Arthur's Note

Welcome my wonderful writers, resourceful readers, and faithful followers! Thank you for reading this story, and I am pleased to announce the newest chapter of TFR. I had so much feedback from the last chapter and record-breaking amount of reviews. I want to take the time to thank all of you who reviewed my story. You have no idea how much it means to me! And the PMs I got back were so kind and helpful! I want to thank: Pineapple-Sorceress,Method in Madness, morganaxmerlin, A Lady of Time, edwardfiend, Ocean Mint Leaves, Aqua girl 007, Narutoske, Nebriniel Peredhil, and adaydreamer95. Also, my Guest reviewers: sipral, AmberW, and Pea. You guys were so awesome and had really good questions that I tried to answer.

Now, with this chapter, I left a lot of the back story out because I felt like I was repeating the events from Waiting For Winter, which is Morgana/Katie's story. You can find it in my profile. Also, I know so many of you are waiting for Merlin to be introduced, and I feel evil for keeping him from you, but I have a lot of it planned out already and it's already close to 10K words for that one chapter, so it might have to be condensed. Quick question: are the chapter lengths alright for you guys or do you need them shorter? I'm really sorry about the shortness of this one: it became too long, and I wanted to leave you with a better cliff hanger than what I originally had.

In this chapter, remember. Bradley is Arthur. Tony is Uther. Andy is Elyan. Tom is simply Tom. Katie is Morgana, and Angel is Guinevere.

Spoilers for Season 5 in this chapter.

Enjoy the chapter, and please review. All reviewers get a cookie, and I try to reply to everyone of you :) I like to hear what you thought of the chapter, what you didn't like, any questions or concerns, your favorite parts, and any suggestions/comments about my writing in general. Reviews make me feel so warm and fuzzy inside, and it's amazing. It's like so addicting... Alright, I've kept you long enough, and if you bothered to read this, thank you.

Onto the chapter,

Erin

{random end credit: If you guys like reincarnation stories, I recommend Say Live and Let Die by Ultra-Geek. It's amazing and perfect in every way}

Chapter Three
"There's no use in waiting,
No more hesitating, watch me go.
Truth is I'm gonna dare."
- "Dare" by Megan and Liz

Katie didn't know how a person could get used to screaming.

As she sat there, eyes drawn to the site ahead, the sound pierced the air, ringing continuously in her ears, echoing through the cramped vehicle. The sharp intake of breath was as ragged as the first, and before she knew it, the screaming started up again. Each intense shriek struck Katie to the core, and she struggled to remain calm in the situation. She didn't know how long she could keep her collected concentration drawn to the specific scene. It was a natural human instinct to be bothered by pain – hers or another's.

After everything she had been through, though, she didn't know why. Katie supposed it was because she was programmed a certain way, told to react to specific emotions with an explicit response, regardless of past influences. In happiness, she was overzealous. In sadness, she never spoke. In hatred, she held the grunge the longest. In love, she would give it her all. In drama, under pressure, she tried not to panic. It's not like she was scared, because she wasn't. The questions and worries were just constantly whirring through her mind, never seizing and only growing.

This – it was supposed to be a beautiful thing. They always said that the process was the most promising experience in one's lifetime if one was ever able to witness such a miracle. They never told it from the acquaintance's perspective, however. For them, it was terrible and heart-wrenching and horrifying all at once. Especially when in the back of a taxi cab. Nonetheless, when Katie saw her double over in pain, fighting for even the right to breathe, she knew that she was to watch the ordeal play out and not try to counter this vision.

Unabashed reactions were the most raw when it came to life, and that's how Katie had always known to live. Having the gift of magic was truly sought after when it came to certain happenings, and for once in her life, she was not ashamed to be different. People would claim that she was a freak, but it had no lasting effect. They themselves did not know what it truly was to be different, and it was why she was able to sit here, even if the situation shook her heart, rendering her emotionally stoic. It was just the screams.

They took on the most real tone Katie had ever heard.

Katie had always accepted her Seer power since she regained her lost memories as the Lady Morgana, but tonight, for the first time, she dreamed of someone she had no knowledge of. It was the first time she ever saw something peculiar and unfamiliar in this life, the first time she questioned the magic. There was a woman sprawled out in the back of a taxi cab with a middle-aged man between her legs. Katie could see her eyes, wide and sapphire-blue, frantically looking around the vehicle, spotting the man's blood-stained hands. Katie could almost feel the panic swelling within the woman, her lungs expanding to make room for oxygen, but she wasn't able to draw in any air. The man was shouting incoherent statements, and the smell of blood marred the blistery scent of winter. The woman's sweat-tangled hair was pulled back as she struggled for her right to breathe.

