|
EPILOGUE - THE SHINNING RAYS OF THE FULL LOVE The Epilogue was maybe the hardest chapter for Evi to write, and personally, it was also the most uneasy to manage and read for me. It's funny, I've been waiting for the Epilogue to come forever, and when I had it here in my hands I didn't want to read it anymore. It was all about the fact of it being the LAST chapter of the Quest Trilogy. It's never easy to put the words "THE END" to something that has been with you for more than a year. But I would have never imagined I would have suffered THIS much for it. Specially knowing that actually "this is not the beginning of the end". As Evi says: "After Crescent Love I always knew the Epilogue was going to be called Full Love. In my notes and in the first draft, it was called Full Love. I was almost done with it when one day I was reading a book about the palace of La Alhambra and I read that this palace is the biggest book in the world because all its walls are decorated with quotes from the Qu'ran and poems... and among those poems there was one dedicated to the Rulers of the Alhambra and they were called 'The glory of the kingdom, the shinning rays of the full moon' and I thought 'WOW! Full Moon... Full Love... THIS can work!' So, I changed the title. During the whole Q3 story I was writing an average of 10-17 pages per day. In the Epilogue (specially the last part) I was only writing 3-5 pages every day even if I had way much time... I don't know... I guess I resisted to end it. No wonder why it is 160 pages long. But to start with I wanted to give A+A a wedding that they'd never forget. And I tried to write it as detailed as possible. Following them hour by hour for two days. It was an amazing experience. Specially because I could get into so many different moments and different reactions and it was cute to see how different Ali and Azul can be (just look at their reactions before the wedding when they are getting ready) and yet, being SO different they are SO alike. It's hard to explain... I guess they are complements of each other. Ali is like a sail at the wind and Azul is the anchor... Ali is the movement but Azul is the stability... Ali is heart and Azul is soul... Ali can be fire but Azul is the oil that makes the fire burn. I think Azul was more conscious than Ali of what was going on around them. I have the feeling that Ali was SO lost in her that he wasn't paying much attention to the ceremony or the celebrations." I remember Evi asked me: "So... do you think this Ep. was worth of the Quest Saga?". And yes, I really think that the Epilogue is just PERFECT the way it is. It IS the worth Epilogue of the Quest Saga. It's an epilogue in each sense, since it takes the story to its end, but also because it summarizes all the Q3 themes. We have them all: love, fear, humor... And there're SO many different applications for these themes too! We have the love between Ali and Azul in first place. This burning love that has been proved in so many terrible ways and now it's going to be fulfilled with the holy marriage. And yet this marriage is just making official something already happened and sealed in their hearts. It is something so powerful that goes beyond words and it doesn't need words anyway. This is the center of it all. We don't have parallel events here: we have NO bad guys, NO celebrations of Anniversary, NO hard works. The Epilogue IS the wedding. And we have also other kind of love, that appeared here and there in the story and now all are together to increase the excitement. We have Bassel-Azul relationship, Jasmine-Ali relationship... and then Sadira-Azul, Nanny-Azul, Aladdin-Azul... and Aladdin-Ali, Bassel-Ali, Yesny-Ali... not to mention characters less important but with a major appearance like Captain Ahmed and Lord Abbas... Even Azrak's blessings are here and there. Agrabah and its people, the old Sultan, Ali's grandfather... Everyone in the Epilogue is there to help picturing A+A's reactions in front of such a big thing. "I wanted EVERYONE to be there." Evi points out. "Even Cassim Sr. in some sort of way... even if he's not there, Ali still remembers him... and even his grandfather Hamid. I can only imagine HOW proud Jasmine's father would've been to see Ali like that." Cassim is fated to be a shadow of bad memories for his descendants, in the most HAPPY days of their lives. When Cassim appears, even if only in Ali's mind, he takes with him sad and worrying thoughts. The old Sultan instead would have seen Ali as his perfect heir. Not that the Sultan doesn't like Aladdin or anything, but Ali IS his own blood, he's been trained forever to take his place someday, and he's always been the pride of his parents. When the Sultan was still alive, he must have put SO many hopes in his nephew. And then we have the reactions of important characters such as Aladdin and Jasmine. Their constant referring to Ali's childhood is really tender and realistic too. Evi says: "I just figured out that they must have been thinking about Ali's childhood a lot. Their little boy was gone for months, then he came back half dead and after that he wants to get married. I think things happened SO fast for A+J (and for Sadira and Bassel for that matter). I don't think they quite realized what was going