"No means no!"
"Well, as you wish. I won't push", Ghazan turned and walked towards the woods, looking like a child who had lost his favorite toy.
Ming Hua sat by the fire and watched him. He was a pain in her ass sometimes. Perhaps worse. He would take offense for hours and then it would suddenly cease.
She spent the rest of the day training, the pain in her ass no where to be seen.
It was evening already. P'Li and Zaheer sat near their tent.
"…and once, the wise Guru Laghima said-"
"Honey, let's spend out time without his abstruse quotes. There is no room for dead gurus in our sleeping bag", P'li kissed the top of her wisdom fanatic's head.
"Ugh, when will it stop?" Ming Hua said. "Lots of time as passed since we were liberated from our prisons and they still have the same puppy love."
She sat nearby but tried to ignore the lovebirds. Perhaps Ghazan's idea wasn't so freaky…
As she thought about him she saw he was already there.
"How did your day pass? I see you're enjoying the company of P'li and Zaheer", Ghazan said, crossing his arms and winking at her.
"As you can see…" she sighed.
"Then I won't interfere", he chuckled. "I'm going to rest."
"Stop! Is your offer still valid?" She hardly believed what she was saying.
"Well, since you asked, my rest can wait", he turned and began looking for something, and in a few minutes returned walking back with a bag in his hands and a pleased look on his face. "Off we go", he said, nodding towards the forest.
There was nothing left for Ming Hua to do but follow. After ten minutes of walking through unfamiliar terrain the two came to a small cliff that offered a view of the surrounding plain. A blue ribbon of river went off into the distance and vanished into the horizon.
"It's breathtaking", Ming Hua whispered. "How did you find this place?"
"I needed to do something with my day after you refused to go on a picnic with me. So I explored the area. But, just in case…" his face had a gentle smile. He pulled out a blanket from the bag, spread it, sat down and patted near him.
The sun was setting over the horizon and turning everything hues of orange and crimson. Things aren't the same as it was in that cage above the volcano. Here and now, everything is so calm, the colors no longer irritated her.
"It's definitely better than listening to the smutty couple talk about wisdom from a dead guru." She let herself move a little closer to him.
"Yes. " he replied thoughtfully. "When the sun goes down completely, I'll show you my favorite constellations.