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Merlin fic: The Christmas Surprise
Title: The Christmas Surprise (1/1)
Author: dk323
Rating: PG-13 (for innuendo and swearing)
Word Count: ~3,508
Characters/Pairings: Arthur/Merlin, Gwen/Lancelot, Morgana, OCs
Disclaimer: The show Merlin is property of the BBC.
Summary: Arthur, Merlin and Morgana have been reincarnated as Christmas decorations. It's not always so merry, but Merlin tries to make the best of it in the end.
Author’s Notes: For otterfudge. :) This is a bit silly (*cough* crack). I was inspired by the fic Christmas Cards by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nyargles.
Evil!Morgana does not exist here and Merlin did not poison Morgana (doesn’t exactly bring holiday cheer, so that’s out *nods*). Everyone’s cool with each other. Of course, there’s the usual sibling rivalry between Arthur and Morgana. ;)
~ * ~
One month before Christmas:
“They’re advertised as magical lights,” said her father. Little Elena’s blue eyes lit up. She felt so lucky to have special magical lights to adorn the Christmas tree this year.
The newly purchased string of lights was arranged on the pine tree first. The lights were colorful and musical as well, much to the girl’s delight. The melody of “White Christmas” started playing.
Oddly enough, the tune began even before her father had plugged in the lights into the outlet. But he only shrugged it off as inconsequential and assumed that he might have imagined it. At least the lights worked, which was what mattered. They blinked merrily, the different colors – blue, red, green, and yellow – playing off each other with gusto.
Elena helped her mother decorate the tree with pretty baubles and ornaments. There were the candy canes too. Elena was already plotting how to take a few for herself without anyone noticing.
She really loved candy canes.
“Oh, can I help put up the star at the top of the tree?” Elena asked eagerly.
Her father nodded. “Yes, of course, sweetheart.”
And so the little girl sat on her father’s shoulders, the big shiny golden star in hand, and she placed the star on the top of the tree. She made sure to set it in well, so that the star was secure and wouldn’t fall from the Christmas tree, as her mum had reminded her to do.
“You’re the prettiest star ever to have been made,” Elena declared with a smile.
And if the lights adorning the tree seemed to glow even brighter, no one commented on it.
Once she was set back down on the ground, Elena entertained herself by watching her kittens, Gwen (she was the white one) and Lancelot (he was the black one), play with each other.
They were such sweet and fun kittens. Elena adored them.
~ * ~
That night:
After Elena had taken a candy cane from the tree – one of the small candy canes because that wouldn’t look so bad in Santa’s eyes. She didn’t want to get coal in her stocking after all. – she retreated back up the stairs, returning to her warm bed.
When the girl was gone, it was then that Arthur decided to speak up.
“Merlin, please tell me you can do more with your magic than glow and play music,” Arthur asked him from his prime place at the top of the Christmas tree.
For better or for worse, Arthur could only be content with his current incarnation being a bloody Christmas decoration. At least he was an important Christmas decoration. Still, he had to debate that girl’s, Elena’s, assertion that he was a pretty star.
Arthur was not pretty. Handsome, yes, but for the love of all that was good in the world, he was not a girl and he was most certainly not pretty!
Merlin didn’t answer him. Arthur knew that those lights were Merlin. It wasn’t because he had heard the father say the lights were advertised as, “magical” (although Arthur found it hilarious that Merlin had been advertised that way…how appropriate), no, it was something more undeniable. Arthur could feel it inside of him when Merlin had been arranged on the tree. He just had this sense that told him, “Merlin is here” and Arthur knew that Merlin felt it too. Why else had Merlin glowed brighter when Arthur had been set at the top of the tree?
“Merlin?” Arthur asked again when he took too long to answer.
Merlin’s lights, which had been previously turned off, glowed yellow.
The tree which was, oh so irritatingly from Arthur’s standpoint, a reincarnated Morgana; remarked in amusement, “Oh, you’re an angel, Arthur! It suits you.”
“What?” Arthur cried in outrage.
He looked down at himself. He was wearing a heavy red winter cloak with white fur trim. A bright red dress lay underneath the cloak. Snow-white wings came out of his back, coming through the cloak. He pulled at his hair – he had hair again, that was nice – and saw that it was blond and pulled back with a pin. Then he felt his chest, and as he feared, he was a woman. Oh, of course, he was a blonde female angel. Just great. And yet, it was sort of pleasant to look and feel human again, even if he was still technically a Christmas decoration.
“It seems that that it’s a ‘yes’ to Merlin being able to do plenty more with his magic,” Morgana mused. And if she were human, Arthur was sure Morgana would be sporting a smirk now.
Merlin finally decided to speak up. “Can’t you see I was turned off? I was sleeping, you royal prat. Must I make a ‘do not disturb’ sign before you understand? It’s the middle of the night!” He exclaimed in frustration.
