Chapter 30

Hey sorry about the delay, I've been a bit busy with work lately! Here you guys go!

**

Hearing a knock at the door, Naina put her packing to one side and went to open it, pleasantly surprised to see Sherry there.

"You knocked," she commented with a smile, teasing her sister-in-law.

Sherry smiles back at this, "I've definitely learnt my lesson, Bhabhie." She tells her, "I don't want to take the risk of walking in on you and Bhaiyya like that ever again."

Naina tries not to blush, remembering exactly how she had walked in on them, and gestures for her to come inside, leading her to the bedroom where there are two open suitcases and piles of clothes waiting to be packed.

"You're packing already," Sherry comments, "You're not due to leave until tomorrow afternoon."

"I know," Naina tells her, "But there will be no time to do it tomorrow, so I might as well do it now before Raj comes back."

Sherry watches her as she packs for both herself and Raj, including some outfits for colder weather such as jeans and sweaters.

"Where is Bhaiyya?" Sherry asks curiously, "I haven't seen him since class finished this afternoon.

"I think he had some details to go over with Abhimanyu before we leave…" Naina tells her, "You know, about the classes and drills he'll be missing."

Sherry nods at this, looking down she begins to sort through a pile of clothes absentmindedly as if inspecting them.

Naina makes a gesture for her to pass the pile, taking two tries to get her attention.

Finally realising what her sister-in-law wants, Sherry smiles and passes the pile to Naina.

"So you must be looking forward to some time alone with Bhaiyya," Sherry tells her, intent on teasing her Bhabhie as much as possible. "At least in Shimla you won't have to worry about anybody walking in on you."

Naina laughs at this, "No we won't," she agrees, "But that doesn't mean we won't be missing you while we're gone."

"I would be a bit worried if you both spent your honeymoon missing me," Sherry remarks with a frown, "Surely you should both have better things to do than that."

Naina laughs at this, looking slightly embarrassed and continues her packing as Sherry sits on the side of the bed, passing her things.

"Bhabhie… you didn't really know Bhaiyya when you married him, did you?" Sherry finally asks, still seeming a bit distracted, looking in the direction of the window.

"No, I didn't." Naina tells her, "We got married after one meeting… but he used to write letters which I would read, so by the time I came here, I felt as if I knew him slightly."

"But looking at the two of you today, anyone would think it was a love marriage." Sherry remarks, turning back around to face Naina, "So when was it that you fell in love with him? How did you know?"

Naina smiles as the memories come flooding back to her. "It was a gradual process…" she tells Sherry, "First we had to get to know each other… become friends… trust each other. And then there were these small moments, things that he used to do for me, to try and make me happy, make me comfortable… and before I knew it I had fallen for him."

Sherry nods thoughtfully as if considering it, a strange look appearing on her face. Then suddenly she smiles, "But I'm sure that Bhaiyya must have fallen for you the moment he saw you." She teases, and Naina blushes again, shrugging slightly but not denying it.

"So why the sudden need to know?" Naina asks her, intending to tease her back, "Is there somebody that you like?"

Sherry opens her mouth as if to speak, and then just as suddenly laughs, as if at herself.

"Do I seem like that type of girl to you, Bhabhie?" she asks her, passing another pile of clothes.

There is something about her manner that makes Naina want to ask again, but she hears the sound of the door to their quarters opening and within a few seconds Raj has entered the room.

She practically beams as she sees him, unable to stop the smile coming to her face, or her eyes lighting up. Just as helpless to hide his emotions, Raj can't help a grin coming to his face as he sees her sitting with the open suitcases on the bed.

Sherry observes them both, an amused smile on her face and then quietly stands, intent on making her way out of the room.

"I'll leave you both to your packing," she tells them, "I've got an assignment to work on for Lolitaji."

Naina and Raj both call their goodbyes out to her as she leaves, making sure to close the door securely behind her.

"How is the packing going?" Raj asks her, "Do you need any help? I would've come back earlier but there was quite a lot to discuss with Chauhan before we leave…"

"Actually I have it all under control," Naina tells him, "It's probably a good thing that you were away this long so I could get most of it done."

"Are you suggesting that I would've gotten in the way?" Raj asks her with a mock frown, pretending to be offended.

