It was his mother.

Time stood still, the leaves in the air froze as his magic reacted against his control, animals wandering around paused their movements, a deer's head an inch from the grass it was going to feed on, a squirrel half way up the tree to chase its mate. But none of that mattered to Merlin, the only he focussed on was the ethereal presence of his mother.

Hunith spread her arms out as if meaning to embrace him, he rushed forward abandoning all common sense and gut instincts of danger for the hope that his mother was here with him, never to leave him again. As soon as he was close enough to fold into her embrace he passed through her, Merlin's fingers grabbed into empty air and Huniths figure disappeared for a moment before re appearing, becoming slightly less translucent.

One word came out of his mouth, one sad whisper that seemed break Hunith's heart, causing a lump to form in her throat

'Mother?'

She gently raised her shaking hand as if to cup his face and Merlin automatically moved his face towards her palm, an action done so many times by them it seemed instinctual, but she knew that she couldn't, she knew that all the wishing in the world would not let her to hold her son once more, to let her touch him and comfort him, eyes locked to hers, she gazed back at him, both of them as desperate as the other, not wishing to break the eye contact but trying to memorise every detail. Every small thing seemed important to Merlin, despite her short stature, she stood proud, making her taller than her son. Her blue eyes searching his face for any hardships Merlin faced. The wrinkles on her face, now smoothed out. Her once grey hair, now black. Her kind eyes crinkled with sadness as she caught herself thinking of how her son, her one and only child would never feel the warmth or the love of a mother again.

'I'm sorry mother, I could have saved you' the words grew quieter until he broke off at the end, unable to stop the sob rising

'It was my time, you know that? There was nothing you could have done, nothing' She whispered to him, using the calming voice a child often hears their mother use after they've been through a bad day

'But I could have done something, I wasn't there for you!' Self-loathing crept into his voice, how many times had he abandoned his loved ones purely because he was selfish? How many times had others suffered because he was too late?

'You were distraught Merlin! Arthur had just gone and I was old, it was my time to go!' At the mention of Arthur Merlin had flinched. Yet another person in Merlin's life that he didn't save, another person he failed.

Merlin's face was streaked with tears he was finding it hard to breathe as a hot pain gripped his lungs and oxygen ceased to enter his body. The pain travelled to his veins as the pain grew, more painful and hotter. Confused, Merlin flicked through the knowledge in his mind trying to find out why the pain was spreading.

Letting out a massive cry he fell to his hands and knees, the pain rushed through his veins; growing, spreading to every crevice of his body, pooling at his fingertips and feet. His body shook with the suppressed magic, waiting to be released until it became too much to bear. His mother was kneeling beside him, asking, begging him to open his eyes.

'Merlin? Merlin! Look at me, my dear son open your eyes please! It's going to alright, trust me. Please my boy look at me!'

His head snapped upwards and he let out an animalistic roar. Hunith immediately clapped her hands to her ears, eyes screwed shut, a few tears leaking out. Eyes gold and fingers gold, his magic fluctuated, it was wild and free escaping his body…and it was dangerous, movement returned to the forest. Animals scurried away and birds screeched to escape the build-up of power and magic. And then. It stopped.

An eerie silence fell on the forest, Hunith gingerly removed her fingers from her ears and squinted at her son the gold light gradually fading until all she was her son, her beautiful baby boy collapsed on the floor leaves gracefully scattered around his body.

He woke to a gentle voice and a wetness on his forehead.

'Golden slumbers kiss your eyes,
Smiles await you when you rise.
Sleep,
pretty baby,
do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby.' A pretty voice sang immediately recognising the lullaby being sang by his mother he let out a sigh and gave a soft smile before nestling into her as he did for so many nights' centuries ago. The voice wavered here, however came back strongly.
'Cares you know not,
therefore sleep,
while over you a watch I'll keep.
Sleep,
pretty darling,
do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby.' The lullaby was so ingrained in his mind he hummed along, allowing merlin to practically hear his mother smile through the lullaby

The song stopped but the wetness and the gentle rubbing of his hair remained, he sat up, back straightened, eyes wide.

'Is this real? I can actually….' He asked wonder in his voice

'Yes my boy, it's real'

He cupped her face tenderly as if her presence was a mere illusion that would shatter by a touch. Tears leaked out of her eyes, quickly wiping them away with his thumbs he whispered

'But how?'

'Does it really matter? When you fell I feared for you so so much my boy, but maybe when that happened it meant that I could now hold you in my arms.

She launched herself at him, with a gleeful face that he hadn't seen in centuries, after a few moments of embracing him and restricting him of his breathing she finally released Merlin. She tilted her head as if she were analysing him and was about to speak when she heard a voice behind her. She snapped her head to speak to them, however Merlin could see no one.

She slowly turned back to him slightly shaking

'My dear child, I do not have much time left with you, I have to return to the realm of the dead soon'

'Mother wait! There is so much I have to tell you'

'Then hurry my boy, for the raven waits for no one'

Merlin could see perched on a branch was a pure black raven, its beady eyes staring right at merlin, bowing it head it flew off, however Merlin knew that the raven would return soon to accompany his Mother back to the afterlife'

'Mother, you have done so much for me the fact that you successfully brought up an illegitimate child in Ealdor, what with all the gossip just shows exactly how strong and brave you are. You managed to hide my magic from everyone even though it always burst out at the wrong times. You never once sought revenge or held any grudge against Uther, despite the fact that he turned his back on you and most amazingly you managed to turn Arthur into less of a prat' He released a sad laugh, knowing ultimately that this would be the last goodbye.

He ducked his head and licked his lips, he had never said these words before in his life barring two times when he thought that that would be the end of his life. Saying these 3 words to him, meant that you would swear your life and your soul to that person. This meant that he rarely said those words.

He looked up and stared at his mother before firmly saying 'I love you'.

A range of emotions flickered in his mother's eyes, before they hardened, she moved forward encasing merlin in a hug, pouring out her love for him, she put one hand on the back of his neck and the other on the back of his head before whispering to him

'oh my boy, you have so many hardships facing you but remember courage can be found in the most unlikely of places Bravery is a rare and glorious quality and I know that you are the bravest person I have ever met. Goodbye my son, and don't forget that I will always love you too'

She looked at him intensely tears streaming down her face. She leaned down and placed her lips on Merlin's forehead for a few moments before letting him go. Merlin closed his eyes and scrunched his forehead, trying to memorise her touch, memorise her voice. Feeling the absence of warmth he opened his eyes to an empty forest. The sky had changed from its pinky purple colour to a dark blue. His breathing became erratic. He curled his hands up and scrunched them into his eyes, trying his hardest to stop tears leaking out.

Until he felt something cold on his shoulder…could it be metal?

Turning around to glare at the person for disturbing him Merlin nearly fainted, for right in front of him was….

A/N So chapter 2…How was it guys? As always (whoops I forgot last time) Merlin characters do not belong to me..

Also….reviews make me happy! So please feed the review monster, he's quite hungry

First fanfic so it would make my day/christmas really good if i got back some constructive criticisms or even if you just send me 'Holla!' I'll be happy