Theme - Theme 1 : The Bag
(Graphicer - WildestDreams)
The Weight of Love
The rain drummed softly against the glass windows of the airport, a rhythmic whisper of unspoken goodbyes and long-awaited reunions. Zoya pressed her hands into the pockets of her jacket, exhaling a deep breath as she stood near the baggage carousel. The neon signs flickered above, the hum of conversations blending into the background.
Her heart was a tempest. She had told herself a hundred times NOT to come, NOT to hope. But hope was a stubborn thing, refusing to fade no matter how many times it was crushed. And so, she stood there, waiting.
A black leather bag tumbled onto the carousel, its tag swinging wildly with the movement. Her eyes flickered over it, and her breath caught.
Asad Ahmed Khan.
Her fingers trembled as she reached for it, tracing the bold letters on the tag. It had been two years. Two years since SHE had walked away, since HE had let her go. No calls. No explanations. Just silence, thick and suffocating.
And now, fate had placed HIS bag in her hands.
Her throat tightened as memories rushed in - whispers beneath a winter sky, stolen glances across crowded rooms, the way his hand had lingered just a second longer when he used to hold hers. Love had been a silent promise between them, one neither had the courage to voice before it had slipped away.
She turned sharply, her eyes searching the arrival gates. And then, she saw HIM.
Asad stood near the entrance, scanning the crowd with a familiar intensity. He hadn’t changed. The same brooding presence, the same effortless grace. Yet, there was something different...an exhaustion in his posture, a hesitance in his gaze.
Before she could think, before logic could stop her, she walked towards him. He was about to leave when she called out.
“Asad”
He froze. For a second, she thought he wouldn’t turn. But then, slowly, he faced her. His expression flickered between shock and something softer - something she had almost forgotten.
“Zoya?”
Her name on his lips was a whisper of the past, a pull stronger than time itself. She lifted his bag. “Looks like fate still has a sense of humor.”
His eyes dropped to the bag, then back to her. “You… you’re here.”
A humorless smile touched her lips. “I could say the same to you.”
A beat of silence stretched between them, heavy with things left unsaid. And then, softly, he spoke.
“I looked for you.”
She swallowed, her fingers tightening around the handle of his bag. “Not hard enough.”
The pain in his eyes was raw, unguarded. “I thought you didn’t want to be found.”
She exhaled shakily. “I thought you didn’t care to look.”
The airport crowd moved around them, but they stood still, locked in a moment neither had dared to imagine. Finally, he took a step closer.
“I was a coward, Zoya.” His voice was thick with regret. “I let my fears get the best of me. I told myself it was better to let you go than to hold on when I wasn’t sure if I deserved you.”
Her vision blurred slightly, the weight of his confession pressing against the fragile walls she had built around her heart. “And now?”
He hesitated, his gaze searching hers as if she held the answer to everything he had lost. “Now, I know I never stopped loving you.”
A tear slipped down her cheek, and he reached out hesitantly, as if afraid she would disappear. But she didn’t step away. His fingers brushed against her skin, warm and familiar.
“This bag,” she murmured, glancing down at the leather. “It found me before you did.”
A small chuckle escaped him, filled with equal parts sorrow and hope. “Maybe it knew better than I did.”
Zoya looked up at him, her heart an aching, yearning thing. “Do you still have room for more baggage, Asad?”
His smile was soft, a quiet unraveling of all the years between them. “If it’s yours, always.”
And just like that, the weight of love...the past, the pain, the longing...shifted. Not gone, but lighter.
Because this time, they were carrying it together.
CID
Bade Achche Lagte Hain Naya Season
222