Morgana enjoyed the warm spring afternoons. It was a good sign that summer was approaching, and it was far better than having to endure cold a few more days beyond what she thought should be the case. This afternoon, however, she couldn't feel as delighted as it usually made her feel, the only person she could thank for that was Accolon, who was now getting ready to leave after receiving a letter from a lord from Pelles' kingdom.

"Do you have to leave so fast?" Morgana questioned, looking at Accolon. The man smiled, kissing her softly in the lips.

"Well, duchess, there is a wide world to see and many men willing to pay me to fight their battles." Accolon kissed her again.

"Do I have to pay you for you to stay?" Morgana rose an eyebrow. Accolon laughed.

"For you, your grace, the mere sight of you is payment enough." Morgana laughed at his words, "but you'll understand that I can't stay too long." his eyes softened, and Morgana knew he was as sad about saying goodbye as she was.

"I know," Morgana mumbled with sadness. She had just hoped he would stay a little longer.

"Maybe someday I can introduce you to my family," he tried, his voice resonating with hope. Morgana focused on his smile, "they'd be delighted, my sister married to a duke, my brother getting ready to take over the throne and here I am, Accolon, notorious knight for hire, now seeing Morgana Lefay, daughter of Gorlois and Igraine, sister of Arthur Pendragon and remarkable sorceress."

"Calm down," Morgana smiled, putting a hand on his armored chest. "For now, it's enough that you come here as soon as possible to see you again and hear all about what does that lord want."

"Count the days your grace, every day I don't get to see you, is another kiss I owe you." He left a kiss in the back of her hand.

"I'll wait for it eagerly," Morgana smiled, holding onto his hand as he hopped into his horse, leaving one last kiss in her hand before parting.

Morgana stood there watching him until she could no longer hear the sound of the horse's hooves against the ground. She turned on her heel to return to the inside of the castle. Arthur had gone on a hunting trip alongside with a few of the knights, claiming they would be back before the sun sets. She had promised Aethel that while Arthur was gone she would teach her an embroidery technique that she hadn't seen before.

As her heels resonated against the stone floor of the inside of the castle, her eyes crossed with Emrys, who was walking from one side of the hallway to another seemingly deep in thought. Morgana rose an eyebrow at him, standing still, ready to see the outcome of his impatient pacing until he saw her. His eyes widened and he stopped, his feet hesitating. He walked towards her, green eyes looking at her with his eyebrows furrowed with worry.

"Ana..."

"Merlin," she smiled, and he rolled his eyes.

"Don't be like that," he mumbled, Morgana tilted her head, rolling her eyes the smile in her face unwavering, "I want to warn you something," His voice was filled with worry, his entire posture tense.

Morgana's smile dropped, "Oh?"

"Guinevere saw you and Accolon and figured out he was here as something more than a 'courtesy visit to the king' and now wants to talk with you as soon as possible," he explained, his eyes focused on her reaction.

Morgana knit her eyebrows closely together, she looked at Emrys up and down failing to find anything that would serve her as a way to tell her he was joking and just wanted to see how would she react to it.

"What for? I didn't realize what I do in private was her matter," she managed to say. He nodded in agreement.

Morgana was always happy to know she could confide in Emrys. The only person besides her in the castle that shared the same distaste for the queen, and one of the few people in the world she could trust no matter how things had gone between them.

"It isn't," he agreed, "but I heard she told Mary to find you to take you to talk to her in her room."

"Thank you for the warning, Emrys, I'll see you tomorrow, we must go to town" she smiled, Emrys nodded, a faint smile in his face as Morgana walked past him.

Although Guinevere and Arthur shared a room, Guinevere spent a lot of her time in a private room of her own. It was on the opposite side of the hallway where her bedroom with Arthur was. Morgana had never bothered to ask her what she did on that room, although she had her suspicions.

She went up the stairs, greeting every person she found on her way. Once she was in front of the room's door, she adjusted her the brown and silver skirt of her dress and tucked a hair behind her ear before softly knocking in the door.

