Chapter 22

Chapter 20:

The older lady sitting next to Naina smiled at her kindly, "It looks like he'll miss you a lot." She told her.

Naina blushed, "Do you think so… I mean, who are you talking about?"

"That young man you dropped you to the bus." The lady replied. "Did you get married recently."

If it was at all possible, Naina started blushing even more. "No, I mean, we're not married."

"Oh, so your boyfriend then. It must be hard leaving him behind."

Naina nodded, the old lady was so friendly that she couldn't help talking to her. However she didn't think she should tell her exactly what the circumstances were. "Yes, but it's only for two weeks. We'll see each other after the holidays."

"Still, two weeks is hard when you're young and in love," the older lady said knowingly.

Naina laughed, it certainly was.

The rest of the bus trip passed uneventfully as Naina's seatmate eventually nodded off to sleep and she was left only with her own thoughts for company. She couldn't believe that it had been only yesterday that Raj had returned successfully from his mission. In a little over 24 hours, her life had changed so much. She knew that the road ahead would be hard, but for the first time she was feeling optimistic that everything would work out fine. Eventually, rocked to sleep by the motion of the bus, Naina also drifted off, only waking up ten minutes before her stop to find that the old lady from before had already gotten off the bus.

Naina's father picked her up at the station, hugging her to him proudly and taking her backpack despite her protests. She supposed that no matter how much strength she might gain as a soldier, she would still be his little girl. Together they went home, and Naina's mother threw her arms around her almost as soon as Naina had entered the house. Naina was happy that BC had let her go early, it was important to spend some time with her parents now that Navin's innocence had been proved.

After giving Naina some tea and snacks and sitting her down on the couch, they began to talk about how it had all happened. Naina was careful to tell the story accurately, letting them both know that it was only due to Captain Rajveer that their son had finally been proved innocent. She was hoping that on hearing this, their hearts might soften towards him and they would forgive him.

"I could never have done it without Captain Rajveer," she told them, "It's because of him that Bhaiya has been proven innocent."

"Well of course he did it," her father replied dismissively, "He had to do something to get rid of his guilt."

Naina felt her heart sink, this hadn't been the reaction she had hoped for.

"Baba, won't you ever forgive him?" she asked, "Surely you can realise that he only killed Navin because there was no other option, because Navin had asked him to."

"No, Naina." Her mother replied, "If he's managed to prove Navin innocent now then it means that Navin didn't have to die. If he hadn't been killed then he might have been alive to see this day." Upset, she walked out of the room, heading towards the kitchen.

"Look, Naina." Her father told her, "I know you're grateful to Captain Rajveer for everything he's done, but it would be best if you had as little to do with him as possible. He's still your brother's killer."

Naina felt like crying, but instead just mutely nodded. If she fought too much about it or let her parents know how she really felt, then they would take her out of the academy. Why couldn't her mother realise that maybe the only way to prove Navin innocent had been for him to die?

All of Naina's earlier optimism began to slip away.

'Bhaiya,' she thought, 'If you were here then you'd be able to make them understand.'

But Navin wasn't, and the only person who could accomplish this task was Naina. It was going to be a long two weeks indeed.

**

Raj tried not to mope, he really did. But there just didn't seem to be any point to being in the academy when Naina wasn't there. The last two days of the academy term only involved the usual exercises anyway, so there was nothing special for him to concentrate on, and nothing to distract him. The day after Naina had left, Raj was at least happy to find out that she had topped all of the written tests and received good marks for the physical drills. It didn't help that whenever he began to get lost in his thoughts or lose his concentration he would regain his attention only to see Pooja Ghai giving him a knowing look as if she knew exactly what he was thinking about.

Although when he considered it, Pooja probably did know exactly what he was thinking about. After all, Naina had said that she had discussed her feelings with Pooja, and that Pooja had given her that advice.

Those words had echoed throughout Raj's head again and again. What would Navin have wanted for the two of them? What would he have thought Raj should do? Again and again, Raj came to the same conclusion. Navin would have been happy for them. Sure, he would want them to wait until Naina's training was finished, but in the end, he would've supported them. This thought at least took away some of Raj's guilt and made him feel more positive about the decision he would have to make.

At the end of the second day all of the cadets left for their homes, and Raj realised that he would miss them almost as much as he was missing Naina. Well, perhaps not quite almost as much. All of his favourite cadets came to bid him goodbye. Raj noticed that Huda was quieter than usual and seemed to be looking at him in a thoughtful way. He just hoped that everything was fine with the young cadet. Alekh and Yudi left together, both heading for Yudi's home as Alekh had nowhere better to go. At least with this excuse he'd be able to spend some time with both Yudi and Neelu. Pooja hung back a little until the others left and then came forward to wish him goodbye.

