New LRL fic: ’Fated’ updt pg 14 - Page 4

hi dear really nice ff....trust me i had tears in my eyes while reading tht.....luv it tooo much...specially i liked the name dheeraj....its so simple yet inpactfull...plzzz do update soon...

hey too good

pl continue soon

hi andrea.. missing the story alot.. plz try and continue as soon as u can.. pretty plz.. i'm totally in luv with this story.. i might hv said this b4.. but its one of the best ones i've read so far.. i look it up daily to see if there's an update.. so plzzz try n update soon for a very very eager, excited fan.. thanks..

hey dear missing ur stry too much cont...plzzz

hey.. u hvnt continued.. plzzzzzzzzz update soon.. i really wanna know what happens next..

Hi guys, I'm very, very sorry about the delay as I've been on holiday in Chennai for the past week! I hope you enjoy this update!

Chapter Nine

He finds his gaze drawn to her more and more these days.

He knows that he shouldn't be watching her in this way but still…

Her smile draws him to her.

Her eyes make his search for her again and again.

And so here he stands watching her while she talks to the other cadets, her eyes sparkling as she laughs, and he loses his heart to her all over again.

He knows he has to control his feelings, she's still his cadet and he's still her teacher, and there's quite a few months until that situation changes.
\
But God, how he loves her. How he burns for her. How he spends every day waiting for the moment when he can finally express his feelings for her.

And then she turns around and looks at him self consciously, before lowering her gaze slightly, a hopeful smile hovering around her lips.

And he knows that whatever happens, no matter how hard he might try, he will never be able to stop loving her.

The only thing he can try to do is to keep his feelings under control until the day when…

The day when…

**

Dhiraj woke up, sweat pouring down his face, his entire body damp. Glancing at the clock by his bedside he saw it was only 4am, an hour before his alarm would normally go off. Dhiraj checked the other bed in the room but Samir was still sound asleep, muttering something that Dhiraj couldn't understand.

And so rather than wake his friend up, Dhiraj took his towel and clothes and entered the bathroom, stepping under the warm water he tried to relax, tried to forget about the dream.

But the truth was that he dreamed of her increasingly often these days.

And he didn't know how but every time he woke up from these dreams it was with such a powerful feeling of longing, that it took all of his willpower not to walk up to her door and knock on it, no matter what the time of night.

Because just as in his dream he really does burn for her, long for her, want her.

And it makes absolutely no sense at all.

Dhiraj has never been the type to fall in love at first sight, in fact he's never been the type to fall in love at all. The girlfriends he's had in the past have complained that he always seemed to be rather detached, as if reluctant to give himself wholly to the relationship and Dhiraj knows that they were right. There has always been something undefined that stops him from wanting to fully fall in love with anyone.

Could Samir be right? Could he really be in love with her?

It wasn't possible, Dhiraj knew that it wasn't. They barely knew each other, they hadn't even had that many conversations together.

And he wasn't the type of guy to fall in love like that, he really wasn't.

It was just a simple case of attraction, that was all, and Dhiraj could definitely control that.

He had to.

**

Hussein is scheduled to be on base for the next week but Asha and Amiya are heading out on a patrol.

"I know you'll miss us," Amiya tells him mischievously, "Face it, you don't have any other friends as good as us, you'll be bored without us."

"Actually I was looking forward to some peace and quiet," Hussein tells her, "When I can finally write as many love letters as I want without fear of you trying to find out who I'm writing to."

Amiya made a face at him while Asha tried not to laugh.

"So who are you going to patrol with this time?" Hussein asks them, not having checked the lists since he knew that he wasn't scheduled for any."

"With my new hero, Captain Kapoor." Amiya declares brightly, slyly looking in Asha's direction to see her reaction.

Sure enough Asha started choking on her coffee, and Hussein leaned over and patted her on the back until she calmed down.

"Since when has Captain Kapoor become your new hero?" she asked Amiya, looking slightly confused.

"Since he punched that idiot Rajesh in the face," Amiya answers, "That was the best thing I've seen in a long time." Then she pauses, "Why? Isn't he your hero? Even after stepping in to defend your honour?"

And Asha turns slightly red, her mouth open. "I don't need anybody to defend my honour," she finally tells Amiya, "I can defend it just fine by myself."

"I bet you wouldn't have punched Rajesh in the nose though." Amiya points out and Asha can't help but start laughing.

"So the short answer to my question is that you're going on patrol with Captain Kapoor," Hussein says, noticing the man in question walk into the mess with Samir. And sure enough the first thing he does is search for Asha, his eyes skipping across the room before finally finding and settling upon her.

And the look on his face is one of such tortured longing, that Hussein is suddenly glad that Asha hasn't looked up from her coffee cup again because if she was to see him at this moment… then everything might be revealed way too soon.

But Amiya, looking towards the two men has noticed, and her expression has changed to one of nervousness as if unsure how to handle the situation. She exchanges a glance with Samir, who nudges Dhiraj and they move to find a table on the opposite side of the hall.

Any crisis averted, Amiya breathes a sigh of relief, causing Asha to look up.

"What is it?" Asha asks her.

"Nothing, nothing at all." Amiya tells her, but the truth is that she is slightly scared by the depths of feeling she senses from her superior officer for her friend. Such reactions aren't natural after such a short acquaintance, and while she's more than willing to tease Asha about it she also worries about what the outcome might be. Because if there is one person in the world that she is protective of, then it is Asha, and she would never want her to come to any harm.