“I didn’t know you needed your beauty sleep,” Arthur retorted, then he added, “—you fairy light princess,” he finished.
Merlin adjusted himself so that one end of him was facing Arthur. Two of the light bulbs at the end were now blue, which Arthur assumed were Merlin’s eyes. It was still rather jarring. “At least I can do more than sit on top of the tree. You’ll gain weight that way,” Merlin remarked.
Arthur grumbled. “I’m a bloody star!” He countered before he amended his statement, “Well, I was before you changed me into an angel. I don’t need to worry about weight gain. I’m meant to be an inanimate object!”
It was very fortunate that no one but themselves could hear the noise they were making by their late night conversation. Living things don’t really pay attention to what inanimate things did after all. Arthur figured they were all naturally speaking mentally to each other.
“I think you’re very colorful and pleasant to look at, Merlin,” Morgana, the Christmas tree, complimented him.
“Thank you, Morgana,” Merlin thanked her graciously. “You’re a very nice-looking tree yourself.”
Arthur sighed. “I’m sorry if I upset you, Merlin. Will you please change me back to a star? The family will ask questions if there’s suddenly an angel on the top of the tree in the morning,” Arthur said reasonably.
“Then I’ll make sure to change you back before they come down in the morning,” Merlin assured him.
He settled himself back on the tree. He pretended not to hear Arthur’s protests. Arthur wished at least that Merlin had made him a male angel…but no, he had to transform him into a female one. Now Arthur was stuck like this until morning.
“Oh, and Arthur?” Merlin asked him.
“Yes, Merlin?”
“Why were you asking if I could do more with my magic?” He questioned Arthur curiously.
“I just thought we could have some fun… you know, play tricks on Lancelot and Guinevere. Do you really think it’s fair that they’re reincarnated as living creatures and we’re not?” Arthur pressed, some annoyance coming through.
“I’m a live tree,” Morgana interjected rather smugly.
“Oh be quiet, Morgana,” Arthur shot back at her.
“I’m not using my magic to trick Lancelot and Gwen,” Merlin said firmly. “They were our friends way back when – reincarnation doesn’t take away the strength of that friendship. It would be rude to play pranks on them,” He paused, then added thoughtfully, “And I think they make very sweet kittens.”
“Yes, but…well, tis the season. I know you’ll change your mind…eventually,” Arthur finished, though he sounded uncertain.
“Can you believe Arthur, Merlin?” Morgana said, outraged. “Thinking the holiday season would be a good reason to be mean to others?”
“I don’t want to be mean. It’s only a bit of mischief. Stop being such a stiff…” Arthur drifted off, then deciding on the right word, said, “—tree.”
“You can’t say that to me! I’m the Christmas tree!” Morgana said fiercely, pride coloring her words. “I can shake you off, you know. You’re a tiny, little thing compared to me. And from the top is a long way to fall, you arse.”
“But you don’t have magic, do you?” Arthur prodded unrepentantly.
“I’m not going to get any sleep tonight,” Merlin lamented sadly to himself.
“I can shake you off right now if you like!” Morgana exclaimed, her warning directed at Arthur.
“Just relax please,” Merlin coaxed them, hoping to make the pair end their argument.
“I’m guessing that’s a no to magic then,” Arthur said lightly, whistling.
Frustrated, Morgana shook herself really hard so that all the tree adornments were jostled and were near falling off.
“Hey!” Merlin cried.
As the tree decoration that was most securely arranged on the tree, he thought it his duty to keep all the poor baubles, ornaments and candy canes from falling to the unforgiving ground.
It was really lucky that he had full use of his magical abilities. Merlin made sure that everything on the tree, including Arthur, stayed in place despite Morgana’s fit.
Unfortunately, Morgana did manage to dislodge Arthur from his position on the tree. Of course Merlin’s spell didn’t work perfectly. Or maybe even the force of Morgana’s irritation with Arthur beat Merlin’s magical spell.
Merlin quickly whipped out one end of his string of lights. He grabbed Arthur around the middle as the blond swore profusely while he fell (considering Arthur now looked like an angel, the “angel falling from on high” comparison worked rather well at that moment). Morgana had thrown Arthur off away from her, so he didn’t have a tree branch to grab on to save himself.
“Thank you, Merlin,” Arthur said gratefully.
Murmuring an “it was no trouble at all”; Merlin set him back at the top of the Christmas tree. He also strengthened the spell so that Arthur would remain where he belonged.
“I wouldn’t have done that if Merlin weren’t around. We all know he enjoys saving your precious angelic lady bottom,” Morgana declared matter-of-factly.
“Now wait just one minute!” Arthur cried, sounding especially affronted.
“Oh, shut up, you two. Try not to kill each other while I sleep,” Merlin advised them sternly.
Arthur and Morgana were both feeling quite sleepy themselves, so that was the main reason why they “reconciled.”
For that night at least.
