• ɴᴏᴏʀ •
"Please tell me that's another one of your magic tricks." Rayan pleaded beside me.
"Of course not, well- fuck. Ray I told you not to piss me off," I spoke quickly, squinting my eyes to make sure my vision wasn't lying to me.
Me, Rayan and Leo stood in awe whilst we stared at what looked like a tsunami coming our way. It was funny because to be honest, I could not tell you if I had done that. Me and the elements were in a bit of a disagreement these days.
Leo, bless him, had been experimenting with some of Alexandar's technology that we had seized from Russia. He had found a way for my power to exert the larger amount of its energy into an object, so the immense power would take a lesser toll on my body. This was probably what Alexandar meant when he said he could help me, he had studied about the elements enough to know the type of toll they could take on the human body. Even some of the Aether's claimed that they each had an object to help them out when the power got too much. If normal Aether's found the power to be a bit much, my power was too much.
Lee used a fancy word for the process and I couldn't even tell you what it was. But the object happened to be a small necklace that had to be around my neck at all times for it to work.
It had led to massive improvements in my health in the last month, I felt less dead and exhausted all the time.
This was why the elements and the voice had been insulting me a lot. The necklace numbed the voice slightly and it seemed a bit disrespectful that I was limiting the power of the heavens. It seems they want to force me to utilise the maximum capabilities of my power no matter the consequences.
News had come in that some of the imports had slipped through cracks and made it to parts of the world and some hadn't figured out the danger of the water system to avoid tap water.
Unfortunately, a vast majority of them died, their bodies reacted in gruesome ways to the chemical that rejected their genes. Chaos hadn't left my side, it had become incredibly attached to me.
We had taken the day to come to the water supply to see if I could fix anything myself. Yaseen was busy with other matters, like the fact that there were new Aether's being born that still going to be conditioned to want to kill me. I stood today above the ocean, trying my best to dissipate the chemical from inside all the water.
"DON'T BLAME ME, you're the one who practically caused an earthquake in trying to do whatever you just did," Rayan burst as the fear of a tsunami in our faces began to settle in.
"You think it's easy to get rid of a substance from AN ENTIRE OCEAN?" I responded with the same amount of panic because I had little to no idea what to do.
"Don't," Leo warned me before I could even suggest my idea. "I forbid it, your husband would strongly forbid it, Rayan would let you because he has the same sense as a goldfish." Leo continued to emphasise the stupidness of the idea.
"You take that thing off, you bring yourself closer to deterioration," Leo gripped my wrist and I couldn't entirely understand why he was being so serious. It wasn't good to take off the necklace but it wouldn't kill me. Not so soon anyways. Suspicion crawled up my back when I noticed Rayan and Leo exchange an unidentifiable glance before continuing to tell me how mad Yaseen would get if I did this.
"Well, your other option is to fucking drown so be my guests, both of you. Sorry I don't want to die by water when I can bloody manipulate it." I push them both aside to take a breath.
I reach around my neck to unclip the necklace slowly. My body jolted with the tremor of power that returned into me, rendering me unstable because I couldn't navigate it all at once suddenly.
"Please, you said I was your daughter," I muttered under my breath, kneeling down to dip my hands into the water.
Power tingled at my fingertips yet it seemed nothing was happening. "Please please," I begged, sweating due to the concentration that the task required.
Commander of the sea.
It finally acknowledges me, going silent as though it waits for me. The world became blue, a azure colour filled my sights like a filter of the skies themselves had been injected into my eyes.
I command you.
I say.
"Be calm."
The water stilled, the air shifted violently around us when the tsunami began to fade away.
"Now was that so bad?"
I spoke far too soon because the moment I tried to get back on my feet, everything went slightly blurry. Both of them reached to stabilise me when I stumbled and Rayan clipped the necklace back on which centred me a bit.
"Shut up and get on my back," Leo huffed before hunching over so I could piggyback him. "Are you sure your back can handle this, old man?" I laughed before jumping on, not realising how badly I needed to be off my feet.
"Your feet currently can't handle standing, Noori, you're like the last person with any room to talk," Leo's words were the last thing I remember hearing before I slept. I think the correct term would be passed out. But I think my husband would prefer to know I slept like a baby the whole way home.
It turned out that Rayan and Leo were fucking snakes. By the time I woke up, I was already tucked in bed and Yaseen stood at the bedside with a very irritated expression. He didn't even allow me a breath before he began to argue about the stupidity of my decisions.
