The strand of hope
One year later.
It was all over. All those who were behind trapping navin had been arrested and put behind bars all thanks to rajveer. He had fulfilled his duty as a friend.
But something else also had happened during this time. Rajveer had revealed the truth to naina about navin, about how helpless he was to take the step that he was forced to take.
Naina was dumbfounded over this confession. She was at the crossroads of her life. Here she was few days back thinking that he was her last hope, the only person in this world whom she would believe after her parents and now….now she found her whole world shaken.
How was she to trust anybody else in her life hereafter. She knew that rajveer regretted his act but that was not an excuse for hiding the truth from her…never.
She went to her room and cried bitterly after that. She tried hard to try and understand him but her mind would not agree. She felt betrayed. Betrayed by his love!!
After pondering upon all that had happened to her after joining this academy, she understood that rajveer's presence could not be replaced in her life, but also that she cannot see or behave with him the same way as she used to be….that was impossible now.
Their relationship had taken yet another phase now.
***
As naina walked past the flag during their graduation day, there were many proud eyes looking upon her. Her parents were ecstatic as their son's lost pride had been retrieved and also their daughter was awarded the best cadet of the present batch. It was double delight for them.
But the one pair of eyes that she could ignore was that of rajveer's, even naina knew that he was genuinely happy for her. But she could not reciprocate his feelings.
Ever since she knew he had killed navin she was dejected. She was angry on him for having lied to her, no matter what his reasons were.
She was angry on herself for having trusted him so much and allowing him to be such an important person in her life. He knew that she would never forgive him and he had accepted her decision.
She knew that rajveer would have made that decision, probably hating himself for it. Naina had often seen guilt and immense sorrow in his eyes. She knew he truly repented. All he wanted was for her to forgive him. Many times naina wanted to forgive him too. But the 'sister' naina in her propped up time and again to tell her it was wrong.
Little did she know that it was the decision of her own brother to embrace death by the hands of his friend. She was completely new to this scenario. In the battlefield, soldiers will have to sacrifice their own lives for their country. Even though it pains them to kill another soul.
Violence could never be the solution to anything. Peace surpassed all duels, all animosity. Naina was still not accustomed to this way of life. She was not prepared to look at things in that point of view. She sure was a good soldier measuring by the standards of the training given to her, but she still had a long way to go.
Rajveer was to be transferred to Kashmir for a dangerous mission next week and his cadets (or former cadets) would be joining their respective duties soon. Now all he wished was to have a proper farewell.
As naina finished all the formalities at the academy, she was ready to go home. There was still one thing left that she had to do. She had to finally meet him and thank him for everything he had done for her, for her brother, for her family. She knew that thankyou would be such a short word and she had no idea how to face him.
But she did it. She went to his room, slowly knocking before entering. He was surprised to find her there as he did not expect her to turn up after the turnaround of events lately. She thanked him and said that she was grateful for everything he had done for her family.
However she said that it would be long before she could understand his actions and resume their relationship. It was not easy for her to accept his reasons. Besides she trusted him so much that she did not conceal anything from him. But he chose otherwise and did not tell her the truth, the only truth which she wanted to hear from the day she reached the academy.
'She had trusted him so much that now his betrayal of trust was too much for her to handle. She knew that he loved her. She too loved him. So it was better that they accept each other without any regrets rather than simply sympathizing which seemed impossible now.'
She said that all the respect which she held for her mentor was still intact but she was not yet ready to accept him as a friend.
He was choked inside but he maintained his composure very well knowing that naina was one person infront of whom he should not break down or else he would lose all control.
He wished her success in life and hoped to see her following the path of honesty just as navin. She thanked him for everything he had done. Nomatter how things have gone so far, he truly held a very vital position in her life.
Before leaving his room she did turn once and saw him. His face had such despair that she wanted to run to him, hug him and say that she was sorry for what she just said.
But she did not do it. She knew that he too respected her decision and was grateful for that. She was glad that they were not forcing in on each other.
When naina stopped for a second, rajveer thought that may be time had reversed itself. May be all these distances between them did not exist. May be she still wanted to come back..back to him. When he saw her eyes he could see the love for him there, same love that was there in his eyes for her.
Both of them parted with sad smiles and bid goodbye.
They could feel as though something important was moving away from their life. But they didn't want to thrust each ones' feelings on the other.
Thus they let go with only a hope that if it was true love and if they deserved each other then they would surely meet again. They were prepared to wait for that strand of hope that would reunite them again.
Kismat ka khel
Noboby can fight fate. What is meant to happen must happen. 'honi ko koi nahi taal saktha hai'
And so it happened. They met again. They met after a year. Naina was now Lt. naina singh ahluwalia and he was Major Rajveer singh Shekawat.
After having no contact with each other for almost half a year, they were assigned a mission together. It was a bunch of the best officers working together. He was their commanding officer.
During the days when naina worked on various missions, she had come across many situations were she had seen fellow officers dying in front of her eyes. She was helpless in many situations.
She now felt how difficult it would have been for rajveer to shoot her brother. She had now accepted that he was right in his own respect as he was the one who freed naveen from his plight and not the one who killed him.
But she was now pretty sure she had caused him agony. He was in pain due to her. She decided that she did not deserve him and he was well off without her. She decided to go away from his life…but what she did not know was that even today he cherished her.
