Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin (what is this life) or anything pertaining to it except my own writing.

A/N: All I can say is, this show is better than words. I have not yet finished the series, but we all know how media these days can rarely keep things under wraps for long. Ahem spoilers. But read on, and enjoy.

There was always some war or another. He had grown so used to them, but it never prepared him for when one erupted somewhere on Earth or when whole populations were slaughtered because each side believed they were the Justice. Even in his own time, per say, he hadn't been numb to war. No one had. But then the Last War had taken the King from his people, not from their hearts, not from their minds, but taken from Life. And throughout the years, the years that the greatest sorcerer to ever walk the planet had lost count of, he waited for his master to once again rule. To come back and reclaim his place as King.

And for every war, every crisis the human race faced, he thought. He thought, Maybe, maybe this is it. Maybe this is the one that will bring him back. But it never was.

It was not the falling of the North and South into their battle for… for who could even discern what. Not the Great War, soon to become the first of two battles of the world. Somehow, the next was worse than the last, everything in tatters. He was sure that that had to be it. Life as all knew it was in ruins. But no. The dark sinking of the economy, for which many gave up their lives in sorrow, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the terrorist attack on September 9, 2001–no matter how bad things became, they got better. Without the King. He was still gone. And yet, his faithful servant could no less forget about him than he could stop in his hoping for his return. It was a vicious cycle, this escalation of hope that was only then, as it always was, crushed back down by the cruel fist of reality.

Having eternal life was worthless without those he needed most in his life.

Where was King Arthur?

When would he return to life anew?

It was the question Merlin asked himself every day of his immortal life, but never wished to answer:

Would Arthur ever return at all, and with his arrival bring upon the new day of Light amongst the darkness, Merlin's liberation from solitary hell?

He feared he would never truly know any of this.

And so, because he was and always would be faithful to his King, and friend, Merlin waits. He waits until the day he will once again see Arthur Pendragon, because he is the Once and Future King, and shall be born again.