Every time I look at the name of this book I start singing Slipped Away by Avril Lavigne, "I miss you, miss you so bad, I wish that I could see you again, I know that I can't."
Gwaine laid on Lancelot's bed, wrapping the blankets around himself and snuggling into the pillow. He stared at the wall as tears spilled but he didn't care. He didn't care if anyone found him. He didn't care what they'd think. He didn't care what happened as long as no one tried to make him leave the room. He could hear Merlin calling out for him but he didn't move. He heard the door get thrown open and Merlin's excited voice. He turned slowly in the bed, not expecting anything special but jumped up when he saw the reason for Merlin's happiness.
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It was so dark and Lancelot was surrounded by the dorocha's screams.
'They're safe,' he reminded himself, tensing as one of the spirits flew closer than he would've liked. The others were safe, that's all that mattered. He found what felt like a cave wall, though he couldn't tell if it was in the darkness, and slid down against.
'They're safe. They're safe,' he kept thinking, shaking from the icy temperature in what he supposed was the spirit world. He thought back, remembering better times as the dorocha flew by, screeching but for the most part ignoring his presence. He remembered Merlin and Arthur's banter. He remembered Gwen laughing at something Elyan said. He remembered Leon finally beginning to relax around the newer knights and how they'd celebrated. He remembered meeting and travelling with Percival. He remembered Gwaine.
Gwaine. He'd wake up and wonder where Lancelot was. Merlin would have to tell him, Arthur and all the others what he'd had to watch. Lancelot hung his head. He didn't want them to go through the pain of missing him; he knew how it felt to lose a close friend. But at least they were safe.
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Lancelot wasn't sure how long he'd been in the spirit world, lost in his thoughts, but when he opened his eyes again there was light. Everything was blurred for a while but slowly started to clear. The sky. It was bright and blue and just how he remembered it. He pushed himself up and took in his surroundings. There were trees surrounding him, he was on the ground, there was a huge lake nearby. His hearing came back next with a voice shouting excitedly, "It worked! It worked!"
Lancelot felt arms around him and he twisted around to see who was hugging him. Familiar dark hair, pale skin and a huge smile.
"Merlin?" He asked as the warlock pulled back to look at him, grinning.
"It worked! You're back!"
"Back? Back where?"
"Home! Well, almost," Merlin replied and helped Lancelot to his feet.
"Come on, everyone's missed you so much!"
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Merlin didn't stop talking the entire way back to the castle. He was right. Everyone had missed Lancelot. The second they saw him he was almost suffocated by hugs and questions. Merlin told them he'd found Lancelot lying unconscious in the forest while he was looking for herbs for Gaius and Lancelot told them he didn't remember how he got there. He knew it must've been Merlin's magic, he'd ask what exactly he'd done later, but they didn't need to know that.
Merlin continued telling Lancelot about everything he'd missed, apparently Arthur was officially the king now and Gwen was to be queen, but after seeing all his old friends, Lancelot only wanted one more thing.
"Merlin, I'm glad I could see everyone again, and I'm grateful for whatever you did to bring me back, but I'd like to see Gwaine now."
"I'm an idiot!" He said, face-palming. "Of course you want to see Gwaine! I should've taken you to see him first! Come on, let's find him! He's missed you more than everyone else combined!" Merlin said quickly, changing direction to go upstairs to the knights' chambers. Lancelot wasn't sure he'd ever seen the boy so energetic.
They arrived at Gwaine's chambers and, without knocking, Merlin pushed open the door. The room was empty. Lancelot frowned, but Merlin didn't seem fazed. He lead Lancelot down the hall again and stopped outside Lancelot's own room. Merlin shoved open the door just like he had done to Gwaine's.
Lancelot's breath hitched. There, on his bed, curled up in blankets, was a person. He could only see the messy brown hair but that was enough to recognise him by. Gwaine.
"Gwaine! Gwaine get up! Look who's here!" Merlin called out, jumping into the room and pulling Lancelot along with him.
Gwaine turned slowly and Lancelot's heart broke. He looked as though he hadn't stopped crying in however long Lancelot had been gone; Merlin had said it had been four months. He bolted up and stared at Lancelot, eyes wide and mouth agape.
"Lance?" He breathed out and Lancelot smiled. Hearing his voice made being back so much more real.
"Gwaine," he said as he ran over to the bed, jumped onto it, landing on his shins and hugged the other man. The shock of seeing Lancelot again wore off and Gwaine hugged him back even tighter.
"I'll go tell Gaius you've returned," Merlin said, smiling when saw how happy his friends were, and left them alone.
"You came back! I thought I was never going to see you again, I missed you, I missed you so much!" Gwaine cried into Lancelot's shoulder, though now he cried for a completely different reason than he had been only a few minutes before.
Lancelot rubbed his back and kissed his cheek and ruffled his hair and clung to him. Anything to reassure Gwaine that he was really there until the ability to speak returned to him.
Gwaine pulled back from the embrace and looked at Lancelot, overjoyed that his knight was back and alive and sitting in front of him, gripping onto him like his life depended on it. The kiss they shared kept getting interrupted by small gasps and tears but they didn't care. They were together again and that was all that mattered.
