Destiny’s Salute- Epilogue p10 - Page 4

Akash's hand loosened from my hold; I fall on back, and feel all consciousness knocked out of me. I lie there in pain, moaning while trying to get back on my feet and climb my way out. "Manya!" I glance up and see Akash screaming my name; I turn towards him with all the power left in my body and reach out; he grabs a hold of my hand pulls me out.

The next thing I feel is something soft underneath me; I glance up and see Akash staring into my face with worry and another emotion in his eyes, I look away once again embarrassed by our position; and roll off of him. He frowns as I try to stand but only find myself falling back; grabbing me from underneath my legs and my back he lifted me in his arms and walked off, refusing to put me down. The entire walk back towards our camp was filled with quietness; hours later Akash set me down safely and took rest, while I wrapped my wounds together, drying off the continuous bleeding. He glances near me and walks carefully trying to help. I sigh and just nod negatively, moaning whenever the pain was unbearable.

The night passed slowly and in the early morning of peak hours the worst happened; I wake up to find myself alone surrounded by trees and strangers. I glare at them and ask, "Who are you and what do you want?" They smirk and walk towards me as I struggle to move back, how lucky of me to have a broken knee, arm and bleeding forehead on the day when I finally get to show what women can do! I mutter something under my breath and move away swiftly, glancing at every single face.

One of the men pounces on me; and with the rest of my power, I kick him where it hurts and roll away before the other catches a hold of my leg. The other two rush towards the man on the ground crying in pain; one of the men glares back at me, pulling out a knife and strikes. The next thing I feel is him stabbing me continuously on my arms, the bleeding increasing. Dizziness overcomes me, but I refuse to give up; taking a hold of his hand, I kick him off of me, than struggling to get up, finally I was successful.

"BOOM!" I turn around speechless, the man behind me was holding a gun targeted at me, I glance down and….

"Manya! Where are you, Manya!" Akash glances around in fear, he had gone to get some water for her just twenty feet away and now she was gone. "Where the hell is this girl?" His voice began sounding frustrating, he rushes west but stops, footsteps and blood were headed north; he followed the trail but then lost it, it was gone.

"Damn!" I mutter under my breath and rush towards the camp. Om, Rupa, Gul and the others approach me along with Ayesha, safe and sound. "Manya, where is Manya, did she come here?" the pain and fear in my voice easily expressed. All stare at me bewildered, "What are you saying Akash, she was with you, wasn't she?" Om spoke first. "yeah, Akash well I don't know for sure whether she was with you but she went with some others looking for Ayesha, we even sent smoke signals to all of you when we found Ayesha sitting here peacefully, but neither did you or Manya return; so eventually we called up General Shashank, and right now he is in the tent calling back up to find you, and Manya!" Rupa's voice full of tension.

"Oh my goodness, then where the heck is she? How can she just disappear like that?" I mutter under my breath; who was capable of answering my questions other than her. "Hurry, lets go we don't have all day, my best officer isn't here along with that girl!" Shashank's voice clear from behind the others. I turn around and General Shashank's face lightens up, "Akash, are you okay? Did she do anything to you?" he questions me, completely startling me; rather than asking if Manya was safe and sound here he was blaming the entire situation on her. Frustrated I turn back around, shooting another glare at him, as I walk away into the forest trying to find Manya anywhere safe and sound.

"Where the hell do you think you are going?" General Shashank's voice ranges into a higher pitch as I get further and further. I turn around and speak in a cold voice, "to find Manya, she fell in a pit, I helped her get out and in the morning I woke up to find her wounds continuously bleeding so I went to get water, I return and she was gone, but there was a bigger pile of blood, where she had been sitting!" A look of shock flashes across his face as he follows me into the forest with the others.

