FRUIT: any product of plant growth useful to humans or animals.
"How long have you been having that dream?" Kurt asked, relieved that they still had the connection.
"Well," Blaine began, thankful Kurt had been true to his words and didn't think he was nuts for the confession he'd just made, "I first remember having it when I was around nine. That's when I really realized that I liked boys as more than just friends."
"And how old are you now?" Kurt asked.
"I'm 32," Blaine answered.
"Hmmm…" Kurt hummed, his forehead scrunching some.
"Too old?" Blaine asked. "Not that I'm expecting anything… I mean…"
"No. Nothing like that," Kurt interrupted. "Could you maybe finish your story, and then I can tell you mine? We are good, though."
"Of course," Blaine said, once again thankful Kurt seemed so open. "Just out of curiosity, how old are you?"
"I'm 23," Kurt said. In the past world he was transported to, he and Blaine were the same age, which is why he was curious as to their age difference in this one. They'd talk about it later, though.
"So, I have these dreams, right?" Blaine said, jumping right back into his story. "And I always hear the same voice say the same thing. Over the years, I've gotten discouraged. I've talked to every man I've ever come across, even if only to say hi, and nobody has ever been a match. I was getting broody, and so my family suggested I come here for a while to calm down and do some soul searching."
"And where are we exactly?"
"Well…" Blaine looked down and blushed. "This is my island. My grandparents gifted it to me when I turned 30, and up until now, it's just been looked after by the groundskeeper and maid. They stay over on the bigger island across the way, which you can't see now because of the storm, and they come to check on things every day."
"Wait…" Kurt interrupted. "This is your island?" Even where Kurt was from, it was unheard of for a person to own an island.
"Yeah," Blaine replied, his blush growing deeper on his cheeks. "My family has a lot of money. Like, more than they know what to do with. And I don't just take from them. I'm very successful in my own right," he added, unsure why it was so important for Kurt to know he wasn't a mooch. "Interesting fact about it… It's named Pumpkin Key Island and when my grandparents told me about it, I distinctly remember them saying that it wasn't until they bought it for me that they realized pumpkin was a fruit. Not sure why that memory popped up in my mind. Anyway…"
"Wow. Okay. So, your family was tired of your sulking and told you to come here?" Kurt clarified, hoping he was keeping up with what Blaine was telling him.
"Apparently, I was getting 'moody and impossible to be around' according to my brother," Blaine laughed.
"What had you so moody?"
Blaine took a breath before he explained. "Ever since I first heard the voice in my dream, I've been looking for the owner of it. Almost obsessively so. I knew in the depths of my soul that whomever that voice was attached to was going to be important in my life. And so, I've been looking, traveling everywhere and talking to everyone I could. That is, until recently." Blaine stopped to take a breath as he got ready to explain this part.
"Take your time," Kurt said softly.
"Most guys don't have it as easy as I did," Blaine explained as he looked down at his hands. "When they tell their parents they like someone of the same gender, sometimes they get disowned or kicked out or beaten. Sometimes, they even get sent to re-programming camps. My parents, though, they embraced it. They didn't care who I loved, as long as whoever it was loved me back with the same intensity. So, they set me up with any gay or bi male they could find. They always have been my biggest cheerleaders. And when I told them I was giving up, they were devastated. Coop took me aside and suggested that I come here and take some time to really look at my life and see what it was I wanted from it."
Blaine looked up and straight into Kurt's eyes. He had the sunniest smile on his face, too. "Today, I had become resolute about being alone. And I was honestly okay with it because I knew I could never give my heart halfway to someone. Whenever I do anything in my life, I do it full-force."
"And now?" Kurt asked, hopeful.
"Now, I think there is more at play in the universe," Blaine said, his smile never fading.
At that, Kurt laughed. "That is something I fully agree with."
"Is this where you tell me your story?" Blaine asked.
Kurt nodded. "Do you believe in magic?" he asked.
"As a matter of fact, I do," Blaine answered. "Just because I can't do something, or don't fully understand something, doesn't mean it isn't real."
