DISCLAIMER:

I know there are many time travel fics (how the modern girl goes back, changes history a bit, etc.)….That does not mean that I won't play with this genre a little on my own. I'll just try to put my own, memorable spin on the tale. I don't own anybody but my own characters! Everybody and everything related to Merlin remains owned by the show's creator(s). Simple as that! Disclaimer stated.

I also want to thank Lady Proemess for beta'ing my work! She has such an honest editing style. I love it. THANK YOU!

Now…Shall we continue?

Chapter One

"Okay, seriously, guys! Back away from the cake," Kelly intoned, holding the Tangled-themed birthday cake as best she could away from the small swarm of kindergarten kids on her father's big backyard deck. When she finally reached the busy glass-topped table, she set it down and dug in her back pocket for the lighter she'd taken from the kitchen cabinet.

It was a scorcher that day. The waterfront was alive with watercraft dotting the seascape, surfers moving up and down the coastline...It was a beautiful sight. Santa Monica was full of life and showed no sign of letting up anytime soon. The small, auburn-haired woman paused to take in the sights to the east and west of the sprawling Oceanside property, turning her attention back to the scene in her own backyard.

Seated in front of the Disney-themed cake with the great big number five set right in the marzipan tower was the happiest, most energetic little child she'd ever seen…Okay, slight exaggeration, but Alexandra was all smiles that hot afternoon. Set in amongst her peers from Grierson Elementary School, she looked like she'd just won the lottery.

"Wow! Mommy, look!" One chubby little finger gently poked at the pink tower and turned to whisper to her best friend to-date. They carried on for a bit in excited whispers.

Kelly lit the sparklers on top of the cake. "Okay, guys, on three!" She counted off with fingers high in the air, kicking up a round of 'Happy Birthday'. Plenty of kids and a few stray parents made for a nice, loud rendition, followed by plenty of chaos both before and after the cake and presents.

It was times like this that the twenty-seven-year-old mother often stood back and watched with an odd sense of detachment. Even while she orchestrated birthday parties, participated in soccer carpooling, chauffeured her only child to and from sleepovers and play dates, she was acutely aware of just how odd this entire scenario really was. She had to remind herself often how normal was good, how Alexandra needed this as much as she did. They needed a normal, twenty-first century life! She would chastise herself. Look at this life, her inside voice would say, and she could picture a finger wagging in reprimand. Look at this house, your family, your job—God, you LOVE your job! You're a freaking doctor! You're living the dream, woman! Got a nice car, got an amazing little girl…Don't you be looking for more than this!

Did Alexandra ask about her father? Yep, she sure did. Kelly would answer her without actually lying…but not actually divulging the entire truth of the matter. There were some details that the little girl didn't need to know. She didn't need to know how each time the subject was brought up, her mother grieved a loss that none but a few actually knew about.

Alexandra would have been born about sixteen hundred years ago, in a place still thought of as merely a myth, but her mother had returned to the relative safety and security of her own time period, in the twenty-first century. Overall, she felt she'd made the right choices for her daughter. Alexandra lacked nothing she needed, but she didn't get everything she wanted.

David Anderson leaned in toward his daughter, nudged her shoulder with his own, and whispered, "You're doing it again. You're thinking too hard." He knew his child understood his meaning exactly. He could see a cloud pass over her pretty features, and he met sad hazel eyes and a forced smile as she watched the activity on the large cedar deck. He just wanted to pull her back to the present, to shift her focus back to what was important. Hell, he just wanted to protect his family.

Kelly nodded, murmuring, "I know, I know…" She felt her father's eyes on her still and she added quietly, "I just miss them." Once again, her 'inside voice' began ticking off the finer points of her life, kicking her in the ass for downplaying all she had accomplished in this lifetime…and the inside voice was right. It really was. Suck it up, princess, that voice snapped. Go! Celebrate the turning of another fabulous year! Show that baby girl what it is to be a growing person in this day and age. Keep those opportunities coming!

David nodded, watching his daughter with an understanding gaze upon his face. "You miss him."

Kelly glanced at her father, managing a curt nod. "Yeah." She leapt to her feet to grab the camera from the barbeque stand, well aware that she needed the distraction. "Hold on, guys, I need to get some photos! Whoa, Alex, hold up!"

