fanfic_name = Beyond the Stars
chapter = 6
author = AdmiralPrice
dedicate = Carl Mackek, GPPR, Carla, Adam, DW
Rating = AP
Type = Romance
fanfic = (Before I start: I recommend listening to this song to set the mood (it's the song in the story). To listen to the song, go to Pakistanimusic.com/ and search "Aa mere pyar ki khusboo" I really recomend this: it'll set a good mood.)
"Reservation for Sterling," Rick said.
"Ahh yes. Velcome Mr. Hunter, Mrs. Hunter," the Indian waiter said.
"Oh no," Lisa blushed. "We're not married."
"Ah! Pardon me, that is how it was reserved," the waiter said.
"I'm going to kill Max," Rick said. Before Lisa could reply, the waiter led them to their private table. Rick looked at it and almost ran out of the restaraunt. There was no table, no chairs, no candles. The room was like a holographic museaum. The walls showed a constant hologram of the Taj Mahal and its immediate surroudings. Lisa gasped as she looked around in wonder. The room was designed to make you feel as if you were eating in front of the Taj Mahal during the sunset. Light lazily danced in the pool built in front of the Mahal, and brilliantly shone of the pure marble structure. Birds could be heard singing away in the distance, and a melody of the Sitar and Tabla** played ever so softly, filling the room with a wonderful romantic atmosphere. As they entered the room, the door behind them closed, and the illusion was complete. And then the song started.
Aa mere pyar ki khushbu
Manzil peh tujhe panchai
Chalta Chal hum rahe
Yeh zulf keh sa-eh sa-eh
Aa mere pyar ki khusbu
The words intrigued Lisa, and she made a mental note to ask the waiter what it meant.
"Umm, one problem sir," Rick said, breaking the breathtaking silence. "Where do we sit."
And indeed, that was a problem. There was no table, and there were no chairs. However, a very lavish red persian carpet was spread across the floor, and upon it were two beautiful redish cushions facing each other.
"Today, you will not eat like American comminers," the waiter said with a smile. "You will eat like Mughul kings."
"So where does that place us?"
"On the cushions."
The cushions facing each other were no more than a foot apart, making it easy for Lisa and Rick to freely interact with eachother. It was actually a very good set up, but Rick still didn't understand how they would eat.
"All questions will be answered in due time," the waiter said. "For now, you must sit down."
Rick and Lisa sat on the cushions, and ordered two waters (Rick was specially told not to let Lisa drink; she couldn't handle it). When the waiter returned, he carried a beautiful pitcher and two rather small clay cups. Everything had extremely delicate and gentle art work painted on it, the utmost attention obviously payed on the smallest of details.
"This is beautiful!" Lisa said.
"Yes, yes it is," Rick said. He was rather confused however. How was he going to pay for this?!
"Under the Mughul Empire, it can be argued that India truly reached its height of power. For two hundred years, it was the envy of the world, the capitol of culture," the waiter said. "These small items are all that remain of it now, I'm afraid. But history will always remember them as the ones who cultured the British."
Rick and Lisa chuckled at his joke and happily sipped their water. And then Lisa remembered.
"I'm sorry, but what does the song mean?"
"Oh it is beautiful. Let me explain. It says:
The fragrance of my love
Will lead you to me
Keep walking, for we are companions
Under the guidance of my hair
The fragrance of my love
Will lead you to me
I shine like the sun
But I have no ability to burn
Or turn into a flame and harm
I have no such ability
That which burns the eyes
Oh the fragrance of my love
I am the star of the night's eye
I am the giver of light
I wake in the heart of the night
When all else is the asleep
That is when I remember you
Oh the fragrance of my love
Why do you not understand me?
If only you knew how to defrintiate
You could say with great justice
If this (my love) was stone or pearl
My love will explain to you
Oh the frangrance of my love"
"That's beautiful," Lisa said.
Rick didn't understand it one bit, but smiled and nodded. "It sure is."
