A/N

Hi everyone!

First of all, I’m really very sorry for not updating this sooner. My younger cousin brother passed away in an accident last week and I wasn’t able to write anything for about a week. Every time I tried writing something, his face started flashing in front of my eyes. He was hardly twenty years old and it came as a heavy blow to the entire family. So, it took me some time to get this chapter done!

Thank you so much for all the love and patience you have shown towards me and the story. That really means a lot to me! Here you all go with the next chapter. I hope you all will like this one.

With loads of love and smiles… Happy Reading!!

*** CHAPTER 29 ***

In the entire twenty seven years of his life, Sanskaar has never been in such a quandary. He doesn’t know himself whether it’s right or wrong but with having this woman back in his arms after so long, the whimpers of his agonizing soul have finally subsided. He finds himself at peace once again!

Even before he realizes, though involuntarily, his fingertips start trailing down Swara’s cheek, caressing every bit of it gingerly. Oh how he has missed… touching her! Kissing her! Admiring her, though from afar! His heart leaps inside his chest just by having her so close to him all over again.

She’s here… for him! Not even in his wildest dreams has he imagined her to come all over to Mumbai to take him back, let alone the new shade of his lady love he has seen today. The joys of it?!! A man can never tell! The feeling surging up his heart is just inexplicable!

As his fingers trail along her lower lip, Swara shivers and the realization hits him back… She’s still wet! Even though she’s here, he knows it pretty well that she will not appreciate him changing her clothes. So, being the gentleman he is, Sanskaar picks up his umbrella and with one last look at her face, he rushes out to get some aid.

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He shudders as he feels his skin getting abraded by numerous pointed rocks and boulders underneath. With each scratch on his skin, he feels his breath getting stuck in his chest even more and more. And this pain multiplies umpteenth times as his head hits against a boulder on his path downhill.

“Is he dead?”, hearing a cold menacing voice he tries opening his eyes but his vision starts getting blurred with the blood oozing down his forehead and falling onto his eyelids and eyelashes.

Heavy footsteps trailing down towards him make his heart sink with dread… not for himself but for the one he has left behind.

His biggest regret right now?! Not being able to tell her what he feels!

Those footsteps come to a halt as one of the two silhouettes standing tall in front of him scoot down to take a look at his fragile, almost lifeless, body.

“Not exactly! But he will be soon”, he hears the man say and the perilous voice reprimands as if disgusted, “Move away! Let me handle this. I can’t afford have him alive after all this.”

He tries figuring out who the owner of the voice is… but with his enfeebled senses he fails to do so. And as he hears metals scraping against the rocks he tries to gather the last bit of his strength to make a run for his life. Standing up on his trembling legs, he drags his feet forward but with a painful strike of the heavy metal rod on his limbs, he stumbles and falls down again.

It’s over! It’s all over… and he can feel it quite clearly right now!

He sucks in a deep breath as the ruthless voice chides once again, “Just know this that I hate you… more than anything else.” And the metal rod is raised up in the air again. A shine catches his eye, and as his vision clears a bit, the rod callously smashes his head ending the pain of his mortal self once and for all… however, leaving his anguished soul withering with pain.

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Sanskaar falls down to his knees the very moment he sucks in a deep breath looking at the very familiar silhouette in front of him right now. He just can’t believe what he has seen right now. Finding himself again in the same dimly lit room of his dreams, he feels as if he has lived a dream within his usual dream.

What was it?! He’s still not sure!

Sanskaar: W-What… What was that?

Shlok takes a slow yet steady step towards his younger brother and scurries down to his knees in front of him. Wiping off the tears flowing down Sanskaar’s cheeks with his oddly cold yet warmth rendering hands, he smiles at him for the first time during the encounter.

Shlok: The last bit of my memory when I was alive!

Sanskaar: What?!

One sentence and it leaves Sanskaar shocked beyond his wits. So… So, he has witnessed his brother’s last moments right now! This is seriously not happening, is it?! It becomes too much for Sanskaar to take in and his breath wavers. He lifts up his head to look at his brother and is taken aback by an unreadable expression etched across his features.

Sanskaar: You… You were killed?

