In Tehran, August 1987, Roya recounts the aftermath of her first kiss with Leila, describing it as a word that translated more like 'heaven' than 'sky.' The next night, Ali and Gilgamesh call from their camping trip, drunk and joking, with Ali laughing about Gilgamesh nearly shooting his own foot. Roya warns Ali to be careful about drinking while Leila browses Ali's contraband rock records, reacting playfully to the album covers.

When Gilgamesh asks to speak to Leila, she takes the phone, rolls her eyes, and silently pantomimes snapping off a finger—a gesture Roya doesn't recognize but reads as defiant. After hanging up, Leila puts on a Rolling Stones record and pulls Roya in to dance. Roya, overwhelmed, whispers that she wishes it weren't so hard to be good and that she is exhausted; Leila answers that she sees and knows.

Leila replays the song repeatedly, kneeling to kiss Roya's ankles, shins, knees, hands, and wrists. When she finally lets the song end into silence, the two come together completely, with Roya describing the dissolution of every separation between them—music, country, clothes, fear, history—as their affair becomes physical.