* The Merging of Two Hearts *
Kida sat on the throne with her head down rubbing her temples with her fingers trying to make her headache subside. For the past hour she had listened to reports on the search for Redic. As well as mundane reports from the servants, workers, and hunters. And now she had listened to a little old lady complain about the poor service she received at the market place. The merchant of a pottery shop stood next to her, shaking his head, claiming he had given the old woman what she had asked for. It all seemed so trivial and a complete waist of her time.
(Milo, what is taking you so long?) Kida thought to herself. She prayed to be saved from this mind-numbing task of holding court.
Kida was becoming upset when the merchant and little old lady started arguing with each other. This was getting out of hand and she had no desire to deal with it. She hated every minute of this. Out of frustration Kida stood up. "QUIET! I cannot believe that the two of you would waist my time over a piece of pottery! Both of you will have to work this out for yourselves. NOW GO!"
Both the little old lady and merchant where taken completely off guard by the Queen's outburst and were upset that she would not resolve their complaint. But they did not say a word as they bowed and left the room.
Kida, still upset, turned to the rest of the people who were waiting for their turn with the Queen. "And that goes for the rest of you as well. I will not waste my time with matters that you should be taking care of on your own!"
Kida watched all of the people that had come to see her begin to make their way out of the room. She could hear them making comments to each other as they left. Comments like, "The Queen must not be feeling well" and, "She must be very busy today." But the one comment that made Kida's heart sink was, "The Queen acts as if she does not care about us." Kida sighed and slouched back down on the throne rubbing her temples again. She realized that she had just made another mistake as Queen.
When Kida looked up again. She saw Milo standing at the base of the steps to the throne. With a smile, Milo bowed. "As you requested my Queen, I have come to rescue you."
Kida sighed again. She was happy to see Milo, but she was too upset with herself to feel any joy at that moment. "Milo, please do not bow to me. I do not deserve your respect."
Milo knew instantly she was troubled. Ascending the steps to her throne, he said, "Hey... Why all the gloom and doom? You were in such a good mood this morning at breakfast."
"It... It is nothing. I just have a headache that will not leave me."
Milo knew there was much more troubling her than just a headache but it was obvious that she didn't want to talk about it. He thought about pushing her to tell him what was wrong, but decided that cheering her up might be a better approach.
"Well... What do you say we get out of here?" Milo said holding his hand out to her.
"I am sorry Milo, but I do not wish to..."
Milo grabbed her by the wrist pulling her up from the throne. "I'm not taking no for an answer. Your going to be rescued whether you want to or not. Besides... I have something to show you, and I think your going to like it."
Kida started to protest but gave in and followed Milo outside with Toka and Impesh close behind. Once outside Milo proudly displayed an Aktirak. The two-seater vehicle was carved in stone and resembled a hammerhead shark.
"You said you wanted to explore the new part of the city, so I figured we could start with an aerial tour." Milo said with a big grin.
Kida's eyes opened wide with excitement. The thought of flying for the first time made her headache fade away. She watched Milo climb in and started to do the same but stopped suddenly and stepped back down. "Milo, there is not enough room for Impesh and Toka."
"Well." Milo shrugged his shoulders looking around the vehicle mockingly to see if there were any other seats. "I guess they'll have to find their own flying fish."
"Milo, I have already made one mistake today and I do not wish to make another. The guards must come with us."
"Mistake? What mistake?" Milo looked back down to Kida.
"It is nothing." Kida said looking away.
Again Milo thought about pushing her to tell him what was bothering her but he decided to let it go for now. "Well anyway... I talked to Rosha and she said just make sure we tell them where we're going and when we'll be back." Milo held out his hand to Kida, "So, do you want to go or not?"
Kida wanted to go badly and Milo's arm-twisting was all that was needed for her to make up her mind. She quickly removed her robe and tossed it to Impesh. She had her street cloths on underneath. She grabbed Milo's hand, climbed in, and sat next to him. "Ready...?" Milo asked.
"Yes... No." Kida removed the comb from her hair and shook her head. "Okay, now I am ready."
