It was slow― waking up.

Dream's limbs felt heavy, but his eyelids felt even heavier.

He didn't remember when he took his first breath or when he opened his eyes, all he remembered was coming face to face with George.

George's eyes were filled with tears and Dream had to blink to keep his own at bay. His legs shook as he stood up, embracing George with no hesitation. They hugged each other with no words, crying as they were finally reunited again.

As Dream's head started to clear, he noticed something. Dream pulled out of George's hug and looked down to his hand, where the cut still was, still open and unhealed. Dream blinked in confusion and looked at George, who had an uncertain look in his eyes.

Dream inhaled, his chest heavy, and blinked, trying to get his eyes to focus. His eyebrows pinched together when he realized how little he could hear and see. All of his senses used to be on high alert, but now― now they seem to have dulled.

Dream used to be able to hear the snowfall on the roof and smell each and every potion on the shelf, but now, all he could hear was his ragged breathing and all he could smell was the muggy odor of the fireplace.

"What― what happened?" he asked.

George seemed to search for an explanation, but he didn't seem to find one. Minx spoke up from behind him, "There was a price, you knew that."

"Yeah..." Dream replied nervously, his eyes widening. He hesitated before lifting his hands to feel his ears. Where there used to be pointed tips, were now dull and rounded. He gasped softly.

"My― my... it's gone." Dream paused, blinking in surprise, "I'm human."

Minx nodded and all Dream could say was, "Oh."

He gave himself a moment to process this, his lips curling in a small smile. Minx was surprised as Dream's smile grew bigger and she left the room, muttering something. George was giving him a confused look.

"Dream...?" George asked nervously. "Why are you smiling like you just won a million gold?"

All Dream could do was laugh breathlessly. He gripped George's shoulders and said, "George― George, I'm human..."

"I know..." George said slowly, "Aren't you upset?"

"Upset?" Dream asked incredulously. His smile grew as he exclaimed, "George, I'm fucking human!"

A small smile grew on George's face as he waited for Dream to continue. Dream said breathlessly, "Do you know what this means?!" Dream's face softened and he cupped George's cheeks with his hands. He murmured, "George, we can be together for the rest of our lives... we can grow old together."

George's eyes shone with happiness and love as he leaned into Dream's touch. George whispered, "So, you're not upset?"

"No," Dream replied with a soft smile, "I'm fucking ecstatic... this... this is perfect."

George sighed in relief. "Thank god, I thought you'd be mad that you had to give up being Fae."

"I'd give up anything for you, George."

George smiled wide and he murmured shyly, "Really?"

"Really," Dream assured him. "And now we can get that house in the countryside you wanted... with a cat."

"I'd like that," George whispered.

Dream nodded and said hesitantly, "I was also thinking... would you like a daughter?" When George didn't reply within the first half second, Dream rushed, "I-I mean it doesn't have to be now. Sometime in the future, maybe? I don't want you to feel pressured or anything, I just―"

"Dream," George murmured and Dream met his eyes. "I'd love to raise a daughter with you, we don't need to be in any hurry, okay?"

"Right," Dream said slowly, relief washing over him. He whispered, "We'll do this together because we have time."

George nodded eagerly and Dream leaned closer to him. They shared breaths for a moment before Dream lifted George's chin up and pressed their lips together. George smiled into the kiss, bringing his hands up to tangle in Dream's hair.

His fingers drifted to Dream's ears, feeling their roundness and Dream pulled away from the kiss briefly, watching George. George smiled softly and whispered, "I love you, Dream."

"I love you more."

"Oh, don't you start with me," George warned with a warm smile.

The door to the room opened, interrupting their intimate moment. Dream forced his eyes away from George to look at Minx, who had a bored expression.

The witch said grumpily, "Your friends are stomping all over my living room. Please tell them to calm the fuck down before I curse their souls."

Dream chuckled and grabbed George's hand, pulling him out of Minx's work room. They walked into the living room quietly and the first thing Dream saw was Sapnap, the pyrokinetic pacing the room.

Sapnap's eyes snapped to meet Dream's, his expression furious, but his clenched jaw went slack at the sight of George. He stumbled forward, whispering, "George?"

George smiled wide and nodded. Sapnap was frozen, his feet planted to the ground in shock. Callahan shoved past him and embraced George, tears running down the faun's cheeks.

"Hey, Callahan," George whispered, "it's nice to see you again."

Callahan nodded, hugging George fiercely. Sapnap seemed to snap out of his daze and he ran towards George, wrapping his arms around him and Callahan. Callahan stepped away and Sapnap choked out, "It's good to see you, man. I-I thought you were dead..."

"I was," George whispered, his eyes finding Dream's, "but Dream saved me."

Sapnap sniffed and nodded. He pulled out of the hug and glared at Dream. The pyrokinetic stomped towards Dream and punched him. He exclaimed, "You son of a bitch! Why the fuck did you leave us?"

Dream cursed, his head reeling from the force of the blow. George was at his side instantly, supporting Dream as he struggled to stand straight. He was still weak from losing so much and the punch that Sapnap had delivered wasn't a light one.

"Ow, Sapnap," Dream muttered, lifting a hand to touch the red skin on his face. He met Sapnap's confused stare and said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left... it was wrong of me and I'm a dick for that. I know how much George means to you and Callahan, so I'm sorry to both of you."

Sapnap nodded, the gears turning in his head as he studied Dream. Dream added, turning to look at Karl, "I'm sorry, Karl, for anything I've ever done that may have hurt you in any way."

Karl nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but Sapnap said in disbelief, "You― you're human."

Dream nodded and George explained, "He gave up his Fae life to bring me back."

Sapnap's features softened. "You... you really did that?"

