Determined to bridge the gap between them, Megha followed him toward the shoreline. When she found him momentarily gone, she looked at the low-hanging, sturdy branch of an ancient banyan tree. To calm her nerves, she climbed onto a thick vine and began to swing back and forth, the breeze cooling her face.   When Aryavardhan returned and saw her using the sacred tree as a playground, his jaw tightened. "Get down from there," he commanded. "That tree is not a toy."   Feeling her old stubbornness return, Megha simply kicked her legs higher and flashed him a defiant look,