Milo took his crystal and placed it in the slot on the control panel. "Wait...!" Kida told him, "The last time we did this the vehicle crashed."
Milo chuckled, "Don't worry, I've had some practice since then." He placed his free hand on the control pad. "WAIT...!" Kida said, more anxious than the time before. "You have not told the guards were we are going."
"Oh yeah..." Milo turned the crystal a half turn to the right then a quarter turn back. The control panel lit up with crystal energy as the vehicle lifted from the ground. Milo removed the crystal and put it back around his neck then looked down at the guards. "Sorry guys, but I don't know where we're going and I don't know when we'll be back!"
Milo never had any intention of telling the guards where they were going. Milo's plan wasn't just to rescue Kida. He was going to tell her those three little words, but he wasn't going to tell her them in front of an audience.
Toka and Impesh could do nothing as they watched Milo and Kida circle around them then shoot off into the sky. Kida screamed at the top of her lungs in both fear and excitement as they climbed higher and higher. Milo then made a couple of quick turns and dove down towards the city below. Kida held on for dear life, loving every second of it. Milo pulled up just in time to avoid hitting the ground and weaved from side to side as buildings rushed by. He then made one more tight turn around a giant statue, climbed about a hundred feet then put the vehicle in a slow hover. Milo looked over at Kida, she was still holding on to the vehicle as tight as she could. Her breathing was very fast and she looked a bit pale. "You okay Kida?"
Kida released her grip on the vehicle and caught her breath then turned to Milo, a big smile grew on her face. "That was incredible. It was like... like... I do not know what it was like, but it was incredible!"
Milo grinned, as Kida looked over at the city below then asked, "So how do you like my flying?"
Kida looked back at Milo and in no uncertain terms said, "You are insane. You fly too fast and you turn to much."
"Okay back-seat driver, if you think you can do better, you try it." Milo said taking his hands off the controls.
"Yes, I will try." Kida looked at the controls and hesitated. "Show me."
Milo took Kida's hands and placed one on the center of the control pad and the other to one side of the pad. "Now the first thing to remember is that it's very touchy, so go easy with it. You move your hand on the side of the pad forward, to go faster, and backward to go slower. Move your hand on the center of the pad backward, to go up, forward to go down. And side to side, to turn. Got it?"
"Yes. Now let me try."
"Okay, lets see what you can do." Milo said removing his hands from Kida's.
Kida began moving her hands on the controls and the vehicle jerked to the right then dove towards the ground, quickly picking up speed. They were headed straight at a waterfall.
"Uh... Kida?" Milo said.
"Yes, yes. I see it." Kida said pulling up and turning just in time to miss it. They were so close to the fall that the mist covered them and the machine with sparkling droplets.
Kida struggled to keep the vehicle under control, constantly over correcting as it turned one way then the other and oscillating up and down.
"Easy Kida. Don't fight it." Milo told her, "Slow it down a bit."
Kida tried slowing down but the vehicle went into another dive towards the lower level of the new part of the city.
"No, your other hand!"
"You are confusing me!" Kida replied looking at Milo as his eyes opened wider and wider.
"KIDA, LOOK OUT!" Milo yelled, seeing they were about to hit a building.
Kida saw the building. She pulled up and slowed the vehicle down but it was to late. The under-side of the vehicle slammed into the roof and they came to an abrupt stop. Both Milo and Kida were uninjured. But before either one of them could say a word the vehicle began to slide down the roof. Both of them yelled out, "pohk TEE-ku-deh!" as the vehicle went over the side of the roof. Falling free from the vehicle, Milo and Kida both splashed into a lagoon.
Kida was the first one to surface and franticly looked around. "Milo... MILO...!"
Milo popped up out of the water next to her coughing out the water he just swallowed. Kida grabbed hold of him in relief. "Are you all right?"
"Um... Yeah, I think so."
They both swam over to some steps that led out of the water to another building. Once on dry land they couldn't help but laugh for a moment, in relief that they had survived Kida's first flight.
