It Was War but I Fell in Love

Somehow he had ended up in a small town in the north of France. A thousand years and he allowed himself to maintain his "true" form of an old man. It did come in handy as rarely did anyone question a frail old looking man. A thousand years was too long for anyone and he wondered how Kilgarrah had done it. He would live forever immortal. Cursed to wait for the day that Arthur Pendragon came back to be the once and future king once more. The world had grown so much and the magic had left long ago. He wondered if it was right to even hope that Arthur would come back.

He walked through the small quaint village. A paper boy was shouting about the Great War fast approaching. Wars. Too many years of war had plagued his eyes. Merlin walked to the local inn at the end of the town. The couple that ran the inn were briefly reluctant before allowing him a room for a few nights. He considered going back to England to see if Arthur was back. He would know. Arthur was not back. Merlin walked with his staff back into the main part of the village. He went into the bakery, getting a loaf of bread with some cheeses. Plain, but he'd had worse times. A mass of long wavy black hair past by the window. As he walked out he followed the direction, unsure why.

There were two children that had soot covered faces. A woman wearing a bright purple dress with long wavy black hair that had pearls threaded through it knelt in front of them. She looked around before giving them a basket, it looked like it had toys and food in it. He hid behind a pillar closer to them.

"I know it's not much, but I don't want your mother worrying much more. I'm sure your father is doing fine in the military," the woman said with a caring tone.

"Thank you mademoiselle," one of the children said.

"Now run along home."

The two children did indeed run off with the basket of goodies. The woman stood up. Morgana. Graceful as ever. Then he dropped the loaf of bread and cheeses and struggled to pick them up. Damn the old bones.

"Here let me help you," the voice said again.

He looked up and Morgana had picked up the cheeses. His legs wobbled as he stood up with his staff and the bread.

"You must be new in town," she grinned.

"Passing by," he said.

"You're English?"

"Aye."

"Would you like me to help you walk back to where it is you're staying? I'd hate for you to have another accident."

"You're too kind my lady."

She laughed. He thought she looked beautiful when she laughed.

"I'm no lady," she said. "Although I suppose the townspeople would think I am since my father runs the factory that keeps them afloat. Now what's a man like you roaming around by himself?"

"Keeping myself occupied before my friend shows up again," he said.

"Must be some friend."

"He was... is."

They had just made a turn before seeing a large looking car parked by the nearby church. Morgana had paused.

"Oh dear," she muttered.

"Is something wrong?" Merlin asked.

"My father's at the church. Soon enough he'll have his entourage trying to find me. Then he'll chew my out for not studying my English. I'm horrible at it, really. Why bother?"

"Well, I'm staying at this hotel at the moment. Shouldn't be keeping you much longer."

"Are you sure you'll be fine on your own monsieur?"

"I'll be fine."

"I'm Morgana Pendragon by the way."

"A delight."

She gave him his cheeses back before running off quickly. When he walked in with his purchases the innkeeper and his wife looked at him oddly. He went into his room, slicing the loaf with cheese. It still felt warm. He thought about this new reincarnated Morgana Pendragon. Who seemed to care about the struggling people in the town and did her best to help in any small way she could. Merlin thought she was very much like the Morgana Pendragon he had first met so long ago. Then he walked down the stairs, wondering if he'd find anything of substance for dinner in the town. He hadn't made it very far before the innkeepers wife offered to share their dinner with him.

The innkeepers wife, Alice, was a very kind woman. She had prepared an onion soup and it was a very fine soup he found. They did pester him about Morgana Pendragon. He told them that she had simply helped this poor old man after he dropped his groceries and insisted on walking with him so he would not be overwhelmed. Gary, her husband, looked familiar but not enough, had told him that her father Uther, was a very firm man and refused to let her go aid in the war. Morgana Pendragon had a soft heart and a kind soul, but had to sneak help since Uther looked down on it. To him, giving the people of the village a job at his factory was enough for him to owe them. Alice had mentioned that Morgana lived on the Avalon Villa with her father that was on the reaches of town and it was a beautiful large thing with sprawling lands... and then Gary had glared at her for saying too much. Gary had taken the dishes to clean when they were finished. Merlin thanked them for the meal and bid them a night.

He laid on the hard bed. Contemplating the next move. Two more days and two more nights. Part of him scolded himself for being drawn to a woman so much younger than him. A woman that if she did remember him would likely want to kill him. He decided that when he left he would transform himself back into his more youthful appearance and go to the Villa in an effort to become Morgana's new English tutor. It seemed like a good idea.