~ * ~
The next day:
“It’s hard enough not being human, and then Arthur has to go insult me – calling me a ‘stiff tree’. That wasn’t fair,” Morgana confided in Merlin.
“We all feel the same way, Morgana. But like you said before, you are a living tree… and Christmas wouldn’t be the same without you. It takes all three of us – you, me and Arthur to make Christmas feel like Christmas.”
“I apologize for insulting you, Morgana,” Arthur said to her, albeit a little reluctantly. “I suppose I wouldn’t be as important if I didn’t have you to be placed on top of.”
Admittedly, Arthur was in a relatively pleasant mood that day because Merlin had kept his promise. Merlin had returned him to his manlier golden star look. Of course, Morgana begged to differ on the ‘manlier’ aspect of it, but Arthur ignored her. She was just jealous that she wasn’t as shiny as he was. He had been nice though and hadn’t said that out loud, but he had certainly thought it.
“I’m sorry for throwing you off of me,” Morgana replied.
Merlin sighed in relief.
~ * ~
Three weeks before Christmas:
“How many candy canes do you think Elena will take from Morgana?” Arthur wondered aloud.
“She can take however many she likes. I feel much freer with fewer ornaments on me,” Morgana remarked.
“Won’t that be the equivalent of you being naked?” Arthur questioned.
“Look who’s talking,” Morgana countered with a huff. “You have nothing on you now. You’re a star without any clothing.”
“I don’t think I quite understand the point of this conversation. You’re both thinking in the wrong context. We’re not human and the concept of clothing does not extend to us,” Merlin pointed out. “So we’re all naked, okay? Except for maybe Morgana with all those ornaments and me on her,” he finished thoughtfully.
“That’s a bit dirty, Merlin. Being on Morgana…” Arthur simply couldn’t resist mentioning.
“Every time you open your mouth, Arthur,” Merlin said resignedly.
“If all the baubles and Merlin’s lights are my clothing, then Arthur’s my hat. My pretty golden star hat.”
“I am not your hat!” Arthur exclaimed, “And I’d appreciate it if everyone would stop calling me ‘pretty.’”
“But you are, Arthur. Pretty, that is,” Merlin contributed. He was no help in Arthur’s opinion.
Arthur was positive that Merlin would be smirking at him if he were human.
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Arthur grumbled. “Hey, Merlin, can you only play Christmas songs? Or can you do other songs too? You’ve played “Frosty the Snowman” far too many times in the past few days. No one’s home…can’t we be experimental a bit?”
“Fine. What do you have in mind?” Merlin asked.
“What about ‘Carol of the Bells’ by Trans-Siberian Orchestra?” Arthur requested.
“That’s still a Christmas song,” Morgana pointed out.
“Yes, but it’s not one of those kids’ songs like that Rudolph one and Frosty and all those songs about Santa Claus,” Arthur argued.
“It doesn’t matter what sort of songs they are! They are all meant to spread holiday cheer in the end,” Merlin reasoned.
Still, Merlin changed the tune his lights were blinking to. The song was by Trans-Siberian Orchestra, but it wasn’t the one Arthur had asked for.
“What are you playing, Merlin?” Arthur asked him.
“The song’s called, ‘Wizards in Winter’. Maybe if you be nice and don’t insult what I play, then I’ll take your request,” Merlin told him.
Arthur sighed. “All right…I’m sorry, Merlin. This song isn’t bad though,” he admitted.
It was close enough to his request either way.
~ * ~
Two weeks before Christmas:
Elena hung up her handmade gingerbread man ornament on the Christmas tree. She had made the ornament at school using cardboard and red and green gumdrops for eyes and buttons.
That night, Merlin, Arthur and Morgana had an unexpected surprise in the form of the gingerbread man coming to life.
The ornament managed to hop off of the tree – Merlin hadn’t yet extended his sticking spell to the newly placed ornament – and run around the room gleefully.
“Run, run as fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!” The gingerbread man ornament yelled as it raced around the room.
Merlin, Arthur and Morgana stared at the overexcited ornament.
“What the hell is that gingerbread man on?” Arthur wondered aloud in sheer disbelief.
Merlin’s lights were blinking slowly as he was feeling quite sleepy. He said, “I think that might be Gwaine’s incarnation.”
“You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man!” The hyper ornament who could possibly be Gwaine exclaimed. He apparently could not hear what the other three were saying or was purposefully ignoring them.
“How long do you believe it’ll take for a fox to come by and eat him?” Morgana mused.
“We’re not in the woods, Morgana,” Arthur said to her. “There are no foxes here.”
“Oh, figuratively speaking, of course,” Morgana corrected smoothly.
“Since he’s made out of cardboard, no fox will be interested in him,” Merlin said.
“How unfortunate,” Morgana remarked with a sad sigh.
In the end, Merlin managed to coax the errant ornament back onto the tree. He lulled the gingerbread man into a nice sleep.
And that was the end of the gingerbread man ornament that could have been Gwaine’s incarnation.
