AN: Hey so I found half a chapter for this fic in my notebook and decided to finish it. I'm shaking it up a little bit this time. Also Merlin/Freya is my Merlin OTP. Hope you like it!

Hello again. It seems as though you've been enjoying our little story time. Good. There is still much to be learned. This story will tell you not of a time Merlin nearly lost his soul, but a time when his soul found its match.

In my lifetime I have noticed that you humans allow yourselves to be ruled by one thing: true love. You try to master all other things: nature, each other, even me. But love, love is powerful. Love can cause a man to act like a fool, a woman to leave her whole life behind. It can reveal secrets, heal wounds, even save lives. But I win in the end. No love, no matter how strong, is safe from my touch. Not even Merlin's.

***On Winning***

You may think I enjoy my endless victory. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is no satisfaction in sweeping up the pieces of your shattered soul. But it is my job and, alas, I have no choice but to go on with it.

Merlin had true love once. It is a rare thing for a soul as unique as Merlin's to find its mate, but he managed, just as he always did. Luck and Merlin had an interesting relationship (almost as interesting as his relationship with me, but not quite). His true love was a Druid girl named Freya. She was beautiful, filled with magic, her soul a perfect match for his. But what is a love story without a few crossed stars? Freya's fatal flaw was that she had been cursed by a vengeful witch to transform into a winged beast every night. I followed her wherever she went, keeping her company as she tore bloodily through each night, unable to control herself in her monstrous form. Our acquaintance continued for many years until the poor girl eventually found herself in a bounty hunter's cage.

But of course this story is also about Merlin. This is where our plucky young hero enters the picture. His unswerving compassion would not allow him to leave Freya to her pitiful fate. Overcome by sympathy, he released her and spirited her away to a secret alcove where she could hide.

***Merlin's Motives***

I do believe that Merlin's need to free Freya from her prison stemmed not only from his great love for others, but also from his constant fear of ending up in a cage himself. How could he condemn a fellow magic user to the overwhelming terror that plagued him night and day? The fears of the hunted are many and strong.

Once they had reached the alcove, to use a trite saying, it was love at first sight. From the very moment he saw her face in the flickering light of a floating candle flame, Merlin loved Freya. You, dear readers, might object that no such thing exists. How could you love someone you only just met? But in those days, I took people much earlier than I do now. Their only choice was to love quickly and passionately, or not at all. Today's people seem to have forgotten what that sort of love feels like. Oh, it's out there somewhere, but very few of you have been lucky enough to find it.

But as is ever so common among love stories such as these, the tale of Merlin and Freya ends in tragedy.

Sometime during the very short time they knew each other, Merlin and Freya decided to run away together. It was the only way to keep Freya safe. Of course, Fate stepped in and decreed that this would not be so. The first domino fell and the life they had planned together came crashing down around them. Before they could leave, Freya transformed. Unable to control her actions, she ran rampant around the city, only to be cornered by Arthur and his knights. I knew what would happen almost before it did. I found myself cringing as Arthur delivered the death blow, unwittingly changing the course of Merlin's life forever.

Merlin found her bleeding, dying, in the alcove where they had first met, waiting for him. He dressed her in the gown he had stolen for her. No matter what anyone else though, to him she was a princess, and she would be clothed as such. I walked with him the whole way as he carried his love to the lake of her dreams. At least he could make her happy in her final moments.

As they collapsed together on the muddy shore of the lake, I wandered off a bit. I did not want to be privy to their tearful goodbyes.

*** On Tears***

Tears do not sway me. You drench me in them, in the salty wetness of your sorrow. I feel nothing. They merely roll off my shoulders to drip on the dead.

I looked over at the sorcerer and his soulmate. It wouldn't be long now. The poor girl had only seconds left. As she gasped out her final words, I slowly walked back to where she lay and pried her soul from Merlin's arms. Merlin, mirroring me, gingerly took up her body and began his trudge toward the lake, his steps heavy with grief. I walked beside him. Freya's soul was not mine to have, only to transport. Fate had a different plan for her.

***What Was to Become of Freya***

Her destiny was intertwined with the lake that would be her grave. Her spirit would rest forever in its waters, imbuing it with her magic. She forever would be its guardian. She would be the Lady of the Lake.

Merlin summoned a small boat and filled it with ferns. He laid Freya's body on the green bed as gently as if she were asleep and he did not wish to wake her. But Freya would never wake again. He sent the boat adrift.

I laid Freya's spirit softly on the water. It floated for a moment, shimmering like oil, and then slowly drifted to the bottom where the Sidhe waited to welcome their lady.

Merlin and I stood side by side on the shore. He raised his arm, and, with a voice choked with tears, uttered a spell. The boat containing the body of his true love burst into flames. While he sank to his knees weeping, Freya was being honored beneath the rippling surface of the lake. It would be many years before Merlin would speak to her again, but she would be there, waiting.

I looked down at Merlin. His grief-stricken eyes were fixed on the flaming boat as it floated towards the center of the lake. In his hands lay a single perfect strawberry.

Freya was not the first person I took from Merlin, nor would she be the last, but Merlin would never love anyone again the way he had loved Freya. That day I did not take his soul. I took his heart.

AN: I hope that wasn't too sad…I just love them so much and the way their story ended was just awful. Please review! If you have any scenes from Merlin you'd like Death to narrate, let me know! Thanks for reading.