LRL: ’The Ties That Bind’ Upd pg 41 - Page 3

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Chapter 4:

"Captain!"

Raj had been heading down the corridor towards his classroom when the familiar voice called out to him. He turned around to find Dr Shalini hurrying towards him and smiled.

"What is it, Doctor?" he asked her, "Anything you need?"

"Well Captain, I was wondering where your wife was." Shalini said, looking around as if expecting her to be just behind Raj. "I thought you were picking her up this morning."

"Well Doctor Shalini, my wife has arrived and she is here, but right now I'm heading to my next class, so obviously she won't be going with me." Raj was quite amused by her eagerness to meet Naina, ever since Shalini had learnt that his wife was coming she had been bombarding him with questions which he had been successfully avoiding.

"I can't believe you're abandoning her to go to class on her very first day!" Shalini exclaimed, "What's she going to do by herself?"

"It's only for an hour, Shalini, and Naina is fine, she's getting settled in." Raj told her patiently, "But if you wouldn't mind looking in on her then I would appreciate it. She wanted to call her mother to let her know she arrived safely so maybe you could show her where the phone is?"

Shalini's face brightened, excited to be able to meet Raj's wife at last. "Of course I don't mind!" she exclaimed, "I'll just go and meet her right now, she'll be fine with me until you come back!"

She was already hurrying off when Raj called after her. "Shalini!" he said, trying to stop her before she had already gone too far away. She turned around expectantly, waiting for him to continue. "Naina is very quiet," Raj warned her, "And very shy too, so don't expect her to be too talkative."

Shalini nodded and giving him a mock salute, continued walking towards his room.

Raj just smiled and shook his head slightly. Naina might be quiet but Shalini was definitely talkative enough for both of them, so he knew she would be in good hands.

**

Naina had just finished putting her things away when she heard a knock at the door to the outside and went to open it.

Shalini's first thought when she saw the girl who opened the door, was how one of the cadets had gotten into Captain Rajveer's room and what they were doing there.

However Shalini quickly realised by the way this girl was looking at her expectantly that this was no cadet at all but Captain Rajveer's wife.

"Yes?" The girl asked her quietly, and Shalini shook herself out of her thoughts, realising that if she stood there staring for too long Captain Rajveer's wife would start wondering what was wrong with her.

"You must be Naina," Shalini started off, wanting to at least check if she was right. The girl nodded and Shalini breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm Dr Shalini Singhal, and I'm the doctor here at KMA. I ran into Captain Rajveer while he was on the way to class and he asked me if I could check on you."

Naina nodded and gave her a small smile, "Please come in," she told Shalini politely, and opened the door wider so that she could come into the room.

Shalini followed her inside thinking that Rajveer's warning had been correct, his wife was very quiet.

"Have you settled in yet?" Shalini asked her, "Let me know if you need any help unpacking, luckily we don't have any cadets in the infirmary at the moment, so I'm quite free."

"Do the cadets end up in the infirmary often?" Naina asked her, sounding quite concerned.

"Well that depends on which cadet it is." Shalini replied with quite a bit of humour, "Some of them are more accident prone than others. But training is quite tough and most of them will get small injuries occasionally."

Naina nodded and Shalini suddenly remembered that she was also training to become a doctor. "I heard that you're also studying medicine," she asked her, "Are you enrolled in the college here in town?"

"Yes, it will be my first day tomorrow." Naina replied, "I'm in my fourth year now."

"Perhaps you'll be able to assist me in the infirmary sometimes," Shalini suggested, "I wouldn't mind some extra help and it will give you some practical training."

Naina nodded, "I would like that." She told Shalini with a small smile. She looked around the room somewhat helplessly, "I wish I could offer you some tea or coffee but I have no idea where anything is kept, so it might take me awhile."

"It's no problem," Shalini told her reassuringly, "You must be tired after your journey anyway, if you like I'll show you where the phone is, Captain Rajveer said you might like to call your mother."

"That would be good," Naina replied, "She must be worrying about whether I've arrived or not."

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Shalini asked her as they walked towards the phone, she noticed that Naina hesitated before she replied, looking down towards the ground.

"No, I don't." Naina told her, "Maybe that's why my mother worries more."

