I'm super sorry about not updating, my bad. SORRY. Guess what though? I finish this story, there will be a modern!Merlin story with 4 chapters already done waiting for you. Sound good kiddies? Good! Enjoy the chapter lovelies💖

Gwaine ran and ran, chest rising and falling with his movements, mind running thousands of miles an hour, his blood red cloak in hand as he shouted his best friend's name, worrying about the younger man.

"Merlin!" Silence. Nothing, even the trees were silent somehow. No wind, the sound of the trees no longer audible, the movement of animals silent. It was like the world had frozen in the chilly night air.

"Merlin!"

Gwaine stopped again, only for a moment, trying to catch his rapid breath while looking around the small clearing he'd stopped in. It was about the size of the kingdom courtyard, maybe a little smaller, and surrounded completely and totally by trees. Tall trees, nearly scrapping the sky stood proudly around the clearing, small openings scattered around the lining of the clearing, an easy dozen of paths Merlin could've gone down. Gwaine looked left and right, back again and tilted his in an attempt to look ahead of him in the dim light of the moon shining through the tree tops, his chest rising and falling heavily with every breath he caught, harshly letting the air out again.

Gwaine spun around, his heels digging into the soft dirt with ease, gulping in more air as he prepared to shout again, ready to shout until his voice would be hoarse and rough from overuse, until he heard it. The soft, almost nonexistent sniffling and nearly silent sobbing coming from a handful of trees down a path off to Gwaine's left, though the trees were seemingly wrapped around one another. Gwaine realized quickly, as he started to jog towards the sounds, the sound of Merlin crying his heart out, that he would've never heard the noise if he had continued running and yelling. He realized that if he'd continued running, if he'd never stopped in the clearing, that he would've never found Merlin until early next morning, if at all.
The thought spurred Gwaine to move a little quicker, for his feet to carry him closer to Merlin. Gwaine had to see him, had to see Merlin, had to see that he was okay, that Gwaine could protect Merlin if he saw him now.

He almost stumbled over Merlin, his leg was sticking out slightly, enough to be seen. Gwaine finding the man curled up near a tree. The tree roots seemed to wrap around Merlin protectively, almost as if nature wanted the raven haired boy safe. Gwaine's knees hit the soft dirt with a slight thud, way too loud in Gwaine's ears, but it was as if Merlin hadn't even heard him, Merlin didn't look up at the sound, he gave no sign that he had heard it at all. Gwaine scuffled forward slightly, his knees and feet dragging in the dirt, his hand outreached towards Merlin, the knights heart breaking with every shake of Merlin's shoulders. Gwaine gave a soft whisper, hoarse but heard,

"Merlin..." Finally, finally Merlin heard him. Merlin's head shot up from where it was resting on his knee and folded arm, and Gwaine's heart broke even more. Merlin's face was pale and flushed, his bottom lip was red and shaking from the emotions that overtook the younger man. His face was tear streaked, his cheek bones were distinctly paled, though the shade of the surrounding trees and the moonlight made the tears that were flooding his face all the more obvious. Gwaine noticed almost immediately that Merlin was shaking, from the prominent chill in the air, from the exhaustion of his emotions, Gwaine quickly realized how lucky he was to have found Merlin when he did. Merlin looked at Gwaine, sadness in his eyes, as he whispered quietly, his voice was shaking.

"Gwaine.." Gwaine immediately stepped forward, his hand reacting for Merlin; love, acceptance, general friendship in his eyes. The trees and the roots around Merlin seemed to tense, they seemed to protectively pull themselves around Merlin, the magic thick in the air, heavy on Gwaine's tongue. Merlin inhaled slightly, looking at the sky carefully, before whispering something,

"..Gaia.." There was a stillness in the area, and the trees seemed to glow. The tree roots suddenly pulled away from Merlin, an opening big enough for Gwaine to step forward, to sit beside Merlin. He did, crawling forward, plopping himself next to Merlin. There was a quick, immediate aura of calming, of peace. Merlin looked at Gwaine as the trees roots wrapped themselves around the two protectively, easily. The magic was still in the air, obviously, but from what Merlin could tell, Gwaine had no issue with it.

"I'm not afraid of you, you know? Of the magic, of your abilities, there's no way in hell I'd be afraid of you Merlin, I trust you. I trust you Merlin, you're my best friend and I promise you that I promise you, I will help you. I will protect you, I promise you, but I need you to listen to me, okay? Listen to me." Merlin nodded carefully, eyes shining as the moonlight peaked through the trees and the roots.

"Merlin, you are my best friend. You are, and I trust you. We all do. Elyan, Percy, Leon, Arthur, all of us trust you. Hell, if Gwen knew, she'd kick your ass for all the times you've protected us without telling anyone, all the injuries you've sustained when most everyone. Hell, she'd lose her mind if she saw your injuries alone! We all care about you Merlin, we all love you! We all trust you! We really do, yeah it hurt that you didn't tell any of us, but you know what hurts more? Knowing now that you felt like you couldn't tell any of us, that you were legitimately afraid to tell any of us! Knowing now that you've saved our lives likely hundreds of times and couldn't say anything, that you've been injured, nearly killed hundreds of times, and that you couldn't tell any of us because you were afraid! That hurts, that breaks my heart Merlin. It hurts more knowing that my best friend, the man I stayed in Camelot for, felt like he couldn't trust me with that.. And I'm sorry Merlin, I'm so sorry." Merlin looked at Gwaine, eyes wide.