"I can't believe you," Yaseen tutted angrily before walking away from me. I quickly got out of bed to follow him as he paced around the bedroom.
"What did you want me to do? A tsunami was in our faces, I had to," I tried to reach for him but he rejected my touch.
"You didn't have to take off the necklace Noori. It centres your power, not weaken it, it's the only thing that makes me feel assured that you're alive and you took it off," he continued, his face full of annoyance and worry all at once.
"You know, the chemical reached some parts of the world before you diminished it. You know, there are dangerous Aether's with unimaginable powers out there, that only have one goal and that is to kill you. Yet you still end up doing things that could have you passed out for days on end which makes you vulnerable for those predators" he lectured me.
"What a great thing it is that I'm mighty capable to killing them even if I'm half dead, with an army of Aether's at my disposal." I tried to make him feel better but I might have made it worse.
"How badly do your legs hurt today Noor? And how bad is that throbbing headache you're trying to hide? Don't you understand that taking off the necklace makes your health ten times worse? You stopped a tsunami, no one has to snitch on you for me to know you must've been passed out the whole way home. Don't put yourself in a situation where you'd have to do that again." He huffed and began massaging his temples again.
I released a breath, understanding it was completely my fault since I failed to weigh out my options in time. I moved to his side in hopes to soothe his anger. "I'm sorry baby, I won't do it again, pinky promise," I intertwined my fingers with his as I tried to comfort him.
"Just give me space," he took a step back.
I blinked at his action, trying to comprehend what his words meant.
"Okay," I breathed after a long while of silence. "I'll make it up to you, I promise" I said more so to myself when I left the room.
"You guys are assholes," I tutted at Leo and Rayan who acted like they weren't eavesdropping outside our room. If only they hadn't snitched about me taking off the damn necklace.
I'll make it up to him.
••••••••
Yaseen was still mad at me.
It had been three whole days since he asked for space. We slept beside each other, but it was the same as sleeping alone. No cuddling, no communication. Just cold hard silence. It made me upset on many many levels but it increased my dedication to make it up to him by tenfold.
In the past few days, I had baked him three 'I'm sorry' cakes, prepared his favourite dishes, even put myself on full bed rest to lessen his worry after Leo demanded that I partake in no strenuous activities for at least a month. Yet, nothing seemed to change anything.
What was annoying me was that the boys had sort of teamed up. They even took Leo on their side and when I tried to invite Andreia over, they pulled her to do some tasks so that I would be utterly alone.
But I wouldn't give up so soon, the man had me beat up once upon a time and I was still committed to get his forgiveness. Silent treatment would not be the end of me.
Today, I was preparing a dish from his culture - I had taken the recipe from Abraham who surprisingly knew a shit ton about cooking for a king who never had to lift a finger. I stood in the kitchen, cutting up the salad because it was almost time for Yas to come home from work.
"Hi," I smiled brightly to Yas who barely gave me nothing but a nod in response when he entered. Rayan and Leo who were sitting in the living room across the kitchen also began to listen into the conversation.
"Yaseen Ayyad." My cold tone contrasted the one I had initially greeted him with and it seemed to make him stop in his steps. I kept my cutting knife in hand when I stepped towards him. For some reason all of them looked like they were suddenly on their toes, they looked far too guilty for my liking.
"Where have you been?" I furrowed my brows, narrowing my eyes at Yas as I smelled something different than his usual cologne.
"Work." He gave a short blunt answer, hands in his pocket like he was unfazed by my interrogation.
"You smell like a woman, Yas, so unless there's a new girl at work who has been rubbing against you, I suggest you tell me where you've been." I was small in comparison to Yaseen's height, but I still glared into his eyes as I searched for answers.
"I was at work, Noor. I'm too tired for this," he tried to walk past.
"Should I say something?" Rayan whispered to Leo as if I couldn't hear him.
"No she's holding a knife," Leo whispered back which made me realise my grip on the knife had gotten a bit too deadly.
"You've been insanely mad at me and have barely said a full sentence to me in the last few days, I didn't say anything. You won't hold me while I sleep, I didn't say anything. No matter what efforts I put in, you keep rejecting me. Now you come home smelling like another woman and act like you don't owe me an explanation. It looks to me that you were just waiting for an excuse to be mad at me and rid of me. So I'll do you a favour and leave you alone."
I slammed the knife onto the counter and stormed off into the guest bedroom. These days, sleeping beside him was the same as sleeping alone, so I would just choose to sleep in the coldness of the guest room because it would never be colder than feeling lonely with my soulmate.