"And it's the first time you've left home after marriage, isn't it?" Shalini asked her, wanting to find out more about the girl walking next to her. She was so very quiet, and despite how young she was, she had an air of maturity to her that most young people didn't.

"Yes," Naina replied a bit slowly, "I was studying, and because of Rajveer's work…" she trailed off, as if unsure of what else to say.

They reached the mess which was currently empty since all of the students were attending their classes and drills, and Shalini called out for Suriji.

He quickly appeared with his usual smile on his face, "Good morning, Dr Shalini!" he told her, "And who is this charming young lady with you? Is she a new addition to the academy?"

Shalini hid her smile while Naina looked a little embarrassed.

"No Suriji, this is Naina…" at his continued look of confusion, Shalini decided that she had better just tell him, "Captain Rajveer's wife!"

Suriji's face suddenly broke out into a huge grin, "So this is Rajveer Putar's wife?" he asked, and shook Naina's hand enthusiastically. "Welcome to the academy Naina Putar, ai hai, kitni sohni ladhki hai!"

Naina looked even more embarrassed even as she smiled back at him, and Shalini thought she had better tell him why they were here before Naina started blushing.

"Well Suriji we're here to use the phone so that Naina can call her mother." She told him, and Suriji quickly led them over to the phone that was currently working, then he and Shalini stepped away while Naina dialled the number.

"Very quiet girl isn't she," Suriji remarked thoughtfully, "She seems very sweet too."

"She certainly is," Shalini told him, "Captain Rajveer had warned me she was quiet, I think she's just a bit shy. It will take her awhile to get used to life here."

Suriji nodded as they both watched Naina speak to her mother quietly on the phone. "You know she reminds me of somebody, I just can't work out who…" he was beginning to say, when Naina hung up the phone and came over to join them.

"How much for the call, Suriji?" she asked him quietly, starting to look for her purse in her bag.

"No, putar, I'm not going to take any money from you." Suriji told her kindly, "It's your first day here with us, and after all, I know your husband since his academy days when he and Navin used to create such mischief. I'm just glad he's found himself such a sweet girl."

Looking over at Naina, Shalini noticed that she had turned a bit pale and wondered what the matter was. But Naina recovered quickly, nodding shyly in reply to Suriji's words.

"Thank you very much, Suriji." She told him politely.

"There's no need for thanks, putar." He told her in a very fatherly way, "Just think of this canteen as your own, come and sit here whenever you please, I'll always be happy to have you here."

Naina nodded, a small smile on her face, and Shalini decided it was time for them to leave there. Noticing that Naina seemed a bit tired, she suggested that they go back to the room and Naina nodded as if relieved.

It was when they had entered the bedroom and Naina had put her purse down that Shalini noticed the photo on the bedside table and picked it up to examine it. It had obviously been taken at their wedding and neither of them was smiling. If anything Shalini had even more questions about this marriage than she had before. She had always been a naturally curious person, and it was when she sensed a mystery that she really switched to full detective mode.

Naina seemed tired and Shalini realised that she had traveled a long way and probably hadn't had much sleep.

"I'll leave you to rest," she told Naina, "Captain Rajveer should be back soon, you can take a short nap until then."

Naina nodded thankfully, really just wanting to collapse on the bed. So much had happened today, and then Suriji mentioning her brother… it had been difficult to stop herself from reacting.

When Shalini was gone she lay down on the bed and quickly drifted off to sleep, exhausted by everything she had been through that day.

**

Shalini was back in the infirmary when she heard a knock on the door and looked up to see Raj standing there.

"Did everything go alright?" he asked her, obviously on his way back from class "Naina managed to call her mother?"

"It went fine," Shalini tells him, "She made the call and after that I took her back to the room so she could rest."

Raj nodded, "Thanks for that, I felt bad about leaving her on the first day, but you know a soldier's duty has to come first."

"She's really sweet," Shalini told him with a smile, "I just hadn't expected her to be so…"

"Quiet?" Raj asked, "I warned you about that."

"Actually I was going to say young." Shalini told him, "I thought that she was a cadet at first, there must be quite an age difference between you."

