"Nitha, come back," he bade, and with a sigh, she listened.

    "I'm not supposed to be talking to you for this long. Although I wish we could spend the whole day together, we can't."

    "Who's waiting for you?" Finn asked, curious to know, but Nitha gave no information regarding her stay.

    "Earth is as good as new," she then said and sat down afresh, "and Asgard wanted to head there. And," she quickly added, seeing Finn opening his mouth, "because Earth is too far away to be reached, Asgard reached out to Kepler again and asked for help. Their scientists are probably not the brightest heads in the galaxy. I'm not sure what they were expecting, but Kepler basically told them that it's impossible to reach Earth in their lifetime. The space station then threatened to destroy our planet if they weren't given any help. And what were we supposed to do? Earth is in a totally different solar system. Those people had some crazy ideas. But crazy weapons too. Kepler was actually intimidated, so they made a deal. A contract."

    "A promise that we'd help them reach Earth?" Finn asked bashfully.

    Nitha nodded and fixed the hair behind her ear yet again.

"Asgard offered a trade; Our best scientists for peace. Now, Keppler wasn't just going to give away our people, but they said yes anyway, knowing that any other answer would dissatisfy Asgard. Kepler had a plan though. In the contract, they clearly stated that they would send our best scientists, but Kepler didn't mention the delivery. And they also made Asgard agree that from the moment the ship leaves Kepler, the lives of the scientists are Asgard's responsibility. Then, a selective process infected a certain group of people, (all scientists of some sort) and they voluntarily joined the ship that would take them to Boreas, to the hot springs. But we never even went there. No, we had to go straight to the bunker. Meanwhile, KSP executed their black hole lie."

    "Wait, I know what's next," said Finn with a frown. "One hundred funerals, while you were all hiding in the bunker on Boreas."

    "Don't make us the bad guys! Asgard would have taken us to die on a journey to Earth. We were better off waiting in the bunker."

    "Waiting? For how long? I'm sure Asgard wasn't just going to leave Kepler alone."

    "They had to. The contract was written by the smartest among our people. We sent scientists, and their 'death' wasn't our responsibility," she explained, using air quotes. "They said they'd leave us alone once we launched the ship, and when they saw that on Kepler everyone was crying over their lost loved ones, Asgard believed the lie and—Well, I assume they left. I don't know what happened next. They don't tell us the details."

    "Who's they? And why are you still hiding if Asgard is gone?"

"Because people on Kepler can't know about this! They'd freak out! No one even knew that Asgard was still out there. They'd ask more questions than you. And then the government would have to explain that everyone nearly died. This can never touch the surface. You understand?"

"People have a right to know! Your cousins and grandparents think you and your parents died! So many people are devastated and heartbroken! How can you just lie to them all, leaving them to think you're dead? How does that make you feel?"

"I didn't have a choice, Finn. I decided to go with my mother to hold her hand when she passes away, or to cheer with her when she recovers. Instead, I was told all of this crazy stuff and I had to live with it. Somebody else decided how my future was going to look, and I had to live with it! Me! You're lucky—"

"Lucky? I traveled to Pluviam for you!" Finn's head dropped into his lap, his hands rubbed his sweaty neck. He pinched his eyes painfully shut and was sucked into a deeper place to cope. He was still trying to grasp that Nitha was sitting on the chair next to him. She placed one hand on his leg, with the other she lifted his head.

"I'm really sorry, Finn. No one wanted you to hurt like that. I was so worried about your feelings. I thought about you a lot."

He looked at her eyes, for the first time he really looked. They were of the truest blue, and yet so full of poison. Finn's nails dug and scratched his neck as he tried to keep his emotions as hidden as her life. Nitha's fingers drew small circles on his knee and thigh, distracting him of his own negative thoughts.

"I can't leave until you forgive me," she said and leaned in a little.

"For breaking my heart?" he said coldly. "Or for leaving? Or for lying?"

"I never lied to you."

"I guess not. You still left me. I believed you died in space." Finn's head tilted down again, but Nitha took his cheeks between her hands and brought his face back up.

"That was out of my control. I'm saying the truth. Look at me, please."

He wanted to be the first to leave this time, but the desire to see her crystal eyes won. He glanced up at her.

"I'm so sorry that you were hurt. I wish I could turn back the time." Nitha came closer.

"Would you have stayed with me?"

"Of course, darling. I wouldn't have left if it wasn't for my sick mom."

"Just—just tell me one thing, please." Finn thought he would choke from the words in his throat, but after a painful climb, they made it to his lips. "Did my father know?"

"He does now. I don't know if he did before."

Finn sighed. Whatever the truth was, whether his father had known about Asgard or not, Finn was relieved not having to add that burden to his mind at that moment. For now, he wanted to believe that his father had been as much in the unknown as he himself.

