Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Twilight or Outlander. Those rights are reserved for Stephanie Myer and Diana Gabaldon. Please support the original release. I do own the original characters created for this storyline. Thank you.
Writers Notes: Thank you everyone for the support! I apologize for the late update. I have been sick this week. Nonetheless, the story must go on!
Bella was quiet as she lay there in Jamie's arms, her head resting on his chest. He was quiet too. Both were just savoring lying like this before they would find even less time to be together. After a few rounds, Bella was completely satisfied.
"In yer time, how do ya get from place to place?" Jamie was curious about a lot and had many more questions.
Bella smiled and leaned up, her hair falling like a dark curtain. "You've been laying here thinking about the future?"
"Aye." Jamie said with a smile.
Bella sat up more, smiling and shaking her head. "Well, they're called cars. No need to use horses. We also have trains and planes. Trains are… well it's like a carriage except every carriage is attached to the one in front of it and it is pulled by the front cab. They go really fast. Then planes fly in the sky."
Jamie blinked a few times. "In the sky? Who would get on a death contraption like that?"
Bella chuckled. "I've flown around a lot. I've been all over America, Europe and I've even been to Australia." She said with a nod.
"I'm sorry, what?" Jamie asked.
"Another country. Doesn't get discovered for another 30 years." Bella said then leaned down and kissed him softly. "I have more pictures on my phone if you would like to see them."
Jamie sat up then. "Can I?" He was in awe of the future and his new wife.
Bella retrieved her phone and brought it over to him then she opened the gallery before handing it to him. "Go ahead. Just take your finger and swipe like this to go on to the next picture."
Jamie studied the phone and then swiped it like she said, it changed and his mouth dropped open in awe. "Wait, this is outside Inverness." He said, looking at the stones at Craigh na Dun.
"Yes, those are the stones that I came through to get here."
"There're old Scottish songs about these stones. As a boy ya never think about it. But the song talks about a foreigner from the future that gets lost in time before she goes back to where she came from."
Bella frowned. "Really?"
"Aye. Which means there is a way back for you Bella. Yer mom and- "
"I don't want that anymore. If I go, then that means I'm leaving you behind and I love you. I won't do that."
Jamie studied her. "You'd give up yer cars, planes and… other future things to stay here, where there is war, death, pain… to be with me?"
"James Fraser, I love you." Bella said, her voice firm. "I want to be here with you. I can't leave now. I can't leave you to die in a battle that is doomed from the start."
Jamie leaned in, pressing his forehead to hers, closing his eyes briefly. "I love ye." He murmured and then leaned back to look back at the phone. He swiped again, seeing a picture of Bella at the University of Edinburgh again with her mom and some other people he was assuming were students. "Women don't wear dresses in the future?"
Bella smiled. "Sometimes when we want to, but it's just easier to wear pants."
Jamie nodded, though he preferred to wear a kilt anyway, so it didn't matter. He swiped some more, seeing a picture of Bella in what appeared to be almost nothing, showing a lot of her skin. She was on sand near the ocean and she was smiling with another man by her side and a girl. He frowned. "What in God's name are ya wearing? So indecent."
"It's called a bikini. I was at the beach with friends on vacation." Bella explained. "That is my friend Mike. We went to school together and that is his girlfriend, Jessica." She pointed them out.
"Girlfriend?"
"Oh. Uh, his betrothed." Bella elaborated.
"So much that is different from now." Jamie said and continued swiping. There were a lot of pictures of Bella with her friends and then some with her mom. He stopped when he saw one that showed her looking out the window at something. "What is this?"
Bella looked at the picture. "Oh, that is on a plane. I'm looking out the window at Australia."
Jamie studied the picture. "Yer in the sky. That's incredible." He murmured. "Is it frightening?"
"Not anymore but the first time I flew I was pretty scared."
Jamie smiled and looked back at her phone. He swiped a few times. "This man… he's yer father."
Bella's smile faltered, but she nodded. "Yeah. How'd you know?"
"Ye look like him." Jamie said with a nod.
"Yeah. I was always told I was his double. He really was the best. He would have loved you."
"Oh?"
Bella smiled. "Yeah. He would have loved that you're strong. He always worried about me being able to take care of myself."