**

"You were staring again," Samir tells Dhiraj quietly as they sit down for their breakfast. This time Dhiraj doesn't even deny it, just looks across at his friend tiredly. "Are you going to be okay on this patrol?" Samir asked him, "I mean will you…"

"I won't be tripping over any tree roots if that's what you want to ask." Dhiraj tells him, trying to make a joke out of it.

"That's not funny Dhiraj," Samir tells him with a frown, "I'm honestly worried about you, I've never seen you act this way before."

"I can handle it." Dhiraj says, "I'm a professional, and nothing will ever distract me from my work."

And Samir hopes that he's right, because Dhiraj has begun looking across the room again, and Samir doubts whether he would notice an entire tree if it was in his way right now.

**

Asha and Amiya, along with another lieutenant named Akshay meet Dhiraj at the time for departure, and true to his words, his eyes don't linger upon Asha overly long, and neither does he greet her specially.

"Is everyone ready?" he asks them, and they move out, taking a jeep until the point where their patrol will begin and then heading off on foot.

And remembering his promise to Samir, Dhiraj behaves professionally for the rest of the day, not speaking to Asha more than any of the others, and keeping his mind on the task. It is only after they are finished for the day and have set up camp that he allows himself to relax, taking glances at her occasionally as they sit around eating their dinner and chatting.

Asha is scheduled to take first watch of the night and although Dhiraj knows that he should just get into his sleeping bag and go to sleep, even as he sees the other two young officers doing the same, but instead he looks for excuses to stay awake, to sit with her, to talk to her. He rearranges his gear until he really is sure that the other two are asleep and then comes to sit with her.

Asha isn't really surprised, in fact Dhiraj could swear that she's actually been waiting for him to do so.

"I'm sorry about the day before yesterday," he tells her, "It wasn't my business and I shouldn't have interfered, I hope I haven't created any problems for you."

Asha shakes her head, "Not at all," she tells him, "With any luck Rajesh won't have the guts to come back and bother me again, at least not for the next month."

"Well at least I could do that much for you…" Dhiraj remarks, "It's just that when I heard him talking like that, something snapped inside me. I can't stand that type of attitude."

"Neither can I," Asha tells him, "But it's the attitude that I've grown up with, that women are destined for a particular role in life and they shouldn't step outside of it. I wish that my family was more modern in their attitudes but they're not."

"Sometimes I'm almost glad I don't have a family," Dhiraj remarks suddenly, "Nobody's expectations to live up to, nobody to disappoint, nobody to…" he had been about to say 'betray you', but stopped himself at the last moment, realising how bitter that statement would sound.

"Oh I do love my family." Asha tells him, "It can just be a bit frustrating at times. I had to fight to get this far and now they're trying to convince me to leave my career and marry somebody I can't stand."

"Don't do it." Dhiraj tells her suddenly, a dark tone in his voice, before he catches himself and lightens the tone, "Don't ever let anybody make you do something that you don't want to."

"I won't, thank you, Sir." Asha tells him, "And I did appreciate you stepping in for me the other day… it was nice."

And nodding, Dhiraj realises that he really has no excuse to remain awake, so he heads back to his sleeping bag, giving one last long glance at Asha before he closes his eyes.

**

It is the end of the next day and they are almost ready to return to the base. It's been raining steadily since the night before, and they are all watching their steps carefully, not wanting to injure themselves on the slippery ground. Asha turns back to give Amiya a hand over a particularly slippery patch, grabbing hold of a nearby tree branch to support herself.

Dhiraj turns back to check their progress, and calls out to them, "Everything alright, Lieutenants?" he asks them, pausing for a moment with Akshay slightly behind him.

"Of course Sir," Amiya replies as she reaches the next safe part, "Just attempting not to fall down and ruin my clothes in the mud. I'm wearing my best fatigues you know."

A smile breaks out on Dhiraj's face, and he can see Akshay grinning beside him too. Asha tries not to laugh and letting go of the branch abruptly takes a step forward. But she hadn't been paying attention and steps onto a patch of unstable ground which gives out beneath her feet sending her tumbling down the hill with a surprised cry.

Amiya turns in shock when she hears her, and her shocked cry of "Asha!" is followed by Dhiraj's shout of "Lieutenant Dutt!" as he runs to the edge of the path to try and see where she's fallen to.

"Stay here both of you," he tells them sternly, a look of panic in his eyes, and then begins to make his way down the slope as quickly as possible, stumbling slightly.

And she had fallen… and there had been mud, he remembered that much. The mud and… her laughter.

Dhiraj shook his head as if to clear it of the thoughts that had appeared unbidden, and continued down the slope, "Lieutenant Dutt!" he called out, and then slightly more desperately "Asha!".

"I'm fine, Sir!" he finally heard a reply and saw her unsteadily getting to her feet a few metres away, covered with dirt, mud, leaves and twigs, scratches over her face and her hands. Covering the space between them in a few steps, Dhiraj looked her quickly up and down as if searching for injuries before grabbing both her arms, inspecting the hands for wounds. Asha was shocked when he reached up to rub the mud off her face with his hand before turning her head to either side so that he could better inspect the scratches.

The intensity of his gaze on her as he checked her for injuries, the heaviness of his breath on her neck as he leaned over to check one of the deeper scratches that was bleeding, made her feel terribly unsettled, nervous, wishing that he wouldn't let go of the hand that he was still holding, that he would keep his other hand exactly where it was currently, supporting her chin.