Milo fixed his glasses and hair then said, "And you called my flying insane?"
Kida put her hand on her hips and gave Milo a stern look. "This was all your fault!"
"My fault. How do you figure that?"
"You were making me nervous." Kida answered. Milo had to laugh. Kida's answer combined with her dripping wet cloths and hair was just too comical not to.
"Do not laugh at me. This is not funny." Kida said as she sat down on the steps, crossing her arms and looking away from him.
Milo quickly realized his blunder and sat down next her. "Kida, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."
Kida stood and walked up to the top of the stairs. Keeping her back turned to Milo she crossed her arms and lowered her head is if she were sulking. In fact, she was trying to hold back the tears that were welling up within her.
Milo got up and stepped towards her. "I really am sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry about Milo... Do you know how long I have dreamed of making one of those machines fly?" Kida asked without looking at him.
"Well... Uh..."
Kida continued, "Six thousand years. Up until recently it was one of only a few things that I had ever failed to accomplish."
"Don't be so hard on yourself. I mean it was only your first flight."
"You are as kind as ever Milo, but you do not understand." Kida paused then sighed. "I have failed at everything since my Father died."
"Kida, what's wrong? What happened to the strong, confident young woman I first met?" Milo said putting a hand on her shoulder.
Kida shrugged and stepped away. "She died when she killed her Father."
"Oh Kida, how can you say that? Rourke killed your Father."
Kida turned and faced Milo, gesturing with her hands as she spoke, "It is my fault. I failed my Father. I am the one that allowed Rourke to live, endangering my people and allowing my Father to be killed."
"Kida..." Milo reached out to her.
"NO!" She backed out of his reach. "I have been doing everything wrong. I scolded Impesh and Salin for doing nothing more than showing me respect. Salin, Milo, she is a complete innocent. Then this very morning I ignored my people, I turned them away Milo. And... and I have failed with you."
Milo stepped closer to Kida and started to say, "Someone once told me that once you've hit bottom..." Interrupting him. Kida reached up and kissed Milo as passionately as she could on the lips. She then stepped back waiting for his response. She had never kissed a man in this way before. She had to know. Could she at least kiss the man she loved without messing it up as well?
Milo just stood there as if her kiss had turned him into a statue. He gave no indication of whether he liked it or not.
"I have failed at this as well!" Kida said as she ran off around the side of the building. She had never felt more inadequate in her life.
Milo snapped out of it and quickly ran after her. "Kida wait... Please."
Milo turned the corner and saw her leaning, face forward, resting her forehead on her arms against the wall. When he reached her, he could see that she was crying. He softly put his hand on her shoulder. "Kida...?"
She shrugged him off. "You... you should go."
"Go... Go were?"
"You should... You should leave Atlantis and... and return to your world." Kida struggled to say the words as she cried.
Milo pulled her into his arms holding her close. She resisted at first but he would not let her go. "Kida. Kida." She stopped pushing him away. "I can't leave."
"Why...?" Kida asked looking up, tears still flowing from her eyes.
"I... I love you. I know it sounds crazy, heck it even seems crazy to me when I think about it, but I cannot help it. I love you.
"You love me?" Kida asked, daring to show a small smile.
"Yes, more than life itself. I wanted to tell you earlier but I was afraid you wouldn't feel the same way. And... Well... I couldn't get the words to come out of my mouth." Milo admitted.
Kida wrapped her arms around him and hugged him as tightly as she could. Rosha had been right all along. Milo had felt the same way she felt for him. And he even had the same fears. But with those three little words spoken by Milo, all of her fears seemed to vanish. "I love you too Milo."
Milo had never felt happier in his life than at that moment. "There's another reason why I can't leave now."
Kida looked back up to him, "What other reason is that?"
"You're a great kisser." Milo said with a smile.
Kida smiled back as they drew closer, touching their lips together for only the second time. As they kissed, the world seemed to disappear. For that moment all of their troubles and fears faded away as their hearts began to beat as one. The only thing they could feel was the love they had for each other.
