LRL: My Cadet FINISHED on page 41 - Page 11

arey chori chori chuke chupke milne wala hai raj niana se arey kithna mazaa aayega 😛 please post the next part as soon as possible cant wait yaar

Hey guys, thanks for all your encouragement, I'm so happy that you're enjoying the fic! Here's the next part, which I'm sure you'll love! 😉

Chapter 21:

Naina had woken up at 5am the next morning, even though her bus wasn't leaving until ten. She was too excited to stay asleep so she had gotten up, showered and dressed. She chose her clothes carefully, wanting to look as good as possible. Knowing that Raj usually saw her in pants, she chose to wear a long skirt instead, topping it off with a T-shirt and jacket. She put her hair into a loose ponytail and was ready to go, four hours before the bus would actually leave.

By 8am she had already eaten her breakfast, helped to wash up the dishes, and looked at the clock to check the time at least a hundred times.

"You really are looking forward to seeing Pooja, aren't you?" her mother had asked her, sounding amused.

Naina felt bad about lying to her parents, but her heart forbid her to do anything else. She had to see him, she was going crazy wondering what he had decided and whether he would accept her or not.

Finally at 9:30am, Naina's father dropped her to the bus station, she had already bought her ticket the day before so all she had to do was get onto the bus.

"Have fun, Beti." Her father told her. Naina just hoped that everything would go alright.

Around lunchtime she got down from the bus in the town that Pooja had told her Raj would meet her in. Looking around, it didn't take her long to spot his jeep parked a short distance away. He seemed to spot her at around the same time as he climbed out of the jeep and waved a hand to let her know that it was him.

Naina had to stop herself from running over, she was so eager to see him. Walking fast, she quickly reached the jeep. There he stood in front of her wearing a casual shirt and jeans, his hands stuffed in his pockets as if he didn't know what to do with them.

"Hi," Naina told him breathlessly, not quite able to believe that this was really happening.

She sees a hundred emotions pass over his face as he tries to decide how he should reply, but in the end he decides it's best to be honest.

"I missed you, Naina." He tells her.

She doesn't need any further invitation, throwing her arms around him, she gives him a tight hug, leaning her head against his chest. Raj closes his arms around her, and buries his face in her shoulder as if he's inhaling her scent. They stand there for a moment, reveling in each others' warmth until Naina realises that they've begun to attract a bit of a crowd.

"Uh, maybe we should go somewhere else." She suggests, and Raj looks up to see a few curious faces looking at them.

"Get into the jeep." He tells her, and as soon as she's sat down and done up her seatbelt, he drives away.

Eventually he pulls the jeep up to the side of the road in a secluded area and motions to her to get out. Taking Naina's hand, he leads her forward through the trees until they reach an open grassy area. Naina can't help but think that he must have known about this place before he brought her here. It's beautiful and there isn't a single other person around. For the first time, she begins to get nervous. Not at the thought that Raj might do something do her, because she knows that would never happen. Rather, she's afraid that she might end up deciding to do something that she shouldn't if she stays alone here with him for too long.

They sit down on the grass with their legs out in front of them, Naina smoothing out her skirt nervously with her hands. Raj takes in her appearance, his eyes devouring her as if it's been far longer than a week since he last saw her. He realises that he's never seen her in any skirt except her army uniform before. It makes her look more feminine, more like the girl Naina and less like the soldier Naina. He likes her hair like this, but he would prefer it if it was loose, unrestrained by any ties. That's when it looks the most beautiful.

He reaches over and takes one of her hands in his, turning it over and using one of his fingers to trace the lines on her palm. He wants to kiss her badly, but knows that they need to talk properly first. Instead he contents himself with pressing a kiss onto her palm.

"I missed you." He tells her, still holding her hand in his. He's forgotten that he had already told her earlier. And when he had missed her so much, what's the harm in telling her twice, anyway.

"I missed you too," she murmurs quietly, looking down to where he's entwined his fingers with hers. She's surprised by how much better she feels with even this small physical contact, but she can't allow herself to get distracted before she finds out what she really needs to know. "What did you decide."

