was always late.

-Gwen!

-Gwaine, shouldn't you be leaving right now?

-Probably. But could you take care of my daughter while I'm with the others hunting? I know that's three days, but I'm definitely not taking her.

-Sure. Is there anything special about her that I should know? Anything I should or shouldn't do?

-Uh... - he thought about it for a second - Yeah. She gets scared when she hears the word 'hate' so don't say it when she's awake. She likes to hear voices and to feel the vibrations of it, so if she cries, try humming, or talking, or singing, something like that. She doesn't like when there's many people around.

-Is that it?

-No, there's something else, but I just forgot... Right, uh, she sleeps the whole day, but sometimes she doesn't want to sleep at night, if that happens, just... Cover her eyes, and she will fall asleep.

-Alright. Good luck, Gwaine. - she smiles, picking the baby from her father's arms.

-Thank you.

~•~•~•~•~•~

Katherine opened her eyes, expecting to be in her father's arms, but instead, she was in Gwen's. She started to cry, and the queen was just about to panic, until she remembered Gwaine's advice.

-Hey... Hey, it's alright, everything is fine. Your dad will be back in a few days. He loves you so much... I hope when you grow up, you appreciate having such a good father - the baby calmed down, listening to her.

Guinevere sighed, relived. She loved children, but didn't really know how to react when they cried.

~•~•~•~•~•~

In the morning, the guys were attacked by bandits. They were outnumbered ten to one, but the bandits weren't very good fighters, so they managed to win, though not without one of them badly wounded: Gwaine.

~•~•~•~•~•~

Katherine woke Gwen up, crying, of course. Sleepyly, she took the baby in her arms and started humming while rocking her gently, but she wouldn't calm down.

-Do you miss your dad, sweetie? Are you worried about him? Yeah, I'm worried about them too. I'm sure he loves you with his life and really misses you

The girl was still crying. Gwen had heard babies cry many times, but never like this. She tried everything to calm her down, but she just wouldn't.

She was frustrated, and was trying her best to figure out some way to calm her down, when she was distracted by five riders going as fast as they could, and two horses behind them. One had no rider. The queen recognized her husband an his knights, so she got really worried.

She ran to Gaius's chambers with the still crying baby in her arms. When she got there, the others had already arrived. Gwaine was lying, barely conscious, on the bed. His chest had a deep, large cut, and the old man said with a sad expression, that he hadn't much time left.

He asked them all to give him time with his daughter. If he was gonna die, he would die reminding her how much he loved her and hugging her.

-Hi, my little butterfly... It's daddy - she finally stopped crying, but looked at him with teary eyes -. I don't have much time, Kathy, I'm sorry. I love you so much, my girl... I wish there were some way to make you remember that always. I hope my friends give you a good life and tell you about me when you grow up.

He kissed her head and took her little hand in his. He murmured again "I love you" before closing his eyes. His hand fell to his side.

She started to cry again, but this time a single black butterfly appeared. It stood on her father's wound and it started to heal, while the butterfly slowly turned a bright blue. The wound didn't completely heal, but the knight gasped for air and opened his eyes again as the butterfly fell to the floor, lifeless.