Shlok: (nods) I can’t tell this to anyone apart from you, Sanskaar. And just know this… They are after you now!

Sanskaar: W-What?!

And that’s when the realization hits him harder than ever before. That accident… His accident…

Sanskaar: So, my accident at that time…

Shlok: Was a planned one. I tried calling out to you at that time but I was too late. I’m sorry… I couldn’t protect you.

Sanskaar: It’s not like that, bhai. I know you’re the best brother I could have asked for and I can’t even tell you how much my heart aches knowing that I can never meet you in life. I just…

Shlok: (smiles) You always know what to say, right? No wonder everyone loves you so much.

Sanskaar: Now, what shall we do? We can’t let your murderers go away just like that!

Shlok: That’s where I need your help. You know that… my body was never found?

Sanskaar nods!

Shlok: That’s because they have hid my body somewhere. Most probably… buried somewhere but I don’t know where.

Sanskaar: Who are they, bhai?

Shlok: (sighs) I don’t know and that’s where I need your help.

Sanskaar: What do I need to do? Just say it…

Shlok: Find out who killed me! Find out where my body is hidden. Look into my memory… and you’ll know what you need to do!

And with that the voice fades into oblivion once again.

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Sanskaar wakes up with a jerk breathing heavily, his heart thumping crazily like nothing before. How much worse will it get now? His brother has been killed and nobody has been able to do anything yet. With his still trembling fingers he fists his hair rather painfully trying to let out a scream, but even his voice defies him. His chest constricts caving up on his heart and lungs, making it hard for him to breath. What should he do now? He has no one by his side, whom shall he tell this now?!

And that’s when he feels an all too familiar ardent warmth seeping down from his shoulder into his shivering body. He turns to look behind only to find an impassioned pair of eyes filled completely with concern… for him?!

Swara worriedly looks at the haphazard conditions of the man in front of her right now, wondering what might have tormented him to such an extent. With her hand still on his shoulder, she speaks tenderly, with utmost care.

Swara: Sanskaar, are you alright? I have been trying to wake you up for quite a while.

Anticipating a response, she tightens her grip on his shoulder a little but the very next moment she is engulfed in a firm embrace of the still shivering man. Finding herself in his arms once again, Swara goes numb with the feelings hauling obdurately at her heart, scorching her soul… the same feelings she has been trying to bury deep inside of her ever since she has found out that he’s not her husband.

But her apparently traitorous heart begs to differ and she finds it almost impossible to cajole this crazily thudding thing as per her own will. She shudders even more as she feels a pair of quivering lips pressed lightly against the junction of her neck and shoulder. And for once she wants to let go of everything…

“Sanskaar!”

Swara’s unintentional moan breaks off his daze and Sanskaar pulls away hastily leaving Swara embarrassed yet yearning for the warmth of his embrace.

Sanskaar: I’m… I’m sorry! Excuse me!

And with that being said he scuffles straight into the washroom, trying to get a hold of his feelings.

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Why? Why? Why is it that he always loses himself around her?!

Sanskaar splashes his face with handful of water again and again. What has he been thinking? Kissing her like that?! Will she despise him again?

Taking a deep breath, he opens the door of the washroom and is immediately greeted by a smiling Swara holding a glass of water for him. Well, that definitely doesn’t look like the face of an angry person!

Swara: Are you okay now?

Sanskaar: (nods) Yeah!

With just one word as a reply, he immediately takes the glass of water from her hand and without another eye contact, he walks towards the small window by his study table. No sooner the window is opened, the cool midnight air brushes past him making him close his eyes. As the calm and placid air relieves him of his inner turmoil, Sanskaar allows a drop of tear to escape from the corner of his eyes.

Swara gazes at Sanskaar’s straightened back and it’s not hard for her to realize that something has been bothering him greatly. Witnessing how he whimpered a while ago in his sleep, it appears to her that it’s because of a nightmare… or maybe even more?! She doesn’t know herself. All she knows is that he needs someone by his side now, someone to tell him that he’s not alone. Walking towards him with slow yet steady steps, she stops a couple of feet away from him.

Swara: Sanskaar!

Sanskaar: Yes?!