The search through the forest turned deadly as we found more and more blood everywhere; I frown this was starting to become creepy; and that was when I saw her, lying in a puddle of blood, wounded, bruised and unconscious. I rush towards her and hold her in my arms, she lay there lifeless. General Shashank rushes towards me and what he say scared him, we both feared the worst anything could happen to a woman but than that's when her last words spoke before she fell back into a deep slumber…."te…terr…terrorists, shot me, blood, I shot another, he there…!" she pointed one last.

A week later my eyes open and I find myself in the hospital covered in bandages, a broken arm, broken knee and ughh doctors and nurses themselves. I turn slightly to avoid the blinding light, to find mama and dadu staring at me with worried eyes, I smile at them slowly and find the others walking into the room, and that's when the memories struck me. I tremble slightly and lift my hands to my forehead blocking out all memories.

"Manya, it's good to see you awake however, you are being suspended, you do not have a place in training to become one of us especially after what has happened with you, we can not accept you or any other woman! We had warned earlier not to go beyond your limits, although you talked back to me I found courage in you to prove yourself but not only did you let me down but Ayesha as well! So I want all of you women out of training, we do not accept you any longer!"

My world crashes, thunder strikes, and I feel myself crying tears of pain, a slight whisper escapes my mouth, "I'm sorry papa…." before I fall back lost in a world of darkness….

To be continued tomorrow afternoon or Sunday morning…

Days later I wake up to find myself laying down on my bed, covered beneath the quilt; I turn my head slightly and frown. What was I doing here, how come I was here, who brought me here; and suddenly the truth dawned upon me; I had been suspended, kicked out of the training school because Ayesha had been lost. "Mama, dadu!" I call out, my voice full of tension and frustration; how could they just do that to me, just because Ayesha screwed up didn't mean I did; I .., I slumped back towards the head rest and sat quietly.

"Manya, your awake! I'm so glad you are, I thought I almost lost you for a moment when you kept waking up and fainting, please don't ever do that again!" Ma wipes the tears forming in her eyes and looks away refusing to meet my questioning gaze. "I'm sorry!" she says as dadu walks in; glancing at me every now and then. "Are you feeling better beta?" he questions casually. I force my smile and nod my head yes.

"Shashank, how the hell can you blame the entire situation on the women, just because their feminine, not males like the rest of you! How could you blame the entire situation on them; for goodness sake you were supposed to be with them the ENTIRE time, eventually this entire situation occurred because of you; if only you never judged us things would have been better. And, how can you forget if it weren't for Manya, today the terrorists that we have locked away in the prison jail would probably have blasted parts of india! Think about what she has done and what the others have done; you know the truth, either you work for the truth or became a cheat; and from the looks of it you won't become either. I pity you and myself that I ever fell in love with you, I PITY our children, who have a father that doesn't want to respect women; NOW you know why Rashi, Kajol and Abhay never respected you as their father!" Madam Heer shouted at her husband, Shashank, before stomping out of the room in anger.

Shashank watched her retreating footsteps, she hated him, his children hated him and more than anything else most of the women he knew hated him. How could I have done such a thing, he thought to himself; but his ego clashed with the truth; "if it weren't for the boys the women would have ruined them; if we give control to women like them then what will become of India?" he asked himself.

"Much better than what is going on India today especially with all the bribes, the rapes, the abuse, all of which is inflicted upon women, children and families because of MALE police officers who refuse to protect the country!" Shashank startled by the familiar voice, looks up to find a limping Manya with a bloody bandage on her forehead. He frowned, "what are you doing here?" I throw him a look and settle myself calmly down in a chair before him.

"Look I'm not here to fight for us to be re-allowed in the academy, all I can say is; 'I thought you were a different man, after a few lectures and talk backs you would understand but you didn't,' if you don't give us a chance how do you expect women to excel? Just think about that and your daughters, sisters, wife, and nieces, don't make their life more complicated than it already is because of corrupt officers; we don't need more of you…!" my voice trailed off as I got up and walked away.

Days continued by, finally, when I had enough of hide and seek games I went to the academy; and found Akash and Om leaving with the others for a new mission; I waited a few moments before I could get into the bus. Sneaking in I set off with their new mission.

