After the Storm [Freya]

[em]

Merlin felt like he was finally making some use of himself. He felt more alive than he had done in years, and all because of the events that had led up to one thing. Arthur and Gwen. He could finally feel a new beginning now that they were married and as a result, he was more chipper. Merlin was even sure that he had a bounce in his walk as he headed along his way to the lake.

He was going to see Freya, going to tell her of everything that had happened. Of Arthur becoming King. His marriage to Gwen. Everything finally seemed to be going right for him for once, and hopefully nothing or no one could ruin that for him now. He even picked some flowers especially for Freya. He'd missed her, not being able to come and see her as much as he liked. To be fair, the last few months had been quite hectic for all of them, so he would explain his reasons to her.

Yes. Today was a good day. So would the day after that, and after that, and so on.

Finally reaching the lake, he stood on the bank and looked out over it. Nothing had changed. It still beheld it's beauty, and Merlin could feel that it was Freya making it this way. He hoped she could stay on shore for longer this time. They hadn't really had much time before, as she'd only just begun to control it somewhat. "Freya?" he crouched down to the water and said her name quietly, looking around after to make sure no one was around to see him. "Freya?" he called a little louder this time.

Merlin got back up, watching and waiting for her to appear, his stomach turning in knots as he did so.

Tagged: Freya
Timeline: Just After S4 Finale
Setting: The Lake of Avalon

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These past few months had her pushing herself harder and harder. Freya knew that Merlin would come back eventually -at least she hoped- and was determined to meet him upon land. She had managed, after months of pushing herself, to be beyond the lake for hours at a time. True it often left her weakened after, but the feeling of the earth beneath her feet and wind upon her face was worth the fatigue. Having gone for a short walk to further build her endurance, she pulled up short at seeing the young man near her water.

She grinned, feeling her heartbeat increase in excitement at seeing him. How she had missed Merlin! She tried to keep as quiet as possible as she walked up to him, pausing at his side. "Hello Merlin," she said, unable to keep the smile from her lips as she spoke. She placed a hand lightly on his shoulder, not wishing to surprise him.

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[em]

He waited for a while, not seeing the water move at all. Was she there? Had she heard him? Merlin was getting worried now. Had something happened to her? He would never forgive himself for not coming to see her sooner.
"Freya?" he called again. Perhaps it was just down to him not calling her loud enough. "Freya it's me, Merlin!" As stupid as he may have looked, just shouting at a lake, Merlin couldn't care who saw him at this moment. All that mattered was that Freya was somewhere safe.

He felt a light pressure on his shoulder and jumped, turning round to see who had touched him. "Hello Merlin," A look of releif passed across his face. She was there. She was ok. She was on land?! "Freya!" he smiled, as well as giving her a look of disbelief. "Wow...you're actually on land and not in the water?" His expression now changing to one of worry. "How long do you have?" he asked.

Merlin didn't want to start going on about all that had happened, only to have Freya go back into the water almost straight away.

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His calling for her was almost comical, and she had to bite back a giggle as she spoke to the water. What kept it from being truly funny, however, was his concern. He truly seemed to be worried that she might not emerge. She allowed her hand to fall back to her side, away from the warmth of his cloth covered limb. Feeling someone else, even through cloth, was and off sensation after being alone for months.

"I am," she confirmed, now unable to hold back her laugh of delight. "I told you I would practice." She had, to the point of exhaustion. And now, to stand before him, it was all worth her troubles. Her grin widened as he asked how much time she had. "Hours, at least," she answered, guessing that her last escapade beyond the water had been around five or six hours.

"What has happened these past few months? How are you?" She wanted news, but she didn't want to be bothersome about it.

[em]

Freya's words put Merlin's mind to rest. She had hours, and there was so much to say that it could indeed take him hours to relay everything back to her. He was so pleased to see her, it had felt like a lifetome since he had last been at the lake. Now his duties to Arthur was appear to prevent him from coming here as often as he would like to, so those hours that Freya had stated that she had, were precious.

"I know" he smiled softly, "I knew you wouldn't stop at nothing until you found a way."

Merlin sat himself down by the lake, just as he had done so before and patted the space next to him for Freya to sit down too. "Oh, err i almost forgot." he said, passing her the flowers, "I picked you these..." He watched her for a moment, "I know it's nothing much, but nothing quite says hello like flowers" he gave a little shrug.

"What has happened these past few months? How are you?"

Merlin shifted for a moment. Where should he begin? "Im fine, still here" he smiled, "Quite a bit, Arthur is now the King of Camelot." He felt a slight warmth when saying this. "Oh, and he's married, so much has happened I don't know where to start!"

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Freya took up the spot next to him upon the bank, simply glad to be near him again. It grew terribly lonely, out here on her own. But it was expected; she couldn't leave the lake for hours at a time. Yet. She had plans-dreams- of being able to go beyond the lake for hours at a time. If that would ever happen she wasn't sure; she would try. She smiled as he gave her the gathering of flowers, leaning down to breathe in their scent. "Thank you," she said, leaning over and pressing a kiss to his cheek. She grinned once more, setting the flowers in her lap.

