…Three days ago…

Paige walked into her apartment and found a trail of rose petals leading to a note on the kitchen counter. On the note read, "Meet me at the restaurant where we had our first date."

With a gleeful smile, she left the apartment and drove out to Tony's. She parked her car and headed towards the restaurant only to be greeted by the restaurant manager himself, Tony.

"Miss Paige! Henry is waiting for you in our private dining area," he said as he escorted her towards the back of the restaurant. They turned a corner and went through the kitchen to the backdoor of the restaurant. When Tony opened the door, she was welcomed by a quaint little nook. The back patio was surrounded and secluded by stone walls which had overgrown ivy dripping over the sides. She was mesmerized by the soothing sounds of cascading water, which were dripping over the multi-level lips of the fountain. Her eyes gazed at the fountain which was placed strategically by the only table where Henry sat. At the sight of Paige, Henry stood up next to the candlelit dinner he had waiting for her.

"What's all this?" she said as she blinked with surprise at the setup.

"It's our anniversary," Henry said as he extended his hand to greet her.

"Is it?" she asked with astonishment as she placed her hand in his.

"Come, have a seat before dinner gets cold," said Henry as he guided her to her seat. Paige sat down across from Henry as he lifted the covered meals; Pot roast, baked potato and fresh seasoned vegetables. As she inhaled the fragrant aromas she became swept away by Henry's romantic gesture.

"I still can't believe you did all this. It's all so romantic," Paige replied with amazement.

"Well we have been dating for quite some time and… you know I wouldn't do this for anyone unless they were really special," said Henry proudly as he sat down across from her. They both ate and talked about their day as they casted loving smiles at each other. When they both had their full of the delicious dinner Paige sighed while wiping a napkin across her face, "Wow! I never realized how famished I was. This was delicious Henry. Thank you."

"Well, I wanted to ask you something and I wanted to ask you in the right setting. Now I know we've only been living together for about a year and half, but in its entirety we've been together for three years." Paige waited for his question with bated breath. Could this be the day? Did she dress properly for this? She looked quickly down at her outfit and realized it didn't matter. Her life would be changing forever. Henry continued, "I've talked this over with both of our families and… I think it's time to take our relationship to the next level…"

"Yes?..." she said with a loving gasp. She couldn't wait. The moment was overwhelming. This was it. Henry reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out… not a ring.

He pulled out a rolled up parchment and opened it up in front of her, "Would you like to get an apartment together? It's the lease to the apartment to renew! This time your name will be on it too and then we'll be official!" Disappointment had fallen upon her face. Upon seeing her disappointment, his face fell too. "What is it? What's wrong? I thought you would be happy."

"Henry!" she cried out in disappointment. "I thought you were going to propose to me!"

Tears formed in her eyes as she realized how sorely mistaken she was. Henry's jaw fell agape as he stared at the floor trying to think of where he went wrong.

"But… I told you," Henry said as he looked into her tear-soaked eyes. "I wasn't ready for that kind of commitment yet. I've got too much on my plate right now. I'm trying to find everybody's happy endi-"

"I'm busy, I'm running the shop, I'm meeting another client today," mocked Paige angrily. "You're so busy finding everyone else's happy ending that you've forgotten about the happiness that's right in front of your face!"

"But I am busy! You know how important my work is," claimed Henry trying to reason with her.

"Yes! You are busy! And yes, you're work is important, but what about us?! What about our happy ending? Did you ever stop to think about that?!" exclaimed Paige as she got up from the table and made her way towards the patio's exit.

Stunned that the evening didn't go as planned, he called to her, "Where are you going?"

"I'm getting my belongings from the apartment and staying with my father for a while. Call me when you decide to stop chasing after everyone else's dreams and are ready to focus on us."

Paige left through the patio courtyard's gate and departed from the restaurant in her car, leaving Henry alone and confused. He tossed his napkin down on the table and stewed angrily at how unsuccessful the evening went.

… …

After paying the bill at the restaurant he left. Frustrated and fuming, he headed straight to the shop. He unlocked the door and entered. He flicked his wrist and the lights turned on instantly. He tossed his keys onto the display case counter in front of him and leaned against it.