Raj was a bit annoyed at her comment, but he knew he had to expect it. After all, it would be obvious to everybody exactly how young Naina was.

"There's a difference of seven years," he told her, "Naina will be turning twenty one in a month." He only knew when her birthday was because her mother had informed him in a letter once. He remembered he had been posted up north near the border when the letter had arrived and not knowing what else to do, he had sent her a pair of silver and turquoise earrings he found in the market. He remembered that she had sent a note back thanking him, the only time she had ever written to him.

"That's quite a difference," Shalini remarked, obviously still digging around for information. "How did you two get married?"

"In the normal way," Raj told her, a bit amused by Shalini's not so subtle attempts to find out more, "You know, taking the rounds around the fire, putting on the mangal sutra. Were you expecting us to have gone to a church instead?"

"Very funny," Shalini told him, rolling her eyes, "You know what I mean, was it a love marriage or an arranged marriage?"

"It was an arranged marriage," Raj tells her quietly, not sure how else to describe it. The only difference is that their marriage was arranged only one day in advance. "It's a very long story, Shalini, and I think we'll have to save it for another day. Right now I'd like to go and check on Naina."

"Alright, but I hope you know that I want all of the details eventually." Shalini told him with a smile, "You can't escape me forever."

Raj smiled at this. She certainly wouldn't be finding out all the details, however he would have to think up another version of how it happened because knowing Dr Shalini, she wasn't going to give up until she found out.

**

Raj knocked softly on the door but when he received no answer he opened it and went inside. Making his way to the bedroom he found Naina fast asleep on the bed, curled up tightly into herself. Standing there he watched her, noticing that at least she looked a bit more carefree when she was asleep.

Shalini was right, she was very young, much younger than he was. He worried about the age difference between them. At this age she shouldn't have been married at all, she should've been enjoying herself at college and falling in love with boys in her class. Instead she had had to grow up far too fast.

Naina stirred, perhaps realising that somebody had been watching her and opened her eyes.

Seeing Raj standing there, she hurriedly sat up, rubbing at her eyes tiredly.

"When did you arrive back?" she asked him, smoothing out the salwar kameez she was wearing and beginning to plait her hair again.

"Just now," Raj told her, "You don't need to get up, you can keep sleeping if you like."

"No that's okay," Naina replied, "I just needed a short nap."

"Then if you like, I'll show you around the academy and we'll have lunch." Raj told her, "Did you meet Suriji when you made your call? Navin must have told you about him in his letters."

Naina nodded, "It was nice to finally meet somebody that Navin talked about so much," she told Raj, "He seems very nice."

"Then shall we go see the academy?" Raj asked as she slipped on her shoes, "It's not so very big, but it's good for you to become familiar with it."

Nodding, Naina followed him out of the room. She stayed close by to his side as they walked around, a bit overwhelmed. Navin had described this place so many times in his letters that she had felt as if she knew it. Raj showed her the academy buildings, the outside of the hostels and the parade ground before leading her back to the main building.

"I should introduce you to Brigadier Chandook," He told Naina with a smile, "After all, he's the reason that you're here in the first place."

Taking her to Brigadier Chandook's office, he knocked sharply on the door and waited to be asked to come in. Gesturing to Naina to follow him, he stepped in, saluted the General and stood to attention. Naina walked in and stood quietly a step behind him.

"Yes, Captain Rajveer." Brigadier Chandook said, waiting for Raj to say what he wanted.

"Sir, I wanted to introduce you to my wife." Raj told him, "This is Naina Singh Shekawat. Naina, this is Brigadier Chandook, KMA's commandent."

"I'm very pleased to meet you, Sir." Naina told him, thinking that he looked exactly the way Navin had described him, as if he was tough yet fair, and a strong disciplinarian.

"I'm pleased to meet you too, Mrs Shekawat." Brigadier Chandook told her, looking her up and down as if inspecting one of his cadets. "I hope you'll be comfortable here in our academy. Have you settled in properly."

"Yes, Sir." She told him, "Rajveer was just giving me the tour so that I can become more familiar with KMA."

"I believe you're joining your new college from tomorrow."

"That's right, Sir." Raj replied for her, "I'll take her for registration in the morning."

