Goodness is a noble pursuit, but often a lonely one. The gift of magic presented Merlin the opportunity to help the needy, to heal the sick, to bring smiles to the faces of the downtrodden, and to instill hope in the hearts of all who sought him out; five hundred years of healing and helping provided Merlin with a life saturated with meaning.
But five hundred years had gone by, and he had yet to maintain a relationship with another living soul. People came to him in their times of need. He healed them. They returned to their lives, grateful, but never interested in maintaining a friendship with Merlin. They thought of him as a powerful wizard and nothing more. On his darkest days, he admittedly felt a bit used. He was appreciated for his powers, but never for his company.
Yes, goodness is quite the lonely pursuit, he thought bitterly one day, as he tended to a young boy's wounded leg.
Merlin waved his hand and watched as the boy's deep cuts were covered with healthy skin. "Papa!" the boy exclaimed in delight, "I'm all better! It doesn't hurt anymore!" The boy leapt to his feet and began to jump up and down. "I'm all better, Papa! I'm all better!"
The boy's father breathed a sigh of relief. Upon hearing of Merlin's abilities, he had carried his son for two days on foot to find the wizard and request his assistance.
"Sesdyn, my son! I'm thrilled, you're all right." Beaming with joy, the man lifted his newly healed son into the air and spun him around. "Thank you so much, sir." The father dropped to his knees. "I don't know how a poor man like me can ever repay you for saving my son's life."
"No payment necessary," Merlin replied with a warm smile. "Goodness is its own reward." This was true. Of course it was true. So why did Merlin feel so empty lately? Why didn't goodness fill him up as it once did?
The father clasped Merlin's hands in his own. "Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"You're welcome," Merlin said, clapping the man on the back. "But I sense you must be going now. You have a long journey back, and your wife, Tatia, will soon begin to worry about you and the boy."
"But how did you know my wife's name? I never told it to you?"
"I know very many things, my dear man. Now, you and your son better be on your merry way."
With one last grateful nod, man and boy, father and son, set off down the dirt road together, arm in arm. Soon they will be reunited with Tatia. A happy family healthy and together again.
The warmth that filled Merlin's heart at the thought was punctuated by pangs of envy. Where was his kindhearted wife? His boisterous child? Was it simply his fate to be eternally alone? Always keeping families together, but never meriting one of his own?
"P-please can you help me?" The little boy appeared to be on the verge of tears. His face was caked in dirt, and his fearful eyes glistened with tears. His clothes were tattered and singed, and his feet were bare and blackened from walking.
"Of course, my dear boy. What's your name?" Merlin asked.
"M-my n-name is R-R-Rune. I'm s-seven-years old."
Merlin smiled kindly, lowering himself to the boy's eye level. "And what can I help you with today, Rune?" Merlin asked kindly.
The boy burst into tears. Merlin took him into his arms, allowing the child to cry for a few minutes.
"It's m-my v-v-village. And my p-p-p-parents. I went to get some f-firewood like Father told me to, and w-when I returned to the village, it had been b-burned to the ground. M-my parents are gone! Can you please bring them back, sir?"
"I'm so sorry, my dear boy, but magic has its limits. It cannot raise the dead."
The boy sobbed harder than ever, and Merlin clung to him.
This boy, Rune, had no one, just like Merlin.
"W-what am I supposed to do?" Rune asked, wide-eyed and vulnerable.
Rune sobbed in silence for a moment, while Merlin contemplated how he could help the poor boy. He was struck with a sudden inspiration. "Rune?" he asked tentatively, wiping a tear from the boy's face. "Do you know what an apprentice is?"
Rune shook his head.
"An apprentice is someone very important who helps someone else do their job and learns about the job along the way."
"Oh," Rune said in a small voice, unsure where Merlin was going with this.
"Rune, would you like to be my apprentice from now on?"
"Me?" Rune asked, a little startled. "But I'm just an orphaned village boy, and you are a great sorcerer. Do you really think I could be a sorcerer's apprentice?"
"I'll let you in on a little secret, my boy. I can see the future." Rune gasped loudly. "And that's how I know that you will make an excellent sorcerer's apprentice."
Merlin swirled his hand in the air and produced a small glass vial with which he captured one of Rune's tears as it sailed down his reddened cheek. Merlin poured the singular tear onto a nearby tree and waved his magical hand yet again.
The tree instantly vanished, replaced by a puff of magical blue smoke.
Rune gasped audibly once more.
From the smoke emerged a newly fashioned ornate wooden wand, which Merlin placed in Rune's hands. "This is for you, my dearest apprentice. It is a wand fashioned from the darkness of your sorrow and the light of my healing powers. Use it wisely, but beware: all magic comes with a price."
Rune's mouth twitched into something of a slight smile, and he hugged Merlin harder than ever.
From then on, Merlin never felt alone.
Rune and Merlin were just two lonely souls united by unfortunate circumstances. But together, they made a positive impact on the lives of so many.
Goodness was no longer a lonely pursuit.
Thanks for reading! So this is basically going to be a series of one-shots about all the different parent/child-type relationships on OUAT, including biological parents, adoptive parents, step parents, and even mentor/mentee relationships, like the one in this chapter. I want to make this go in chronological order, so Merlin seemed like a great person to start with.
The apprentice is never named on the show, so I decided to call him Rune, which just felt like a good name for a sorcerer's apprentice to me.
Up next is Fiona and baby Rumplestiltskin, followed by Malcolm and child Rumple.