Epilogue

Jere’s eyes fluttered open. The first thing he noticed was the air - it felt heavier than normal, warmer somehow, carrying the scent of grass and something faintly sweet. The sky above stretched wide and bright, dotted with small, inconsequential clouds.

His processors ran their usual checks. Nothing unusual. Everything was… normal.

He was lying on the ground, the grass tickling the little exposed skin he had. He sat up, ready to take in his surroundings - but before he could, a familiar warmth collided with him. He was tackled to the ground. Normally, the impact wouldn’t have fazed him, but this wasn’t just any force. He let it.

He wrapped his arms around her as she whispered softly into his ear.

“Jere… we’re okay…”

He smiled, heart thrumming, as Ylfa pressed herself against him, lying on top of him. He whispered back, voice low but perfectly sincere.

“Ylfa… I don’t even know what to feel right now.”

She pushed herself up, a smile rimmed with tears.

“Me too...”

She slid off him and looked around, eyes wide.

“Where are we?”

Jere followed her gaze. Rolling green hills stretched in every direction, forests and mountains painting the horizon. And straight ahead… Ylfa spoke again, pointing.
“What are those shiny grey things?”

Jere’s heart skipped. He swallowed hard, struggling for words as he took in the objects - metallic, precise, familiar. Objects he’d spent most of his life around, yet now somehow distant, almost forgotten.

He exhaled slowly, letting the weight of the moment settle.
“I think…”

He paused, searching for certainty.

“I think we’re on Earth.”