~ * ~
One week before Christmas:
“Oh yes! I have magic!” Morgana announced happily.
She had changed colors – from her usual forest green to red, blue, yellow and finally to a lovely snowy white.
“Congratulations, Morgana. Maybe you just needed to wait for your magic to wake up,” Merlin told her.
Arthur congratulated her as well, though he felt a bit down that he was now the only one out of the three without magic. But then again, he probably wouldn’t know the first thing to do with magic. It was probably safest that he didn’t have any. He felt rather confident in persuading Merlin to do magic for him either way.
Morgana asked Merlin if he could do something that would allow her to remain white until Christmas, but without the family noticing their tree inexplicably changed colors on them.
Because Morgana seemed really pleased with her new snow-white look, Merlin couldn’t say no to her. He informed her that he could do a spell that would create an illusion. The family would see Morgana in her expected green, but she, Merlin and Arthur would see her as white. And maybe Gwen and Lancelot the kittens would be able to see Morgana’s snow-white look, but they were kittens, so… they couldn’t exactly give the secret away to the family.
“Why didn’t you tell me you could do that, Merlin? Create an illusion? You could have kept me as that blonde female angel for as long as you liked. Why’d you turn me back?”
“You can be a right prat sometimes, Arthur, but I didn’t want to be really mean to you. Your true look is the star and I didn’t want to deal with you complaining for days on end about being an angel. But Morgana wants this, so I’m giving her the option.”
“Wait…can you turn me into a naked male angel? I’d be happy with that,” Arthur told him.
“Oh no! I don’t want his naughty bits poking into me if he’ll be naked!” Morgana denounced the proposition before Merlin could so much as speak.
“Even if the family won’t see you under the illusion spell, that’s just wrong on so many levels. We’re not making this an NC-17 Christmas tree,” Merlin declared firmly.
“Hell yes, we won’t,” Morgana agreed with Merlin readily.
“Prudes!” Arthur only said, but wisely let it go. He had known it was a long shot anyway what with Morgana’s temperament.
~ * ~
Christmas Eve:
Elena came down the stairs that Christmas Eve, hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus. There weren’t many candy canes left on the tree, so Elena decided against taking anymore. Her mum had reprimanded her for taking the candy canes off the tree. She promised her mother not to do it anymore. Luckily, she had received plenty of candy canes from the party she had had at school. That also helped in curbing her candy cane swiping.
The little blonde girl was amazed when she discovered what was happening before the Christmas tree.
“Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” was playing softly in the background as beautiful sugar plum fairies like from “The Nutcracker” did their dance to the song. The fairies danced in between candy canes that bordered them on both sides. It was a magical, breathtaking sight.
Elena thought this was so much better than Santa Claus. She noticed the lights on the tree blinking to the tune. But how could the tree be playing the music when, as far as she knew, they were supposed to be turned off?
But she didn’t really question it. That didn’t matter in the end. From her seat on the couch, she enjoyed the show, grinning as other songs from “The Nutcracker” began to play.
Her kittens, Gwen and Lancelot, wandered into the room and cozied up with her as Elena watched the fairies, snowflakes and flowers dance gracefully on the floor.
She fell asleep on the couch with a smile on her face.
Merlin conjured her a warm fleece blanket and covered the girl with it. He also gave her a pillow to rest her head on.
“Merry Christmas, Merlin. That was so sweet of you to do that show for her,” Morgana commented.
“Thank you, Morgana. Merry Christmas,” Merlin wished her.
“Merry Christmas, Merlin, Morgana. Shame we can’t have some eggnog,” Arthur said in mild disappointment.
"Merry Christmas, Arthur," Morgana returned the wish.
Merlin reached up to pet Arthur on his top point.
"Merry Christmas, Arthur," Merlin murmured as he wrapped around the star.
Arthur didn’t mind when Merlin embraced him and stayed that way until early morning when Elena awoke.
It was actually sort of nice to be that close to Merlin – well as close as their current incarnations allowed.
~ * ~
Christmas morning:
That morning, Elena found her stocking full of candy canes and assorted wrapped chocolates. She exclaimed gleefully.
“Merlin, did you--?” Arthur asked.
“Er…no…” Merlin lied badly.
“You were never a good liar, Merlin. Couldn’t hide your magic from me now, could you?” Arthur said smugly.
Merlin didn’t even bother confirming his belief out loud, Arthur and Morgana both knew it was him. He couldn’t deny it.
“I could conjure you some eggnog, Arthur…and pour it all over you. You could be an eggnog star!” Merlin declared enthusiastically.
“What does that even mean?” Arthur asked, perplexed.
Morgana started laughing, and soon Merlin and Arthur joined in.