"You really hurt me," he told her and dried his eyes with his palms.

"It wasn't my fault," Nitha argued dolefully.

"I'm not talking about your death. You hurt me when we were still together."

"You don't mean that. We were happy."

"I thought that too, I really did believe it, but you were just a distraction to my pain, and as much as I loved that, we were not happy. I know now what it means to feel real happiness."

"So I heard," she snapped and huffed. "You picked up some Pluviam harlot."

"She's not a harlot!" Finn barked and stood up to return to Lena. Seeing Nitha had been so overwhelming, he had forgotten that Lena was still waiting outside the cabin. Finn could only make one step before Nitha seized his arm and pulled him back toward the table.

"You found unconditional love, yeah? You're just looking for a replacement! I'm here now, you don't have to be heartbroken anymore. I can make you happy!" Nitha saw a change of mood in Finn's face as he heard those words. His eyes softened, and with a feeling of success, she continued her persuasion. "Just think about the many times we could hardly breathe from laughter. That one day at the lake when a duck bit your toe, do you remember that? It was less than a year ago."

"It hurt," said Finn, his eyes a glare afresh.

"But we laughed. The pain didn't matter when we were together. We were happy, don't deny that." Finn looked at her, nearly induced, and Nitha's confidence convinced her that her next lines were necessary to make Finn concur with her, "She'll break your heart, Finn. She can't make you happy, and sooner or later she'll leave you too!" But Finn felt offended, and with a joint, he got his hand back and stormed out.

"You don't know her," he said without turning back. "You don't know me."

Nitha followed Finn outside. The sun had wandered the sky by quite a bit, a poignant reminder of the passing of time. Finn, standing in the dewed grass, made a spin around his own axis to find Lena, but she was gone.

Where he stood, where he had stood in his dream as well, a ripped off braided bracelet lay on the ground where long ago a large forget-me-not had grown to its prime and bloomed vigorously. Finn picked up the bracelet, watching his own tears drop to the earth. It was the one he had given to Lena a few hours after midnight.

"I told you so," Nitha sneered, her arms crossed, her hip slanted.

"You've done enough damage! Just go away!" Finn hissed and walked to the trail leading to the lake, but Nitha cut his way and blocked the path.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm going after her! She probably thinks I left her for you!"

"Don't you want to?" Nitha clasped Finn's hoodie. "You want to kiss me, admit it!"

Finn glared at her and could not avoid a quick glimpse at her lips. He wanted to tell her to let go of him but her bittersweet eyes pushed that thought into the far corner of his mind.

"That girl is gone. She can't hear you, you can admit that you've missed me! I missed you, too."

Finn chased the words in his head, but all escaped and hid. He did not know what to say to Nitha.

"It's okay," she assured, "just say it. Say that you still love me."

"That would satisfy you, wouldn't it? So that you can walk out of my life again. You are leaving again, aren't you?" Finn was uncertain whether he wanted to be in the right.

"I'm forced to go! You have to understand that."

"I do. That's why I'm not angry with you."

"Good," Nitha hugged Finn tightly, but his arms treated her like stinging nettle. "For heaven's sake, Finn! Will you touch me already? Hug me! I know you want to!" She threw her arms around his neck and rose on her toes to stretch to his height. "Don't pretend to be fighting me when this is what you've been fighting for. All these months. Isn't this what you've been dreaming of? Be honest, haven't you dreamt of hugging and loving me?"

"I have, yes," he sighed in defeat. "I dreamt of you once."

"Once? Just once?" her arms loosened but did not let him out of her lock. "You were never a dreamer, so that's okay, I guess. But for me, dreams were the only place I could escape to, in order to get away from the bunker. So I dreamt a lot. But darling, you were always there. Always sweet and merry. I dreamt about us every night. Together, here on Kepler. We'd finally hug again. You'd hold me, kiss me. You'd tell me how much you love me. And you were so happy, Finn, let me make you happy."

Finn's hands moved to her hips without his brain having told them to go there. Nitha did not hide the satisfaction on her complacent face, and as she leaned in closer, his grip drew her in. A little treat for her triumph.

Lips, so alluring that Finn lost the ability to even gulp, purred softly near his ear, "If you kiss me, you'll know who's really right for you. You'll feel it."

"Nitha—" he breathed and found nothing more to utter. Whether he wanted to accept or refuse, his mind could not keep up with her.

"Don't lie to yourself. You want me."

"I—uh—"

Her lips backed away and stopped at his chin. Finn tilted his head and held her hand between the two of his. His fingers caressed her wrist and played with the blue bracelet.

"I missed you, yes," he said softly.

"Good. And do you want to kiss me?"