"If you wish then you can always help Dr Singhal out in the infirmary," Brigadier Chandook suggested, "I know that she can often use some extra hands."

"I would like that, Sir." Naina told him, "Thank you very much."

"Then we'll go and take our lunch now, Sir." Raj told BC, glad that the meeting had gone so well.

"Carry on, Captain." Brigadier Chandook told him and they left the room.

Raj took Naina back to the mess and found a table for them. "I'll just go and get us some food," he told her, knowing how tired she really was even though she was pretending not to be, "You wait here and I'll be back in a minute."

Naina was just watching Raj talking with Suriji, probably discussing her, when the mess began to fill up, cadets walking in the door. A group of five walked in, looking tired.

"I swear Chief," one of them remarked, "I don't know if Major Nair is preparing us to fight at the border or run long distance for India in the Olympics. Why do we need to run so much?"

"Guru, it's all part of our training." A serious looking young man explained to him, "We can only become good soldiers if we're fit, otherwise how can we expect to outlast the enemy?"

"Good point, Ali." The only girl of the group told him, "We learnt this in hockey training too, without fitness you can't expect any long talk time, you'll be disconnected mid way through your conversation."

"Chal," Yet another one remarked, "Less talking and more eating, I don't want to train on an empty stomach."

It was then that the last of the bunch spotted Naina and a grin spread over his face. "Oy hoy, kya janani hai!" he remarked, "What's a girl like that doing in KMA? I hope she's come to join our batch. Now that would definitely make things here more fun."

Pooja looked over in the direction that Huda was pointing to where a girl who looked about their age was sitting.

"She must be new," Yudi remarked, "I've never seen her here before."

"Well if there's any new girl here, then Amardeep Huda should definitely go and welcome her." Huda remarked confidently, setting off for the table.

Suddenly something clicked in Pooja's mind, new… just arrived… "Wait Huda!" she called out, "I think that she's…" But Huda had already reached the table and pulled up a chair and the words died on Pooja's lips. "Too late." She muttered, hoping that the over confident Jat didn't manage to embarrass himself too much.

"What is it, Pooja?" Ali asked her, concerned at the way Pooja was currently shaking her head in embarrassment.

"Well there's only one new person that I can think of who was due to arrive today," Pooja told him, "Our Rajveer Sir's wife."

"Oh shit," Yudi said, "Then we'd better go over and stop Huda from embarrassing himself before it's too late."

Unfortunately it was already too late.

"Hello gori," Huda remarked confidently, pulling up the chair opposite Naina's, "You must be new here in KMA. Myself Amardeep Huda, I'm a first year cadet here. Are you joining our batch?" Without waiting for her reply, he continued quickly, "So what's a beautiful girl like you doing in a military academy?"

Raj turned around holding the plates of food to find Naina giving him a look that was partly amused and partly seemed to be requesting some help. Glancing at the other person who sat at her table he shook his head in amused disbelief, and headed over.

Pooja, Ali, Yudi and Alekh had also just arrived and Pooja was once again trying unsuccessfully to stop Huda.

"You know Huda, I think this is…" she was trying to tell him.

"What is it, Punjaben? Can't you see that I'm trying to talk to this girl?" Huda asked her impatiently.

"But Hudabhai, this is…" Ali also tried to tell him, and then stopped very embarrassed as Captain Rajveer came back over, putting the plates of food down on the table. Naina gave him a look of relief, having had no idea how to handle the boy sitting in front of her.

"Ah, Cadet Huda." Raj announced cheerfully, "I can see that you've met my wife Naina."

Huda just stared first at Captain Rajveer and then at Naina, before quickly getting up from the chair. "Sirji, I was just welcoming her to the academy," he said very hurriedly, wishing that he'd listened to what Pooja was trying to tell him.

"Well that's very nice of you, Cadet Huda." Raj told him, trying not to smile.

"Oy hath jao, Huda." Pooja told him, "If you've finished playing your ring tone then let the rest of us make our connections. Hi, I'm Cadet Pooja Ghai!" she announced cheerfully, smiling at Naina. Naina couldn't help but smile back at the very bright girl.

"I'm Cadet Ali Begh, ma'am." Ali said, snapping to attention.

