Chapter Text
What the hell was he doing? He hated flying almost as much as he hated Christmas and now Ben Solo finds himself battling through the sea of people frantically moving in and out JFK airport. No luggage beside him, only the essentials in his messenger bag and a determination that he’s not sure will last.
It all started with a movie. Like their usually is this time of year, every channel is overflowing with Christmas themed shows. Hallmark movies, so cheesy and sickly sweet that Ben has to force himself not to gag and the classic movies that everyone seems to fawn over this time of year.
And it had been his favourite that had lit the fire in his soul.
That's what Cindy's been trying to tell everyone... and me. I don't need anything more for Christmas than this right here: my family.
The Grinch That Stole Christmas continued to play as Ben stood staring at the screen in silence, with every minute, a wild idea forming in his head, as he watched Jim Carrey’s Grinch’s heart grow two sizes bigger. His state of the art apartment was a cold reflection of the sinking feeling that he felt in his chest, not a glimmer of festive cheer recognised in this cold penthouse apartment in the middle of Chicago.
Making his way to find a taxi, he calls his boss and quits, not giving Andrew Snoke the chance to scream and curse down the line. He texts his mother, knowing that if he hears her no-nonsense voice she would know he was lying and refuse to listen to reason as he nervously sits in the back of his ride, anxiously flicking the pages of his passport.
Ben Solo was coming to New York to win the love of his life back.
*
This world is a strange place.
Rey winces as her ears begin to pop from the portal, the stillness and quiet of the Enchanted Forest, a memory when she is thrust in the hustle and bustle of this world. Maz, the witch’s words of encouragement and caution ring in her ears when her eyes begin to focus.
The belonging you seek is not behind you, it is ahead.
The noise hurts her ears, the lights are painful to her eyes, but Rey has suffered a millennia alone and now she is in this strange world to find her family.
*
He had lost his nerve. When the taxi driver had asked for the drop off address, Benjamin Solo had panicked and practically screamed for the Rockefeller centre. He’s not sure why, but it’s December 23rd and packed with panicked New Yorkers trying to fit in some last minute shopping and tourists who are trying to take 650 million selfies with the giant, famous tree whilst trying to remain upright on the ice rink even at this late hour.
You’re a mean one, Mr Grinch.
The memory of this place draws a painful ache in Ben’s heart. Bundled up in his thickest coat, the coal coloured fabric stark against the glitz and festivity that seemed to have gripped everyone in The Big Apple. He pulls the material closer against his broad chest, trying to combat the cold and the unease building inside. He knows what he has to do, he’s just not sure if he’s strong enough to do it.
It’s not like he can call first, he knows he wouldn’t be welcome. And the fact that he daren’t turn his phone on, seeing as Leia is on the warpath, not believing his quick text that he had found a last minute holiday in the Polish Lake district and that he would be seeing her around the New Year.
No, turning the cell phone back on was not an option.
He could feel his temper fraying at the seams of his sanity walking in this chaos. Spotting a side street, his heart leaping at a reprieve of being able to have space for his 6ft 3 body, Ben practically skipped in that direction almost instantly colliding with someone.
The smaller frame connects hard against his broad chest, bouncing immediately off and heading towards the ground. On instinct, his hand catches the slim wrist, straightening the person who walked into him with and coming face to face with a beautiful young woman.
Hazel eyes flecked with fireworks of brown stare up at him, high cheekbones scattered with freckles and plump pink lips parted in shock that seems to catch and keep Ben’s attention for longer than appropriate. The feel of her warm breath against the skin of his bare neck brings him back to reality and the fact that he still has a hold of her wrist.
Pulling away as if burned, Ben takes a step back, trying to calm his breathing. Coffee coloured hair reaching past her shoulders, her eyes wide and fearful as he notices the totally inappropriate state of dress this young woman is currently running around New York during December.
A flowing white dress that, on closer inspection, sparkles with different shades of blue gems. Arms bare, Ben notices the intricate lines of a tattoo running from the tops of her shoulders before disappearing down her back.
“Excuse me, Sir,” her voice is like winter sunshine after the long night. Ben can almost feel his body relax before his brain processes the words, “What world is this?”
*
This world is loud and not like home.
The weight of the gentleman’s coat feels heavy against her shoulders, the material itching against her wings as they ride within the metal device that is to take them somewhere safe. Already Rey feels at ease in this man's presence, even if he seems to glance in her direction every 4 minutes and 40 seconds before sighing and can’t seem to stop nervously tapping his hand against his leg.
Another quick glance, another sigh.
The metal box dings and the doors slide open before the man. Ben he introduced himself as, ushers her towards a wooden door with a familiar circular shape made of leaves, twigs and flowers.