It was opened by Iseult, a short girl with dark skin and brown hair, with a special liking for Morgana's cousin, Sir Tristan. Morgana considered it was a shame the girl was betrothed to a king since she was born, because in her eyes, Tristan shared the same attentions she did with him.

Iseult had initially arrived at the castle upon her father's request to protect her while he was away fighting a war. Her mother remained in the castle, but the girl was soon taken under Guinevere's wing who named her a lady in waiting. Iseult, who was barely eighteen at the time seemed to have warmed up to Camelot because she had asked her father to stay just a little longer to which her father agreed.

"Your majesty, Her Grace, Morgana is here" Iseult spoke, Morgana stepped into the bedroom slowly, noticing Aethel sitting in front of her mother with a book in her hands. The girl's strawberry blonde hair was held in a braid and her face lit up when she saw Morgana.

"Thank you, Iseult, you can leave us alone now," Guinevere spoke, Iseult nodded, making a small bow to Morgana. The woman smiled, taking the opportunity to reach to the girl's height.

"Did you know that Sir Tristan wasn't in the group that went hunting with Arthur? I think you might find him in the training grounds, you know how tired they can get," she whispered so just the girl would hear. Her face filled with embarrassment, but her eyes lit up as she walked out of the room, whispering a soft thank you to Morgana.

Aethel stood up from her chair, leaving her book in the table next to it. The ten-year-old girl hugged Morgana tightly on her way out. She held her, assuring her she would see her later as promised.

Guinevere stood up from her chair, leaving a book on it. Morgana made a small reverence as was the custom, taking a deep breath to calm herself.

"Morgana, thank you for agreeing to meeting with me" Guinevere smiled, picking a glass of wine from the table next to her chair and holding it in her hand. Morgana looked at her, putting her most pleasant smile.

"I couldn't reject the honor, after all, it's not every day that the queen of Camelot herself requests my presence, what do I owe the honor, your majesty?"

"I was wandering around the castle when I saw you and Accolon together" Guinevere explained, Morgana opened her eyes wide and put a hand on her chest feigning surprise. The red-haired woman pointed at the chair in front of her. Morgana sat after she did. "How long has this been going on between the two of you?" she rose an eyebrow; Morgana made a vague movement of her hand.

"Barely a few months"

"How did you two met?"

"A little after Urien's death"

"And does Arthur know of this?" Morgana froze for a second, her eyebrows closely knit together.

"Why should he?" she managed to say. Guinevere left her glass of wine in the table, sitting straight. Morgana had seen her do it before, every single time she was about to draw down the terms of a treaty.

"Because you're inviting other men into our castle, putting our family's reputation and lives at risk, because you well know that Accolon is a man that would do anything for anyone who pays enough, don't you?" Morgana took every down every single one of Guinevere's words down and tensed.

"Excuse me, your majesty" she spoke as courtly as she could, but Guinevere seemed to have perceived the tension behind her words "I'm afraid I'll have to correct you, Accolon won't just do anything for whoever pays enough, he has standards, jobs he'll never do, no matter how much he's paid, he's a good man" Morgana assured, Guinevere rose an eyebrow, "I do have a question myself, under which authority are you lecturing me about the man I let into the castle and putting your family's reputation at risk when you're incapable of respecting your marriage vows?" Morgana spoke. Guinevere stared at her, eyes opened wide and mouth slightly open. It was almost as if all the tension that had previously been on Morgana's shoulders had moved to Guinevere's and made a home there.

"Excuse me?" Guinevere managed to say after a few moments of silence.

"Your majesty, you just seem awfully curious to know about Arthur's opinion on the fact that Accolon came to see me instead of him. But do you already have his opinion on the man you allow into your chambers when Arthur is gone? It's different I suppose, after all, Accolon is a stranger, and Lancelot is Arthur's most trusted knight" Morgana shrugged, making a soft movement with her hand as she leant against the back of her chair, arms crossed.