"Are you sure you're fine?" he finally asks her, "No serious injuries? You can make it up to the top of the slope again?"

Asha nodded, "No broken or sprained limbs," she told him, "Luckily I remembered my basic training and was able to protect my body quite well."

"Good," he tells her with a note of finality in his voice, and then without letting go of her hand begins leading her back up the hill. He grasps her hand firmly, helping her up the difficult bits, and Asha doesn't even think about protesting that she can make her way by herself.

She's shaking and she's not sure whether it's from the shock of the sudden fall, or from…

Grabbing hold of a tree trunk, Dhiraj pulls them both up to the path before dropping her hand, and Amiya hurries over to Asha worriedly and looking slightly guilty.

"You're alright, aren't you?" she asks her, "I swear I'm never making another joke while on patrol again."

"It's okay Amiya," Asha reassures her, "No harm done, it could've happened anyway, I should've been paying more attention to where I was placing my feet."

"But still…" Amiya begins to say before Dhiraj interrupts her.

"Lieutenant Chatterjee, there's no need to blame yourself for this," he tells her, "But definitely we've all learned that we need to be alert at every moment, whether it's for the enemy or particularly slippery sections of path."

**

They arrive back to base by evening, and as soon as they've entered the grounds, Dhiraj dismisses them.

"Lieutenant Dutt, you need to go to the infirmary to be checked out and have those scratches cleaned properly." He tells her and Asha nods. Amiya stands at a short distance watching them.

"I'll head there now, Sir." She tells him, and Dhiraj nods, for a moment it seems as if he's about to leave, but then as if he's lost control of his hand of its own accord it rises, and he wipes yet another bit of mud off Asha's cheek that she had missed previously. His fingers don't linger, and yet the gesture is till startlingly intimate.

As if shocked by his own action, Dhiraj turns and abruptly walks away, in the direction of his own quarters.

He breathes heavily.

He clenches and unclenches his fists.

It's just an attraction, nothing more, and definitely… he will not dream of her again tonight.

And Dhiraj knows that he's always been a damn poor liar. <br

too good

pl continue soon

Thank you very much Yogini for always commenting, it really does mean a lot to me!

Chapter Ten

"Today it feels so good to be back in my uniform again, Sir." Aalekh had told him, "I never realised how important it was until I lost it."

"And that's the important thing Aalekh," Captain Rajveer had told him, laying a hand on his shoulder affectionately, "Today you've not only realised how important this uniform is… but that sometimes we have to wait patiently to gain the things we want."

And Aalekh had noticed how Rajveer Sir's eyes had drifted just slightly to the left of his face, and without needing to look, he knew that Naina would be standing there.

"Yes Sir," Aalekh had replied, "And that if you're prepared to wait, then eventually you will gain what it is that you desire."

And Rajveer Sir had smiled, reaching out to ruffle Aalekh's hair slightly. His eyes once again drifted to the left slightly, and the expression on his face was of somebody who was prepared to wait… patiently.

And when Captain Rajveer had finally left him, Aalekh had turned around to check.

And sure enough there she was.

Just as he had known she would be.

**

Sitting in his office, Aalekh begins to wonder just how long a person can remain patient for. Will that patience stretch across life times, or will it evaporate, having been stretched way too far?

Because he senses that Dhiraj's patience is almost at breaking point, and the thought makes him feel slightly nervous. He doesn't know how to deal with Dhiraj Kapoor, how he should counsel him as Captain Rajveer used to counsel Aalekh.

And Aalekh worries because he sees the young man's condition deteriorating day by day as his feelings grow stronger and he struggles to contain them. Aalekh worries because he has seen it all before, he has watched both of them struggle with their emotions in two lifetimes now and he wishes that he could help them in some way but fails to find any solution.

There is a knock at the door and Aalekh calls out for them to enter, smiling as he sees the young man who comes in to sit down.

"How are you today, Hussein?" he asks him.

"I'm fine, Uncle." Hussein tells him, "I just finished talking to Ammi and Abu, Anjali's team won their match yesterday."

"That's wonderful news," Aalekh tells him, "With a player like Anjali Baig how could they lose?" he asks proudly, smiling at the thought of Ali and Pooja's daughter.

Hussein smiles too, and it's obvious by his expression that he deeply misses his little sister. Aalekh misses his own family too, his wife and three children, but he knows that his duty is here, at the border, and duty always comes first.

"How is she?" he finally asks Hussein, knowing that he'll know who Aalekh is referring to.

"She's fine," Hussein reassures him, "She's been quieter lately… and strangely even Amiya has. She seems to be worried about Asha for some reason but she hasn't said anything to me about it."

"I think we both know what she's worried about." Aalekh says quietly. "She has no idea why any of this is happening, she must be confused about why they're both acting this way."

"I have no idea what to do," Hussein admits, "I don't know how I should help or support her, I don't know how to try and make it better."

"Just keep being her friend." Aalekh tells him, and for a moment feels a pang of jealousy because unlike him, Hussein actually can become her friend. Aalekh can only be her superior officer, at the very best a mentor. The loss of Naina as a friend hurts him but at least he can watch her… remain close by to her. That's the most that he can hope for at this moment in time.

Hussein nods taking his advice seriously, and stands to go.

"I'll make sure that nothing happens to them," he promises Aalekh, and Aalekh knows that he means every word of it. If there's anybody that he can rely on to help him then it's Hussein.

"Good," Aalekh replies, "But make sure that nothing happens to you either."

Hussein smiles, and saluting him, leaves the room.

