This one is quite a bit shorter then the last ones but I think it conveys the emotion.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, only my OCs and this storyline.

Hope you enjoy.

Oh How it Burned

I raced through the trees. Somehow I just knew which way to run. I knew where Aida would have gone if she had been separated from the others. There was only one place she could be. I needed to get to her before anyone else. The bounty hunters may already have informed the king of their findings. They would be searching for them.

I burst through the trees onto a familiar sight. It was the place I had called home for the past four years. The path was so committed to memory that I barely thought about it. I knew where I was going. I knew where I had to be. It could have only ever been this way.

I through open the back door, closing it tightly behind me. I wasted no time in moving the cabinet. My feet padded up the stairs after I had slid the cabinet back into place. I came up the stairs to meet a bright light. It quickly died though when she recognized me. Aida ran into my arms, tears staining her face. She looked sickly pale and I feared she might be coming down with something, but at least she was here. I was so relieved. I held her close just to make sure she was real.

"Thank goodness you're safe." I whispered and she cried in my arms.

"They came out of nowhere." She sobbed. "It just all happened so fast and suddenly the others were gone. I was alone Joone."

"I'm here now." I stroked her hair to calm her.

"I lost them." I could feel her trembling.

"It's alright now. You aren't alone anymore." I was struggling to keep myself together, but I couldn't break down.

"They got Jasper. I saw them grab him." Her voice was quivering. "I tried to get to him but then I saw the look on his face. There was nothing I could do. Why couldn't I save him?"

"At least he's still alive." The news hit me hard. Jasper didn't deserve that kind of fate.

"Yes, but for how long?" Aida sounded defeated. "Why couldn't I save him?"

"I don't know." And I didn't. I wasn't sure what to think anymore. I could feel the world begin to tilt, and not in our favor. It had started with the letter announcing that Magnus was most likely dead. It turned out he wasn't but I felt it then. That was the turning point. Slowly we were being pushed further and further over the edge until we would fall. Our time was running out and I could feel the end drawing near.

And it was closer then I could ever have imagined. It came knocking on our door that night. I heard their shouts from downstairs. They must have seen her come this way. Together, Aida and I huddled in the corner furthest away from the stairs leading down to the hidden doorway. I held her tightly in my arms. My heart was pounding faster then it ever had before. It beat so fast that I feared it would finally give out on me. With all my adventures I was surprised it hadn't already stopped.

We heard them force their way through the front door. I couldn't tell if they were bounty hunters or knights. It didn't matter though. They both came for the same reason, but they weren't getting Aida without a fight. I prayed to the triple goddess that they would not find the secret stairs, but my prayers would not be answered.

"Will they find us?" I heard Aida whisper beside me, but I was silent. "Joone, I'm scared."

"So am I." In truth I was terrified. "But we have to be brave now. We must be strong and keep hope alive." But even my hope was dwindling.

"If this is the end…"

"No, don't say that." I cut her off.

"No, but if it is I just want to thank you for everything you've done for me." Her voice had calmed and the tremor was gone. "You've given me four extra years. Without you I would have died at the young age of thirteen. I'm seventeen now and it has been a magical four years. I found a family that would never abandon me, and I found love." She didn't have to say it but I knew she was thinking of Jasper.

"The past four years haven't been dull." I admitted. "I think back to that day when Magnus first brought you to me and I wonder what would have happened if I had said no and I can't imagine it. I can't imagine my life without you in it, Aida."

"I'm glad you're here Joone." I heard her start to cry again. "I'm glad it was always you."

"Aida?" I whispered.

"Yes?"

"If you travel the world will you always come back to me?"

"Always." She whispered in the dark.

We heard the ruckus downstairs as they tore my house apart. Eventually they came to the cabinet. It cried out as they pushed it over, revealing its secret. It didn't take them long to get up the stairs and spot us in the corner. It tightened my grip around Aida. They would not take her from me.

The clanking of metal rang through the dark. They were knights from Camelot. In only a few long strides they were upon us. Aida screamed as they grabbed hold of her arm, trying to pull her away. They pulled us to our feet.

"Leave her." I yelled, lashing out at those closest.

"Joone!" I heard her cry as they pulled her from me.

"Aida!" A couple of the knights grabbed me from behind, trying to break us apart. I still had hold of her hands.

"Don't let go." Tears were streaming down her face.

"Don't do this." I begged them but they would not listen. "She's only a girl. She hasn't hurt anyone." What scared me the most was the fact that the knights didn't say anything. They were silent as they tore families apart, never questioning. We were no different from the others who wept and resisted. "Please!" But it was no use, I felt my fingers slipping.

"Don't forget." Our eyes met. "Don't forget." She repeated.

"I will never forget." I promised.

"Joone!" She cried as her hands finally slipped from mine.

"Aida." I yelled through my tears. "No!"

One of the knights who held me rammed the hilt of his sword into my gut, winding me. In my dazed state I felt one of them bind my hands. I gasped for air, but they had silenced me. They also gave me a hard blow to the back of the head, knocking me to my knees, but I was still conscious enough to feel the pain.

"No!" I heard Aida scream as they dragged her down the stairs and away from me. The knights didn't let me go until they were sure the others had taken Aida outside the house. Then they threw me to the floor with my hands tied behind my back. I was still gasping for air and I could not get to my feet.

They left me there like that, and made their way down the stairs and out of the house. Everything was silent for a few heart-stopping moments. Then I heard a smash as something was thrown through the attic window. I caught a glimpse of the flames on the torch as it rolled across the room. They were setting the house alight with me still inside.

I always thought my end would be by flame, except maybe in the middle of a square with a large crowd watching my last moments. I always imagined, before the fire consumed me, that I would yell some rebellious comment. But my breath was taken from me now and I said nothing. I thought I had more time. But you don't realize how short time is until the end of the story is staring you right in the face.

Four years, eight months, and three days. That's how long it's been, to the day. The hourglass that used to sit by my bed has been smashed and the sand spread out across the floor. Spots danced across my vision as the house caught on fire and it felt like the air was sucked from the room.

I was alone in the middle of my secret that was now falling down around me. The old cabinet had caught on fire and it burned. Oh how it burned. Everything was blurring in front of me. My eyes were watering because of the smoke. I lay still there, on the floor, as the fire circled around me, consuming everything in its path. We knew this would happen. We knew that we wouldn't be able to run and hide forever, but at least we tried.

I gathered up the remaining air in my lungs for one last act of defiance. They could not silence me.

"I will never forget."

And then the world went dark around me.

Thanks for reading and please REVIEW!

This was always how it was going to happen.

The REVIEWS have been brilliant. Guest, whoever you are, I love you're REVIEWS, along with all the others. The anonymous ones have been especially fantastic and inspiring.

You didn't think this was the ending did you.

Hope you keep following because the final battle for freedom is looming ever closer. Will Jasper and Aida ever see each other again? Will they survive till the end?

See you next time to find out.