The bus soon came to a halt just 50 kilometers away from the academy base. Everyone took hold of their positions as soon as the bus was cleared out; I waited in the back corner of the bus and watched everyone disappear into the forest; as soon as they were out of sight I raced behind them. Slipping occasionally, yet careful enough to be quiet.

I stopped suddenly and hid behind a tree; before me sat the others just pulling out food to eat after hours of hiking through the forest in search of terrorist, companions of those that had tried to kill me. "Hey yaar, do you agree with the officials new rule about 'no girls allowed' I personally think it's a piece of bull, did you notice how Manya performed not only better than the women but better than MOST men as well! Shashank sir in simple terms is being biased because he doesn't know how hard it is on them; and even though he knows Manya risked her life to save us from the terrorists he blamed the entire situation on her. He's a sick man! That's all I have to say about him. Period" one of the male cadets spoke through his bite.

I smiled slightly and hid behind the bushes when the other male cadet peeked over his head after hearing a snap near the trees. He brushed it off slightly thinking it was just another noise; I took a deep breath and walked off slowly to find Akash, Om and Gul sitting with one another in a circle, not eating nor talking. I frown what had happened here and then I saw it; Akash had a bleeding arm. My breath got caught in my throat, what had happened I questioned my mind, but got no reply.

Hours later, all the cadets returned one by one, the mission was over, the entire forest had been checked and yet not one terrorist had been found. Well if you think that, your wrong. Around 3 in the morning, Akash disappeared, blood stains found near where he was, his body broken in bits. Everyone was in a fury of pain and confusion, there where his body lay was now just clothes, ripped and torn, and blood scattered around; he had been killed.

One by one, as the days continued by and no sign of Akash, everyone left, his clothes were checked for the DNA, and it turned positive; Akash had passed away….but my mind refused to believe that, I loved the dork…I wouldn't give up on him now, nor ever.

To be continued…tomorrow evening or Tuesday!

Taking in a deep breath I wander through the forest, refusing to enter the bus without Akash; something my heart refused to do. The thought of being away from Akash was terrifying as if I was to loose something much to valuable. My feet eventually took over as my mind swayed in and out of thoughts; mainly of Akash's gorgeous face. Frustrated by the sudden swing of emotions I ran through the forest anywhere where my mind would focus; and then suddenly what I saw before me took my breath away.

There he was leaning against a tree, rather tied to a tree; with blood gushing down his face, arms and legs. I was horrified, my feet glued down to the spot where I sat. How could he be in this condition? Who would possibly do such a cruel thing to someone so sweet? I stuttered, "A..Akash!" the words came out harshly; much more than I intended. He turned around and gasped, quickly he looked around and motioned for me to leave him alone; there to die whatever fate he had was ruined.

I snapped at him, "don't you dare utter a word!" his eyes shot wide, and he muttered something too fast for me to understand under his breath. To me it sounded as if he had just shot a thousand curses at me; I glared back; and put myself to work. Looking here and there; I pulled out my gun, careful enough to go through the forest without a noise. I approached Akash when suddenly someone screamed, "intruder!!" shocked, I turned around and found him eyeing me through a gun; and quickly shot him before his bullet went through my head. The bullet ripped through his heart silencing him forever; I watched terrified.

I turned around afraid and found Akash staring at me; he knew we had to do it but didn't know how to comfort me. He nodded slightly, as I headed near him and undid the ties; he watched carefully. I turned around and frowned in shock; twenty other men barricaded us between 20 by 20 feet. I turned to glance up at Akash who looked around at me; "do you have another gun?" he asked his voice a bit tense and shaky, I nodded and handed him the other one.