And Aalekh is once again left alone with his memories.

**

It's the middle of the afternoon and Dhiraj is sitting in the unusually quiet mess in order to deal with reports that he's been given responsibility of.

He isn't sure how it happens but the moment that Asha walks in, he knows that she's there, knows that she's arrived. He can feel her presence, sense it as she glances at him.

And so he looks up to see her standing there hesitantly with two coffee cups in her hands.

"I saw you working and I thought you could use some coffee, Sir." She tells him by way of an explanation, placing the mug in front of him before turning to go quickly.

"Wait Lieutenant Dutt!" he calls out and she pauses, turning back around slowly. "Thank you," he tells her, and then before he can stop himself, "Why don't you join me for awhile?"

"But Sir, won't I be disturbing you?" Asha asks him, almost a little nervously, looking as if she can't decide whether she wants to sit down or run away.

"Actually I could do with a break," Dhiraj admitted, "I've been working on these for two hours now, they have to be completed by the time the new General arrives."

"So Brigadier Kumar is transferring out soon then," Asha remarks, finally taking a seat. "We'd all heard that he would be leaving but nobody had confirmed when it would happen."

"Well the situation is becoming more serious," Dhiraj tells her, "You would've heard that Major Ramachandran's patrol spotted some suspicious activity yesterday, but that the group escaped from them."

"I did hear that," Asha confirms, "We really finally are heading towards war aren't we…"

"I don't know," Dhiraj replies honestly, "Maybe the politicians can avert it… but I've never had much trust in them."

He doesn't know why he feels so comfortable confiding in her, telling her things that usually isn't told to junior officers. But whenever he sees her he just wants to talk to her, and keep on talking.

"So why is Brigadier Kumar being transferred?" Asha asks him, "Especially when the situation is so tense."

"When the current situation developed he was only a year away from retirement," Dhiraj explains, "And he hasn't had much battlefield experience in recent years. I think they want to get his replacement settled in before the situation deteriorates further."

Asha nods, understanding the reasoning behind the decision and then plays with her coffee mug, turning it around and around. Dhiraj's eyes are glued to her fingers, and he longs to take her hand, to hold it in his and….

He forces himself to stop thinking that way and finds another topic to discuss.

"So your scratches are healing well." He remarks, looking seriously at the few deeper ones that remain on her face and neck, now on their way to disappearing.

Asha colours slightly, looking down at her mug as she continues to spin it before picking it up to take a sip of her coffee. Because even a week later she can still feel the touch of his fingers as he had brushed the mud off her face.

"I'm very sorry about that Sir, I should never have allowed myself to become injured in that way." She tells him, trying to cover the real reason for her embarrassment.

"It's alright Asha," he tells her, "It happens to us at the best of times, it even happened to Samir, remember?"

And she smiles slightly, remembering Dhiraj teasing Samir at the time before her smile falters slightly because she realises that he's just said her first name rather than calling her Lieutenant Dutt.

But Dhiraj doesn't appear to have noticed, because he just continues talking as if nothing has happened. "Although Samir would kill me if he realised I'd brought that up again, I think he's trying his best to forget it ever happened."

And Asha laughs then, forgetting her earlier discomfit, and amazed at how easy it is to chat to him like two normal people rather than two officers.

"How did you and Captain Samir become friends, Sir?" she asks him curiously.

"Well I was in my second year at the academy at the time and he was a fresher." Dhiraj tells her, "Of course like all academies, in this one the seniors arranged to rag the freshers and Samir was one of their targets. They asked him to kiss this girl and he refused, saying that he would never do something like that. I stepped in on his behalf when they were trying to force him, and we've been friends ever since."

And Naina doesn't know why the story sounds so familiar, but it strikes a chord within her, as if she might once have witnessed something similar.

But there had been a fight….

No, there had never been anything like that, never.

She smiles then, "Captain Samir is quite serious, isn't he?" she asks him, "That's why I was so surprised at you teasing him that day."

"Samir and I have known each other a long time, that's why I can get away with it." Dhiraj tells her, "He's more open with his friends, but quite serious around people he doesn't know very well."

Asha nods, still fiddling with her now almost empty coffee cup as if reluctant to finish drinking it because then she would have no excuse for sitting here.

"So how did you meet your Lieutenant Chatterjee?" Dhiraj asks, "She's your best friend, right?"

"Oh Amiya and I met on the first day of the academy," Asha tells him, "By pure luck we'd been assigned as room mates, and we liked each other immediately. After being together almost every moment of every day for two years, she's the one who knows me best in this world."

She was also the one who made Dhiraj feel slightly uncomfortable as he had noticed her sneaking suspicious glances at him whenever he was in Asha's vicinity. He couldn't blame her, he knew she must have noticed him staring at Asha and her reaction was perfectly natural.

"It's good to have somebody who understands you that well," he tells her thoughtfully, "Growing up, there was nobody that I could discuss my dreams with, nobody who really understood them. All of them tried to tell me that I was aiming too high… that I could never hope to achieve such things."

"It was the same for me," Asha admits quietly, "My family has never understood or supported my desire to become an army officer. Even now they're hoping that I'll change my mind and decide to quit."

"Well they're going to be disappointed." Dhiraj tells her confidently, "I know that you'll never quit."

His faith in her means more to Asha than she's able to express and she looks up, meeting his eyes and it is then that she feels a strange kinship with him, as if there really is a connection between them.

