Chapter 26:

"You honestly told them that you were going to get married in a temple??" Naina questioned Neelu as they drove from the bus station to the academy. She had arrived a day early before graduation, and while she had already heard the story in detail from Raj she wanted to hear Neelu's version of it as well. "And then what did you do?"

"Well actually we went and saw a movie…" Neelu admitted, "I thought that going to get married in a temple would be a bit too filmy for Aalekh and me, it's more yours and Raj's style really."

Naina giggled as she imagined Neelu and Aalekh calmly watching a film in a theatre while her family frantically worried that she had gone to get married.

"So what did you tell them when you got home?" Naina asks, "I'm surprised they haven't locked you up and refused to let you out."

"Well you see the really brilliant thing is that on the way home we bought a couple of garlands… and so because I'm refusing to say anything about it my parents still don't know whether I'm actually married or not!"

Neelu and Naina both burst into laughter, as Naina reached over and gave Neelu a high five.

"Thanks so much for doing that for us," she told her, "I just really wish that I could've been there to see it!"

"It was definitely something to see… the look on Raj's parents' faces when Aalekh threatened them, now that was the best part."

They burst into laughter again, and Neelu slowed the car down just in case she crashed it from laughing too much.

"I just hope it gave them the shock they need to realise what a great daughter-in-law I'll be," Naina told her jokingly, "Otherwise I have no idea what else what we can do to get them to accept me."

"Well you could always get pregnant," Neelu suggests, "Then they wouldn't have any choice except to accept you to save the family name."

Naina gave Neelu a very strange look, "Let's please leave that one as the last possible option," she told her, "I think I would prefer not to be an unmarried mother."

"But you are married." Neelu points out to her.

"Good point…" Naina admits, "But still, first let's see if they've changed their minds."

Naina was quite excited because Raj didn't actually know she had arranged to arrive a day early, as far as he knew she would be turning up with her parents tomorrow morning for the graduation ceremony.

She wondered whether he would remember his promise…

Even if he didn't, she remembered hers.

**

Since it was their graduation the next day and all of their drills and exams had now been completed, the second year cadets had all been given the afternoon off.

"Yaar, why can't tomorrow come any faster?" Raj complained to nobody in particular, sighing as he sat back on the grass.

"Why are you so eager to graduate?" Yudi asked him, "I'm really going to miss this place."

"You idiot, he's not eager to graduate, he's eager to see Naina." Nandini informed Yudi.

Raj nodded to confirm what Nandini was saying, sighing and leaning against Navin's shoulder.

"Navin, I really love your sister." He told him seriously.

"Raj… I think I figured that out quite awhile before now." Navin informed him, an amused smile on his face.

"No, I mean I really, really love her… I really, really, really love her, I…"

"We get the idea!" Tanu yelled to get him to shut up before he could repeat it yet again. "You love Naina, it's very sweet, etc, etc now hurry up and get married properly so that Navin and I can finally arrange our own wedding."

"You don't worry Tanu," Raj told her, "After Aalekh and Neelu's performance, my parents are going to be begging Naina's parents to let her marry me."

He settled against Navin, a dreamy smile on his face, leaning his head on Navin's shoulder. However his daydreaming was rudely interrupted when Navin shook him off.

"Oy Devdas, I'm not your personal pillow." He informed Raj, "And stop looking so love sick, there's only one day until she arrives."

"Oh sure, make fun of me." Raj grumbled, as he got up and shifted himself so that he was leaning against Aalekh instead. "You've had your girlfriend with you here this whole time, in fact all of you have… I'm the only one who's had to have a long distance relationship!"

Aalekh tried to pat Raj's shoulder comfortingly and Raj slumped down even more, grumbling quietly.

"Nautanki…" Aalekh muttered.

"Well who told you to fall in love with someone who lived so far away?" Abhimanyu asks him, "That's not our fault."

"No… but it is Navin's and Tanu's." Raj said practically, "They were the ones who told me to fall in love with her."

"We're not going to start this again are we?" Navin asked him, "I think that Tanu and I have already paid more than enough for what we did."

