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After All This Time

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Febuwhump Prompt - Presumed Dead

Prompt - “I truly believe soulmates will always end up together. You lose each other to just find each other again...that's how you know someone's meant for you.”

You ran into the first building you came across after running through the woods for what felt like hours, slamming the door shut as your breath came out in pants and your sides burnt. It should have been a simple run, your group was running low on food and medical supplies so you and Daryl offered to go and scavenge whatever you could find, something you’d done a hundred times together at this point, always without major incident.

Today, however, something had gone wrong. Everything happened too fast for you to keep track of, one second Daryl’s hand was in yours, dragging you away from the door that opened to let out a flood of walkers and then the next the two of you had been separated, you screaming his name as you took down walker after walker before they overwhelmed you and you had to get out of there.

It seemed the noise had attracted other walkers who came out of the woods and they just seemed to keep appearing as you were forced further and further away from Daryl, getting completely disoriented and having no clue as to which way was home.

From there days passed as you tried to find your way back, becoming hungry and dehydrated as you desperately tried to get home but the woods were too large, too confusing and you weren’t nearly as good with finding your way around them as Daryl was, wishing you’d paid attention as your boyfriend insisted to teach you basic survival skills.

As more days went by you couldn’t stop your thoughts screaming that you had lost Daryl, you’d never see him again. You hated the sinking feeling in your stomach as you began to believe them, hating that you were giving up so easily and shook your head, desperately forcing those thoughts away, trying desperately not to focus on them.

I’m going to find him.

But then a week passed and another week and you found yourself still alone, no sign of any life as you passed through the woods, stopping at every building you passed to grab supplies to keep you going even though you were barely standing, sleep not coming easily as you dreams were plagued with Daryl who was usual the most comforting presence in your life, now the dreams turned your blood cold.

You entered another building, wincing as you put too much pressure against your injured ankle that you had twisted a day or two ago fleeing walkers. A noise from the distance had you pausing and tilting your head in an attempt to hear better but you didn’t hear it again. Still you raised your knife, ready to attack as you walked further into the building, rounding the corner and jumping, knife already moving as you came face to face with a tall man.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy, I’m not here to hurt you.” The man said, grabbing your wrist to stop the knife plunging into him but his grip wasn’t tight and you were able to pull yourself away taking a step back from him and keeping your knife between the two of you.

“You look like shit.” He told you, smiling softly at you as to lessen the bluntness of his words. He couldn’t help but smile wider at the glare he received. “You alone?” He asked and you hesitated before you answered his question.

“Yes.” You told him, watching as he winced at how dry your throat sounded.

The man rummaged through a bag and pulled out a fresh bottle of water, reaching over slowly to hold it out to you, making sure you could see his every move. You hesitated again but the need for water was unbearable, you’d gotten too used to the luxury of food and water at your camp and now that you were alone…

“Thank you.” You said softly, unscrewing the lid and downing half the bottle in just a few sips, missing how the man looked at you, clearly intrigued by you.

“How long have you been on your own?” He asked, taking a seat on one of the chairs and kicking one out for you, watching as you looked from him to it before sitting on the edge of it, looking ready to flee any second.

“A few weeks.” He raised his eyebrows at you questioningly but didn’t ask as he saw you push back tears.

“I’m sorry to hear it.” He told you, sounding sincere. “I have a place, not too far from here, it’s safe, we’ve got plenty of food and water, a warm bed. I’d be more than happy to show you.” He smiled at you as he watched you eyed him with suspicion and raised his hands non threateningly towards you. “No strings attached, you leave when you want, I promise.”

You continued to observe him for a few more moments, the man letting you, saying nothing as the silence stretched between you before you finally nodded. You had no idea which way was home right now and it wouldn’t hurt to have somewhere safe to turn to as you continued to search for Daryl.

“Great,” The man exclaimed, a wide, friendly smile spread across his face as he held a hand out towards you. “I’m Negan.”

Months passed without you seeing a single sign of Daryl and you grew worse and worse as each day passed.

Negan had made good on his promise, allowing you to come to and from the Sanctuary, offering you access to the vehicles he had stored away and eventually the two of you drifted closer to one another. Eventually Negan began riding along with you each took turns driving miles out in hopes of finding something.

“So what is it about this guy, huh?” Negan asked you one day as he drove towards the newest location you’d found, feeling your hope lessen with every trip.

“I love him.” You told Negan simply because there was nothing else to it, that was the beginning and the end of it.

“Yeah but c’mon, Y/N/N, the way you talk about this guy, you knew him before the world went to shit right? What was it, high school sweethearts?” He guessed, recalling the fond way you spoke about him, the way a person would speak about somebody they’d known for years, when they felt they knew everything about each other. He also remembered the soft look that appeared on your face whenever you spoke about him and how heartbroken you’d looked the one and only time Negan gently brought up the idea that he could be dead.

“No,” You told him with a soft laugh, shaking your head as you spoke, “No, we met not too long after everything happened. He saved my life and brought me back to the group. It took a while but he finally warmed up to me and we’ve been together ever since.”

Silence filled the car after that as Negan realised just how much Daryl meant to you, realised good things could happen at the end of the world but it was with a heavy heart the two of you left the next location empty handed, no closer to finding Daryl than you'd had been before.

“I liked it better when it was just the three of us,” You groaned as you collapsed onto the sofa Negan occupied, Simon sitting in the arm chair laughing at your comment. It had taken years to build up the Sanctuary but now it stood tall and strong and Negan was always ready to defend your home.

