Chapter 37: Epilogue

Merlin was walking through the forest, leading Morgana by the hand. It had been more than a month since the Saxon attacked Albion, since he almost lost Morgana, since Dragoon left. A month which all Albion had spent putting itself back together.

The kings that had taken part of the battle had signed a treaty creating an alliance among them, with the hope of one day unite all Albion under the same banner. There was still a long way to go, but it was a step in the right direction. As for the kingdoms that had allied with the Saxons, Arthur decided to give them a chance to redeem themselves by helping with the repairs of the damage the invader army had caused. While they had helped the enemy, they had also lost much at their hands. In the end, all of them had accepted Arthur's terms.

Despite the fear of some druids, magic was still legal in Camelot, and Arthur had started talking to some of the other kingdoms to make it legal in all Albion. There had even been talks of creating a place where sorcerers could teach others about their craft, but there was much to rebuild before getting there.

One of the druid elders, Lochru, perished in the battle. After the funeral, the remaining elders deliberated with a few other druids who should be the one to occupy his place. It was the shortest deliberation that they ever had, and afterwards, Mordred became the youngest druid in all history to become an elder. At first he wasn't very sure if he was up to the task, but after a private talk with Arthur, he accepted the position gladly. Merlin still wondered what Arthur had said to him.

Percival had healed from his wounds as if they had been just a scratch, while Gwaine was still recovering from his. Even then, Gwaine could defeat every other knight in battle. Well, every other knight except Ariel. According to Gwaine, he let her win. No one believed him.

As for Arthur, he had become the natural leader of the alliance without anyone having to say anything. The other kings sent messengers to him so they could coordinate their movements and decide what they should rebuild next. Arthur had no idea how that had happened, but he didn't mind. He had been a bit worried that this might mean he would have less time for Camelot, but after the battle Gwen had become more and more involved in Camelot's official affairs, up to the point where Arthur could actually take a break once in a while.

Merlin still had no news of Dragoon itself, but he heard that some kind of revolution had taken place in the Saxon's kingdom. Apparently, several rebel groups had all decided to take over the city at the same time, in a surprisingly coordinated fashion. What were the odds of that?

"Is it much farther, Merlin?" Morgana asked, still following him.

"No, we are almost there," he replied. "Look."

Morgana looked towards where Merlin was pointing. She could see a large clearing, and in the middle of it rested a small cabin. She knew that place enough to know that it wasn't there before.

"Where did that come from?"

"Well... I know you don't feel comfortable living in the castle again, and your place in Kilgharrah's cave is not what you would call a permanent thing, so I made you this," Merlin said. "Do you like it?"

"You did this alone?" Morgana asked.

"Yes," Merlin replied. Morgana looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Well, Arthur might had helped a bit," Merlin said. Morgana still hold her look. "And a few workers," Merlin conceded, "doesn't matter, the point is that it is yours. What do you think?"

"I think it's lovely," Morgana said. "Thank you." She pulled him towards her and kissed him.

"I'm glad you like it, come, let me show you the inside," Merlin said, pulling her once more.

When Merlin opened the door, Morgana was expecting something similar to her old hovel, but she was deadly wrong. The place was so beautiful that it was hard to believe that it was just a cabin in the middle of the forest; it could have easily been the inside of a palace. Not only that, but it also was considerable larger than her old place. Almost impossible large, if she had seen the outside of the place correctly. It would seem that Merlin did help building it.

"Oh, Merlin..." she said, amazed of what she was seeing. "It's beautiful." She took a few steps inside and looked around the place. "It's a bit too big just for me though."

"Yes, it is."

Morgana noticed something strange in Merlin's tone and she turned around. He was down on one knee and he was holding a ring in his right hand.

"Morgana, if I'm honest with myself I have to admit that I wanted to ask you this for a while now, but at first you were a princess, then you were evil, then you disappeared, then I was immortal, then you were on the run, then everyone wanted to kill us, then even more people wanted to kill us, and I know that we haven't been dating that much, but at the same time we know each other for years, and yes, I know that this might be a bit crazy, but I really feel like—"

"Merlin," Morgana said, with a wide smile on her face, "just say it."

"You are right," Merlin said, noticing he was rambling. "Morgana Le Fey, will you marry me?" he asked. "And just for the record, you get to keep the house either way."

Morgana couldn't stop smiling. "Hmm, I don't know," she teased. "For us, the 'until death do us part' clause doesn't work that well."

Merlin returned her smile. "Fair enough, what do you say if we review this in say... five hundred years?"

"Make it a thousand," Morgana replied.

"So, is that a 'yes'?" Merlin asked, raising his eyebrows

"Of course is a 'yes', Merlin," Morgana said, as if it was obvious. She dropped to her knees to be at Merlin's eye level. "Yes, I will marry you," she repeated. Morgana didn't know what surprise her the most, saying those words, or actually meaning them.

Merlin's face lit up. He grabbed Morgana's hand and slid the ring on her finger. It was a silver ring with a small round gem on top of it. Morgana was having trouble figuring what kind of gem that was.

"It's a emephire," Merlin explained, "or maybe a sappherald? I just created it," he said, proudly. "It's the mix of the emerald and a sapphire," he added. "You now because of—"

"Yes, I got the reference," Morgana told him.

"I thought it was nice," Merlin said, with a hint of a question.

"Well, you thought right," Morgana replied, still looking at it.

They looked at each other and they kissed. Both of them were having trouble believing this was actually happening. It was just too perfect to be real. There was nothing that could ruin the moment.

"Cloudy, come back!" someone outside exclaimed.

Merlin and Morgana tried to ignore it. This was their moment, and theirs alone. Whatever it was it would probably go away.

"Cloudy! CLOUDY!"

Or maybe not.

"I think we should see what's that about," Merlin said, drawing back from their kiss.

"You're probably right," Morgana replied, still smiling. With all that just happened, it would probably be a few hours before she could actually stop smiling.

They stood up and walked to the door hand by hand. They just didn't want to be apart from each other. They couldn't.

Outside, Nadia was following Aithusa, who was trying to escape from the little one's hugs.

"I've told you, I'm not Cloudy. My name is Aithusa," the dragon told her.

"No, you are Cloudy!"

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

Morgana squeezed Merlin's hand and placed her head on his shoulder, while they both watched the two children discussing with each other. Merlin returned the gesture, placing his head on top of Morgana's.

"Is this what you wanted, Morgana?" Merlin asked.

Morgana couldn't believe it. All the years she had lived afraid of that question, all the times she had had nightmares about it, and it turned out to be the most beautiful question she had ever heard. She couldn't help a small tear from falling down her cheek.

"Is more," she replied. "So much more."

Merlin moved in front of her. "For future reference then," he said, looking at her, "there is always another way." And before Morgana could reply anything, he kissed her.

###

No man, no matter how great, can know his destiny.

He cannot glimpse his part in the great story that is about to unfold.

Like everyone, he must live and learn.

And so it will be for the warlock standing outside the gates of Camelot.

A man who has now become a legend.

His name:

Merlin.

###

A/N: I hope you liked it!

First of all, it's still 'tomorrow' so I didn't lie xD.

Second of all, I FINISHED IT! Woooooooo!

I really hope you liked the ending (and the rest of it as well xD).

I'm really tired right now, so I won't write much more. In a few days I will upload a 'thanks' chapter where I will discuss some of the ideas of these two chapters, tell you about some ideas I decided not to use, answer some of the reviews and all that, but first I need to feel my fingers again.

Just one thing, anyone actually thought I would kill Morgana after all this xD?