“Oh, you are celebrating the turning of the seasons?” Ben seems to eye her in a daze as if shocked to hear her speak. Taking the opportunity to reflect on her guide, Rey notices the paleness of his skin, dotted with marks slightly darker to the ones branded across her cheeks and how it contrasts with the ebony locks that brush against the collar of his clothes. He has full lips that he seems to be gnawing on nervously while he looks at her, and those eyes, dark as the cocoa that warms her daily at home.
“Um, what?” She gestures at the decoration while he places his hand on the metal handle of the door. “Oh, the wreath? My, um… the person who lives here loves Christmas.”
Confused at his words, Rey watches Ben knock on the door after a few minutes of calming his breathing. After a few moments, Rey can make out shuffling and muffled curses from the other side of the door. The door is quickly pulled open where a tired-looking man with a shock of red hair sticking up in every direction stands gazing open-mouthed at Ben.
Rey takes in this stranger’s appearance, tall, although slightly smaller than Ben, and with a skinnier frame dressed in plaid pyjamas. The man’s face was a canvas of sharp lines, high cheekbones and the same coloured hair dusting his strong chin, Rey can’t help but compare the two humans she has been in close contact with.
This world sure knows how to create handsome men!
“Ben, what the hell? What are you doing here?” Green eyes flicker upwards, finally taking notice of Rey. His gaze notices the thin, white dress buried underneath Ben’s huge black coat. Those eyes catching something that has him looking slightly confused. “Ben, your lady friend seems to be missing shoes.”
*
“Ok, so let me get this straight,” Hux angrily whispers at Ben in the kitchen, even though his angry whisper is the same volume as his normal voice. Banging the tray of cookies on the counter, “I haven’t seen you in six months and you show up at my door Christmas Eve morning with a half dressed, shoeless girl that you met in the middle of New York?”
“I didn’t know what else to do?” The knot in Ben’s stomach tightens as he watches Armitage move around the kitchen he once shared with him. He avoids looking in the cabinets, not sure if he would rather they be the same or if Armitage decided to change in his absence.
The apartment didn’t look much different, the leather couch in the room was the same, as was the red and black plaid blanket that Leia had knitted them one year. The bookcase bursting with Armitage’s crime novels still stands in the corner, and the other nic-nacs dotted around the space.
A lived in home. Ben’s apartment is a poor imitation.
“You should have called the authorities, damn it, Ben.” Another batch of cookies are practically thrown from the oven, “you should have called your mother.”
“Mom thinks I’m in Poland.”
Armitage’s eyes snap to Ben’s, his gaze so intense that Ben can feel his body trying to make himself smaller. “So, you’re lying to Leia now?” Slamming the oven door closed, another tray of cookies hit the side as Armitage swings around to face him, the familiar aroma of his ex’s cooking that normally causes Ben’s mouth to water causes his stomach to roll.
“I would have thought that with it being the first anniversary, you would have spent some time with her.” Biting his tongue, Ben feels himself tense at the topic of discussion, arms fold against his chest, almost trying to keep the pressure on the pain weighing in his heart.
“But instead,” Armitage continues, noting the tension radiating off the other man, “you rock up at my door with a girl that’s half naked and looks barely legal. Are you trying to punish me more?”
The last word comes out broken, Ben’s eyes flickering instantly and the pressure in his chest building more than he imagined it could.
A smash from the room breaks the tension, their guest almost forgot as they quickly make their way to the other room. “Do you think she has something wrong with her?” Ben finds himself muttering almost under his breath.
Gritting his teeth when he hears Hux mutter behind him, “The girl is running around New York barefoot, what do think?”
Spinning around, the two men almost hit each other’s noses, Ben noticing how Armitage’s green eyes flicker down to his lips. “Please, Armitage, give her a chance, you didn’t see how scared she was.”
They find Rey trying to collect the glass of their high school prom photograph that she has knocked off the side. The fact that it is still on display has the beginning of hopeful butterflies fluttering in Ben’s stomach. The borrowed coat forgotten on the floor, Ben finds himself noticing the detail of the symmetrical tattoos he had caught sight of earlier. The lines sweep from the top of her shoulders and seem to line up along her spine, the skin between each line seems to shimmer in a pattern that Ben has never seen before on someone's skin.
Her brow is pinched with worry as Armitage kneels beside her and Ben runs to grab the broom. “Please be careful of the glass,” Armitage murmurs gently, noticing the anxiety radiating off the young woman. “I’m sorry, where are my manners? My name’s Armitage Hux.”
