Between the Grapevines

25. Khamsa Wa'Ishrun

Fayza treaded between the low hanging grapevines that surrounded her, rustling gently in the soft wind and filling her nostrils with their wholly scent. She lifted her hand though it ached until her fingers slipped across the rough outlines stretching over each leaf, the scars of the struggle and strain they had endured until they could finally blossom with in all their beautiful green glory. Some leaves were still growing, others were bigger than the size of her palm and ready to be picked for another purpose in their everchanging world.

Just as she considered plucking one from its vine, it detached itself and fell calmly against her skin. In her hold, it appeared larger than all the others, smelled sweeter, and weighed what an entire basket of other leaves might. This leaf was perfect for her. It had chosen to react to her touch and nobody else's.

Tears that Fayza had failed to notice streaming down her cheeks parted with the soft skin of her jaw and fell to the ground, watering another grapevine that would grow and endure and blossom just as stunningly as the ones that surrounded her.

"Lesh 'am tebkeh?" He asked and Fayza realized that she had not been alone. She lifted her gaze from the leaf to the meet the dark eyes that had been silently watching her from only a few steps ahead. He wore his black and white keffiyeh around his head but its ends fell over his shoulders this time and did not hide his features from her. The subtle dimple between his brows was enough to convey his words but still allowed his expression to illuminate the shade that surrounded them.

"I don't know," Fayza blinked her tears away, raising her hands to wipe the ones that had fallen away. But her knuckles met with the roughness of his palm as he stepped in front of her and caught the gesture, lifting his own fingers to her cheeks instead. Fayza drew in a deep breath at the feeling of his skin on hers, so real. "You feel weird," she took his hand in both of hers.

"How am I weird?" He asked, the question tugging at the corners of his lips until he offered a ghost of a smile. His eyes sparkled as he peered down at her.

She shrugged, unsure of how to explain it to him. "I haven't felt you in so long," the words left her lips as a breathless whisper like the wrenching realization hit her even stronger when she finally spoke the words. "And now... you feel real."

Riyad turned his hands over to take hers, his thumbs sweeping gently over her knuckles. Fayza peered down at their contact, positive she could feel ever callous she'd felt before and newly formed ones within his touch. It made her heart rock within her ribcage, rendered helpless and weak at the feeling of him.

"I am real, ya rouhy," he told her. Her eyes lifted to his at the word: my soul, he'd called her. Fayza wanted to lift her hands to scratch at her ears because his words felt as if they'd entered into them and sat heavy on her eardrum, refusing to let anything in after. She wanted to rub them away to confirm that it was all just a dream. Why did it feel so true? "I am here," he assured her.

She shook her head, confidently at first then the determination in her gesture softened with insecurity. "But this is a dream just like with immy," she explained. "Riyad, you are not here. You are somewhere else... without me."

He took a step closer until she felt his breath on her face. The smell of his skin filled her lungs and Fayza's grip tightened around him, an instinct to root him to his place and keep him from slipping away again. "Without you, I have nothing. Do not go anywhere else. Come to me only," he lifted his fingers, gently caressing her jaw and tilting her head up to meet his gaze.

"Riyad?" Fayza asked, looking up into his eyes. Above her, they seemed to tower over and engulf her entire world into a brown warmth that eased her. They looked right through her, into her mind and soul and everything that made up her person ruthlessly but also with the most mercy she'd ever been shown. The wholeness of tenderness she saw within him reminded her of her mother's undying love. It drew tears into her eyes but she struggled to keep them back, wanting nothing more than to see his eyes for a moment longer.