"I've come too damn far to fall short!" he shouted rhetorically to himself in the empty room. "My work is important! I don't need her! Good! Another distraction gone!" he yelled, hoping that the statements would somehow sound better than they did in his head. But they didn't and he didn't mean any of them. He really did love her, but his work started way before he had even met her and it was everything to him. It was his purpose. But marriage? It was the last thing on his mind.

They had speculated their future together before on a couple of occasions, but in his mind he had thought he made it quite clear that marriage was something he simply wasn't ready for. But what was he not ready for? He wondered. He tried to think of all the reasons for his deficiency but came up insufficient.

Had he really been all that blind to have missed the signs? Were they really ready to commit the rest of their lives to each other? Did he love her? Would he fight for her happiness? Was she in love with him? Did she care about him as much as he cared for her? As he asked himself those very questions he realized that the answers to all of them were the same. Yes. He thought about all the wonderful moments they shared together over the past three years. The random picnics they shared together outside the shop. The long walks into the woods just talking about life. The nights they stayed in and watched rented movies as they ate popcorn. The rare but occasional family interactions they had with each others' family. His fight with Jefferson to prove his worth for Grace. He might have felt worthy of her then, but he certainly didn't feel worthy of her now.

"She's right," he admitted shamefully in a more subdued voice. She deserved more. She deserved better. Realizing his own foolishness he suddenly cursed, "Dammit!"

Out of anger he slammed his balled up fist through one of the display cases beside him and glass shattered all around him. Upon seeing the broken glass pieces, he realized the extent of his frustration and stopped to breathe. He cooled down for a bit and stared at the items in the broken case. The emerald necklace his mother lent him shimmered in the dull light. He pulled it out of the rubble and stared at it. With an available hand he waved over the broken display case and it magically reassembled itself. By the time the case was assembled it looked as if nothing ever happened. The necklace remained in his hand as he leaned upon the newly formed counter to inspect the item closer.

He knew when he borrowed Zelena's necklace from his mother's vault that it was intended for Neal. Even after he had experimented with it and had deemed it safe, he still felt wrong about using it on his uncle. His beliefs interfered with what his uncle really wanted. To be normal. Henry didn't understand the embarrassment of magic. If anything that confused him too. Henry never showed or used the necklace on Neal and had for the past year, been secretly teaching him lessons instead. Another distraction. Paige was a distraction. Everything and everyone was a distraction.

When was the last time he did any further research on his grandfather's mission? The truth was, the research had been slow-moving due to family and work obligations all of which were clawing for his attention. He had no time to look into the mystery mission. Henry gave out a huff and decided determinedly that he was going to take that time now. After putting the necklace back into the display case he walked quickly into the back private office. He pulled out the book, Wielders of Magic from the shelf of Mr. Gold's magical library and resumed where he left off in his reading.

He flipped open the book to the page where he left off and removed the bookmark. In the book and in alphabetical order revealed all the sorcerers and witches from the Enchanted Forest. Some of their biographies were short and unfinished, while others were unnecessarily long-winded. Alphabetically, Henry left off on the letter 'M' and it was where he resumed.

Merkis the Miser: Collector of all things random and lost objects. Resides in the caves of Purple Lion Mountains during the spring to hibernate and ventures out only in winter. It is only during the winter season that the Miser leaves to search for items abandoned to the country's harsh winters.

Merlinus Clas Myrddin: Also known as Merlin…

Henry stopped and reread the passage again.

Merlinus Clas Myrddin: Also known as Merlin, Merlyn, Myrddin Wyllt, Merlinus Caledonensis, Merlin Ambrosius Aurelianus. Origins remain unknown. Power is believed to derive from his enchanted cap. Has prophetic knowledge of the future and the ability to travel to different times as well as different realms. Guardian to the Holy Grail and is the sole advisor to Arthur because of their intertwined destinies to each other. Loved a woman named Nimue, but was tricked by a sorceress named Cora for not revealing the secrets to his power and was trapped in the cold mountains of the Enchanted Forest where he currently resides. To this day, the whereabouts of the Holy Grail are unknown and will remain a secret until Merlin is woken from his cursed slumber.

Merlin… Arthur… Why didn't he think to make the connection before? The sorcerer's hat. The sorcerer's hat belonged to Merlin.