"And I'm Cadet Yaduvansh Sahni, but everybody calls me Yudi."

"Apun Cadet Alekh hain." Alekh told her, as typically quiet as always.

"It's nice to meet all of you," Naina told them, "But you really don't have to call me ma'am, after all, I don't think I'm any older than any of you are."

Pooja giggled at that, "But you're our teacher's wife after all," she told her, "So we can't just call you by your first name."

"Really it's alright, cadets." Raj told them, "There's no need to be so formal with Naina. She's not going to be your teacher here."

"Alright Sir, we'll leave you to eat your lunch now." Pooja told him cheerfully, "We have another drill after lunch, so we'd better go and recharge our own batteries now."

"You go and do that, Cadet Ghai." Raj told her, "I'll see you all in class at three."

"See you then, Sir." Yudi told him, and everybody else echoed it.

"Welcome to the academy, ma'am." Ali told her before leaving, clearly unable to be any less formal with one of his teachers' wives.

Raj sat down opposite Naina once they were gone, noticing that she looked a bit overwhelmed.

"Don't be too worried," he told her, "Huda is utterly harmless, however he can't stop himself from flirting with every pretty girl he sees. He won't bother you again."

Naina nodded, she had been more amused than anything else, but not quite sure how to handle the situation.

"They all seem very nice," she told him, "And I can tell they all respect you a great deal."

"They're all quite special in their own ways." Raj told her, "And they've become quite inseparable. Pooja's room mate Vishali joins them sometimes but mainly it's the five of them getting up to mischief."

"Mischief?" Naina asked, "Is that possible in a military academy?"

"It definitely is," Raj told her, smiling. "I'll tell you some stories about what happened during my time at the academy one day. As for this bunch, in the very first week Cadet Begh ended up in the infirmary and Cadet Alekh ended up in solitary confinement due to what happened with ragging, but they've become a close bunch of friends since then."

Naina nodded, wishing that she didn't envy them so much. Ever since her brother had been accused, she hadn't had any real friends. Those who knew the truth had abandoned her, and she was always too afraid of others finding out the truth to really open up to them.

Was it possible that here at last, in the place her brother had spent the best years of his life, she might finally find somebody that she could trust?

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will really love to read how naina and Raj deal with the academy

They were just leaving the canteen when somebody entering collided with Naina, knocking her off balance. Raj quickly reached out a hand to steady her, holding her arm above the elbow until she regained her balance. It was only after making sure that she was fine that he looked up to check who had bumped into them.

"I'm so sorry," The smooth voice said very sweetly, "I was in such a hurry that I didn't see you there."

"That's alright," Raj told her, "No harm done."

"Aren't you going to introduce me, Captain Rajveer?" The very elegant woman wearing a sari asked, "If I'm not wrong, then this is the person that all of us have been anxious to meet."

"Of course I'll introduce you," Raj replied calmly, "Dr Mishra, this is my wife Naina. Naina, this is Dr Ritu Mishra, the academy's psychiatrist."

Naina politely put her hand out in greeting, and as Ritu shook it, she looked Naina up and down, intending to gain a better understanding of who the enemy actually was. After all, this girl had managed to ruin all of her plans simply by the very fact of her existence.

Naina was how Ritu might have imagined the wife of the oh-so-good-and-proper Captain Rajveer would be. She looked like a perfectly sweet, traditional and modest girl, just right for the goody goody army Captain. Looking over her rival, Ritu decided that she wouldn't be much of a challenge, all she would need to do was sew some doubt in the girl's mind and she would quite quickly be gone.

"You know it was quite a shock to find out that you existed," Ritu told her casually, "Before we found out that Raj's wife was coming to KMA, none of us even knew that he was married." She turns to Raj, a sweet smile on her face, "It was very bad of you, you know." She tells him, "You should've told us from the very beginning before you broke so many hearts."

Raj glances down at Naina uncomfortably, hoping that she doesn't take Dr Mishra's comments in the wrong way. He knows that she's been trying to flirt with him for the last month, and if he had been single then he would probably have been interested. But no matter what the circumstances of his marriage were, he takes his vows very seriously. However it would be very easy for Naina to get the wrong idea about him based upon this comment.

