Sleeping on the bare ground had ruined everyone's clothes. Using Neer's water just like they had done in the alleyway, they had a bath over their worn clothes. But this time, they weren't obligated to stay in the same clothes.

"Are you sure you don't want to use these clothes?" Neer asked Gyaan, annoyed by Gyaan's righteous nature in such a situation.

The group had been divided into two, with the females moving to a dense area of the forest to get some privacy while changing. The guys stayed away enough to not pry, but close enough to be able to help if something went wrong.

"Gyaan! You will fall sick at this rate," Neer tried again, while he was removing his wet shirt.

Gyaan snorted at the word 'sick'. "I am a healer. When I heal humans, animals and even plants; you think I wouldn't be able to heal myself."

"Do whatever you want," Neer said, giving up on trying to put some sense into him.

Neer picked up his and Avan's clothes, and washed them once again thoroughly, before putting them on a huge rock to dry.

"You look like a hanger," Gyaan commented, looking at the clothes hanging on Neer's body. They were at least three sizes bigger than what he needed.

"At least they aren't sticking to my body," Neer retorted, pointing at Gyaan's wet clothes.

"How am I looking?" Avan asked, twirling around happily.

A shirt was enough to drown the entire boy. Avan didn't need a pant, because the shirt came upto his ankles.

"The length is good, but we need to do something about the width. The shirt is falling off your shoulders," Gyaan said, as he noticed that even while twirling, Avan had clutched the shirt tightly from his shoulders.

"Maybe Ahana or Sameera would have some safety pins with them. Let them come, then we will clip the shirt in a way that it doesn't fall," Neer said.

"Great idea," Gyaan said, "but where are they? Isn't it taking them too much time to change?"

"Dad used to ask the same thing to Mom. She used to huff at him and say that we need more time because we have to get properly ready unlike someone who just has to wear two pieces of clothing and Bam! you are ready," Avan said, remembering the past when he was together with his family.

"That is when they actually need to get ready and look pretty. It's not like they are going to find accessories and make up in this forest," Gyaan said, over-exaggerating his actions to divert Avan's mind, who had turned sad upon remembering his family.

"Wearing saree takes time," Neer counter-backed with narrowed eyes, having taken Ahana's role to banter with Gyaan.

"Still. You changed and even washed your clothes, which they definitely won't be able to do without your water. Moreover, we have been bickering for quite a long time. So it is definitely taking them a long time to get ready," Gyaan said, ready for a full on debate.

"So what? It's not like we are getting late to reach somewhere," Neer muttered, ending the debate even before it could start properly.

Gyaan made a face at Neer's back, but then smiled. He lost the conversation, but at least Avan had started giggling.

"They are taking turns to change. One is on the lookout," Avan informed, making the other guys instantly turn towards him.

"How do you know?" Neer asked with raised eyebrows.

"My friends," Avan answered with a wide smile, pointing towards the trees.

"Oh yeah! Forgot about them," Neer said.

"But why on the lookout?" Gyaan questioned with a frown, "There's no chance of any other human being here, and all the nearby animals were alerted by Avan to leave us alone. It's just us here, who would never do anything to make them uncomfortable."

"Never? Really? Well, not intentionally but I do know of someone who accidentally takes over someone's personal space in sleep," Neer said, looking at Gyaan pointedly, reminding of the state he had woken in.

Gyaan winced, understanding the jab very well.

Neer's fingers were curled up in a fist as his blood boiled once again as he recalled the morning scene. Neer had woken up after a peaceful sleep, only to find Gyaan on top of Ahana's upper body.

Gyaan had somehow kicked off Avan who was lying on Ahana's stomach towards her leg, and had turned entirely in a way that seemed like he was embracing her.

"That...that was an accident," Gyaan said, looking ashamed.

"I know," Neer replied in a cold voice. "And that's probably the reason they are being careful. To avoid accidents."

"Yeah, yeah, I understood. Stop taunting me again and again," Gyaan muttered, before walking away from there, fanning his face to get rid of the embarrassment.

★★★★★

"You stole the menstruation cup!!" Sameera whisper-yelled as she saw the cup as soon as Ahana removed her top.

"Hey! Don't look!" Ahana exclaimed, covering herself with her hands, before chuckling when she saw Sameera's annoyed glare.

"Go ahead and shy away from me, when you had no problem sleeping with Gyaan on top of you," Sameera jested.

Ahana threw her top on Sameera's face.

"I was asleep, okay? I didn't know," Ahana grumbled, while trying to hide her reddened cheeks

Sameera removed the top from her face while making a face at Ahana, before asking, "How can someone not know? We get irritated even if a small fly comes on our body. Here we are talking about a whole person. Didn't you feel any extra body weight on top of yours?"

"Shut up," Ahana muttered, looking at Sameera with a glare.

"Yeah scare me off just because you don't have an answer," Sameera said in a sing-song voice.

"Please," Ahana pleaded at last when even her deadly glare didn't work.

"Okay, okay, I won't tease you anymore," Sameera said, surrendering when she saw that it was getting past Ahana's comfort level.

"About the menstruation cup...?" Sameera trailed off, coming back to the topic.

"Because it was necessary," Ahana replied simply.

Sameera nodded, understanding that she wasn't going to get any more information other than that.

"Don't tell the boys," Ahana ordered.

"Obviously! Forget stealing part, the product itself guarantees an awkward conversation," Sameera said with a chuckle.

"True." Ahana chuckled too.

"Should have stolen some undergarments too," Ahana muttered, looking at the sorry state of her undergarments.

She had hoped to wear them again by drying them with the help of Sameera's and her element. However, they weren't just dirty, but also on the verge of snapping.

They had been wearing the same outfit since the day they went to pick Ayaan from school. Her other clothes still had some fight in them, but her undergarments were too old to sustain so much. Because of a lack of jobs, she had been postponing shopping for the things that couldn't be noticed. Her stinginess had come to bite her now.

"What should I do?" She asked the older lady, almost on the verge of crying.

"It shouldn't really matter. No one's going to look inside if you are wearing one or not," Sameera said, not believing her own words.

"But I will know," Ahana muttered, more to herself than Sameera. Their practical mind could give her thousands of reasons why it was okay, that it didn't matter, but some things just didn't work upon practicality.

They both knew it was going to be utterly scary and uncomfortable, especially with the boys around.

"We can do one thing," Sameera said, thanking the stars that the salwar-kameez they had found was dark in colour.

"What?!" Ahana asked hurriedly with hopeful eyes.

"The dress is really dark, and the top is also long, so the lower area is just sorted. You don't need to worry about that. And about the bra, you can just wrap the dupatta as a shawl, covering the chest area for extra measure."

"That should work," Ahana said, before moving to give Sameera a tight hug. A lone tear fell from her eyes.

"Hey, why are you crying?" Sameera asked in a soft, worried voice, as she noticed Ahana's eyes after they broke the hug.

"It's nothing," Ahana tried to wave it off, but then gave up when Sameera pulled her in for another hug. A hug full of comfort and care.

"Sshh, I know it's hard, but everything is going to be okay," Sameera said, caressing Ahana's head which was now resting on her chest.

Ahana had been so rude to Sameera, and that too on multiple occasions. However, when the time came it was only Sameera with whom Ahana could share her troubles. The same type of troubles she had wanted to share with her mother when she had first hit her puberty.