Gwaine woke early the next morning, to the smell of Merlin and morning dew.

Merlin was curled up against the long-haired knight, both were curled up tightly under the well sewn cape. Merlin was asleep, his nose was a light shade of pink from the early morning chill in the air, his head resting lightly on Gwaine's shoulder. Gwaine sighed, before looking around the meadow they'd spent the night in.

The butterflies were no longer there, but the roses were. Several dozen bundles of golden roses and other flowers all over the area, all of the petals tinted on the edge with a familiar, tell-tale blue. Gwaine smiled weakly, watching as the tree branches that had wrapped and woven themselves around the two began to visibly pull away, as if they were aware of Gwaine's renewed consciousness. The man smiled slightly, still amazed by the beauty of magic. Gwaine straightened slightly, before he pulled his cape off of his shoulders, and quickly tucked the extra fabric around Merlin, ensuring his warmth for a while longer while Gwaine stretched.

Gwaine stood quietly, stepping out from under the tree roots, taking in the almost breathtaking stillness of the early morn. He yawned, stretched, and his stomach growled none too subtly, quickly alerting him that he was indeed extremely hungry, and the only person with experience cooking better than decent meals was currently asleep and wrapped in a cloak, surrounded by golden flowers. Flowers he'd created of thin air. That still amazed Gwaine. The man smiled softly as he knelt back down, kneeling right in front of Merlin, almost blinded by the utter.. almost beauty of a sleeping Merlin. The tall, normally uncoordinated man was sleeping soundly, his legs folded in an almost graceful manner. His arms were folded over each other, hands tucked into his sides with an unconscious ease. His head was titled slightly, comfortably, his eyes were shut and fluttering occasionally, long lashes visible against morning flushed cheeks. His mouth open slightly as incredibly soft snores exited the raven haired boy with every breath. He was almost woman-like, but at the same time, he was so painfully Merlin. He was so breathtaking, and it made Gwaine's heart clench at how much he'd been through. He'd been through so much, so goddamned much, and he was still Merlin.

Giant ears that framed his face almost too perfectly, but still in a bizarre manner. His hair darker than the night sky, curling around the back of his ears, his eyes so blue they put the ponds, rivers, the oceans to shame. He was so young, and yet he managed to be years wiser than his age, foolish and clumsy but so, so brilliant. Gwaine leaned forward slightly, letting his fingers brush some hair from Merlin's face.

'Precious little raven, tall and strong, so powerful that he could bend the entire world to his whim, his mercy with a simple fucking snap of his fingers, but he'd give it all away for us," thought Gwaine as he pulled away from Merlin again, resting on his heels again.

'Oh Merlin.. What are we going to do with you?' He sighed, as he stood again, his knees popping audibly. As he gave that thought, Merlin stirred slightly. Merlin groggily opened his eyes, before slowly looked at Gwaine, yawning wide and openly, his face flushing more as he tried to force himself awake.

"Gwaine.?" His voice was quiet, hoarse from sleep. Gwaine smiled and held out his hand, pulling Merlin to his feet as he took it. He smiled softly as he spoke, his voice about the same.

"Hey Merlin, how did you sleep?" Merlin blinked a few more times, his eyes shining slightly, looking all the more blue.

"Alright, how early is it? How long have you been awake?" Gwaine smiled slightly, smiled at Merlin's blatant concern for him.

"Not long, maybe 10 minutes. Are you alright?" Merlin didn't reply immediately, seeming to take a moment to think before replying,

"Yeah.. yeah. I'm alright. I mean, I'm still afraid. I'll admit that I am a little afraid, I'm afraid that this is all some delusion I've created for myself. That in reality, I'm going to wake up, and be dragged out to be burned alive in front of all of Camelot. I'm going to open my eyes, and Arthur will be dropping his hand to let the torch fall, and there will be cheering in the streets, in the courtyard as I burn. And I'm sorry." Merlin ended with a quiet apology, and Gwaine immediately looked at Merlin, his head snapping up to look at Merlin, who was looking to the side, a look of understanding and acceptance in his eyes.

'Oh Merlin.'

Gwaine leaned forward, wrapping his arms around Merlin's fragile shoulders, his fragile frame. His fingers balled in Merlin's tunic and jacket, clutching the fabric as if the boy would disappear from his view if he didn't hold on tight enough. If he didn't clutch the boy close enough, he'd disappear.

Gwaine began speaking, though his words were slightly muffled by Merlin's body and clothing.