It's the first time that she's ever felt this emotion, previously she had felt drawn to him, but never has she realised before that they have so much in common, that they really do understand each other.

Looking away again hurriedly Asha realises that her coffee has long since gone cold and quickly drains the cup before standing up.

"It was nice talking with you, Sir." She tells him before walking off, leaving Dhiraj staring at the empty space she has left, his reports long since forgotten.

**

"So I heard that you had a nice chat with Lieutenant Dutt in the mess yesterday," Samir comments the next morning while Dhiraj prepares for the patrol he's about to leave on.

"And who did you hear that from?" Dhiraj asks him calmly, refusing to become defensive or justify himself.

"Captain Shergill, I think she was trying to get some gossip out of me by mentioning it." Samir tells him, "But like the true friend I am, I just shrugged and looked very uninterested."

"Captain Shergill should know better than to try and create gossip over small things." Dhiraj remarks angrily, "Doesn't she have anything better to do?"

"Well… yes, of course." Samir replies reasonably, "But you have to admit that if you keep having very long and friendly conversations with your junior officers people are going to be suspicious."

"I had quite a long conversation with Lieutenant Baig the other day, I doubt anybody asked you about that." Dhiraj tells him sarcastically. "We're in a war time situation here and all they can talk about is who I drink coffee with."

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger." Samir tells him, "I'm just letting you know what I've heard since I thought it was better you hear it from me."

Dhiraj calms down slightly, and smiles at his friend tiredly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks yaar, sorry for reacting like that, I'm just a bit…"

"Touchy on the subject of Asha Dutt." Samir finishes for him.

"Oh don't start with me again," Dhiraj replies frustrated, "I'm glad I'm leaving on patrol, at least that way everybody can gossip without me here to hear it."

"Well be careful," Samir tells him, "After what Major Ramachandran reported, we all have to be on double alert."

"Don't worry Samir," Dhiraj tells him, "I'm in no hurry to die."

And Samir isn't sure why the words send a chill through him, why he feels a sudden fear. He hugs Dhiraj before he leaves, and his friend looks at him in surprise.

"Don't worry," Samir tells him, trying to lighten the mood "I'll go and drink some coffee with Lieutenant Dutt too, that way there'll be a whole new round of rumours by the time you get back."

"Go and find someone else to drink coffee with." Dhiraj tells him perfectly seriously, and for a moment Samir is nervous until his Dhiraj's face breaks into a grin.

"See you in three days," Dhiraj tells him, before leaving the room.

Heading towards the meeting point he spots Asha in the distance with Amiya, both going for an early morning jog. Seeing him she slows down, stopping to watch him go past. Dhiraj feels a desire to lift a hand a wave at her, but manages to stop himself and Asha begins jogging again, quickly catching up with Amiya due to her longer legs.

He can't afford for any more rumours to start.

**

It is the next day when Amiya sees Samir rushing past her, a worried look on his face.

"Sir, what's happened?" she asks him, but he has already run past headed towards the gate.

Amiya stares after him, now getting worried. Usually he's always willing to stop and chat, explain things, this is the first time that he's ever behaved like this.

"I think something is going on," Asha tells Amiya as she walks up to join her, "I've just seen two of our seniors run in the direction of the gate."

"Should we go and try to find out what's going on?" Amiya asks her and when Asha nods they make their way down to where there is already a small crowd gathered, the senior officers waiting expectantly and the junior officers murmuring among themselves worriedly.

"What's going on?" Amiya asks one of the waiting lieutenants in the crowd.

"I don't know the exact details but I heard that a patrol team has been attacked." He tells them and Asha and Amiya both turn pale at this. Because of the four teams out at the moment, Hussein is on one and Captain Kapoor is on the other.

And examining the fear on Captain Samir's face, Amiya has a sinking feeling that she knows exactly which team has been attacked.

"No," Asha whispers, her voice trembling with fear "No, not…"

"It could be another team," Amiya tells her, trying to comfort Asha and feeling bad about wishing somebody else was in danger instead, "And you know that they're both very capable soldiers, able to look after themselves."

And it is then that one team arrives back, and as the members step out of the jeep, Asha and Amiya both breathe a sigh of relief to see Hussein perfectly safe and sound. His team has actually arrived back on schedule as their patrol was due to finish today.

He hurriedly crosses over to them, joining them in the waiting crowd. "Is there any news?" he asks, "We heard a team had been attacked, but we were already almost back to base so Major Chandra made the decision not to turn back."

"No news," Amiya tells him, because Asha has now turned completely white and Amiya is afraid she might faint if she tries to speak. "There are three more teams out… and we don't know which one it is."

"He'll be fine," Hussein murmurs, almost as if to reassure himself as much as to reassure them, "Nothing can happen to him." And although Asha's attention is fixed firmly on the entrance to the base and she doesn't reply, Amiya wonders how Hussein could have become so attached to Captain Kapoor in so short a time.

By now the medical team has arrived and are waiting, and in ten minutes time they see a jeep heading towards them from the distance.

And Asha holds her breath.

The first person to step out is one of their other old batchmates Vijay, blood dripping down from a cut on his forehead, and even as he helps another team member out, Asha's breath comes out like a sob because she realises that Vijay had been on Captain Kapoor's team.

Yet another team mate climbs out, this one bleeding from a bullet wound to the shoulder, and the medical team quickly spirits them away on a stretcher. Asha continues to stare at the jeep, refusing to believe that nobody else will climb out of it, refusing to believe that he hasn't come back.