on between Ali and Azul. I mean, Ali is A+J's first born (and in some way I think he's their fave child). Ali is going to be there with them forever. I have the idea that the rest of the royal children will leave (Yesny already did) but Ali will be there for A+J forever and later on, Ali's children are going to be Aladdin and Jasmine's pride and joy. So Ali is SO close to them. Ali made them parents and he has always been there for them unconditionally... and suddenly their little baby is getting married. They never thought that day would come, specially considering Ali's temper and the fact that they never saw him as 'husband material', as Al put it. And all the sudden this tiny sweet girl conquers the big tough guy. I think A+J always thought Ali and Azul were only playing house... and then one day they wake up and realized it was A+A's wedding day. Pretty shocking, huh?" And then we have Bassel and Sadira. Bassel doesn't have a BIG role in the story, but in the Epilogue he is there for Azul all the time, and this helps a lot figuring out his personality. He is not the kind of loud character that stands out by himself, but you feel his powerful and influential presence anyway. He's nothing like Aladdin, not to mention Sadira or Nanny. I think he's the closest to Azul under this point of view. She inherited all his quiet presence, his kind and sweet manners, his serious attitude in front of life. Azul looks a lot like her mother, but acts a lot like her father. Bassel is the kind of man who knows always what to do, because he knows what he is supposed to do. A man with strong moral values, a strong sense of duty. But also a very sweet and lovely man, who knows what being a husband and a father means. The kind of big, though man who has strong certainties, but who's able to get all teary eyed when he realizes that his little girl is not only his anymore. Azul now will be a part of Ali, she'll be loved, protected, taken care from the most wonderful young man she could ask for. I think that Bassel was the one who cared less about Azul not getting married when she was still in Alexandria. I guess Sadira would be the one who's able of embarrassing questions when Azul less needs them. Sadira IS interested in Azul getting married, because she wants to see her daughter not alone anymore, she wants her to be happy and have a blessed life like her mother has. But for Bassel is different. Of course he wants her to be happy, but for him Azul can be happy all the same under his loving protection, she doesn't need to fall in love and getting married to be happy. "Sadira has a more free way to see life." The author says. "For her it is not such a big deal Azul's marriage. She loves her kid but she knows how blessed and wonderful marriage can be and besides she has always loved the man Azul was going to marry. Sadira and Nanny have more or less the same point of view: 'Aw, our little girl is a woman now... now go and get THAT gorgeous prince!' I think Sadira's way to love Azul is not getting sentimental about it, but trying to cheer things up. I think it always thrilled Sadira to see the love her daughter had. For Bassel things are different. He loves and respects Ali SO much and he knows he's the one for his daughter. BUT on the other hand Azul is HIS only child. His little girl. I don't think Bassel has realized that Azul is actually 19 years old. He still thinks she's a little 7 year old girl. I think it's just a little hard to accept for him that THAT big, tough guy is going to marry his little, sweet girl. It is something he still finds hard to accept. It's not that he doesn't want Ali, because he knows Ali is the best man for his daughter BUT I think sometimes he gets sentimental about the old times when he was the only man in Azul's life. It's a very complex relationship here... I really thought a LOT about this. I think that's why Bassel wanted to spend as many time as possible before the wedding with his little girl. I think Bassel has this very secure personality. You know, the kind of guy who's not a warrior at all but that you feel safe and protected with. Like a shadow always protecting his family, looking out for them and trying to give them the best life he can provide for them. I imagine him being a responsible and devoted father and husband. A very amorous one too. I think Azul is very close to her dad and usually goes to him for support and guidance and advice. I didn't want Azul to be a copy of Sadira so I wanted her to be mischievous in a subtle way, in a special way... and, most of all, I wanted her to be a very loving character, one you just couldn't help but relate to. But then again, she created herself so... it's all her own merit. I can truly say that Azul is the character I'm most proud of! Ali had some influences from Aladdin and stuff but Azul, nope, she created herself. She came and said: 'Hey, THIS is the real ME! I'm not the one you want me to be... THIS is me! I'm not outgoing or loud like mom... I'm shy, I'm quiet... this is me... love me or leave me!'" But in the Epilogue we also have all different kind of fears: there're A+A's fears that date back to Karak, the natural wedding fears, the fears of A+A's families of losing their little children, and so on. Except for