"Mom, I want to open that one," the child stated, a pleading look on her face. She squealed when her mother handed her the big gift bag. "Who's it from?" She searched for the card and handed it to her mother. She began to dig out the wads of coloured tissue paper, eventually pulling out a pack of Leapfrog cartridges and a case for the popular kids' activity system. "Oh, cool!"

Kelly nodded toward Tamara Roberts, one of Alexandra's soccer team-mates. "Don't forget to thank your friends, Alex. They didn't have to bring you presents," she admonished quietly, out of earshot of the others. Alex blurted a hurried, "Thanks, Tamara!" and happily dug into the other presents.

By the time Alexandra was done getting through the pile of presents, the place looked like a bomb had gone off, and the kids had moved off to play inside the house. It wasn't long before the adults had gathered in the bright, sunlit kitchen, around both the island and the kitchen table, drinks in hand among the various trays of food scattered for snacking.

Sandy Watkins set her cup of coffee down on the sparkling quartz surface of the island, explaining the merits of some new skin care product she'd been introduced to by some friend-of-a-friend, and she paused to look at Kelly under heavily made-up eyes. Her daughter Daniella played soccer with Alexandra. Sandy was a bit of a social butterfly, needing to be within the inner circles. "I absolutely love these countertops," she declared. Sandy was known for being slightly 'keep-up-with-the-Jones'. One had only to look at her for a moment to know that she was practically speed-dialling a contractor...She wasn't a bad person-quite the contrary! Just a little too obsessed with the latest and greatest of everything, in Kelly's opinion. Her husband was a Dermatologist up in Hollywood, and he catered to the stars. Kelly supposed that had lent something to Sandy's obsession with beauty and social status.

Kelly jerked her thumb toward her father. "My dad's pride and joy. He had way too much fun picking it all out." She grinned ear-to-ear, adding, "I loved the demolition phase. Just using that sledgehammer to take down a wall or two…Totally therapeutic."

Jerry Holton laughed, nodding. He had gone through basic training with Colonel Anderson at the beginning of his military career. While considerably lankier than his friend, he was still somewhat intimidating to those who didn't know him. He lived a few doors down, and he was the crescent's unofficial 'Neighbourhood Watch' volunteer, keeping his eyes and ears open to everything that went on in this small subdivision. He raised his glass in agreement, adding, "Demolition makes it all worthwhile…"

"Amen to that." Kelly nodded, clinking Jerry's glass in passing. She excused herself promptly to check up on the fifteen children running rampant in the seaside home. "Hey, guys, what're we up to?" she called up the stairs. "Nobody goes into the office, right?"

"Momma, you gotta see this!" Alexandra turned away from her dresser mirror to the open bedroom door. "Mom!"

In that moment, the unmistakeable sound of glass smashing into a billion pretty little bits met Kelly's ears. She sprinted up the steps to see the shattered mess all over the hardwood floor at the end of the corridor. Nobody had run into the cabinet from what she'd been able to discern…So, what on earth..? Probably just the kids jumping around a little bit too much, but it was certainly odd…One glance around the corridor, and she could see that pictures on the wall next to her daughter's room had been slightly displaced. Too minor to have been an earthquake, she thought, her brows knitting together in confusion

Redirecting the kids away from the disaster zone, she continued on to see to her daughter.

She froze when she entered Alexandra's room. Her eyes widened as fear gripped her heart. Her gaze was drawn to the big, rectangular mirror that adorned her child's exterior wall. Gone was Alexandra's reflection, and instead she was peering at a very familiar room within Camelot's castle. The images were still very unclear, like an unfocussed camera lens, but it was Merlin's living quarters.

"Mommy, why is my mirror acting all goofy?" Alexandra slipped her hand into her mother's own small hand, gesturing toward her mirror. "Mommy?"

Kelly shook herself and gently propelled Alex toward the doorway. "Honey, it's nothing," she lied calmly. "Hey, go see if Grandpa needs help cleaning up outside, please?"

"But-"

-"Now, Alex!" Her voice was sharper than she'd intended, but she felt that her girl needed to leave without delay. God help her, she needed to keep that child away from that mirror….

