Disclaimer- I do not own Merlin or the 1997 Anastasia

"I've got you a job at the fish factory, you go straight down this path until you get to the fork in the road. Go left." said Miss Collins but Merlin was waving good bye to the other orphans.

"Bye! Bye everybody!" Merlin stated.

"Are you listening to me?" Merlin stopped waving to his fellow orphans and looked at the old woman.

"I'm listening, Miss Collins." Miss Collins grabbed Merlin's scarf and pulled him to the gate of the orphanage, all the while ranting.

"You've been a thorn in my side since you were brought here, acting like the King instead of the nobody that you are!" Merlin rolled his eyes as he had heard her say it all before and could repeat the rest of her rant off by heart.

"How is that you don't have a clue to who you are when you came to us, but you can remember all that!"

"I do have a clue!" Merlin held up the necklace that before was hidden by his shirt; Miss Collins grabbed the necklace.

"I know, together in Paris." She read off the necklace "So you want to go to France to find your family,huh?" Merlin nodded which made the woman laugh "Little mister Merlin, it's time for you to take your place in life, in life and line and be grateful." She pushed Merlin out of the gates and shut it behind him. "Together in Paris!" she shouted out, mockingly. Merlin walked through the snow.

"Be grateful, Merlin." he mimicked "I am grateful!" he turned to the direction of the orphanage and yelled "Grateful to get away! Go left she says, I know what will happen if I go left."Merlin said to himself "I'll be Merlin the orphan forever but, if I go right, maybe I'll find..." he looked at his necklace "Whoever gave me this must have loved me." He shook his head at what he was thinking "This is crazy! Me go to Paris!" he turned back and yelled at the sky "Send me a sign! A hint! Something!" Merlin sat down on the snow and waited for the sign; as he waited he felt his spare scarf leave his pocket, he saw a small grey puppy with the scarf in it's mouth. Merlin walks towards the puppy but when he got to where the puppy was, the puppy had moved forward. "I don't have time to play, I'm waiting for a sign." but the puppy was paying no attention to what Merlin was saying, the puppy ran around and around Merlin, causing the scarf in his mouth to wrap around Merlin's legs. The puppy gave a quick tug on the scarf which made Merlin trip over on to the snow; he realised that he had fallen in the direction of St Petersburg. The puppy barked, signaling for Merlin to follow it. "Great, a dog wants me to go to St Petersburg." his eyes widen when he put two and two together "Ok, I can take a hint." He picked up one end of the scarf and started to follow the puppy.

Heart don't fail me now,
Courage don't desert me,
Don't turn back now that we're here.
People always say,
Life is full of choices,
No one ever mentions fear.
Or how the world can seem so vast
On a journey to the past.

A horse-drawn carriage just missed Merlin but, it caused him to fall backinto the snow. The puppy barked at Merlin while throwing up the snow with his nose; Merlin grabbed a handful of the snow and threw it up in the here which the puppy caught in it's mouth.

Somewhere down this road,
I know someone's waiting,
Years of dreams just can't be wrong.
Arms will open wide,
I'll be safe and wanted,
Finally home where I belong.
well, starting now im learning fast
On this journey to the past.

Along the journey, Merlin met a family who gave him food and water but he couldn't help to be jealous of what they had that he didn't...family.

Home, Love, Family
There was once a time I must have had 'em too.
Home, Love, Family
I will never be complete until I find you.

Merlin thanked the family for their kindness and continued with his journey to St Petersburg.

One step at a time,
One hope then another,
Who knows where this road may go?
Back to who I was,
On to find my future,
Things my heart still needs to know.

After many long days, St Petersburg was in sight. The puppy who Merlin had named Dragon barked in excitement

Yes, let this be a sign,
Let this road be mine,
Let it lead me to my past.
and bring me home,
At last!

This is it. Merlin thought as he walked through into the train station. When he got to the front of the queue, he was almost bouncing from excitement "One ticket to Paris, please!" the man behind the counter questioned Merlin in a monotone voice "Exit visa?" Merlin looked confused, he had never heard of an exit visa in the orphanage "Exit visa?" the man looked at Merlin and stated "No exit visa! No ticket." Merlin turned around, well that was he dreams of finding his family gone out the window. A old women stopped him "See Arthur, he can help." Merlin leaned in closer and asked "Where can I find him?" the old women looked around to make sure that no-one was listening in to their conversation "At the old palace but, you didn't hear it from me." Merlin nodded and set out to find this Arthur.

Arthur and Gauis had auditioned hundreds of men but none of them were one bit like the missing prince. Arthur had thought that he had seen it all but when the last act walked on the stage he wasn't quite sure. The man was about the same age as the prince but his face was aged by heavy smoking; with a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of rum in the other, the man said "Grandmama, it's me Emrys." then he proceeded to vomit on the stage floor. Arthur crossed him off the list.

"We have used up our last coin, Arthur and still no boy to pretend to be the prince." Gauis stated as they walked through the town.

"He's here! I know it, right under our noses." He grabbed a fancy looking box out of his pocket and tossed it in the air."Remember, one look at this and she'll think we have the real Emrys!" Arthur bumped into a black haired boy who was talking to someone but Arthur did not take any notice and carried on walking.

Finally Merlin thought, he had to ask over seventeen people but he had found it. He began to think of the best way to enter the palace but it seemed that Dragon wasn't going to wait.

"Dragon!" Merlin peered through the planks of wood that Dragon had scampered under; seeing that Dragon wasn't coming outside any time soon, Merlin yanked at the wood planks. The force caused Merlin to fall on his back, he pushed the plank off and pulled himself up. The inside was a lot more beautiful than the outside but, Merlin could help but feel that he had been here before which he knew was impossible.

Dancing bears
Painted wings
Things I almost remember,

He found some sort of vase, it was covered in dust. As he rubbed of the dust, he could see the dancing bears and swans that were painted on the vase.

And a song someone sings
once upon a december

Memories were flooding into his head; but he still didn't remember anything about his family.

Someone holds me safe and warm,
horses prance through a silver storm,

He was loved once, he knew that at least. If they didn't, then why did they give him the necklace?

Figures dancing gracefully,
across my memory,

There were people dancing; he felt out of place with his rags when he was surround by young women. He didn't know why but he trusted them, in a second he was dressed in better clothes. One of the women took his hand and lead him into a waltz.

Far away, long ago
things I yern to remember
and a song someone sings
Once upon a December

His dance partner switched from person to person. He was dancing when he was stopped by a man, this man was older than Merlin. His hair was long and black, his beard was thin and short. His eyes seemed to bore into Merlin, as they danced, Merlin felt like he knew this man from somewhere.

And a song someone sings
Once upon a December

Merlin stopped dancing and bowed down to the man, the man then kissed him on the forehead and backed away.

A/N- I am sorry that I have not updated for ages! Please don't kill me! I promise that Arthur and Merlin will meet in the next chapter!