Jesse plummeted through the clouds, not even screaming as the Founder screamed, just staring hopelessly down at the nothingness below.

Why wasn't she fast enough?

Why couldn't she be fast enough?

Why was she never good enough?

"This is all your fault!" the Founder snapped at her.

"What did I do?" Jesse asked, slightly defensively as tears were building up in her throat and chest. "All I did was pet your stupid chicken, and go through that stupid portal, and try to save your stupid life, and for what?! What good did that do? What good did I ever do?!" She was yelling now, to be heard over the rushing wind.

The Founder stared at Jesse perplexedly for a second, before huffing and looking away, as Jesse stared down stubbornly at the clouds beneath them to try to clear the tears forming in her eyes. And that was why she started seeing the shapes that were forming below them, indistinct through the clouds but getting clearer and clearer by the minute. "I can't decide whether I want our death to be painless, for my sake, or excruciating for yours-"

"Land!" Jesse interrupted, feeling a relieved smile twitch over her face. There was a huge lake beneath them, with some lava pouring into it from Ivor's little statue back on the bridge.

The Founder looked down, her green eyes widening. "Impossible," she breathed. "That's impossible!" Then she looked up at Jesse, worry in her eyes. "Jesse?"

Jesse used one of her lower arms to point at the body of water beneath them. "There!" she summarized.

The Founder looked at where Jesse was pointing. "Can we get to it in time?"

"If I have anything to say about it, yes!"

Jesse adjusted her fall, kicking to propel herself through the air towards the water, doing her best to avoid the lava, before quickly adjusting her body so that her head was facing downwards, like a torpedo, before sluicing into the water.

It stung, though not as much as it would have had Jesse nod adjusted her fall, splashing down into the rather deep lake beneath her with a small yelp.

Kicking to the surface, Jesse spat out a little stream of water, looking around as the Founder splashed down next to her, before she spotted Lukas hunched down near the lake, water pouring off his hair and ears and tail, clutching his arm, but alive.

"Lukas!" and Jesse kicked to him, flailing her arms, before practically tackling him in a hug. "You're okay!"

Lukas started a bit, grabbing her with a laugh and a wince. "Jesse! You're down here too?"

"You made it!" Jesse said, still hugging him, before releasing him and letting him help her out of the water.

"Yep, and only-" his face tightened with pain- "slightly worse for the wear." And he went back to clutching his arm.

Jesse looked down as her lower arms started making string and weaving them together. "Hang on, hang on, pull off your armor a second?"

Lukas did as he was asked, revealing his usual striped white-and-purple T-shirt underneath. Jesse took out her makeshift woven bandage and wrapped it around the top part of his arm, Lukas flinching slightly as she pulled the bandage taut but not complaining. "I'm really sorry I didn't try to help you up there, I- I only had a couple of seconds, everything was happening and moving so fast..." she whispered, feeling tears in her eyes as she tied the bandage on.

"No, no," and Lukas pulled Jesse into another hug, a quick one this time, "don't worry about it, Aiden was..." he winced slightly, "stronger than I was expecting. It was good of you to try and save the Founder."

Lukas looked over at the Founder, who was gaping at the trees and the grass and the land around them. "Um, speaking of whom... is she okay? She's just sort of... staring."

"Let me ask... um, Founder? Miss Founder?" Jesse asked, wincing as she heard the awkward term come out of her mouth, "are you doing okay?" She walked over the dark-haired woman who looked... rather oddly like Jesse, now that Jesse thought about it.

The Founder shook her head, sounding shaken. "I just- I can't believe it." She looked around, touching the trees, looking at the grass. "This has been down here the whole time...?"

"I don't blame you," Jesse said hurriedly, putting a hand on the Founder's shoulder and making the woman look at her worriedly. "It does look pretty dangerous, a-and Sky City was too far up. Besides, what if the lake was only recently made or something? They would've still died in the fall. I mean, I do think people will be pretty upset when they learned that this was down here the whole time, but... you weren't just sending citizens down here to check for no reason. You cared about them."

The Founder gave Jesse a rather grateful look. "Thank you Jesse... but I was too cautious. I didn't want to create false hope... I was so certain that the only thing down here was death."

Lukas let out a low whistle, looking around him. "Look at this place. Totally untouched biomes, all around us."

"And a baby spider," Jesse joked, as said baby spider crawled over from where it had been perching in the tree and on top of Jesse, who chuckled slightly. "Hey, hey, watch it, little one," she teased gently, rubbing the spider on the head and making it... uh, 'purr' slightly in pleasure. "I'm ticklish."

The Founder and Lukas both chuckled at the sight of that, before Isa looked around again, looking almost dizzy. "yes, it's all a little... overwhelming."

"What do I do now?" the Founder asked, shakily turning back to Jesse.

"Well, first, take a second. I know this is overwhelming, but you need to relax a minute before we try to get everyone else down here. Just... look around you, it's gorgeous!" Jesse spread her arms out, making the Founder look at her. "And then, of course, we try to get all the citizens down here. And maybe kick Aiden's butt in the process, that would be pretty nice."

The Founder laughed a little at that. And just like that, her formal, almost queenly nature melted away to reveal a young woman who was really a little awkward. "Hm, yes, that would be nice."

"Miss... Founder... okay, do you have a name?" Jesse asked, sheepishly, "because I feel rather awkward just calling you 'The Founder'."

The Founder chuckled at that again, as Jesse finally and gently shooed the baby spider away. "Ah, yes. Call me Isa."

A/N: Land ho! Haha xD And more Lukesse fluff. All the Lukesse fluff. xD

rebekahtpe: Lol xD I'd have Axel, because I could then do what most cats do when faced with a charging rhinoceros- bolt up the nearest tree and stay there until the danger has passed. xD

x.X. A.L. X.x.