Chapter Text
Kylo stumbled down the side of the cliff to get to her, leg throbbing with the clean wound he had acquired minutes before.
His mind was racing, trying to process what had just happened. Shouldn’t he have been the one to sacrifice himself? She had said that’s how everything would end. He was ready to do that, but he never got the chance. Why did she do it? Why did this time have to be any different? Why did she have to be the one?
Rey’s eyes fluttered shut, her body covered in blood and twitching. Her lips were in a small smile, and Kylo wiped the blood dribbling out.
His gun was back in his hand before he could contain himself, aiming at the disgusting bastard laying too close to her. Just as he lands two shots in Snoke’s already lifeless body, the ground beneath him seems to crumble away, and the black vastness he had seen with Rey seeps between the cracks to surround them. He doesn’t think before grabbing her motionless body to him.
They aren’t going to separate her from him, whatever was doing this.
She can’t be dead, right? Hadn’t she said that? She had even proved it! She’s alive, and she was going to pop up somewhere any time now and surprise him again. He just knew it.
She was still so beautiful, despite the dampness soaking his hands from her poor crumpled body. Her tanned skin had a pale sheen, but the brown locks that had been haunting him for the last few weeks were just as silky as before.
Her ghostly smile was almost too sweet, different than the smirk she usually had on around him as she tore him to pieces in more ways than one.
“Rey,” He murmured, resting his forehead against her own. She was cold. Too cold. “Please, Rey. Come back to me.”
As if someone had heard his pleading, he felt her weight disappear from his grip and her body has left him.
Kylo knelt, looking at the black around him.
Waiting.
The thick wetness on his fingers was no longer there when he slicked his hair back in anticipation, his pulse picking up speed in his neck.
After a few minutes of him sitting expectantly on the ground, growing more and more terrified as the time went on, he realized this wasn’t like last time.
“Give her back!” Kylo says, bellowing into the nothingness. “I don’t care what happens to me, just give her back!” His roar rips through his chest, but seems to cease to exist as soon as it leaves his mouth. As if the blackness sucked away all sound.
He has an uncomfortable reminder of when he had been unable to move or breathe earlier, wanting nothing more than to grab Rey and take her as far away from there as possible. But he hadn’t been able to, he hadn’t been strong enough to help the girl he lo-
Not the time. It was not the time to think about that.
His stomach turned as his body turned weightless, no longer aware of up or down.
Just give her back to me, he bellowed without sound. He couldn’t think of a single thing he wouldn’t give to have her back with him in that moment. He’d give the sun, the world, his life. He didn’t care. Whatever it took to have her back in his arms, bickering at him with a smile in her eyes.
A popping sound zips through the air and something that feels like a punch hits his chest, doubling him over. The pain in his leg flared up like it was on fire, and as he grips it with both hands, he is thrown onto something hard. His long limbs outstretching on the ground, and his fingers dig for purchase. When he looks up, it’s to a strange room with light nearly blinding him, it was so white.
Kylo looks down to see a strange grey fur beneath him, and when he gets to his feet, he is assaulted by the smell of her.
Rey.
The room has white smooth walls and strange fixtures on the ceiling, too much for his brain to process at once. There’s a black glass frame on a table facing the bed with a hole in it, glass shattered on the surfaces beneath it. The bed behind him had a large blanket on it with stitched designs, and there’s a foreign looking table beside it with a picture and a weird contraption showing numbers. As he steps closer, mud caking the floor with every move, he sees that the picture is that of Rey. Picking it up, he sees that Rey is with two older adults.
Sharp pain shoots through his chest as he thinks about her.
What is going on here?
Is he in her home?
Is this what she had meant when she said she was from a completely different place and time?
His fingers brush against the pillows she’ll never get to lay her head on again, the blanket she’ll never sleep beneath. It was a grey-ish blue, not very feminine, but very Rey.
He made his way through the room, touching anything he could, before moving to the window to push aside the curtain to the side, immediately taken aback by the enormous square buildings around him.
Too much.
It was too much.
Had Rey been telling the truth? Was she really from another world?
As he stumbled back, his foot kicked the table that held the strange black shattered frame, and something small fell to the floor.He at first thought it was a book, but after picking it up to place it back, he immediately let the object slip from his grasp, watching in slow motion as it fell to the floor with a small bounce.
That was him, wasn’t it?
Kneeling gently as to not aggravate his wound too much, he lifted it back up and examined it in his shaky hands. There he was, a picture of himself on the front and a faded image of the Tico sisters behind him, while a sinister image of Snoke lay on the other side of him. “The Outlaw of Dixie” it said, just like Rey had told him.
He let the box fall back to the floor and stumbled out of the small room, into what looked to be another weirdly designed living space.
All around him were tiny pieces of her. Pictures, books, foods she ate. There was a contraption that was freezing when he opened it, and food sat inside. He truly was in another world. It was all true. He was a character from some moving picture thing she watched. Someone’s imagination brought to life.
She was a real person with a history and a family somewhere, and he was nothing but make believe. How could she be the one to die when he had literally been created for it?