~ * ~
Some of the songs mentioned in the story:
Wizards in Winter by Trans-Siberian Orchestra:
~ * ~
Carol of the Bells by Trans-Siberian Orchestra:
~ * ~
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy:
Author: dk323
Rating: PG-13 (for innuendo and swearing)
Word Count: ~3,508
Characters/Pairings: Arthur/Merlin, Gwen/Lancelot, Morgana, OCs
Disclaimer: The show Merlin is property of the BBC.
Summary: Arthur, Merlin and Morgana have been reincarnated as Christmas decorations. It's not always so merry, but Merlin tries to make the best of it in the end.
Author’s Notes: For otterfudge. :) This is a bit silly (*cough* crack). I was inspired by the fic Christmas Cards by
nyargles. Evil!Morgana does not exist here and Merlin did not poison Morgana (doesn’t exactly bring holiday cheer, so that’s out *nods*). Everyone’s cool with each other. Of course, there’s the usual sibling rivalry between Arthur and Morgana. ;)
~ * ~
One month before Christmas:
“They’re advertised as magical lights,” said her father. Little Elena’s blue eyes lit up. She felt so lucky to have special magical lights to adorn the Christmas tree this year.
The newly purchased string of lights was arranged on the pine tree first. The lights were colorful and musical as well, much to the girl’s delight. The melody of “White Christmas” started playing.
Oddly enough, the tune began even before her father had plugged in the lights into the outlet. But he only shrugged it off as inconsequential and assumed that he might have imagined it. At least the lights worked, which was what mattered. They blinked merrily, the different colors – blue, red, green, and yellow – playing off each other with gusto.
Elena helped her mother decorate the tree with pretty baubles and ornaments. There were the candy canes too. Elena was already plotting how to take a few for herself without anyone noticing.
She really loved candy canes.
“Oh, can I help put up the star at the top of the tree?” Elena asked eagerly.
Her father nodded. “Yes, of course, sweetheart.”
And so the little girl sat on her father’s shoulders, the big shiny golden star in hand, and she placed the star on the top of the tree. She made sure to set it in well, so that the star was secure and wouldn’t fall from the Christmas tree, as her mum had reminded her to do.
“You’re the prettiest star ever to have been made,” Elena declared with a smile.
And if the lights adorning the tree seemed to glow even brighter, no one commented on it.
Once she was set back down on the ground, Elena entertained herself by watching her kittens, Gwen (she was the white one) and Lancelot (he was the black one), play with each other.
They were such sweet and fun kittens. Elena adored them.
~ * ~
That night:
After Elena had taken a candy cane from the tree – one of the small candy canes because that wouldn’t look so bad in Santa’s eyes. She didn’t want to get coal in her stocking after all. – she retreated back up the stairs, returning to her warm bed.
When the girl was gone, it was then that Arthur decided to speak up.
“Merlin, please tell me you can do more with your magic than glow and play music,” Arthur asked him from his prime place at the top of the Christmas tree.
For better or for worse, Arthur could only be content with his current incarnation being a bloody Christmas decoration. At least he was an important Christmas decoration. Still, he had to debate that girl’s, Elena’s, assertion that he was a pretty star.
Arthur was not pretty. Handsome, yes, but for the love of all that was good in the world, he was not a girl and he was most certainly not pretty!
Merlin didn’t answer him. Arthur knew that those lights were Merlin. It wasn’t because he had heard the father say the lights were advertised as, “magical” (although Arthur found it hilarious that Merlin had been advertised that way…how appropriate), no, it was something more undeniable. Arthur could feel it inside of him when Merlin had been arranged on the tree. He just had this sense that told him, “Merlin is here” and Arthur knew that Merlin felt it too. Why else had Merlin glowed brighter when Arthur had been set at the top of the tree?
“Merlin?” Arthur asked again when he took too long to answer.
Merlin’s lights, which had been previously turned off, glowed yellow.
The tree which was, oh so irritatingly from Arthur’s standpoint, a reincarnated Morgana; remarked in amusement, “Oh, you’re an angel, Arthur! It suits you.”
“What?” Arthur cried in outrage.
He looked down at himself. He was wearing a heavy red winter cloak with white fur trim. A bright red dress lay underneath the cloak. Snow-white wings came out of his back, coming through the cloak. He pulled at his hair – he had hair again, that was nice – and saw that it was blond and pulled back with a pin. Then he felt his chest, and as he feared, he was a woman. Oh, of course, he was a blonde female angel. Just great. And yet, it was sort of pleasant to look and feel human again, even if he was still technically a Christmas decoration.
“It seems that that it’s a ‘yes’ to Merlin being able to do plenty more with his magic,” Morgana mused. And if she were human, Arthur was sure Morgana would be sporting a smirk now.
Merlin finally decided to speak up. “Can’t you see I was turned off? I was sleeping, you royal prat. Must I make a ‘do not disturb’ sign before you understand? It’s the middle of the night!” He exclaimed in frustration.
“I didn’t know you needed your beauty sleep,” Arthur retorted, then he added, “—you fairy light princess,” he finished.