Guinevere's face turned a deep shade of red, that Morgana knew that she could bet on its origin being fury or embarrassment and she would be right on both, "How dare you...?" she spat.

"Tell you the truth?" Morgana finished, a smile on her face, "Your majesty, you must agree can't criticize me for deciding to invite a dear friend into the castle for you to then turn to Lancelot whenever Arthur turns his back"

This time, Guinevere remained quiet, sinking into her chair. Morgana almost felt bad for her, but the little sympathy she could hold for the woman in front of her wasn't going to be wasted on that moment.

"How did you know?" Guinevere finally managed to speak.

Morgana sighed, "Is it important really?"

"Why haven't you told him anything, then?"

Morgana stood in silence at Guinevere's question. She had tried to tell him, many years ago, but he had brushed it off as a simple joke from her and decided questioning Guinevere about it wasn't even worth it. There was no way to persuade him out of it, he just refused to even conceive such betrayal could be something that could be happening to him.

"If you want him to know you can tell him yourself" Morgana sentenced.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"You're here early," Merlin noted, furrowing his eyebrows, looking at Jonathan up and down. Jonathan's mouth was tensed in a line, his eyes focused on his shoes, feeling Merlin's curious gaze, "You're never here early."

"Valerie never wakes up early on Saturdays," Jonathan mumbled; Merlin rose an eyebrow. Jonathan's cheeks turned a soft shade of pink. "And I... well... you see..." he struggled, tensing his lips into a line, feeling the heat grow in his cheeks. Merlin nodded, standing apart from the doorway to let the boy inside as quietly as possible without any further questions. Jonathan was thankful for this, even if he would rather have his tongue cut out than admit it in front of him.

Merlin took a deep breath, closing the door behind him as soon as Jonathan was inside. The boy felt Merlin's hand in the back of his neck and another one in his wrist before the man's eyes glowed green. A tingling that began in the back of his neck spread through his body; his eyes glowing.

Soon, the familiar inside of Valerie's house was gone and instead, he stood over the patchy grass of the woods. Watching it made his insides recoil, the remnants of the last lesson still very visible.

"I assumed you'd want to be out of there as soon as possible, shall we begin?" Merlin spoke, taking Jonathan's attention. Jonathan nodded silently, taking a deep breath. The faster he was done, the quicker he would be able to get back to his house and lock himself in his bedroom.

His training was usually the thing he least wanted to deal with, only topped by soccer practice and his coach's lovely resonating voice. This time however, he had been anxiously waiting for anything that could be a distraction from the number of missing calls and unanswered messages from Valerie he had not dared to open. Or the fact that he every time he tried to type any sort of apology to Gabriel, he ended up deleting it certain there were no words that could justify what he had done.

"I was actually wondering if it could be possible that you taught me to teleport" Jonathan questioned. Merlin stared at him as if he had suddenly begun speaking a different language.

"Tele-what?"

"The thing you do to bring me here... the thing when you put a hand in my neck and je appear somewhere else?"

Merlin nodded silently, even if Jonathan could almost see his brain working through the possible implications of his idea "You've never showed any interest in learning how to do that before"

"I am interested now; can we get to work?" Jonathan's voice came quick and louder.

"And you never want to do anything"

"I thought you said some shit about having to show interest or whatever." Jonathan's impatience was growing under Merlin's prying eyes.

"And your first vulgarity of the day is shit, should I ask you what's wrong with you?" Merlin rose an eyebrow. Jonathan's eyes opened and then turned to the grass.

"I'd like to know it myself," Jonathan muttered under his breath, hunching over before taking a deep air, Merlin's eyes hadn't left him "I fucked up."

"How horrible could it possibly had been?" Merlin questioned, a tiredness in his voice. Jonathan gave up, sitting in the ground, pressing his hands against his face. Merlin knelt until he was in the same level as him.

"Dreadful, like something right out of a nightmare" Jonathan said, his voice came out muffled.

