They were quiet, both lost in their own thoughts.

Ali, thinking deeply of what Kyle had laid out in the open for him.

Kyle, thinking of his past life.

Kylie had found love, but that love either got 'comfortable' or it was just ... dead. There was no hatred nor fighting but it was damn boring. Routine.

Once a person gets married, the journey doesn't end. There is no magical 'happily ever after'.

The real work starts then! If only one person was doing all the work, it saps you out.

Learning to live as a couple. Living as parents, Working and all sorts of things. Those really put a strain on the 'love' that people were so deep in when they first got married.

Put religion in the mix? A recipe for disaster if you don't have a common ground to hold onto.

Kyle looked at Ali, who was so deep in thought.

Kyle truly did admire Ali for how he was with his Faith. It was one of the things that piqued Kyle's interest.

The fact that Ali was a Muslim was a huge deal at Retsu Primary School. There were so many whispers about him and all sorts of rumours going around. Kyle observed him silently and saw how he took everything in his stride.

He was patient and though bullied, he didn't bow his head down or acted out. Despite people trying to get him to take pork, for example, he was always polite to refuse.

So Kyle kept an eye out for him.

He always had a lunchbox just for Ali, for the time when he could 'make his move', so to speak. When Kyle saw how Ali had been attacked, it was then that Kyle decided enough was enough. Ali had proven himself time and time again for being a steadfast, loyal person to his faith - despite his young age.

Kyle would have helped anyone who had been bullied, actually, but when it came to Ali, Kyle had taken the extra step.

He watched Ali silently, admiring him for his constant, unwavering faith and love for his God. His belief.

As for Kyle? Well, he himself wasn't a devout believer. He did believe something, but ... Kyle shook his head.

In his previous life, he had been a Buddhist which essentially, wasn't a religion. There was no 'God' but a person who had attained Nirvana through living life well.

In this life, he was born into a Christian family. So long as it didn't interfere with his own concept of 'justice', he was fine with it. He didn't want to rock the boat, so to speak, and have his parents go into a hissy-fit or think he was possessed by the Devil or something.

Kyle did believe that there was 'something' out there. His reincarnation just shouted something like a higher power at work ... but he was still exploring. He believed that whatever that 'Higher Power' was, would understand.

Which was why he admired people like Ali, who were devout believers.

Not the self-proclaimed zealots who did terrible things in the name of 'their God'. Every religion had its good and bad PR. Be it Christianity with its Crusade, or Islam with its terrorism.

The bottom line with Kyle was: are you a good person?

Ali had proven himself time and time again to be such a good person. Kyle didn't want him to lose himself just because he had fallen in love.

That's why, in this case, Kyle had to be the one to act and help.

So the two of them just sat there silently. The silence was not uncomfortable, though.

After a long while, Ali took several deep breaths and got up, saying, "Thanks, Kyle. You're right. This is my test. If she's meant to be, it'll be."

"I will work at it but I won't force her into anything. There is no way that I'll reject Islam but I won't force her to convert either. If she doesn't believe in what I believe in, then how can we truly be destined for each other?" Ali said.

Then, he started to laugh, "That's even assuming she likes me in return! Man, I'm so big-headed."

Grabbing Kyle on the shoulder, he said, "Come on, let's go and eat. My treat, as thanks for being my sounding board."

Kyle got up, flung his arm around Ali's shoulder and said, "YES!! FOOD!! I'm starving!!!"

Ali groaned. He forgot how big an appetite Kyle had. This was going to take a while.

Still, a smile formed on Ali's lips.

It was worth it.

✿✿ ✿✿

Despite the talk, it wasn't like everything was smooth and dandy.

Since Ali finally realised that there was someone that is occupying his heart, he had more problems to overcome.

First, he had to determine whether Sophia felt the same.

Second, which was more difficult: to gauge what she felt about his Faith. They'd never really talked about this as it was never an issue before. He wasn't going to be preaching to her about it suddenly.

One thing he was sure of, since he realised how he felt, was that he was deeply in love with Sophia.

It was not puppy love.

Just going through the ten candidates hit it squarely in the face for him. When he thought about it, he had been subconsciously comparing them to Sophia since last year.

She had slowly crept into his heart and got hold of him without even him realising it.

How dense was he?

Obviously, very.

As Ali sat in his bedroom, staring at the ceiling, he groaned.

So many things to consider and think about, and he's only 14. Even if Sophia felt anything for him, ot wouldn't be the same, right?

When he chooses someone, it's for marriage. Once he confesses, it would be to the girl who he wants to marry. Once the girl accepts, it was essentially accepting him as her spouse. It would be straight to engagement.

It was that serious.

There was no such thing as 'dating' in the sense that is more commonly known. If you love the person, what are you waiting for? Rather than have a relationship that might lead to sin (bearing in mind pre-marital sex was a no-no), one would legalise the relationship from the beginning.

Essentially, if he got together with someone, it was with the intention to marry. If there was no such intention, there was no point in being with someone. Let her be free to find someone else for who she is meant to be with.

Ali knew very well that sort of thinking was insane for other people.

It had made perfect sense before.

If you love the person, you should show your sincerity, right? Committing yourself shows how serious you are and that this was not a game. If you're not sure, why are you even dating?

It had been so much easier when he wasn't in love. It made so much sense before but now ...

Just thinking about Sam and Betty made him insanely jealous. You like someone, confess, get together and date for some time before deciding. Whether you actually end up together is in the future - being together was enough for the moment.

Thus, despite the fact that Ali was well aware of his feelings by now, he did nothing differently. He decided to take things slowly and to treat Sophia the same as he always had.

Ali's plan was simple.

Until the end of the school year, he would be observing her carefully. He wanted to know her reactions, her thoughts, her feelings. If he could get an inkling of how she felt about him - whether it's only as a friend, or perhaps, there was something more, then he would take the next step.

The next step is getting his parent's approval and permission first.

There was no point in pursuing Sophia if his parents would be against it.

Truth be told, he had no doubt that his parents would be agreeable with Sophia, so long as she was nice. He could tell that his parents respected his choice, which was why he had been given all this time and even ten candidates to choose from.

Marriage was a serious matter and it would involve the family. It wasn't just between the guy and the girl, but also, the family.

That was one thing Ali didn't quite understand with the 'modern' world.

How could you abandon your family just because you fell in love? How could you say that the mother's opinion wasn't important? Unless ... unless the family was estranged? Whatever it was, Ali's family was important to him.

He respected his parents so he would need their permission.

Once he obtained that, he would start pursuing Sophia. The would need to deepen their friendship and talk about the sensitive stuff. His faith. His belief.

He would have to steel his heart on that one.

If her views were completely different from his ... then he had to bite the bullet and let her go. Never confess.

If her views were the same, or she was open to it ... then he would confess.

Then, it would be the final step.

The bad case scenarios.

She had no feelings for him at all. It was all his imagination, or worse, she had feelings for him, but she would never consider converting despite agreeing with the ideology.

Worst of all ... she just didn't know.

Ali felt the worst case scenario was the most likely one. After all, Sophia was only 14. What girl would be wondering such deep questions about their future anyway?!

He groaned.

Maybe he should just stop this before it even began. Why put so much pressure on such a young girl?