Vijay is assuring the medics that he can walk to the infirmary by himself and as they leave him, Amiya rushes over, pulling Asha who is still in a state of shock by the hand.

"Vijay what happened?" she asks him, as Hussein comes to join them, worry clearly written on his face.

"We were attacked…" Vijay tells them, exhausted and weaving back and forth on his feet. "They came from nowhere it was completely unexpected… we were pinned down by heavy fire, and then Rehman got shot in the shoulder and Captain Kapoor…"

"Captain Kapoor what?" Asha asks him fiercely, grabbing his shirt to make him look at her. "What happened to Captain Kapoor, damn it?"

"He told us to go…" Vijay tells her, his voice almost breaking, "He said that he would provide cover fire and that we should get Rehman out of there, he said that he would follow us…"

"And you just left him there?" Asha demands, anger coming into her voice, "You abandoned him to face them by himself?"

"We had no choice!" Vijay yells as if trying to convince himself as well as her, "He ordered us to go, told us that we had to obey! He gave us no choice!"

And even as Asha continues to clench Vijay's shirt, Amiya pities him, knowing that he's distraught with having to follow the order, with having to leave his superior officer behind.

"But what happened to him?" Hussein asks almost frantically, "Where is he?"

"We don't know, we evacuated under his cover fire, and then… he didn't respond to our radio contact."

"No." Asha declares, a dangerous calm having settled in his voice, and Amiya knows she's in shock. "This is not going to happen. Not again."

And with a set look on her face, she beings to walk back towards the main base.

And Amiya stares after her, before hurrying to catch up with her.

"Asha what are you talking about, what do you mean by not again? Asha turn around, talk to me? Asha are you okay?"

And Asha finally turns, her eyes blazing with determination. Amiya suspects that it's the only thing that hasn't caused her to break down completely. "Nothing has happened to him." Asha states calmly. "He'll be coming back, and if he's not able to, then we'll bring him back."

And hearing the confidence in her voice, Amiya isn't sure whether she should feel relieved or scared.

But Asha has already started heading towards the main building again, and for the moment… all Amiya can do is follow.

plz post the next part soon....waiting.....

Chapter Eleven

"Why are you on this constant redial, Naina?" Pooja had asked her, "You know that he's not due to return until evening."

Pooja had found her once again paused outside his door, checking to see whether the lock had been removed or not.

"I know…I just thought I'd check." She had told her, turning away disappointed. "You know it's possible that he might return early."

"And why are you waiting so restlessly for his return call?" Pooja had teased her, and she had struggled not to blush, shaking her head at her friend.

"Don't be embarrassed," Pooja had told her, linking their arms together as they walked off, "You know that your Veer will always return to you."

And she had known.

No matter what, he would always come back to her.

Always.


**

Asha was still continuing towards the main base at a determinedly steady pace, and exchanging worried glances at each other, Amiya and Hussein hurried to catch up with her.

"Asha, what are you planning on doing?" Amiya asks her, "Where are you going?"

"I want to go and find out what they're going to do to get him back." Asha tells her calmly, "We have to get him back as soon as possible, he'll be waiting for us."

"Of course we'll do that, Asha." Hussein tries to tell her calmly, despite his own rising panic. He knows that at the moment she's still in a state of shock, and he doesn't want to jolt her out of it, knowing what the consequences will be. "But we might have to wait for some time, it will take them awhile to make a decision. We can't just go in and ask them."

"I'll ask Captain Samir," Amiya suggests to her, "He'll know what's going on, why don't you go and uh… sit down with Hussein for awhile and drink some tea. It's been a big shock."

"I don't want to sit down and drink tea," Asha tells her stubbornly, "I want to find out what's happening and I want to find out right now. I don't need to go and sit anywhere." And by the dangerous sheen of tears that has now appeared in her eyes, Amiya guesses that she is very close to breaking point.

"Asha, maybe you don't need any tea but I think I do." Hussein tells her, still trying to keep her calm. He can't let her think that he believes anything has happened to Dhiraj, because the moment she starts thinking that something really has happened to him, he knows that she'll fall apart. "If you sit with me while I have it then I would feel much better and Amiya can go and find out quickly for us."

Asha gives him a look that says she's not stupid, but then as if there's no more resistance in her, she sighs and nods.

Hussein gently takes her hand, leading her towards the mess and adter checking that Asha really was following him, Amiya continued in the direction of the main building, hurrying since she wanted to find out as quickly as possible and then return to Asha. Searching through the crowd of worried officers she eventually locates Samir leaning against the wall near Brigadier Kumar's office, his head down and supported by one hand.

Gently she touches his arm and Samir looks up, his eyes filled with worry.

"Is there any news, Sir?" Amiy asks him. "Have they heard anything about Captain Kapoor or have they planned anything yet?"

"I don't know," Samir answers tiredly, "They're having a meeting about it right now. Hopefully we'll know something soon." For a moment he looks torn between saying something and not saying it, but finally he decides to confide in her. "I had a bad feeling when he left, but I thought I was just being paranoid… I should've…"

"There was nothing that you could've done, Sir." Amiya tells him, "And I know that Captain Kapoor is an excellent soldier, I'm sure he's fine."

"I know, it's just… he's my best friend you know, has been for five years and if something happens to him…" Seeing the fear on Samir's face, Amiya wishes that she could comfort him but she knows it's not her place to do so. They don't share a close enough relationship for it to be appropriate. Samir notices the concern on her face and tries to smile in order to make her feel better but fails. "How's Lieutenant Dutt taking this?" he finally asks her quietly, at a loss for anything else to say.