Kida sat on the throne with her head down rubbing her temples with her fingers trying to make her headache subside. For the past hour she had listened to reports on the search for Redic. As well as mundane reports from the servants, workers, and hunters. And now she had listened to a little old lady complain about the poor service she received at the market place. The merchant of a pottery shop stood next to her, shaking his head, claiming he had given the old woman what she had asked for. It all seemed so trivial and a complete waist of her time.
(Milo, what is taking you so long?) Kida thought to herself. She prayed to be saved from this mind-numbing task of holding court.
Kida was becoming upset when the merchant and little old lady started arguing with each other. This was getting out of hand and she had no desire to deal with it. She hated every minute of this. Out of frustration Kida stood up. "QUIET! I cannot believe that the two of you would waist my time over a piece of pottery! Both of you will have to work this out for yourselves. NOW GO!"
Both the little old lady and merchant where taken completely off guard by the Queen's outburst and were upset that she would not resolve their complaint. But they did not say a word as they bowed and left the room.
Kida, still upset, turned to the rest of the people who were waiting for their turn with the Queen. "And that goes for the rest of you as well. I will not waste my time with matters that you should be taking care of on your own!"
Kida watched all of the people that had come to see her begin to make their way out of the room. She could hear them making comments to each other as they left. Comments like, "The Queen must not be feeling well" and, "She must be very busy today." But the one comment that made Kida's heart sink was, "The Queen acts as if she does not care about us." Kida sighed and slouched back down on the throne rubbing her temples again. She realized that she had just made another mistake as Queen.
When Kida looked up again. She saw Milo standing at the base of the steps to the throne. With a smile, Milo bowed. "As you requested my Queen, I have come to rescue you."
Kida sighed again. She was happy to see Milo, but she was too upset with herself to feel any joy at that moment. "Milo, please do not bow to me. I do not deserve your respect."
Milo knew instantly she was troubled. Ascending the steps to her throne, he said, "Hey... Why all the gloom and doom? You were in such a good mood this morning at breakfast."
"It... It is nothing. I just have a headache that will not leave me."
Milo knew there was much more troubling her than just a headache but it was obvious that she didn't want to talk about it. He thought about pushing her to tell him what was wrong, but decided that cheering her up might be a better approach.
"Well... What do you say we get out of here?" Milo said holding his hand out to her.
"I am sorry Milo, but I do not wish to..."
Milo grabbed her by the wrist pulling her up from the throne. "I'm not taking no for an answer. Your going to be rescued whether you want to or not. Besides... I have something to show you, and I think your going to like it."
Kida started to protest but gave in and followed Milo outside with Toka and Impesh close behind. Once outside Milo proudly displayed an Aktirak. The two-seater vehicle was carved in stone and resembled a hammerhead shark.
"You said you wanted to explore the new part of the city, so I figured we could start with an aerial tour." Milo said with a big grin.
Kida's eyes opened wide with excitement. The thought of flying for the first time made her headache fade away. She watched Milo climb in and started to do the same but stopped suddenly and stepped back down. "Milo, there is not enough room for Impesh and Toka."
"Well." Milo shrugged his shoulders looking around the vehicle mockingly to see if there were any other seats. "I guess they'll have to find their own flying fish."
"Milo, I have already made one mistake today and I do not wish to make another. The guards must come with us."
"Mistake? What mistake?" Milo looked back down to Kida.
"It is nothing." Kida said looking away.
Again Milo thought about pushing her to tell him what was bothering her but he decided to let it go for now. "Well anyway... I talked to Rosha and she said just make sure we tell them where we're going and when we'll be back." Milo held out his hand to Kida, "So, do you want to go or not?"
Kida wanted to go badly and Milo's arm-twisting was all that was needed for her to make up her mind. She quickly removed her robe and tossed it to Impesh. She had her street cloths on underneath. She grabbed Milo's hand, climbed in, and sat next to him. "Ready...?" Milo asked.
"Yes... No." Kida removed the comb from her hair and shook her head. "Okay, now I am ready."