"I've decided," Raj leans over, placing his hands to either side of her body so that she is firmly stuck between them, "Naina," slowly he leans towards her, his face so close to hers that she can feel his breath on her cheek. "That I can't live without you." Slowly he leans forward to kiss her, his lips pressing against hers gently. Releasing her, he moves his mouth to her ear and whispers to her, "I love you, Naina."

They're the words that she's been waiting to hear, the words that she had been praying for. Laughing with joy, Naina winds her arms around his neck, and brings his lips back to hers, kissing him soundly. "Well, Captain," she tells him teasingly when they finally break apart, "I love you too." He grins at her, happiness shining out from his eyes.

"Remind me why we waited this long to come to this point?" he asks her.

"Well, it doesn't really matter does it," she tells him, "We've managed to get here now."

"And believe me, Naina." He tells her, his eyes growing serious. "Once I've made a decision, I'll never take it back. And I've decided that you're mine."

Leaning over her, with one arm he lowers her to the ground until she's lying down on the hill. Bending his head, he meets her lips again, kissing her with more pressure this time, forcing her lips slightly apart. Naina responds, learning fast and kissing him back with just as much passion. He lowers himself onto the ground until his body is pressed against hers, both of them lying on their sides. Reaching out a hand, Raj takes the tie out of her hair, letting it fall around her face, and runs the fingers of one of his hands through it.

"I love your hair," he tells her, burying his face in it.

"I know you do," she replies, smiling.

"You know everything." He tells her, "So there's no need for me to tell you what else I love about you."

"I don't think it would hurt me to hear it." She replies mischievously.

"Well then, I love your eyes, I love your cheeks, I love your neck…" and he began to make a list of all of the parts of her he loved, kissing her as he talked, making his way from her cheeks, to her jaw, to her neck.

Naina sighed in what sounded like contentment, which was enough to encourage Raj not to stop. Disentangling his hand from her hair, he ran it down her arm until it came to rest on her hip. Then leaning forward he began to kiss her again, starting slowly and gently. By now it seemed that Naina had more than learned the basics, as she responded so well that he couldn't help each kiss becoming even more heated and deeper than the last. It was only when he slipped his hand underneath her shirt to rest on her skin that Naina gasped.

The sound broke Raj from his spell and he quickly rolled away from Naina, groaning at his own stupidity. "I'm so sorry, Naina." He told her apologetically. "I'm going way too fast, aren't I?"

"No, it's…" Naina started to say, and then nodded, slightly embarrassed to admit it. "It's not that I don't want to, it's just that…"

Raj understood perfectly, she didn't need to say anything else. "I didn't mean things to go this far today, Naina, I really didn't. It's just that when I see you, especially when we're alone, I seem to lose all my self control."

She smiled at him shyly, "I think the same thing happens to me."

Standing up, Raj brushed the grass off his pants and then offered a hand to Naina, helping her up. As she stood there, brushing down her skirt, he picked a few blades of grass out of her hair before bending down to find the tie that he'd taken out of it. Naina bound her hair again before they began to walk back to the jeep again, his hand around her shoulders.

"So what now?" she asked him.

"Now I take you to Pooja's."

"So I'm really going there?" Naina was surprised, she had thought that it had just been an excuse for her to come and see him.

"Well if you return back to your house now, your parents will know that it was a lie. And I certainly can't keep you with me for the next two days." He looked her up and down with a gaze that brought a blush to Naina's face, "Or I think that all of my good intentions would vanish rather quickly."

They sat down in the jeep and he started it, bringing it back onto the road.

"I forgot to ask," he said, not taking his eyes off the road. "What happened with your parents?"

Naina wished that he hadn't brought it up, but he had to find out some time.

"I think it's going to take awhile to convince them." She said with a sigh.

He reached out and grasped her hand with his, squeezing it before letting go and returning it to the steering wheel.

"Don't worry Naina," he tells her confidently, "What ever happens we're together in this."