Raj needn't have worried, Naina understood perfectly why he might not have wanted to mention her to anybody. After all, if they had known he had a wife then it would've led to questions about why she wasn't there, questions that he wouldn't have been able to answer. However there was something that she hadn't liked about this woman's tone of voice, almost as if she was trying to suggest something about the way Rajveer had been behaving while Naina wasn't there. If there was one thing that Naina didn't appreciate, then it was people who created misunderstandings.

"It was nothing like that, Dr Mishra." Raj replied, trying to keep his tone calm even as he glanced at Naina who was regarding Ritu without any expression. "I just like to keep my private and professional lives separate."

"I agree," Naina said calmly, surprising Raj quite a bit. "There was no reason for Rajveer to discuss our marriage with anybody at KMA." Her expression doesn't change at all, and Raj realises that she has probably gotten used to hiding her feelings over the years.

However Dr Mishra's expression does change slightly, as her jaw tightens almost as if in annoyance. "I heard that you're studying medicine," she tells Naina sweetly, "So that makes us almost colleagues. What made you decide to become a doctor?"

However Raj decides that was quite enough for one day, he knows Naina is tired, and he's in no mood to deal with this right now. The less that everybody finds out about Naina's past the better, especially the resident psychiatrist. "You'll have to leave the psycho analysis for another day, Dr Mishra." He tells her, trying to keep his tone light, "Naina is quite tired after her journey, I just brought her to the canteen so that she could eat her lunch but I think it's best that she gets some rest now."

Before Ritu can say anything else, he quickly steers Naina out of the canteen, his hand back on her elbow. Naina doesn't protest, she really is exhausted after having almost no sleep during the night journey on the bus. She also realises what Raj realises, that it's better for the residents of KMA not to learn too much about her past. Because Naina knows that the moment anybody finds out the truth about her identity, Rajveer's mission may be compromised.

Reaching his quarters, Raj walks her inside to the bedroom, making sure that she's properly settled.

"If you need anything at all, I'll be in classroom 105 for most of the afternoon," he tells her, "You can always send an orderly to find me or go and see Dr Shalini."

"It's okay," Naina reassures him, "I think I'll take a nap and then freshen up, I shouldn't need anything at all."

"Then I'll see you in the evening," Raj promises her, and leaves, closing the door behind him.

As soon as he's gone, Naina curls up on the bed, not bothering to change out of her clothes. Within a few minutes she's sound asleep.

**

The cadets were relaxing outside in the sunshine while they waited for Major Nair to arrive for their next drill, grateful that they had a bit of extra time off.

"Well I think she's really sweet," Pooja remarked happily, "I'm so glad that my Veer has the perfect Zaara!"

Huda looked a bit annoyed, still embarrassed by the mistake that he had made earlier. "Yaar, why is it that simple, boring guys like Captain Rajveer get such beautiful girls? It's injustice, it really is. Girls like that should be with dudes like Huda."

Yudi scoffed at that. "Dude, look at yourself and then look at Captain Rajveer. He's a hero, and you only think that you're one."

"Tere to…" Huda got up, intending to chase Yudi, until Ali stepped in, shaking his head slightly at their behaviour.

"Rehne do, Hudabhai." He told him, "You must admit that Captain Rajveer doesn't have any equal as a soldier or a gentleman. Of course he should have a good wife."

Alekh had stayed silent while they discussed it, but even he was thinking about Captain Rajveer's wife. The others had noticed that she was sweet or that she was beautiful but he had noticed something else entirely. As somebody who had suffered in life, he recognised the signs of somebody else who had been equally as hurt. It was obvious in the hidden pain in her eyes, the quiet sadness in the way she sat and held herself.

Alekh didn't say much because he chose to observe instead. And he had definitely observed the protective way that Captain Rajveer acted around his wife, the way he glanced at her when she wasn't looking, with a concerned expression. He knew there was a story behind all this, but Alekh felt no need to find out what it was. It was their business not his, and he certainly wasn't going to mention what he was thinking to anybody else.

Their conversation was interrupted by Major Nair's arrival and all of the cadets quickly stood to attention, knowing very well what would happen if the Major caught them slacking off.