"Care to explain?" Merlin rose an eyebrow, his voice albeit a bit indifferent was devoid of the usual disdain he tended to show. Jonathan sighed, passing one hand through his hair.

"Do you really not know?" Jonathan questioned, Merlin shrugged, "I... did you ever lose control of your powers and didn't realize what you were doing?"

"Did you try to write on the ground again?" Merlin pried, Jonathan shook his head silent, hearing the adult hum, "No, I never lost control of my powers, but I fail to see how that is relevant to what has happened to you."

"Why the fuck do you think?" Jonathan spat, his voice raising. "One moment I couldn't even manage to make ice stay in the shape I wanted it to, and the next Valerie was being choked and all I could do was make someone's mouth disappear, almost squeeze someone to death and nearly fill a basement with water." His heart was beating fast on his chest, he tried to take a deep breath, shutting his eyes tight.

Merlin was silent for a few seconds, "It's fine..."

"Don't you fucking dare to tell me that, because it's not, it fucking isn't, did you not hear me? I made someone's mouth disappear, there was flesh where there should have been a mouth, it looked like his cheeks were connected to each other, and Valerie... Valerie she was being choked and she had to free herself because I couldn't help her, and even after that, she was standing in front of me when I came back to my senses and she was just staring at me..." He took a deep curtly breath, hating himself for blurting everything out at Merlin.

He buried his head in his arms, the self-hatred doing nothing that could stop him from continue rambling. "She must despise me now," his voice came out muffled and he was able to hear Merlin sitting by his side.

"She doesn't," Merlin's voice came out tired, almost sounding like a teacher in the last class period.

"What would you know?" Jonathan lifted his eyes from the ground, this time staring at the adult who rolled his eyes.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because you're a prick?" Jonathan rose an eyebrow, stretching his arms.

"Wonderful manners," there was a hint of amusement in Merlin's voice.

"Sorry," the boy mumbled.

"This is hardly my business to say, but her highness is very concerned about your wellbeing"

Jonathan's heart skipped a beat his eyes opening wide, trying to believe Merlin's words, "What?"

"I suggest you talk to her," Merlin began, "try to listen to my advice for once in your life. Cutting contact does not make things better, and the longer you let her worry, she will stop doing so and will instead resent you for it." Jonathan remained silent, unable to bring himself to say anything, "Besides that, as far as I'm concerned, people don't try to reach out for someone they hate."

"She should hate me," Jonathan mumbled, a pressure growing in his chest.

"Should she, now?" Merlin's voice had traces of sarcasm in it, "I've been living with that girl for less than a month and I already know that not doing what you're supposed to is a trait that resisted enough generations to be passed down to her" The corners of Merlin's mouth twitched, while he shook his head with seeming disdain.

"You don't know her"

Valerie was good at holding grudges. Although he could remember her hastily apologizing for stealing a girl's pencil because she thought it was her own; he could also remember the fact that she didn't speak to a girl in her class for a fight she seemingly didn't remember anymore but would swear up and down that it was the girl's fault.

"But you do," Merlin assured, somehow, this didn't do anything to help ease Jonathan's worries, "you should know better than I do how she would react to something like this."

He tried to figure out if there was any ounce of common sense in Merlin's body that would help him see that everything that somehow related to magic was an entirely unfamiliar terrain to all of them, "Shut up"

There was no answer, no scolding, no mockery from Merlin. Jonathan turned to see him with his eyebrows furrowed, looking at one of the patches of the ground.

"I'll be back in a moment" Merlin rose up. Jonathan blinked a couple times.

"Are you just going to leave me here?" he spat, looking at Merlin in disbelief.

"It's not like you know how to leave." the adult shrugged, leaving before Jon could say anything. Jonathan cursed at him, passing one hand through his hair and then rubbing his hands together, getting used to the touch to think of something else.