"I'm not quite sure about that…" Raj starts to say, but what he sees at the front gate of the academy caused him to stop mid sentence and he quickly stood up, unable to quite believe his eyes.

Because standing there with Neelu slightly behind her was Naina, his Naina, as beautiful as ever and grinning at him with a look of such happiness on his face.

Man he loved her, he really, really loved her…. Okay, he wasn't going to waste time going through that again.

Before the others have even noticed Naina or worked out what's going on, Raj is already running towards the gate.

Skidding to a stop in front of Naina before even saying anything he grabs her and hugs her tightly, wanting to reassure himself that she really is there.

"Don't you remember your promise?" Naina asks him teasingly, but there's a light in her eyes that is doing funny things to his stomach.

"Promise?" Raj asks her and then suddenly remembers. Turning around he sees that Navin is watching them both, a smile on his face… Turning to the other side he sees that at this exact moment Major Nair has decided to come out into the grounds and is currently walking towards them….

To hell with it!

Deciding that he honestly didn't care anymore, Raj cupped his hands around Naina's cheeks and kissed her soundly, as her arms went around his neck and his shifted to her waist… and as the kiss went on and on, Raj honestly forgot about everything else, ignoring the whistles he could hear in the background, the shout that was probably from Navin and…

"CADET SHEKAWAT WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING ON ACADEMY GROUNDS!!!!!"

Startled, Raj and Naina broke apart, while Raj did his best to look both repentant and embarrassed.

But really he was finding it very difficult not to break into a grin.

"I'm very sorry Sir," he told Major Nair, trying to sound sincere, "Really I didn't…"

"Don't think that just because you're graduating tomorrow you can start breaking this academy's discipline!" Nair told him angrily, "I can still give you a detention today, you know."

"Oh come on Major-saheb," Suriji told him, hurrying over quickly since he had noticed the commotion, "Let the children be, it is their graduation tomorrow after all…"

Major Nair grimaced but nodded, "Fine, I'll forgive it this once," he told Raj, "But no more kissing on academy grounds!"

"Of course, Sir! Never again, Sir!" Raj told him, because since he was graduating tomorrow it wouldn't be too hard to keep that promise… he could stop himself from kissing Naina for one day couldn't he?

Grinning, he joined hands with her, and along with Neelu they walked over to the rest of the group.

Neelu immediately went to sit beside Aalekh, resting one arm on his shoulder and leaning against him slightly. Yudi regarded the two of them suspiciously, still trying to work out whether they actually had gotten married that day or not.

"Raj please never do that again in front of me, or I will be forced to hit you due to my brotherly duties." Navin told him after he had hugged Naina hello, shaking his head to try and get the image out of my mind.

"Chill Navin, in case you're forgetting, we're already married." Raj told him, sitting down so that he was sitting behind Naina with his arms around her waist, leaning his chin on her shoulder. "And besides I really, really love her, I really…."

"ALRIGHT, WE GET THE IDEA!!" Everyone yelled at once, and Raj shut up, looking a bit embarrassed but just hugging Naina to him even tighter.

"So does he tell you this often?" Naina asked them curiously.

"You have no idea…" Tanu tells her, "He's been telling us quite a few times a day ever since we all found out about your marriage."

"So sweet," Naina says with a grin and turns her head to kiss Raj on the cheek.

"Hey, what did Nair say about that?" Navin warns them jokingly.

Raj just shrugs, right now he really doesn't care.

Because he has Naina in his arms again, and as far as he's concerned he's never, ever going to let her go ever again.

**

The next day dawned bright and everybody excitedly waited for the graduation, greeting their parents, relatives and friends as they arrived.

Naina and her parents were some of the first to arrive as they had gotten into Ambala late the night before and joined her at the hotel.

Navin and Tanu both came to welcome them, and there was much hugging since Mr and Mrs Ahluwalia hadn't seen both of them since they had come to talk to Raj's parents.

Raj came forward and touched both of their feet, a small smile on his face as he thought that he was actually getting his parents-in-law's blessings for the first time after marriage.

"Uncle, Aunty, it's so good to see you again." Raj told them, "And I hope that this time it will have a much better outcome."