I practically locked myself in the bedroom for the entirety of the day and no one came to check on me. Not even once. I wanted to cry because there was just so much confusion that clouded me. Did I really mess up so badly? What did I even do so wrong?
It was almost ten pm when I began to hear screams. My entire body jolted at Yaseen's raw agonising ripple of sound. He must have fallen asleep too early today. Because according to Rayan, this was the usual sound of his nightmares.
There wasn't an ounce of hesitation in me when I jumped out of bed and ran to our room. My heart pounced out its chest when I saw his condition. His eyes were shut tight, his chest heaving up and down whilst sweat dropped off his hair.
I ran towards his bed, gently running my hands over his hair before patting his sweat away. I held down his shaking body as I tried to wake him without startling him too much.
"It's okay my love, I'm here, it's all over," I held his head against my chest, hoping he would wake up soon because my heart couldn't handle his state like this. Because during his terror episode, he kept saying my name. He kept saying it like he was trying to save me.
When his body stilled and the terror washed over, he released a deep breath.
"What's the time? Fuck, I wasn't supposed to fall asleep," he tried to get out my arms but I refused to let him go. "It's because you haven't slept in a few days," I assured him. He must've been stressing about not doing a bit of workload, feeling guilty for sleeping.
"How would you even know I haven't been sleeping?" He questioned. "Because I haven't either." I admitted, feeling the sorrowful emotions everyone had been causing me for the last few days.
"Just leave," he muttered, pushing me away slightly like he had something to do.
"Not when you need me like this," I said, still holding him tight.
"I always need you like this," he replied, seemingly resisting the urge to hold me back. "It doesn't feel like it anymore." I said, holding back tears and trying to keep my voice from wavering.
"Do you second guess it all? Is it too much to deal with me?" I managed to question and he completely froze.
"No." He properly detached from the hug, getting out of bed quickly. He glanced at the clock, seemingly thinking about something.
"I don't like when you're mad at me. I miss holding you, I miss talking to you, I miss everything about you but you don't care. I- I'm not made for your dissatisfaction with me," I kept talking, following him out of the bed and standing straight before him.
"Please, let me back in," my voice cracked and the tears began to fall. I dropped my face into my hands, feeling weak while I cried and felt horrible about everything. Something very dangerous shifted in the room.
"Are you crying? No. I can't do this anymore" he said loudly as if he wasn't talking to me.
"Come with me," he gripped my wrist and pulled me out the room. I frowned in confusion when Rayan and Leo weren't in the living room watching football like they usually did on Fridays. I barely got the chance to put on shoes before he took me to his car and I didn't protest. I was confused, hurt, but I trusted that maybe wherever he was taking me would make the hurt a little less.
Or it would make it worse since Yaseen was the epitome of an unpredictable man.
The drive was silent, I had no idea where he was taking me. His hand rested in my inner thigh whilst he ignored any speed limit. The long journey came to a halt near a hill, he forced me to face him, not allowing me to admire the scenery when we walked all the way up.
"You're the best thing that's happened to me, you're the most annoying, beautiful, brave, strong, woman I know. You really kill me when you piss me off," he told me.
"I'm sorry, I can never say it enough-"
"You're the best thing that has ever happened to me, my today tomorrow forever. My dream, my person. Noori make me the happiest man in the world," Yaseen finally broke into a smile, falling onto one knee.
"What are you-"
I was cut off by the sudden flicker of light, bright golden lights decorated the hilltop like for a grand event to occur. There were little pillars around, wrapped around with red fabric and flowers. The floor was covered with trail of petals and candles that were somehow still lit despite the wind. The sky was shimmering with stars, twinkling so earnestly it almost looked fake. Then, a shower of meteors began raining across the sky. The meteor shower that had been forecasted and the one I talked about watching with him before our argument. And at the end of it all, there were block letters that spelled out a question.
"Do me the honour of letting me be yours, let me spend the rest of my life calling you mine, let me be selfish and steal you away from the world. Let me keep every piece of you for myself, to make me whole. Complete me, my roohi. Marry me." (Arabic|my soul).
I promise once this is all over, I will marry you again. We'll do this again, from the start and do it right this time.
So he was doing it all over again, giving me the grand proposal I never got to have.
The look of accomplishment that took over his face when he realised just how surprised I was, was adorable. A wave of relief rushed down me when I realised the uttermost torture they all made me endure was just because of a plan to surprise me.
"Hm, I don't know, you've been really mean to me for a few days," I scrunched my nose down at him, jokingly acting as though this was a matter I even had to think about.
