Chapter 32

Guys I'm really sorry about the delay in the update! actually it's due to a few things, I've been very busy with work, had to shift my house and have also been unwell!

To make up for it I'll post a part tomorrow as well!

**

The academy seemed emptier without Raj and Naina, and as much as she would never admit it to anyone, Sherry was actually happy when she was called to the phone on the second day of their honeymoon, and told that it was her brother.

"Hi Bhaiyya, how are you?" she greeted him, "How's the honeymoon going?"

"It's going great," Raj replied, "How are things at KMA? Are you alright?"

"I'm perfectly fine," she told him, "And so I don't want you calling up again before you come back. Just enjoy yourselves and don't worry about anything here."

"But Sherry…"

"I said don't worry, Bhaiyya! Now pass the phone to Bhabhie."

She could hear the sound of the phone being passed and then Naina's quiet hello.

"Hi Bhabhie!" she greeted her, "Just wanted to check that you're actually having a good time there, how's the Shimla weather?"

"It's beautiful here," Naina told her, and Sherry could easily hear the happiness in her voice. "We'll have to bring you here with us one day to show you."

Sherry laughed at this, "Thanks Bhabhie, but I don't think I want to be stuck in the middle of a honeymooning couple. You two enjoy yourselves and I'll see you when you're back! Bye!"

She hung up the phone quickly before Naina could say anything else, wanting to ensure that they only did spend their holidays relaxing and not worrying about her or anything else.

"Raj and Naina calling to check on you?" A voice asked her from behind and she spun around, turning to face him.

"Apparently both of them have forgotten the fact that I'm almost exactly the same age as Naina and more than capable of looking after myself." Sherry responded with a raised eyebrow, "I thought I would talk to them this time, but if they call again then I'm going to refuse to come to the phone."

"Good idea," Abhimanyu told her with a warm smile, "I'll answer it for you instead and tell them both to stop acting like a worried old couple."

Sherry laughs at this, picturing her brother and sister-in-law as an aged, worrying couple. "I would never tell them…" she says, "But sometimes… it's nice to know that they care enough to worry about me." She smiles a bit wistfully and then looks at him in surprise as if she hadn't meant to admit so much.

"Well if that's the case then even I'm happy to tell you that I care enough to worry about you." Abhi tells her, suddenly becoming serious, "There are more people that do than you might think."

Sherry stares at him for a minute and then shakes her head slightly, "You shouldn't…" she tells him, "You'll have more worries than you could ever want. It's better not to." And once again her smile is more wistful than happy.

"I can deal with a few worries," Abhi tells her, "It's more important for me to know that you're happy."

"My happiness isn't important…" Sherry tells him, her expression changing, "And I've realised a long time ago, that perhaps it's not written in my destiny."

"Then I'll write it there," he tells her, incredibly serious, reaching out one hand to rest on her shoulder. "You might be willing to give up, but I promise I won't until it's written in."

There is a moment when Sherry does not move, gazing briefly at him and then at the hand on her shoulder. Then she smiles, the saddest smile he's ever seen. "Don't promise me things like that when you don't know what it would need." She tells him, her gaze steady, unblinking. "Or in trying to rewrite my destiny you might end up affecting yours as well."

Then without explaining her words, she steps to the side, giving him one last look before she walks away.

Abhi is left staring after her, unable to quite process what it is that she's just said. Every time she seems to come close to telling him something, hinting at it, before she stops and walks away. More often these days he has found himself thinking about it, wondering about it, worrying about her. In a short period of time her happiness has come to be incredibly important to him and more than anything else right now, he worries that he will fail her somehow.

**

"Well at least she seems fine," Raj remarks after Naina has hung up the phone, "But we've been banned from calling again before we get back."

Naina laughs at this, having expected exactly this reaction from Sherry. "Don't worry," she tells him, "We can always call either Shalini or Abhimanyu to check that she's okay. For now I think we should take her advice and enjoy our honeymoon."

Raj nods, holding out his hand and she takes it immediately, smiling as he enfolds her fingers in his own.

They've decided to go for a short hike today up to The Glen, one of Shimla's most scenic areas. Both dressed in suitable clothing with comfortable clothes, they walk slowly, chatting on the way. Raj finds himself telling Naina about his early childhood before his parents had died and then afterwards how he had come to live with Lala Saheb, his wife and Sherry.