It didn't take long before Merlin appeared in front of him. Before he could yell at him about leaving him there to rot for himself for who knows how long, Morgana showed up. Jonathan quickly stood up, putting his hands in the inside of his jeans' pockets

"Merlin, this has to be quick, I have to leave to the shelter, and if Valerie knows I'm here she'll ask a lot of questions," Morgana spoke looking at Merlin, half amused smile, then she turned to Jonathan, her eyebrows closely knit together for a second before her expression softened.

"What do you need me for?" Morgana questioned.

"You knowledge on magic and its workings is far more vast than mine" Merlin spoke, a half-smile in his face, a smile that he shook, although the smile remained in his eyes, "The boy has questions that I don't have the answer for, maybe you do, but at least you can give us a newer light on the matter, you know my skills go more towards doing"

"True," Morgana agreed, giving the man a slight pat on the cheek, "Now, Jonathan, can you tell me what happened?"

"Valerie didn't tell you?"

"She did" Morgana admitted, Jonathan's cheeks turned red and he put his head in between his hands before passing one hand through his hair, "But I want to hear it from you, it'll be easier to find the why that way, seeing and living are very different things"

"I just don't know what happened," Jonathan mumbled, "One second Valerie was freeing herself from the guy's grasp and I couldn't do anything to help her, the next moment I blacked out, when I came back to my senses, Valerie was grabbing my shoulders, Gabriel didn't have a mouth, the guy's armor was getting smaller and the room was flooding." Jonathan explained under Morgana's gaze, "I ran as fast as I could, I couldn't stay there"

"Don't you know you fixed everything?" Morgana questioned, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.

Jonathan's eyes turned to her, "Sorry?"

"Valerie told me that before you left the basement everything returned to normal, you must have been the one to do it, because I doubt the other guy would be too concerned for giving Gabriel his mouth back"

"At least one thing got solved out of that giant fuck up. Since I obviously can't do anything right, I better stay here and let grass grow on me"

Merlin mumbled something out of which Jonathan could hear the words melodramatic and teenagers. Morgana rolled her eyes, giving the man a light pat on the arm, her eyes focused on Jonathan, her hand inviting him to seat, which he complied.

"Did you know that magic has two branches? Our magic and nature's magic. Our magic is things we do, we choose to do, and we can control. Things we do deliberately, and under which magic is obeying our whim." Morgana's eyes lit up and a bunny appeared, shaking, after, it jumped until it vanished in the air, Jonathan nodded, "I think it might be appropriate to call nature's magic as subconscious magic, that is magic you can't control, it's nature working its course and acting even in ways you might not want it to. My first senses of magic were nature's magic, Impulses I couldn't quite control" Morgana's eyes lit up again, and the figure of a small girl appeared. The figure lit up and a vase broke.

"If your first attempt at magic was at the cave where I put the sword, that shield you made in the cave was accidental, but it only came out because you wanted to make sure that small blast of light that Emrys conjured wouldn't hurt Valerie," Jonathan blushed, Morgana rose an eyebrow. "Or am I mistaken?"

"I..." the teenager struggled, looking for any excuse he could come up with, but he found himself empty-handed.

"Jonathan, this might be a bit upfront, but I know you like her," Morgana patted the boy's back and his eyes shot in her direction, cheeks reddened.

"No, you don't" he managed to blurt out, Morgana rolled her eyes, half amused smile in her face while Merlin watched the conversation with interest.

"Of course," Morgana nodded, "What would I know? It's not like I've seen you two around each other for years."

"Exactly"

"Kid," Morgana spoke, her voice sterner, "Denying your feelings won't help you in any way, especially in situations like this, I know you're smart enough to realize that."

"I... What gave it away?" he surrendered, avoiding Morgana's eyes.

"Probably the fact that you look at her like if she was the only reason why the moon changes," the woman smiled softly, patting the boy's back.

"I don't look at her like that" he scoffed.

"He's right," Merlin added, Jonathan's eyes turned to him. "I'd say he looks at her more like if someone had asked him the most important question of the world and she was the answer."

"Fuck you," Jonathan spat, "You're gonna tell me you don't look at Morgana like was the last flower on earth"

"Mind your own business, boy" Merlin said, with a slight blush on his cheeks. Morgana smiled.

