[ WP ] Three years ago , we saw nothing to mark the 21st of December . We assumed we were safe . But in the far reaches of space , the 13th B'ak'tun was celebrated by a departure . The Maya are coming home .

Going back to Earth wasn ’ t something I ever believed we ’ d do. I ’ d heard the stories about the world we ’ d left behind, the same way everyone else had, but it had never once crossed my mind there might be plans to return. Earth wasn ’ t my world. It wasn ’ t my parents ’ world. It was the world our ancestors had lived on and I, even now, think it would have been far better for everyone involved if we ’ d stayed where we were. With every day that passes it gets a little closer. Most on the ship are looking forward to landing day, even though they know it ’ s not going to be easy for us to call Earth home again, but I… all I can do is think of the world I was forced to leave behind. I wasn ’ t given a choice. None of us were given a choice. This was always a part of the plan. We were always going to be going back. 
 
 Sighing, I stared out at the stars. They weren ’ t the stars we ’ d left behind and every time I looked at them I was reminded of that. I ’ d tried to convince my parents to leave me behind, but that was never going to work, not when they thought going back to Earth would be good for us. I didn ’ t believe they were right. We had no idea how much Earth had changed in the time we ’ d been away. We had no idea how they would react to our unexpected appearance. They couldn ’ t have known what had happened when my people had originally made the choice to leave their home world behind and travel the stars, so they also had no way of knowing we were on our way back. I tried not to think of the world I ’ d left behind, because it wasn ’ t helping at all, and just thinking about it made me homesick. It seemed like everyone else was too excited at the thought of seeing Earth to be homesick. 
 
 “ You aren ’ t happy. ” 
 
 “ No, I ’ m not. ” I looked at my brother. “ Why would I be? ” 
 
 “ Things will work out. ” 
 
 “ Mother said. I didn ’ t believe her, either. ” I turned back to look out of the window, not wanting to see the worry in his eyes, because I was fed up of people being worried about me. I wanted them to worry about what was coming. “ Go back to the others. ” 
 
 “ How can I when I know you need someone? ” 
 
 “ I don ’ t need someone. I just want to go back home. ” 
 
 “ Earth is our home. ” 
 
 “ Earth was our home. Now it ’ s not, and yet we seem to think everyone is going to accept us. ” I shook my head. “ They ’ ll see us as invaders. They won ’ t want us there. ” 
 
 “ You can ’ t know that. ” 
 
 “ I know what I feel. We ’ ve made the wrong choice. We shouldn ’ t have done this. We should have stayed where we were and forgot about Earth, in the same way they ’ ve probably forgotten about us. ” 
 
 He put a hand on my shoulder. “ Everything will be fine. ”
