Posted:
Over The Years - A Khisher One Shot.
Hey, this is my first Khisher OS. I just thought there was a dire need of Khisher OS's so I wrote this one, its set after the show's finale. And I might make it into a longer fanfiction, but no promises because I usually abandon stories I write. Anyway, enough about me, enjoy reading :)
"Ashar.." Khirad called out from the edge of the room, unsure of herself. She had not been in this bedroom as Ashar's wife for quite some time now, and she wasn't quite ready to throw her heart open to all the pain and the torment that came with the memories, with the possibility that this might not last. She loved Ashar, she had loved Ashar all this time but she could never bring herself to trust him again. He was the same man who had mercilessly thrown her out of his house while she was pregnant with his child, who in four years had never bothered to find out what became of his wife, who had never even given her a chance to explain herself, and who had taken less than a minute to believe the worst of her.
She looked at him, sitting on his arm chair in a white shirt and grey slacks, and thought that he always looked so debonair. His clothes crisp, his hair done just enough to make it look manly and well kept, and his clean shaven face that highlighted the strict bones of his face, telling everyone that this man meant business.
He looked up, with a gentle expression replacing the tired look that he had been wearing since he had apologized to her day before yesterday. Since then, Khirad had tried avoiding Ashar as much as possible, only because she had broken down in front of him once did not mean that everything was forgiven and forgotten, and more than teaching him the lesson he so deserved, this was about her. It was about the battle that she had fought with herself and the world for what felt like eternity now, and she wasn't going to confuse a mirage with reality, maybe she wasn't even going to drink water from an oasis for the fear of snakes. She was a different, more cautious person now.
"Haan Khirad?" he asked, his eyes soft and alert with a glint of happiness. It was the first time that she had addressed him since their emotional conversation day before yesterday. She had not even slept in the same room as his, but rather continued sleeping next to Hareem like she had been for the past month. She had seen him looking at her and Hareem from the door last night but pretended to sleep, she was not ready to be his wife just yet.
"Raza aayein hai aapse milne, saath unki family bhi aayi hai.." she looked at him motioning him to get up, "abhi maid toh hai nahi ghar pe toh aap kuchh bahar se order kar leejiye"
Ashar looked at her, and his heart became heavy once again. Khirad would have ordinarily offered to cook, he knew, but because of the way he had behaved the last time she had tried she was giving him an option now. Ha, maybe she wasnt really giving him any options, she was telling him that she was not going to cook.
"Haan kuchh bahar se order kar lete hai.. Kya par? Ghosht or Dal ya aur koi cuisine?"
"Jo Bhi"
"Okay"
**
He watched her sleep as he leaned against the door. She was so beautiful, the way her thick, black hair fell on the white skin of her face, which always bore the most serene expression possible. She was wearing a white kurta, the one she usually wore with a black dupatta. None of her clothes ever clung to her skin. In the beginning of their marriage he had not found her physically striking, but as they became intimate after he tried making the marriage work he had realized how physically attractive she really was. She was like a clear stream of water, a cool stream that ran gently on pebbles and made you feel happy when you dipped your fingers in it, and he was so utterly lucky to have had it all to himself, to immerse himself completely with the stream surrounding him like it had existed in all its wondrous beauty for him to come along.
Had. Existed.
Everything that he had lost now. Hareem lay next to Khirad, and hugged her mother almost as tightly as Khirad hugged her. Ashar smiled a wry smile, how stupid was Khirad to think that Hareem would prefer him, Ashar, to the mother who had brought her up her entire life and probably never let her feel alone or unloved. Khirad underestimated herself, seven months of knowing her had left imprints on his heart that didn't fade for four years despite the desert of terrible lies that was cast upon them, and she thought her own child who had lived with her for four years would forget her? Both Hareem and Khirad had cried incessantly, sobbed in each other's arms and kissed each other like they were parts of a whole and their unity a celebration. He had watched for half a minute, like he was now, and felt like killing himself for putting the two people he had felt the most love for through something as terrible as this. Then he had left, because he did not want to corrupt their moment, and he felt like he did not deserve to even watch them.
On an impulse, he walked up to his wife who had curled herself on Hareem's bed and held the latter securely in her arms.
"Khirad" he shook her gently. Her eyes instantly flew open as he felt something crawl in the pit of his stomach, she had become vigilant over the years as if always prepared for the worst.
"Khirad, yahan pe tumhe dhang se neend nahi aayegi. Kamre mein aa jaao please" he said looking into her eyes, holding her gently.
She looked at him with wide eyes, eyes wide and innocent, and perhaps it was that she had just woken up from sleep but her guarded eyes were gone and emotions, all kinds of emotions flickered through her eyes; there was love, a sense of betrayal, gratitude, helplessness and immense sadness. Such sadness that Ashar held her shoulders tighter, as if supporting her. They looked into each other's eyes for two seconds, hers vulnerable and his pleading, and then she looked away and nodded. Ashar felt a little weight lift from his heart as he guided her into their bedroom, and when she got into the bed and covered herself with the duvet, he felt after four years that everything in this world, was exactly the way it was supposed to be.