He was just picking up what looked like a journal when the door of the home opened, and a red headed woman wearing a revealing blouse and slacks walked in. She was looking down at a small item in her hands as she entered the room, but quickly glanced up and saw him lingering beside a wall. Her scream made his ears ring.
“Holy shit, who the fuck are you?”
He supposed the language was normal for women in Rey’s world.
“Is this Rey’s house?”
The redheaded woman backed up to the door, looking as if she might run. “You’re the guy who shot her, aren’t you?”
“What? No!” He sighed, leaning down on the high counter before him. “I would never have hurt her. She... She died protecting me,” he spoke softly, hating the way the words tasted on his tongue, like he had eaten something rancid.
The woman cocked her head before him, slightly less wary as she looked at him closer. “Look, weird cowboy man. I don’t know who told you that, but Rey isn’t dead. She’s in the hospital right now.”
Hospital?
Kylo shot up, coming around the pillar in the kitchen. “She’s alive?”
The woman nodded, “yeah, the police found her inside of the movie theater last night. She just woke up and asked me to come get her things. She’ll probably be in there a while.” She held her hand out. “I’m her friend Cassidy. Who are you?”
Kylo looked at Cassidy before taking her hand. “Kylo.”
Something flickered in Cassidy’s face, but she didn’t speak on it. “Do you want a ride to the hospital to see her?”
“Yes. Yes, please,” He spoke, possibly too anxiously. But he didn’t give a damn, not if Rey was still alive here. “Do you have two horses though? Unless we can walk.”
Cassidy laughed nervously, “Um, no big guy. But I have a Prius and despite what people say, I think it can hold the both of us.”
“Is that a type of wagon?” He asked, following her out of the door.
---
Whatever that was, it was not a wagon. At a certain point, Kylo just closed his eyes because it was all a bit overwhelming. Still, it was the least of his concerns in that moment. After what felt like hours, Cassidy said, “we’re here,” and Kylo had jumped out of the machine as soon as he found out how to open the doors.
“Come on, follow me,” the woman said, walking before him.
Kylo was anxious. What if she didn’t remember him? What if he’s entered her world, and she had no idea who he was and he just terrifies her as soon as he walks in the room? He felt uncomfortable, but ultimately didn’t care how the strangely dressed people around him reacted, not as long as he got to see her.
God, she was alive. She was breathing and going to survive.
As they walked, Kylo wondered if she was going to remember what he had said to her during their last real conversation. How he had said he didn’t want to have anything to do with her. It had been said out of pain and confusion, not knowing what the hell was going on and not being okay with the idea of her caring enough about him to kill herself before him to prove a point.
Would she forgive him?
Could he forgive her for doing it again, despite how he had opened up about how seeing her dead before had made him feel?
Anger tried to worm its way in, but he shut it down. No. She had saved him, or at least she had thought she did. It was dumb, completely fucking moronic, but she was trying to help. She had been so beautiful in her last moments, her determination leaking out of her like sunlight.
Cassidy led him into a small metal room, and the doors closed automatically, making him jump and panic.
“What? Don’t like elevators?” She asked.
Kylo didn’t respond, but when he felt heavier, his breath started speeding up. What the fuck was an elevator?
“They don’t have these where I’m from,” he replied quickly.
Cassidy laughed. “I guess that don’t have too many large buildings out in the country, do they?” Clearly not expecting an answer, she turned to him. “How do you know Rey?”
What should he ever say?
“Are you some cowboy cosplayer or something? I know Rey is like really into that.”
“Yes,” he immediately answered, happy she had given him an out. Whatever the fuck a cosplayer was, he could pretend to be it.
“Cool, more power to you,” Cassidy said, and Kylo could tell she meant it. He hoped this was Rey’s closest friend, as she seemed like a truly good person.
Shortly, he felt normal again, as if his body was its normal weight, and the doors opened back up to the incredibly bright lights and yet another hallway. Cassidy began walking and talking, but he stopped listening as soon as the tension built. They stopped before a door, and his mind wiped of all other thought.
She was in there.
He knew she was.
He felt as if he could puke.
“Rey-y,” Cassidy sing-songed, knocking gently on the door. “Someone’s here to see you.” Cassidy opened the door, “you didn’t tell me you were seeing someone.”
“Seeing someone? Cassidy, you know I-” Rey stopped speaking as soon as Kylo walked into the room.
Both individuals were completely at a loss of words.
It was her. She was alive. She was okay. She was so, so beautiful. Her hair was surrounding her like a halo on the white bedding beneath her, and her forehead had a small bruise on the left side, but she was the prettiest thing he had ever seen in his life.
Tears immediately spilled from her eyes as she whimpered, “Kylo,” and he didn’t think before rushing to her side.
When he got to her, wrapping her up in his arms, he fell to his knees on the floor. Rey cradled him into her, sniffling as she tightly gripped his hair in her petite fingers.
“I’m going to head to the café for a bit,” Cassidy said, slipping back out of the room with a grin.