**

Naina woke up three hours later, slightly disorientated and unsure of where she was. It took her a moment to look around the room to remember where she had arrived and what she was doing there. Naina stretched and decided that she had probably slept enough for the time being, otherwise she wouldn't sleep at all that night. Still feeling tired, she took a shower in order to freshen up, dressed and then came out to the main room looking for something to do.

Her college didn't start until tomorrow, and Rajveer was currently busy teaching a class. Naina remembered his words from earlier and decided that she would head to the infirmary to see Dr Shalini, perhaps she would be able to be of some assistance. After all, so far besides the cadets, Shalini had been one of the most welcoming people that Naina had met in KMA.

Going outside and locking the door, Naina headed down the corridor towards the infirmary when a loud voice stopped her.

"Cadet! Where do you think you're going without your uniform during training hours?"

Naina assumed that some poor cadet was in trouble and turned around to check but she found herself alone in the corridor with a rather stern looking man.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not…" she began to say, realising that he had made a mistake.

"You should be saying, I'm sorry 'Sir', Cadet!" The man replied, "Are you new here?"

"Well actually, Sir…" Naina started to say, wanting to clear up the confusion as quickly as possible.

"Major Nair, she's not one of your cadets, she's Captain Rajveer's wife." Shalini broke in, coming out of the infirmary with an amused expression on her face. "That's why she's not wearing a uniform."

"Oh," Major Nair said, looking Naina up and down with an expression of contempt, "Carry on then." And he walked off down the corridor.

Naina stared after him, so this was the Major Nair that Navin had hated so much during his training days. She decided right then that everything Navin had ever said must have been true.

"Don't mind him," Shalini told her reassuringly, "He's just as friendly to everybody else. He especially hates all women and girls, and as you're Captain Rajveer's wife you're guaranteed not to win his approval."

Naina smiled at that, "I suppose he still thinks of Rajveer as one of his cadets," she suggested, "It must be difficult for him to treat him as a fellow officer now."

"I think you're perfectly right," Shalini told her, "Anyway, was there anything you wanted? Were you on your way to see me?"

"Actually I just woke up, and I have nothing to do." Naina admitted, "So I was wondering if I could be of any assistance in the infirmary. My college doesn't start until tomorrow and Rajveer is busy at the moment so…"

"I would appreciate that," Shalini told her, "Major Nair's drill has just finished so there's bound to be at least one injured student on their way here." She grinned at Naina after saying this, and Naina couldn't help but smile back.

They made their way to the infirmary and sure enough five minutes later, Ali and Huda helped a limping Yudi into the room as Alekh and Pooja followed them in.

"Oh fo Cadet, what happened this time?" Shalini asked, while he was one of her favourite cadets, Yudi was also one of the most accident prone. In the month they'd been in the academy he had already been in the infirmary five times for various reasons, this made it the sixth time.

"Major Nair was making us run while holding rifles," Yudi told her, "This damn Huda distracted me and I tripped over a tree root but Major Nair wouldn't let me stop until I finished the drill."

"Isn't that dangerous?" Naina asked Shalini, a bit shocked about the lack of concern about cadets health.

Shalini shrugged in a 'what can I do about it' way. "Now that you're here with us, you'll get used to it eventually." She told her, "That's what military academies are like."

She turned to Yudi, "Well Cadet, how about we let Naina try fixing you up."

Yudi looked a bit hesitant about that, after all he trusted Dr Shalini, but he had no idea what Captain Rajveer's wife would be like at fixing up his ankle. However he nodded and sat back while she first examined him, then selected a balm to apply then bandaged it deftly. It was done in less than ten minutes and he found himself amazed at how easily she had managed to relieve the pressure and ease his pain.

"Apply some more of the balm tonight," she told him, "And I know it will be difficult, but try to stay off your ankle as much as possible. Come back tomorrow and we'll re-do the bandaging."

Yudi stared at her in amazement as if shocked to see this side of her after meeting the quiet and polite side of Captain Rajveer's wife earlier.

"Don't look so surprised, Cadet Sahni." Shalini told him teasingly, "Naina is in her fourth year of medical college you know."

"That was rocking, ma'am." Yudi told her with a grin, "My ankle feels so much better now."