"Merlin, listen to me, please. Listen when I say that I will die before I let you burn. I will throw myself onto the pyre before I let you burn, do you understand me? I will throw myself into the noose before I will even consider letting you hang. I will fight Arthur, I will fight against the entire army of Camelot before I let you die. Do you understand? I am not a knight of Camelot for Camelot, I'm not a knight for Arthur, I stayed in Camelot for you. I became a knight for you, for your smile, your jokes, you. Do you understand me? You, Merlin. You. And I will die first, before I let a single hair be harmed on your head. I promise you Merlin, I promise. I trust you, I believe in you, I am not going anywhere, I'm not going to let you die. I will cut them all down before I let you burn. And if that doesn't work? I'd burn with you. I will never abandon you Merlin, I will never turn my back on you." Merlin was trembling slightly by the end of Gwaine's speech, and the knight felt Merlin shift, felt the warlock bury his head in Gwaine's shoulder. Suddenly, he felt his tunic growing wetter, where Merlin had his head buried. Gwaine let him. The knight brought his hand up to Merlin's hair, and ran his fingers through the soft, thick strands of hair as Merlin sobbed. Sobbed years of fear, of terror, of pain. He left Merlin sob for the friends he'd lost, for the injuries he'd earned saving them, saving Camelot, the years of pain, the years he'd accepted the misconception that his friends would rather string him up, burn him alive than accept him. And at that? Gwaine sobbed a little too.

After some time, they pulled away slightly. Gwaine still kept a hand on Merlin's shoulder, as he look in the mans appearance. He was paled slightly, his face was flushed just barely, and there were 'just there' tear tracks. Gwaine smiled and knelt down, picking the cloak up, as it had fallen when Merlin had pulled himself to his feet. He clutched the cloak, before using a corner to wipe Merlin's face. The warlock smiled slightly, before using his sleeve to scrub at his face a little more effectively. Gwaine smiled slightly, before he spoke.

"It's just occurred to me, that I never asked the proper difference between a sorcerer and a warlock." Merlin smiled slightly, before he began speaking,

"A sorcerer is someone who was taught magic. Anyone could learn to use magic; you, Arthur, anyone. Vigorous training and spell books, a sorcerer is someone who was taught magic, as most everyone is capable of using magic. Everyone. Even Uther was." And wasn't that a terrifying thought. But Merlin continued speaking, "And a warlock is someone who was born with magic, as I am. I have been able to use magic, since before I could walk. I've always been able to use magic, I am magic. My father.. My father was Balinor." Gwaine audibly gasped, because of course he knew who Balinor was. Merlin smiled weakly, before continuing in his explanation.

"Balinor was my father, and because he was my father, the power of the Dragonlord was passed to me. I am the last dragon lord, unless I have a child, a son. Though, given my abilities, I could easily defy fate, randomly adopt a daughter and pass the Dragonlord name to her." He joked, easing Gwaine slightly, because of course Merlin would try that. Merlin continued, "I am a warlock. I am one of the only people to ever be born with magic, and the only person in the last century to be. I am a Dragonlord, and I'm immortal." Gwaine's face screwed slightly, before he interjected.

"What about the druids? Aren't a lot of them born with magic? And immortal?!" Merlin laughed slightly, before answering.

"There are some druids born with magic, but most of them are taught magic soon after they're born. It's as commonplace as a noble learning to fight with a sword, or read. Most are taught at a young age, and for those that don't have extravagant abilities, are put to other work, proof that they are useful. Those that cannot make flames appear in the palms of their hands? They're taught the ways of the healers, and what abilities they do have are put towards healing injuries, curing the sick, helping. It's quite amazing, actually. And yes, immortal. It likely isn't exactly what you're thinking. I can be killed, and it's painful the entire time, but I will always wake up. A stab to the chest? My heart would stop, but it would eventually restart. Another reason why being burned alive would be so painful." Merlin swallowed audibly, before continuing again.

"I scar, I bruise, I burn. If Arthur were to burn me alive, I would burn. I would. But I would wake up after, whether it be minutes, hours, or days afterwards. I'd still wake up. And, I'd have the scars from the flames. I'd be alive, but my skin would be burned and charred, every movement would be pain. I have scars all along my torso because of past injuries. I will likely outlive all of you, that's an almost definite fact, but I can still burn. I can die, but I will always wake up again after.It's similar to what happened to an old friend of mine, a man named Jack. He doesn't have magical abilities, as far as I know, but he cannot die. At least, not permanently." Gwaine nodded, understanding prominent in his eyes. He spoke, and it startled merlin.

"That.. that sounds like a painful way to live." Merlin huffed a light laugh, before he nodded.

"And there's nothing I can do about it. I've tried to kill myself, in my youth, and it's the same response every time. My magic has been stolen from me, I've been killed, and hours later, I've taking a breath of dirty air in, and lived. No matter what, I am immortal. I will never die, not permanently." Gwaine nodded slightly, his eyes were wide at the offhanded admittance of past death. 'Oh Merlin'

Merlin smiled slightly, his eyes filled with acceptance and warmth. Gwaine sighed and quickly pulled Merlin into a strong armed hug, Merlin slightly tensing as he felt arms wrap around him. Merlin quickly relaxed into the hug, before huffing out another laugh.

"I suppose we should be heading back to the others. Gods know they couldn't make themselves breakfast if their lives depended on it." Gwaine laughed that, because in that moment, he knew. He wholeheartedly knew. Merlin knew too, somewhere in that thick, foolish, brilliant skull of his.

They'd be alright, it'll be okay.

They're going to be okay.

It's going to be alright.

Happy Thanksgiving kiddies! I hope you enjoyed the chapters, more to come!