Out of Cryo - Season 2 | A Horizon: Zero Dawn Fanfiction

Chapter 9: Dismantle

I don't remember falling asleep. I realized this as I opened my eyes with hesitation, expecting to be greeted by a wild animal or worse, a machine. Through my blurry vision and in my half-sleep state, I guessed it was just after sunrise based on the pink and orange glow coming from the slivers of sunlight that crept into the room.

Room? I blinked a few times, the ceiling coming into focus before I took note of the soft bedding beneath me. I didn't sleep in the wild last night.I'm in...Meridian? This was Olin's old house. Avad had given it to Aloy when-

Aloy.

It all came back. My trek from GAIA Prime to Meridian, harassing that city guard for information, tracking down Erend in that bar – all of it had led up to me coming back to the house, where Aloy found me hours later.

As though on cue, the bed creaked as weight shifted from the far edge to where I was. I grinned and gave a quiet laugh as the memories settled. Right.

She wrapped an arm around me and rested her head on my chest – wisps of her disheveled hair tickling me as it brushed against my face. Her voice was clear, like she'd been awake for a while. "What's so funny?"

I kissed the top of her head. "Nothing. Was just...thinking about last night."

Aloy was quiet as she began to trace random patterns on my stomach with her finger. When she didn't say anything, I spoke again. "Having fun?"

She stopped and let her hand rest on my bare skin. "Sorry." She said something else, but the words came out muffled.

"What?" I asked.

Aloy glanced up at me, her eyes practically shimmering in the early dawn light. "Was it...better?"

Huh? I was still waking up and not much registered clearly at the moment. "Was what better?"

She bit her lip. "The other place. Wherever they sent you while you were there."

Oh. I frowned and shook my head. I had told Aloy everything about the weird simulation Branwell had put me through. She hadn't said much at the time, but I could see now that it was bothering her. "It was never real. I don't know how the hell they did it, but it was all a lie."

"That doesn't answer my question." Her words made my heart ache and my throat tighten.

No. I wasn't going to let that bullshit get in the way of us, not after everything we'd been through. "Hey," I said, rolling onto my side and facing her. I reached out and pulled her close to me, our foreheads touching. "No, it wasn't 'better'. Not by a longshot. The entire time I was in that...thing, I couldn't stop thinking about you. It wasn't obvious at first because the simulation kept trying to trick me, I think, but as soon as your name came to me, I snapped out of it."

I swore I heard her breath hitch, but Aloy had composed herself before I could notice it for long. "But you saw your family and-,"

I stopped her. "My parents? Dennis? They're gone, Aloy. So is...so is Jenna. You were there – you saw." The tightening worsened, and I found myself having to blink back tears. It had been a while since their deaths had gotten to me and it had only become more painful to think about since being in the simulation.

"I know," she whispered.

I wasn't about to let her feel bad for something she couldn't control, something she had done nothing but help me get through ever since I woke up from cryo sleep. "Then you know that the only person that matters to me more than anything right now is you." I kissed her forehead. "You're my family. Okay?"