Merlin adjusted himself so that one end of him was facing Arthur. Two of the light bulbs at the end were now blue, which Arthur assumed were Merlin’s eyes. It was still rather jarring. “At least I can do more than sit on top of the tree. You’ll gain weight that way,” Merlin remarked.
Arthur grumbled. “I’m a bloody star!” He countered before he amended his statement, “Well, I was before you changed me into an angel. I don’t need to worry about weight gain. I’m meant to be an inanimate object!”
It was very fortunate that no one but themselves could hear the noise they were making by their late night conversation. Living things don’t really pay attention to what inanimate things did after all. Arthur figured they were all naturally speaking mentally to each other.
“I think you’re very colorful and pleasant to look at, Merlin,” Morgana, the Christmas tree, complimented him.
“Thank you, Morgana,” Merlin thanked her graciously. “You’re a very nice-looking tree yourself.”
Arthur sighed. “I’m sorry if I upset you, Merlin. Will you please change me back to a star? The family will ask questions if there’s suddenly an angel on the top of the tree in the morning,” Arthur said reasonably.
“Then I’ll make sure to change you back before they come down in the morning,” Merlin assured him.
He settled himself back on the tree. He pretended not to hear Arthur’s protests. Arthur wished at least that Merlin had made him a male angel…but no, he had to transform him into a female one. Now Arthur was stuck like this until morning.
“Oh, and Arthur?” Merlin asked him.
“Yes, Merlin?”
“Why were you asking if I could do more with my magic?” He questioned Arthur curiously.
“I just thought we could have some fun… you know, play tricks on Lancelot and Guinevere. Do you really think it’s fair that they’re reincarnated as living creatures and we’re not?” Arthur pressed, some annoyance coming through.
“I’m a live tree,” Morgana interjected rather smugly.
“Oh be quiet, Morgana,” Arthur shot back at her.
“I’m not using my magic to trick Lancelot and Gwen,” Merlin said firmly. “They were our friends way back when – reincarnation doesn’t take away the strength of that friendship. It would be rude to play pranks on them,” He paused, then added thoughtfully, “And I think they make very sweet kittens.”
“Yes, but…well, tis the season. I know you’ll change your mind…eventually,” Arthur finished, though he sounded uncertain.
“Can you believe Arthur, Merlin?” Morgana said, outraged. “Thinking the holiday season would be a good reason to be mean to others?”
“I don’t want to be mean. It’s only a bit of mischief. Stop being such a stiff…” Arthur drifted off, then deciding on the right word, said, “—tree.”
“You can’t say that to me! I’m the Christmas tree!” Morgana said fiercely, pride coloring her words. “I can shake you off, you know. You’re a tiny, little thing compared to me. And from the top is a long way to fall, you arse.”
“But you don’t have magic, do you?” Arthur prodded unrepentantly.
“I’m not going to get any sleep tonight,” Merlin lamented sadly to himself.
“I can shake you off right now if you like!” Morgana exclaimed, her warning directed at Arthur.
“Just relax please,” Merlin coaxed them, hoping to make the pair end their argument.
“I’m guessing that’s a no to magic then,” Arthur said lightly, whistling.
Frustrated, Morgana shook herself really hard so that all the tree adornments were jostled and were near falling off.
“Hey!” Merlin cried.
As the tree decoration that was most securely arranged on the tree, he thought it his duty to keep all the poor baubles, ornaments and candy canes from falling to the unforgiving ground.
It was really lucky that he had full use of his magical abilities. Merlin made sure that everything on the tree, including Arthur, stayed in place despite Morgana’s fit.
Unfortunately, Morgana did manage to dislodge Arthur from his position on the tree. Of course Merlin’s spell didn’t work perfectly. Or maybe even the force of Morgana’s irritation with Arthur beat Merlin’s magical spell.
Merlin quickly whipped out one end of his string of lights. He grabbed Arthur around the middle as the blond swore profusely while he fell (considering Arthur now looked like an angel, the “angel falling from on high” comparison worked rather well at that moment). Morgana had thrown Arthur off away from her, so he didn’t have a tree branch to grab on to save himself.
“Thank you, Merlin,” Arthur said gratefully.
Murmuring an “it was no trouble at all”; Merlin set him back at the top of the Christmas tree. He also strengthened the spell so that Arthur would remain where he belonged.
“I wouldn’t have done that if Merlin weren’t around. We all know he enjoys saving your precious angelic lady bottom,” Morgana declared matter-of-factly.
“Now wait just one minute!” Arthur cried, sounding especially affronted.
“Oh, shut up, you two. Try not to kill each other while I sleep,” Merlin advised them sternly.
Arthur and Morgana were both feeling quite sleepy themselves, so that was the main reason why they “reconciled.”
For that night at least.
~ * ~
The next day:
“It’s hard enough not being human, and then Arthur has to go insult me – calling me a ‘stiff tree’. That wasn’t fair,” Morgana confided in Merlin.