Throughout the past year, Henry had secretly ventured into the Enchanted Forest. During his mission to complete his grandfather's quest he had called to his watch to take him to Arthur, but had no success. On another occasion he had even ventured to the infamous Camelot, but was surprised to have discovered only a desolate and abandoned city that had fallen to curses, battle and time. It was only during the past few months that Henry finally braved the visit to his grandfather's Dark Castle. He knew that if some of the items in his Pawn Shop were dangerous, then he needed to enter the castle with extreme caution. He did his best to spend as much time as he could to comb the castle thoroughly, but his time of course was limited. With obligations and family beckoning for his attention at home, he was unable to complete the careful examination of his grandfather's castle.

Henry was given very little information about the quest, only what was left behind in the note attached to the watch. While searching through his grandfather's castle, he tried to find a clue or any information in regards to Arthur or The Sorcerer, but Rumplestiltskin was not a fool. Rumplestiltskin would never carelessly leave obvious clues to follow so it made Henry's quest both tedious and dangerous. However challenging Henry's search was, this time was different and the only difference between then and now was that now he knew who the sorcerer was and it made his search for the hat much easier.

This was the moment Henry was waiting for. It was now or never. Henry took out Cogsworth from the inside of his breast pocket and stared at it. He reminisced how it first came into his possession.

He was a novice at magic and wanted an object to test a traveling spell he learned from a book. He searched for that object in the Pawn Shop and saw the watch Mr. Gold was fixing in his hands. Mr. Gold never took cash from Henry, but instead had him work at the Pawn Shop to pay off the bill for the watch. Then Rumplestiltskin found out about his magic. Since at the time Henry didn't want either of his mothers to know about his abilities another deal was struck. So Gold taught Henry magic in exchange for his silence about Henry's magic. His whole reason for casting the Traveling spell onto the watch was so that he could visit the place where resurrecting the dead was possible. He thought that by bringing his father, Neal, back from the dead that he would be happy, but in the end it didn't make his father happy. Was this watch an omen? Or another opportunity for happiness?

No matter how he looked at the watch, Henry could hear Regina's voice in his head, "…with the power you have now, you need to make sure that every decision you make is with a good heart, a good conscience and for the right reasons. Because once you make a decision, you can't go back."

His heart and conscience were good and his reasons were unselfish ones. He sincerely wanted to find everyone's happy ending. Henry made his decision and called to the watch, "Cogsworth, take me to Merlin in the Enchanted Forest."

In a showering orange glow, Henry disappeared from the Pawn Shop.

… …

Henry opened his eyes to darkness as he tucked the pocket-watch back into his pocket. He could hear drops of water echo throughout the cave he suddenly found himself in. He opened up his hand and a fireball appeared. With the fire cradled in the palm of his hands, he turned this way and that to get a better understanding of his surroundings. Without uttering a word, he gestured the fireball from his hand to float above his head like a lighted torch to light his way.

Henry moved forward and squinted into the darkness. All he could see was rock. He shuffled tentatively forward across the graveled ground. With each crunching step that ricocheted off the surrounding walls he wondered what the great and powerful Merlin was doing in a place like this. It wasn't until he stepped on something soft that he realized he was no longer walking on stone. He stepped back off of the soft ground and immediately inspected the mysterious terrain. With a cue of his hand, he commanded the fireball to come closer to the ground before him.

Moss… Grass… in a dark, dank cave? As the fire's light moved over the questionable mound he noticed the mound getting larger. The grass and moss melded with light-grey hair and the hair led to the sleeping face of the man he was looking for.

"Merlin?" questioned Henry as he bent forward removing years of green growth from the old wizard's body. The fingertips of Henry's hand accidentally brushed Merlin's face and upon contact the sleeping man's eyes shot open. At the sudden movement Henry became startled and fell backwards onto the ground. Merlin rustled slowly and unearthed himself from his earthy blanket. As the wizard gradually stood up, Henry could hear every crack of the old man's bones.

"My, my, my…" yawned the wizard, "that was quite the nap if I do say so myself." Merlin extended his arms and stretched some more. With every gesture of the old man, more cracks and pops of his joints were heard. "Lesson learned, never trust a pretty woman without getting to know her name first." Merlin turned his body fully toward Henry and squinted at him as if trying to identify him. "You're not a woman are you?"

"Uh… no."

"Oh good, good, good. Some women have baritone voices you know. They can be very tricky like that. Wouldn't want to start off on the wrong foot… Wrong foot! Ha ha! What a funny phrase! You need both feet to walk correctly, so inherently both feet are right. However, if you have two actual right feet, well then, I guess the phrase makes sense," he babbled to himself as he smacked his dry lips.

