Rainbows, lollipops and a ride in the sky - A MaNan Story Part 4

Although the standstill of the Ferris wheel had not eliminated his discomfort completely, it did give him another opportunity to look at her to his heart's content. Normally, he would need to wait for such opportunities to arise in order to steal glances at her. At that moment, however, the lack of any view from their capsule gave him a valid reason to study her thoroughly without any need to disguise it poorly. The outfit that had made him think that she had been a product of his imagination, suited her better than he would ever have dreamed that it could do so. Not that he dreamed of her at all, or even thought of her that much. At least, that was what he kept telling himself as their joint presence would always lead to some kind of trouble. Even that day, fate had not spared them, as they once again ended up in the most unlikely of circumstances. They would always inevitably cash and for that exact same reason they had made a silent pact to avoid one another, thus rendering her off limits for him.

However, he could not keep his heart from being drawn to her. The way she would smile open-heartedly whenever even the smallest bundle of joy would come in her life, the way her face lit up whenever someone told her a good story and even the way in which she would make vivid hand gestures whenever she got excited, rendered his soft and willing heart helpless in front of his strongly resolved mind. Although he had hardly been at the receiving end of her warmth due to their inexplicable animosity, occasionally he had seen some friendliness surfacing in her eyes even for him. At the moment however, neither any warmth nor any friendliness were to be seen in her eyes. Anxiety seemed to be reigning her entirely, accompanied by worry from time to time. Although he had handed her his jacket and she had stopped shivering ever since, she seemed to be even paler than before. Apparently she was still feeling cold despite his jacket, as she kept rubbing her hands.

Had it not been for his observation of her lack of warmth, he would never have realised that he was also feeling quite cold himself. Up until that moment her mere presence had kept him preoccupied to the extent that he had become oblivious to his own lack of comfort, as looking at her had made him ignore the trembling of his own body. As he started to become more aware of the cold, however, he could not suppress the shivers any more. Before he realised it, he found his teeth chattering from the cold. The sound of his chattering teeth even made her glance up and she questioningly raised her eyebrows. Slightly embarrassed yet still unable to suppress the shivers, he smiled at her apologetically. Wishing that he had not forsaken his jacket, his eyes wandered to the person wearing it.

Never would he have imagined that his clothes could look so good on anyone besides himself, yet there he saw her looking even better in it than himself. Despite the fact that it was way too big for her, it graced her beautifully. The way in which she wrapped it around her body and clutched onto it tightly made it seem as if it were one of the most desirable objects in the world. To him, it indeed was quite desirable at the moment as he was longing for some warmth in order to stop shuddering uncontrollably. It seemed as if she had felt his eyes resting on her, as she suddenly looked up as if someone had called her name. Following his gaze, she seemed to realise what he was thinking and slowly released her grip on his jacket. When it became clear to him what she was about to do, he quickly placed his cold hand on hers and shook his head to stop her from doing so.

As though his touch had felt like a jolt of electricity to her, he saw her eyes widen in shock and heard her gasp out loud. Her hands had felt quite warm to him and she had probably felt the coldness of his hands, as she instantly grabbed both of his hands and started rubbing his hands vigorously. As she was rubbing his hands, he could not help it but stare at her out of amazement for this caring side of hers. He had never received any kind treatment from her and it felt oddly nice to him. After having rubbed his hands for a while without any significant result due to her hands being too small, she seemed to be even more resolved to help him get warm again. Lost in thoughts of the sweet expression of determination on her face, he did not even realise it when she had moved over to sit next to him. Only when he suddenly felt something warm next to him, did he find out that she had moved over.

Without realising what he was doing, he wrapped his arms around her as a natural reflex gesture to her warmth. As soon as they realised the impact of their actions and became aware of their sudden proximity, their hearts skipped a beat and their eyes instantly met as if they had been looking for each other all that time along. He could see the unspoken question in her eyes and even though he would have loved to answer it out loud, he knew that his answer would be of no use. If he were to answer her question, it might change their relationship permanently but it could never reconcile the differences between their groups of friends. For the moment, he decided to settle by living in the moment without worrying about what would happen once their ride was over.

He pulled her closer to himself to feel her warmth and he could feel her automatically snuggle up to him in response. As he rested his head on her hair and waited for the ride to commence once again, he could not help it but notice that she had a unique fragrance. She smelled an unlikely yet heavenly combination of tea, candy and cinnamon that resulted into a sweet but simultaneously seductive fragrance. It reminded him of home and of the happy moments of his childhood. Suddenly, however, his train of thoughts was interrupted by a grumbling sound that seemed to come from her stomach. He realised that she probably was nauseated and he reached into his pocket and handed her his spare lollipop. Silently, she accepted it with a grateful smile on her face. While being amazed at the silent but natural way of communication that they had developed during their ride, he realised that she had probably already understood his unspoken answer to her unspoken question through that same unique way of communicating.

When he cast a glance at her to check whether she was fine, he found that she seemed to enjoy the lollipop as thoroughly as he had enjoyed his. As if her happiness was almost tangible, he also started to feel excited without any reason. Both of time started smiling spontaneously, but this time none of them attempted to keep up appearances and that seemed to heat up their ambience significantly. It almost felt as if their capsule was lit up by newfound rays of sunshine. On second thoughts, however, he suddenly noticed that the capsule indeed seemed to be lit up on the inside. It even seemed as if the ride had started moving once again. She seemed to have noticed the same, as she started to sit up at the same time as he did. When they looked outside to check on what was going on, they indeed found out that the ride had commenced once again. The heavy downpour had stopped and was replaced by pleasantly warming sunshine, providing them with the view of an enchantingly beautiful rainbow. Still enjoying her lollipop, her eyes met his and both of them realised that their ride in the sky had come to an end. The sole reminder of their sweet ride in the sky would be the majestic rainbow in the sky.

Link to part 3:

http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4492242&PID=127880173&#p127880173

Link to part 2:

http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4487788&PID=127692621&#p127692621

Link to part 1:

http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=4486937&PID=127657568&#p127657568