As the waiter finished explaining, two virtual menus appeared, and the couple happily read through it. After much deliberation and help from the waiter, they ordered a Lamb Karhai*** and a Jalfrazi****.
Shortly there after, two metal bowls arrived, filled with what seemed to be curry. Two large round breads called Naan arrived with it, and Rick stared at it, wondering what to do.
"You eat with it," Lisa said. She tore of a piece of bread and dipped it into the curry, using it like a spoon, and ate it. "Mmm! This is amazing!"
Rick sighed and dug in as well, dipping some bread into the Karhai and letting it absorb the sauce. He tore a piece of meat with the soggy bread and ate it. Delicious it was, but completely foriegn to him.
"This is how kings ate?" he said.
Lisa laughed at his joke and took some time to respond as she almost chocked on her food. "It just takes a while to get used to. But the food is excellent."
"Sure. I havn't had better in my life. But it's just very..."
"Indian."
"Right. I'm kind of used to American. I kinda like American."
"Oh where's the pilot in you? In the plane you can't stop going at new speeds and trying some stupid maneuver or the other. But in food you like your steak and fries night after night?"
"Not night after night. I may go with a steak and cheese sometimes."
Lisa laughed again, and as their eyes met, her mouth closed, her words forgotten, her surrounding inconsequential. They could have been sitting on a bench in Central Park instead of the most expensive restaraunt in Macross City, but she wouldn't have knonw it. All that mattered was the pair of blue eyes staring back at her. The moment was broken however as a new song started, this one with a rather loud begining, startling both of them out of their trance liike state.
"So how do you konw how to eat like an Indian?" Rick asked, trying to recover from the moment that had left him almost breathless. In his heart, however, he felt himself falling for her every time he looked into those eyes.
"My father had a really good Indian friend. And let me tell you, Indians like nothing better than their own food. They'll have it for lunch and then take you out to an Indian restaraunt for dinner."
Rick chuckled and sipped his water, and looked at her. Lisa was not by any stretch of the imagination Miss Macross, but she wasn't ugly either. In fact, she was quite attractive, but only when she wanted to be. She spent so much time trying to hide herself, that she was usually overlooked. He had asked himself over and over again why he hadn't noticed her before, and he had finally come to a conclusion. Men are fickle. No really. They notice only that which is apparent, beautiful, worth gawking at. And when the most beautiful girl in the ship is teasinig you, how do you notice someone like Lisa. For most pilots, and for a while this was true for him too, beauty mattered more than substance. Though Lisa had so much more to her, she lost herself in her own insecurity, and that made her invisible to Rick. Until now. Those eyes, God those eyes. They were fire and water all at the same time. They invigorated and calmed together, filled with happiness and sadness all at once. He could barely look at them without understanding her better, without understanding himself better.
"Rick?" Lisa said. "Rick I've been calling your name for a while now. Are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about how beautiful you are."
"You don't have to lie Rick. Everyone knows that I'm just an ice queen."
"That's not true at all. You have one of the most vibrant pair of eyes I have ever seen. I can't believe it took me so long to see you."
"Well, pilots are known to be a bit dense."
"It wasn't just that Lisa. I took our friendship for granted. All the memories, all the times, good and bad, we spent together. I didn't realize how integral a part of me they were. I just lost track of who really mattered in my life."
"Don't beat yourself up about it Rick. You had every reason in the world to be distracted. I'm not exactly Miss Macross."
"I wasn't in love with Miss Macross. I was in love with Lynn Minmei."
Lisa winced when she heard that, and almost completely lost hope. He's going to tell me that he loves her, not me, he's goinig to tell me to go to hell. Rick immediately recognized the dying of the fire in her eyes and explained himself quick.
"If we're going to have a lasting relationship, Lisa, we have to be honest with eachother. Yes, I loved her, but that was four years ago. After that, I was chasing a dream. Sometimes you just have to move on, and I just didn't realize taht she was in love with her self."
Again Lisa winced. "So you're saying that you would have been with her if you had the chance?" The hurt was apparent in her heart.
