Sacrifice KingxDiane fanfic

Part 5

King fought against his weakness, opening his eyes to find himself staring up into his sister's. Elaine's eyes were filled with tears as she gazed down at her older brother, holding his hand in her own. 

Guilt gripped King's heart. "I-I'm so sorry." He cried. "I never meant for any-you have every right in the world to hate me, but I miss you so much." Elaine smiled sadly through her tears, wiping King's away lovingly.

"It's okay, Brother." She soothed. "I missed you too." She admitted.

"After everything I did, how could you?"

"I have to tell you  something important that you really need to hear...I forgive you, Harlequin...we all do." She leaned down, gently wrapping her arms around her brother.  When Elaine released him, King found himself surrounded by familiar faces. They floated to the ground, surrounding him.

"Y-you guys don't know what that means to me.  Thank you."

"How could we not, I mean you're our king. As far as apologizing to me though, don't. You were keeping a promise. You loved me enough to do what you had to do, so thank you. " Helbram added. "And..it was kind of my fault you left so you can't take all the responsibility." A sudden realization hit King.

"If I'm here...am I dead..please tell me Diane didn't see that-"Helbram shook his head. 

"No yet, but if I had to guess, she's probably with you." 

"Then what is this place?"

"A place of transition." Elaine answered, "This is where the ones who love you come to meet you. Some of us pass through quickly, finding our own way. We tried to make this as comfortable as possible, unfortunately we couldn't take everything away from you. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I am actually a lot more comfortable. When I'm there, I'm in constant pain and I always feel terrible."

"Brother, the poison inside your body along with your injuries...you don't have much time left. We can stay here as long as you need to, but know that you're only prolonging your suffering. You can choose to let go, Harlequin and come home where there is no pain and illness."

"But either way you choose, it ends the  same." Helbram added. "When you're feeling up to it, we'll all leave here together.

"No more pain sounds nice, but I-I don't know how to leave her like this. Diane's hurting too."

"The unfortunate part of living is that eventually it ends. Your girl's going to miss you no matter how much time you give her. you'll see soon enough that  The ones we leave behind suffer the most. You'll feel it sometimes and yeah it's tough but sometimes letting go is the best you can do for them so they don't have to see what you're going through. Isn't that what you've been trying to protect her from?"

"Yeah.  It's my fault she-"

"You're the reason she gets to live. You gave her your life, Harlequin. How much more of this are you willing to take?"

"For Diane, I'd take all the pain in the world. I can't leave her." Helbram nodded. 

"I know.  Might as well get comfortable everyone, looks like we'll be here a while."He called to the fairies around them. None of the others seemed to mind, offering encouraging smiles.

"Take your time, Fairy King." One of them said softly. "we'll wait for you."

"Until then Brother, try to rest, you'll need whatever strength you have. Once you decide it's time, you'll feel better. It's being tied to your body now that's weakening you."

"Thank you, Everyone. I can't expect you to stay here."

"We want to, all of us."Elaine said. "You'll want that when the time comes. When I passed on, I could feel Ban's pain and sometimes I still do. I hope you won't continue to judge him too harshly,Harlequin. I'm here for the same reason you are. I found the one person I love beyond my own existence. I think you understand now what that's like.  He would've given his life if I had allowed him to. I just couldn't-"

"You truly love him that much?"King asked. 

"I do. I also love my brother and I don't want to have to choose between you. He really does care about you too. I hope one day you'll be able to give him the same gift of forgiveness that we've given you." King could no longer keep his eyes open.

"Sorry," he murmured. "Just so-"

"It's all right, Harlequin, sleep for now. We were at your side in life and that's where we'll always stay. Helbram assured him. King allowed his eyes to close, a feeling of peace came over him, as though a weight had been lifted from his heart after so many years of carrying it with him.  Harlequin could at last rest. 

***

Gowther and Hawk found themselves on a crowded street in Camelot, the residents chatting excitedly as they went about their day, banners and decorations announced the beginner of their annual festival.

"We're never going to find Merlin in all this." Hawk complained.

"Yes, it does seem to be quite a bit more difficult than I anticipated.  Perhaps if we stop someone and ask, surely one of these people know where we can find Merlin."Gowther glanced around.

"Or you could just turn around." The female voice greeted. They turned to find themselves facing the dark haired mage.

"You're a little far from home, aren't you, boys?"She asked. 

"Yes, however we were sent to  bring you back to the Boar Hat, orders from the Captain." Gowther replied. "King is very ill. He was seriously injured with three poison arrows. "

"Three arrows?" Merlin asked in astonishment. "And he lived?"

"I last saw him just about three days ago and he is very close to death. The captain requests your assistance in healing him." 

"I'm afraid I can't promise that.  Fairies are different, what you use to treat a human or giant, you may not be able to offer them.  There's even less information available outside of the fairy clan themselves.  Even if there is some possible way to help him, he may be too far gone."

"Yes, that is a possibility. He wasn't doing well when we left." 

"Well then, I'm going to have to stop and get a few things. We'll need to leave quickly."She said.

"Do you think we'll make it in time?"Hawk asked in concern. 

"Not on foot, but I do have something else in mind."