Thank you everyone for your comments on the previous chapters. It really means a lot! xx

"Eban, no! Don't do this! You're gonna fa…There you go."

Murphy rushed toward his son who had just started crying. Well, screaming would be more accurate. He didn't cry, his fall didn't physically hurt him. His almost two years old ego though… Yeah, that was hurt. And the fall had been scary for him.

"Hey buddy, don't cry, it's okay," Murphy said while hugging the boy close to his heart.

In two years, it had been pretty much obvious that Murphy was an amazing dad. At the beginning, everyone – except Emori – were kind of surprise to see him act like that. He clearly wasn't the strict parent. Actually, he was the opposite. He did everything his son asked him to do, much to Emori's despair. She tried to educate him, but almost every night when Eban began to cry, Murphy would lie down beside him until he falls asleep.

"He will never learn to fall asleep by himself if you realize each of his whims!" Emori said.
"But he cries!"
"Obviously he cries, he's not happy, but he has to learn."
"I want my son to be happy."
"John..."

Obviously, the rest of the group knew that Emori was right.
However, Eban could cry really loud.
And right now, that was what he was doing.

"Murphy, do something," Raven complained as she made the calculations necessary for their return to Earth for the hundredth time.
"I'm trying!"
"Where's Emori?" asked Monty, looking around the room.
"She's with Echo and Harper."

Bellamy rolled his eyes, approached Murphy and stretched out his arms. Instantly, Eban jumps in the arms of his godfather and at the very moment when he is properly placed in his arms, he stopped crying.

"Are you kidding me," Murphy muttered.
"I told you he loves me best."
"Do you wanna get slapped?"
"No, dad," Eban chided, his little arms holding Bellamy by the neck a little tighter.
"I was only kidding."
"Were you really?" Monty joked.
"Maybe not."
"Alright, Raven, any news? We're still good?" Bellamy asked the girl.
"Yeah, I think so."
"You think so?" Repeated Harper, who had just entered the room, accompanied by Echo and Emori.

Echo moved as far as possible from Bellamy. It was something common lately, though the others didn't understand why she was avoiding him like the plague in the last weeks. It was something quite personal that none of them wanted to share.

A month earlier, while they were making love, Echo had whispered something in Bellamy's ear. At first, he was convinced he had misunderstood, but then she had repeated it. He had suddenly stopped moving, rattled. Both were still sweating, their hearts pounding, but for very different reasons now.

"I love you," she had said.

The three words were repeated in a loop in his head. He knew she was waiting for him to say something, but...He had moved away, and he knew that this little movement had already hurt her. He wished he could have been able to say it back, but he just couldn't. She was Echo. She had tried to kill his sister. She wasn't a good person back then. But still, it was six years ago. She was a nice distraction and a decent friend now. He could move past all this. He did it with Murphy. But love? Like, real love? He just couldn't say it back. It was impossible. He wasn't in love with her and he knew it. He wished he could say it back and be happy. Living for real.

But he couldn't.

"Echo… I'm sorry," he said, feeling the guilt already weighing in his stomach.

She had remained motionless for a moment, looking at the wall. She had then got up, picked up her things quickly and headed for the door. Just before opening it, she had turned towards him, a tear running down her cheek.

"I'm sorry I'm not her."

He knew who she was talking about, but he didn't comment.

Since then, things were awkward. They didn't speak at all and she wouldn't even look at him unless she didn't have a choice. It wasn't a good situation for anyone, even for those who didn't understand what was going on.

"Alright," Raven resumed, "I'm sure we're still good. I've been looking at Earth and you see this?"

She showed them a picture of the earth, which didn't even look habitable.

"See what, brown? Yeah, would be hard to miss. It's everywhere," Murphy says.
"Down, down, down!" Eban shouted from Bellamy's arms until he finally gets to be on the floor, where he strode to his handmade toys Monty and Harper made him.
"Yeah, I know it's shitty, but look at this," Raven said.

They all looked at what seemed to be the only green spot on the little map.

"This, my friends, is where we are going to land."
A paused, then; "Well, I hope."

"You hope?" Bellamy said, arms crossed on his chest and a familiar frown on his face, "What happened if we don't land exactly there?"
"Probably nothing. The earth is survivable now. But communications systems are still dead and our best chances are somewhere where plants are growing and where animals might be going, if there's any. Besides, I'll try to land in this source of water, just there, you see? It's small, and shouldn't even be there, but it should make the landing easier.
"And what if there's things in the water, now?" Murphy asked.
"I guess we're going to find out then," Raven looked at her friends who seemed a bit unsure and smile, "So go pack your things. We are going home."

At the same time on Earth, Clarke and Madi were hiding in the trees. The newcomers had landed at the bottom of a small mountain, giving the girls a perfect spying opportunity from the top of the hill. Clarke didn't want to risk Madi's life by going near them. She remembered how she was at the beginning too, how she was afraid when she found out there was grounders on the ground.

If only it was just this.

As soon as they got down on Earth, they had used their radio to communicate. Clarke immediately stopped using hers, not wanting them to find her or Madi. It was hard, not being able to talk to Bellamy anymore, but it was the safest decision.

They had been there for three months already. For now, they knew it was the criminals sent to a mining colony on an asteroid beyond Mars, the ones Becca originally designed nightblood for, to help them adapt better to zero gravity and space. Or rather, it was their descendant. They were a lot, from all the ages. While looking at them, Clarke had a feeling of déjà vu. Well, on the first day. They had been running around and just really happy to be finally on the ground.
It didn't take long though before they had fallen into a perfect routine.