He said goodbye to Alice and Gary, before taking the long way to Avalon Villa. He changed into the nicer attire in an abandoned hut while changing his appearance. The guard at the gate had reluctantly let him in. The butler, Reginald, had told him that Monsieur Pendragon would meet with him later that afternoon. So he waited. There was the sound of a harp playing from somewhere in the house. He waited in the sitting room as instructed. Monsieur Pendragon made his way in and interrogated him furiously. He pulled out papers from his briefcase that were charmed to show the Monsieur what he wanted to see. He was granted the ability to tutor the young Morgana Pendragon for her English. Monsieur Pendragon had even granted him chambers in the house since he had no other place to go and he assumed it would make the lessons easier to manage.

Morgana Pendragon had been furious when the Monsieur told her. She had wanted to scream at this new tutor that he ought to not waste his time until she saw his eyes. They were startling familiar. She bit her tongue. After a week she confronted him. He was the old man from the village. Merlin admitted it. She invited him to have dinner with them for the next week instead of eating with the servants. The next week she asked him how he could turn old to young and possibly back again. Merlin told her that he was an immortal warlock. She suggested they have lessons outside as it would be pleasant for the next week. A week after that and she inquired as to why he had sought her out. She reminded him of an old friend. Monsieur Pendragon was impressed by the results the tutoring was having. Morgana insisted that Merlin stay longer and Monsieur granted this request.

The news of the war was growing and devastating and Morgana was heartbroken when her request to aid as a nurse was rejected by her father. She'd stowed into his rooms that night. Late at night. He had been reading, wearing a loose white shirt with his trousers. She'd worn a very thin red slip dress under a black robe. She'd inquired about the book and other things about his life. Slowly she'd stalked closer to his bed where he was sitting. She kissed him. It had surprised him. Horribly did she try to seduce him. And he pushed her away, insisting that it was wrong. He was far, far too old for her, despite looking only ten years older. She insisted she didn't care. Then he told her no and she was furious. She'd fixed her robe over herself, insisting that it had been a mistake and ran out of the room.

Quietly they worked over the next few months. Sometimes she asked him questions, but her demeanor was now more reserved. Monsieur Pendragon thought now was a suitable time for her to find a husband. She chided him that any man left in town was too old or too poor to qualify as a good husband since the good men had left for war. Monsieur sighed. In his time since staying with the Pendragons, he found that Morgana held no possible magics. It made him sad yet relieved. They were in the sun room studying when he told her that he was drawn to her because she strongly resembled a woman he had once fell in love with centuries ago. Monsieur was leaving for Paris that afternoon as his attentions were needed elsewhere. He felt guilt over taking Morgana's innocence. They were in his bed late, when she told him that she wished to marry him. He was a poor man masquerading as a tutor, he didn't make much money outside of the generous but still humble salary her father paid him. She held onto his side, burying her face in his shoulder.

Monsieur Pendragon was called into war. He insisted he wouldn't be in the path of destruction, a very safe position, but he wouldn't be home for at least a year. Morgana Pendragon was named lady of the house. The villa flourished under her and what they had extra they gave to the villagers. Merlin remained her tutor and her lover in this time. The servants didn't question them but the villagers were delighted to see her in town with a handsome fellow. She insisted on making the trips herself with a few of the servants and Merlin. He didn't question her. They were taking a ride on the horses when Morgana had stopped her horse and clutched at her heart. Something was wrong and they went back to the villa. Nothing was a miss, everything was in order, the town was well. Three days later a telegram arrived. Monsieur Pendragon was killed in a bombing.

Merlin took over her duties as she lay bedridden. He felt as though he wasn't doing as good of a job, but he'd watched Morgana do it for long enough he thought he could pull it off. The funeral was held a month later, after his ashes had been sent to the villa. Morgana was out of it as the officer arrived with the urn. Merlin felt oddly defensive over Morgana. The officer was young, younger than him, with handsome features and a pleasant demeanor. Still, it seemed as if he wanted to take advantage of the young mourning woman. Whatever rage was surrounding Merlin led to the officer running along.

"My father would have liked me to marry him," Morgana muttered.

"Let's worry about his funeral, shall we darling?" Merlin insisted.

The funeral was attended, Morgana allowed Monsieur's business partner Gorloris take over most of the duties. Gorloris was an honorable man and made sure that Morgana wouldn't be cheated of her family's business. Slowly but surely Morgana became happier. A few times she had Gorloris over to go over the business with so she could have a better understanding herself. And Merlin had proposed to her and she had said yes. It was a small one, on the villa. She looked stunning in the plain white dress. And it was a happy affair of course. War, famine, and pestilence, remained far from their happy village. Merlin contemplated if Morgana did have magic, since the village always seemed too idyllic compared to the rest of the world. Surely magic must be protecting it.

A year had passed since the end of the war. Morgana thought herself pregnant and so Merlin went into town with her since she wanted to be prepared for when it arrived. The local physician had told her she was. And they went in search of a crib they could order, and then to a tailor to order baby clothes. The sky was bright blue without a cloud. It had been such a lovely day.