Kurt laughed again. Yup. This is my Blaine alright. "I'm not from here."
"Well, I figured that since you had no idea who I was," Blaine answered. "I mean, my family… We're pretty recognizable all over the world."
"I knew who you were, though," Kurt said softly. "Or at least… Well, let me start from the beginning, or I'm just going to confuse us both."
"Take your time," Blaine said, parroting Kurt's earlier words to him.
"I come from a different world, from a village named O'a Nalore. And on the night of the town's festival, I saw a woman beside a building. When I tried to help her, she saw that there was goodness in me and offered me adventure. That adventure… Well, it led me to you… You in a different reality."
Kurt stopped to give Blaine time to ask questions.
"So, we've met before?" Blaine clarified.
"We have. Though, it was a different you, which is why I started sobbing when I saw you," Kurt explained. "I was scared when the rain started. I couldn't see anything, and I'm not from here, so I didn't have any way of contacting anyone or even knowing where to go. And when you grabbed my shoulder… I was just relieved that it was you and that I'd found you so quickly when I arrived here."
"How exactly did you get here?" Blaine asked. "I didn't see any boats, and I would have heard a helicopter land, even though the tennis courts are a little ways away."
"The woman that I saw?" Kurt began. "The one that offered me an adventure? Well, what she gave me was a vial of shimmering blue liquid. She told me if I drank it, I would find adventure. So, when I drank it the first time, I ended up in Houghton, Michigan, and it didn't take me long to find you. That Blaine and a version of my dad taught me all about this world. Well, what I think might be a similar world to this one, since you're not the Blaine I already met."
"This is confusing, even with all of that explanation," Blaine said. "Can I recap to make sure I'm following?" Kurt nodded. "Okay. So, you're from another world, and you were given a magical potion that brought you first to Michigan and then here?"
"Yes," Kurt said.
"And in Michigan, there was a Blaine and also your dad was there?"
"Well, a version of my dad," Kurt said. "Where I'm from, my dad died when I was 11 when some bandits attacked. In Michigan, my dad's son and wife died, and he was left alone."
"This is so interesting," Blaine said. "Did you and that Blaine fall in love?"
Kurt smiled. "We did. It was almost instantaneous, too. And we had this moment where we just… Connected. It was deep and profound, and I could feel it in every fiber of my being."
"How long did you get to stay with him?" Blaine asked.
"We died in each other's arms when we were in our 90s," Kurt explained.
"Then what happened?" Blaine asked, sitting up on his knees like a child listening to their favorite story.
"Then, I was back on the bridge in my village. It was the exact moment I had already lived before I met the woman with the vial. I heard a noise and went to talk to her again, and I remembered everything about when I was gone, about my life with Blaine and my dad. She told me to look at my wrist, and I did." Kurt unbuckled his cuff and showed Blaine the number there. "Before I drank the liquid the first time, there was number nine there."
"So, you have, what, eight more lives to live?" Blaine asked, trying to put the pieces together.
"That's what it would seem," Kurt said and buckled his cuff back up. "I mean, I honestly don't know. What if I return and she's not there? What if I drink the vial and can't find you? What if…"
"I think we'll always find each other," Blaine said as he scooted closer to Kurt, his knees now touching Kurt's thighs. "Even if you were to return and she wasn't there to give you another vial to come find me in some reality, we'd find each other. Maybe in some world, I find you there on that bridge? I don't know. What I do know is that I feel the connection. I've felt it ever since those words were spoken to me in my dreams the first time. You're who I've been waiting for and… Now that you're here, I don't ever want to let you go."
With that confession, both boys leaned in, and their lips touched in a feather-light kiss, their souls sighing with relief that they'd finally found each other once more. Neither one of them noticed the storm letting up outside. They couldn't see the moon start to peek out of the clouds nor the stars begin to shine brightly above them.
A/N: The pictures of the island are actual pictures of Pumpkin Key Island, which is currently up for sale if anyone is interested. ?