"Aye, well, I'll always take care of ya. I promise ye that." Jamie said and leaned over and kissed her softly. "This life is hard. I won't pretend it isn't. If at any point ye want to go back… ye tell me."
Bella brushed her hand up over his cheek and smiled at him, staring into his wonderful ocean blue eyes. "Jamie Fraser, I love you. I'm not going anywhere." She said and kissed him softly.
They fell back onto the bed, uniting together again, their hands and mouths moving over each other. A passion so hot, that neither could contain.
Jamie lay there, Bella's head resting on his chest. She was asleep now. Something he should be doing as well since the morning would come faster than he wanted. They would have to move from this location soon, since there were red coats too close. He shifted, sliding out from under her and sat on the side of the bed. He took her phone, looking at it. The future seemed so lively, so free. No battles that threatened her existence. She belonged there, though she had married him, took his name and stayed in a time that she would ultimately struggle with he knew. The technology he had in his hand was proof of her time travel. He looked at the photos again. He was amazed that technology advanced this far. He found a picture of her with her mother and father. They seemed so happy, the three of them. He swiped a few more times before he stopped on a picture. It was her with another man. They were happy together it seemed. He wondered who the man was in the picture. But he wouldn't ask her in fear that he wouldn't like the answer. He sighed and got up, taking the phone to put in her bag. She had a book in there. Official Highlander Guide. Curious, he took it, turning it over in his hands, inspecting the smoothness of the cover. There was a picture of Castle Leoch right on the cover, but the outside was run down some. His life, the times spent here in Scotland and his battles, would become footnotes in history. He opened the book, looking at the pages. Battle of Culloden. His eyes danced over the paper, reading about the battle that hadn't even been planned. Though he knew that Prince Charles would eventually catch wind of the support that Dougal was gathering. The uprising would happen, with or without him. Scotland would see a devastation.
"Scotland is beautiful." Bella said, breaking the silence.
Jamie looked over at her. "Sorry, I was putting the phone back and I saw the book."
Bella smiled, sitting up in bed, pulling the blanket up around her to ward off the small chill. "It's okay."
"Scotland… it's still Scotland in yer time?"
Bella nodded. "Yes. Scotland is still called Scotland."
"But…"
Bella sighed. "Scotland has been part of England since 1707. There have been a couple attempts at succession, but the voters voted no."
"Right, we have been stuck like this for nearly 40 years. Shouldn't the Scottish decide what's best for our country?" Jamie asked.
Bella nodded. "I understand where the upset is. Scotland lost an independence that they desperately need or want. King James VI was what led to this. Because he was not only the Scottish King, he was also heir to the English throne with Elizabeth I's death. Because he was a Tudor. This is why we're here now. King George has a hold on both Scotland and England, because of things set forward a century before your time. That can't be changed. If James never took the throne in England, then perhaps things could have been different, but it's not. The fact is, the battle of Culloden will be a loss for Prince Charles. So many things happen that-"
"But we can change that. Can't we?" Jamie asked.
Bella was silent for a moment. "Changing things now, changes the future. We have no idea what happens if we change something."
"But you've changed it by marrying me. By telling me where yer from." Jamie insisted. "What-"
"I told you because I fell in love with you." Bella said and sighed. "I want to save… you. I don't want you to fight in a battle already doomed."
Jamie shook his head. "I can't abandon my family. Rupert… Angus… Dougal. Hell, Willie even. I can't turn my back on my country or my people."
Bella saw he was upset so she went to him, pulling the blanket around them both. "Okay. What do you want to do? I'll do whatever you want. If you want to stop the battle, or-or try to win a different way, we'll do it. I'm not going back to the future, so it doesn't matter… right?"
Jamie studied her, realizing how foolish he sounded. She was giving up everything and in an instant she backed down when she saw him upset. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… scare ya." He thought maybe he had scared her with how intense he could be.
"Its okay. I'm not scared." Bella murmured and then tipped up and kissed him. "We'll do things together. Okay?"
Jamie nodded, wrapping his arms around her and just holding her. Maybe there was a way to change the outcome, but what she said sat hard with him. She wasn't going back to the future anyways, so changing things now… what was the harm? Though there could be harm in changing things now. What would happen to her future?