I would marry him all over again, in a heartbeat.
Yaseen got in his feet, seemingly not comprehending my joke because he looked apologetic.
"I'm so sorry trouble, I've never done this before," he spoke quickly like he had been aching to explain himself.
"Apparently, this is how you surprise people, Rayan and Leo forced me to be distant. And fuck, the perfume you smelt on me today was one I was getting for you, the idiot at the shop sprayed it on me- and you know Leo said I couldn't last a day without breaking character but I think I've done well enough to make you cry. It wasn't part of the plan, it wasn't my plan at all-"
I grabbed his collar and pressed my lips on his. "I'll marry you Yas, I'll marry you in every lifetime," I smiled against his lips, feeling a rush of happiness electrocute me.
"I'm really sorry, baby, let me make it up to you for bringing tears to your eyes," and that's all he said before kissing me deeply. He grabbed my hand to lead me near the tip of the hill where we could see the view of the city.
"It's so pretty," I spoke whilst Yaseen lingered a step behind me. "How many people did you hire to decorate this place?" I asked in awe, focusing on the intricacies of outdoor design which weren't easy to achieve.
"I didn't. I did it myself," Yaseen's words almost made me stumble slightly. Himself? That must've taken days, and that's why he's been coming home so exhausted. "I just thought it was half assed to pay my way to everything. I have money but I also have very capable hands, and grand gestures demand the heart that only the lover can bring," he continued to explain and my heart melted at his consideration.
"Such a romantic my husband is," I turned around with an urge to bury my chest in his chest and lose myself in his embrace but he was no longer there.
"Yas?" I furrowed my brows in confusion, calling out to him a few more times as I scanned the hill.
"Hello?" I began to get a bit alarmed considering the emptiness of the place where some parts were still covered with darkness.
Then, a voice began speaking. "I am not a good man, I have ties to very dark parts of this world. The mafia, criminals, weapon dealing with the underground, supplying terrible things to the worst people. I confess my marriage with Noor was originally a farce, one of convenience that I forced her into for my own benefit," I realised it was a recording of Yaseen's voice, seemingly having a conversation with someone.
A loud slap echoed from the voice note. "I told myself I was doing it to punish her, to get inside her head and hurt her like she had done to me. I told myself I would make the marriage that she had fantasised about be nothing like she wanted," another slap cut off his voice and I flinched at the harsh sound.
"But I was just lying to myself. I wanted her. Not to hurt, but to worship, cherish, love. I wanted her, to protect her from your husband," I freeze at the words.
He's talking to my mother.
"I love her, ma'am. I did things very wrong the first time, but I want to do it again. I want to begin by asking you for her hand," I hear him say and I didn't even realise I was crying until my vision became blurry.
"Why would I ever give you permission? Why would I give you the blessings? You're just like Viktor," my mother's voice sounds so cold and I realise this must have been a conversation that happened after the media went insane.
"But you love Viktor." Yaseen said carefully.
"And that still wasn't enough to make him a good person." Her voice breaks finally, allowing emotion to flow in.
"I loved with the hope of change, but it was foolish. And my daughter had to suffer the consequences. I failed as a mother because of love, so don't tell me that you love her and think it means anything to me. Tell me you will protect her, that you will throw aside any darkness for her sake, leave the life that you know." She gets louder and breaks into a sob. I realise it meant she knew Viktor was part of the bratva.
And change was all she ever wanted from Viktor. For him to look at her and decide she was worth a lot more than blood. She spent all those years in love with him and she never gave up on the hope for change. She remained stuck in the illusion that maybe, maybe one day she would be enough.
"I will protect her. I will throw aside all the darkness. I will leave the life that I know. It isn't a difficult choice, nothing I will ever have is of equal value." Yaseen's voice makes me crack a smile out of gratitude that my heart chose the best man in the world. That the heavens had the mercy on me to make him mine.
Warm tears fell down my cheeks when my mum let out her beautiful breath of laughter.
"I dreamed of a man like you for her. You are a good man Yaseen, that is the only lie you have told me today," I could imagine the smile on her face when she would've said it to him.
"I give you my blessings, for today and forever. Marry my daughter and give her the life she has dreamed of. Be her prince, her confidant, her friend, her saviour. For the times I am not there, be her mother and hold her when she gets afraid. For the times I am not there, remind her that all the beauty in the world takes form of stars in her eyes. For the times I am not there, remind her it's okay. Marry my daughter Yaseen, and stay by her side for eternity."