"So what if I like her," Jonathan spat. "What does that have to do with anything? How is that important?"

"Feelings are important boy, especially when we're looking for an explanation on magic," Morgana said, "What do you know about subconscious?" she asked, sighing.

"It's that part of our brains thanks to which we can do things but we're not fully aware of them, so we can't control them,"

"Right," she spoke, "That's where the complicated parts come with you, although I think that the way this develops is different for everyone, yours is particularly strange. Each time you've used nature's magic is different. With you... we can't know how nature's magic manifests through you with certainty. It might manifest in self-defense, did anyone get hurt throughout this?"

"Yes the kni..."

"By you" Morgana interrupted

"The knight I think... and Gabriel"

"Why them?" Morgana's question was quick. Jonathan furrowed his eyebrows.

"Sorry?"

"Why did Valerie leave the room unharmed by you and Gabriel and the knight got hurt?" Jonathan froze briefly, trying to make sense of Morgana's question, wondering if she truly believed he knew why Gabriel's mouth had vanished.

"The knight was very much trying to fucking kill us, I'm sure," Jonathan mumbled, as if he was saying the most obvious thing, "But Gabriel has never hurt me."

"You," Morgana repeated, "But did anyone else get hurt because of him?"

Jonathan remained silent, his mind slowly working through what Morgana had said, his eyes opened wide and he opened his mouth to try to speak but no words came out.

"You didn't kill him, you took away his mouth, albeit a surprisingly gruesome thing to do. Be honest with me, and I'll know if you're lying, would you have done it to him if the choice was given to you?"

Jonathan stared at her in horror, "What the fuck? No! I'd have to be sick to think to take away his mouth" he spoke with disgust, a recoil setting in the pit of his stomach.

"Then, it was nature's magic working, you still have to apologize for it, because even if you didn't mean to it hurt Gabriel, you still did," Morgana said. Jonathan nodded, he was aware, he just didn't know how, "the day of your writing on the floor and this, both were very different, in one time you lost your consciousness and you didn't remember, you can't remember this one either, but you were conscious and realized what happened was your doing"

"Great" Jonathan spoke, false enthusiasm leaking through his voice, his eyebrows rising up "How do I stop it?"

"You need to learn to control it" Morgana instructed, Jonathan groaned inwardly, he knew that already, "It usually goes as you practice and work on it, however everyone is different, so I'm afraid there's not a single answer I can give you. Stress activates it and makes it worse, so try your best to avoid that"

Right as he is about to enter A-levels, right before his last week of secondary. "I'm going to end up killing someone" he muttered in defeat.

"It doesn't have to be like that" Merlin spoke.

"Truth is, nature magic is one of the hardest things to control, and you can't never fully get rid of it, that doesn't mean you'll end up helpless under its whim" Morgana tried, Jonathan nodded, "What you do next regarding this is entirely up to you, I have to leave now, see you later Emrys" Morgana kissed Merlin in the cheek before vanishing. Merlin's cheeks flushed. Jonathan coughed to try to prevent the laugh that was forming. Merlin glared at the boy as soon as Morgana disappeared.

"Stand up, boy, we have a lot of work to do, and you have a lot of things to learn" Merlin spat, his voice attempting to sound more commanding. "Now... onto that travelling magic you showed enthusiasm in before..."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Jonathan opened the door of his house slowly, looking around trying to see if he would be able to walk to his bedroom and hide freely. Instead, he heard the vivid laugh of Dolores followed by Su-Wei's voice.

He tiptoed inside, closing the door behind himself, doing his best to remain as silent as humanly possible. His mind wondered onto the possibility of turning invisible.

"Welcome back!" Su-Wei's voice resonated from the kitchen. Jonathan's mouth twisted and he dragged his feet to the kitchen. The smell of beef noodles and soup dumplings caught in in his nose, a warm feeling growing in his chest. Still, he questioned the unfamiliarity of having both meals together. They only enjoyed both of them in the occasions when they wanted to celebrate something and didn't want to go to a restaurant or more notably on his birthday.