When she stood alone, Kelly tentatively touched the mirror's surface, jumping slightly when the scene changed. "Holy crap!" she breathed, stunned. When a familiar face slid into view, she contained a scream, equally shocked when the image on the other side appeared to be saying her name in the same state of shock. She stood back with crossed arms and glanced over her shoulder to be sure she was still alone.

Her step toward the mirror was thwarted when her father bolted into the bedroom and yanked her back with a strangled cry. Standing in her father's massive embrace, she couldn't stop staring at the mirror. "Dad-"

-"Stay the hell away before you go an' get trapped in that world all over again," her father barked in his militaristic tone of voice. "Go on, get out. Nothin' to see, here…" David ushered his daughter out, casting slightly horrified, suspicious glances at a pair of stormy blue eyes behind the glass before he shut the door behind him.

David paused, forcing a deep breath as he braced his daughter's shoulders. "Sweetheart, we need to, uh, run a household sweep for that same….anomaly. We don't want Alex going through and-" he shuddered at the thought, pursing his lips. "And I don't want you anywhere near that kind o' thing again. We don't know what that was all about…."

Kelly nodded, meeting her father's gaze. "I…um, I'll go check the other rooms," she offered softly, gesturing nowhere in particular. "Maybe have the kids go play downstairs, please?" Her father nodded and moved on to do as asked, rounding up the children. He was very cool about it, downplaying the entire situation as though nothing were amiss. She had to hand it to him; that man excelled at crowd control. In moments the second floor had been vacated, and the military officer's booming voice could be heard suggesting a round of games on the Wii system in the living room.

Kelly stood rooted in the hallway for a long moment, resisting the urge to pace the floor. Swiping a hand across her face, swiping at unchecked tears, she glanced about before moving on to check on the other bedrooms, the bathrooms-

-She froze when she heard a loud thump and a guttural groan of pain sound in her daughter's room behind the bedroom door. "Oh, hell," she hissed sharply, swinging open the door with more confidence than she actually had in her entire being.

A man lay sprawled across Alexandra's floor, and she immediately recognized the first one to befriend her when she had gotten lost in that time period. He was clutching his skull like his head might roll off of his shoulders, she noted with clinical detachment. "Careful," she breathed. "Time travel's a bitch."

He started shaking, and Kelly realized that the gangly, odd manservant was in the middle of a breathless fit of laughter. Suppressing her own smile, she helped him to standing and muttered, "You've lost your marbles…."

He was still scrawny, and he hadn't aged a bit. When he turned his head to look at her, he looked completely stunned with a deer-in-the-headlights kind of look. For a long moment his mouth moved, but no sound emerged. Finally he stuttered her name, launching himself straight at her small form for a hug. Drawing a breath was difficult in such a tight embrace.

Mildly taken aback, Kelly returned the hug and carefully extricated herself, asking, "Are you okay now, Merlin? Not going to pass out on my floor, are you?" She grasped his face in her hands and looked him over. No contusions, no bruising… She was half-tempted to grab a penlight to check pupil dilation but figured that would only freak out the warlock. She settled for a visual observation, nodding when he seemed to be in one piece. She dropped her hands to his shoulders and then withdrew completely when he was standing well on his own.

She gestured to the now ordinary mirror, tilting her head in question. "Okay, I need answers..." She turned to glare at the warlock, confusion written all over her face. "What are you doing here? I'm downstairs, trying to cap the chaos, and the next thing I know, Alex is yelling at me to come and see-"

-"Alex?" The young warlock approached Kelly with his signature wide gaze. "I saw someone—a girl. A-a child. Is she 'Alex'?" He shook his head, babbling slightly. "You never spoke of her. And she cannot be more than—four, maybe five…" His blue eyes widened further in shock as several dots connected all at once. "Oh, Gods…" When the realization hit, he swiped his hand across his face before he met that familiar hazel stare, and he saw fear.

