Epilogue

The Golden Age that followed was glorious. Arthur was crowned as High King of Albion around his 40th birthday, with all the kingdoms pledging their fealty to him. Merlin and Morgana had officially taken over as King and Queen of the Isle of the Blessed soon after Arthur and Isa's first child was born.

Isa had given birth to a healthy baby boy, Cassian. Two years later they were blessed with another boy, which they named Lancelot, and 3 years after came their little girl, Rosalind. Isa thanked God she never lost another child.

Merlin and Morgana were also blessed with 3 little ones of their own. A year after Isa had Cassian, Morgana gave birth to her first child, a daughter which she named Amelia. Three years later they had a son, Richard, and finally 2 years after, another girl, named Cecilia.

There were, of course, a plethora of other children that grew up alongside the royal children. Gwaine and Gwen had 5 little ones (all girls). Isa thought it was hilarious seeing her crazy best friend turn into such an overprotective father. God help any boy who ever so much as glanced at one of his precious daughters.

Leon had married Princess Mithian, and when her father passed, they ruled Nemeth together. They had 2 sons and 2 daughters.

Morgause and Percival eventually got married, which was quite a surprise to everyone. But somehow his calm, strong presence balanced out her loud, tough demeanor. They had 1 girl and 1 boy.

Then there were Mordred and Freya's children. They were the youngest of the clan. They had 3 boys.

This next generation grew up together in the Golden Age. Their parents proud of the new world they had created for them.

Of course, there were some losses along the way. In the early years of Albion, there was a war with the Saxons. Thankfully, the kingdoms were all united and were able to win the war against the invaders. Unfortunately, there were many losses…Elyan among them.

Gaius passed away 8 years after Arthur and Isa had been married. Thankfully, he passed in his sleep peacefully due to old age. He had been there to deliver their first 2 children, as well as Merlin and Morgana's first child. The next to pass away had been Alice 2 years later, mostly due to a broken heart. She was not quite the same after Gaius' passing.

Hunith, Balinor, and Uther lived around 20 years longer. Uther passed away due to a heart attack at the age of 63. Hunith also fell ill in her 65th year and began losing her memory. Balinor passed just a month after his wife. The 3 of them had been the most loving grandparents to their 6 grandchildren, and each one of their deaths hit them very hard.

It was around Arthur's 66th year when his health began to fail him. Small things at first…running out of breath quickly, difficulty standing for long periods of time. Around his 68th year his vision began to deteriorate. It was then that he decided to abdicate the throne to their eldest son. He wanted to live his final years in peace, surrounded by his grandchildren.

Due to the unique circumstances of Arthur's reign, and to avoid any dispute about who would claim the title of High King of Albion, Excalibur was thrust into a stone. Merlin declared that only the True King of Albion would be able to remove it. Many tried in the years that followed, but none were able to remove it. So the kingdoms reverted back to individual monarchies. Luckily their truce among them remained intact. They only prayed that their descendants would maintain the peace that they worked so hard to build.

It was in Arthur's 76th year that the remaining members of their group found themselves in Arthur and Isa's chambers, surrounding the former King and Queen. Arthur had completely lost his sight the previous year. And while his body had slowly began to shut down, Isa (as well as the other high priestesses) found that they aged much slower. When Arthur had turned 40, and she still looked like a 25 year old, it became painstakingly obvious that she would outlive Arthur. So Isa had allowed herself to age magically to match her husband. However, Isa had told her brother that she did not wish to outlive Arthur. As their souls and magic were bound together as one, her brother had granted her wish to allow her to pass alongside Arthur when the time came.

So now they found themselves saying goodbye, not just to one member of their family, but to both. But at least they would be passing on surrounded by their friends and family. Of the original members that remained (who were not high priestesses), there was Gwen, Mithian, Mordred, and Freya. All of which were nearing their time as well. Then there was Morgause, Morgana, and Merlin, who would outlive the rest by many, many years. Merlin the longest of all.

Isa didn't know how her brother would survive immortality on his own. She couldn't imagine losing everyone around you…outliving your children and your grandchildren. She thanked God that in this reincarnation her brother never turned evil. But losing everyone you love could make anyone go insane. She just hoped that her brother would remain the way he was forever. Of course, he would have the task of guarding the royal family for as long as possible. Isa knew that in the future, Camelot would just be a distant memory…but Merlin would protect their descendants for as long as he could. He also would have the dragons for company. In the past 50 years, he had hatched 4 more eggs. Isa didn't know how long the dragon race would last, but she was comforted by the fact that Merlin would have kin to keep him grounded for some time.