"We'll all see be back soon, Sir." She said, emphasising the word all. "I'll call Naina once I get home to let her know that she topped in the exams."

"Thanks Cadet Ghai." he told her, and Pooja also left to catch her bus.

Raj didn't know how he was going to manage to spend these two weeks without going crazy. He prayed for the strength to resist Naina, knowing that a large part of him didn't want those prayers to be answered.

**

Raj headed to the apartment he owned in Delhi, not wanting to stay in the academy as everything there reminded him of Naina. For the next week he tried to keep himself busy. He planned his lessons for the next term, exercised, read books and visited old friends, all of whom remarked that he appeared to be much more distracted than he ever had been previously. Finally, he had to give in. He could not get Naina out of his mind. If this was his condition after one week without her, then how could he hope to spend an entire lifetime without her?

He considered their conversation in the caf. She had said that they should wait until she finished her training to begin a relationship and he agreed, she didn't need anything distracting her from her studies and he didn't want to break any rules. But to be able to know that she was his, that would make a difference… To be able to look at her and know that in the future she would be his and only his, he could be content to live for a year on that hope. The problem of her parents was more complicated, but would they really never give in? Would they never forgive him? Would their only child's happiness be less important to them than their hatred of him? He certainly hoped not. He knew he could never expect to share a good relationship with them, but he hoped that they would at least accept him for Naina's sake.

Only one week after Raj had decided he couldn't have a relationship with Naina, his resolve had crumbled. The effect that girl had on him was truly amazing. He needed to see her to tell her this. He needed to be near her, to look at her to his heart's content. But how? How could he manage to see her without her parents finding out? A plan began to form in Raj's mind. He would need help to accomplish it, and he knew the perfect cadet for the job.


**

A week of her holidays were already over, and Naina was hoping that the next week would finish as soon as possible. As soon as the news about Navin had been on the news, suddenly friends and relatives who had ignored them for years had started calling and visiting. Once it was proved that her brother hadn't been a traitor, it seemed that everybody wanted to know them again. Naina had wanted to talk to her parents about Captain Rajveer again but didn't have the courage, knowing that it would only lead to an argument. She might as well stay with them happily for the short time she would be there. Naina was lying on the couch reading a novel when the phone rang. She didn't bother to get up and answer it, guessing that it was just going to be another lost acquaintance that had suddenly found them again.

She heard her mother answer the phone, but it was the next words that made her put down her book and sit down. "Naina?" her mother had said to the person on the other end, "Yes, I'll just go and get her."

Naina wondered who it would be. Raj wouldn't have dared to call. She just hoped that it wasn't Huda ringing up to bother her. The last thing she needed was her parents to get wrong ideas about her liking him.

"Naina," her mother came into the lounge room looking for her, "Your friend Pooja is on the phone."

Naina got up quickly from the couch, excited. She was glad Pooja had called her, she had been missing her roommate and it would be good to hear the sound of her voice.

"Pooja, how are you?" she asked happily.

"My network is working well, I'm just happy I've gotten your connection! Listen, Naina, I've got some important work with you!"

"Important?"

"Yes, would your parents let you come to my house for a couple of days?"

"I think so, but why?"

"I'll tell you the reason in a minute, just see if they say yes first."

"Ma!" Naina called out, and waited until her mother came to stand in front of her before continuing. "Ma, Pooja wants me to come to her house for a couple of days, can I?"

"But why, Naina? We see you so seldom and we only have you for these two weeks…"

Naina didn't know the reason that Pooja was asking her to come, but she guessed it must be important. Besides that, as much as she loved her parents, she was dying to get out of the house.

"Actually Ma, Pooja's parents are trying to pressure her to get married. And she doesn't have the courage to tell them about a boy at the academy that she likes." Naina made up the lie quickly, remembering Pooja's conversation with her mother on the phone when they had been at the academy. "She wants me to come so that I can support her, and help her tell them the truth."

Naina could see that her mother was wavering, almost ready to give in. "Please, Ma," she added "I'll only be gone two days, we'll have almost an entire week together after that."

"Alright," her mother replied finally with a smile, "But only two days."

"Thanks Ma, you're the best!" Naina exclaimed, before turning back to the phone. "Okay Pooja, it's done."

"Fantastic! Now do you want to listen to the real reason why?"

"Of course, hurry up and tell me!"

"This morning, your Rajveer Sir called me on my mobile."

Naina was surprised, "What? Why?"

"Well because he couldn't call you of course." Pooja said it as if it was completely and utterly obvious. "He called me with this plan because he wants to meet you."

Naina smiled, even as her stomach started doing somersaults, it had to be good news…

"So then what's the plan…"

"Alright, so tomorrow you'll take the bus to…."