Kelly steeled herself, crossing her arms. "She's five. Today, actually," she managed quietly, nodding her confirmation. "You…sort of crashed her birthday party." She nodded toward the closed bedroom door. She sat down heavily on Alexandra's bed, dropping her head to her hands. "Oh, my God, this is such a nightmare…"

Merlin was speechless, and he moved to sit beside the woman who had lived within Camelot's walls for well over a year, and then one day she had disappeared…Gods, she had disappeared not long after His Royal Pratness had griped to the loyal manservant that she had been acting strangely for a couple of weeks. Eventually the truth came out about what had happened between the Regent and the Time Traveler. By then it was too late to confront her, because she had already left.

He hesitated but forced himself to speak. "You left because…you knew?" Disbelief coloured his words.

Kelly shrugged, sitting upright. "I was pretty sure, but I didn't leave because I knew. I-"Her hands flew up helplessly. "I didn't know where I was going. I just had to get out. And I found the standing stones, and they were buzzing—God, It sounded like a freaking hornet's nest inside my skull…" Her hand flew up to rub her temples in memory of that awful occurrence. She was about to explain further when there was a tentative knock on the door. She pursed her lips in agitation, responding after a moment of silence. "Yeah!"

"The rest o' the house is clear," her father stated gruffly. "I-"he turned from the hallway, gently pushing the door open to confer with his daughter, and stilled instantly. "You—I saw you," he muttered, clearly disturbed by this realization. Pointing to the scrawny boy, he turned flashing brown eyes to his daughter. "What's he doing here? He was in the mirror!" He assumed a commanding stance, his entire six-foot-five frame drawn up with tension, hands clenched at his sides.

Kelly nodded, meeting her father's confused gaze. "Yeah, he was," she agreed, nodding. Finally she gestured between the two of them. "Dad, Merlin. Merlin, this is Colonel David Anderson—my father." She turned her gaze back to her father. "Merlin's a warlock, Dad. The Merlin." She widened her eyes significantly, and her father got the hint almost instantly. "He…used the mirror somehow to transport himself here…though damned if I know why." She stood, moving toward the door. "Um, Merlin, we'll talk later. There's just too much going on with this party that I can't even think straight." She sighed and met her father's gaze. "He can't just stay up here all day." She was visibly pleading with her father to step off his 'big bad bear' act long enough to offer some assistance.

David nodded thoughtfully. He stepped aside to allow his daughter to leave the room, instantly moving to close off the warlock's exit. The moment Kelly left the room she could be heard ordering kids away from the broken vase. Clearly they'd taken the Colonel's foray upstairs as an invitation to do the same...

David closed the door slightly and he pulled the boy to his feet and clapped a hand on the boy's thin shoulder. "You're really this 'Merlin' fella?" he asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Wide, scared blue eyes met his hard gaze, but the boy nodded. "So, it's all true, then? Camelot's real?" Again, the boy nodded, swallowing audibly. David dropped his hand and crossed his arms in a defiant gesture. "Son, you do anything—and I mean anything—to jeopardize this family, an' I will end your existence. Do I make myself clear?" His voice was a low, dangerous growl.

Merlin's eyes darted beyond the man of the house for only a moment, as though in search of an escape route. He met the Colonel's brown gaze and nodded shakily. "Y-yes. Perfectly clear," he assured the man. Both of his hands shot up in defence as he spoke. "I—David, I-"

The Marine pointed sharply, then. "Colonel Anderson to you, or even Mr. Anderson," he corrected the boy. He was big on respectful titles, everyone knew that. Only his friends dared to use his given name.

Merlin nodded, slightly humbled. "Sorry. Yes. Mr. Anderson…I truly mean no harm, sir. I was…" he gestured weakly to the mirror and then met that intense gaze again. He sighed in obvious defeat, sorrow tinting his words. "I was scrying, sir." The man narrowed his eyes further, nodding in invitation for further explanation. "Er...looking for Kelly. I wanted to see how she was faring. Gaius and I had just been talking about her before the Feast, and I…well, I wanted to see that she was well. It had been so long..."

David nodded as he took in this information. "Gaius...Who's that?"

"My guardian. Gaius is...was also Kelly's friend." Merlin swallowed nervously, and his eyes began to travel this very…pink bedroom. He met the Colonel's wary gaze again and shrugged. "I did not intend to cause any disruption, Mr. Anderson. I apologise if my sudden appearance—"

-"Your 'sudden appearance' should not be, son," David hissed. "If you'd just have kept your nose out of my baby girl's business, none of this would have happened!" He wanted very badly to get right in this boy's face, but he remembered Kelly placing emphasis on Merlin's 'warlock' status. That kept him at bay, slightly, though the threat of a supernatural entity would not keep the Marine from protecting his family.