The baby was coming…

It wasn't until a new cry cut through her subconscious, a baby's wail, that she opened her eyes. Awakening in her bedroom, drenched in a thin film of cold sweat, striving to regain her bearings, managed to startle the reincarnated Lady Morgana. She was not one to be easily puzzled, so to be plagued by the strange dreams was an oddity in itself. The images themselves danced at the forefront of her deranged mind, and she inhaled sharply before closing her eyes. These days, the world seemed to go on in a fast forward, and for once, she welcomed the short, sweet, silent minutes. Breathing heavily, Morgana rolled onto her back, reclining against the pillows and situating herself in a snug position. Her attempts to drift off proved to be unsuccessful, and she knew she was too wired to sleep.

The house was silent, cocooned in a dense fog of stillness, and she forced herself to find peace in it all. She hadn't slept last night, nor any day the week before, not since Uther left. Grasping for a handful of hours a night, vision-free, was her overall objective, one that had become a near impossible goal to fulfill. Dark shadows surrounded her forest-green eyes daily; her head pounded, overruling the effects of the sleeping pills her doctor had prescribed to her. In the privacy of her own home, she knew she looked as exhausted as she felt, but in the presence of her brother and his fiancée, it really didn't matter since they knew the reason.

After a few more quiet moments, she sat up, pushing off of the bed. Every action seemed to be a strenuous movement, and she fought the urge to collapse in defeat. When had life decided to become a losing battle, tempting her every waking second? Morgana's feet touched the plush carpeted floor, and she swayed slightly under gravity's pull. Nothing seemed to steady her, she realized, none of Earth's forces could save her now. She reached out for the wall, attempting to position herself upright. As soon as she fully righted herself, Morgana was sprinting towards her brother's room down the hall of their shared apartment. She threw open the wooden door, and only then did she pause. His slumbering form was visible, and small smile graced his face. Morgana hesitated, taking a step into the room, watching as his chest rose at a content pace.

The night she had admitted her memories came back to her, the memory still fresh. Fresh in time and fresh in emotion. She remembered the look of pure agony in his eyes, as if his world was slowly crumbling. She had expected him to scream at her, which he did. She did not expect for an offer of forgiveness, of redemption. She wanted to hold onto the family she had in this life. It was perfect. Her father was here. Her brother was here. She didn't want anything to change.

However, after Uther's visit, it had. Everything had.

Morgana placed a hand against the door frame, raising her other hand to the wall. She allowed her fingers to trace the scratches in the wood, closing her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to talk to him, tell him of her strange vision, contemplate who it was - what did have to do with her? What did it have to do with Merlin? Because, after all, he's the one she thought about when she went to sleep at night. She needed him. Arthur needed him. She was trying to focus all her magic into the visions, hoping they'd direct her, but they didn't...

Morgana needed to talk to Arthur, to wake him and pull him from his slumber, but they both had classes at Columbia in the morning, and she didn't want to disrupt his sleep when hers was already gone. Instead, she choose to amble to the window, resting her head against the glass. Snow fell outside, flakes clinging to the transparent surface. She needed a distraction from the visions, and it seemed as if nothing – not even the weather – could pull her from her musings.

"Morgana?" a groggy voice murmured lowly from the darkness behind her. The noise was certainly unexpected, and she fought against the instinct to scream as she whirled around, eyes darting about her surroundings. "What are you doing?"

Just Arthur, she reassured herself. "By gods, you scared the hell out of me," Morgana gasped. "Don't you know not to sneak up on people?"

"Yes," he answered, sitting up lightly. "I received many vases thrown at my head back in Camelot. I'm just lucky we forbid vases in this vicinity."

"Sorry," she apologized. "You should know by now not to sneak up on me."

He pushed the sheets back, throwing his legs over the side of the bed, his eyes wide with an incredulous stare. "You think I wasn't scared to see a random person standing in my room when I woke up? You scared the hell out of me; you're lucky I didn't attack you!"

Morgana sighed to herself, shaking her head at the statement. She shouldn't have come here. Uther had left the apartment after a few hours, and even though days had passed, her brother was still dwelling on the visit. Something had changed between the three of them, and that night, she could have sworn that he cried himself to sleep with Gwen at his side. The knowledge of their returning memories had forced Uther into a shell of his former self, and Morgana vaguely wondered if it resembled what was left of him after her betrayal when she first tried to take over Camelot and came forth as his biological daughter, successfully dethroning the man who sought to destroy her kind.

