A/N

whatswiththemoustache: That's exactly what I was going for so I'm so glad you understood it =) It's always tricky to balance between too much angst and the right amount of angst so I'm glad I did good. Aithusa will definitely be a huge help but even though he will come out of his shell and start living, it will take some time before he starts caring again.

lovecinnamonroll: Thank you so much =D I hope it'll live up to your expectations.

Assassin of Syria: Things will definitely turn out better now, and the founding of Hogwarts will take place in the next update. Maybe even over two depending on how much I'll include.

I'm sorry but this is a very short chapter, but since it's technically one-shots, I figured I was allowed to do one this short. Not to try and make excuses, but I've been up since six after only 5-4 hours of sleep and then away for five hours on a lecture (which was fun but you get tired sitting down for three hours), and the next update will involve more plot and detail so... It's basically a filler chapter but it works better alone than together with the next step in the story.

Reunited

"Ai-aithusa?" He croaked out. He was surprised his voice even worked, he hadn't used it in so long.

"It's me, Merlin." She lay down on the ground so her head was level with his body, her big yellow eyes boring into his.

"Where have you been?" He took a step back, the water soaking his shredded shoes. "I called for you." He cried out, feeling the anger seeping in. It was a welcoming feeling because he had lacked emotions for so long he had forgotten how it felt like.

"I'm sorry, Merlin." Aithusa averted her gaze. "I heard you, but I wasn't ready to come."

"I thought a dragon couldn't refuse a Dragonlord." Merlin said, glaring at the large beast in front of him, his shaggy hair obscuring his vision somewhat.

"We can't, but you never told me when to come."

"Always with the technicalities," He muttered, turning around so he could sit down on the sand.

"What happened to you, Merlin?" He could feel she slight shake in the ground as she shifted her body so her head now lay beside him. "I can barely recognise you."

"Life happened." He picked up a stone and threw it out into the river. "Or death is more accurate." He sighed. "Camelot fell and I... I couldn't take it anymore."

"When was the last time you spoke to someone?"

"Don't know." He shook his head. "It's been so long... I lost count after a hundred years."

"Why did I find you on the side of a riverbank?" She asked softly, like she already knew the answer.

"It's a long story." He took in a deep breath and turned his head to meet her gaze.

"We have time." Was all she said, and after taking another deep breath, Merlin told her everything that had happened since the battle at Camlann.

The first word that came to mind when he was finished was, liberated. The heavy burden of Emrys was lifting from his shoulders and transferred to Aithusa's strong ones. She helped him see how important it was to share and be honest, something he wished he had been more back at Camelot. Maybe things would have turned out differently if he had just told Arthur and Morgana the truth from the beginning.

They probably sat there for days before he was finished, and they both decided it was time to take a look around.

Upon Aithusa's back, Merlin realised that they were in the north, he recognised part of the landscape from the last time he had been there, but so much had changed. Villages had popped up here and there, and far in the distance they could see the foundation of a castle being built.

Aithusa put him down a short distance from the closest village from the castle, and with a quick nod of thanks, he put on his invincibility cloak.

He had created the cloak while in one of the druid camps right after he left Camelot the first time, and it was the only object he always made sure to carry with him in a pouch around his neck. It was just easier to use it than to hold up a spell.

It took him half an hour to reach the village. It was one of the smaller ones, only consisting of one main road, with the business buildings lining it.

One of the things he had noticed the last few hundred years since Camelot's fall, was the increasing unbalance between magic users and mundane, so he was quite surprised when he discovered the abundance of residual magic in the building and the ground. It was like they had soaking up the magic for decades.

He walked till the end of the road until he was met with a large iron gate. Using magic, he opened it and slipped through, walking up the small hill so he could see the landscape around him.

There was a large lake on the far side and a mountain and a forest on the other two sides. In the middle of it lay the beginning of a castle, a large one if he was to go with the general layout.

He wanted to take a closer look but decided it would be easier to find out more if he infiltrated the villagers first. So he made his way back to Aithusa and tucked his cloak back into the pouch.

"The entire place is drenched with magic." He told her. "I think I'll stay here for a while and see if I can figure out what's going on."

"Maybe you should consider a haircut first." She said and if dragons could smirk, she was definitely doing it.

"Hmm," He looked down at his long tousled beard and hair. "Probably for the best." He admitted.

"What's the name of the village?" Aithusa asked as he started to use magic to cut all the hair of.

"Ehm," He scratched the back of his head. "It was something weird... Hogsmead I think."

A/N

I hope it wasn't too disappointing. I could have written down the entire conversation between Merlin and Aithusa but it would juts be repeating the former chapters and that's just boring.

Please don't think that Merlin is out of his funk just because he decided to travelling a bit with Aithusa and investigating this mysterious building, he's just alive and happy enough to have someone to talk to that he felt the need to do something. He will still have his bad days and it will take a long while for him to start caring again. Both for others and for himself.

Have a great week and don't forget to watch Eurovision on Saturday, and feel free to check out my new Doctor Who story (I promise, this will be the last time I nag you about it.) =D