“I thought you were dead,” he spoke, choking on his emotions. “I thought I would never see you again.”
“I figured it was all some really realistic dream,” Rey laughed, happier than she had ever remembered being. “I’m so sorry, Kylo. For everything. I should have never done that to you.”
He shook his head, his hand sliding up and down her side, absorbing her warmth. “You’re right, but I don’t care about that right now, Rey. Let’s talk about it later.” He couldn’t believe how lucky he was, being able to touch her like this. He truly was blessed.
“How did you get here?” She whispered.
Kylo leaned forward, planting kisses all along her face, making her giggle. “I’m not sure, I just know I woke up in your home.”
“You were in my apartment?” Rey asked, looking absolutely dumbfounded. “You just woke up there?”
He nodded emphatically. “And Rey, I found the moving picture. I saw it.” He shook his head. “I’m not sure how, but I believe you. I know you were telling the truth. This is insane, and I’m not sure how I’m ever going to get used to all of this, but-”
Rey sobbed now, clinging to him like a lifeline. “You’re staying?”
His eyebrow raised, wondering if she had some sort of head injury. It’d take a million men to pry him away from her now. “Of course, sweetheart.” He held her tightly, kissing her lips gently. “I’m not leaving you. Not that I would even know how to.”
“I don’t deserve you,” Rey whispered into the front of his dirt covered shirt, her thumb caressing his pulse point.
He immediately pulled back, looking her dead in the eyes. “Don’t ever say that again, do you hear me? If you talk about yourself, you better be saying something I would say about you.” He leaned forward, his lips brushing her own. “Like how beautiful you are,” his mouth lingers just a bit longer, and Rey shivered. “How smart, and strong. Even though it was incredibly stupid, what you did.”
Rey laughed, “so we’re not talking about it later, then?”
“Stop talking,” Kylo said quickly, pushing her back on the bed as he climbed onto her, mouth hungrily attacking her own. Rey moaned when his front brushed her own, and Kylo did it again, delving his tongue into the warmth of her own mouth when she opened it to cry out again.
He wanted to melt into her, develop into one being so that they would never have to be apart again. He wanted to protect her and cherish her, to love her deeper than any man had ever loved someone. Kylo opened her mouth, dipping his tongue into her own to try and show her how he felt, as his words would likely fail him.
Rey’s gentle whimpers had him rung out like clothes on a line, head over heels in love with this tiny woman.
She pulled back, eyes still closed, chest sucking in deeply to catch her breath. Kylo’s eyes traced every movement. “Kylo...” Her brown eyes appeared in view, sparkling with something that made his heart constrict. “I-I love-”
“Oh! I’m so sorry.”
They both turned to see what Kylo presumed to be the caretaker in the doorway. He grunted out, resting his head in the nook of Rey’s shoulder. Her hands immediately found the back of his shoulders, drawing soothing patterns into the skin through his shirt.
“I hate to be this person, but you shouldn’t put any pressure on that wound,” the nurse said, smiling as she checked the weird beeping machines attached to Rey.
“No use in trying, she’s going to do the opposite of what she’s told anyway,” Kylo grumbled out into Rey’s hair. She hit his side, making him smile into her damp skin. He kissed it, enjoying the way she shifted beneath him because of it.
“I’ll try to be good. I have a reason to go home, now.”
Kylo lifted himself up, gazing at her openly and intimately. Rey met his eyes, and the room around them ceased to exist. He knew in that moment that he was going to marry her. Maybe not now, maybe not for several years, but it was a fact and he couldn’t be happier.
The nurse confirmed that everything was good before she left the room once more, leaving the two love birds alone.
“It’s a wonder no one has pointed out your weird outfit,” Rey said to him when he pulled back from her.
“To me, they’re the ones in weird outfits.” He smiled down at her, then rolled slightly to the side. Rey could see where his stupidly long legs hung off of the end of the bed, eyeing the blood that was on his pants.
“You were shot.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he replied.
“I’m going to have the nurse take a look at it when she comes back,” Rey told him sternly, and Kylo didn’t fight her. Instead, he just laid back on the pillow beside her, uncomfortably positioned where the majority of his frame hung off of the bed, as it was much too small for him, let alone both of them.
They sat there for a few minutes, dwelling in the silence as they took comfort in the others’ touch.
“What you did was very dumb, Rey.” He finally said, trying his hardest to keep his anger and pain from his voice. “Promise me you’ll never do anything like that again.”
Rey glanced back to his slightly sun burnt cheeks, his oily hair pushed back from where she ran her fingers through it. They both were probably disgusting. “I can’t promise you that.” She’d do it again in a heartbeat if it meant saving him.
He didn’t have much of an argument. He’d do the same thing, so how could he fault her for it?
“You’re an idiot,” he grumbled out instead, pouting.
Rey huffed a laugh, looking up and catching his full bottom lip between her thumb and index finger. “I guess so. An idiot in love.”
His mouth fell open, surprise soaking his features. Rey smiled as he quickly kissed her once more, this time enough to make her toes curl beneath the hospital blanket.
“I love you too, sweetheart.”