"She's in shock I think," Amiya also replies quietly, not wanting their conversation to be overheard by anybody. "She hasn't really reacted properly… just keeps saying that he'll be fine and we'll get him back. Hussein is sitting with her."

"You go and be with her,' Samir tells Amiya kindly, "And I promise that as soon as I know anything I'll come and inform you."

"Are you sure that you'll be alright?" Amiya asks him, forgetting to add 'sir' to her sentence in her worry about him.

"I'm a soldier," he tells her. "I'll deal with it, I have to."

Amiya nods, not really wanting to leave him on his own but knowing that she needs to return to Asha. She makes her way to the mess where she finds Hussein and Asha sitting in one corner, an untouched cup of chair in front of Asha.

Asha looks up as Amiya approaches them, her eyes begging Amiya to tell her something positive.

"Captain Samir doesn't know anything right now," Amiya tells them. "All of the most senior officers are in a meeting right now, but he promised to let us know as soon as he finds out anything."

And Asha stands up suddenly without any warning. "I think…" she announces, "That I'll go to our room for awhile."

"Do you want me to…?"

"No," Asha cuts Amiya off before she can complete the sentence. "I think I just need some time…" and she heads off a little unsteadily, tears still threatening to fall from her eyes.

Amiya watches Asha leave, her heart hurting for her friend's unexpressed pain, but she doesn't follow, guessing that Asha needs some time alone to deal with her emotions. Instead she sits down opposite Hussein and begins the long wait, knowing that it might take hours to receive any news.

**

"Sir, I think we need to dispatch a search and rescue mission as soon as possible." Aalekh told Brigadier Kumar, "Captain Kapoor is one of our best and most capble sodiers, I'm sure that he managed to survive. Now it's important that we find him as soon as possible before anybody else does. If he's in an injured state then he'll need medical treatment as well."

"Colonel Sharma, you're sure that he's alive but what guarantee do we have of that when we haven't been able to contact him." Brigadier Kumar replied.

"Sir, the radio might have been damaged, or he may not be able to answer it." Aalekh argues. "But we can't simply abandon him there because we don't know whether he's alive or not. He's a good officer who managed to save the rest of his team from an ambush and we can't afford to lose him." Aalekh tries to keep the emotion out of his voice, knowing that he has to approach this calmly, logically if he has any chance of convincing the general.

"We will definitely not abandon Captain Kapoor, but night is already about to fall and it is far too late to launch a rescue mission today." Brigadier Kumar tells him. "These things take time and we have to be cautious… hwo do we know they're not goingt ot use the opportunity to ambush us?"

And Aalekh realises that the battle is far from won.

**

Hussein and Amiya are still sitting in the mess, now on their seventh cup of chai when Samir walks in, headed towards them with such a look of defeat on his face that both of them immediately know that the answer can't be good.

He slumps tiredly into the chair next to Amiya and she pushes across her seventh untouched cup of chai which is luckily still hot.

He picks it up in hands which are slightly shaking, taking a long sip of it before he speaks.

"It will probably be the day after tomorrow before any rescue mission is launched…" he finally tells them, "Brigadier Kumar is reluctant to do so at the moment, he fears an ambush, and…" he thinks about whether it's wise to say so before deciding that he no longer cares, "I think he's eager to leave the problem of finding Dhiraj to his replacement rather than handling it himself."

Amiya knows that he must be feeling frustrated to be talking about the General in this way, since usually Samir is the perfect example of tact and diplomacy. But she can't blame him because even she's feeling frustrated right now, unable to believe that they've wasted so much time already and are considering wasting even more.

"We can't do anything about it, can we?" she asks helplessly. "We just have to wait for them to make the decision and hope they do it quickly."

Hussein's head turns suddenly and Amiya and Samir also glance in the same direction to see Asha standing there, obviously having heard everything.

"Asha… Captain Samir was just…"

"I heard." Asha says dully, "So they're just going to leave him there."

"Not if I can help it," Samir says, draining the cup of tea, "I wanted to come and inform you all… now I'll go and talk to Colonel Sharma. He seems to be on our side, I'll volunteer to go myself and look for him, and I'm sure there would be others who would join me."

"You can definitely count on our support, Sir." Hussein tells him, "We'll be ready as soon as you've received the signal to go."

"Thanks Lieutenant Baig," Samir tells him, and then gets up to go. "Thanks for the chai," he tells Amiya with a tired smile and leaves.

Asha sits down in the chair he's just vacated and Amiya and Hussein both watch her nervously, unsure how she will take this news. But Asha's expression remains set, determined.

"I'm not waiting for any signal." She announces without any hesitation, "Whether the Brigadier gives the orders or not, I'm not leaving him there."

Amiya and Hussein stare at her in shock, because this was the last thing that they were expecting Asha to declare.

"Asha, what are you planning to do?" Amiya asks her, "You know that we can't just go off and rescue him ourselves."

And the look on Asha's face clearly says that that is exactly what she plans to do.

"Amiya, I don't know whether anybody else will be with me in this or not, and I can't expect you to be. It would have consequences for us if we did so. But I'm not going to leave him out there for a further two days when he could be already injured." Asha isn't in shock any more and she isn't hysterical, she's perfectly calm and discussing the matter as if it's the most logical thing in the world. Amiya suddenly suspects that this is exactly what Asha has been thinking about in her room all this time.