Karak, (that will require a LONG time to vanish), all the other fears are "nice" ones, normal ones, plausible ones. And it is good that among their excitement, Ali and Azul still remember vividly the recent and painful past. It's more realistic this way. They can face the future with the courage it requires, if they keep remembering that their love and their past have been proved in blood. As Evi told me: "One week ago, Ali was dying... a little over a week ago they thought the other was dead... with all the excitement of the wedding those memories can be a little blurred BUT not forgotten and they will have to overcome all those fears and all those memories together in their marriage. But they will succeed... together they can!" As for all the celebrations, the author collected material about the wedding ceremonies and traditions. The wedding follows part the Arab tradition and part the Alexandria's one. "When I put all the info together I was like: 'HELP!' I had a bunch of stuff... I tried to get the best of each thing. I had like 7 different Muslim weddings so I kinda mixed them up. That was the result. I tried to keep it as accurate as possible. I only had to skip the text of the wedding contract because I thought that'd be SO boring to read but... the rest of it is there. And it was NOT easy at all to write but I guess I'm happy with the result." After the nightmare of Karak, the reality of Agrabah was looking more a dream to Azul's eyes. Even if what counts for A+A is the real marriage itself. They'd have shared the same kind of excitement and nervousness and happiness even getting married in Ali's room, only with their families, for what really counts is them being together forever. "I just think that the commitment they have between them goes to the times of Q2. From the moment they discovered each other something happened in their hearts. Marriage is not something that happens with a simple 'I do'. Nah, not for me. Marriage is something that started getting ready from the moment they looked into each other's eyes for the first time in their lives. I think an angel came to Ali then and whispered into his ear: 'Well, there you have her... she's the one!'" If marriage was the other way, they could have married any guy else. But we cannot forget that what counts are those 2 years shared together. From the first moments till the 'I do' thing, I think that marriage is something that completes a journey. From that first day, they wanted to share their whole lives together, thus marriage was in their plains, maybe unconsciously for a long time. But in the moment they kissed, they knew that was something going to last forever. They knew their love would have lead them to marriage, one day or another. Maybe they didn't immediately realize it, they didn't think at all in those moments, but in their hearts there had to be already this certainty, that someday they'd have been saying 'I do' and they'd have been one forever. It's not something they can realize immediately, but this has been there all the time. They're not the kind of people who think only about the present relationship... they want eternity, they want a certain and firm love, they want to be sure what they have among them is once and FOREVER. Thus, marriage. "They went through so much together. Salma, Mujaahid, a war... the terrible moments Ali had to go through trying to overcome the memories of the war... their love was growing SO strong then... and then the time of the Crescent Love came.... so many things, so many experiences. So much love... that fascination they have for each other. Well, I know they were ready for their marriage the day BEFORE Q3 started. But then their love had to be proved in fire and blood. That was something they never expected to happen. BUT from the moment Azul never lost her faith in Ali and from the moment Ali left Agrabah chasing a dream... I think that's the moment when the final connection happened in their hearts. It's no wonder why they rushed their marriage as soon as they came back, because in their hearts they were married from the moment Azul was kidnapped that night. That's the way I see it. They only needed the blessing BUT the connection already was there. Besides, Azul acted like a wife towards Ali, nonetheless. All the time he was sick she was there for him, day and night. As I said, marriage had already happened between them. And A+J understood it, for the way A+A were acting toward each other, the way she was taking care of him... the level of intimacy they had reach then in their relationship... all those window-seat scenes. Yes, they only needed the blessing but the union was already there." They're not rushing things under the pressures of the Karak adventures or of Ali being in mortal danger. They talk about marriage a LOT in the first chapters, Ali was going to ask her to set a date the day she was kidnapped... even in Crescent Love, they know that their destiny is to get married. Aswad just emphasizes things, so that when they're back in Agrabah they just want to continue their lives from the moment they left them, WITH all the load of experiences, maturity, fears and pains they went through. They proved their love in Courage, Purity and Wisdom.
* * *
Design by The Meanies |