-db- Kanata No Astra -

“Then we’ll find a bigger truth,” he said. “That’s the deal. We don’t leave anyone behind. Not in space. Not in the past.”

“What if we’re wrong about everything?” she asked, the question slipping out before she could tether it. “What if the people who sent us out here—what if the lies are bigger than we think?”

Home. The word felt foreign now. Was it the planet they’d left behind, with its warm sun and cold betrayals? Or was it this—this creaking, patched-up ship where every ration was counted and every shadow held a secret? -DB- Kanata no Astra

“You’re thinking too loud,” he said. “I can hear your brain grinding from here.”

And that, Aries realized, was the only north star they had ever needed. “Then we’ll find a bigger truth,” he said

“Aries.”

Kanata grinned. He tugged Aries’s tether, pulling them both back toward the ship. Not in space

It had been eight days since they’d escaped the crumbling remains of the old military base. Eight days since Funicia had cried for a mother who wasn’t coming. Eight days since Kanata had grinned that reckless, impossible grin and said, “We’re going home. Together.”

Behind them, the Astra ’s airlock cycled open. Quitterie’s annoyed voice echoed over the comms: “Are you two having a moment ? Because the atmospheric processor is beeping, and Luca burned the rehydrated eggs again .”