I know you didn't expect the turn of events in the last chapter. But I hope you enjoyed it anyway. I know I cut Rui and Ritu's courtship period to just one date…but you'll see the reason for that in this chapter.

Chapter 9

Midnight had come and gone. Ritu still sat motionless staring out at the moon. The tears had now stopped but the sadness refused to leave her.

It was just a boy, just one date. It's not like they had confessed eternal love to each other or anything. She didn't even know he was planning to ask her out on another date. Then why was she feeling so sad? Was she really that naïve? Was she still that child who loved fairy tales her dai maa would tell her? The ones where a handsome prince would just come and sweep the princess off her feet? They didn't even have to date! At that thought, Ritu started laughing hysterically at her own foolishness.

Princes and princesses defy the world only in fairy tales. In real life they simply comply with all that is expected of them. Even in today's day and age it's the same. Yes there is that odd exception to the rule when people like Tsukasa, who may not have been royal by blood but was expected to follow the rules laid down by his mother in order to inherit the family business. He had defied her and married the girl he loved. But then again, the conviction to do something like that came from the strength one derived from true love. What did she have - one amazing date and not even a promise of the next one. That wasn't enough.

Ritu sighed deeply and decided to start packing just to get her mind off the whole issue. However, while her hands did the work her tears had started flowing again and she couldn't do anything to stop them.

xxxxx

All Rui could dream about that night was kissing his Rhythm. A sweet smile played upon his lips as he slept blissfully. However, his dreams were a little different than he had expected. Instead of finding himself with Rhythm at the beach…he was in the desert.

Although Rui had travelled the world, he had definitely never been to Jaisalmer in India. All he knew about the desert was from what he had heard from Rhythm. Perhaps that is why he was dreaming of the desert. And then he saw two figures, entwined in a deep embrace under the twinkling stars in the wide open desert. Sand dunes shone almost silver around them.

They were Rui and Rhythm. Although maybe not exactly Rui and Rhythm. While the people in the dream were still the same, why did they feel so different…as if they belonged to some other era…

Rui was still thinking about this when he woke up in the morning. He was definitely happy but there was still a weird kind of unease within him. What was that dream? Like he had seen himself but not quite himself.

Shaking his head, he got out of bed and tried to locate his phone. He had forgotten to charge it…or rather he had completely forgotten it. He was sure he had missed quite a few calls. Hmmm 53 calls. Wow, that's not what he had expected.

While most of them were from Tsukasa, some were from the other members of F4 and also from Tsukushi. What had he missed? Why so many calls. Suddenly he felt anxious that something big had happened and he had totally missed out on it. He picked up the phone and dialed Tsukasa's number.

xxxxx

Maharana Rajendra Singh III could see that Ritu had been crying all night. Her swollen eyes and the melancholy that hung around her like a thick fog left him with no doubt that the curse had probably already been set in motion.

Ever since the dead Rajkumari had placed the curse on Maharana's gharana, no girl child had been allowed to be born. There had been instances of infant Rajkumaris being killed and buried alive in order to ward off the curse. Only male heirs were allowed to be born. And when the Maharanis could not produce a male heir, the Maharaja's took on other wives to fulfill the task.

While the present Maharana believed wholeheartedly in the curse, he was a kind man and could not even imagine committing such a heinous crime. One does not need to resort to killing innocent infants in order to ward off a curse. There are always ways to go around it.

Even today when he was so angry with his granddaughter and he could almost see the curse being carried out in front of his eyes…he still could not bring himself to even imagine having little Ritu murdered when she was a baby. No, he couldn't do it. He wouldn't be a coward. He would face everything that life threw his way, even if it was a curse that led to nothing but doom.

xxxxx

"Yo Tsukasa, what's up? Why do I have over 30 missed calls from you," Rui asked as he gulped down some orange juice.

"Where the hell have you been Rui!" Tsukasa yelled, "God Rui! Do you have any idea what happened last night?"

Rui tensed, Tsukasa was always creaming, but this time it wasn't funny…something serious had happened, "What's wrong Tsukasa?"

"Where are you now? Never mind, wherever you are, just meet me at the airport ASAP. That is if you want to get a final glimpse at Ritu." Tsukasa yelled.

Final glimpse? What? What was happening? "Tsukasa, what are you talking about…Tsukasa…" Rui asked.

But the line had gone dead. Tsukasa had hung up. Getting quickly into action, Rui bounded towards his car. What did this mean? Where was Ritu going and why? He was planning to surprise her later today by turning up at Tsukasa's house and asking her out yet again.

He tried calling Tsukushi…

"Rui…" Tsukushi sounded worried, "Rui things went horribly bad yesterday."

"What happened Tsukushi? I need to know what happened…Tsukasa called me to the airport…and why is Ritu leaving?" he asked.

"Rui, Ritu's grandfather came to Tokyo yesterday to surprise Ritu…however, he saw you two kissing in the front yard and now he's taking Ritu back to India."

God! How had this happened? And why had he not been there with her when she was facing her grandfather? Rui felt sick at himself. He couldn't even be there for the girl he had fallen in love with.

Love?

Rui suddenly screeched to a stop in the middle of the highway. What was this? When did he fall in love? Hadn't they just met? But then that dream he had last night…it somehow made him feel like it had been longer than just a few days. Oh god! And now the woman he loved was leaving him…

xxxxx

Ritu was awfully quiet as she bade goodbye to the Domyoujis. Being trained as a princess all her life, Ritu managed to summon up a poker face while thanking her guests, but her eyes betrayed her. Tsubaki and Tsukushi hugged her, understanding her pain instantly. Tsukasa on the other hand looked ready to kill but nodded at her politely and gave her a sad smile as he saw the sorrow in her eyes.

Tsubaki had arranged to have the Domyouji private jet to drop her guests back to India. And they were on their way to the airport right now.

xxxxx

Rui was jerked out of his thoughts by cars honking behind him. Taking a quick look at his watch, put his car into gear and bolted off. All he could think of was meeting Rhythm…and he was damn sure this wasn't going to be a final glimpse! He called Tsukasa to know exactly where he was supposed to go.

xxxxx

Ritu climbed into the plane and took a window seat. Her grandfather was sitting opposite her and Charan Singh sat a few seats behind him.

All she could do now was to wait for the plane to take off. She had nothing else to look forward to. A stewardess walked towards her offering her something to drink which she declined. She didn't want anything. She didn't need anything…nothing other than one final glimpse of her Rui.

The plane started coming to life as she heard the captain announce that they were ready for take-off. Looking outside the window Ritu half expected to find nothing but darkness that she was feeling in her heart.

But she was surprised to find a car racing on the other side of the fence that divided the runway from the world outside. And in the car was her prince, her Rui, racing towards her, waving frantically trying to grab her attention.

xxxxx

All Rui got to know from Tsukasa was that she had left. The plane had already taken off. He did the only thing he could do…race to see one final glimpse of Ritu. He waved out like a mad man trying to grab her attention…but he wasn't sure if he was going to be successful. After all, he couldn't see through the plane's windows. All he could hope now was that Ritu saw him and knew that he loved her. That was the only way he could get his message across to her.

xxxxx

He came! My Rui came! Maybe she could hope a little again now…maybe just maybe fate wasn't going to be cruel to her…maybe this wasn't going to be the final glimpse after all…

Reminded you of HYD season 1 final episode, didn't it? I was sort of playing around with it. However, let me know what you think.