Five Years Ago,
A young woman with blue hair sat hugging her knees, gazing at Jupiter in silence. Only the sound of her own breath fogging her oxygen helmet filled the void. She smiled faintly at the giant gas planet—until she noticed a man in a bulky spacesuit stumbling toward her, collapsing to one knee at her side.
"I thought you were dead…" she whispered.
"I'm not… but my oxygen's almost gone," he wheezed, dropping heavily onto Europa's icy surface. Frost clung to his suit, weighing him down. He tried to scrape it off, but his strength failed. Rolina slid closer, pulling out a heated blade and slicing the ice away with ease.
"At first I thought you were an angel come to take me to heaven. Truth is, I probably belong in hell. That mark under your eye—it looks cool by the way," he said, smiling weakly.
"It's not a tattoo. It's a birthmark. And I'm not human like you. Sorry I ignored you earlier—I thought you were already gone. Did you come far from home?"
"Yes… from Earth. That blue sphere. I'm Sam. Nice to…... talk to you."
"Rolina. Nice to talk to you too. I've never been to Earth. Many say it's beautiful."
"Don't believe everything. Earth has its dark side, like every planet. I won't survive this anyway. My friends are gone. I stayed to die here, because at least the view is beautiful. Are you alone?"
"No one likes me. They say I'm strange, not like others." Rolina's voice trembled.
"They're right… but to me, that's normal. I've known countless women—they all wanted men to care for 'em. But a woman who can stand on her own—that's fucking amazing." His breathing slowed as his oxygen dwindled. He laughed faintly. "By the way, i love to die like this.... Seeing....the real giant." His voice faded as he collapsed onto the ice. Rolina smiled sadly, knowing he was slipping away.
"Jupiter… so beautiful," Sam whispered, closing his eyes. "like... you....."
Rolina froze, hugging her knees, torn between despair and resolve. She couldn't let him die here. She hoisted his heavy suit onto her shoulder, leaping across the frozen ground toward a distant blue shark‑shaped ship.
"Don't die… wake up!" she cried, throwing him inside. The hatch sealed, oxygen filled the cabin. She tore off his helmet, but he remained unconscious. Desperate, she pried his mouth open and breathed into him. Their lips met, and his hand rose instinctively, wrapping around her back.
Her eyes widened, startled, but she closed them, surrendering to the moment.
The memory blurred, shifting back to the present—both of them lying on a bed, recalling that day.
"We kissed that day? I don't remember that," Sam said.
"Afterward, you told me… if I stayed with you, you'd never ask for anything else," Rolina murmured.
Sam shook his head. "No way. I only remember us lying together behind the ship, and…"
"You're full of shitty thoughts. Wait—are you saying you feel something for me?" she asked, twisting playfully on the bed.