"Hi," he awkwardly greeted, watching his mom leaning over the oven and pulling out a cheesecake. "Are we celebrating something?" he furrowed his eyebrows, leaning against the wall. He tried to make memory. His mother's birthday wasn't until December, and his mom's had been on May. It wasn't their anniversary, when it was, they usually just left him money and a note to remind him to contact them in case of an emergency so they could go and spend the entire day together.

"Why don't you take a seat, Jonathan" Su-Wei pointed. Jonathan walked slow to the kitchen table, moving the chair to sit in it. His eyes never losing either of his parents until Su-Wei sat in front of him and Dolores began serving the plates. Jonathan's heart skipped a beat when he noticed the seriousness of Su-Wei's face.

He tried to make memory of everything he had done over the last few days. Besides everything that happened with each of the knights, he couldn't think of anything that would make them look at him with such stern expressions.

"Did I do something?" he tried, raising an eyebrow, both hands on the table. His heartbeat raising in his chest.

"Is everything alright at school?" Su-Wei's voice was soft. When everyone had their plates of food, Dolores sat by her side.

"Yes," he muttered, hesitant, puzzled by the oddness of the question. He didn't have any issues, and the possibility of having any decreased as time went by. The following week would be his last week at secondary.

"We noticed you've been a little down these couple days," Dolores said, Jonathan's mouth opened briefly and he shut it down just as quickly, picking his chopsticks, "We wanted to make sure you were alright,"

"You arrived on Thursday with an ashen face, ran to your room and refused to go to school on Friday and only came down to eat and nothing else," Su-Wei added, "Is there anything wrong? You don't have to tell us if you're not comfortable or ready..."

"...We just want to make sure you know we're here for you" Dolores finished. Jonathan nodded silently, looking down at his plate of food, feeling his mouth water at the sight.

"I just had a fight with Valerie," he mumbled, conjuring the only thing he could think of, under his mothers worried gaze, "I... I did something horrible, and it hurt people. I didn't mean to... but now I can't even think of looking at them in the eye without feeling guilty," he admitted, Su-Wei nodded silently.

"If you know what you did was wrong, apologizing is the first step," Dolores spoke. Jonathan nodded, "If you don't know how to start, usually a hello is enough to break the ice," she smiled with a soft shrug.

"Apologizing won't take your guilt away instantly, but it's better than to have a strained relationship with them and regretting it years later while you're pondering what-ifs," Su-Wei spoke, an empathetic half smile on her face.

"Right," Jonathan nodded, taking a piece of his food and putting it in his mouth, thankful when Su-Wei decided to change the conversation topic to an upcoming party they were attending. He knew they hadn't forgotten about the topic, but he was glad they decided not to dig deeper into it.

-.-.-.-.-

If Gabriel were to ever be asked who the world's best dad was, he wouldn't hesitate in giving his dad the title.

He was were aware that most kids, at least until they're ten, would say the same thing with the same certainty. But he genuinely thought his dad was the best. Jason was a man with an easy laugh that cooked the best shepherd's pie and was really supportive of his dream of being a professional soccer player even when they both knew the chances of him actually becoming one were pretty slim.

One of Gabriel's favorite things was the camping trip he got four times a year with his dad. He could remember doing it ever since he was a child, half the time, his mom would join them. He was eight when his parents divorced, at the time, one of his biggest fears had been that if his mom were to get custody over him, he would no longer be allowed to go on such trips. His mom had been more than happy to let the tradition continue, encouraging Gabriel and his father to schedule them as they usually did and driving him herself to his grandparent's house a day earlier so he could get ready properly.

Although the spot wasn't always the same, it was always around a beautiful lake, with crystal clear water and this year was not the exception. His father would always warn him not too dive too far or too deep in case it could be dangerous.

"What's the hurry with setting the tent?"

