Days And Nights (Book of Life and Maya and the Three One Shots)

Fly Me To The Moon

Zatz teaches Maya how to fly

Zatz and Maya were taught about their new roles as gods right away. They learned about their new responsibilities and powers. Maya had more to learn since she didn't have powers as a demigod, at least not any she knew of.

One day, Zatz was practicing controlling moonlight. He was completely focused, not letting anything distract him from the moonbeam-

"Zatz?"

His heart jumped in surprise and the moonlight vanished from his hands. He turned around and saw Maya, "Are you busy?"

"Not anymore." He deadpanned.

"Sorry."

Zatz exhaled and asked, "Is everything ok?"

Maya twiddled her thumbs, "So, with our new powers of controlling the sun and moon, we still have our old powers- or, well, you still have your powers. And, you know how you can turn into a bat and I can turn into an eagle now-"

"Maya, where are you going with this?"

Maya held her breath and stared at him. She looked down and mumbled something.

"What?"

"Can you please teach me how to fly?" She finally asked. 

Zatz blinked, "Really? I thought you already could."

"The last time I flew was when I first became the sun, and I don't know if that was just a one-time thing."

Zatz thought about it for a second, "You know bats and birds fly differently, right?"

"Yeah, but you're the closest thing I have. So, please?"

He smiled and said, "If it's something you really want, I'll teach you."

Maya tightly hugged Zatz, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"You're welcome."

...

Zatz and Maya went to a cliff in the mortal realm to practice. Maya was looking down at the ground in uncertainty, "Are you sure about this?"

"Positive." Zatz said. He pulled her away from the edge of the cliff, "Ok, turn into an eagle."

In a flash of golden light, Maya became a giant eagle. Zatz smiled and walked around her, admiring her golden feathers.

"Spread your wings." Maya did as he said, "Keep your shoulders strong, take a deep breath. As soon as you're off the ground, flap your wings."

Maya looked at Zatz with a nervous stare. She couldn't speak as an eagle, so all she did was nod. She took a few steps back and took a deep breath. She ran off the cliff, squeezed her eyes shut, and rapidly flapped her wings.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw that she was hovering in the air. She was flying!

"Good job, Maya!" Zatz called out. Maya smiled at him and tried to fly forward, "Wait, wait, wait-" Before Zatz could say anything, Maya immediately lost balance and flew head first into a tree.

...

Maya sat on a branch, angrily picking the leaves out of her hair. 

"Not bad for your first time." Zatz said, suppressing a snicker.

Maya side-eyed him, "Stop lying. I was awful."

"Hey, it happens to all of us. I was pretty bad when I was learning." Maya stared blankly at her boyfriend, "Really, I was." 

She sighed as she plucked out the last leaf. She knew this would be hard, but she didn't expect to fail so easily.

Zatz stood up and helped her up, "Balance is always difficult to learn." He got behind her and spread her arms out, "You have to feel the air around you, like you're one with the sky. Even if there's no wind, there will be once you're flying. For now, just feel it."

Maya closed her eyes and felt the gentle breeze on her face. She imagined how much better it would feel when she flies. The freedom, the joy, the adventure, being by her love's side.

She opened her eyes with a smile, "Ok, I think I'm ready to try again."

"Good." Zatz turned her around and gave her a soft kiss, "That's for every time you get it right." He whispered. She looked down, trying to hide her blush. 

They ended up practicing for a few hours. Zatz had tried to get Maya to take a break for the day, but she insisted on getting it right. They lost track of all the times she ran into trees and the cliff side. Thankfully, Zatz was more than patient with her, or at least he tried to be. He laughed at some of her crashes and tried not to let her hear. If Maya heard him laugh, while it irritated her, she'd chuckle at herself a little.

Maya flew around a few times, remembering everything Zatz had told her. She wobbled a few times in the air, but was quick to recover. After a few minutes of not crashing into anything, Maya got excited. She was flying!

Zatz was close to dozing off, but was brought back when he heard Maya cry triumphantly. He saw her flying around with very little trouble. 

He smiled with pride and jumped off the branch he was on. He turned into a giant purple bat and flew up to join her. They flew around each other for a few minutes before landing on the cliff. 

They turned back into themselves, smiling warmly while panting. Zatz gave Maya a hug, "I knew you could do it."

"I had a good teacher." She said.

Zatz gave her a warm kiss. One of the few kisses he actually rewarded her with that day.

They spent the rest of the day flying in the mortal realm until it was time to set the sun and raise the moon. 

Out of all the reasons she was happy to fly, Maya was happy to share the sky with her love.