"Don't act like you are any different Lisa."
"What do you mean?!"
"Carl Riber? If he lived, you would have married him, and not even given me a second look. You know that better than anyone else."
Lisa backed off, realizing that she was acting selfish and stupid. "I'm sorry Rick, go on."
"Lisa, ever since I rescued you from Mars I was intrigued by you. You seemed so strong, but I was the only one who saw you in a time of weakness, and you hated me for it. The truth is Lisa, I started seeing you differently after that incident, and even more in Breetai's ship. When I saw you with your hair all wet, I didn't believe it was you. But you were so scared of your feelings for me, and then you were so confused with Kyle. Did you know that I was about to ask you out the day you left the ship?"
"Really?" Lisa said. She was surprised, very very surprised. She had no idea about that.
"I think if Kyle hadn't come into the picture, I would have gotten over Minmei. But you see, men are egotistical, and my ego was getting trampled on. I fell in love with Minmei again after I realized that she was getting close to Kyle. I felt as if I wasn't good enough, but Kyle was, and it hurt. That's why it took me longer to notice you. The whole time I've been fighting against Kyle for Minmei, not for Minmei alone. But now, Lisa, believe me, I am so intrigued by you. I don't know you half as well as I should. We've spent so much time together, and most of it went with me bitching about Minmei. Now that that's over, we can really start to get to know eachother, don't you think?"
Lisa started catching on to what he was saying, and he tripped up. He didn't say it exactly as Max and Greg told him to, but he did a good job. "Rick, honesty remmeber?"
"Yep."
"Do you love me?"
Rick looked at her deeply, and decided not to sugar coat it. "I don't know, but probably not."
Lisa almost cried, almost tore her hair out. After all this, still he didn't love her. "I see."
"But give me time Lisa. I've just started to notice what an amazing person you are, and I'm already loving you. If you give me time to get to know you, and agree to lower your barriers against me, I promise to Lord I will try my best to make our relationship work."
Lisa was touched, hurt, and hopeful all at the same time. All those emotions came out through her tears, but Rick didn't know why she was crying.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes. I promise Rick, as long as you promise to give me a chance."
"I already have Lisa, I already have."
The rest of the night was spent it complete peace, and the two didn't talk as friends anymore; they talked as companions.
* * *
"You have five missed messages," the answering machine said. "Message one:
Hey Greg. I'm about to take Lisa out to dinner, but I need to talk to you tomorrow, very urgent. Thanks, bye."
Message two:
Oh yeah, and make sure she doesn't find out that Claudia is probably dead. God bless her soul. Bye Greg."
Message three:
Hey G. Sabrina's making great progress and she can walk around now. You should drop by and see her. Aight, I'll catch you later. Bye!"
Message four:
Hey Greg, this is Max. We need to talk. See yah. Bye.
Message five:
Lieutenant Stienburg, General Reinhardt requires your attendance at a meeting to discuss the cause of the malfunctions as well as other things. This meeting is not official, and will not be held at Point K. Ask Captain Hayes for more details. Good day.
End of Messages."
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Author's Note:
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Mughul Empire: An Indian empire from 1556 till 1853. At it's peak, it controlled more than eighty percent of India and was considered the cultural, economic, and military capitol of the world. Architecture was a great point of emphisas for them. Search "Mughal Architecture" on Google image search and you'll see what I mean.
Karhai: http://www.everestindian.com
Jalfrezi: http://www.jamespwedge.com
Sitar: An Indian instrument which is absolutely beautiful.
Tabla: Indian drums. Very VERY complex.
I wanted to give you guys a few glimpses at Indian culture and Mughal traditions, just cause I think it's one of the richest cultures in the world. I'm sorry, but I love my people! It's kind of hard for me to leave them out of a major story >_< I'm sorry!
Again, feedback! Thanks!
State = Continuará/To Be Continue
feedback = Sí/Yes
email = AdmiralPrice786ATaol.com