Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

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Dreams carried her to a place very far away. It carried her to a castle standing majestically against a blue sky. She stood among the people. Her clothes were loose and flowing. Her under dress was white, outer tunic blue. A red neckerchief was wrapped about her neck, keeping it warm from the brisk wind. Her hair was as long as dark as normal, twined into a thick braid. She stood in then courtyard, arms empty of burdens that everyone else seemed to have. Flags flew bright red against the sky with golden dragons sewn into the cloth. In front of her, amongst the crowd, a golden man stood. He smiled at her from across the courtyard, dressed in armor and blood red cloak. His hair was the same shade of gold as the crest he bore. Her feet started to carry her to him. His feet carried him to her. They stepped and stepped until they met each other. His hand reached out, garbed in gauntlet and caressed her cheek. He leant down and she stood on her toes. Their lips met sweetly. It just felt so right, it tasted of destiny…..

"Merlyn Ambrose!" Merlyn tumbled out her bed, falling to the ground. She looked up blearily to the face of her mother, Helen.

"Merry, you have to get up; you'll be late at this rate." Merlyn blinked stupidly before jumping up in a flurry to get ready. Helen sighed as her daughter hopped about trying to pull on her uniform. Merlyn grabbed her backpack and dashed into the hall. She topped briefly by the Army photo of her father, Bernard and pressed a kiss to her fingers and her fingers to the glass. She paused another moment to straighten the medals on the frame.

"I'm going, Daddy." She flicked her hand and her hair wove itself into a thick braid.

"Merlyn!"

"I know Mum, no magic!" She shouted back dashing through the kitchen. She grabbed a slice of toast before barreling out the window, ignoring her mother's indignant yelling. She passed her Uncle Gaius getting in the car to start his work at the local clinic.

"Do you need a ride dear?" He called after her. Merlyn removed the toast from her mouth long enough to say no thank you and hurried to the bus stop. She stopped right before the end of the road, feeling a chill down her spine.

"Merlin…." An ancient, but young voice rang on the wind. Merlyn stopped and looked about frantically. Her home was situated in the woods on a lone dirt road. The forest crept into her nerves whenever she dashed to the bus stop. She shuddered as she heard footsteps echo on the trees and rocks.

"Merlin….." Merlyn shuddered again. She was not MER-lin, it was MARE-lin. Whoever was calling her was getting her name wrong.

"There you are." Merlyn spun around to see a figure before her.

The woman standing in front of her only looked a bit older than herself. Her feet were bare and dirty, she was garbed in blue so dark it almost looked black. The dress was old and looked like it came from some medieval fair so something. Her cloak was a dark forest green, the same color as the pine needles of the trees. Yet it was not her unusual dress, or her lack of shoes that made Merlyn fear for her sanity. The woman had a face almost identical to her own. They shared too many features for Merlyn's liking. Their eyes were the same size and shade of blue, though this woman's eyes were narrowed and coy, almost….. Her ears were definitely smaller, a small part of Merlyn grumbled about this. Her nose, her mouth, all the same, they even had the same skin tone and hair color. The most significant difference was the texture of their hair. Merlyn's hair was famously curly and unruly as a rule. This woman's hair was straight and sleek, a bit ragged at the ends but still extremely lovely. This woman had a haunting beauty, the beauty of serene graveyards and desolate ruins. Merlyn couldn't know where the comparison came from, but it stuck all the same.

"It's been hundreds of years; it is good to finally meet you, Mother." Merlyn reared back, the woman was insane.

"I'm not your mother; you must be older than I am." The woman pulled a face and shifted. Merlyn spotted a staff that had been hiding in her cloak.

"But of course, I have been waiting for you to come back."

"You're insane!" Merlyn yelped, silently chastising herself for lack of sense. Who calls someone insane out on being insane? Stupid idiot like her, that's who. The woman's face saddened. She wasn't angry. That much Merlyn thought she could be grateful for.