Naina can't remember when the last time she felt this hopeful was. Despite all of the problems facing them, she can't stop herself from smiling, feeling as if she's so full of happiness that it might spill out of her.

Whatever challenges lie ahead, they'll face them together. And that's what matters.

yipee im the first to reply 😛 😛 😛 thanks for updating soon and that to a long one as always i loved 😳 😛 😳 it tremndous job 👏 you should seriously consider a carrie in writing you are too good yaar too good deadly and again what else will i say update soon 😛

hey very good part yaar....raj accepted naina....yeah i am so happy..... 😳

awesome part can't wait 4 next update.

Love,

Saniya

Hey guys, here's your next update! Not as much RN in this one, but we've got to sort out the other cadets problems too!

Chapter 22:

On the way they stop for lunch, and Naina sends Pooja an sms on Raj's mobile to let her know what time they'll be arriving.

While waiting for their food they start chatting, about Navin, about Raj's academy days, about when Naina was at college. She feels like she's seeing a new side to him, one which is much more relaxed and comfortable with her than he used to be. Once they're back in the car, Naina turns the radio on and they both sing along, neither of them very well. But their bad singing just adds to the enjoyment as they end up laughing at each other. Finally, two hours later, they had reached their destination. Raj pulled the car over just before Pooja's house so that they can say goodbye properly in privacy.

He hugs her to him tightly as if he doesn't want to let go, only releasing her after a few minutes.

"I want to kiss you," he tells Naina, "But I'm afraid that once I start I won't be able to stop. And that might get Pooja's neighbours talking."

Naina giggles, "Well then, I suppose the next time I see you will be at KMA."

"KMA? Why did you remind me? Well I guess I'd better kiss you one last time now then." Raj said in a mock serious tone, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get away with it once they're both back at the academy.

He leans over and kisses her lightly on the lips, resisting the impulse to deepen it. Leaning his forehead against hers for a moment, he smiles, looking into her eyes.

"I love you," he tells her, "I'll see you in a week."

"I love you too Raj, I'll miss you until then."

She grabs her backpack and gets out of the jeep, waving at him as he drives away.

Then Naina walked towards Pooja's house and rang the door bell.

It's only a matter of seconds before the door is flung open and Pooja bounds out, throwing herself onto Naina in a friendly hug.

"Oh Naina, I've missed you so much!" she tells her, "I swear that my parents haven't managed to catch my network properly since I've been back, at least you can make them understand."

Naina laughed, she had been missing Pooja too, but she hadn't expected this much of a welcome.

"Alright baba, just tell me what the problem is and I'll sort it out."

"Problem? What else, marriage. Ever since I came back for the holidays at least six boys have been to see me with their parents, and I can't stand it!"

Naina couldn't believe exactly how close her lie to her mother had been to the truth.

"Well Pooja, now that I'm here I'll fix everything."

"Thanks yaar," Pooja replied, "I managed to talk to Ali yesterday and he said that he was ready to talk to his parents. Now all I have to do is work out how to tell mine."

Naina put her arm around Pooja's shoulder, "Don't worry, now that Naina is here to help you, nothing can go wrong. But do you think that maybe we can go inside first?"

Pooja laughed, realising that she'd just been ranting to Naina on the front steps without even inviting her inside.

"I'm so sorry, Naina! And that reminds me, where's Rajveer Sir? Did he drop you off?" she gives Naina a meaningful look, "Did you get everything sorted out?"

A blush came to Naina's face and Pooja grinned, "Ai hai, you're so shy even when I mention his name. How are you going to get through the next year of KMA like this?"

"Honestly Pooja, I have no idea." Naina repled seriously, and they went inside.

After Naina had said hi to Pooja's parents and thanked them for allowing her to stay the two girls headed up to Pooja's room so that they could talk properly. Naina hadn't had a chance to tell Pooja anything before she left, so she gave her an update of the situation between her and Raj, leaving out only the bits that she wasn't comfortable in telling. Pooja seemed to understand as she didn't press for details. When Naina was finished talking, Pooja hugged her.

