Thunderbolt of Laurels

Chapter 10- Her Thunderbolt

I sneak into the dwarfs room and immediately find Merlin's bed. They all have pictures of the Fearless 7, whom they 'represent' over their beds. It's a little creepy. Even if they are the F7, it's still weird. 
   I look at the picture of Merlin, human Merlin. He looks handsome as always. My heart aches for him but if this Merlin in my Merlin, then I found him. I shake my head. I can't get my hopes up. They really could just be an obsessed fan club. I look under his bed. Nothing. Through his drawers. Nothing. In his chest. Nothing. No clip. Maybe I'm really just imagining things.
   I head downstairs looking for Merlin. I need to talk to him. "Hans, do you know where Merlin is?" I ask as I head into the kitchen.
"I think I saw him with Arthur," he says. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay, thanks for asking."
"Looking for me?" Merlin voice echoes from behind me, cutting our conversation short.
"Yes. I think we need to talk," I say frantically.
He looks down, then back to me. "I think we do."
  We walk through the house as the other dwarfs stare at us. "What?" I ask them. They all turn around and continue doing their thing and we walk outside. We get to a log nearby and sit down. I don't hesitate to talk. "What happened last night?" I ask.
"I found you. You were surrounded by soldiers."
"How did you get me out then?"
He scratches his head. "Well. . ."
"I saw lighting," I tell him as I look him directly in his eye.
"Lightn-"
I pull out the two cards that I showed Red Shoes. "This is the card I found yesterday," I say and give it to him. He takes it and looks at it. "This is the card Merlin from the F7 gave me." I hand him the other card. "They're the exact same." He looks at the two cards and then at me. He's about to say something but I speak first. "You're not a fan club, are you? Call me crazy but you're the only one around me. You came to me at Aqua Maine. Your shadow was taller last night. You kept saying these strange things like we knew each other before, like you knew me." I look at him in the eye again. "So you're not Merlin's fan."
 He smiles warmly. "Close your eyes."
"What?" Not the reaction I was expecting.
"Just do it." I obey and close my eyes. He takes my hands. His hands are bigger than mine now. I take one of my hands away and place it on his face, examining his features by touch. "Ow!" he exclaims. I poked his eye.
"Sorry." He's human. I open my eyes again and he's back to little green Merlin. He places his hand in his pouch and takes something out.
"Look at this." He uncovers the object. A brilliant shiny- it's my topaz clip.

 He's Merlin. My actual Merlin. I was right. I don't know how to react. I don't know if I was actually expecting this. "So you're actually-" He nods. "Why didn't you tell me before?"
"I couldn't. That was part of the curse."
"You couldn't tell anyone?"
He shakes his head then looks at the ground. "I wanted to, believe me, I did. When I saw you that night, I was in complete shock. I thought I was dreaming, but I wasn't. It was real. You're here. Actually here. After years. And I couldn't even tell you it was me!"
"But I figured it out, and now I know. It's you Merlin. I found you."
"Technically you found Red and I found her which then led us to meet again. . ."
I roll my eyes. "Alright fine, you found me. How did you get like this?" I ask.
"I can't get into all the details, but once the curse is broken, I can tell you," he says.
"How do we break the curse?"
"I can't-I can't tell you." He sighs.
"Hmm. I have to figure out that one too?"
He nods. "Shouldn't be too hard right?"
"Oh but I can show you and give you hints."
"Alright."
"Let's play charades."

"Three words," I say as he holds three fingers in the air. "First word." He points at the tree. "Tree?" He shakes his head and motions towards the flora and fauna.
"Forest?" He shakes his head. His face lights up as he gets an idea. He holds up the wanted picture of Red Shoes. "Where did you get that?" He shrugs. "Okay? Red Shoes?" Wrong. "Girl?" He puts two fingers up. "That's the second word?" He nods. "Okay. Red Shoes. . .what about Red Shoes? She's absolutely gorgeous. . ." He nods violently. "Okay, okay, beauty. Alright, last word." He puckers up his lips. "Duck face!" He looks at me unamused as I break out in laughter. He kisses his hand. "You need a kiss on the hand?" He shakes his head again, still unamused. "Okay I get it. Beauty. Girl. Kiss. A kiss from a beautiful girl."
"Yep, but the most beautiful to be precise," he says.
"You know this would have been a lot easier if you wrote it down or just explained it another way." I chuckle.
"Yeah, but this was more fun," he replies.
"Wait, a kiss from the most beautiful girl. . .that's not me."
"What?"
"I'm not the most beautiful. That's Red. She can break your curse." But I cringe at the thought of her kissing Merlin before I have. "No, I prefer you as a dwarf if that's the case." I snicker.
"I don't want to kiss her," he says.
I sigh. "There's no guarantee it'll work."
"Alaura," he starts. "You are the most beautiful girl, inside and out."
"Thanks Merlin," I blush. "But don't be mushy."
He laughs. "I know, I know." Then his face turns serious. "Remember the last time we saw each other, you said you had something to tell me but you never did. We got distracted by my comrades and it slipped our minds." I nod. I do remember. "For the past three years I kept thinking about it, but I think I know what it was. It was about that betrothal wasn't it? That's why you wouldn't come with me. Why you never wrote to me or came to visit or even let me back into the kingdom."
   I look into his eyes and nod. I told my father to ban the F7 from our kingdom. I convinced him they did more damage than good and that we could handle whatever came our way. I was selfish. I only thought of myself. How I never wanted to see him again because it would hurt too much to let him go again. I didn't think about anyone else. That took a toll. A big one. Our kingdom lost its queen. But even so, the attack was so abrupt. The F7 may not have been able to come so suddenly or maybe not come at all. Their specialty are beasts and dragons, not wars and surprise attacks. Our soldiers did an amazing job defending us, it was just my mother was in the wrong place at the wrong time, with no one around to save her.

 Merlin looks off into the horizon. "So that's why you ran away."
"I came to my senses. I shouldn't live my life to please others. It's my life. I can live it my own way. And it's not like I've ruined my kingdom, like I said, my sister can rule. I'm not the only heir. Char's and my betrothal was to make peace with the kingdoms but they're on good terms now. It was because my father chose him for me. I found the love I wanted and let it go. I regretted it everyday after until one day I gathered my courage and did what was right for me, because I matter too." I put my hands to my face. I'm right. It's my life. And of course I would do anything to help others, but I need to live too.

   Merlin puts his small hand on mine. I smile. I pick his small little body up and hug him. He covers my eyes with his hand. "What are you-" I stop talking when he pulls me into him for a tight embrace. I keep my eyes closed, he's human again. I feel small with him but it's a good feeling; like a giant blanket on a cold winter day. He pulls away and and leans his forehead against mine. "If this kiss doesn't work," I start, "you're still you. You're still the Merlin from the party. The one I snuck out of the castle to meet."
"Wait you snuck out?" he asks.
"Shh." I put my finger to his lips.
"Alaura!"
"Anyways, you're the same Merlin. My Merlin. Even if you're green and short and not human, that's okay. You're still adorable."
He laughs. "Well, thank you I guess. But even if you're okay with it. . .I'M NOT! DO YOU THINK I WANT TO BE SMALL AND GREEN?" I laugh. 
"Awe come on, it can't be that bad, can it?"
"I guess it's not the worst thing in the world that could happen. . .nope, I change my mind. Yes, yes it is." I feel his face move, coming closer to mine. I'm nervous, but I want to kiss him.  I can make him feel like himself again. If this works, I get to see him again. If it doesn't, I'll still have him.