Then a rogue had stormed into town with a gun that seemed too advanced. A bitter German that had been deserted in France after loosing the war. Merlin had tried to get her to hide. Humanity had grown more monstrous since his days in Camelot. Screams. Death. And Morgana had wanted to run when it seemed like they had an opportunity. The rogue was nearby. She looked at him afraid. He was immortal. If he was shot, somebody would notice and it would be odd for him to survive. The rogue focused on them. Morgana jerked herself in front of Merlin. Her eyes went wide as she looked up at him.

The rogue was taken down shortly after that. He sat in the street with a dying, dead, Morgana in his arms. He'd gone mad when they tried to pull her away from him. When he went back to the villa, he dismissed all of the servants. Told them to talk to Gorloris for a new job. He'd tried to kill himself. For days and days and days. Never a scar or a bruise remained. He sobbed. He left the town after that. His heart was utterly broken.

Morgana stared off into the view of the picturesque landscape of the Abbey. It was a smaller sized venue and she could hear Morgause squabbling with the guide and Jenny. The wedding could be less important to her. There was only a week left until Gwen and Arthur left, and the two of them had been anxiously packing recently and she and Merlin had only recently managed to help out a few days ago. He had given her the Avalon water of his memories and it had her shaken.

He hadn't necessarily pushed her away after she had woken up. It had just been a strange experience. And her heart was overfilled with emotions that she might've blown out the lights in his flat. She wasn't the Lady Morgana, and she hadn't been this last incarnation either. Both of them knew that. The strangest part was that Merlin's memories of Morgana felt like they lingered in her own mind, as if they were a part of her that she wasn't allowed to remember herself. Only the memories of Lady Morgana had ever had a firm hold on her subconscious. Still, there was a part of him that became reclusive. She wondered if it was because he knew how intensely she felt and wanted to help him, only he had moved on from it decades ago already. Stranger and stranger things became.

A jerk went through her arm.

Morgana looked on her left and saw that Morgause had already linked their arms together and was guiding them towards the stairs that led down to the generous lawn.

"Do you think I should walk down from the left or the right side of these stairs?" Morgause asked.

"Right, it's always been your most flattering side," Morgause said.

"Thank you for noticing! Jenny was insisting I start left, but if I walk down the middle anyway, what's the difference?"

Morgana simply nodded.

"I'd love to have my biological father walk me down the isle," Morgause said.

"A mildly odd request," Morgana said.

Morgause had told her to keep private about her familial life. Especially as they went into politics. Morgause had been humiliated to learn that her mother Viviane had had an affair while legally married to Gorloris. Gorloris had however been a good man and listed himself as the father, although the information about the biological father was given entirely during the pregnancy to the doctors.

Morgana had met Gorloris a few times since befriending Morgause. Morgause had only ever really met Arthur and Gwen, and sometimes it made Morgana feel like a bad friend even if she ran in the same circles as Morgause. And her opinion of Gorloris was usually fine, he wasn't physically attractive and from the wedding pictures, probably never had been. But he was a sweet man with a head on good shoulders and she could understand Gorloris forgiving his wife and taking Morgause as his own. His personality would never suggest otherwise.

"This is supposed to be the wedding of the century, and Gorloris is," Morgause sighed deeply. "He's a fine man but he had no backbone. Truthfully I find him weak. And I've done some research about my biological father, and it would make much more sense to have him walk me down the isle. Would fit more with the oh what is it? Atmosphere."

"You'd humiliate Gorloris as well," Morgana said.

"He's adamantly against my wedding!"

"You've made the date quite abrupt, I don't fault him for thinking it was shotgun."

"Morgana!"

"Alright. So how do you plan on arranging your biological father to walk you down the isle for your wedding that is in a week?"

"Well, I thought I would ask you."

"Morgause, I said I would help with your wedding, not take the place of your wedding planner."

"Oh but it is just helping me out with my wedding! You're the only one that can accomplish this task!"

"What's the poor bastards name? You have an address?"

"His name is Uther Pendragon."

Authors Notes: Okay, sorry for the delay with this chapter! I kept trying to write after the memory with different outtakes before being okay with this one. Also let me know what you thought about the memory sequence. Seriously I've had it planned out forever. And this ending oh my god!

At the moment, where I'm at it's looking like our quarantine will be lifted late April, and although I would love to go back to work May 1st I'm honestly hoping it'll be extended. My aunt had a scare earlier in the month about possibly contracting it and I'm relieved that the test came out negative. At best watching movies for classes and classes have been keeping me mostly occupied during this time. Also some Disney+ moments going on. Hope you guys are all well and coping as best as you can in these times, leave a comment about what's helping you get through if you want too!