The walk back was a silent one. Harith didn't know how to act around Huriyah with his newfound feelings. All he knew was that he couldn't let her find out, not without letting her also find out that he knew of her true identity.
"Is something wrong Harith? You're too quiet," Huriyah asked him worriedly.
"I'm fine," he said, refusing to look at her. "I'm the one who should be worrying over you, not the other way around."
"Please, you're human too," Huriyah scoffed. "And I worry for you just as much as you worry for me."
Harith felt his heart race at her words. This wasn't good, he needed a distraction before his thoughts got carried away.
"Look, we're back," Huriyah said as they stepped out of the forest.
Harith sighed in relief. Finally, he thought.
...
The next day, Harith took Huriyah with him to his father's stall. Their visit was slowly coming to an end, and he wanted to spend as much time as possible with his father before he left. But he didn't want to leave Huriyah alone with her thoughts, so he dragged her with him.
"I'm fine Harith, I can take care of myself!" Huriyah protested for the umpteenth time as Harith dragged her to the stall.
"I know you can. But we're leaving in a few days and I want you to get enough of your old home so that you can return to Medinah without any regrets," he told her, concealing his true reasoning.
"Humpf. Fine," Huriyah sighed exasperatedly. She crossed her arms, scrunched her eyebrows into a slight frown, and pouted, clearly upset at not getting her way.
Harith chuckled. "Don't do that, childishness is not very becoming of you," he chastised her teasingly.
Before Huriyah could retort, a gasp came from behind her. Huriyah and Harith whipped around to come face to face with--
"Laylah?" Huriyah asked in disbelief as she stared at her old friend.
"Huriyah?" Laylah breathed out.
The two girls gazed at each other in shock until a child interrupted them.
"Mama, who's that man?" a little boy asked as he tugged on Laylah's sleeve. Laylah looked down at her son.
"Man...?" she asked confusedly. She then took in Huriyah's attire. "Huriyah, what's going on?" she asked.
Huriyah took a quick look at her surroundings. The place was too open, they needed to chat somewhere more secluded.
"Let's talk somewhere else," she told her friend as she turned to make her way out of the marketplace.
"Wait, I need to find someone to watch Hasan for me," Laylah said.
"I can keep watch over him while you two talk," Harith offered.
"Can you really? Thank you so much," Laylah said as she handed her son to Harith. She then turned to Huriyah.
"I know a place where we can talk," she told her before setting off.
Huriyah followed her. They stopped at a shack in an empty alley. Laylah scanned the area to make sure no one was watching before she ushered Huriyah in.
"Our old hangout spot!" Huriyah exclaimed in recognition.
"Yes. I still kept it up even after you left," Laylah said.
"This is where we used to talk all day long about everything," Huriyah reminisced.
"Exactly, so start talking. Why did you leave? What did you do afterwards?" Layalah demanded.
Huriyah sighed before telling her friend everything, about why she left, how she disguised herself as a man, how she became a poet's apprentice for Harith, how she lived with the three rascals, and how she agreed to come to Mecca with Harith for a short while.
"Wow. You really did it. You really became a poet," Laylah breathed out in wonder. "But that doesn't mean I forgive you!" she said angrily. "How could you leave like that? Do you know how much your family's been looking for you?" she shouted.
Huriyah's head hung low in shame. "I'm sorry," she squeaked.
"Your mother died because of you, you know!" Laylah continued shouting. "Your father tried to remarry but he couldn't, and now he's living all alone because all your siblings left, one by one, to start families of their own!"
Huriyah's heart twisted at her words.
"And even after all that, he's still searching for you! He's still hoping that he'll be reunited with his daughter someday!" Laylah finished, her voice breaking in the end.
Huriyah's tears streamed down her face.
"Why did you do it?" Laylah asked, her voice shaky from holding back her tears.
"Because I couldn't bear to marry a stranger and live a miserable life," Huriyah answered. She cringed at how selfish she sounded.
"I understand where you're coming from, but what you did was wrong!" Laylah exclaimed. "You can't just run away from your problems! You have to face them!"
"I know. But at the time running away was my only option," Huriyah defended herself. "It was either run away and live my life freely as a man, or stay here and live the miserable life laid out for women!"
Laylah sighed. "Who said our lives are miserable?" she challenged. "After you left, I got married. I was scared at first, because I didn't know what my husband was like. But then I finally met him face to face, and I realized that all my fears were silly," she said.
"What happened?" Huriyah asked, intrigued.
"He came to my room on our wedding night. I was scared, thinking that perhaps he would try and force his rights upon me. But then he said something amazing. He told me that he would wait for me until I was ready, and that he wanted us to get to know each other first. Of course I was shocked at the time, because I was led to believe that all man were savages that believed that women were lesser beings. But my husband was different, and that really helped me," Laylah said.
Huriyah was quiet for a moment, reflecting deeply on what her friend had said.
"And now we're the best of friends and are blessed with a beautiful son," Laylah finished.
"But surely not all marriages are as happy as yours!" Huriyah insisted.
"I know that Huriyah. And that's why I understand and can forgive your for why you ran away. However, my forgiveness isn't what you need. You need your family's, and they may not be as understanding as I am," Laylah said.
"What am I supposed to do? Just waltz to my old home, knock on the door, and casually ask my father to forgive me?" Huriyah mocked in frustration.