There was also the notion that Isa, Arthur, and Morgana would reincarnate again in the future. She didn't know how many times it would occur or how often. But it gave Merlin some peace of mind that this wouldn't be the last time they would ever see each other. She just hoped he wouldn't have to wait a millennium to see his family again. Then there was also the concept of if they would regain their memories in those lifetimes.

Back in the present, as Isa looked around the room at her friends and family, her children and grandchildren (who were already adults themselves), she couldn't help but be grateful for the life she had been granted. The overwhelming love she felt since arriving in this land, far exceeded all the difficulties they had to endure to get to this point. She wouldn't have changed any of this for the world.

She looked down at Arthur as she heard his breath begin to sputter. She wrapped her arm around his middle and lay her head on his shoulder. As she felt he only had a few minutes left on earth, she wanted to send him off with the best of their lifetime. Isa sent flashes of their happiest moments together…

The moment they met in the throne room.

Their first fight on the training grounds, ending with their first kiss.

When she first told him she loved him after the questing beast.

The night he proposed to her in the garden.

Their wedding ceremony and their wedding night.

The day she told him she was pregnant.

Each time they held their children in their arms for the first time.

Isa could tell when his heart began to give out. She opened her eyes to see him staring right at her. Even though he couldn't see, he still gave her a small smile and a whispered "thank you," before his eyes closed. Isa closed her eyes as a single tear ran down her cheek. "I love you," she whispered back, before everything around her turned white.

XxXxXx

"Isa. Isa! ISA!"

She groaned as the voice kept getting louder.

"Come on, Isa! You have to get up."

Isa was being shaken now, and she swatted her hands trying to get them away. The heard a sigh. "Come on, we're going to be late! Again."

Isa forced her eyes open and came face to face with her very annoyed looking roommate, Caroline. Isa squinted at her and looked around her messy dorm room in confusion.

"While you might not mind spending your Saturdays sitting with Madame Annette doing 500 pirouettes or whatever torture she has us doing as punishment, I have a date tomorrow, and I am not missing it because of you," her friend said, her arms crossed over her chest.

Isa grumbled. "Ok, ok. I'm up." She sat up and hastily tied her hair back with the hair tie on her wrist. She stumbled to the table by their tiny microwave and grabbed a granola bar. "Let's go."

Caroline huffed and rolled her eyes. "I mean, you have a few minutes to change. You can't exactly go in the same outfit you had on last night."

Isa looked at her reflection and saw that she was wearing the same short pink dress she had worn to the recital the night before. She frowned as a strange sensation of déjà vu overtook her. She shook her head. Must be that weird dream I had, she thought. She tried to remember, but for the life of her, she couldn't recall anything. Anyway, that wasn't important. What was important right now was not being late for class so her friend wouldn't murder her in her sleep for missing her date tomorrow.

She hastily put on a sweatshirt and some leggings, before grabbing her duffel bag for dance class later, and an armful of textbooks before rushing outside to meet Caroline. Once in the hall, she ran straight into something hard, her books falling to the floor.

"Ow," she said, rubbing her arm that had held her books. "Watch where you're going," she grumbled, still feeling sleepy. That dream must've kept her from getting a good night's rest. Ugh, my teachers are going to be furious with me.

"I'm so sorry," replied the stranger, as he bent down to help her collect her books.

As they both reached for the same notebook, their skin made contact and Isa gasped as an electric shock crept up her arm and through her entire body. She looked up and her eyes widened as they connected with the deepest blue eyes she had ever seen. The boy looked to be around her age, but his eyes held a wisdom that made him look ancient. His messy mop of black hair and sweet smile had her face flushing red. She had the weirdest feeling that she'd met him before…but she knew she'd remember him if she had.

"Isa!" came Caroline's exasperated voice from the end of the hall. "Come on! Stop flirting. We're going to be late!"

Isa rolled her eyes and got up from the floor. The stranger handed her the books, and she mumbled a quick "thank you" before running down the hall.

Merlin frowned as he watched Isa's retreating form. She and the others had been reincarnated several times over the past 1500 years, and each time they were a blank slate. He'd hoped that by saving her from her attackers the previous night, and witnessing her magic manifest and knowing that this particular reincarnation was the one that had started it all, that for once she would remember him, but that didn't seem to be the case.

He sighed. Here we go again.

A/N: So I wanted to wrap up this fic with Isa coming full circle…ending right back where the story began. And it will tie in nicely with the sequel I have planned.

Thank you everyone for reading this story. Hope you all enjoyed it. I am so excited to have finally completed my very first story. And I want to thank everyone who liked/favorited/commented on it.

I have a possible sequel planned (Isa and Arthur meeting up again in modern time)…maybe even a spin-off based on Isa/Arthur and Merlin/Morgana's kids. It's still up in the air, as I have a ton of ideas of the different directions both stories could go, so we'll see.