"They never allowed me to miss my parents growing up," he tells her, "Lala Saheb was away a lot but his wife always looked after me as if she was my own mother. I had everything that I could ever ask for. If it wasn't for them… then I could never have become what I am today."

"Then I'm grateful to them," Naina tells him, "For making you what you are today." She smiles at him, and he returns it before she continues. "I wish I could've met Sherry's mother, she sounds like such a wonderful woman. But I don't know why I feel so nervous about meeting her father, I'm worried that he won't approve of me."

Raj had never told her about the phone conversation with Lala about her, and he never intended to either. As much as he respected his godfather, he wasn't going to allow anyone's opinion about his wife to affect him or her either. He didn't like concealing things from her… but he knew that while she hadn't said anything again lately she was still worried about his marriage to her affecting his career and reputation.
"Don't worry, Naina," he tells her brightly instead, "I thoroughly approve of you." He grins down at her, pulling her closer to his side and slipping his arm around her shoulders, and she blushes.

"Only approve of me?" she asks mischievously after a moment, "Nothing else?"

"Many, many, many other things as well." Raj tells her, "Would you like to me to tell you now or…" He trails off deliberately, waiting to see her reaction, hiding a smile when she again blushes.

"Not now," she tells him, "At least we should finish the walk first."

When they eventually arrive at their destination, they look around them, admiring the natural beauty of the place. Raj places his arm around her shoulder again, while Naina leans her head on his, indescribably happy that she's here with him in this place.

They find a secluded spot away from the other honeymooning couples and families, and Raj indicates for her to sit down, before joining her on the grass, half lying and propped up on one hand.

"Am I finally allowed to tell you what else?" he asks her, reaching out the hand that he isn't leaning on to take hers, entwining their fingers, "No objections now?"

"None at all." Naina tells him, settling down properly beside him, "You can tell me whatever you want to…"

"Then I will," Raj promises her, letting go of her hand to brush back some hair that has escaped from her plait.

He's perfectly happy to spend all afternoon telling her.

**

Finally Ritu had found the perfect opportunity to complete another part of her work, waiting until the dead of the night when there would be nobody to see her, she made her way to Raj and Naina's room, picking the locks there easily. She searched carefully for any documents that might help her, making certain that nothing she did could be detected, but there was nothing there.

She cursed in frustration, angry that he hadn't left anything behind and wondering where it was hidden. She supposed that Captain Rajveer wouldn't be such a fool as to leave everything behind when anyone could find it, including his wife. Seeing the picture of them together on the bedside table she sneered, such a picture perfect couple made her feel sick.

Making her way back to the outer room, she quickly fixed the bugs in places that they wouldn't be able to be found easily, expertly hiding them.

Now, if Captain Rajveer said anything of interest, it would be directly transmitted to a team of her people who would analyse every word.

Checking that everything was in its place again, she left the room, locking it and heading back towards her own. Her first work was now completed, the second still remained.

**

While Abhimanyu is having his morning coffee in the mess, Ritu walks up to him, sitting down opposite.

"Good morning, Ritu." He told her, "How is everything going with you?"

"Actually I thought that I should catch you before you made any other plans," she tells him sweetly, "I wanted to ask if you would like to accompany me to a movie tonight."

"A movie?" he asked her, surprised, "Why?"

"Why not?" she asks him, resisting the urge to roll her eyes, "Why can't we go to see a movie together as friends? It's doesn't have to be a date." She adds, in a teasing tone.

There is no good reason at all for Abhimanyu to refuse her, nothing he can think of to say that would justify him refusing to go. But two things stop him, the first is the knowledge that with Raj gone, he's the only one left in the academy to protect the triggers. The second… is the memory of Sherry telling him not to trust Dr Ritu… and his promise to make her happy.

"I'm really sorry Ritu, I can't today." He tells her, "Maybe we could go another night?"

"Well that's fine," she tells him with a disappointed expression, "What's the reason? You're got another date lined up for tonight?" She hopes that she has put exactly the right mixture of disappointment and slight jealousy in her voice that she hopes for.

"No, nothing like that." Abhi tells her, hurriedly searching for a reason. "It's just… Raj isn't in the academy right now, and you know I had promised to look after his sister while he's gone. It wouldn't be right of me to abandon my duties."