She listened as he spoke about what had happened between his last visit and now. She found a small smile flit onto her face as he spoke of Arthur. "And it begins," she murmured, knowing that this was the dawning of the age spoken of by the druids. It would be difficult of course; their troubles were not yet over. But it would be a journey that would be remembered for years and years to come. "And Morgana? What of her?" It would be too simple if the witch was dead.

[em]

Merlin felt his cheeks become hotter when she kissed him in return for the flowers. Still after everything he was still a little embarassed and unsure when it came to girls and what they liked. Flowers seemed to appeal to Freya, and if Freya liked them, then that meant that Merlin was actually doing something right for once. "Well..." he shrugged shyly, "I saw them and thought of you." They were red, just like strawberries, and Freya liked strawberries.

As he went on to explain about the situations that had arisen since their last meeting, he caught a small smile out of the corner of his eye. She'd been expecting it of course. Just like the time she'd been expecting him to come and retreive the sword from her. The sword that now belonged to the true King. That alone made him smile, and still he felt rather pleased about the little story he'd made up to go along with it. At least Arthur had brought that! Usually he didn't believe any kind of 'bedtime story' that Merlin would go on about. The came the big question. Morgana.

Merlin hugged his knees into his chest, "I don't know..." The last he'd seen of her had been in the castle, when he'd tried to stop her by making the rubble fall onto her. In all truth, he hadn't been surprised when she was gone after the dust had cleared. She was still out there though, he could feel it - her just watching, and waiting. Should the time ever come when they would meet again then he would be ready.
"I tried to stop her again... but I don't know where she is now." he carried on and looked to Freya. "Anyway, let's not talk about her. I came here to see you - how have you been?" he asked. He hoped that she was truly ok and not putting so much pressure on herself to try and stay on land for too many hours on end. Freya was determind, and he admired her for that, but he didn't want to her to overstep the mark when it wasn't necessary

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Freya took note of the color of the flowers, having realized that they were the same color of his earlier attempts at strawberries. A small smile remained on her lips as she carefully dusted her fingertips over the soft petals. He was forever thinking of her welfare, it seemed. These flowers were no exception. Even such a small display of affection such as this still had her baffled. Why her? She wasn't nearly as powerful as him, nor would she ever. And it wasn't as if they could have a life together, as he and another woman would be able. She knew better than to question him, though, not wanting him to come to his senses and leave.

She let the subject of his adversary drop, not wanting to upset him. Yet she knew, from what she had heard of the songs passed down from singer to singer during her childhood, that his journey was far from over. "I've been practicing," she said, gesturing down at herself. "Pushing myself to stay above the water as long as possible." It was growing easier by the day, which she had become proud of. "I was hoping that you would come back, so that I would be able to greet you upon land." Like a normal person. But when had she ever been normal?

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[em]

Part of him was glad that she was so determind to stay so long above land, but the other part worried for her. Especially when she said that she had been pushing herself to stay so long away from the water. "You mustn't put yourself through that, I know you're in pain like you was last time. You shouldn't do that...especially for my sake - you'll become stronger in time."

Merlin leant back on his hands and looked out over the lake, it had been so long since he'd been there last - how had he managed to stay away for so long? "So is that all you have been doing since I was last here?" he asked, "Practicing?" for all he knew she could have stayed on land for sometime and met someone - another boy perhaps? Why had he even just thought of that? Merlin wasn't the jealous type and yet here he was thinking about 'what if's' all of a sudden.

Shaking those thoughts from his head he decided to focus on him and Freya now, she was there and so was he, and nothing could come between them right now.

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Freya shook her head at his worrying. "It doesn't hurt nearly as much as it did before," she countered, knowing that it was somewhat of a lie. That startling, gasping-for-air, fire-in-your-lungs feeling only came toward the end of her excursions. Last time it had been far worse, as it had happened when she had first exited the water. "My endurance has built up quite a bit." Her lungs were stronger now, conditioned to both air and water.

She nodded at his words, a half smile resting on her lips. "I don't get many visitors, except for the occasional traveler that strays by." She suddenly laughed, color flooding her cheeks at the emotion. "There was a young lad not too long ago that I might have accidentally startled. I had been taking a walk and was preparing to return to the water when I came across him. I think I spoke faster than ever before, as I was so excited to see someone else. The poor boy is probably deaf because of me." When she did find someone she almost felt giddy about simple conversations. People were rare where she was, and a stumbling visitor was a cause for excitement.

[em]

Freya seemed adament that being on the surface didn't affect her as much as before, but despite all that, Merlin knew he would always worry until he was safe in the knowledge that she was alright for a good few hours. "Well you know i'll still worry" he now told her this, "even when i'm away from you I still think about you.." his cheeks now resembled the same red on Arthur's tunic. Despite all that he and Freya had been through, it was still so easy to be embarassed by his words.

Merlin felt a little guilty for not being able to see her as much as he could, especially when Freya was now expressing her excitement about having someone to talk to. He chuckled when she'd finished telling him of her encounter with the 'poor boy' who she had thought to have deafened. "Im sure he didn't mind" he told her, "I could sit here all day and listen to you..." there it was again! Embarassing slip of the tongue moment part two!

Once again he turned a little red and looked away, finding a stick and poking the ground with it. "I wish I could see you more than I would like to, but it's hard," he explained, "and with things how they are...it makes me feel bad that I can't talk to you as much."

He poked the ground a little more, drawing a dragon (and a very bad one) into the dirt.