Hey guys, I hope you enjoy this next part as much as I think you will!!
**
Sonali asks for her room mate to be changed and Sherry ends up with Pooja while Vishali moves in with Sonali.
Pooja seems happy to have Sherry as her room mate but is also a little bit nervous, knowing very well by now about her bad temper.
"Don't worry," Sherry tells her sarcastically, "I'm not going to slap you." Pooja relaxes, until Sherry continues that sentence, "Not unless you say anything against my Bhabhie anyway."
"Of course I wouldn't," Pooja tells her hastily, "You know Naina is one of the only people I've made a proper connection with at this academy, no matter what she always understands my outgoings…"
Sherry privately thought that this was quite a miracle.
"It's just that it was quite a shock," Pooja tells her, "For awhile my network became jammed after I heard it, I mean for Naina's brother to be…"
"Pooja, nobody can choose their relatives." Sherry tells her seriously, and Pooja is surprised to hear the genuine pain in Sherry's voice. "And nobody should be held responsible for their sins either." Sherry continues, her expression unreadable.
And Pooja continues to look at her in surprise, because she has never heard Sherry express herself this seriously without any type of sarcasm in the time she's been here.
**
Naina can't eat she's so nervous, she's been trying to eat one piece of toast for the last five minutes but she just can't get it down her throat. Her hands keep shaking as she tries to tear it into bite size pieces and eventually Raj takes the piece of bread out of her hands and begins to do it himself, tearing a small piece off and offering it to her.
As he brings the bread to her mouth with his right hand, he lifts his left to smooth her hair, and Naina leans into his touch, closing her eyes briefly as a single tear slips down her cheek. And for his sake at least she takes the bread, forcing herself to swallow it.
He picks up another piece of bread, trying to encourage her to eat more, but Naina shakes her head. Instead she placees her hands on top of his offered one, grasping it.
With his spare hand, Raj reaches out to caress her cheek softly and Naina draws strength from that small gesture.
"I'll be with you throughout this," he tells her, "I'll be right by your side. Tehre's nothing to be scared about."
And she isn't so very scared anymore, except of losing him.
Because she really does love him, oh god how she loves him.
The moment that Naina had realised that BC had found out her biggest fear hadn't been the exposure of her past. It had been that she would have to leave him.
Because in these short few months together he has become so much a part of her that she doesn't know how she would be able to live apart from him.
And Naina now definitely understands why it is that her brother loved him so much, trusted him so much, even enough to ask him to…
There is a knock at the door and they both look up to find Shalini standing there hesitantly.
"Come in Shalini," Raj tells her, dropping his hand from Naina's facde. "We were just having some breakfast…"
"How are you now, Naina?" Shalini asks her, clearly concerned, crossing the room and putting a comforting hand on Naina's shoulder.
"Better…" Naian replies quietly, "I'm just waiting for this all to be over."
"There's not long to go now," Shalini tells her reassuringly, "Just don't lose your confidence, Suriji and I are both with you, and I suspect that Lolitaji and Ritu will be as well when they hear your side of the story. Brigadier Chandook can't throw you out for such a reason."
Naina gives Shalini a small smile, trying to reassure her that she really is doing okay.
"I can't believe how stupid I was,' Shalini tells them, "When you first arrived I was so nosy, trying to find everything out. I'm really sorry about that."
"There was no way that you could've known," Raj tells her, "and it was perfectly natural for you to be curious about Naina."
They all stay silent for a moment, Shalini's hand still on Naina's shoulder as she looks at the clock.
"Well are you ready to go?" Shalini asks them, "We should probably head over there soon."
Naina nods, and holding Raj's hand tightly, they follow Shalini out of the room.
A smile comes to Raj's face when he sees the sight that greets them outside the door, the six cadets who have been waiting for them to come out. Aalekh leans against the wall with his arms crossed, his posture tense. Sherry and Huda stand near by him, Sherry twisting a strand of brightly coloured hair around one finger nervously while Huda watches her with interest on his face. Yudi paces up and down unable to control his nervous energy and Ali and Pooja are deep in conversation, whispering to each other.
As soon as they see Raj, Naina and Shalini, they all stand to attention.
"We're all here to send our support sms's to you." Pooja tells her emotionally, "Nobody should cut your connection with this academy."
"And if they do… then they'll find this entire academy pulled down." Aalekh says in a quietly dangerous undertone.
"We support you, ma'am." Ali tells her, "Innocent people should never be blamed for crimes they didn't commit, it's injustice."
Naina smiles, knowing how deeply the serious young man feels about justice and principles.
"They just can't throw you out," Yudi claims passionately, "We'll start a petition or go on a hunger strike. We'll…"
"Arre Yudi-e, why do you fear when Huda is here?" Their Jat friend ask, "Let them just try anything and they'll see."
