ATN: THE ELEMENTS OF BEAUTY

FORGIVING IS COOL

"So, you wanna take the flight?" Iris asked us at the Atlantean airport, "I could send you home in a second."

"Nah!" Dadai said, "We kinda like to enjoy the ride."

"The flight, you mean?" A voice said, and we turned to see Tina, in a grey shirt and black pants, and a luggage bag in her hand. A flight attendant came and took it from her. Riya ran and hugged her much tighter than she had hugged her boyfriend standing right next to her. "You are coming with us?"

"Yep, I am going to see Maa. Its been a year since I saw her. Now that I still have a week in my summer vacations, I thought its better to spend it with her." She said.

"Nice." Abhro said, "We are going to see our Dad too."

"I know!" Tina said.

I turned to Viraj, and asked, "What are you gonna do?"

"I don't know." He said, in a Delhi-ite accent, "I am staying here, that's for sure. Though if any important thing comes to me, I'll have to leave. What will I go for? My family on my mother's side, including my mother, is dead."

"What?" I was stunned.

"Not much, they kinda came in touch of a pandemic. I was here, so I was saved. Plus its been years now. I'm alright."

"Dude, I didn't know. Sorry."

"Hey! Don't be sad thinking about me. I'm alright, I'm doing something that they would be proud of. Go enjoy your homecoming. Don't let my history ruin that."

I shook his hand in the most casual way there is, and we got on the plane. The flight attendant who had introduced us to Atlantis the first day, came and asked for our lunch orders. Later, after lunch and a good nap, I woke up and looked around. Dadai was watching a movie, Abhro and Hiya were still asleep. Riya was playing a game in her phone, and Tina was looking outside the window opposite to her.

I had given the last conversation with Tina some thought. We hadn't talked since then, and I didn't even go to say goodbye. I should have, for I didn't know she was joining us. Well, I didn't have a lot of friends. Now that I was going back, I wasn't exactly excited to see Dev. I was sad that I wouldn't be able to see these new people I met. So, I decided to save a friendship with my best friend in Atlantis. So, I got up, and exchanged seats with Riya. Now, I was face to face with Tina, who looked away from the window. "Sup?" She asked me.

"You still mad?" I asked, smiling slightly.

"Nah! I'm sorry I..."

"No, no. You're right. I had been so busy with myself and this battle, it didn't occur to me that I hadn't opened to one of my best friends the way I should. I am sorry."

"Good." She said, "Now what?"

"I'll tell you things. There's not much, though." And so I started telling her about the stories of my Mom and Dad I had heard, the times I had spent with my cousins, the tricks we had pulled, my sixteenth birthday, and everything else. I won't lie, it was good to finally open up to a friend. We kept talking for about an hour and a half. My first long conversation about me, with Tina, who listened to my shenanigans with intent.

We were sitting around a table in Uncle Sankalp's house's first floor dining room. The table was full of delicious Bengali dishes: fish, chicken, daal, steamed rice, different fried veggies, paneer, and mishti doi. Best sight on Earth. I sat between Dad and Riya. Hiya sat between Riya and Aunt Kia. Dadai sat between Dad and Abhro, while Uncle Sankalp sat between Aunt Kia and Abhro (sounds like a logical reasoning question in competitive exams). Hiya was comparing this table to the one we saw at Hades's kingdom. And just then, a woman called from outside, "Is anyone home?"

Uncle Sankalp lost the colour of his face, and said, "That voice!"

"Mom?" Abhro got up, and ran to the balcony. We followed him. Yes, it was her alright. In a blue dress, and a sky blue translucent pair of gloves, with her golden hair, blue eyes, and flawless skin, the goddess of love was at her ex-mortal husband's doorstep. She saw us in the balcony, waved at us, gave us a big smile, and then said, "I won't take long. I just need Sankalp."

"Why?" Uncle Sankalp said to Dad, in a crying tone.

"The goddess of love is here, brother. Go see what she wants." Dad said.

Uncle Sankalp went down, opened the gate, and started talking to Aphrodite, while walking through the garden. The two sat down on two garden chairs, and kept talking. The conversation went from awkward to smooth. Dadai was looking at the two with intent. And after ten minutes, Uncle Sankalp got up, and came up, while Aphrodite stood there in the garden. Uncle Sankalp came with a shock on his face, and said, "She apologized for leaving abruptly! Aphrodite APOLOGIZED!!"

"Looks like the motherly instincts worked, Dadai?" I asked.

"I think I want that hug now." Aphrodite said, "Avik?"

"Move away." Dadai pushed me and ran down. Abhro followed. In the garden, a son of Aphrodite hugged his mother for the first time in his life. That got me thinking. Dadai had forgiven Aphrodite, and finally accepted her as his mother. Aphrodite too, stepped out of the line, out of her personality and apologized to a mortal man, just for her son, as she promised. That gave me a thought: the power of mother-son relationships, and how forgiving is cool. Well, these two things got Dadai his mother, right? Aphrodite left right after the mother-son reunion. We had a very happy and lovely lunch. We talked about our mission that we had accomplished. But I knew that the troubles had just begun. In a year perhaps, the other giants would rise, and we would have to get to fighting again. But for now, I could focus on a normal life. A family reunion, vacations, school, friends, family, training, and definitely, the island of ATN. That was our home now.