Epilogue

"I'm telling you, it was a warning." Morgana leaned closer to the book she had been studying for the past week. Behind her lay a pile of dusty books with leather covers, all of which Morgana had read, studied and read again ever since the war with Morgause had ended. Merlin placed his hands on her shoulders from behind and squeezed. She rolled them beneath his hands and he could feel the tension she carried.

"Morgana, come on." Merlin began to massage her shoulders and she sighed against his touch. "Today's a special day. You shouldn't be worrying about this."

"I know but-"

"Yes, I know you have a bad feeling about it but you've isolated yourself with only these books for company for so long now." Merlin spun the chair around and knelt in front of her.

"It's the only way to find out what it really meant." Morgana frowned, her nose scrunching up the way that always made Merlin smile. "If I could just find a way to communicate with-" A wailing from the other side of the room brought the two of them to their feet immediately. Morgana was the first to reach the crib and leaning down, she took hold of the newest member of their family.

"Why good morning, little one." Merlin peeked over Morgana's shoulder and offered the child a wide smile. "Up early today, aren't we?"

"Yes, we've been making a habit of that recently, haven't we Ava?" Morgana kissed her daughter on the cheek as the three made their way out of the room and down the hallway. Just as Morgana began to entertain the youngest of the Ambrosia family with a vast array of lights from her fingertips, a cry of 'momma!' and the pitter patter of tiny footsteps filled the hall. Morgana nearly toppled over as Wyatt, now almost three years old, crashed into and wrapped his arms around her legs. Merlin grabbed his son from behind and began to tickle him, causing the boy to squeal loudly, before lifting him onto his hip.

"Momma, the baby sleeping?" Wyatt almost fell out of Merlin's arms as he tried to get a better look at his baby sister. Morgana turned slightly, offering the boy what he wanted.

"No, honey, your sister just woke up." The couple watched as Ava opened her wide, blue eyes and gazed up at her brother in awe.

"She still small." Wyatt frowned and placed his hand on Ava's chest as if expecting her to grow in the next minute. Morgana and Merlin chuckled.

"She's going to be small for a while, buddy." Merlin explained. "But don't worry, soon you'll be able to play with her." Wyatt laughed joyfully at the thought of getting to teach his baby sister all the things he knew. Ava copied the sound and soon enough, the entire dark-haired family was laughing.

"We gonna be late!" Wyatt suddenly exclaimed, wriggling enough in Merlin's arms for the man to have to set him down. The boy grabbed his father's hand and tugged him forward hard, Morgana and Ava right on their heels. The mass of people gathered in the throne room quickly moved out of the family's way, allowing them a much easier path to the front where Arthur, Gwen and the bundle in the Queen's arms waited. Morgana stopped momentarily to hug Gaius, Aria and Raina and ushered Wyatt to his godmother. Damon lowered his head respectfully in her presence- as always- but his grip on Aria's hand remained firm. Morgana smiled at the thought of the young couple.

"Nice of you to show up." Arthur crossed his arms as he watched the group arrange themselves accordingly. "Thought you were going to be late…again." The king raised an eyebrow towards his sister who pinched his side in response.

"You can't have a christening without the godmother, now can you, Your Majesty." Gwen, ignoring their bickering as usual, was more concentrated on soothing the child in her arms. Little Ayden didn't seem to like the large crowd gathered before him and continued to squirm in his mother's arms- that was until Morgana handed Ava to her husband and took up the agitated Ayden. Wyatt bounced at the front of the audience, anxiously awaiting the day his sister and cousin could join him on his adventures around the castle. Arthur made a quick speech that Morgana had long learned to block out and preformed the ritual with Merlin when the time had come. Ever since Morgause had been vanquished and Arthur had taken the throne, magic had finally become accepted in the kingdom of Camelot. As the couple passed their hands over the newborn, a smile passed both their lips. Emitting Ayden's aura into the room, Morgana and Merlin had to hold back laughter as the King and Queen jumped in surprise. A wave of gold and red lines filled the throne room and surrounded the guests and palace residents alike, lingering around Aria and Raina who seemed equally as amused. The brightness of the light forced some to squint and Arthur and Gwen stared at one another, mouths agape.

"Looks like we're contagious, huh Merlin?" Morgana muttered under her breath causing her husband to snort in an attempt to remain civil. As the aura retracted itself back into Ayden, Morgana held her hand over the boy's body and muttered a spell in his ear.

"A gift, for the newest member of our family. The gift of a silver tongue to escape your father's temper." She winked, a white light flickering in her hand momentarily before she passed the child to her husband who repeated the process.

"Since we all know how much your father values intelligence," Merlin paused for the chuckles to subside. "I give you the gift of memorization so you may never forget anything you read or see."

"Thanks for that." Arthur grumbled as he took his son back from Merlin's arms. The sorcerer patted the king on the back and smiled widely. Gwen reached forward and hugged Morgana, sincerely thanking her the gifts she and Merlin had bestowed upon her son. Morgana took Ava back, the similar feeling of safety returning to her as she felt the weight of her two month old once more. The promise she had made the moment Wyatt was born was never broken- she would never again lose sight of her children- and nothing short of death would change that. She saw Wyatt adamantly telling Raina and Aria a story and their feigned enthusiasm at his more than likely exaggerated tale. She felt Merlin place his hand in hers and turned to peck him on the lips.

"See?" he stroked his wife's cheek. "I told you everything would work out." Morgana chuckled loudly and Ava squealed at the sound.

"That's right. My hero!" she exclaimed, a lingering smile on her lips. Merlin blushed as he always did when Morgana brought up the fact that she had been the one to save him. Of course, they knew she was only joking. Merlin had been the one to save her in more than one way. Ever since she had seen what they know knew to be an alternate reality in which Morgana had succumbed to her sister's manipulation, the couple had realized just how much they meant to one another. They were meant for each other- night and day, water and earth, sun and moon. Without one, the other would perish. Morgana leaned forward and kissed Merlin hard on the lips and only parted when Ava voiced a complaint.

"You know, I think it's time to expand this little family of ours." Merlin growled in her ear causing a chill to run down Morgana's spine and a wicked smile to form on her lips.

"And I think that Aria loves babysitting." Morgana squeezed her husband's hand and the two began their search for auburn-haired girl. Arthur and Gwen rolled their eyes as they saw the couple practically race down the hallway, hand in hand.

"Aren't they cute?" Gwen nudged her husband, taking off her crown and letting Ayden play with it. Arthur scoffed.

"Gross." He frowned and Gwen laughed wholeheartedly.

"Oh please, do you think we're any different?" she winked in the king's direction causing a rather impressive blush to come over his pale cheeks.

"That's my sister!" Arthur crossed his arms as the two began changing out of their ceremonial clothing.

"Shut up and kiss me." Gwen spun on her heels after she placed the now sleeping Ayden in his crib and rushed over to her husband, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting a firm kiss to his lips. It seemed as if the universe had set everything right for them and the Pendragons were finally able to move on from the tragedy that had befallen them. Now, everything was perfect and would remain that way until a new force came to threaten them once more.

Thank you all so much for sticking with me and reading Unrelenting Storm. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did and I also hope to see your names on any of my other stories! Enjoy your summers and feel free to message me at any time.