"See Bhabhie," Sherry tells her, "You've got lots of supporters already, what is there to fear from those guys? Two of them don't have enough hair and one of them has too much of it on his face."
This finally does make Naina smile properly, and the cadets grin at each other in triumph. "Thank you all," Naina tells them a little emotionally, "You really have made me feel more confident now."
"Yes thank you cadets," Raj tells them, "Your support means a lot to us. Now all we can do is hope for the best." They all nod, looking rather tense, and Raj, Naina and Shalini move along towards the room where the hearing is to be held, meeting Suriji outside who places a fatherly hand on Naina's head, telling her to keep faith in god.
Walking into the room they all sit along one side of the table, Raj and Naina in the centre with Shalini next to Naina and Suriji next to Raj. The rest of the paricipants soon arrive as well, BC taking a seat at the head of the table, and Major Bhargav, Major Nair, Ritu and Lolita sitting along the other side.
"We all know why we're here today." Brigadier Chandook announces gruffly. "I always believe in fair hearings, and so Mrs Shekawat will get exactly that. This is an informal opportunity to hear her and Captain Rajveer's side of the story before deciding whether she should be allowed to stay in the academy or not."
The very idea of them deciding whether she can stay or not makes Raj's blood boil but he stays quiet, knowing that this was probably the best way of resolving the issue successfully. All he could hope for was that Naina would come through this with her self-confidence intact. If they broke her then he would never forgive them, and nor would he ever give up until he had put the pieces back together again.
"And so what excuse do you have for bringing her to the academy in the first place without revealing who she really was?" Brigadier Chandook asked Captain Rajveer, deciding to start with him.
"Sir, if you recall then it was you who requested me to bring my wife here." Raj tells him, "In fact you practically ordered me too otherwise I would lose my post here. If I didn't want to reveal who Naina was, then it was for her happiness, to allow her to live in peace here without rumours or accusations."
"What I don't understand," Major Bhargav interjects, "Is what Captain Rajveer, as a loyal soldier of this country, had to gain by marrying her in the first place. Well… apart from the obvious of course."
Raj clenches his fist, unable to control his anger at this statement. This man has no right, no right to be saying anything to Naina. Raj knows that he's purposefully trying to hurt her, to upset her so that she becomes angry. He just hopes that Naina doesn't fall for the tactic.
"You're right, he had absolutely nothing to gain by marrying me." Naina says emotionally, "He compromised his reputation, his career, everything that he'd worked hard for, and why? To protect his best friend's family, a friend who had already been declared a traitor."
Major Bhargav rolls his eyes, "Oh how wonderful, how mahan. Captain Rajveer sacrificed his own happiness in order to spare you from ruin. Well why don't you spare me the fake sob story and admit that you married him for ulterior motives in order to find a way to infiltrate the army."
"You're partially right again," Naina admits quietly, not reacting to the shocked faces in the room. "I did marry him for ulterior motives. I married him because it was the only way to save my family from the despair and humiliation we had faced."
She locks eyes with Raj, and he can see the pain clearly written in her face, he shakes his head as if to tell her that she doesn't have to do this, doesn't have to bare her soul in front of so many people but Naina is determined. She's not going to stop now.
"After Navin Bhaiyya's death everybody abandoned us, everybody." Naina tells them, "Friends, even family, nobody wanted to know us, and nobody wanted to help us. We were completely alone. My brother was the one who was declared a traitor, but even after he died, it was us who continued to serve the sentence.
"My father was diagnosed with cancer," Naina continues, "And we barely even managed to pay the bills, we ended up mortgaging our house to do so. My mother took up a job and even I considered leaving my studies but they wouldn't allow me to. My father suffered in pain and nobody came even once to ask about his health, and everyday his worry grew about what would happen to my mother and me after his death."
Naina suddenly stops, and Raj knows that she's wavering, not sure whether to continue or not. It's the first time that she's talking about these things at such length, and that too in front of a room full of strangers.
"Do you know what type of things we faced? Do you know what it was like to be asked how much a traitor's sister costs? To be asked whether…" Naina asks them, trembling now. "I know what it's like, and I know what I went through every single day, every time that I had to leave the house."
Raj aches for her, he aches to reach out and touch her, to comfort her. He can't believe that she has never told him this, but he knows that in her own way she was trying to protect him from the knowledge. And he wishes that he could make everybody who has ever hurt her pay for what they've done but he knows that it's not possible. It all makes sense now, the way that she had kept her head down when they first met, refusing to meet his eyes. She must have grown used to it, having to avoid people's eyes, trying to avoid their attention, their taunts.
"It was two years after Navin bhaiyya's death when Raj came to the house to check on us, to find out how our family was coping." Naina continues, a little bit calmer. "He saw the state we were in, and he asked whether he could do something to help, and my father… requested him to marry me."
