𝐆𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐄𝐒 ━━━ merlin

9. hawk kingdom

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.