[Team 1] Once and Future pt 3

[green-eggs101.livejournal.com]

~950 ish words of my "What if KH was the same but Merlin was the Merlin from BBC's Merlin" AU. In which Arthur finally appears. Hinted soriku and Merthur. 

“Let's get out of here already,” Sora groaned, clinging tightly to Riku’s jacket. It seemed to be the only thing holding him up at this point.

Riku wrapped an arm around him tightly, taking some of the burden. “Of course.”

Sora hummed turning around to the stars that kept him company for so long. “All of us. We’re all getting out of here.”

The stars shifted and glowed, humming with uncertainty.

Was such a thing possible?

“We’ve been here for so long,” one star pointed out, it’s ‘voice’ distinctly male.

“Some of us don’t have homes or bodies to return to,” another said.

Sora frowned. He hadn’t thought of that. But still— “All of us. Or not at all.”

“Sora…”

Sora turned eyes to Riku, expecting exasperation but instead finding nothing but understanding and pride.

“All of us.” Sora repeated.

“Okay.” Riku nodded, then bit his lip and summoning his keyblade with his freehand. “Might need a bit of help with the spell though.

Sora kept one hand tight to Riku’s shirt, and summoned his own blade. “Together we can do it.”

“And don’t worry about the bodies, dear,” a new voice sounded out. With a sudden flash of light, the Fairy Godmother appeared beside them.

Riku gasped. “How did you—”

She grinned, tapping her wand against her other hand. “I may have had a dream or two of my own of this outcome. Preparations have been made.”

There was a gasp from one of the stars.

“Morgana?”

It was the male star that had spoken earlier.

The Fairy Godmother turned to the star, raching out with a hand over the space where a person would be. “I’m sorry it’s taken so long. But it’s time.”

“Camelot is—”

“Our Camelot may be lost, for now.” The Fairy Godmother’s eyes turned sad. “But the very last remnant of Albion needs you desperately.”

“Merlin.” the star’s voice was barely there.

Sora frowned, head tilting. Merlin? His old magic tutor?

He felt Riku’s arm tighten around him. “Together then.”

They raised their keyblades, twin beams of light shining just a head.

A door opened, and light shown out.

The light soon grew too bright to look at directly, and Sora turned his head to Riku’s shoulder, Riku holding him close.

When the light cleared, Sora found himself in a room that was just as bright.

For a heart-stopping moment, he thought he had dreamed up his previous adventure, that Riku had never come, that he was still stuck in the void between life and death.

But then he felt Riku’s arm around him, the familiar smell of Riku overcoming his senses and quieting his fear.

Slowly, he realized that the bright room was the laboratory in Radiant Garden, the bright overhead lights illuminating both computer screens and the shocked faces of Ansem the Wise and his apprentices.

“Sora! Riku!”

Both Sora and Riku were tackled by an exuberant familiar redhead. Crashing to the ground, they found themselves wrapped in a tight hug.

“Kairi!” they exclaimed in unison.

She grinned leaning back enough to look at them. “Fairy Godmother told us it’d be today. We’ve been working around the clock to prepare for the deadline. She was so sure, but—”

She cut herself off, looking around them.

“I don’t think we expected you to bring back so many friends.”

“Good thing we had vessels waiting for them all,” Ienzo said, recovering from his surprise the fastest. “At least… I hope this is all of them?”

“I never miscount, young man.” Fairy Godmother sounded sterner than Sora had ever heard her and Ienzo smiled in apology for doubting her.

“It is fortuitous that we had mixed science with Merlin’s magic,” Ansem the wise explained. “Otherwise I’m not sure we would have made it in time.”

“Just a touch of magic here and there,” an elderly voice behind them grubmled. “You had the basic outline.”

“Merlin?”

Sora turned, finding a young man with straight blond hair just starting to curl around his ears and framing bright blue eye. He was staring at Merlin with wide eyes, a smirk curling on his face the longer he stared.

“That is a very silly hat.”

Merlin had frozen in place faster than any blizzard spell Sora may have accidentally placed on him during training.

The blond man started to stand, his legs shaky as he got used to having a body once more. When hs stumbled, it broke the spell over Merlin and the older man moved swiftly.

Must swifter than Sora thought he could, given his age.

And then, as Sora watched, the age seemed to melt off of Merlin, wrinkles smoothed out, his hair growing dark and curly. He even gained a few inches in height.

Belatedly, Sora recognized the man who helped in in Merlin’s house sometimes— Emrys—. The first time they’d met, Sora remembered thinking Emrys knew Merlin so well, it was like they were the same person.

Well…

“Arthur!” Merlin rushed to him arms circling the blond man, Arthur. “You’re—”

“Yeah…” Arthur raised his own hands to grip Merlin’s shirt tightly. “I’m… I’m back.”

A sharp sound escaped Merlin, and Sora realized it was a sob. Another escaped as well and Arthur tightened his embrace, shushing the young Merlin gently.

“Such a crybaby.”

“Shut up.”

“Honestly, you’re such a petticoat.”

“You’re a dollophead!”

“Worst servant ever.”

“Prat!”

Arthur chuckled, hand reaching up to tangle in Merlin’s hair. “I’m home.”

Sora sighed, leaning against Riku, Kairi on his other side, smile never leaving her face.

They were all home.

Finally, Arthur and Merlin broke apart, Merlin’s face streaked with tears, which Arthur gently brushed away, a teasing grin overtaking his features.

“Oh, and Merlin? Don’t think I forgot about the silly hat.”

Next up is nichi with "Don't think I forgot about the silly hat."