In this life, things had been different. Uther was the same doting guardian he had been when he was a King, but now, he embraced the title of "father" and never let her forget that fact. Before she had regained her memories, he had been the person she ran too when she had nightmares of the crash which killed her parents. Back when she was Katie, he had been her rock, the constant supporter in whatever she did. Yes, the fact that he was her real father had almost pulled her into the same anger and corruption that led to Morgause's corrupt a thousand years before, but she managed to pull through this time around since she had a steady family beside her. Uther had not shown any hostility towards her after all these years, even though he had his memories since the very moment Arthur was born.

Things were different. Things had been better. Ever since the revelation that they all remembered, things had changed, and for Uther, it hadn't been for the better. It was just a reminder of his past failings. However, Morgana was taking it upon herself to turn things around. More than anything in life, she wanted to be accepted. Arthur had accepted her change; Gwen was coming around; and Uther - her father - he would too.

"I'm sorry," Morgana whispered again, her voice soft. "I had another vision…"

Arthur paused, pondering the thought with intrigue. "Was it… Did you see Merlin again?" He wandered over to her with the utmost curiosity. "Do you know where he is?"

"Just calm down," she stressed, wringing her hands in front of her. "I don't know what it was or who it was. That's the problem. It was just… She was screaming… And there was a baby…"

"Morgana, what did you see?" he pressed on, seizing her useless ramblings, pulling her from her bewildered state.

"I don't know," his sister replied, pounding her fists against his chest. "You don't understand! I was in a cab, and there was a woman-"

"Someone else?"

"No, I didn't recognize her. It was too dark." Morgana shrugged away from her brother's hold, shaking her head as she paced back and forth, arms crossed as if to protect herself, keeping a hold on reality as she dwelled back into the vision. "She was in labor, and the baby was born… The woman was screaming so loud, and I didn't understand. There was another man there, but I didn't know him either."

"Is there anything else?" Arthur asked, placing a hand on her trembling shoulder. "Anything at all?"

Morgana tilted her head to the side as she looked at the ex-Prince. "It was dark…" She lowered her gaze to her hands. "That's what I'm trying to tell you, Arthur. I didn't know anyone in the vision; that's never happened before."

Arthur shook his head, unable to comprehend the situation. "So you had a vision of some random people? What does that have to do anything we're going through?" He paused for a moment before continuing. "Are you sure it wasn't a dream?"

"Considering I have an higher IQ, I'm pretty sure I can tell the difference between a dream and a vision, Arthur Pendragon," Morgana replied vehemently. When her brother made no move to respond, the younger girl sat down on his bed, pulling a fluffy pillow to her chest, hugging it to steady her raging thoughts. "It was a vision; I know it was, but I don't know what it was about."

Arthur sighed, reclining in the window seat across from her, staring out at the city streets where a light snow was falling. "I'm sorry…."

"We all want to find Merlin," she reminded him, "But you can't just jump on me for every vision I have. I told you – I don't know who these people were."

"Then we'll find out, Morgana," he said, staring at her under a heavy glare. "These visions you've been having, they all lead to something. They always do, right?" She couldn't deny him, especially when his hopeful eyes were brighter than she had seen them in days. "They'll somehow lead us to Merlin, right?"

"Of course," she answered, tilting her head to the side, observing the older man's motions.

He leaned his head back, the muted thud echoing through the room as it met the wall. Arthur showed no sign of pain, and Morgana knew he was just trying to relieve the pressure and stress he was facing. With each passing day, especially since their father visited, it seemed as if her brother was slowly unraveling at the seams, and she found herself fumbling around to retie the frayed strings. She knew that Arthur needed Merlin now more than ever, and she took it upon herself to find him.

Never before has she attempted to call her magic into her visions, to summon one to the forefront of her mind. She was seeking an answer to her questions; she needed some clue as to where Merlin was at this very moment in time. She had seen him weeks before in a vision, in the alleyway, his blue eyes haunting her for days on end. And for one fleeting moment, she swore she saw him in reality over winter break, fleeing from something, tears racing down his cheeks. And in that moment, she swore her life was complete.

Now, she just needed to find him again.

"So where do we start?" a voice asked from the doorway, pulling both Arthur and Morgana from their reverie.

Gwen stood tall and confident, arms crossed over her chest, eyes sparkling. In this new life, she held herself with a certain grace she had lacked back in Camelot. Arthur once confided in his sister that he thought that perhaps because she was born an equal in this life and there was nothing standing in the way of being in a relationship with him prompted the change. Morgana could see how he reached that conclusion. Back in Camelot, Gwen had been born a servant, reserved and timid in whatever she approached. However, when she entered a relationship with Arthur, she embraced everything with a certain amount of compassion and determination that made her a truly wonderful Queen after her husband's untimely death. Gwen was a great Queen, Morgana realized, and she wished with all her might that she could rewind time and take those years back and be content as a Lady, united under the Pendragon crest, and flourish under the rule of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. If only she hadn't been tainted with fear, easily corrupted by her half-sister.