“We all feel the same way, Morgana. But like you said before, you are a living tree… and Christmas wouldn’t be the same without you. It takes all three of us – you, me and Arthur to make Christmas feel like Christmas.”
“I apologize for insulting you, Morgana,” Arthur said to her, albeit a little reluctantly. “I suppose I wouldn’t be as important if I didn’t have you to be placed on top of.”
Admittedly, Arthur was in a relatively pleasant mood that day because Merlin had kept his promise. Merlin had returned him to his manlier golden star look. Of course, Morgana begged to differ on the ‘manlier’ aspect of it, but Arthur ignored her. She was just jealous that she wasn’t as shiny as he was. He had been nice though and hadn’t said that out loud, but he had certainly thought it.
“I’m sorry for throwing you off of me,” Morgana replied.
Merlin sighed in relief.
~ * ~
Three weeks before Christmas:
“How many candy canes do you think Elena will take from Morgana?” Arthur wondered aloud.
“She can take however many she likes. I feel much freer with fewer ornaments on me,” Morgana remarked.
“Won’t that be the equivalent of you being naked?” Arthur questioned.
“Look who’s talking,” Morgana countered with a huff. “You have nothing on you now. You’re a star without any clothing.”
“I don’t think I quite understand the point of this conversation. You’re both thinking in the wrong context. We’re not human and the concept of clothing does not extend to us,” Merlin pointed out. “So we’re all naked, okay? Except for maybe Morgana with all those ornaments and me on her,” he finished thoughtfully.
“That’s a bit dirty, Merlin. Being on Morgana…” Arthur simply couldn’t resist mentioning.
“Every time you open your mouth, Arthur,” Merlin said resignedly.
“If all the baubles and Merlin’s lights are my clothing, then Arthur’s my hat. My pretty golden star hat.”
“I am not your hat!” Arthur exclaimed, “And I’d appreciate it if everyone would stop calling me ‘pretty.’”
“But you are, Arthur. Pretty, that is,” Merlin contributed. He was no help in Arthur’s opinion.
Arthur was positive that Merlin would be smirking at him if he were human.
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Arthur grumbled. “Hey, Merlin, can you only play Christmas songs? Or can you do other songs too? You’ve played “Frosty the Snowman” far too many times in the past few days. No one’s home…can’t we be experimental a bit?”
“Fine. What do you have in mind?” Merlin asked.
“What about ‘Carol of the Bells’ by Trans-Siberian Orchestra?” Arthur requested.
“That’s still a Christmas song,” Morgana pointed out.
“Yes, but it’s not one of those kids’ songs like that Rudolph one and Frosty and all those songs about Santa Claus,” Arthur argued.
“It doesn’t matter what sort of songs they are! They are all meant to spread holiday cheer in the end,” Merlin reasoned.
Still, Merlin changed the tune his lights were blinking to. The song was by Trans-Siberian Orchestra, but it wasn’t the one Arthur had asked for.
“What are you playing, Merlin?” Arthur asked him.
“The song’s called, ‘Wizards in Winter’. Maybe if you be nice and don’t insult what I play, then I’ll take your request,” Merlin told him.
Arthur sighed. “All right…I’m sorry, Merlin. This song isn’t bad though,” he admitted.
It was close enough to his request either way.
~ * ~
Two weeks before Christmas:
Elena hung up her handmade gingerbread man ornament on the Christmas tree. She had made the ornament at school using cardboard and red and green gumdrops for eyes and buttons.
That night, Merlin, Arthur and Morgana had an unexpected surprise in the form of the gingerbread man coming to life.
The ornament managed to hop off of the tree – Merlin hadn’t yet extended his sticking spell to the newly placed ornament – and run around the room gleefully.
“Run, run as fast as you can! You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!” The gingerbread man ornament yelled as it raced around the room.
Merlin, Arthur and Morgana stared at the overexcited ornament.
“What the hell is that gingerbread man on?” Arthur wondered aloud in sheer disbelief.
Merlin’s lights were blinking slowly as he was feeling quite sleepy. He said, “I think that might be Gwaine’s incarnation.”
“You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man!” The hyper ornament who could possibly be Gwaine exclaimed. He apparently could not hear what the other three were saying or was purposefully ignoring them.
“How long do you believe it’ll take for a fox to come by and eat him?” Morgana mused.
“We’re not in the woods, Morgana,” Arthur said to her. “There are no foxes here.”
“Oh, figuratively speaking, of course,” Morgana corrected smoothly.
“Since he’s made out of cardboard, no fox will be interested in him,” Merlin said.
“How unfortunate,” Morgana remarked with a sad sigh.
In the end, Merlin managed to coax the errant ornament back onto the tree. He lulled the gingerbread man into a nice sleep.
And that was the end of the gingerbread man ornament that could have been Gwaine’s incarnation.
