The closer they approached the ground, the more they could see past the cotton clouds, and the lighter the sky became around them. Numerous unknown and abundantly appalling sounds multiplied but as long as UNA announced no reason to alarm, Finn held his panic stifled in the furthest corner of his palpitating heart. 

More horizon flattened out and while Finn clenched his eyes, Lena could not take her eyes away from the great diversity of landscapes. She saw the ocean, and the beaches it bordered. The mountains were not hidden by snow as they were on Boreas, they wore vegetation and colors. Endless colors everywhere. The mixed shapes of greens, formed by forests and grassland were the most imposing to her. 

For a split of a second, the ship hit gusts of wind and gave them a harsh thrust forward.

A combination of bursting flames and the spreading and adjusting of keen wings eased their fall and steered them to the ground with safety. At a steep hillside, on the other side of the cliff at which Finn liked to sit at night, they landed a couple of miles away from Westlake City. 

Finn opened his eyes and gave a reasonably terrified look at his own clenched hand, clutching that of Lena's inadvertently. He drew back at a stroke and watched the white print of his fingers disappear from the back of her hand while he rubbed off the sweat on his pants.

"Are we dead?" Lena joked.

"I think we're immortal," he said and shook his head with a chuckle.

His soiled shoes kicked the door wide open and dangled down the side of the ship's outer layer for a few quick breaths. He felt the metal's fever and saw the large circle of burned dead grass beneath his feet. 

The air was muggy from the summer heat, still, he filled his lungs with satisfaction, then jumped and collapsed. With his hands, he caught himself but broke down completely.

"Are you okay?" she asked, frantic with worry, and opened her door.

"I'm fine," he answered, troubled to lift his head to warn her, and after she had caved in on the other side of the ship, he said, "The gravity took me by surprise."

"Same." Lena reached up to the handle and pulled the weight of her own body up.

"Welcome to Kepler," he grinned.

"How can you guys live like this? It's awful!"

"This may seem off at first, but over time your body will naturally become accustomed to it. Every planet is so unique. We have to accept that the world we live in is only one particular set of physical circumstances, and some wildly different ones exist in other places."

"Goodness," she was sitting up, her grip tightened around the handle above her. "The air here is so heavy!"

"I wish I had my phone," said Finn, following her move to straighten his spine. "My friend Blake lives close to here. He could help us."

"That's nice, but remind me—What's your plan?"

Out of his pocket, Finn drew the old photograph found in the bunker and smoothed it out. He took another look at the happy couple. It must have been the thirtieth time, at the least. For the whole of the flight, he had stared at that image until every detail was burned into his mind like the definite mark of a branding iron.

"I'll find Robby and tell him that his wife is still alive. He deserves to know. And if I'm lucky, he'll tell me his theories and discoveries. And then we'll go from there."

"So you haven't given up after all."

"Never. I won't rest until I find out what happened to the passengers, and why KSP lied about those deaths."

Lena attempted to get up and was astonished when her muscles kept her standing. "I like your spirit."

She walked shortened steps around the spacecraft, one hand always against the metal to support her balance, and while she waited for Finn to stand up, she observed the scenery and cherished the spectacular view around them. 

Kepler was perceptibly gigantic and offered copious varieties of nature, unlike anything Lena had ever seen elsewhere.

"Finn?" Lena was tilting her head and had her slim eyes fixed on the sinking sun.

"What's up?" he said, adopting her fretful expression.

"I don't want to worry you," she said, slightly panicked, "but the sky is turning red."

His face manifested twinkles of joy. "Oh. That's very normal. Beautiful even."

Sunset claimed the sky as the day was bidding them goodnight. Finn hobbled in the direction of Lena and watched with her how the nearest star introduced nightfall.

"We have to hurry. We have to make it before the curfew sounds."

"There's a curfew? I thought this is the home of freedom."

"Not always. Technically, we aren't even supposed to be outside the city. We better get going; the landing might have caused suspicion amongst witnesses."

The photograph had fallen soundlessly and lay in the shadows of the ship, where it stayed unnoticed by Finn. 

Once they reached the adjacent forest after some effort, walking started to simplify and the forces dragging them down faded away simultaneously to the eclipse dimming the radiant lights beyond the warm horizon. 

Lena mentioned each and every minor difference she noticed between Demeter's forests and those of Kepler, from her first observations, such as sounds and smells, all the way to the tiniest details, like a colony of ants walking in a selective line to carry their scavenged food back home. 

The fine movements of branches patting each other from the hushed breeze never failed to make her smile, and when they came across a hedgehog, she giggled with sheer delight. For every flower, she had to stop, and on some, she just couldn't resist taking them with her. Braided into her shoelaces, she brought half a bouquet along through the forest. 

Finn could have listened to her gleeful remarks all night. Whenever her dimples popped up, he felt a quick blaze of fluttering dizziness overcoming his stomach. With each titter, he wanted more. Addicted to her gaiety, Finn was eager to point out little features about Kepler, just to see her face glow from joy.

An hour and forty-five minutes later, they had left the woods and followed the fragmented road up until they reached Blake's house. 

The neighborhood was silent and dusky, similar to how it had been in Finn's dream, but with Lena in his sight, it was anything but ghosty. He felt comfortable despite the lack of life.

"We can't be seen by anyone," he whispered from the corner of his mouth as they crept along the white stone walls to the backyard. "Blake's family thinks I'm on a mission in space, and if they find out that I'm not, the situation will escalate. We have to be very quiet."

"I'm not the one talking," she whispered back at him with a pinch of irony.

A bike leaned against the wall beneath an open window, which Finn was looking up to, trying to see if Blake's sisters were home. At that moment, the light turned on and the pure sounds of a child's voice were heard from down below.

"Please!" it begged, "I'm not even tired yet!"

"Shouldn't have eaten the candy! I told you the sugar will keep you up."

Finn recognized Blake's voice and grinned from ear to ear.

"No fair! Bailey gets to stay up all night!"

"Bailey's older. Now get in your pj's."

"Make me!"

Finn heard the tapping of little bare feet storming out of the room. "Brooke! Come back!" Blake cried in frustration. "You're being a brat!"

Blake was about to run after his little sister when Finn took Brooke's absence as the perfect chance to call his friend's name. It was more of a hissed mutter than an actual shout, but it was enough to cause a silence upon the house. 

Finn, unsure whether Blake had heard his name, gave a puzzled look at Lena and lifted his shoulders in a bland shrug. She crouched near the back door, while Finn moved away from the wall to have a better look at the window. And there he was; Blake, bent over the windowsill, so far that he almost fell over, while his eyes scanned the yard until they finally spotted Finn ducked in the shadows. 

Finn's grin spread further, while Blake's jaw dropped down and froze his face completely.

"Blake," Finn whispered to end his trance, "it's me."

"Finn?" Blake clutched the window ledge, gawking in disbelief. "Wha—I haven't heard from you in ages! What are you doing here?"

Finn shushed him, "not so loud! Can you come down?"

Blake threw his head back into the room, then turned his face back at Finn. "Give me one second. I'll be right there."