"So you really do not remember. I know it has been hundreds of years, but I have been waiting so long Mother." The woman stretched out her arms, as if asking for a hug. Merlyn spied the staff in her hands and backed up further. The staff was made of black wood was an ivory carving on the top, covered in carved vines. It looked like a small human skull with vines grown over it.

"Mother…" Merlyn backed up, praying for her uncle to come driving up the road. Seeing her expression, the woman dropped her arms, looking forlorn.

"Waited so long and now I have scared you. I am sorry." Merlyn didn't respond, just prayed the woman to retreat to the woods.

"So sorry, but at least heed my words."

"Words…."

"The Pendragon heir will bring you nothing but pain. I know I've frightened you but listen well. Stay away from the Pendragon boy; you will die from his cruelties on the end." Merlyn blinked owlishly at her. Then she heard the sound of the bus arriving and driving away. She turned around to see it leave without her. Merlyn stopped and looked back, the woman was gone. Merlyn stood there stupidly or about seven seconds before deciding to dash after the bus and hope to catch it.

Merlyn dashed to the end of her road, swearing at the sight of the bus going along without her. She sighed, cursing her brain for magic induced visions; at least that was what she thought. Merlyn turned around to ask her mother for a ride when a horn honked behind her. She jumped a foot in the air. She spun on her heels to stare at the blessing and bane of her life, Arthur Penn. There was the arrogant jerk sitting in his expensive open top car. Next to him was Merlyn's former best friend, Gwendolyn Smith, also known as Gwen. In the back seat was her current best friend, Morgan Fay, Arthur's cousin and sort of step sister. Next to her sitting on the middle seat was the foster/step-brother of Morgan, Mortimer. Arthur laughed at her jumpiness obnoxiously. How she hated him! But how she loved him too. That was the aggravating thing about her sort-of childhood friend. She had loved him all her life and he turned away from her. She was an idiot for following him and helping him time after time but she couldn't help it. So Merlyn ignored Arthur and waved to Morgan and Mortimer.

"Need a ride, Merlyn?" Morgan asked.

"No way am I letting Ambrose into the car, Morgan. She'll get the seats dirty, can you see the last time she cleaned her uniform. I'd say never." Merlyn chucked a pebble at him. Gwen smiled apologetically, but didn't stick up for her. So Merlyn looked at Morgan again. Mortimer gazed up her with puppy eyes; the boy was besotted with her after all.

"I could really use one, yah." Mortimer scurried to the door on her side and opened it for her. Merlyn smiled at him and he smiled back. Merlyn slid in.

"Oi! What part of 'no way' didn't you get Morgan?"

"Oh shut up Artie, before I show your dad your secret stash." Morgan told him flippantly. Arthur spluttered.

"What?"

"Please, you couldn't hide anything if you wanted to." Merlyn giggled and Morgan joined in. Arthur rolled his eyes and drove off to school. Merlyn looked out the back and saw the woman again, shaking her head slowly. A word appeared in Merlyn's mind, a name, and it was one she would not forget for all her days.

Saoirse.

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Princess: And so the story ends. Merlin meets her daughter but doesn't know her and the cycle begins again. Sort of. I really enjoyed writing this and hope everyone else did too. It was sad but sweet at certain times, so I thought it was nice. I might be writing a sort of sequel for this, considering it. It would be Modern AU so there would be some changes but we'll see after my finals are over. I've started two spinoffs where Mordred and Gwaine each get Merlin so those should be coming along too. This is probably the third time I've actually written for Merlin and the first time from her perspective in the story. Wow. So I can' think of anything else to say. There are fanarts for this story on my deviantart, my name is cosmicstarempress and I posted the first chapter there too. Thank you for reading everyone!

Reviews: Help me reach my goal of fifty!

Kool Kato: It's sad isn't it?

Cheekysorcerer: I thought it was clever

Aelorian: Well it is.

Stella Celeste Taylor: Yeah, it was bittersweet but at least he's with Merlin now.