"Would I ever suggest such a thing?" Naina asks him with an innocent look, placing the last piles of clothes into both the suitcases before zipping them up. As she goes to lift them off the bed, Raj steps forward, taking them off her and placing them by the door.

"See, I did turn out to be useful." He tells her with a mischievous grin, and she shakes her head at him.

"So what time are we leaving tomorrow?" Naina asks Raj as he comes to sit down on the bed beside her, winding one arm around her waist and leaning over to kiss her on the cheek before brushing some of her hair behind her ear.

"I'll come and pick you up from college and then we'll leave directly from there." Raj tells her, "It's quite a long drive so I want to get started as soon as possible, so that we're not arriving too late."

Naina leans against him, resting her head on his shoulder, and he tightens his grip around her waist, leaning his head on top of hers.

They sit like that for a few minutes, content simply to hold each other, until Naina goes to get up only to be pulled back down again by Raj who tugs on her hand.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asks her, trying to pull her closer again.

"Have you forgotten that it's time for my english lesson with Aalekh?" she asks him with a raised eyebrow, "And since we're away for five days I need to give him extra homework while I'm gone."

"Have I ever told you how incredibly sweet you are?" he asks her, still tugging on her hand to bring her closer.

"You can tell me after I get back," she tells him teasingly, still trying to pull her hand out of his grip.

"Just one kiss and I'll let you go." Raj tells her, trying to tug her back towards him, as Naina pretends to resist.

"Just one, alright?" She tells him, feigning reluctance.

Grinning, Raj stands up, once again pulling on her hand so that she is jerked back to him, her hands coming to rest on her chest. Placing his arms behind her back, he leans down, bringing his mouth to hers, and just as their lips touch he suddenly dips her down towards the floor, kisses her thoroughly without taking a breath and then swings her back up.

Naina places one hand to her head, slightly dizzy from the experience and looks at him accusingly.

"It was still just one kiss." Raj tells her with a shrug, and she can no longer pretend to be annoyed, hitting her shoulder against his while she's on the way out.

**

The next day the cadets have a ten minute break during Major Nair's drill and are resting on the grass, trying to catch their breath.

"Punjaben, you look even more beautiful when you're all flushed from running." Huda tells her cheerfully, "I swear the next time my mummyji comes to visit I'm introducing you specially to her, just wait and see, my mummyji and daddyji will talk to yours, and everything will be perfect." He turns to the rest of them, "But I'm expecting that all of you should be from my side at the wedding, I want everybody to be dancing in the baarat." He informs them.

Most of them roll their eyes at his ridiculousness, Ali angrily picks grass out of the ground before shredding it in his hands. Huda tries to hide a smile at his reaction before turning to see Sherry's, disappointed when he finds her gazing into the distance, not paying attention at all.

"Especially you, Ms Sherry," he tells her, "You definitely have to dance in my baarat."

"Hmmm," Sherry replies, and for a moment he thinks she hasn't been listening until he hears the next sentence. "The groom's relatives dance in the baarat right? So just let me get a rakhi, and we'll make it official right now."

She raises her eyebrow at him, and Huda starts to look nervous.

"No, no, no need for that." He tells her, "The groom's friends dance too…" he's about to give more excuses when they Yudi points out that their ten minutes are almost up and they should get ready to resume the drill.

Everybody else leaves, but Huda is held back by Ali who has an uncharacteristically angry look on his face.

"Why are you doing this Hudabhai?" he asks him, "You know that… I mean, I know that you don't like Pooja in that way?"

"Don't I?" Huda asks him suggestively, "Why not? Punjaben is a good looking girl, why shouldn't I try flirting with her? She's single now after all."

"Because you know that… that I…." Ali stares at him frustrated, unable to quite bring himself to say it. "You know why!" he finally finishes, glaring at Huda.

"Maybe you should make it a bit more clear to me, and to Pooja too." Huda suggests to him, "After all… today it's just me, by tomorrow there might be a whole line of admirers waiting for our Punjaben."

Beginning to whistle, he left Ali standing there frustrated, unable to decide whether he should follow Huda's advice or not.

**

"Seriously, don't worry Raj." Abhi tells him, as his friend prepares to leave the academy. "I'm more than capable of handling everything here. Just enjoy your honeymoon and don't even think of KMA while you're gone."

Raj nods, knowing that Abhi will be able to protect the triggers safely on his own while Raj is gone.