At this point, I was sobbing uncontrollably. I had yearned to hear her voice but I didn't have nearly enough videos of her speaking.
"I promise, ma'am."
"You are about an hour early," I jumped at the voice that was no longer coming from the video but from beside me. "But no matter, the preparations are complete," a familiar voice came from the left of me. I turned to the side to see Leo standing in a smart outfit, a white button up shirt with black slacks. He extended his hand, wiping the tears on my face before leaving a kiss on the top of my head.
"Lover boy could not wait, it seemed," Rayan spoke mockingly from the other side, wearing a similar fancy outfit.
"What's going on?" I almost chuckled through the tears because it was late in the night and these guys were far too overdressed compared to me who was wearing a black nightgown. They exchanged glances, clearing their throats before extending their hands towards me.
"Won't you let us walk you down the aisle?"
The words were enough for tears to begin freefalling again. I had asked Leo when I was a lot younger for him to be the one to walk me down the aisle. However, for his safety, I didn't let him do so at my actual wedding when every eye in the world was gazing in our direction.
And whilst I loved Leo like an older brother, I adored Rayan as my younger one. Having both these men hold my hand whilst I walked to marry the love of my life again was a dream.
I wiped my tears again - it was still surreal to me. I could cry so easily now, so comfortably, because it was okay. I cried whenever something bothered me, even the tiniest things and I allowed myself to feel it, express it. Life had healed me. The people in my life had healed me. I was content, these were the only people I needed.
"Of course," I accepted both of their hands, holding their arms as they led the way. The pathway that was hidden by darkness began to be lit up with each step, revealing the extensive hardwork of my husbands decor. There was something very grand in the simplicity of it.
This was what I wanted.
I never wanted something extremely expensive or magnificent or impressive. I wanted something simple that overflowed so much in its modest beauty that it would fill my heart. I already had a magnificent wedding, and it was a wonderful day I wouldn't ever forget but it lacked the comfort of private intimacy.
But this, this was my dream wedding in every way possible.
I looked ridiculous, but nothing mattered. Not when my husband stood patiently at the end of the aisle, tears brimming in his own eyes upon the sight of me. He looked at me like how I imagined his gaze to be on the night we met. So passionate and deep. He looks at me with gratitude as though he would never stop thanking fate for pairing me with him.
Before I could get close enough to Yas, Rayan stopped and pulled a red dupatta from the side and adjusted it over my head and face. He did it so carefully like he had seen this happen more than enough times and as soon as he was done, we walked towards Yas again. To my surprise, we weren't alone. Andreia and Lysa stood on the sides as the small audience whilst Abraham surprisingly made it too. He stood next to Yaseen like the priests who approved marriages, and when he started speaking I realised he was going to be the one to officiate the marriage all over again.
"Do you, Noor Zaidi, accept Yaseen Ayyad as your husband?" Abraham questioned.
"Yes, I do," I nodded with my gaze on the floor. The veil covered my head whilst Leo still stood by my side and Rayan went to stand next to Andreia. He asked the question to Yaseen, and I might have pinched my soulmates cheeks in admiration when he carefully pronounced the words:
Qubool hai.
Leo took my hand and put it into Yaseen's palm. They exchanged a long glance, this was a moment where a sort of father figure hands over the responsibility of his girl to the next man in her life. Yaseen turned to me with a charming smile, reaching to lift the veil off my face.
"Hello my husband," I smiled with a tint of childishness when I stared up at him.
"Hello my wife," he replied, placing a sweet kiss on my forehead.
His lips met mine, sinking comfortably into me. Fireworks went off in the background, thousands and thousands of them decorated the sky.
"Ooh," my lips detached from his when I felt like my body was tingling. I took a step back to notice that there were fireflies flying out my being.
"Someone's way too excited," Rayan joked which both of us chuckle before falling into the others embrace.
"Your shit stupid idea for a surprise made my wife cry, I'll fucking shoot you if you recommend ideas ever again," Yaseen uttered to Rayan through the hug.
"Every success in my life is credited to you," he whispered to me and I could've said the same thing back to him. "Happy early birthday, baby," he said lowly and the words took a moment to process in my head.
Birthday...?
It was 7th August already? I couldn't even remember the last time I looked at the date. But now it makes sense, the obsession with what the time was. It still wasn't midnight, but it was going to be my birthday in thirty minutes. The first birthday I would have with the love of my life, the first as a new woman who left it all behind. I couldn't stop releasing breaths of content, smiling when he caressed my cheek.
We had won against the world and brought it to the others feet.