Chapter Text
The stars were dying, and he had never felt more alive.
He stood at the edge of Timber Hearth, the familiar scent of campfire smoke curling through the air, the launch tower looming behind him. All the clues had fallen into place. The Eye’s location was clear in his mind. He could go now—should go now.
But his feet didn’t move. Not yet.
Instead, he turned toward the village.
Toward her.
She was sitting on the wooden dock, legs swinging gently above the water, watching the sky turn violet with dusk. The glow of the setting sun brushed across her features, casting a soft, amber light over the tufts of her moss-colored skin. She looked peaceful. She always did.
He had noticed her before, of course—how could he not? - the way she hummed when she worked, the way she lingered near the observatory, as if hoping he’d glance her way. He’d always been too focused on his mission to act on it. - the launch, the mysteries, the ancient truths threaded through the fabric of the universe.
But none of that mattered now. The universe was ending. And he didn’t want to go without knowing what it felt like to sit beside her, just once, and hear her laugh for no other reason than because he was there.
So he walked down the path, heart thudding louder than any launch countdown.
“Hey,” he said.
She turned, startled at first—but then she smiled. “Oh! Hey. Thought you'd already be halfway to another planet by now.”
He chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. “I... got delayed.”
“A fuel leak?”
“A heart thing,” he blurted before he could stop himself.
She blinked. “A... heart thing?”
“I mean—I just thought, uh, before I go, maybe you’d want to hang out? Just for a bit.”
Her eyes widened, and then she laughed—a bright, delighted sound. “Like a date?”
He felt his face flush with heat. “Yeah. Like a date.”
She stared for a moment—long enough for him to want to sink into the soil—but then she grinned, wide and stunned. “I’d love that.”
He exhaled a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
They ended up walking to a clearing just beyond the village. The sky above them stretched endless and soft, dotted with constellations he’d memorized long ago. But tonight, they looked different. Brighter. Closer.
He laid out a blanket and they sat side by side, warm and quiet, letting the night speak for them.
“You’re not what I expected,” she said softly, after a while.
“Oh?”
“I thought you’d be too busy chasing black holes and Nomai ruins to care about stargazing with someone like me.”
He turned to her, eyes gentle. “I’ve chased a lot of things. But I think this is the first thing I’ve done just because I wanted to.”
Her smile wavered, touched by something unspoken. “Well… thanks for choosing me.”
The moment held. It felt like something delicate, something rare. Like the time loop hadn’t stolen this from him—like it had given it.
And then, in his mind, the melody began.
The music. The signal. The one only he could hear now, and maybe Gabbro actually.
She looked up, brow furrowing. “What was—?”
He stood slowly, his voice quiet. “I’ll see you again.”
She laughed. “Already planning a second date?”
He smiled, bittersweet. “Yeah… something like that.”
And then the world ended.