The mission was progressing well. All were impressed by the way raj was handling such a sensitive mission. They all had begun to respect him. Naina thought that he was a true charmer. He seemed to cast a spell on everyone and yet remain untouched. She hastily cleared these thoughts from her head and scolded herself for thinking so.
She knew that she can give him only misery and pain. He deserved someone who respects him, loves him for what he is and care for him wholeheartedly. She vowed to herself to free him from all pain, release him from all of his guilt that she knew he held bcoz of her.
Meanwhile Rajveer was alleviated to see her after a long time. He saw many changes in her. She was more mature now. She overlooked things with a new perspective. However she was the same impulsive, short tempered, innocent naina of kma, his naina. Even now she was his.
She was a woman who held such control over his entire persona, though unknowingly she managed to woo him so many times. But he was a soldier at heart. He restrained himself and tried to get naina out of his thoughts.
He did not want to endanger the mission in any case and having all these feelings for naina could prove otherwise.He decided to allow time to work its magic and be patient. But it was all the more difficult with naina's constant presence around him.
They were close together few times but they spoke through silence mainly. Sometimes when alone in a room together, raj thought he would lose control over himself any moment now. Only he knew how hard it was for him to stop himself. He just prayed that he had the strength to fight his inner desires and carry out his work.
Raj:
Jaane tu meri kya hai
Jaane mein tera kya tha
Saath tere har pal
saath har lamha tha
He remembered the day when he told her the truth and their paths changed forever.
jaane kaisi kask hai
jaane kaisi tadap hai
kyun yeh aankhen nam hai
jaane kaisaaaaaa gham hai
He was glad that she still considered him as a well wisher. He had a comfort knowing that there was nobody else in her life still.
hai dosti hum ko yaki tha
dosti aur kuch bhi nahi tha
par kaise tujh ko baante
kyun chubthe hai pairon me kaante
Jaana dil jaana
kaise maine na jaana
ki pyar yahi hai yeh
jaane tu ya jaane na (2)
Naina also sensed his helplessness. A part of her was happy to know that he still cared for her and a part of her was afraid that she might lose her resolve too easily before him.
Jaane tu mera kya hai
Jaane tu mera kyat ha
Tu hi mera har pal
Tu hi har lamha tha
She was nervous when she saw him like that. She knew that he would never do anything he shouldn't be doing or force her to do so, but she was having hard time controlling her feelings.
Jaane kaisi kashish hai
Jaane kaisi kalish hai
Kyun yeh saans thami hai
Aankhon mein kyun nami hai
'what was he doing to her?' he was torturing her silently. She needed to be strong for herself and also for him.
Hai dosti hum ko yaki tha
dosti aur kuch bhi nahi tha
hai kaisa yeh dard naya sa
kyun dil ek tha toota toota sa
Jaana dil jaana
kaise maine na jaana
ki pyar yahi hai yeh
jaane tu ya jaane na (2)
Many even noticed that there was something between the lieutenant and the major, but nobody dared to say anything against the major as he was well known for his anger and discipline, also because he was among the best in the army.
The biggest challenge for naina was to ignore his presence everytime they met unexpectedly. She had seen him jogging early in the morning. He was looking extremely charming and it took a great deal of effort to shift her focus from him.
She knew that many of the female officers of their battalion had a secret crush on their handsome superior. She had been envious sometimes but glad that rajveer did not reciprocate to any of them. She was happy that rajveer oblivious about all her silly feelings or else she would be a laughing stock.
****
Towards the end of the mission, on a fateful day, there was unexpected firing which took all of them by surprise. All were running for their cover. Raj shot down many terrorists and was ordering everyone to clear the area.
Naina had her gun in the jeep and wanted to grab it to contribute her part in the counter attack. She was so shocked by the events that she was running towards the jeep without noticing that she was right on target of the terrorists.
Fortunately rajveer noticed this.
He couldn't believe that he was about to lose her all over again. Without thinking of the consequences he ran towards her and before she could realize it he became the target of the bullet. The bullet had hit him near his heart.He had saved her yet again and in the process was close to losing his own life. Naina was perplexed and did not know how to react.
She held him close as he nearly dropped down. Soon the officers provided cover for them.
Now with rajveer lying on her lap, she could no longer take it and cried out her pain. She was not prepared to lose him yet again.
"Sir!!! what have u done? How could u?" she began to cry, shaking him and holding his collar "please don't leave me..i need u…I …really do…I cannot imagine a life without u raj…u can't do this to me raj…no…u can't do this…I…i..lo…love u…and I don't want to lose u…please raj please don't do this…don't punish me so hard for my mistake…" she was pleading now.
Raj found himself in peace after so many days. She had finally admitted that she loved him. He was now oblivious of his pain.
He held her face gently in his hands and said, "naina I am not the one punishing u…u r!!! …the greatest pain I suffer is when I see ur tears…please…I cannot see ur tears and they pierce my heart when I know that I am the reason for them….stop crying naina and I promise not to leave u coz my life is incomplete without u…and I can never punish u coz…coz I love u tooo…" saying this he became unconscious.
Later when he woke up in the hospital he was glad to find naina beside him. She sat at his bedside withone of her hands holding his.
She was smiling rather beaming on seeing him back to normal.
Their mission was successful and they received orders to go back.
They both were unusually quiet now as they had confessed their feelings and did not know how to be behaving with each other.
Slowly they shed their inhibitions and started a conversation and talked as usual.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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