If only she had broken out of the spell sooner.

"I don't know," Morgana admitted, facing her brother's fiancee. Gwen and her were quickly warming up to one another's presences, but it would take some time till they were close friends, because, after everything Morgana did, there would take some time to heal the wounds, stitch the cuts, and soothe the flustered scars. "I... Hope I get some visions of him, I suppose."

"Maybe you did," Gwen said, "What was your latest vision?"

"I don't know."

Gwen shook her head in defiance. "No, that's not right. There is always something in your visions; there has never been a random event you foresaw. This was something important or you wouldn't have seen it, Morgana."

Arthur straightened his posture as his fiancee joined him on the window seat after shutting the door behind her. "Perhaps there's something you're missing."

"I don't know what it could be."

"Well what happened in the vision? Don't concentrate on who it was but rather what it was."

Morgana sighed, leaning back until she was sprawled across the top of Arthur's bed. "I was in a taxi cab. It was snowing, and the traffic went on for miles. There was a pregnant woman sprawled across the back seat. She had brown hair and bright blue eyes. She was screaming so loud. That's what unnerved me. I don't think I ever heard someone scream that loud before. It all seemed so real, especially for a vision." The teenager licked her dry lips before swallowing thickly. "She... She was in labor, and I knew that baby was coming right then and there. There was another man between her legs. He was telling her things like 'calm down' and 'it's almost over'. I don't know if that was her husband or whoever. The taxi driver was behind him, and he was... He looked like he was more worried about the mess he'd have to clean up."

"Did you recognize anything about the woman?" Gwen questioned, cocking her head to the side with curiosity. "Or the man for that matter?"

Morgana shook her head, lazily fingering the hem of her night shirt. "Not that I can remember. The man... It was dark, but he... I'm pretty sure he had dark skin, dark hair... Like you, Gwen. He was delivering the baby, and he seemed to know what he was doing... Wait, he said..." Her voice trailed off, and it prompted the couple across the room to narrow their eyes in suspicion, waiting with baited breath for their friend to continue. "He told the woman he had done this before..."

Gwen bit her lip. "What were his exact words."

"His daughter had been born in the back of a cab as well," Morgana admitted, glancing at the dark-haired girl. "...Why?"

"Morgana... I was born in the back of a cab." There was a moment of silence before Gwen continued with a bout of enthusiasm. "You don't think... No, you don't see the past do you?"

"Unless you count my memories of Camelot, then no, I don't."

Gwen stood up, Arthur's arms dropping to the side as the trio felt excitement bubble in their chests. What revelation had Morgana made. "My father delivered a baby about a year after I was born... He doesn't talk about it much... It was just such an unusual experience that he told us the story when we were older."

"Us?" Arthur asked.

"My brother and I."

"Elyan?"

"Andy," Gwen clarified, "In this life, it's Andy, but I haven't heard from him since we moved to the West Coast last year. I doubt he remembers anything about Camelot, though, or else he would have called."

"...But why would I have a vision about your father? How is he involved?" Morgana questioned, staring at her brother's fiancee in confusion.

"Maybe it's not my father, but the woman," Gwen quipped.

"Did you catch a name, Morgana?" Arthur said, joining his sister on the bed.

The younger girl scrunched her facial features together in concentration, and after a few moments, Arthur wondered if thinking was physically straining on her. Before he could call her out on it, though, she lit up like a light bulb, face eager but still puzzled. "Caroline," she murmured, turning to face Gwen. "Does that name mean anything to you?"Gwen shook her head, biting her bottom lip.

Morgana smirked, and Arthur recognized the look. It was usually followed by cruel manipulation. "I... What is that smile for, Morgana?"

"You haven't told Gwen's parents about the engagement, have you?" Arthur shook his fractionally, eyes widening to the size of grapefruit as he realized where his sister was heading.

"No, Morgana!"

"Why not? It's the perfect excuse to go out and talk to Gwen's father."

Gwen's face crumbled as she recognized the formulating plan. "Morgana, they... My parents won't... Honestly, they just found out I was dating someone... They haven't even met Arthur for god's sake."

"What's more important?" Morgana asked evilly, her voice sending icy shivers down the couple's spine. "Finding the woman or-"

"Alright, we'll do it," she said.

Morgana turned to face Arthur, a wicked grin tugging at her lips. "Time to meet the in-laws, Mr. Pendragon."