“Rey and I’m so sorry about the photograph. I’ve never seen one before.”
“A photo?” Armitage asks as they move out of Ben’s way, he tries to ignore the goosebumps he feels as his skin touches the stranger’s fingers when he offers to help her up.
“No, a family.” She eyes the man nervously, playing with her fingers as she debates what to do next. Armitage notices the picture still within the frightened woman’s hand, how the broken frame shakes slightly in her grasp.
Slowly, so not to startle, Armitage takes the photograph from her hand, smiling absently at the picture of himself and Ben at their high school graduation. His gaze catches his younger self standing proudly alongside the people in the photograph, the way his ginger hair fell across his eyes and the lack of stubble he had yet to grow. All fresh-faced and gangly limbs, Ben’s hair only just covering the ears he loathes so much, even though Armitage spent countless hours telling him how he thought they were cute. Those deep, brown eyes were much more carefree in the image than they were in the present as if the weight of the world had fallen on the young Ben’s shoulders in such a short time. The two men were flanked by the best people Armitage knew, the petite woman with her arm wrapped around the young Hux’s side, her brown eyes a similar colour of her son’s, although with a fierce edge that had fought in Armitage’s corner when needed; Leia Organa-Solo.
At the other side stood Han, Ben’s father. Being so close to his son, the similar shape of jaw and nose were blatantly obvious, as were the same way both father and son held a certain amount of swagger and the mischievous wink that had brought Armitage’s attention to the youngest Swolo family member.
“This is when Ben and I graduated high school, we had been dating for six months.”
Rey smiled, eyeing the photograph again, her interest almost childlike toward the object. “The other couple?”
“Ben’s parents, Han and Leia.” Armitage catches Ben returning from the kitchen, noticing how the other man catches sight of the picture in his hand.
“They were great when we came out.” Returning the memory back to its place, Armitage drops to the couch. He can practically sense Ben tensing at the mention of his parents, but Hux catches the confused gaze of the woman before him.
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand what coming out is?” Rey’s eyes travel to Armitage and Ben in confusion, her brow pinched as if she’s trying to solve a brain teaser.
“When you’re gay, bisexual, lesbian… many things,” Ben replies, confused at the conversation he’s found himself in with a random, shoeless woman he found off the street and his ex-boyfriend in the same room. “It’s what you do.”
“What are those things?”
“They’re labels of who you love, I guess,” Hux murmurs, equally as stumped at Rey’s lack of knowledge with words universally known.
“This world is a confusing place,” Rey murmurs almost to herself, Ben joining Armitage on the couch, resting his hands against his knees when the young woman looks to them both. “Love is a precious thing, it is too magical to be given something as archaic as a label.”
Both Ben and Armitage stare at the woman before them, sitting in quiet reflection of the world they live in. Rey looks at the photograph once more, confused at how the obvious love radiating from the image had been given a label.
“Can I show you something?”
The two men sit nervously on the old, battered leather couch they bought at a yard sale a few years ago, Armitage trying to ignore the fact he can feel the heat radiating from Ben’s thigh at his close proximity.
Taking a deep breath, the lines along Rey’s skin begin to shimmer in the light of the room. Ben feels like he’s dreaming when the ink pulls away from her skin, the shimmer he had noticed before turn to a range of lilac and blue hues.
Wings. Rey has wings.
“Fuck me, Ben,” Hux gasps beside him as Ben stares open-mouthed at the young woman before him. A nervous smile plays against her lips as she tries to figure out their reaction. “What the hell did you bring home this time?”
*
They sit on the couch, the men staring in shock at her as a bottle filled with amber liquid is passed between them. Ben hasn’t spoken a word since she revealed her wings, his eyes never leaving her face while he drinks straight from the bottle that Armitage had silently grabbed from the kitchen.
Rey feels self-conscious, having never revealed her wings to anyone before. The way the men stare, filled with a mixture of awe and fear, has her stomach in knots, a flick of her fingers and her ice power frost the window pane instantly. Hux is the first to speak, his mouth opening and closing several times before he finally asks, “Holy shit, Elsa, where the hell did you come from?”
Arms wrapped around herself, Rey finds herself eyeing the coat at her feet. She doesn’t feel the chill of this world, her magic protecting her against the harshest winters, but she misses the reassuring weight of the material.
As if sensing her distress, Ben rises to his feet pulling the red and black patterned blanket from the seat. His lips rise in a smile as he drapes it over her shoulders. “Thank you, I like this pattern.”
“It’s called plaid, it comes in different…”
“Can we talk plaid later?” Hux cuts Ben off, Rey noticing a flush of pink brightening the usual pale skin as he eyes the other man sitting on the couch, still not sure on the status of the relationship between the two. “Can we get back to the fact you have brought a real-life fairy into my living room and talk different patterns at a later time?”
