She knew, instantly with all her heart, as she walked down the narrow old streets that she would forever not be the same. She didn't know why, but deep down inside she felt as if she belonged here. As if she belonged to this old town. It felt as if the old buildings, the castle, even Arthur were whispering her name. Calling her like a lover called his beloved. She couldn't stop it.

A warm feeling spread through her fingertips into her arms right into her heart. It was a beautiful feeling, almost like in a dream. So beautiful, that she felt like she could cry. Cry out of happiness because she was here. She was here, finally, in the land of Whisky and scenic beauty. The land of lochs and rivers.

Slowly, she inhaled the early crisp spring air, closing her eyes for a short minute. She was more than sure, that this was how true love felt.

Her red hair was its usual tangled mess, as she paced the streets of Edinburgh, her lips turned into a smile because she was happy. Truly, utterly happy.

As her face slowly turned to the slightly darkening sky, wet tiny drops suddenly hit the top of her head. She was still smiling, as she lowered her head, now speeding up her pace. When she turned the corner, her gaze fell through tiny raindrops, on the cute ornate writing above the small little café. She shivered, as her hand slowly turned the handle. Her eyes stopped at a cute little table in the corner, surrounded by pastel pink coloured chairs. She moved slowly towards the table, took off her coat and sat down.

Focused on her menu, she almost didn't hear the Scottish drawl above her. It was a deep, warm voice gliding over her, as warm sunlight gliding over the skin in summertime. Her eyes turned gently upwards and then suddenly it was like her whole world stopped for a second, as she looked into his deep blue-green eyes.

She felt a tingly feeling shooting right through her fingertips. For a moment she was completely speechless.

It was completely, utterly crazy, how she sat there in a café in Scotland, suddenly feeling this overwhelming feeling that she only knew excited in movies or romance novels. Her brain stopped for a minute. All she could do was stare into his eyes, while she felt this weird flicker in the air. A flicker, that she just couldn't describe with words.

He smiled at her and asked her, what she wanted to order. She was surprised that she managed to smile back at him while ordering her food and drink.

She was utterly confused, her brain in a state of fog, as she watched him walk away, disappearing into the kitchen. Her heart skipped in her chest, her eyes growing bigger, as she slowly tried to process, what had happened in the last couple of minutes. She slowly shook her head, trying to suppress the urge of standing up and breaking out in a happy dance.

In that exact moment, she knew that something was wrong with her.

It was mad! It was weird and silly and every word that described total madness. Maybe, she thought to herself, she was producing her love of the country to random male inhabitants of the city? Like the fact of them being Scottish, making them ideal in her head, which lured her heart into the same beliefs. Even though her heart might not be attracted to this person. To this stranger, with eyes that looked like Emeralds had made love with blue Topaz. To this stranger, who she only talked to for a minute.

What was wrong with her?

There was no such thing as chemistry or love at first sight! That, she was sure of.

With 27, she had never been in love.

Sometimes love scared her. She was scared of giving herself completely to someone, to surrender to a person. Scared of someone clipping her wings and making her stay at the ground. She was not meant to stay at the ground. She was meant to spread her wings and soar into the endless blue unknown sky. Free.

She tried to suppress her inner feelings, but she just couldn't. This, she realized again, when he appeared with her drink and food at the table. She still felt it in the air, this weird flicker, like she was a magnet and he the opposite pole, trying to pull her towards him.

Oh, she was desperate. She was so desperate to leave. To leave this café, this stranger, this man that made her feel irrational like she just couldn't control her responses anymore like she was not seeing clear anymore.

It scared her.

She gulped down her food and drink as fast as she could and asked for the bill. The fact that she gave him a slightly unusual tip, was proof enough for her, to run for the hills. To leave. To run to the safety of her hostel.

Outside it was still raining. Water pouring down at her, as she broke into a run. Her hair, face and clothes were immediately drenched, as she hurried down Princes Street, the echoes of her own feet almost drowned out by the voice of the pouring rain.

"Wait! Just bloody wait!"

A faint voice, drowned out by the sound of the rain, reached her ear.

Bewilderment erupted her body, but still, she stopped.

She turned slightly, the rain was now pouring down in puddles of water on her face, almost blocking out her view.

"Christ, Lassie you're fast!, he gasped for air.

For a second, she was almost awe-struck, as she watched the two love children of Emerald and Topaz locating her. The exact feeling she felt minutes ago, sank into her body, like a hot iron bringing a cold body into life.

"I ken it may sound stupid, but my shift finishes in an hour and I was wondering if ye would fancy a drink?", his Scottish drawl washed over her skin, like soft feathers.

In the mist of the pouring rain, she could see him smiling at her. Although she tried to fight it, she naturally smiled back at him, a horde of butterflies celebrating a feast inside of her.

All of a sudden his vision blurred, his face becoming less and less visible until it transformed into something. Something much brighter. Something so beautiful, she just couldn't take her eyes off it. The rain around her suddenly vanished too, morphing into a dry, beautiful room with high ceilings.

Suddenly her face is illuminated by bright sunlight, shining through the windows, covered with colourful paintings of the holy spirit and the angels.

"That's why ye shouldn't deny chemistry", he whispers as he leans forward, the sleeve of his black tuxedo brushing the silky white material of her dress.

As always she is momentarily lost in his blue-green eyes as he gazes deeply into hers. The urge to already kiss him comes crashing over her like a tidal wave trying to take her with it.

But it is too soon.

Not for the first time in the last three years, she wonders about the ways of life. She wonders how life always finds its way. How, she was completely fine on her own, never searching, never looking for someone to come into her life.

And then one rainy day in Scotland, the universe had other plans. Instead of clipping her wings, it gave her someone that soared with her together, roaming the endless blue sky. It gave her someone that would always catch her, when her wings cracked, or when she flew to close to the sun like Icarus did.

"You may kiss the bride now."

And that's what it all took.