Epilogue.

Merlin stood in the deserted car park with his fists stuffed into his jacket pockets, shuffling around in his shoes. He always got jittery at this time of the day.

He felt a vibration go off next to his fingers and pulled out his phone. It was a text from Arthur:

"Come straight home."

Merlin rolled his eyes. Arthur worried too much, although he supposed he had reason to.

A car drove by cautiously, and Merlin turned around to register it, just in time to catch his reflection in the tinted glass windows before they passed. He smiled softly at what he had just seen. He'd aged quite a bit over the past eight years—aged with Arthur—and he knew deep down that this would be the last time he ever would. Merlin looked down at his shoes. It was a strange kind of sad, an almost bittersweet feeling: He'd walked this Earth for over a thousand years, and suddenly there wasn't enough time.

He had one lifetime left, and he knew he'd better make it count.

A muffled bell sounded in the distance, and after a few moments, hundreds of children stampeded through the doors of the school, some of them chatting as they found their buses, some climbing into the various Subarus and minivans that lined the street, and some older ones scampering off home on their own two feet. Amongst the crowd of little ones, Merlin spotted a head of raven hair, and waved at the boy to whom it belonged. The boy dimpled back, waved goodbye to his friends, and ran up to Merlin happily.

"Hi, Papa!" he called, and Merlin knelt down so the boy could run into his embrace. After the hug broke, Merlin ruffled the boy's hair and looked up into his big green eyes. Green, a color given to him by his surrogate mother, Lucy—Andy's wife. As it turns out, Arthur was right: There were still good people in the world.

"Alright, Will," Merlin said. "How was school?"

Will shrugged passively, and Merlin chuckled before standing to full height.

"Where's Amelia?" Will wondered.

Amelia: their two-year-old princess. Secretly, Merlin was happy that she hadn't inherited any of Lucy's traits. He loved her golden hair and eyes bluer than he'd ever seen—like her father. In fact, Arthur was probably leaning over her play pin and making funny faces at her as they spoke. Merlin didn't blame him, either. The child was beautiful—truly the daughter of Kings—and, boy, would they have their hands full when she became a teenager.

"At home—with Daddy."

Will's eyes lit up. "Daddy's home!"

Merlin nodded as he took Will's hand and started for the pavements. "Yup. He took the day off. They're waiting for us." As they turned the corner towards the row of houses, Merlin asked, "What did you do today?"

Will frowned and looked away sheepishly, and Merlin felt his heart drop.

"Will?" he said, suddenly stern.

"It wasn't my fault!" Will said quickly. "We were learning about fairytales in class today, and you were in one of them, Papa—you and Daddy. And I told Miss Marie that it wasn't a fairytale. You're real! But she wouldn't listen."

Merlin raised a brow. "And?"

Will looked down at his feet. "And she said Daddy was married to some lady."

"Did she?"

"Yeah! And I got real cross and—well. I accidentally made a window explode," he said quietly, and then, "But no one saw me! I promise. Miss Marie said someone must have thrown a rock in it." Suddenly, he smiled slyly. "It was really cool, Papa."

Merlin shook his head and tried not to grin. He remembered what it was like, being so young and not yet able to grasp his abilities. He had no one to help him, and he would make sure Will's upbringing would be different.

"We have to teach you how to control those outbursts," Merlin muttered to himself. He gave his son's arm a jiggle and squeezed his hand. "Don't argue with your teacher, yeah? She's doing her best."

"But—"

"All those stories you're learning—about Daddy and me—they happened a long time ago, alright? People have gotten some things wrong." He rolled his eyes. "Some people have made up things entirely! But you'll have to look passed them, because we know the truth, yeah?" He put a finger to his lips. "And it's our little secret."

"Papa," Will said lyrically, and rolled his eyes, too. "I don't know the truth—not all of it. Will you tell me what really happened?"

Merlin frowned in thought and nodded his head. "I will. When you're older."

"You always say that," Will grumbled.

Merlin grinned down at him and he unlatched the gate to their front garden.

"Trust me, son, it's a long story."

THE END.

Soundtrack
How to be Dead - Snow Patrol
Atlantic - Keane
Cough Syrup - Young the Giant
And So It Goes - Billy Joel
Hand Me Down - Mathbox Twenty
Crash - Dave Matthews Band
Junebug - Robert Francis
The Good Times Are Killing Me - Modest Mouse
Chocolate - Snow Patrol
Your Love Means Everything - Coldplay