Full circle

My head throbbed like it had been split in two. The darkness pressed down on me, heavy, endless—I couldn’t even see the hole we dropped from.

“Hello?!” My voice cracked as it bounced back at me, echoing too long, too far.

Something glowed a few feet away. Faint, soft.

I froze, heart in my throat. Clicked my tongue.

The glow pulsed again.

Hesitantly, I walked toward it, boots scraping on the stone floor. It was some kind of panel embedded in the wall, half-buried under sand. I pressed my palm against it.

One by one, lights stuttered awake, stretching down into a tunnel that seemed to go on forever. Cold, ancient, patient.

And not far from me—Juno, crumpled on the ground.

“Hey!” I jogged toward him, dropping to my knees. “You’re okay, right? Right?” I shook his shoulder, tapping my foot in panic. “Juno, speak to me.”

My voice came out softer the second time, shaking, pleading.

“I can’t lose you too. Please.”

A loud, obnoxious yawn split the silence.

“Man, I just had the greatest nap of my life—”

Then his eyes met mine.

“Wait. Why are you crying?”

I instantly let his head fall from my lap. It hit the ground with a thud.

“AGH! My head!”

“It’s nothing,” I muttered too quickly, wiping at my face. I turned back toward the tunnel. “Looks like we found a way forward.”

He sat up slow, rubbing his skull, brushing dust off his shoulders.

“So we’re finally doing it, huh?”

“Doing what?” I asked without looking back.

“I’m really going back. Back to my home.”

The words hung in the cold air, heavier than stone.

I swallowed. “…Perhaps it’s where you belong?”

He gave me a smile, soft but uneven at the edges. The kind of smile you use when you don’t believe it yourself.

“Maybe that’s it.”

We started walking, our footsteps swallowed by the vast tunnel. He kept his gaze down, voice quieter now.

“It’s always just been us, huh?”

“Us?”

“You know… ever since the start. When you found me in the desert.”

I glanced at him, caught the way his shoulders had lowered, how his fists weren’t clenched for once.

“I guess,” I said, “everything is coming full circle.”