There were a lot of guards walking around the camp, guns in hands. They had built an impressive fence and several buildings. It was a very good organization, much better than the dropship at the time. The children were all locked up in one of the buildings during the day to go to school and the adults were doing work for the camp all day while the guards were working on the horizons and going on patrols and hunting for the few animals, giving Madi and Clarke a hard time to find something to eat. At the beginning, Clarke was asking herself what could worry them so much that they were already in such a hurry to have food rations, shelters and, above all, a fence. A fence very well guarded and protected.

It took only four days for the girls to have an answer.

"Gellert say we need to find them. We're going on a patrol tomorrow," a man was saying on the radio.
"It's stupid if you want my opinion," another man said.
"No one asked for it, Brant," a woman's voice replied, though we could hear laughter in her voice.
"They are still talking about it," Madi said, "What are we going to do?"
"Nothing. We hide. We go to Polis. We try to get the others out of that bunker again. I'm not putting you at risk."
"With the rover? They'll hear us."
"No, on foot. It's going to be long, but you'll be safe."
"What about you?" Madi asked, "You need to be safe, too."
"I'm staying with you, don't worry," Clarke said and hugged the girl, "Madi, I'm serious. They're not gonna get to you, nor to me, okay?"
"Okay… At least now we know at least someone was listening to your messages," Madi paused, looking confused, "I just wished we knew what they wanted to do with us."

Clarke didn't expect that Gellert's intention was only to talk. For what they've heard, they were pretty confused about how people could have survived on Earth and they wondered if there were more than just the girls they heard on the radio for years. They seemed to be afraid of thing is, they were probably nightbloods, too. Probably able to survive Praimfaya. But what if they didn't know it? She remembered how it was with the grounders at the beginning. Or the Mountain Men. She didn't trust the newcomers and there was no way in Hell that she was letting Madi near them. They could be inoffensive, but why risk it?

"Do you see that?" a woman's voice screams from the camp below them.

The girls looked up to see a rocket breaking through the sky. Clarke's heart missed a beat and before she can control herself, she steps forward.

"Movement in the trees!" a guard shouted, and guns were now already aimed towards them.
"Madi, run!" Clarke says urgently as the two of them flee among the trees.

Grunts and complaints were heard as they landed in the water. Raven was quite proud of herself. She had well aimed her trajectory. The landing could have been smoother, though. They were all going to have bruises and a headache, but they were alive. Eban was crying and immediately removed from his seat by Murphy, who took him in his arms.

"Are you all alright?" She asked.
"Open the door!" Echo shouts, and Bellamy thought that it was the first time in weeks that he hears her voice.

They detach their seat belts, get up and Monty opens the door. The fresh air caresses their faces and they all take a deep breath. They come out one by one, squinting from the sun, which they were no longer used to. The sky is still blue, the water is soft as they swim quickly to the shore, worried about what could live in it, Eban held by his parents who try as much as possible to keep him out of the water. The ground is still as hard, the trees still as green. Their clothes are wet, but they could not care less. They were back on Earth. At home.

"We have to go to Polis," Bellamy said, already thinking of Octavia.
"We do not even know how to get there for now," Monty retorts, "Raven warned us that things might have changed here."
"So let's find a way. We -"
"Hands up!"

They all turn around, surprised, and their hands rise automatically in the air as they realize that several firearms are pointed at them. Bellamy and Raven exchange a look as a woman - probably in her mid-fifties, with gray strands in her black hair - approaches them with her guns lowered. It is obvious that she is the leader of this small group.

"Who are you?" She asks, staring at them.
"We come from space. We escaped Praimfaya, like we called it, by going into space," Bellamy said, strangely reluctant at the idea of telling her their names.

The woman made eye contact with a man who is standing a few steps behind her. He nods and whispers something that only she can hear. She then turns to the group, her gaze rests on Eban, and she grins.

"Well, follow me. We don't want this little one to get sick now, do we?"

They hesitate, but obviously don't really have a choice. The guards are already all around them, surrounding them. Bellamy and the others have no choice but to move forward and follow the woman as they feel the look of the guards - and their guns - on their backs.

"And you, who are you?" Bellamy dares to ask.
"We'll take you to our chef, you'll get the answers to all your questions soon," said the woman, "But don't worry, we come from up there, too."
"Not like some others," mutters a man not far from Monty, but this one don't really have time to wonder about the meaning of his sentence that something much more interesting happened.

From where they are, they can see a fence and guards patrolling, inside as well as outside and on scaffolds. They can hear people talking and laughing, and for a second the group dare to hope that this might not be so bad. This kind of looked like Arkadia, back in the days.

"We got them surrounded," a man's voice says through the talkie-walkie of the woman.

Murmurs explode around them and Bellamy really wonders who "them" can be. Is it their friends in the bunker?

"Who –" Bellamy starts.

"We're coming," the woman answers, smiling, "Open the gate!" she screams, and a few guards came running towards them, "Bring them in, give them food, water, clothes, everything they need. I'll bring them to Gellert's myself later. We've got to go, they got them."

"You're serious Maria?" another woman says, a bit younger than Maria.

They both exchanged a smile and Bellamy wonder again if they're talking about their friends. Should he be afraid for their safety, once again?

"Maybe coming back wasn't so much of a good idea, after all," Murphy says in Bellamy ears and he can't help but agree with him.