Cinderella and Merlin broke their kiss lightly, staring at each other for a brief moment before both chuckling. 

"You know, if someone told me a few days ago that in the course of the week Regina would be gone, the king would be saved, and I would be locking lips with a prince that was once green, I would have laughed in their faces," the blonde smirked while still locked in the wizard's embrace.

"Hey, give me a break," he retorted, clutching her hands as they stood up. "It wasn't exactly my choice."

"But I'm still gonna hang it over your head for years."

"Years?" he asked, eyes glinting with mischief but also with hope. Could you blame Merlin. After all, the girl of his dreams basically just said she was thinking of the long haul with him. 

Apparently just realizing what she had said, Cinderella's cheeks ignited a deep crimson as she averted her gaze, only to snap her head across the way from the tower they were on to the rest of the F7, who were hollering for joy at the two. 

Shakily raising their hands, the pair waved at the 6 while smiling sheepishly while the triplets robot went to ferry them across. Regina was gone now, and they had all the time in the world to be together.

*******

"So, what now?" the blonde asked.

They had just finished a celebratory dinner in the dining room of the palace with the king, Snow, and the rest of the team, and seeking some alone time, the two lovers had made their way to a balcony overlooking the horizon.

"Hmm?" The wizard hummed in response, not having paid attention. No he was instead too busy gazing at the girl who, to him, was beauty personified.

"What now?" she repeated. "Your a free man now, so what should we do? Where should we go? If you have any ideas, that is."

This struck a new thought in Merlin as he absorbed what she said. What would they do now. Truthfully, for the past year he had been so hung up about breaking the curse that he had neglected to think about what he would do after. But now with Cinderella in his life, the possibilities seemed much more vast then ever before. 

"I...I don't know. I hadn't thought about it."

Cinderella simply smiled and playfully shoved his arm. "Really? There's no one you'd want to see after all that time? No where you'd want to return to go down memory lane?"

With this prompting, only one thing came to Merlin's mind as an immediate response. Somewhere he knew he had to go with people he had to reconnect with; his kingdom to see his parents.

He hadn't spoken with them since about three months before the curse, and due to the communication, of lack thereof with them on his part, for all he knew they thought he was dead in a ditch.

"My kingdom," he confided in Cinderella after a moments contemplation. "To see my parents. They must be worried sick." The response he was met with was the gentle action of her carefully placing her hand over his in a reassuring fashion.

"Well then, if that's what you want, then we're off to see your parents."

Looking up at her face after she stated this, what he saw in her eyes sent his heart in a spiral. "There it is," he internally said. What he was looking at was the core of what had made him fall in love with her in the first place. That being her never-ending wellspring of kindness. 

"You think your up for setting out on another adventure tomorrow?" He raised a brow playfully, to which she smirked in response. "You know I am."

Soon after came a bit more small talk and bundles of laughter between the two, ending in them retiring to bed. 

From an outsiders view, they couldn't have been more different. But to those who new better, it was clear as day the bond they held was built on their pure feelings for eachother. Yes it was clear as day;

Cinderella and Merlin were meant to be.

*******

"WAAAHHHHHHH!"

This was the ear-piercing sound that awoke the White Kingdom the next morning as Cinderella and Merlin departed for his kingdom via the flying robot.

The Hawk Kingdom.

"Aww, come on! You've done this before," she jested, his grip around her waist tightening by the second. That morning they had packed the few personal items they needed, bid goodbye to the rest of the F7 with the promise to meet them at Merlin's castle in a week's time, and taken off. After making the decision that Cinderella should be the one to sit in front, of course.

"Well sorry for being scared of falling ten thousand feet to my death," he responded hysterically, to which the blonde shook her head while rolling her eyes playfully."You can face down a psycho witch, three rock monsters, and a dragon but you can't handle flying on a broom?"

"No comment."

She burst out laughing at his response and beet-red complexion, before removing one of her hands from the broom handle and placing it on his clasped ones that were at the front of her waist. "I gotta say, it feels different now that your...you know...human."

Merlin raised his eyes hopefully at that. "Good different?"

"Very good," Cinderella replied sweetly."I liked you a lot before, green Merlin was cute, but now your..."

"Yes?" He asked hesitently. 

"Well," she smiled to herself before stating. "I won't mince words. Your extremely handsome."

This statement clearly gave a boost to his ego as the wizard took on a sly smirk for the duration of their flight.

*******

Eventually they crossed into the boarders of the Hawk Kingdom in the early afternoon, the blue and white castle standing majestically over the landscape. Seeing it all in front of her now made anxiousness bloom in Cinderella as she squeezed Merlin's hands.

"What if they don't like me?"

The wizard gave a loud snort at that, "What do you mean, how could they not?" 

"I don't know," she shrugged, "I really just assume they wanted you to end up with a princess or something of the sort, you know."

Merlin sighed at that. There it was again, the love of his life thinking less of herself all because of silly status. "Hey," he squeezed her hand back. "Your better than any of the stuffy women they've ever presented to me anyway. Besides, who knows, maybe you'll eventually be a princess."

The blush on Cinderella's face could no doubt be seen from space as her brain short circuited for a moment. Eventually a princess? But that would entail them getting....

She broke out of her mental revere as the castle was fast approaching, and they started to descend the broom after flying over the large gates. Below them, the castle guards could be seen arming themselves to face who they though were intruders.

"Halt! who goes there," one screamed upwards. As they grew closer to the ground, the men began to lower their swords as they adopted looks of recognition and shock on their faces upon seeing Merlin.

"Prince Merlin?" The one from before questioned, before promptly sheathing his blade. "The prince has returned," he hollered out to the men as the all dropped into a deep bow. 

In what seemed like a blur of motion, the pair were quickly ushered towards the throne room where the King and Queen resided, before stopping in front of the door. "Are you ready?" the wizard asked the blonde. With a quick gulp and a nod, the pushed the doors open.

Sitting on the thrones in the rooms center were King Rollo and Queen Catalina of the Hawk Kingdom, every inch as grand as Cinderella expected. Upon catching sight of their son, the two practically jumped out of their seats to engulf him in a crushing hug, tears noticeably falling from his mothers eyes.

"M..Merlin. You've returned, you've finally come back to us," his mother said tenderly as she hugged him, burying her face into his shoulder. Meanwhile his father pulled back, placing a hand on his shoulder before proclaiming a hearty, "Welcome home, son."

Merlin himself was noticeably getting misty eyed at the reunion, and Cinderella smiled fondly at the display from a few feet behind the prince. A few moments later, the queen and king pulled back from the wizard before finally taking note of her presence, confusion now adorning their faces.

"Darling, who is this?" his mother asked politely. Merlin did a double take before reaching back to grab Cinderella's hand, pulling her forward. "Mother, father, this is Cinderella." He said in a tone that made the blonde's heart turn to mush.

Remembering she was in the presence of royalty however, she dropped into a prim curtsey and greeted them. "You majesty's, it's an honor."

His mother's gaze flickered between the two of them, before smiling fondly. At last her son had found a maiden who had captured his once jaded heart. Stepping forward, she embraced Cinderella warmly. "Please my dear, you may call me Catalina."

Recognizing what this servant girl was to his son in that moment, the king too stepped forward and embraced her. "And you may call me Rollo." He then spared a glance at his son before stating, "Well done my son, she really is quite lovely."

The prince and blonde blushed at that, before the king and queen led them into a tea room for the four to catch up and get aquatinted. In a matter of time, Catalina presented an idea sure to light up the palace for the foreseeable weeks.

A ball was to be held in honor of Prince Merlin's return and for the Lady Cinderella saving him.