You’d spent the whole day running back and forth as a new group tried to fight against you. Negan had finally had enough and now you were helping prepare for action, though you wouldn’t actually be allowed to join as Negan had requested you stay at the Sanctuary.

You were glad of the request though because as much as you hated that another group was challenging yours, you also weren’t the biggest fan of watching Negan assert his dominance. After bringing you with him twice Negan had decided against bringing you along to any more recruitments.

“You good here?” He asked as he stood outside the RV, smiling back at you as you smiled brightly up at him.

“Of course.” You told him and leaned into his touch as he cupped your cheek.

“Attagirl,” He grinned, patting your cheek and making his way in the RV and you watched them leave before heading back inside, still plenty of work to be done in Negan’s absence.

Negan liked this group of people, they had balls and that meant he got to show them who was in charge. He took great delight in watching Rick’s face as he forced one of his men into the van.

“I like him,” Negan said into Rick’s ear, loving the way his jaw clenched as realisation set in that he was no longer in charge, “He’s mine now.” He grinned before speaking louder so everybody could hear him. “If one more person thinks they can ignore my rules, I’m going to start cutting pieces off…” Negan paused, tilting his head towards Simon. “Hell’s his name?” He could feel the anger from the group and it only made it smirk, now you know who’s in charge.

“Daryl.” Simon told him and Negan paused for a second, raising an eyebrow at Simon who just shrugged back at him.

Hell no, Negan thought to himself, there was no way in hell this was your Daryl. It had been years since you were separated from your group but you still searched for him, Negan knew you missed him everyday, despite the fact that more years had passed than you had had with the man.

There was no way this Daryl was your Daryl, your Daryl was a man long since passed, nothing but a memory, alive only in your head.

“I will cut pieces off of Daryl and put them on your doorstep or better yet I’ll bring him to you and have you do it for me.” He forced himself to speak as he glanced to Simon once more, the other man's thoughts echoing Negan’s.

He was going to be in the shit house if these people were your old group, if he had just taken your Daryl as a hostage.

You heard the sound of vehicles rolling up outside the Sanctuary and made your way onto the balcony, watching as Negan’s people flooded through the doors, smiling as you saw the man himself before it turned into a grimace as you looked at the bloody bat in his hand.

You made your way down the stairs, catching Negan’s eyes immediately and he looked almost guilty, it was a look you couldn’t ever recall seeing on the man's face and stepped closer to him, not speaking until you were in arms reach.

“What happened?” You asked him softly, watching as he lifted a hand towards the open door before the world around you seemed to freeze.

You watched as Dwight and Simon held a struggling Daryl between them, his eyes not looking away from his captors as you stared at him. You felt Negan catch you as your legs turned to jelly, your eyes instantly filled with tears as a hand came up to try and suppress the sobs that escaped you but you couldn’t, not even noticing when people watched you as your sobs echoed throughout the room.

You watched as Daryl paused in Dwight and Simon’s hold, watched as his head whipped around to the sound of crying before he too lost his footing, Simon easily catching him and holding him up.

You swallowed against the lump in your throat as your mouth opened and closed a few times, not quite knowing what to say.

“Y/N,” Daryl breathed your name and it was like the world began moving again as you ran across the room and crashed into his arms, Daryl caught you easily as Simon let go of him.

You wrapped your arms around Daryl’s torso as he wrapped his own around you, the two of you a sobbing mess as you realised this was real and not some terrible dream that would leave you cold and empty.

“I thought you were dead.” He whispered into your hair, “I looked for ya, never stopped lookin’.”

“Me too,” You told him, nodding against his chest, “People told me you were probably dead but I know you.”

“Can’t believe I found you after all this time.” He whispered, pulling back far enough so that he could look down at you, pressing your foreheads together as he watched you smile at him shakily. “The hell you doin’ with this bastard?”

“He saved me,” You sniffed, hand reaching up to cup his cheek, brushing tears away only for them to be replaced a second later. Disbelief ran through you because somehow, somehow, you had managed to find him despite the years apart, despite the odds being against you, you were here in Daryl’s arms. “When we got- that day, I couldn’t find you and they just kept coming. I was on my own for weeks when Negan found me and offered me a place to stay, offered to help me find you.”

“I don’t care ‘bout him right now,” Daryl told you cupping your cheek and leaning down to brush your lips together, “so glad to see you again,” He whispered, leaning back in a placing another soft, barely there kiss upon your lips and you smiled before pulling him down properly and slotting your lips together.

Even after years apart the two of you moved with each other like you hadn’t missed a single day. The kiss was familiar and new, it was breathtaking and hungry, desperately trying to convey all the words that could not be said and make up for all the time missed.

The two of you pulled away, panting for breath and Daryl wiped a tear that slid down your face causing you to laugh softly.

“I never stopped looking for you.” He repeated again, this time more urgently because he needed, he needed, you to know that. He needed you to know that not a day went by he didn’t think about you, didn’t mourn you.

“I never stopped looking for you either.” You told him, your tone softer than he had spoken but your eyes shone with so much honestly that Daryl couldn’t resist leaning down and capturing your lips against his.

He’d deal with Negan later, deal with what you being a part of their group meant, he’d deal with all that later. Right now his only focus was you, beautiful, amazing, alive you and nothing, not even Negan and his bloody bat could drag him away from you.

“Shit, I missed you so damn much,” He murmured against your lips, loving that he could feel you smile against his own and knew he would never let you go again, his girl was back from the dead and he did not intend to waste his second chance.

__________

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Hi! This is the link to my Febuwhump 2023 stories.

They are in the Star Wars: Rebels fandom.

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