Milo took his crystal and placed it in the slot on the control panel. "Wait...!" Kida told him, "The last time we did this the vehicle crashed."
Milo chuckled, "Don't worry, I've had some practice since then." He placed his free hand on the control pad. "WAIT...!" Kida said, more anxious than the time before. "You have not told the guards were we are going."
"Oh yeah..." Milo turned the crystal a half turn to the right then a quarter turn back. The control panel lit up with crystal energy as the vehicle lifted from the ground. Milo removed the crystal and put it back around his neck then looked down at the guards. "Sorry guys, but I don't know where we're going and I don't know when we'll be back!"
Milo never had any intention of telling the guards where they were going. Milo's plan wasn't just to rescue Kida. He was going to tell her those three little words, but he wasn't going to tell her them in front of an audience.
Toka and Impesh could do nothing as they watched Milo and Kida circle around them then shoot off into the sky. Kida screamed at the top of her lungs in both fear and excitement as they climbed higher and higher. Milo then made a couple of quick turns and dove down towards the city below. Kida held on for dear life, loving every second of it. Milo pulled up just in time to avoid hitting the ground and weaved from side to side as buildings rushed by. He then made one more tight turn around a giant statue, climbed about a hundred feet then put the vehicle in a slow hover. Milo looked over at Kida, she was still holding on to the vehicle as tight as she could. Her breathing was very fast and she looked a bit pale. "You okay Kida?"
Kida released her grip on the vehicle and caught her breath then turned to Milo, a big smile grew on her face. "That was incredible. It was like... like... I do not know what it was like, but it was incredible!"
Milo grinned, as Kida looked over at the city below then asked, "So how do you like my flying?"
Kida looked back at Milo and in no uncertain terms said, "You are insane. You fly too fast and you turn to much."
"Okay back-seat driver, if you think you can do better, you try it." Milo said taking his hands off the controls.
"Yes, I will try." Kida looked at the controls and hesitated. "Show me."
Milo took Kida's hands and placed one on the center of the control pad and the other to one side of the pad. "Now the first thing to remember is that it's very touchy, so go easy with it. You move your hand on the side of the pad forward, to go faster, and backward to go slower. Move your hand on the center of the pad backward, to go up, forward to go down. And side to side, to turn. Got it?"
"Yes. Now let me try."
"Okay, lets see what you can do." Milo said removing his hands from Kida's.
Kida began moving her hands on the controls and the vehicle jerked to the right then dove towards the ground, quickly picking up speed. They were headed straight at a waterfall.
"Uh... Kida?" Milo said.
"Yes, yes. I see it." Kida said pulling up and turning just in time to miss it. They were so close to the fall that the mist covered them and the machine with sparkling droplets.
Kida struggled to keep the vehicle under control, constantly over correcting as it turned one way then the other and oscillating up and down.
"Easy Kida. Don't fight it." Milo told her, "Slow it down a bit."
Kida tried slowing down but the vehicle went into another dive towards the lower level of the new part of the city.
"No, your other hand!"
"You are confusing me!" Kida replied looking at Milo as his eyes opened wider and wider.
"KIDA, LOOK OUT!" Milo yelled, seeing they were about to hit a building.
Kida saw the building. She pulled up and slowed the vehicle down but it was to late. The under-side of the vehicle slammed into the roof and they came to an abrupt stop. Both Milo and Kida were uninjured. But before either one of them could say a word the vehicle began to slide down the roof. Both of them yelled out, "pohk TEE-ku-deh!" as the vehicle went over the side of the roof. Falling free from the vehicle, Milo and Kida both splashed into a lagoon.
Kida was the first one to surface and franticly looked around. "Milo... MILO...!"
Milo popped up out of the water next to her coughing out the water he just swallowed. Kida grabbed hold of him in relief. "Are you all right?"
"Um... Yeah, I think so."
They both swam over to some steps that led out of the water to another building. Once on dry land they couldn't help but laugh for a moment, in relief that they had survived Kida's first flight.