The curious laugh of his father was the only thing in Gabriel's ears as he unfolded the blue tent. Of course, Gabriel knew he couldn't simply tell him 'Because the last time I waited to put up the tent I ended up in cave with a weird man and three of my friends came out with some sort of mission and the knowledge that miss Moira's real name is Morgana and that she can do magic'. His father would laugh and pat him in the back thinking of it as a joke. Honestly, not a part of Gabriel's body could blame him for it, had he not been there, he would have thought the same.

Instead, he simply said, "It's better that we do it now before it gets dark". His father nodded, patting his shoulder, before he tried to make order out of everything they had taken to their trip.

"There's still a few hours before that," the man smiled. Gabriel knelt on the floor to try to undo the chords that held the tent together.

"It's better to be safe than sorry."

"Why don't you go to the lake?" Jason Smith suggested, Gabriel's ears perked up, but he tried to keep separating the pieces of metal from the fabric. "The weather is nice, and you get there from here by going in straight line,"

"What will you be doing?" Gabriel rose an eyebrow, his father smiled and pulled out something so tightly wrapped together that Gabriel couldn't really identify what it was, until his father undid the knot and showed him a brand-new hammock.

"I've always wanted to take a nap in one of these," the man smiled with pride. Gabriel smiled leaving the tent on the floor.

"Alright," he surrendered. "But I hope the tent is already done by the time I'm back,". He heard his father hum in agreement as he tied the ends of the hammock to a tree.

Gabriel walked in the direction his father had pointed. Taking in the different shades of green and brown that where visible from every corner of his eye while also hearing the different noises the animals made. He used to play a game with his dad to guess what had caused the noise, it had turned easier as he got older. It was way harder to play at night, when none of them dared to go and check if they were right so their game slowly turned into a challenge of who could make the most outlandishly possible story to the origin of the noise.

He went under a tree branch to finally see the lake in front of him. An excited smile rose to his face as he took into the sun shining over the water's surface. The small bits of green grass slowly vanishing until there were mostly rocks that got covered in moss the closer they were to the lake. A few trees reflected in the water. Gabriel took of his clothes except his boxers and a shirt and left them in a pile over a rock before he ran as fast as he could and threw himself in the lake, the water splashing around him.

He swam, getting out of the water just to get air and sink himself back into the water again. Slowly, he came to the realization that it was the first time his father had allowed him to go to the lake on his own. He looked to where he had arrived from and not seeing his dad, he took a deep breath of air before swimming back in.

Gabriel went past what he was allowed to, and his heart took a leap in his chest, excitement rushing through him. He looked at the depth with the curiosity that had accumulated through all the trips and swam faster, holding his breath the best he could.

A surge of disappointment flew through him before he got ready to swim upwards again after not seeing anything that could be deemed memorable. There were nothing but rocks that he would have still seen if he had stayed within the range of what he was allowed to.

The moment his feet touched the bottom and he got ready to swim upwards the faint shape of a woman began to form in front of his eyes. At first, it was like a blurry picture until the image cleared, similar to when he had to adjust his phone's camera. The woman in front of him had a long, flowy light blue dress, green eyes and long black hair, she was mesmerizing, in other circumstances, he might have thought she was a model, but the fierceness in his eyes sent a shiver down his spine. There was a familiar air to her that he couldn't quite put a finger on. Gabriel remained frozen as the woman moved around him. He felt his heart beating fast in his chest, taking advantage of the moment the woman stood still before swimming as fast as his body could take him.

He gasped for air as soon as his head was out of the water, noticing he was now standing in the middle of the lake. Gabriel passed a hand over his head, rubbing his face immediately afterwards. His heart kept beating in his chest. His eyes looked down to the water, not seeing a trace of the woman.

Gabriel took a deep breath, ready to swim back to the edge, only to feel something wrap him tightly before he was pulled down.

A.N
I'm sorry for the delay on this chapter, but thank you so much to everyone who is reading this story,. I hope you enjoy this chapter and that you consider leaving a vote or a comment. Have a lovely day!