"I'm so proud of you, Naina." She told her, "You're so brave to be able to make a decision like that. And me… I can't even tell my parents about Ali." Pooja sighed unhappily, "Just wait and see, as soon as you've left here, there will be more boys coming to see me."

"Not if I have anything to do with it, just wait and see what magic I weave at dinner tonight."

They spent the rest of the afternoon chatting about the academy and their friends, remembering all the good times from their first year. Pooja had received an email from Yudi the previous day, apparently Alekh was behaving so well that Yudi's parents thought he was the best son-in-law they could ever hope for. Only Yudi and Neelu knew that Alekh would secretly drink once they'd gone to bed.

Naina became slightly emotional after hearing this, "You guys are the best friends I've ever had, I don't know what's going to happen after we all leave KMA. We won't lose touch will we?"

"Of course not, Naina. Our connections with each other will always remain clear and strong." Pooja reassured her.

Finally it was evening and the girls headed downstairs to have dinner with Pooja's parents.

Just as Naina had suspected, Pooja's mother brought up the issue within five minutes of them beginning dinner.

"Naina Putar, why don't you convince Pooja to make a connection with somebody? She needs to delete Rohit from her memory and make a new entry in her phonebook."

"Auntyji, I think that Pooja is willing to make a connection with the right boy." Naina replied calmly, waiting to see what the reply would be.

"But we showed her six possible connections this week, and she didn't want to have talktime with any of them! You tell her that she should be trying harder, Naina."

Naina glanced over at Pooja, waiting for her permission before she spoke again. Pooja gave a small nod as if to say she trusted Naina to say the right thing.

"Auntyji, what if Pooja has already found a boy for herself?"

Pooja's mother's face lit up with joy, "Hai Rabba! Is this true? Nothing could be better than that, all we want is for her life to be settled." Putting down her fork, she stared at Naina, completely focused on finding out more. "Who is this boy?"

"Well, he studies with us at KMA. He's a very sweet and simple boy. He respects women a lot and he has loved Pooja for a long time. Everyone who knows him knows that he has a very pure heart."

"Who is it, do we know him?"

Naina was about to tell them when Pooja made a sign for her to stop. Naina sighed, thinking that Pooja had lost her courage, but then Pooja started to speak.

"His name is Ali, mummy, and I love him a lot." Then she stared down at her plate, too scared to say anything else.

Pooja's mother and father stared at her in astonishment, there was utter silence until Pooja's father spoke.

"And you never told us? For so many days we thought that you still loved Rohit, we brought so many boys to see you, and you never said anything?"

"I was scared, Papa." Pooja whispered, still not looking up from her plate, "I was afraid that you wouldn't be happy that I…"

"And why not?" Pooja's father asked, "He seemed like a very nice boy when we met him. If you've decided to make your connection with him then why should we object?"

"Really, Papa?" Pooja looked up, overjoyed, and seeing that her father was serious, she got out of her chair so quickly that it fell over and ran around the table to hug him. "And you, Mummy? Are you also happy?"

"Of course, Pooja." Her mother told her, getting emotional "We were worried that you would never forget Rohit, all we wanted was that you should settle down with someone."

Pooja was so incredibly happy that she couldn't stay still for even a moment. "Oh Naina!" she exclaimed, grabbing Naina's hands and jumping up and down, "Thank you so much! I'm going to go and call Ali right now to give him the good news!" And she ran off to make the phone call.

Naina smiled, at least somebody's problems with their parents had been sorted out.

Pooja's parents smiled at each other, glad that their little girl was happy. In the distance they could all hear Pooja talking excitedly on the phone with Ali.

"So Putar, do you have a special connection with anyone?" Pooja's mother asked Naina.

Naina smiled. It was lucky that they didn't know the truth. "Yes Auntyji, I do." She told her, "I just wish that my parents could be convinced as easily as you were."

"Just keep faith in God, Naina, everything will work out."