And the room is silent, most of the occupants shocked, although Bhargav's face still has a sneer and Major Nair looks vaguely bored.
"We got married the very next day," Naina continues, "In a way there was no other choice for both of us…neither of us could refuse my father's last wish. If we haven't told anyone the truth then can you really blame us? Don't you think I'd hoped that after marriage I could leave the past behind… begin again. But no matter what, somehow it always catches up with me."
And glancing at the faces around her, Naina sees shock on most of them, including Brigadier Chandook's. She wonders whether he's ever bothered to think about what happens to the families of those who are accused of being traitors before, whether it has ever mattered to him. Perhaps today for the first time he has realised that the innocent suffer alongside those who are perceived as guilty, that even justice turns into injustice for the unlucky.
"Yes, well…" Major Bhargav starts to say, but Raj cuts across him before he can finish the sentence.
"I think that Naina has explained our situation well enough, in fact I think there's nothing left for either of us to say. Now, if you'll excuse us, I'm not going to subject her to any more of this. You can make any decision that you see fit, but I don't believe that either of us have done anything to be ashamed of." He tells them in a steely voice, one which will accept no opposition. Then reaching out he takes Naina's hand, and she follows him out of the room and towards their quarters.
"You did very well today," he tells her once they're inside, "I'm really proud of you."
But Naina doesn't answer instead she just keeps standing there, clutching his hand so tightly that her knuckles have begun turning white, trying to frame the words that she has so far been unable to say, the words that she could not say in that room, at that time…
Raj knows that she's trying to express something, trying to work up the courage to tell him something and so he stays silent, waiting for her to be ready.
"Raj… I…. whatever I said today, about why I married you…."
"You don't need to worry, Naina." He tells her, "You told the truth and I admire you for that. We both know that we didn't get married under the best circumstances."
"But I… I wanted to tell you…." And making up her mind, she drops his hand, only to bring her own hands up to frame either side of his face. Raj raises his own hands to cover hers with them, pressing her slender fingers against his cheeks.
"I wanted to tell you," she whispers, more sure of herself as she looks into his eyes, "That I do love you… I really do."
And Raj feels his heart leap with joy because he's been waiting for this, waiting for longer than he can possibly express. Perhaps he's been waiting ever since the day he met her, the day he found out that they would be getting married. He wants to pick her up and twirl her around, and laugh, and sing.
But instead he slowly lifts her hands off his cheeks with his own, before pressing a kiss onto both of her palms.
"Naina, you have no idea how much I love you." He tells her, and her eyes begin shining with unshed tears. "And I promise today that no matter what I will always love you, I will always be by your side and I will always protect you."
And as Naina bursts into happy tears, Raj crushes her to him, showering featherlight kisses on her face, Naina reaches up to comb her fingers through his hair, and unable to stop himself, Raj kisses her on the lips gently, with only the slightest of pressure and he imagines… that this is what heaven must feel like. He stops himself from deepening the kiss, knowing that now is not the time… that for today, this is enough.
It's more than he ever could have hoped for.
It's then that there's a knock on the door, and reluctantly leaving her, Raj crosses the room to open it. Shalini is standing there, and for a moment the expression on her face is unreadable until she breaks into a grin.
"The decision has been made," she tells him, "Brigadier Chandook agreed that Naina has already suffered enough. She'll be staying here with us."
And finally allowing himself to do what he wishes, Raj picks her up and twirls her around, laughing with joy.
Because now, nothing in this world can separate him from his wife.
**
The ringing of the phone wakes him up at five am, and Raj carefully tries to move towards it, trying not to wake up a sleeping Naina who mumbles something into his chest.
Picking it up, he glances down at her before quietly answering 'Hello'.
"I wonder if you'll even recognise my voice anymore." The person on the other end of the line says.
"Who is this?" Raj asks, still only half awake and trying to recognise the strangely familiar voice.
"There you go, Rajveer Singh Shekawat has forgotten his friends… so much happened, and you never once called up to tell your old friend."
And suddenly it clicks in Raj's mind, the voice, his friend… "Chauhan… it's you?" he asks in disbelief, "It's been such a long time… too long."
"You're right about that, we should never have lost touch."
"So you've heard already then," Raj replies, resignation in his voice, "That was quick."
"Raj, everybody has heard." Abhimanyu tells him. "Within minutes of BC finding out practically the entirety of headquarters knew."
"Typical," Raj mutters, "I know you must be annoyed at me for not telling you Chauhan, but I'm willing to explain everything. When can we have a proper chat?"
"Tomorrow." Abhimanyu tells him, "We'll talk about it properly then."
"Okay, so what time should I call you then?" Raj asks him, "Or will you be calling me?"
"Oh neither one of us needs to call the other." Abhimanyu tells him, "I'm coming to KMA… I just received my transfer orders late last night."
And Raj realises that a part of his past is finally about to catch up with him again.
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