Returning to his seat, Rey notices how he avoids her gaze. Her eyes meet Hux’s as she continues, “I’m from another dimension far from here.”
“With people like you?” Ben questions, smiling reassuringly when Rey nervously catches his eye. Nodding slowly, she focuses on him.
“Many different creatures live in our world and all possess some form of magic, one way or another.” Pulling the fabric tighter, she focuses on those eyes so intent on her own, matching her breathing subconsciously to his. “I came here to achieve my mission.”
“And what’s that?” Armitage’s soothing tone has goose pimples rising against her skin. Rey’s eyes catch sight of his staring up at her, warmth spreading in her chest at their gaze.
“Maz, the Witch, told me that ‘the belonging I seek isn’t behind me, it is ahead’.” Hux pulls the bottle from Ben’s hand, taking a drink, he winces before meeting Rey’s stare.
“What does that mean?”
“My family isn’t in my world, but Maz seems to think they are in this one.”
Ben gingerly raises his hand, catching the mythical creature and Armitage’s attention. “So, you’re planning on searching the planet for your family?”
“Maz narrowed it down to this place, she told me to trust the man with the red coat.”
“Ok, so we have New York city filled with over eight million people,” swinging the bottle back, Hux scoffs, “How many of them do you think own a red coat?”
“I have twenty-four hours to find them and return home.” Pulling the bottle from his ex-partner’s hand, Ben tilts his head back, guzzling down on the liquid, grimacing at the burn.
“Wow, she needs a miracle,” Ben murmurs to Hux at his side, watching as she turns away, her wings returning to their inky disguise.
“She needs Santa.” Slumping in his chair, Ben groans at Armitage’s unwavering Christmas spirit, even in the worse situation.
“Well, Ben, you know one thing for sure,” clapping a hand against Ben’s shoulder, his hand colliding with muscle as Armitage regrets the action as soon as he feels his hand touch his body. Hiding the blush, he stands and returns the half drank bottle to its rightful place “Han would approve, he always had a thing for Tinkerbell.”
“Who is this Tinkerbell?” Brows pinched, Rey asks, causing Armitage to laugh as she notices Ben clench his jaw.
A gesture that Armitage misses when Ben pulls himself to stand, his face stern as he retreats from the group. “Let’s not, Armitage.”
“Oh, Ben. C’mon, lighten up, it’s Christmas!” Catching his arm, Armitage almost pleads, the tension from earlier begins to rise. “Han would have loved this, he always had a thing for the supernatural.”
“Stop it.” Wrenching his arm away, Ben moves to leave again
“You know what, Ben? No,” the snap of the last word causing Ben to freeze in his retreat. Hair stands on the nape of Rey’s neck when she catches the thunderous gaze passing between the two men “How dare you? You turn up at my door after you walked out six months ago and drop this on my lap and you think that I have to tiptoe around you?”
“I don’t want to talk about it because that’s not why I came.”
“Then why did you?”
“To win you back!”
The revelation knocks the wind out of Armitage’s sails, words he had dreamt of for over half a year screamed at him during the early hours of Christmas Eve morning. With a real-life fairy as an audience.
“Grief is hard Ben and you can’t keep running from it,” Hux’s tone wavers, his eyes glassy as he speaks to his returning love. He watches as Ben bites down hard on his bottom lip, his jaw rolling like it does when he’s fighting back tears, one of his hands running through the inky mass of hair that has grown during their time apart. A tear falls from Armitage’s eye as he watches Ben bolt, the image almost identical to six months previous.
Heaving a deep sigh, Armitage meets Rey’s concerned gaze. “Let’s go out for a smoke.”
*
Inhaling another drag from his cigarette, Armitage feels his body begin to relax as Rey moves beside him, noticing how it provides no heat like humans do. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“It’s ok.” Turning to face her as he blows the smoke away, she rewards him with a weak smile, “I hear families are complicated.”
“Understatement of the year.” The winter wind bites at his exposed skin, he can almost feel the tip of his nose beginning to redden with the temperature as he watches Rey stand before him unaffected.
“Ben’s a really great guy, it’s just this last year brings back bad memories for him.” Smiling sadly, Armitage can’t help but recount all the good memories he had of Christmas before last year.
Noticing his discomfort, she pulls the plaid blanket from her shoulders, standing on her tiptoes and chuckling softly when Armitage lowers his frame so she can reach his shoulders, the blanket rests against his skin. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Eyeing Rey, he notices the look of concern on her face for Ben. Sighing, he takes another drag of his cigarette before continuing, “Ben lost his father last year, it was sudden and horrible. Ben didn’t come to terms with Han’s prognosis soon enough and by the time he did… well, Han was already gone.”