"And I'd do it again," Dream whispered, turning his head to look into George's eyes. His partner smiled softly, leaning his head onto Dream's shoulder.

"Well fuck," Sapnap muttered. "What happens now?"

"Now," Dream said, not looking away from George, "now we can be happy."

~five years later~

"Daaads," a shriek called out, "I can't find Patches, where is she?!"

Clay laughed, meeting George's smile. George set the book he was reading down, revealing the sleeping cat in his lap. Clay shook his head with a smile as George winked at him.

A little girl ran into the room, jumping into Clay's lap. She pouted, "Do you know where she went? I think she's hiding from me."

Clay smiled fondly, lifting his hand to brush a loose strand of brown hair behind her ear. He asked, "Why don't you try looking a little harder?"

George and Clay's daughter sighed dramatically, crossing her arms. She lifted her chin and whined, "But I did! I looked everywhere!"

Clay chuckled, meeting George's eyes. George simply shrugged and lifted his book. Clay looked back to their daughter and sighed. The six year old looked up at Clay with big doe eyes, pleading for him to help.

Clay tapped a finger against her nose and whispered, "Why don't we go outside? I can teach you how to make a flower crown."

George laughed softly and spoke up, "I don't think that's a good idea. You suck at making flower crowns."

Their daughter craned her neck to look at George, eyes filled with interest as she asked, "Do you know how?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," George said with a smile. He set his book down and Patches leapt out of his lap.

"Patches!" Their daughter exclaimed, "There you are!"

She hopped off Clay's lap and scooped the cat in her arms, singing a familiar tune― one that George had taught her. She strode out of the room and Clay heard the front door slam close.

He looked at George and shrugged. "Wanna make some flower crowns with her?"

George smiled and linked his arm with Clay's. The two walked out of their house, following their daughter and Patches to the meadow.

Her mulberry colored dress brushed against the grass as she skipped towards the nearest bunch of flowers. Clay smiled softly and looked at George. He whispered, "I bet I can make a better flower crown than you."

George rolled his eyes and teased, "Oh, please, you can't even braid her hair, how are you going to weave together flower stems?"

"I have my ways," Clay replied with a nudge in George's side.

George laughed. "Okay, we'll see about that."

Clay's heart felt full when George laughed and he had an overwhelming urge to say, "I love you, George."

"I love you, Clay," George replied, his lips curving in a small smile.

Clay looked at his lips and leaned forward, pressing them together. George kissed back, laughing softly when Clay pulled away. "You can't distract me," George insisted, "I will not hesitate to sabotage your flower crown."

"Oh, so I'm a threat now?" Clay teased and interlaced their hands.

George glared playfully at him, his eyes softening as he looked past Clay to their daughter. She was sitting in the grass, placing flowers on Patches. The cat was patient, like always, and let the girl have her fun.

His eyes lowered down to their connected hands, landing on their bracelets. Since the days they had made the bracelets for each other the bracelets hadn't fallen apart. The dark green fabric was fraying slightly, but Clay took great care of his, keeping it as a reminder.

Clay smiled fondly and looked to the little girl in the grass. In the three years that he and George have had their daughter, they've had so many new experiences. Sleepless nights full of crying and temper tantrums. Naps together― all three of them― in the middle of the day. Teaching their daughter the alphabet and how to brush her hair.

Everything from the smallest of challenges to the largest ones, Clay and George did them together.

Ever since Minx had revived George and Clay had become human, things changed. Clay discarded the name 'Dream' and became the person he was when he was with George; caring, gentle, and always happy.

They got Patches a year after moving into their dream house on the countryside as well as a few cows and chickens. It was everything they dreamed of and it became more perfect when they decided to adopt a little girl from the nearest town's orphanage.

Sapnap and Karl also settled down. Their house was on the other side of the town in a different countryside. The distance between houses was probably a couple hours walking. Each household visited the other one at least once a week.

Callahan had left a while back, not ready to settle down just yet. He still wanted more adventure, so the faun travelled back to Captain Puffy's home and joined her crew. Clay could only imagine his joys at sea.

Since Technoblade was dead, Philza freed all of the forced workers and helped them find what they were looking for. Antfrost was reunited with his lover and they visited Clay and George once before leaving to live somewhere far away.

Philza also took in Techno's two kids that he was raising; Tommy and Ranboo. As it turns out, Ranboo was the one who had recognized Clay in the town. The boy suffered from memory lapses and often saw visions of his ancestors' lives. Somehow, Clay had met one of Ranboo's ancestors a while back and Ranboo recognized him because of that.

Ranboo was now on his own, now that he had become an adult in the past five years, but he still helped Philza.

Tommy was now seventeen and he would often come to visit Clay and George whenever he and Philza were in town. The teen never failed to play pranks on their daughter, but he never made her cry.

George still had his telekinesis, even after dying and coming back to life. He didn't use it for anything major, just to make their daughter giggle in surprise and bring something to him instead of getting up to get it.

Clay and George were finally happy and living in peace. Now that Technoblade was forced back to his home realm, Clay didn't have to worry about being forced to kill people. He was free― free with George.

Yes, he was no longer a Faerie, but he had so much more. He didn't care about living for a really long time or being faster and stronger.

Him and George may not have forever together, but they had the rest of their lives and that was enough. They had the time given to them, no more, no less. Decades together full of moments to have and memories to share.

Time didn't matter to Clay anymore. Sure, there was a clock ticking down, but Clay didn't care. All he cared about was George and their daughter.

He had unknowingly waited centuries for the perfect person. Fundy was his first love, but George would always be his last love.

Fundy believed in fate and Clay had never shared the idea... until he met George.

After centuries of loss and killing, Clay had reached his dream. He didn't realize he longed for a love such as the love he shared with George until he met him.

I guess you could say it was all a matter of time.