In a matter of moments we both were firing and running for safety away from the others; what I saw next frightened me. A bomb exploded just ten feet away from me; there was no chance of my safety; until I felt a warm pair of hands grab me by the arm and run. We ran a bit before the bomb got out of control and we went flying through the air. I landed with a thud and something hard fell on me. My eyes opened taking several moments to adjust to the blinding red and orange dangerous colors behind us. On top of me lay a tired Akash staring into my eyes; he smiled tears in his eyes. Slowly he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on my forehead, and looked into my eyes. Just several inches away from my lips; the smell of his breath bounced off my lips making the situation a bit harder to live through.

We both lay in one another's arms, gazing longingly, and deeply at one another. Our eyes refusing to let go for fear of loosing one another. Slowly he leaned down yet once again his lips barely touching mine when BOOMMM! We turned to the side and found another bomb explode just 15 feet away; hurried by this sudden bomb Akash grabbed my arm yet once again and we ran farther into the forest, no clue of getting out or if we were headed the right direction.

"Manya!" Akash screamed for me as I headed from behind the forest cleaned up, no dirt marks or burnt marks on my skin. He stared dumbfounded, I looked at him and smiled, "what?" he glared suddenly, "where did you get those clothes?" I replied cheekily, "I packed extra!" and chuckled slightly under my breath as his eyes narrowed on to my build. I blushed crimson red as his eyes scanned me; for some reason his gaze made it that much more difficult to look into his eyes; gosh was he driving me crazy if only he knew the effect he had on me.

"So basically that means you were changing behind those trees?" Akash asked pointing just behind me, I nodded slightly embarrassed. He stared mouth-wide open, "and you didn't invite me?" My eyes grew wide in horror. "not that, I meant for clothes or the water!" my heart relaxed and I turned, coming back moments later with a bucket of water and some extra clothes.

"Where you, by chance, planning on camping here?" he teased, "I was until I ran into you!" I rolled my eyes and turned to walk away when suddenly he grabbed my wrist and flung me around, "Manya! [his voice soft and pleasant] I have a question, [I nodded suddenly calm], well were you planning on wearing guy clothes as well, since you brought these along as well?" I stared down at his clothes and looked around, anywhere except his eyes. He chuckled under his breath and walked away.

"Dork, but I love him!" I said softly and walked to set a small fire up. He walked moments later covered in rags, I frowned underneath the handsome face he was in pain. I glanced at myself and my dupatta brought an idea along; "sit!" I forced him to be quiet and sit still as my dupatta apart and cleaned up his bullet wounds, the cuts and bruises. He hissed in pain, after I pulled out the bullet; I jumped slightly. Akash glanced back and smiled, "not that, your nails are sharp, feisty!" I rolled my eyes at his back; forced him to lie down and lifted his shirt.

A well toned six pack took my breath away and the lovely just two shades darker tan than his face, suited him well. I moaned breathless, and hoped he hadn't heard that. I glanced down and saw his eyes shut; I sighed in relief; and cleaned up his wounds. My fingers brushing softly against his smooth skin. His eyes opened wide and he stared at me lost. I glanced up and again lost myself in those chocolate brown eyes.

I got up and walked away to the other side of the fire, grabbing any food I had found and began cooking, watching carefully, on the food. From the corner of my eyes I found Akash smiling at me. "you look like a typical house wife, Manya!" he hollered from the other side; I shot him a look and got back to my work.

Manya lay sound asleep next to the fire, breathing evenly. Akash glanced at her, softly stroking her hair, she moved slightly and he stopped. Carefully he repeated the process until she caught hold of his hand and turned slightly, her head in his lap. Akash smiled looking at her face, "Manya, you are a sweet friend, I don't know what I would have done without you, I don't know if you are more than just a friend but I can say I found my love; I can't wait too see her in the morning! Her powerful brown eyes looking into mine! I love her so much Manya!" his voice ran through a 5 foot radius, Manya's eyes creaked slightly open, she blushed and shut them. Thinking he loved her she fell back into a deep slumber…

To be continued on thursday…a bit more romantic part between A-M, and then back to the academy!