Tears in an ocean:
Merlin sat at the edge of the narrow sea watching as the waves crashed against the beach and wondered what he really meant to the world. Arthur. Gwen. Giaus. Hell, even the syupid prophecy which ruled over his life in every waking minute. There would always be somebody there to replace him after all. He had ten years of proof of it.
If he ever was off fighting magic for Arthur, and he found himself in mortal peril, Arthur always had someone to replace him with. As Uther had always drilled into him, peasants and servents are nothing but stock, and like stock, they are replacable. Arthur would always have a servant, it needn't be Merlin.
Much the same could be said of Giaus. Whilst he had told Merlin he was irreplacable, it wasn't true. If he ever needed an apprentice, he could find one anywhere, half of Camelot would clamour at the oppurtunity. As for his position as Ward, Giaus could do without the stress of a young man and his problems, not to mention Merlin's incessent destiny. He was better without Merlin.
Gwen had Arthur. She no longer needed his helping hand, guiding her to her rightful place at the side of the King. She was his right hand now. Merlin had essentially replaced himself. And now that their relationship was out in the open, there was no need for Merlin's strange, wise, words, as she now had Arthur's.
Arthur was the truly influencal part of the prophecy, and Merlin had already gifted him with his own wisedom. The King was now less narrow-minded towards magic, and Merlin believed that he would do what was right when the time came for him to unite Albion.
It was as the waves reached his toes as he sat on the shelf in the beach that he knew that his fleeting life was no longer necessary. He was no longer needed by any of them any more. He had fulfilled his place in the world and it was time to move on.
He stood and walked into the icy water, watching his feet as the met the inky darkness and sent ripples forth, breaking apart the moon and disturbing the ebb and flow of the ocean's current. Slowly and deliberatley Merlin stepped forwars, the water reaching his waist, and then his chest.
Opening his arms, he let tendrils of magic spiral across it surface of the water. Tiny fairy lights amongst the dark sky, skittering across the waves, dancing irratically. Merlin muttered a spell, altering his elemental magic, and shaping it into the sand of dreams. Memories now played in front of him, moments he had saved lives,and moments when he had taken them.
The light lit the young warlock's face, and he watched as faces of his mother, father, Giaus and Arthur played a smile across his face. Further images of Will, Lancelot and Freya filled his eyes and the smile faded slightly as his vision blurred.
Merin continued to walk forward until the water reached his chin. Looking down once again at his feet, Merlin whispered one last spell allowing the dormant reeds to curl around his ankles.
One more step.
With his final breath Merlin let a single tear fall into the sea before he was completely submerged.
As he closed his eyes under the water, allowing himself to sway with the motion of the current. It was comforting, like a mother's rocking.
He thought to himself as he opened his mouth, of his life. Waiting to join the countless others in the peace of death's lullaby, he held one last notion.
After all, we are all tears in an Ocean.