"Sir," started Henry hesitantly as he got up onto his feet again, "my name is-"

"-Henry. Yes, yes, I know who you are. I've been waiting for you," Merlin said impatiently as he got closer to him, "but I can't see you. Let us adjourn to a place with better lighting. I want to see you with my own two eyes." Merlin said as he looked around aimlessly. Henry waited awkwardly for something to happen, but instead Merlin sighed impatiently.

"Is something wrong?" Henry asked.

"Oh yes. I can't seem to find my materials. Without them, I can't perform my magic."

"I can help you. What would you like me to do?"

"I need light, boy!" said Merlin as he smacked Henry's chest with frustration as if scolding him for not knowing. "Must I do all the thinking? I said I needed light so give me more light! The witch who trapped me used dark magic. Only light can get us out and now I can't see a darn thing!"

"More light? You need more… light magic?" wondered Henry, completely confused. "But this fireball I've created has light…" said Henry as he pointed toward the glowing orb hovering above them.

"Let me guess," said the bearded hunchback wizard. "You learned how to do that using dark magic, possibly from a dark sorceress I bet."

"She's not a dark sorceress anymore!" exclaimed Henry defensively. "She's my mother!"

"Ooooo!" Merlin taunted playfully. "Sensitive are we? You're right. Maybe you're not a woman after all. Maybe you're just a pansy."

"For a person who's been trapped for a very long time and is now being rescued, you don't sound very grateful."

Merlin cackled at Henry's comment. "You were right about my being trapped, the rescuing part… well that still remains to be seen." Merlin left Henry stunned as he started to wander off into the cave in an aimless direction, humming a random off-pitch melody to himself.

"Light magic. Light magic," repeated Henry as if coaching himself to focus. All the lessons he had ever learned were from people who possessed or used to possess dark magic. Unlike Regina, Emma's "magic lessons" were basically magic-less. She believed in the power of self-reliance, hard work and cunning and to only use magic when it was absolutely necessary. One of the lessons he had learned from her was to never underestimate the power of True Love. Henry knew Emma was the product of True Love, so inherently her magic was naturally "light magic". As fortunate as he was to have had such a well-rounded magical education from both of his mothers, it was unfortunate that none of the lessons he had learned from either one of them were helping him at the moment. Henry tried to concentrate, but with Merlin's obnoxious humming in the background it made his task to think more challenging. "Could you keep it down? I can't think."

"Think, think, think, nag, nag, nag. You had all the time in the world to do both those things before arriving here. If one has a way to get in, then one surely has a way to get out. So the real question is how did you arrive here?"

Henry felt Cogsworth within his jacket pocket and suddenly realized, that the spell he used to create Cogsworth was never taught by anyone except himself. It was made out of love for his own father; his own light magic. "I do have a way out!"

Henry reached for the wizard's hand and asked, "Where would you like to go?"

"To your grandfather's castle."

"Snow White and Prince Charming's castle?" Henry asked unsure.

"Are you as tall as you are stupid? I meant the Dark One's castle."

"You don't have to be mean," stated Henry. This Merlin was not at all as he had imagined from the books he had read or the movies he had watched and he was starting to regret his decision to come.

"And you don't have to be so thick."

Reluctantly, Henry took out his enchanted pocket-watch and called out, "Cogsworth, take me-"

"Us!" corrected Merlin quickly.

"-Us… to the Dark One's castle."

In an orange glow, the two disappeared from the cave and reappeared at the steps of the Dark One's castle.

My deepest apologies for the belated posting. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. Things are starting to heat up now in my story. What do you guys think about Merlin so far? He's a bit crotchety, isn't he? Lol.

Thank you Imusicluver23, ladybugsmomma, NatalieMosherRumbelle, Grace5231973, BreathingintheSun, and Montreat11 for your well appreciated reviews! You guys are seriously the best. Next chapter we'll see what happens to Henry and Merlin at the Dark One's castle. Not gonna lie, I'm a bit nervous about posting this next chapter. Not only is it the most crucial part of my story, it's also the most complicated to explain. I hope it answers some of the questions you have. I also hope that what I'm trying to convey makes sense on your end. Oh well. I suppose we won't know until I actually post it, but until then see you next chapter!