Naina certainly hoped so.

i feel like naina right now.. u described everything so well!! i wish i was her.. i'd feel like i'm floating... but then my parents would probably pull me down lol.. ok sry i cant figure out what i'm writing so i'll just say: you've really got a brilliant sense, n keep it up! 👏

hey very good part.....i cant belive that naina's lie to her parents became that true. 😆 plz contniue soon

Originally posted by: ami_princess

hey very good part.....i cant belive that naina's lie to her parents became that true. 😆 plz contniue soon

same here😆

Hey guys, here's your next part! I hope you like it, and that Raj isn't behaving too out of character!

Chapter 23:

Raj arrived back at the academy one day earlier than the cadets would, and could barely contain his glee that the holidays were about to end. He had missed Naina terribly ever since he had dropped her at Pooja's house, and finally the next day his torment was about to end. He was so cheerful that he gave Suriji a hug when he saw him.

"How were your holidays Suriji?" Raj asked him.

"They were fine, putar. Yours must have been good too, judging by how happy you are!"

"They certainly were, Suriji. Sometimes I think we all need a good holiday from KMA."

Raj spotted Major Nair, who had been staring at him with a suspicious look on his face and decided that he'd better tone down his behaviour. He left the mess rather quickly to get away from the Major, afraid that he might somehow figure out the truth.

Raj was strolling down the corridor towards his office whistling, when Dr Shalini came out of the infirmary.

"Hi Captain Shekawat!" she greeted him, then taking in his grin and the tune he had been whistling, she gave him a curious look. "It certainly seems like you had a good holiday."

"I did indeed, Dr Shalini." Raj replied smiling, "How was yours?"

"Well, mine was fine but I don't think it matched up to yours by the look of things." She knew something had to have happened, the change in Raj was remarkable. Before the holidays he had been wandering around sadly as if somebody had run over his pet dog, and now he looked like he was on top of the world. "So what did you do on your holidays?"

"Uh," Raj started, and couldn't think of anything to tell her. "I, uh, went to Delhi. Saw some friends, read some books, you know… I have to go, Doctor." He added rather hurriedly and left there quickly.

Dr Shalini's nose for gossip never failed her. Something was definitely up and she was going to figure it out.

However by the end of the day she was just about ready to scream at Raj. He had wandered into her infirmary five times since the morning, usually just to fiddle with some of her medical equipment, start a short conversation about something unimportant and then walk out again whenever she tried to ask about his holiday.

It was 4pm and he had just walked in for the sixth time. Raj was examining her BP monitoring machine with great fascination when Shalini lost her cool. "Captain!" she exclaimed rather loudly to get his attention, and Raj looked up surprised. "Is there a reason why you keep wandering into my room? Do you have some type of problem that you need help with, or do you want to tell me something?"

Raj was conflicted, he desperately wanted to tell Dr Shalini the truth. He knew that if there was one friend of his who would understand, it would be her. However he was also afraid to tell her the truth in case she disapproved or told him that he had made a mistake. He really didn't need to hear that right now when he was so unsure himself of what he was doing. This was the debate that he had been having with himself all day, to tell or not to tell. Raj sighed, realised it was a bad idea and decided that he should leave the room before he said anything.

"Halt!" Shalini called out just before he reached the door and Raj froze where he stood before turning around to face her with a quizzical look on his face. "If you walk out that door right now without telling me what's going on, then you are not to come back in it until you're ready to say something. You're driving me crazy!" Shalini told him, well and truly exasperated.

She could see the war of emotions on Raj's face as he tried to decide what he should do. Finally he sighed, closed the infirmary's door and then walked over to her desk, collapsing into one of her chairs.

"Dr Shalini, I'm in love." He announced somewhat melodramatically and then crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her, waiting for her response.

Shalini rolled her eyes at his behaviour. "Well thank goodness it isn't anything more serious than that."

"More serious than this? This is very serious, Shalini! I have no idea what I'm doing and quite frankly I'm scared of how this will turn out." He sighed, becoming more serious. He really did need advice, and Shalini was the only person he could trust to confide in.

"So how far has it gone?" she asked him.

Raj looked at her in surprise, "Aren't you going to at least check who it is I'm in love with?"

