So we meet again... (a merthur au)

Forget-Me-Not

"I never thought I would, I--" Arthur began, the words escaping him.

He remembered the flowers in his hands and gave them to Emrys.

He choked a laugh through his tears, "Gifting me my own flowers, how thoughtful."

"They had just made me think of you," Arthur smiled, "It was a compulsion. Even after I first met you, I felt compelled to give you flowers. How stupid is that?"

"You'd be surprised," Merlin smiled, blubbering. "I grew them for you."

Arthur's face turned red, "How? It would take years to grow this many!"

"Exactly," Emrys smiled. "Come on inside, it's getting dark. I'm sure Leon and Alice have dinner on. We'll get you a plate."

Arthur followed behind quizzically, watching Emrys carefully carry his basket in one hand, balanced on his hip, and his other hand gently wrapped around the flowers.

"I tried to find you... after you left." Arthur muttered, shuffling behind. "I pretty much gave up, honestly. I'm so happy to see you again. I missed you, Emrys."

"You keep calling me Emrys, you forget I'm really Merlin." He smiled wryly over his shoulder.

"You feel more like Emrys to me."

Merlin stopped, looking at the flowers in his hand, "I suppose you're right. I haven't really been Merlin for a long time."

They started walking again, side by side. Arthur felt his shoulder brush Merlin's and it made him smile. It was nice being so close again.

"The flowers, you said you've grown them a long time--" Arthur began, Emrys saw the lead and took it.

"They're forget-me-not flowers. They've been growing there since I planted the seeds when I first bought the property. At least a hundred years ago by now, it's been maintained by homeowners all these years as part of a legacy of sorts, passed down parent to child. I bought the land in 1913, right after Artie died, it was part of our promise... Do you remember it?"

Arthur could feel something like a memory, like a word unspoken on the tip of his tongue. He shook his head, "I remember us talking about it, before I... Well, you know, but I don't remember the finer details of it."

"I'll tell you, since you managed to find me, even though you don't remember it all, I owe you that much... We made a promise that when Artie died, I would wait for him here. That he would find me, someway, somehow, and we could be together again. He made me promise to give him the flowers I never gave him when he was king." Emrys smiled to himself at the memory.

Emrys continued, "Once, in the castle, I gave the girls flowers but he was offended even then that he didn't get any. He also made me promise I would never forget him... As if I could." His voice dwindled off, clearing his throat and speaking again. "So, I got the farm set up by myself, handing it off with the promise to have the family who took over the land will be set for life with the various crops as long as they kept it in the family, cared for the flowers, and let me live here again when I was ready.

"Leon and Alice were the most recent owners, but they are on in age and unfortunately their daughter died quite young... They're glad for the help, and since they couldn't pass it on, they wrote to me that the time had come for me to inherit it back. It was opprotune, really. I would like to spend the rest of my mortality away from the bustle. I missed the simplicity of back then. I rise and fall with the sun, it's so simple here, you know?"