Swara: Um… Thanks for the clothes!

Sanskaar hurriedly wipes off the lone tear from the corner of his left eye, to hide it from Swara but it still couldn’t go unnoticed from her. With a questioning look he turns around to look at her and that’s when he realizes that she’s still in his t-shirt and track pants which are apparently too large in size for a fragile figure as hers, yet he just can’t help but notice how adorable she looks in them.

Sanskaar: So, you’re not worried about who changed your clothes?

Swara: Is there any need for me to get worried, even when you are here?!

She poses back a question catching him off-guard and Sanskaar stutters…

Sanskaar: W-What?!

Swara: (smiles taking a step forward) I trust you, Sanskaar and I know the person you are.

And that says it all. Her trust and belief on him are much more than he can ask for! All he prays for right now is that this beautiful moment doesn’t turn out to be a dream later. It’s too good to be true. He doesn’t want to wake up the next morning and realize that all of this has been nothing but his mere imagination. And if it’s a dream, he wants to live in it for all his life!

Sanskaar: Uh… Well, I asked the female teacher a couple of quarters away to help me.

Swara: (shakes her head) You don’t need to explain, Sanskaar. I just want to thank you for your clothes.

Sanskaar: Um… In that case, you’re always welcome! You should sleep now. It’s quite late.

Saying that he turns back to face the window again, expecting Swara to get back to sleep but for him, right now, sleep seems like something far from his reach. The dreadful moment from his dream flashes in front of eyes again  and again, making him even more miserable than before.

“I know you never lied”, Sanskaar’s line of thoughts are immediately brought to an abrupt impasse as Swara whispers from behind him again. Confused, he turns again and finds Swara gazing up to him affectionately.

Sanskaar: What?

Swara: I know that you never lied to me about your feelings. I realize it now that how hard the things might have been for you back then. I’m sorry that I never gave you a chance for explaining anything.

Sanskaar: You’ve nothing to apologize for, Swara. You gave me the most beautiful feeling of my life! I just can’t ask for more.

Swara: (smiles) And you don’t need to hide your tears from me… even if I’m the reason behind them!

Sanskaar: W-What tears?!

Swara: You know tears don’t show that you’re weak, they just tell that you’ve been staying strong for a long while. So, letting go of them once in while is a good thing to be honest. If you are unwilling then don’t tell me what’s bothering you but for the sake of the time we have shared together please don’t hide yourself from me when you’re scared or hurt. Letting go of the past is difficult but it always teaches us that whatever is about to come, it will all be worth it.

The overwhelming feelings tugging at his heart ceaselessly finally get unleashed and roll as a teardrop down his cheek. Swara hesitantly lifts up her hand and noticing him not pulling away, she places her palm on his right cheek, wiping off the tear with her thumb. She doesn’t even know how much she has hurt him but being with him right now as his solace, renders a peace and serenity to her soul.

Swara: Will you come back with me?

Sanskaar: I… I don’t know, Swara. What if you are fine with me going back to Kolkata now, but you might regret it later?!

Swara: Well, then I have a solution for this.

Sanskaar: And what’s that?

Swara: Let’s start over!

Sanskaar: Huh?!

Swara smiles standing right in front of Sanskaar, forwarding her hand towards him. Confused, he first looks at her and then at her hand. Swara chuckles before holding his hand and shaking it a little.

Swara: Hi, I’m Swara Maheshwari. It would be an honor to be your friend. So, will you be my friend?!

Sanskaar looks at her dumbfounded as if she has grown two heads with a couple of horns on each of them and Swara raises an eyebrow at his expressions.

Swara: You’re supposed to introduce yourself now!

Yeah, right!

Sanskaar: (clears his throat) I’m Sanskaar. Sanskaar Maheshwari and people have known me by the name Vidhaan till now!

Swara: Well, then… Mr. Sanskaar Maheshwari aka Vidhaan, the mathematics teacher, will you be my friend?

Sanskaar: Yes, I would love to!

He replies with a smile and is instantly pulled in a hug as Swara wraps her arms around his torso patting his back as if saying that ‘everything will be alright’ and he finally believes that it will be!

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