"I hope so too, Raj Beta." Mr Ahluwalia told him, because he really had been looking forward to having the young man as his son-in-law. It was obvious how much he adored their daughter by the way he was currently gazing at her.

A short while later Raj's parents arrived but there was no time for anything to happen because the graduation ceremony was due to start.

All of the friends and relatives watched proudly as the cadets were officially declared to be members of the Indian Army, and there were quite a few claps and whistles both from the crowd and the cadets themselves when Navin was declared to be best cadet.

The ex-cadets were just coming forward off towards the crowd when Raj's parents suddenly spotted Aalekh. He gave them a suitably menacing glare and they quickly looked away, heading towards Raj.

Aalekh approached Yudi's parents, touching their feet in his best melodramatic manner, "Hello Uncle and Aunty," he told them, and they nodded nervously.

"Yes, congratulations Beta," they told him, because for all they knew, he was actually their son-in-law by now…

Neelu threw her arms around his neck hugging him, before turning to give Yudi a hug. After they'd congratulated him, he made sure that they came and met Shalini's parents.

After all, when it had taken him this long to find a girlfriend, he didn't want to take too long to introduce her to his parents.

Meanwhile Nandini and Abhimanyu's parents were also meeting each other, with Abhimanyu's father's servants standing in the background at a suitable distance. Luckily it seemed to be going well, and Raj gave his friend a thumbs up from a distance.

Ali and Pooja were the only ones who weren't going to be admitting their relationship today. They had decided that it would be best if their parents met each other once again, but then they would go and talk to them about it separately in private. Needless to say, both of them were very nervous.

Raj came and touched his parents' feet, before hugging them.

"We're so proud of you, Raj Beta," his mother gushed, "I felt so proud seeing you in your uniform today."

Raj couldn't say how relieved he felt, this was the first time either of them had been proud of the fact he wanted a career where he would wear a uniform. It had to be a good sign… it was time, definitely…

"Ma, Dad, can we go and say hi to Naina's parents?" he asked them, "And maybe discuss something with them."

His parents both nodded, and Raj felt like punching the air in triumph. Instead he calmly led them over to where Mr and Mrs Ahluwalia stood with Navin, Naina, Tanu and her family.

"Hello Mr Ahluwalia, Mrs Ahluwalia, it's lovely to see you again and congratulations on your son becoming best cadet." Mr Shekawat greeted them politely, and the contrast from the last time they had met was extreme.

"Thank you," Mr Ahluwalia replied, sounding a little surprised, "It's good to see you again too."

"Actually we were thinking that now that Raj has finished his training, perhaps he is mature enough to make up his own mind about marriage." Mrs Shekawat continued, "And since neither of the children have changed their minds, perhaps we can set a date."

Mr and Mrs Shekawat stared at them, as if unable to believe it.

Tanu's parents look absolutely delighted, finally seeing the way clear for their daughter and Navin to get married.

"Well that would be wonderful of course," Mrs Ahluwalia replied, finally able to speak again. "Why don't we go and sit down somewhere after the function ends today and work it all out."

"Well we would like a big traditional wedding of course…" Raj's mother is saying as she walks off together with Naina's mother.

Mr Ahluwalia leans over to whisper in Navin's ear as they all follow them, "What on earth happened to make them change their mind like this?"

"Trust me dad, it's a very long story… and one that we'll save for another time." Navin told him.

Once the parents had walked off and were a safe distance away, Raj turned to Naina, a grin on his face.

"So Naina, we're finally going to get married." He tells her.

"Again," Naina reminds him.

"Well I hope that this time you're ready to change your name!" Raj tells her, "Because very soon you're going to become Mrs Naina Singh Shekawat officially!"

"I can hardly wait," Naina promises him, and unable to control himself, Raj throws his arms around her, kissing her again.

"LIEUTENANT SHEKAWAT, WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT KISSING ON THE ACADEMY GROUNDS????"

But Raj honestly didn't care anymore.

From now on he was going to kiss his wife anytime he wanted to, and nobody was going to be able to stop him.

***

Well guys.... the next chapter of Operation Marriage will be the last one!!!!! So I hope that you've enjoyed it all!