Laylah gave her a patronizing look. "That's your problem to solve. I can't do more than point you in the right direction," she said.
Huriyah sighed. "What about Harith? What am I supposed to tell him?" she asked. He had heard the interaction between the two girls, surely he'd have questions.
"Does Harith know about your true identity?" she asked.
"No! At least, I hope not," Huriyah exclaimed. Laylah raised her eyebrows.
"Are you sure? Cause he seemed pretty into you," Laylah mused.
"WHAT?" Huriyah shrieked. "No way, there's no way Harith has feelings for me! I mean, how would he even know about my gender, I've kept it hidden all this time!"
Laylah threw back her head and laughed. "Honey, you can't hide your gender forever. Like it or not, you're growing, and might I add that your package has gotten much more impressive than the last time I saw you," she teased.
Huriyah blushed. "How can you even tell? I keep them bound!" she hissed.
"All truths come to light," Laylah said sagely. "And your developing body is proof of that. So yes, it's no surprise if Harith knows about you," she added.
Huriyah sighed and slumped her back against the walls of the shack. "I'm screwed," she complained.
"Not really. I mean, you like him too, right?" Laylah asked. Huriyah's head shot up.
"NO!" she exclaimed.
Laylah stared at her.
"Maybe," she mumbled.
Laylah continued staring at her.
"Ok fine, I like him a lot!" Huriyah finally relented.
Laylah smirked at her accomplishment. "Great. Now all that you need to do is tell him the truth and the two of you can get married!" she said brightly.
"Ugh, Laylah, you're not helping me!" Huriyah said frustratedly.
Laylah laughed. "I know, but that's just cause you're supposed to help yourself. Again, you have to solve your own problems, I can only point you in the right direction," she said.
Huriyah pouted. "You're a horrible friend," she muttered.
"Says the one who ran away from home without telling her bestie anything," Laylah retorted.
The two girls stared at each other before bursting out in laugher.
"God how I missed this!" Huriyah exclaimed as she wiped away a tear.
"Yeah. It's good to have you back Huriyah," Laylah said sincerely.
"It's good to be back," Huriyah replied. The two girls hugged each other tightly before letting go.
"Let's go back. Harith's probably wondering where we are," Huriyah said.
The two girls left the shack and made their way to Nouri's stall, where Harith was busy teaching Hasan how to write his name.
"Oh, you're back," he said as he stood up.
"Yeah, we are," Huriyah said.
"Mama, Mister Harith taught me how to write my name!" an excited Hasan shrieked as he waved his paper and stylus in the air. The three-year-old had ink smudged on his cheeks and all over his fingers. His eyes were shining in happiness, and it brought a smile to Huriyah's face as memories of her childhood flooded her mind.
"Oh really! Let me see!" Laylah gushed as she scooped her up son and planted a kiss on his adorable, chubby cheeks.
Hasan giggled as he showed his mother the messy scrawls on his paper.
"Wow!" Laylah admired, even though she couldn't understand the scribbles. "You're going to be a scholar one day aren't you my little genius!" she cooed, tickling him. Amidst her son's squeals of joy, she thanked Harith for watching him before she took her leave.
"Bye Huriyah. I hope we can see each other more often," she said as she walked back to her home.
Huriyah waved the duo goodbye before she turned to Harith. He have her a "we-need-to-talk" look.
"Wanna take a walk?" she asked him nervously.
"Yeah, let's," he said. "Baba, I'm going to leave for a bit."
The two strolled awkwardly through the marketplace. Without thinking they made their way to the palm tree forest they had been to the night before. In the privacy of the forest, Huriyah finally found her voice.
"I know that I have a lot to explain," she started.
"I have time to listen," Harith encouraged her.
Huriyah took a deep breath before she confessed everything. "I'm actually a girl. My name is Huriyah, not Hur, though you probably already figured that out. The reason why I ran away from home was because I didn't want to be forced into an arranged marriage. Your father taught me how to read and write when I was a little girl so I decided to make a living for myself using my skills. But no one would employ a woman, and people would recognize me anyway, which is why I decided to disguise myself as a man. When I came to Mecca, I met Lu'aiyl and that's how I was able to meet you."
Harith was quiet the whole time she talked. "I have a few confessions to make too," he said when she had finally finished.
Huriyah perked her ears.
"I already knew everything, about your gender and why you ran away," he said.
"How?" Huriyah asked, shocked.
"Uh, well, I found out about your gender the night I took care of you when you had a fever," Harith said, feeling flustered at the memory.
It took Huriyah a moment to understand how. Oh my god, she thought faintly. He saw it.
"And you pretty much told me why you ran away when we got here," Harith said, trying to quickly change the subject. "Also, my dad knows that I know about you, so he told me a few things," he added.
Huriyah nodded mutely. She wasn't even interested in what kinds of things Nouri had said about her. She was still hung up on her failed modesty.
There was a long, awkward silence between them. Harith scratched the back of his head nervously. Huriyah stood still, doing nothing.
"Uh, I'll go ahead if you want to be alone," Harith said before turning around and making his way out of the forest.
Huriyah was glad for the solitude. She couldn't bear to look at Harith, not without imagining what happened that night. Besides, she needed to think about how she was going to meet her father.
Baba, I'm finally here, she thought. Your little Huriyah is finally back home.