Hello, guys! Queen here, and I've decided to start a new mini-series while I try to get ButterSky up and running again. I hope you enjoy reading-I know I enjoyed writing. Leave review, favorite, or follow! The support is much appreciated.

Title: Home

Summary: Duncan was always the one to make the jokes, laugh, and ignore anything wrong in the world. When he and the other two set their mission to go to space, he thought it would be simple. But now he realizes that there may be a deeper reason why Xephos wanted to do this.

"Okay, I just need two more iron ore blocks, and then I can make the… aluminium ingots and stuff."

Duncan flipped through the Mighty Smelting book, then set it down next the chest and started searching for the iron. He cleared his throat and took out the iron, jogging up the stone stairs and tossing the ore block in. He glanced around the cave-turned-base, wondering where Xephos was. He knew Honeydew was out in Sludgeland, probably screwing around with the quarry. But Xephos—he hadn't the faintest idea.

Duncan sniffed and turned around, heading over to a chest to look for the obsidian. He frowned when he found that it was gone. Scratching his head, the scientist went over to a chest. "Now could it be here? No…"

He sat back, glancing around. Xephos had kept the chests (sort of) organized, and last time he saw the obsidian, the spaceman had taken it out for something. "Ah, that's it," Duncan concluded, standing up and going over to the door. 'He must have it with him still. I wonder why he didn't put it back."

He jumped up onto the chest, then up another block. He walked out the door, frowning at the rain that poured down from the night sky. Why did it always have to rain when he went out to do something? He shrugged and walked out, glancing up at the 'can of beans' he took pride in making. Duncan smiled slightly, then noticed something strange. The airship that was parked a few meters away from the can was floating, undone from its parking spot.

Duncan cursed and ran over to the ladder. "Why is it floating away! Hey, Lewis? Are you up there? Lewis! Simon?"

The ship rocked slightly, and a head peeked over the side. Duncan squinted, smirked slightly and waved at Xephos, who tried to steer the airship down to the ground. It was obvious that he didn't know what he was doing, since he bumped into the wooden planks that made up the landing spot. Duncan climbed up the rest of the ladder, stopped at the top. "Come here!" he yelled, waving one of his arms.

The airship, under the spaceman's control, floated down slightly. Duncan took a step backwards, then ran down the planks and jumped. Xephos reached a hand out and caught him, saving the scientist from a long drop.

"Heh, thanks Lewis. Thought I wasn't going to make it for a second," Duncan said gratefully.

Xephos mumbled something and slumped down on one of the passenger seats. Duncan frowned at his friend's gloomy attitude. "Hey, you okay?"

The only movement he got out of the spaceman was for him to curl his legs up to his chest, hiding his face in his knees. Duncan's frown deepened and he sat down next to Xephos. "Hey, come 's wrong?"

Xephos didn't answer for a while, and Duncan was just about to give up. Then the spaceman mumbled something, words muffled by his knees.

"What was that? I didn't hear you, Lewis," Duncan said, reaching one arm out and setting it on his friend's shoulder. Xephos lifted his head slightly, bright blue eyes flicking over to Duncan's darker ones. The scientist's breath froze in his throat at the bright glow of the other's eyes.

"Ten years," Xephos said simply, eyes shining with… tears? Then he looked back down and buried his head in his knees again. Duncan sat back slightly, looking away from Xephos. He swallowed. "Ten years?"

"Since I crashed," Xephos mumbled, "or, as Simon would say, since I 'fell from the sky'."

He shifted, bringing out one hand. A small, dark object was gripped tightly in his fingers. He opened his hand, revealing it to be some type of machine. It was dark purple, wrapped around his fingers in some type of glove-like fashion. The palm of it blink with multiple lights and with a tap of Xephos' finger, a projection of a screen lit the air. "I've managed to fix it to where it'll work, but I'm too far away from home to contact anybody now. It only reaches so far. Obsidian is a very sorry substitution for what it was made of originally."

Duncan brushed his fingers across the hologram, jerking back in surprise when it flickered and followed his fingers, easing into a different picture. The scientist glanced over at Xephos. "You want to go home, don't you?"

The spaceman nodded, staring at the screen. In the light his eyes didn't seem so bright anymore. "Yes."

"I've… I've had my suspicions from where you came from," Duncan admitted, "But I didn't realize…"

Xephos sighed and curled his hand into a fist, making the projection fade away. "I'm not from this world," he said simply, standing up and going over to the edge of the airship. "And now I'm not sure if I want to stay here or not. I'd really miss all of you, but this Moonquest thing is my only chance at getting home." He glanced over his shoulder. "But I don't think I want to go home."

"Why not?" Duncan inquired, sitting down in the captain's seat and steering the ship back down to the ground.

"Two reasons. One, my friends here in Minecraftia, and two, there was a war raging when I was last there."

"Oh…" Duncan said stupidly, looking away. He licked his lips, trying to think of something to say. Finally, something came to his mind. "Even if you only want to go home, I'll still help you. I know how it is to be homesick."

Xephos turned around, smiling slightly. "Really?"

Duncan nodded, standing up and going over to the edge of the airship. He slid off and onto the ground, but turned around and looked up at Xephos. "Of course. What are friends for, right?"