~ * ~
One week before Christmas:
“Oh yes! I have magic!” Morgana announced happily.
She had changed colors – from her usual forest green to red, blue, yellow and finally to a lovely snowy white.
“Congratulations, Morgana. Maybe you just needed to wait for your magic to wake up,” Merlin told her.
Arthur congratulated her as well, though he felt a bit down that he was now the only one out of the three without magic. But then again, he probably wouldn’t know the first thing to do with magic. It was probably safest that he didn’t have any. He felt rather confident in persuading Merlin to do magic for him either way.
Morgana asked Merlin if he could do something that would allow her to remain white until Christmas, but without the family noticing their tree inexplicably changed colors on them.
Because Morgana seemed really pleased with her new snow-white look, Merlin couldn’t say no to her. He informed her that he could do a spell that would create an illusion. The family would see Morgana in her expected green, but she, Merlin and Arthur would see her as white. And maybe Gwen and Lancelot the kittens would be able to see Morgana’s snow-white look, but they were kittens, so… they couldn’t exactly give the secret away to the family.
“Why didn’t you tell me you could do that, Merlin? Create an illusion? You could have kept me as that blonde female angel for as long as you liked. Why’d you turn me back?”
“You can be a right prat sometimes, Arthur, but I didn’t want to be really mean to you. Your true look is the star and I didn’t want to deal with you complaining for days on end about being an angel. But Morgana wants this, so I’m giving her the option.”
“Wait…can you turn me into a naked male angel? I’d be happy with that,” Arthur told him.
“Oh no! I don’t want his naughty bits poking into me if he’ll be naked!” Morgana denounced the proposition before Merlin could so much as speak.
“Even if the family won’t see you under the illusion spell, that’s just wrong on so many levels. We’re not making this an NC-17 Christmas tree,” Merlin declared firmly.
“Hell yes, we won’t,” Morgana agreed with Merlin readily.
“Prudes!” Arthur only said, but wisely let it go. He had known it was a long shot anyway what with Morgana’s temperament.
~ * ~
Christmas Eve:
Elena came down the stairs that Christmas Eve, hoping to catch a glimpse of Santa Claus. There weren’t many candy canes left on the tree, so Elena decided against taking anymore. Her mum had reprimanded her for taking the candy canes off the tree. She promised her mother not to do it anymore. Luckily, she had received plenty of candy canes from the party she had had at school. That also helped in curbing her candy cane swiping.
The little blonde girl was amazed when she discovered what was happening before the Christmas tree.
“Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” was playing softly in the background as beautiful sugar plum fairies like from “The Nutcracker” did their dance to the song. The fairies danced in between candy canes that bordered them on both sides. It was a magical, breathtaking sight.
Elena thought this was so much better than Santa Claus. She noticed the lights on the tree blinking to the tune. But how could the tree be playing the music when, as far as she knew, they were supposed to be turned off?
But she didn’t really question it. That didn’t matter in the end. From her seat on the couch, she enjoyed the show, grinning as other songs from “The Nutcracker” began to play.
Her kittens, Gwen and Lancelot, wandered into the room and cozied up with her as Elena watched the fairies, snowflakes and flowers dance gracefully on the floor.
She fell asleep on the couch with a smile on her face.
Merlin conjured her a warm fleece blanket and covered the girl with it. He also gave her a pillow to rest her head on.
“Merry Christmas, Merlin. That was so sweet of you to do that show for her,” Morgana commented.
“Thank you, Morgana. Merry Christmas,” Merlin wished her.
“Merry Christmas, Merlin, Morgana. Shame we can’t have some eggnog,” Arthur said in mild disappointment.
"Merry Christmas, Arthur," Morgana returned the wish.
Merlin reached up to pet Arthur on his top point.
"Merry Christmas, Arthur," Merlin murmured as he wrapped around the star.
Arthur didn’t mind when Merlin embraced him and stayed that way until early morning when Elena awoke.
It was actually sort of nice to be that close to Merlin – well as close as their current incarnations allowed.
~ * ~
Christmas morning:
That morning, Elena found her stocking full of candy canes and assorted wrapped chocolates. She exclaimed gleefully.
“Merlin, did you--?” Arthur asked.
“Er…no…” Merlin lied badly.
“You were never a good liar, Merlin. Couldn’t hide your magic from me now, could you?” Arthur said smugly.
Merlin didn’t even bother confirming his belief out loud, Arthur and Morgana both knew it was him. He couldn’t deny it.
“I could conjure you some eggnog, Arthur…and pour it all over you. You could be an eggnog star!” Merlin declared enthusiastically.
“What does that even mean?” Arthur asked, perplexed.
Morgana started laughing, and soon Merlin and Arthur joined in.
~ * ~
Some of the songs mentioned in the story:
Wizards in Winter by Trans-Siberian Orchestra:
~ * ~
Carol of the Bells by Trans-Siberian Orchestra:
~ * ~
Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy: