The LEGEND OF AIR AND GROUND

Soul and Love- Part 2

"Thank you", Maya fiddled with the scroll in her hands; anxious to fill in the strange, awkward silence between them.

Ruhaan could merely just nod; he had a lurking fear on the back of his mind that if he opened his mouth, he would say something ridiculous that would make their interaction embarrassing- even more awkward.

"I guess this means goodbye. This is where you leave." She said, softly as her gaze brushed past his eyes. 

Maybe she was hoping he would refuse and stay, but how could he? What logical explanation could Ruhaan possibly have had that would make it okay for him to stay with the strange girl whose land he had been trying to destroy?

"And don't come back flying to ruin our fields" Maya chuckled at her own joke. 

"I won't. Not anywhere near you" He replied, trying to sound indifferent.

Maya chuckled slightly again; he was also a funny guy.

"Let me come with you " Ruhaan abruptly interrupted the inevitable goodbye. 

"What?" Maya faltered.

"The thing is- I don't really trust those other rebels. They don't really have morals, unlike me".

Maya felt a little flattered. Was he worried?

"Are you worried for me?" She asked.

Ruhaan hesitated before he answered, "No, its just that the King has trusted me with that scroll. I'm worried for me. If the scroll doesn't reach them in the right time, both the rebels and the King will come for my throat"

"Oh" Maya felt slightly disappointed, but what he said made so much more sense. Why was her heart playing out all these emotions her brain did not understand?

"Do you want to fly?" Ruhaan suggested out of the blue. Inside his internal battles, his conscience would ask him why he would even dare to ask such question to a mere girl he met only that day. Ruhaan would have no answer, but he would still go on and do and say as per his heart's instructions.

Maya was taken aback. Such was the question she had never expected to hear ever in her life, "Isn't that against your law? To take a ground person for a flight?".

"I'm a rebel, aren't I?" Ruhaan smirked, "And we need to also get to them before any of them are alerted".

Maya let out her hand. Ruhaan tried to convince himself he would hold her hands, only because she could not fly on her own; there would be no other meaning or depth to that gesture.

'Relax, Ruhaan' He whispered.

Ruhaan held her hands as he brought her near him.  As they levitated from the ground, Maya squirmed. 

"This can't be safe!" Maya panicked as she kicked her feet in the air. 

"It's alright. It's quite safe. I do it everyday" Ruhaan consoled, but he was secretly enjoying how scared she was, or maybe he liked how she hid her face in his shoulders as she tried not to look down at the ground.

As they flew over the air longer, Maya began to relax. Maybe flying wasn't as bad and unnatural as the other people said. Beneath her, she could see the vast valleys and the flowing river. All those miles of journey- covered in an instance from the air. 

Flying was no curse, it was a blessing. 

The darkness of the night enveloped with the flight. Now, not only could Maya see the lamp lit houses underneath her feet, but also the glimmering stars above her.