"Now wait, wait, wait for me, please hang around
I'll see you when I fall asleep"
Once a week Merlin could be found sitting on the edge of the waterfall humming the hymn Arthur sang at Morgana's subtle and simple funeral. Morgana had stuck around Camelot for several months to keep an eye on Merlin's recovery. Gwen kept him busy when Arthur wasn't ordering him to do chores or go on quests to solve mysteries in the outlying villages. As they aged and found themselves developing cricks and creaks the more their focuses became politically based. Regardless of where his loyalties lied and where his business left him he always returned to share the precious evening moments with a ghost he didn't know existed.
On a few occasions Morgana thought that Merlin was finding love in another woman but he always saw something in her that reminded him of Morgana. He professed these things to Arthur which she conveniently was always just present to witness from time to time. She was comforted and pained by this news. She wanted him to be happy but she didn't want him to forget who she was to his heart. At night when she'd get worried about him and sneak back to make sure he was well it was her name that he muttered.
Morgana had been avoiding Camelot in the winter times when Merlin was home most often. She would enjoy nature's beauty aware that Merlin was safe and sound inside Camelot's walls. Only every few weeks she'd check on him to ensure he'd not caught a cold. If the times were particularly dull in the forest she would hang back and watch him sleep. Being a ghost could be boring but knowing that her love was still waiting for the day when they could meet again made the time passing significantly more tolerable.
The winter that followed, the first winter Morgana strayed out of Camelot's grounds to see what else there was to explore, was the same winter that Morgana came back to find Merlin dressed in the same dark garb that he'd worn the night she'd died. The body being mourned? Morgana found that Gaius who had regained contact with his magic after all the dormant years serving under Uther. It allowed him a life of excruciatingly fantastic length but everyone finds that their time comes and they must go as instructed.
Morgana found Merlin sitting on the foot of his bed. The loneliness was apparent in his eyes. His features were ages and his body obviously weak. Morgana knew how she looked in comparison. Radiot. Young. Beautiful. This wasn't to say that Merlin was unattractive in his timed appearance. She guessed whether or not she should show herself to the man she loved who looked worse than Death itself. A single tear escaped his eye and splattered against the dusty floor. She knew she could not remain hidden.
"Merlin?" Her voice was startling to both Merlin and herself. She'd only spoken a handful of times in her new state. She was a transparent version of her young self. Her voice was timid and barely audible. Regardless of how it sounded Merlin turned around in his room recognizing the tone.
"Morgana? Morgana? Morgana!" He hooted into the air hoping to find her. She slid into view from the stone walls. Merlin's eyes bulged from his head, unsure whether or not he was really seeing the soul of his one and only love stepping out. He slid onto his knees and ran his hands through his hair with true surprise. Morgana could see the thoughts tracing themselves across every memory of her when she lived and the results after her death. "Why now? Why now!" He demanded of her. Her clear hands cupped his face soon after and she shook her head.
"You didn't need me until now, love. To show myself in a time when you were fine would have been selfish. You will lose your mind trying to find ways to continue a love that cannot exist between the living and the dead, now, and it was my duty to you not to ruin it until there was nothing left to lose." Merlin tried to lean in and kiss the woman but Morgana was not really there for him to feel. It was a chilly air that looked like her and nothing more. Merlin growled in anger and turned around fiercely.
"I want to touch you. I want to feel you. I've waited too long." She could see the madness already and knew the effects would be rapid. It was not her intention to do this damage so young but the only person left to die was Arthur, and Merlin could bare that no better than he did when she left him behind. Gwen was a strong woman and if Arthur died before she then nobody else was better fit to be the last standing. Morgana wished it hadn't come to this for her lover. She saw no other way.
"Merlin, those things are not possible. Not yet. When your time comes we will be together again." Merlin slammed himself into the nearest wall and screeched again, covering his ears and closing his eyes. Morgana covered her mouth and felt the chill escaping again. She tried to maintain her own feelings. "I will stay until you fall asleep, my dear, but I cannot come back again. I love you too much to watch this spiral. You have much left to do."
His knuckles were bleeding and his shirt was tearing from where he yanked at the stitches and buttons. His pants sagged down and his blanket was soon pulled up to his chin. Morgana lay in the small bed, her soul mingling temporarily with his as she rest next to the grown man. He mumbled about her presence, cursed her hiding from him, but most of all swore to himself he'd see her soon. He would do whatever it took. Morgana waited until the sun rose before she left. There was nothing left for her in Camelot. She wouldn't come back.