This OS is based on spoilers regarding Nachiket in jail. I know some of the ladies in the forum would have loved to be locked up with him, but I did the next best thing and threw Ragini in there instead. I doubt the law would work this way, but the show makes up its own rules as it goes along anyway.
As always, feedback and constructive criticism is appreciated. Please excuse my terrible Hindi. Lastly, thanks to Tiana.Disney for showing what a mature conversation between N and R would look like in her terrific fic, A Place in My Heart, Always.
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This was not what he had in mind when he had hoped to see Ragini again soon.
But there she was, sulking against the prison bars in the same coral pink sari she had been wearing when he had carried her over to the sofa, limp and unresponsive in his arms.
She had entered the police station like a force of nature, and though he hadn't seen her face he imagined her furrowed eyebrows and chin jutting out in anger as the raised voices carried over to his holding cell. A part of him was secretly pleased she was using her sharp tongue on his behalf instead of against him - it was a welcome change from the arguments they had been having lately.
The next thing he knew, she was being escorted to his cell, her arm in the firm grip of the officer on duty and, to his horror, was shoved inside, the door closing behind her with a final clang.
He was incensed at the rough treatment but his protests went unnoticed and soon they found themselves alone in the dank space.
Nachiket rushed to her side, his fingers tracing the gash on her forehead. She closed her eyes at his touch and his name erupted in a sob from her lips. He took her in his arms as she sagged against him, relief replacing the adrenaline that had propelled her here.
"Ragini, I'm so sorry, tum theek to ho?" the words tumbled out of his mouth as he dropped a kiss on the top of her head.
"Main theek hoon, lekin tum yahaan-"
"Koi baat nahin, it will be OK."
"Oy hoy!" taunted the police officer who had so gleefully thrown them both in jail. Ragini and Nachiket jumped apart as their audience came into view. "Yahan kya ho raha hai? Maine to suna tha ke tumhara divorce hua hai?" he addressed Ragini.
"Tameez se baat karo," Nachiket warned, as Ragini's eyes shot daggers at him through the bars.
"Accha, madam, abhi abhi aapke mangetar ka phone aaya tha, bechare ko aap hi samjhana..." he smirked as a faint blush appeared on Ragini's cheeks and whistled as he walked away.
Nachiket eyed her suspiciously. "Ragini, uss kaminey Officer Mehta se kya baat hui thi?"
She averted her gaze. "I told him you were my husband and to release you...aur phir shayad ek do gaali bhi di thi, uski ma ki..vagera vagera."
He stared at her in shock and then laughed. An embarrassed smile tugged at her lips.
"Kya ho jata hai tumhe Ragini," he wondered half-seriously. "Kabhi toh jagherte bina baat bhi nahin ho pa thi, phir kabhi mere bina khana nahin khaati. Kabhi apne mangetar ke taraf se mujhe gaali dey thi ho, phir kabhi mujhe apne pati maan ke police ko gaali dey thi ho."
She looked up at him with anguish in her eyes that he knew all too well. "Pata hai," he said as he gently smoothed the bandage against her skin. "Iska jawab nahin hai tumhare paas. Kaash main tumhe dard ke jage sukh dey sakta tha."
She caught his wrist as his thumb trailed down to brush away her tears and his heart thumped painfully as her slender fingers fit perfectly in his. He could almost imagine the smooth metal was their wedding band, back where it belonged.
"Nachiket," she sighed, "Itne saalon baad bhi mein tumhe bhool nahin paye. Saare sukh dukh ek taraf, apni parivar ek taraf. Lekin..."
"Lekin?" He tried but failed to keep the hope out of his voice.
"Tumne Aarav ke baare mein mujhse jhoot bola tha..." her voice cracked. "Aur phir jab, we needed you..." Ragini paused, unwilling to break down in front of him again. "I needed you!"
Guilt clawed at his insides again. The voice in his head that had whispered during those long nights that he was abandoning his family was finally vindicated. "Ragini, I...I'm sorry. For everything. For Aarav, aur tumhe chod ke jaana." His apologies felt feeble in the face of her pain."Lekin maine socha tha ke shayad tum sahi thi, shayad yeh sab mere vajeh se hua tha, shayad Nishi aur Aarav ke zindagi mein mera koi haq nahin tha."
It was her turn to face the consequences of the words she had uttered in her grief and anger. "Tumne unko itni khushi di thi...itni khushi toh main 15 saal mein nahin dey paye..." He shook his head at her words. "You're their father. They need you."
"Aur tum?" he asked softly.
"I...love you," she whispered, looking down at their joined hands. "Lekin mujhe tum par bharosa nahin hai."
His elation at her confession quickly turned to sorrow. "Ragini, mein vaada karta hoon, you will trust me with your heart again - I will earn it."
She looked surprised at his words. "Nachiket," she laughed, though there was no mirth behind it. "Don't you see? I can't get my heart back even if I wanted to." She moved to the far corner of the cell and stared out past the metal bars, and he realized they were both trapped in more ways than one.
The door to the jail had a key. That was simple enough.
What would be the key to their happiness?
As Aman finally rushed in to console Ragini, Nachiket made another promise, this time to himself.
He would find a way to break them out of the prison that held them back from each other. One brick at a time.
THE END