"Gwaine, you don't have to apologize, it's okay, I promise it is."

"No! No, it's not! Merlin, it is not okay!" Gwaine snapped angrily, his face flushing red. Merlin's eyes widened, but Gwaine continued.

"Merlin, it isn't okay! You're our friend, how many times have you had to patch yourself up, how many times have you sat in Gaius's office sewing cuts closed and icing bruising, making sure you don't die in the night! All the times you've turned me down to go to the tavern, you've been in your chambers cleaning yourself up! All the times we've been training and fighting, while you've been nursing bruises and scars, the times we'd made jokes about you limping and bruised, we'd made jokes about you seeing some girls from the tavern, and in reality you'd been saving our lives, all of us, Camelot! I'm so sorry Merlin!" Merlin looked at Gwaine, their eyes locking quickly. Gwaine's heart nearly broke at the tears swimming in Merlin's eyes, and Merlin's heart nearly did the same at the look of anguish and pure sadness, the guilt, in Gwaine's eyes.

Merlin smiled softly, surprising Gwaine. Merlin sighed, scooting closer to Gwaine with no issue. Gwaine rested his head on Merlin's shoulder carefully, sighing shakily.

"It's okay Gwaine, it's okay.." A little silence and Merlin whispered, his voice slightly shaky.

"Do you want to see? My magic, I mean. I could show you some magic." Gwaine looked at Merlin in shock, raising his head carefully. He couldn't answer, his voice thick in his throat, so Merlin nodded carefully. He brought his hands to his chest carefully, his voice quiet as he whispered some words in a foreign language, something Gwaine didn't understand at all. A few seconds, Merlin's eyes turned a burning color of gold, Gwaine found it almost beautiful, and after a moment or two, Merlin opened his hands. Gold butterflies fluttered out of nowhere, dozens upon dozens of butterflies appeared out of nowhere, filling the sky and the air around them, but never straying far. Gwaine thought of them like little golden stars, their own personal sky. It was beautiful. Truly beautiful. Gwaine looked at Merlin, his eyes widened to the size of the moon. Merlin.. to say the least, he looked worried, concerned. Like Gwaine would see this and immediately change his mind, cast off Merlin without a second thought. That would not stand.

"Merlin.. Merlin these are amazing, This is amazing, my god. Merlin.. you're amazing, how.?" Merlin smiled weakly, and looked at Gwaine. This time, no words were spoken, just the burning flash of gold from Merlin's eyes, and a few blue butterflies, varying in shades from dark blue to bright, bright blue, joined the gold ones already there. Many blue butterflies, bright and blinding danced in the air with the other golden butterflies. It was beautiful. Merlin smiled shakily, Gwaine smiled again, and wrapped his arm around Merlin, pulling the smaller man closer to him. He was happy he'd brought his cloak along with him, as he wrapped the large cloth around Merlin and himself. It wasn't much, but it would easily allow them to stay the night as it was obvious to Gwaine that Merlin didn't want to go back to camp just yet. Likely wouldn't want to move from their makeshift sanctuary until the next morning, though Gwaine had no issues. Merlin and Gwaine settled carefully, comfortably, and sat as they watched the butterflies Merlin had brought to life. The gold butterflies, the blue butterflies, watched as they danced and fluttered throughout the sky, never fluttering far. Gwaine watched as golden butterflies fluttered towards Merlin, resting on the tree roots, watched as the blue butterflies danced with a beauty Gwaine had not seen in a long time. They settled in, the occasional butterfly fluttering around, most resting on the grass and dirt, or the tree roots that surrounded them, it was peaceful, beautiful. The last thing Gwaine saw as he fell asleep was the occasional butterfly disappearing.. only for a flower to appear in its place. The occasional golden butterfly vanished, and golden roses, daisies, forget-me-nots, and wild flowers grew in their place, the same with the blue butterflies.

As Gwaine fell asleep, his final thought was, "How.. beautiful, Merlin's magic. Beautiful.. Merlin.."

As Gwaine's eyes closed for the last time that night, he watched as a blue butterfly, bright and blinding, the same color as Merlin's eyes, the same color as his signature blue scarf, fluttered down. Gwaine watched as the blue butterfly landed on a tree root in front of him, a blue dust appeared around the small butterfly, and a quick bundle of forget-me-nots and wild flowers took its place, a small bundle wrapping themselves around the tree root, binding themselves to the earth nd the magic so heavy in the air. It was beautiful, absolutely beautiful.

Gwaine vowed to protect Merlin and his beautiful gift.

Beautiful..