“When we came out to Han and Ben’s mum, Leia, we were so nervous and he just looked at us both shook my hand and said, ‘welcome to the family kid’,” Armitage’s voice wavers, his fingers clench as he continues, “My father, on the other hand, was a different story.” His eyes meet Rey’s, finishing the story of his father with nothing but a look “I learnt early on that family isn’t just about blood, you can choose it if you want to.”
“And your mother?” He feels his lip pull down at the mention of his mother. Meeting the curious look appearing on Rey's face, he notices for the first time the dusting of freckles spread across her nose.
“She died when I was 10.”
Suddenly he feels himself being pulled into a fierce hug, Rey’s arms wound tightly against him as she silently holds him through the grief and pain. “I’m sorry,” he hears her murmur near his ear.
“For what?” His face etched with confusion, but his body unwilling to pull from the comfort of human contact. Well, kinda human.
“You lost someone too.”
When he moves to retreat inside, Rey holds onto his hand, her eyes were full of an emotion Armitage can’t quite decipher. “Can I show you something?” Nodding slowly, he returns to her embrace, his eyes on her own when she instructs him to focus and he is happy to oblige.
“Look down.,” whispering, Armitage peers between their bodies pressed together, his arms tightening instinctively when he realises that they are far up in the sky, the world and people beneath them like toys at their feet.
Staring at the world below in amazement, the thump of his heart echoed in his ears, the clouds beside them, the beat of Rey’s wings were relaxing like the crash of sea foamed waves on a tropical paradise.
“I’ll help you find your family, Rey.” The smile he’s rewarded with has his stomach somersaulting, the flutter of her wings matching the butterflies in his stomach as they begin their descent back to the world.
*
They return to the warmth of his home shortly after, Rey struggling to stop the smile that finds itself returning to her lips when she notices the way the tips of his nose has turned a bright shade of pink.
Sitting together beside the fire, Armitage asks her about home. Rey tells him about the world she lives in, how the Enchanted Forest is the world of all creatures that seemingly have become myth and works of fiction in this world. Tales of the creatures ruled by the night and moon who live on to feed their urges for blood and flesh. The creatures that call the shores around the Enchanted Forest home, lulling any lost sailor to a watery grave, and finally the fairies that are the guardians of the world, every fairy of each season protects the balance of this world to ensure that it continues.
Armitage talks about his world, the holiday that she has found herself arriving before and for the first time since Ben, he talks to someone about his mother. He shares how he would bake with her on Christmas eve, cookies and other sugary desserts that they would devour after Christmas dinner.
“And you are the Winter fairy?” Nodding, she laughs quietly when he tries to stifle a yawn, her body not needing the rest that humans seem to need. Eventually, he falls to sleep and Rey can’t help snuggling by his side, closing her eyes as she rests to the beat of his heart.
Sometime later, she hears the front door pull open, gentle footsteps move towards them as someone settles beside them. A deep sigh that she recognises as Ben, she almost jumps when Armitage speaks, his arms tightening slightly in the other’s presence.
“You decided to come back this time?” Armitage murmurs, the soft vibrations from his chest flowing through Rey’s entire body.
“I’ll always come back to you, Armitage.” She feels the man holding her move underneath her form, keeping her body close against his, almost like a shield.
“It took six months last time.” Ben sighs, and she can’t help but peek through her eyelids, seeing the tall man slumped on the floor, his long legs stretched out in front of him. “And what about her?”
Armitage’s question has Rey snapping her eyes close, adrenaline coursing through her veins, yearning to hear Ben’s response.
Ben must nod when Armitage replies, “You like her.” A statement, not a question.
“You don’t?”
“Fair enough.” Sitting in silence, Rey feels when Armitage gently moves the blanket from their bodies. “C’mon, Ben, you’ll be crippled if you fall asleep on the floor.”
She feels Ben join them, the reassuring feel of the couch dipping with his weight, and Rey feels something she hasn’t felt in a million years.
Safe.
“We have to help her,” Ben whispers, a ghost of fingertips pull loose hair from her face as she feigns sleep.
“We will,” Armitage sounds confident as his body relaxes against Rey’s, his arms beginning to loosen against her waist.
“How are we going to do that? There must be over a million people, at least, that own a red coat in New York.”
“Guess we have to start with the big guns and make our way down.”
“Hux, what the fuck are you talking about?”
“Santa, Solo, now shut up and go to sleep.”