Merlin was quiet for a moment and he nodded. "You're right," he whispered. "It was foolish and-and selfish of me. And now I'm here…" he gestured weakly to his surroundings and he mustered the courage to meet David Anderson's intense gaze again. "You have my word, sir. I will do nothing to further compromise your home. As soon as I can return home again, I will be gone."

"And when will that be exactly?"

Merlin managed a sheepish smile. "Well, I cannot actually...put a date to it, sir." Seeing David tense up, Merlin hastily added, "But I will make every effort to return home, I swear it on my Mother's life." His hands rose in a placating gesture.

David let out a breath through his nose. He pursed his lips in agitation and finally nodded. "Fine," he growled. He turned to leave, and paused. "You do anything to break your promise, son, and I'll make sure you regret it. You have my word." He opened the door wide and gestured in a gentlemanly manner toward the corridor. He wore a deceptively polite smile, flashing bright white teeth. "After you," he said softly.

"Where are we going?" More than a little frightened, Merlin stepped out into the hallway of this magnificent home. He let his eyes travel the walls, the wood floor, and the large half-moon shaped window above the oak door at the bottom of the staircase. So much to look at, and such strange objects…

"You're a guest in my house," David answered gruffly, moving to walk ahead of the boy. "Custom dictates that we don't starve our guests. So, come help us finish up all that food." He smirked, adding, "You might even score a piece of birthday cake."

David had to remind himself that Kelly trusted this boy, that he was a good friend, and he had in fact been her saviour in that other place. He was not the enemy, no matter how badly David wanted to portray this boy as such…

The kitchen had been abandoned, and Kelly flitted about trying to restore some order. She leaned on the countertop and watched her father and Merlin enter the room. She saw Merlin's frightened expression and nodded in greeting. "Everything okay?" she asked, looking at both men in question.

"Merlin's on notice," David growled, absently hugging his daughter in passing. "It's all good." He glanced out at the activity on the beach. Someone had taken initiative and set up the volleyball net. The ball was flying off in all directions. Glancing at his watch, David sighed. "Almost six. Pickups started yet?"

Kelly shrugged, shutting the oven door when she'd placed a pizza on the chrome rack. She absently set the timer and grabbed a plate from the cupboard. Loading it with an assortment of food, she set it on the island, close to Merlin. "Have a seat, Merlin. Eat," she ordered gently. She turned paused to rest on the island. "Six left." Absently re-clipping her hair, she took her sunglasses off the countertop and moved toward the patio doors. "Pizza's ready in twenty, Dad. Just call me in. I'll go make sure nobody's killing anybody out there," she said with a grin.

"Please! You just want to get in a few shots, yourself," David teased, flashing a genuine smile.

Kelly grinned in wordless agreement over her shoulder, and she pulled the door shut softly behind her. She knew it wasn't particularly nice to leave Merlin in the house with her father, but she had to get out for a little while, just to absorb this current situation...

David chuckled, shaking his head as he fixed a small plate for himself. "That's my girl." He glanced up to see Merlin looking at the closed door. "You might want a change of clothes before you go out there," he stated sensibly, raising an eyebrow in stern suggestion. The boy wore what probably passed as everyday attire back in his time. He simply looked weird by today's standards. "Let me see what I can come up with," he offered, making an effort to be nice. He had made his position clear to the boy. He could afford to be civil, even slightly hospitable…

A/N:

Constructive criticism is always welcome, flames are not.

So, this is my starting point. I always get a snippet that sticks itself to my brain, and this one wouldn't. Let. Go! So, now that it's out there...I know where it's headed, but I won't tell you that, for that would ruin the story. :) I will try to write a chapter once a week, but I apologise in advance if life gets in the way and slows me down. So, please! Review, enjoy, and before I forget to say so...HAPPY EASTER, guys! Everyone get your fill of good food, good company, and great times.

Oh, and btw...I know, Kelly's got a mouth on her...I will try to 'PG' her words when she's around her daughter, I promise... ;)