The rest of the cadets were now looking at her admiringly too, but Pooja was the one with the biggest grin on her face.

"At least now we know that when that mucchad… I mean Major Nair, makes our batteries go flat we have somebody else to go to for our recharge." She announced happily, and Shalini just smiled in amusement as Naina looked as if she was trying to work out a translation of Pooja's mobile speak.

"We'll just take Yudi to his room now, ma'am." Ali told Shalini politely, and the five of them set off together chatting and laughing.

"Ah, Cadet Ghai…" Naina started to say, still looking a bit confused.

"Don't mind, Pooja." Shalini told her, "It takes awhile to get used to her special language, but she's a very sweet girl. Completely obsessed by mobile phones but she's got a spark in her that I like."

Naina nodded, smiling slightly. "Could you tell me a bit more about them?" she asked Shalini, "They seem like a very fun bunch."

Laughing, as she thought of everything the five had gotten up to in their first month of the academy, Shalini began to tell Naina stories.

**

Raj arrived back to their room and was surprised to see it locked, momentarily he became worried about where Naina might have gone and if she was alright or not. She had seemed so tired that he had expected her to sleep for the rest of the afternoon.

"Hi Sir!" he heard a voice call out brightly as Pooja passed by him in the corridor, heading towards the library.

"Cadet Ghai, have you seen Naina by any chance?" he asked her.

"I think she might be with Dr Shalini, Sir." Pooja told him. "She was there earlier and she fixed Yudi's ankle for him. She's definitely not a standard handset, but is packed with extra features."

Raj smiled, feeling a sense of pride. He was glad that Naina was getting involved at the academy already, it reminded him of Navin. No matter what situation Navin had found himself in, however challenging or strange, he would never hesitate to join in or make the best of a situation.

"Thanks Cadet Ghai, I'll go and see if she's there." He told her warmly, and was just about to set off when Pooja interrupted him.

"I'm just so glad that you've brought your wife to the academy, Sir." She told him happily, "I hope that we'll be able to have lots of talktime in the future, we've only just made our connections but I just know that her network is going to work well with all of ours."

"I certainly hope so, Pooja." Raj told her affectionately, he was quite fond of all of his cadets and Pooja was definitely one of his favourites. "Don't be afraid to make friends with Naina, she's the same age as all of you and I know it's been difficult for her to leave everybody behind and come here to join me. I would really appreciate it if you help her to settle in."

"You can count on us for that, Sir!" Pooja told him enthusiastically, "I'll just go to the library now, Lolita Ma'am has given us an assignment to complete before tomorrow and if it's not done then she'll cut our connections."

Raj signaled for her to go and she left quickly, muttering to herself about the unfair tasks that Lolitaji always assigned them.

Raj made his way to the infirmary, where sure enough Naina was sitting with Shalini, smiling as she listened to a story about what the cadets had managed to get up to the previous week.

She looked up as Raj walked in, and the small smile that she gave him made his heart flip. Gaining control over himself he moved to join them, sitting in the spare chair.

"I heard that you worked wonders on Yudi's ankle this afternoon," he told her with a smile, "Cadet Ghai was more than happy to tell me about it."

"Naina's definitely had a very busy day," Shalini told him, "Guess who she met on her way to the infirmary,"

"Not…"

"The one and only Major Nair," Shalini finished, "Don't worry, as you can see, she survived the encounter."

Raj grimaced, "I think I would've preferred to be with you when you met him for the first time." He told Naina, "Major Nair is definitely… an experience."

"He certainly was." Naina agreed, "He thought that I was a cadet and asked me what I was doing out of uniform. He's so forceful in his manner that for a moment I forgot that I wasn't a cadet and started wondering where my uniform really was."

Raj starts laughing, and then realises that it's the first joke he's ever heard Naina make. It might have only been a small one, but it shows him that they're definitely making progress.

It has only been a day since she arrived, and already she's starting to settle in and to relax.

He vows to himself that as well as completing his mission here, he will do his best to bring happiness back into her life. He will make her the same girl again that Navin once described to him, a girl full of fun and life and laughter.

He will do it not only for Naina's sake, but also for Navin's.

He won't fail his best friend.

awesome glad to know that Naina is adjusting 😊 continue soon