Milo fixed his glasses and hair then said, "And you called my flying insane?"
Kida put her hand on her hips and gave Milo a stern look. "This was all your fault!"
"My fault. How do you figure that?"
"You were making me nervous." Kida answered. Milo had to laugh. Kida's answer combined with her dripping wet cloths and hair was just too comical not to.
"Do not laugh at me. This is not funny." Kida said as she sat down on the steps, crossing her arms and looking away from him.
Milo quickly realized his blunder and sat down next her. "Kida, I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."
Kida stood and walked up to the top of the stairs. Keeping her back turned to Milo she crossed her arms and lowered her head is if she were sulking. In fact, she was trying to hold back the tears that were welling up within her.
Milo got up and stepped towards her. "I really am sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry about Milo... Do you know how long I have dreamed of making one of those machines fly?" Kida asked without looking at him.
"Well... Uh..."
Kida continued, "Six thousand years. Up until recently it was one of only a few things that I had ever failed to accomplish."
"Don't be so hard on yourself. I mean it was only your first flight."
"You are as kind as ever Milo, but you do not understand." Kida paused then sighed. "I have failed at everything since my Father died."
"Kida, what's wrong? What happened to the strong, confident young woman I first met?" Milo said putting a hand on her shoulder.
Kida shrugged and stepped away. "She died when she killed her Father."
"Oh Kida, how can you say that? Rourke killed your Father."
Kida turned and faced Milo, gesturing with her hands as she spoke, "It is my fault. I failed my Father. I am the one that allowed Rourke to live, endangering my people and allowing my Father to be killed."
"Kida..." Milo reached out to her.
"NO!" She backed out of his reach. "I have been doing everything wrong. I scolded Impesh and Salin for doing nothing more than showing me respect. Salin, Milo, she is a complete innocent. Then this very morning I ignored my people, I turned them away Milo. And... and I have failed with you."
Milo stepped closer to Kida and started to say, "Someone once told me that once you've hit bottom..." Interrupting him. Kida reached up and kissed Milo as passionately as she could on the lips. She then stepped back waiting for his response. She had never kissed a man in this way before. She had to know. Could she at least kiss the man she loved without messing it up as well?
Milo just stood there as if her kiss had turned him into a statue. He gave no indication of whether he liked it or not.
"I have failed at this as well!" Kida said as she ran off around the side of the building. She had never felt more inadequate in her life.
Milo snapped out of it and quickly ran after her. "Kida wait... Please."
Milo turned the corner and saw her leaning, face forward, resting her forehead on her arms against the wall. When he reached her, he could see that she was crying. He softly put his hand on her shoulder. "Kida...?"
She shrugged him off. "You... you should go."
"Go... Go were?"
"You should... You should leave Atlantis and... and return to your world." Kida struggled to say the words as she cried.
Milo pulled her into his arms holding her close. She resisted at first but he would not let her go. "Kida. Kida." She stopped pushing him away. "I can't leave."
"Why...?" Kida asked looking up, tears still flowing from her eyes.
"I... I love you. I know it sounds crazy, heck it even seems crazy to me when I think about it, but I cannot help it. I love you.
"You love me?" Kida asked, daring to show a small smile.
"Yes, more than life itself. I wanted to tell you earlier but I was afraid you wouldn't feel the same way. And... Well... I couldn't get the words to come out of my mouth." Milo admitted.
Kida wrapped her arms around him and hugged him as tightly as she could. Rosha had been right all along. Milo had felt the same way she felt for him. And he even had the same fears. But with those three little words spoken by Milo, all of her fears seemed to vanish. "I love you too Milo."
Milo had never felt happier in his life than at that moment. "There's another reason why I can't leave now."
Kida looked back up to him, "What other reason is that?"
"You're a great kisser." Milo said with a smile.
Kida smiled back as they drew closer, touching their lips together for only the second time. As they kissed, the world seemed to disappear. For that moment all of their troubles and fears faded away as their hearts began to beat as one. The only thing they could feel was the love they had for each other.