"You're right…" he tells him, "I am worrying needlessly. I promise, I won't think about work at all while I'm gone, but if there's an emergency you can call me."

"I won't be calling you." Abhi tells him, a set look on his face.

They hug each other and then Raj turns to hug Sherry.

"Please don't get into trouble while I'm away." He tells her, and she nods.

"I'll try not to…" she tells him, "But no promises."

"Just go and have fun," Shalini advises him, "and tell Naina that I hope she has a wonderful holiday."

"Yes, do have a wonderful time." Dr Mishra interrupts, coming to stand next to Abhi as they farewell Raj, "We'll be waiting for you to come back."

Sherry tries not to glare at the woman, waving goodbye to her brother instead. As soon as Raj has driven off, she heads back inside, wanting to be as far away from her as possible. Abhi and Shalini follow her inside as well, leaving Ritu to watch the car disappear into the distance, a calculating smile on her face.

Now with Captain Rajveer gone, she would have to see exactly how much she could get accomplished in five days.

**

After picking Naina up from college, they began driving, stopping only occasionally to stretch their legs and eat dinner.

They chatted as Raj drove, both of them admiring the scenery and Raj was relieved to notice that Naina didn't seem nervous. Instead she talked happily with him about what had happened at college that day and about what she had heard about Shimla and hoped to see there.

"I heard there's an excellent museum on the Indian Army's history there." Raj remarked enthusiastically, and Naina glanced at him and then looked out the window, struggling not to laugh. "What?" he asked her confused.

"We're going on our honeymoon and you want to go to a museum about the history of the Indian Army?" she asks in disbelief, "Can't you think of anything better to do?"

"I can think of many…" Raj suddenly stopped mid sentence, trying not to blush at his own thoughts and noticed that Naina had turned quite red as well obviously not having intended to phrase it that way.

"I mean…" he continued with a slight cough, "I've heard that there's some beautiful places to go walking or hiking, waterfalls… hills… I hope you've packed something suitable for both of us if we want to go out hiking. That is… if it's something that you would enjoy."

"I wouldn't mind going hiking," Naina tells him, "As long as you go at a fairly slow pace. Bhaiyya and I always used to go out walking while we were on holidays when we were younger, exploring…"

She smiles then, lost in her own memories.

The drive is a long one and by the time they have reached Shimla, Naina has already drifted off to sleep, dozing lightly in her seat. Raj stops the car in front of the hotel he has chosen, one of the heritage hotels in the area, and allows the luggage to be taken inside before he wakes Naina, laying one hand on her shoulder and using the other one to touch her cheek lightly.

She wakes up, smiling up at him sleepily.

"Have we arrived?" she asks with a slight yawn and Raj nods, offering her a hand to help her out of the car.

She stands, stretching, and he locks the car before taking her hand, leading her inside.

After getting the keys from reception, they head up to the room, Naina unable to help herself from looking around in amazement at the beautiful furnishings. Wandering out onto the small balcony, she places her hands on the railings, sighing as she admires what she can see of the view in the dark of the night.

Returning inside, Naina reaches out and takes Raj's hand. "This place is beautiful," she tells him, "Thank you."

As she smiles up at him, Raj struggles with his feelings. Finally they're alone, in such a beautiful place, and Naina… is finally willing to consummate their marriage. He wants her so much… has wanted her for months, patiently waiting for this moment. However he knows that she's tired, he's tired as well…

And when he's waited for this long already, what difference will one more night make?

So he bends down and kisses Naina's cheek before pushing her slightly in the direction of the bathroom.

"Go and wash up and then we'll go to sleep," he tells her, "We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

Naina's eyes widen in understanding, knowing he's indicating that nothing will happen between them tonight, and she is slightly relieved because after such a long journey she's dreadfully tired.

After getting ready she climbs into bed, waiting for him to do the same. When he finally does, he pulls her close to him, tightly, almost possessively, his chin resting against her shoulder, his arm around her waist.

And when he slips his hand beneath the fabric of her t-shirt to lie against her skin, Naina feels no nervousness, instead marveling at the feel of his hand against her stomach, smooth and yet powerful, the strength held in reserve. If anything she has an increased feeling of expectation, because finally she is waiting for what he is waiting for.

He makes her complete, she has known this for a long time now.

Now it's time to make their relationship complete.