Amiya is just about to try and talk some sense into Asha when suddenly Hussein speaks up.

"I'm with you." He tells Asha, "You can count on me, whatever it takes I'll help to get Captain Kapoor back."

Asha nods, thankful and even more determined, while Amiya just gapes at him, unable to believe he's encouraging her in this. Looking at Asha, she realises that there's no point arguing with her, her friend is not going to change her mind. The only decision that Amiya can make at the moment is whether to support Asha in her decision or not.

Amiya sighs, "Well I suppose if you two are going, then there's nothing for me to do on the base by myself. I'll support you in this too."

"Then we'll be ready to leave in an hour's time." Asha tells them in an undertone, "We'll need some equipment, which will have to be organised…"

"I'm with you too." Another voice speaks up and they all look around shocked at being discovered to see Vijay standing there, his forehead now bandaged. "I made the mistake of obeying his orders and leaving him there alone… I won't make the mistake of doing nothing now. For an officer like Captain Kapoor I'm willing to risk any punishment."

He sits down at the table with them, and Asha nods as if to thank him. "I'm glad to have you with us in this, Vijay." She tells him, "You'll be able to show us the last location you saw him in, from there it should be quite easy for us to track him down."

They bend their heads together over the table to discuss the details. Although she feels nervous about this, there's no point for Amiya to raise any objections. Asha is an unstoppable force, and there's only two options at the moment, either assist her or get out of her way.


**

Three hours later, Samir heads to his room exhausted. He's been arguing himself hoarse to anyone that will listen that they should be sending out a search party for Dhiraj immediately and has met with little success. Colonel Sharma is the only one who has been willing to support him against Brigadier Kumar, and he suspects that the officer is as upset about the decision as he is.

Opening the door and turning on the light, Samir surveys the empty room, his eyes resting on Dhiraj's bed. He hasn't allowed himself to break down so far, hasn't allowed himself to admit that Dhiraj won't be coming back. The thought is unimaginable to him, that there might be a life without his best friend in it and so he doesn't allow himself to think it. Samir steps into the room and then looks down as he steps onto a piece of paper.

Picking it up, he opens it and begins to read.

Dear Captain Samir,

By the time you get this we'll be gone. Asha has decided that she can't wait for our superiors to decide to rescue Captain Kapoor and that she would prefer to do so her self. There's nothing I can do to stop her, so I'm going with her to try and lend my help. Hussein and Vijay are also with us. All I can hope is that we come back successful and that our actions don't create too many problems. I wanted to tell you before hand… but knew that you would be punished more severely than us if you had any hand in it.

Please pray for our success.

Lt. Amiya Chatterjee

And Samir isn't sure whether to laugh or cry, because something that their superior officers haven't been willing to do, four young lieutenants have taken upon their own shoulders and all he can do is wish them the best and hope that nobody finds out it until they've managed to find Dhiraj and bring him back.

**

Samir remains tense as he eats his dinner, knowing that nobody has discovered the lieutenants are gone yet and fearing the moment when they will be discovered. He finishes and is about to go to his room when Colonel Sharma calls out to him. Hussein stops and waits for the older man to come and join him.

"Captain Samir, I was wondering whether you've seen Lieutenant Baig anywhere, I noticed that he wasn't at dinner tonight."

"No, Sir." Samir answers a little nervously, "I haven't seen him since the afternoon."

"I can't see either Lieutenant Asha Dutt or Lieutenant Amiya Chatterjee anywhere either." Aalekh continues, and Samir begins to become nervous, guessing that Colonel Sharma knows exactly what has happened.

"Sir, I don't…"

"Captain Samir, this is only between the two of us." Aalekh tells him quietly as they walk away from the crowd. "Have they gone somewhere with some plan?"

Realising that they're going to be discovered eventually anyway, Samir decides that it's probably best that Colonel Sharma is the one who finds out first since he seems the most sympathetic.

"They've gone along with Lieutenant Vijay," he admits, "They plan to try and find Captain Kapoor."

Samir looks at Aalekh and is surprised to see that a small smile has come to the man's face almost as if he had expected this, or as if he approves.

"I just hope they're successful," Aalekh tells him, shocking the younger man. "Brigadier Kumar leaves tomorrow afternoon, we'll try our best to conceal it at least until his replacement arrives."

Samir nods, taking it as an order, and patting him on the back, Aalekh leaves.

And once again, Aalekh smiles, because really, he could never expect anything other than this from his Naina.

**

They reach the site of the ambush early in the morning, just as dawn is breaking. They had camped during the night, knowing that it would be foolish to try and locate any clues without proper light.

Vijay guides them to the spot and they move carefully, cautiously, keeping an eye out for any hostile activity. The firs thing that they all notice is blood spatters on the ground and nearby leaves.

"That could be from Rehman's wound…" Vijay tells them, trying to remain positive.

Asha isn't listening, she has already moved eastwards where she is examining a larger patch of blood on the ground followed by what looks like a trail of spatters, as if somebody had bound their wound and then moved off.

"He went this way," she announces, no hesitation at all in her voice and before they can question her, she has already begun following the trail, looking for more clues.

Further along they find some markings on the ground and for the first time since she had heard the news the previous day, Asha smiles. She knows without any doubt that he made them in order to help any search team looking for him.

"We're on the right track everyone," Asha announces, "Stay alert and I'm sure we'll find him soon."

There was nothing in the world that Asha was more certain of right now.

Because no matter what happened he would always come back.

And if he didn't… then she was there to find him.