The airport was overwhelming.
Announcements echoed through enormous halls.
People hurried in every direction.
Screens flashed unfamiliar destinations.
For a moment, standing there with her passport in one hand and boarding pass in the other, Alankrita felt very small.
Seventeen years old.
Alone.
Pregnant with a child no one could explain.
Travelling to another continent.
And yet she stood there.
Because sometimes courage was not the absence of fear.
Sometimes courage was simply refusing to stop walking.
The family had prepared her carefully.
Rohan had explained airport procedures.
Arvind had written instructions for immigration and baggage collection.
Dr. Sumitra had packed medicines and medical records in a separate folder.
Anjali had tucked homemade snacks into her bag despite airline food being available.
By the time she reached the gate, she had already conquered a hundred fears.
The premium economy seat felt enormous.
She had never flown before.
As the aircraft rose above India and the city lights disappeared beneath the clouds, she pressed her forehead gently against the window.
The world looked different from the sky.
Smaller.
Quieter.
She rested one hand over her stomach.
"We're flying," she whispered softly.
The vegetarian meal arrived later.
She ate carefully.
Somewhere over continents and oceans, under the soft hum of aircraft engines, Alankrita slept for the first time as an international student.