"Raj, I'm not an idiot." Shalini told him, sounding as though she was offended. "And I'd have to be one not to have figured out who you were in love with by now."

"So then who is it?" Raj asked her, wanting to double check that Shalini and he really were on the same wave length.

"Naina of course, who else?" Shalini told him, sitting down in the chair opposite his.

"So when did you figure it out?"

"If I'm honest, then after your solitary confinement. But I tried to convince myself that I was wrong, because I knew how disastrous it would be." She looks at him seriously, "Raj, it could still be disastrous for you."

"I know, Shalini." He looked downcast again, "And that's why I need advice from you, I need to figure out what I should do."

"Well then answer my earlier question, how far has it gone?"

"Quite far," Raj had wanted to leave it there but was shocked at the expression on Shalini's face, "Not that far! Please, Shalini, I'm not that type of guy."

"Thank god," Shalini muttered, "Or we really would have had something to worry about. In that case, can you please be a bit more specific about exactly how far it has gone?"

"She knows I love her, I know she loves me, we've made the decision that we want to be together." Raj summed it up briefly, under no circumstances was he going to mention anything about kissing…

"And this happened on the holidays?"

"Yes." No need to go into further detail…

"And how did Naina's parents take it?"

"They don't know." Raj pauses, and then decides that he might as well tell Shalini everything if he's going to receive meaningful advice. "And they can't know. They hate me."

"They hate you? Since when? I thought that they liked you, it seemed that way when they came to the academy."

"Are you ready to listen a long story?" Raj asked Shalini.

"Always," she replied, and he began to tell her the entire truth.

**

By the end, she was entirely speechless. Then she reached over and impulsively gave him a quick hug.

"I had no idea," she told him, tears in her eyes, "To have kept that inside you for so long… And for Naina to forgive you and be brave enough to accept that she loves her… and her parents…"

Raj held up a hand to stop Shalini going over the story once again. "So what's your advice?"

Shalini thought for a moment before she replied. "Don't do anything that you can be court-martialed for." She finally told him with a small grin on her face.

"That's it? I just poured out my entire story to you, for you to tell me something that I'd already figured out?" Raj sighed, this had been a mistake to begin with. He shouldn't have said anything.

"Sorry," Shalini told him "I'll try to be more serious. Look Raj, your relationship with Naina is not going to be easy. For one thing, you're both going to have to stop yourselves from doing anything that would expose you while she's at this academy. Next, you'll have to somehow win over her parents and that doesn't seem like it's going to be an easy task."

Raj nodded, he'd been thinking about these same problems over and over again without finding a solution.

"I can't help you with Naina's parents," Shalini informed him, "But I can do my best to stop anybody finding out about the two of you here, as long as you promise me that you won't do anything that you shouldn't be doing."

Raj blushed at this, he wasn't really that keen to be discussing that side of things with Shalini, even if she was a doctor and his friend. "Of course I promise, you know that I wouldn't compromise Naina in that way." Not to mention his own career and conscience.

"So then my advice to you is to try to act like nothing has changed," Shalini told him seriously, "Which means no more whistling as you walk down the hallway or hugging Suriji in the mess."

Raj wondered how she'd heard about that, but by now he'd realised that Shalini eventually heard about everything.

"Always try to be discrete and don't spend too much time alone together. As long as you and Naina can exercise some restraint and avoid anybody finding out about your relationship, then I can say with confidence," and Shalini took one of Raj's hands in hers, squeezing it for emphasis. "That you two will be one of the happiest and most perfect couples I've ever seen. After everything you've been through together already, I'm sure that you can overcome any obstacles in the future."

"Thanks Shalini," Raj told her, "I think that I really needed to hear this from you. I was just feeling so nervous about everything, but now I'm feeling a bit more relaxed and I think I can handle all this."

She patted him on the shoulder and he got up to go, smiling at her with genuine happiness.

"I'm glad that I've got a friend like you, Shalini." He told her, "It means a lot that I can come to talk to you about these things."

Shalini smiled as he walked out the door, whistling another tune. She was also glad, in these times genuine friends were hard to find.