"Abhimanyu… Cadet Sherry is not a child." Ritu informs him, trying to hide her annoyance as she says the name, "She can certainly cope without you for one night, and I'm sure that she would want you to go and enjoy yourself as well."

"Actually I can't," a voice interrupts and they both look up to see Sherry who has apparently overheard their conversation, "You see I have this fear of abandonment… you know, first my mother died, then my father had no time for me… and now my Bhaiyya and Bhabhie have gone off somewhere. I'm afraid if Captain Abhimanyu goes off and leaves me too I might go into a coma out of the shock." She gives her best helpless look to Ritu, as she drums her fingers on the tables.

"Oh come on now Cadet Sherry," Ritu continues, attempting to still be sweet, "Dr Shalini is still here with you. Will you really refuse to allow me to have company for the movie?"

"I've got a suggestion," Sherry tells her in an equally sweet tone, "Why don't you take Dr Shalini to the movie? That way you'll have company and I won't be at risk of having to deal with my fear of abandonment. I mean, as a psychiatrist, you wouldn't want to endanger my obviously already fragile mental state, would you?"

Ritu opens her mouth as if to speak, but nothing comes out, she tries several times before she succeeds, "Fine then," she finally says, "We can postpone our plan until after Captain Rajveer comes back, but then there'll be no excuses for not joining me." She manages to make the last bit sound flirtatious before giving Abhimanyu a small wave and walking off.

Abhi stares at Sherry in something that seems like amazement, "I'm still not sure why it is that you're so against Dr Mishra." He tells her.

"Because I've seen her type before," Sherry replies, "Usually hanging around my father. Everything she does is calculating, she definitely wants something from you. I don't know what it is… your money, your kingdom… perhaps she's always had a secret dream to be a princess." She suggests, one eyebrow raised.

"I really don't think…" Abhi starts to say, "Okay, I admit that it's possible, but how can you be so sure?"

"You don't have to listen to me if you don't want to," Sherry tells him seriously, "I have no rights over you. If you really want to go to a movie with her then go ahead."

She sounds perfectly calm but he suspects that this moment could either make or break her trust in him, cement the fragile bond he's begun to share with her or tear it apart.

"I trust your judgment." He tells her, "If you say that I should be careful then I believe you. As for rights… we're friends aren't we? That gives you more than enough rights."

A look crosses her face, as if she has found something that she had lost, and then just as quickly it passes.

"You really are too kind to me." She tells him bluntly, then turns around and walks away without another word.

**

On their third day in Shimla, Raj and Naina wake up late, she burrows her head into his shoulder, pretending that she can't see the light where it streams in through a crack in the curtains.

"Let's not get up just yet," she murmurs as he strokes her back, "We can sleep for just a bit longer…"

Raj laughs at this, "And I thought you were worried about what to tell people when they ask what Shimla was like?" he asks.

"I'll tell them that the hotel room was very nice and make the rest up," Naina tells him, and he can feel her smile against his skin.

It takes them another hour to get up and be ready to go out, taking their breakfast in their room leisurely. Today they plan to see some more of the tourist attractions, such as one of the oldest churches in North India and the famous Jakhu Temple.

They take their time to do both, stopping at the church first to offer prayers. Raj can't help but watch her as she prays, offering his own silent prayer that whatever she wishes for be granted and that she might always be happy.

Opening her eyes to find him gazing at her, she shakes her head slightly at him. "You didn't ask for anything for yourself?" she questions him.

"I have everything that I could ever want." He tells her, planting a kiss on her forehead, "So I asked for your wishes to be granted instead."

Naina laughs at this, "Then we're not going to end up with anything." She tells him.

"Why?" Raj asks her.

"Because I was also asking for your wishes to be granted." She replies, and they laugh together.

"Well aren't we a hopeless pair?" he asks her, "At least one of us should learn to be a bit selfish."

"I'm selfish enough already," Naina replies, "I plan to make you spend the rest of your life with me, think of all the girls disappointed because of that."

Checking to make sure that nobody is watching them, he leans down to plant a soft kiss on her lips, ensuring that it lasts just long enough to be a promise of what is to come.

"Forget about other girls," he tells her, "I could never love anybody as much as I love you. Just promise me that you'll always be with me and I'll be happy."

"I would do anything to make you happy," she tells him, "I'll always be with you."

And she had better be, because there is no way that he can possibly live without her.