Too engrossed in his thoughts, he bumped into her when she had stopped to make a headcount. She quickly reached out and held his arms before he could fall on the soldier behind him. "Careful! Are you alright?"

"I'm sorry, I was lost in thoughts," he said and somehow it brought a tiny curve at a corner of her lips. It could probably be the first time he saw her smile in many years.

"I know." It was all she said and headed to count.

When she returned back to the front, she asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I am. Let's get going. Are we there yet?" He asked out of curiosity as well as to start a conversation with her.

Did he miss her? Damn, yes! Too much.

Did he think she misses him?

Blank. The question had no answer. And he left it without much thought to come back for an answer.

"We will reach the range in ten to twenty minutes."

The range area, it was the area radius the experts had given them. The possible area of the briefcase would have fallen and it wasn't a small one.

Once they had reached the deep dark forest, the team had split into ten pairs and he had decided to pair with her despite his initial urge to keep her away from the mission. Now, she was present, he opted to stay close to her for two reasons.

One, his protective nature levelled up a notch for her even though she knows the forest like the back of her hand yet no one can control wild animals. He wanted to protect her. Two, the five years of separation tickled him to fix things back between them. Their first two years had been beautiful then in the next two, they started having issues which ended things. Even if she still holds the same opinion, he would at least be satisfied with trying.

He decided he would talk to her later and get the briefcase as soon as they possibly could. The forest was dark even in the bright daylight as the thick foliage obstructed the entry of the sunlight. He prayed they would finish it in a day and wrap up the search.

With the forest dark as the night, by the time all four walked out of the forest with twenty to thirty minutes gap between each other, it was past mid-midnight. The army higher officers and forestry department waited for them at the entrance of the forest with camp erected and large spotlights brightening the place.

Team four had been the last to walk out citing as they were sent to the farthest. And it was a relief to hear, team two succeeded in finding the briefcase which called for an absolute wrap up. A wrap up for the mission but not for them. Yet.

After their return, all of them were sent to take a good night's rest before they met for a roundup meeting with all of them. It had been a similar yet different experience through the forest with her and both he enjoyed. The chatty and the silent one.

Post the meeting, he searched for her around and found her outside the main office staring at a distance. She looked lost trying hard to catch herself and failed miserably. The smile she gave a fellow ranger did not reach her eyes. She had grown out of glow. He was shocked to think the worst had happened to her in the last five years.

What could have happened? She found a man and he left her? Her family issues had gotten worse? A problem in her job? Me?

Part of him told not to indulge in any conversation with her for she had made it perfectly clear back then to end their relationship yet another part of him said it was no harm in trying. He was as broken as the tree branch, he kicked on his way to find her earlier. He had committed several other relationships to get her out of his mind, heart and soul, exteriorly he craved for her touch. Each time he tried to move on, her face flashes before him as a sense of guilt rushed in him—guilt of possible cheating.

And so, he stopped pursuing anyone and lived like a machine, working at its best and lived at its worst.

"Hey! Hope I'm not disturbing you."

She must have not expected him to meet her which evidently showed on her face as she forced a smile out of her surprise while rubbing her arms. Was it cold?

"No. Not at all."

They exchanged formal greetings, a brief share of their almost mundane lifestyle and then he came to the most important thing he wanted to talk about. No, ask. Nervous, he wiped his sweaty palms with the end of his shirt.

"I know it's not what you want to hear..." he said, a hand combing through his short dark hair.

Her eyebrows drew together, her puzzled look only enhanced the lost charm in her. Guilt rolled out his skin like sweat, partly because he allowed her to be the way she had turned out.

"Are you really doing fine?" he continued after a moment of silence.

She might have expected him to say something else for she let out a breath. Of relief or frustration? He couldn't put a finger on it but she dropped her gaze to the wet wooden deck—searching for an answer within.

A laugh escaped from her chapped pink lips. "I guess I will be lying if I say, I am fine." She clasped both her hands together in front of her. "Truth is I am not doing good at all." Her voice wobbled and eyes glimmered with unshed tears.

"Why?" He took a step and was not afraid she wouldn't be happy if he crossed his limit.

She had been sure the last time, she didn't want him near her. For a matter of fact, he knew she said it only to break them apart and there wasn't any real reason for it except the lack of time spent. Perhaps their choice of profession had made things difficult for them.

"Not sure if I know it exactly." She sat on the bench and rested her back against the wooden wall. "Nothing has been the same since the last we met."

He swallowed the lump forming in his throat as he fought the urge to hold her hand in his. There had been many issues run through her family when they were together and it wasn't something to be taken lightly about. Her father had been a hell of a wreck in their family—an AA. Alcoholic and abusive.

Her father and him never got along. In fact it had been who played the defender each time her father tried to raise his hand on her mother. The father never bothered a third person's presence in the house and when he asked her mother to lodge a complaint, she didn't agree. The verbal and physical abuse continued to an extent her mother was bedridden for some time while he used all her savings to buy alcohol. When he found out, he dragged her father to the police station, filed a complaint and put him behind the bars for domestic violence.

The chapter of her abusive father was long ridden. What could have gone wrong after he left? He thought as he stared at the tear gliding down her cheeks and halted at the edge of her jaw.

"I don't know what he did, they let him out a year after. And I was scared." She sniffled, staring far into the forest. "I, a trained ranger, couldn't fight my father. Fear creeps into me every time we come face-to-face. I couldn't control the anxiety in me when he was around." She dropped her face into her palm.

"Debt reached sky high; we were left with nothing to pay. Ma's medical bills get higher every time he raises his hand on her. My pay wasn't enough to cover the debts and essentials we needed. Everyone who we knew left us to suffer. No help, no moral support extended."

Her body shook as she cried vehemently. "He went overboard, he took my mother's life when she refused to give him a single cent. Now, I am all alone. Clearing debts with no one by my side." She wiped the tears with the back of her hand as she smiled sadly.

Without consciously realising his action, he scooted over next to her and wrapped a hand around her shoulders. A comforting touch to which she melted and dropped her head on his shoulder. A long silence of guilt and helplessness went by until she straightened herself, wiped her tears and forced a smile.

"Enough of me. I have said so much when I should not have..."

"No, that was what I exactly wanted to know. About you..." He held both her hands; afraid she might sprint off away from him. "You might have decided to stay away from me but I have always thought about you when I am angry, sad, happy. Always about you."

He tore his gaze from her, terrified he would join her in streaming down the damn he had kept close for long. In the distance the sound of horn honking reached him. The military truck he had come in was leaving. He had told them to go without him and he would find his way to the camp. She softly cried and pulled his gaze back to her.

"I accept, I was angry when I saw you two days back but it was only for the choice you pushed me to make back then. And that was in the past. I have made a choice. Today. I am never leaving you again. Even if you insist," he said, taking the leverage of the situation in his hands.

To say he was not at all at fault would be selfish. He had to agree, he had a share of the mistakes and miscommunication happened between them. Too engrossed, too involved in his job, too enthusiastic to impress his commanding and higher officers, he had neglected her. But he had no intention of leaving her but they parted ways nonetheless.

"No, you can't be here with me. There is no life here, with me," she said, shaking her head.

"Why? Do you have someone in your life now? If so, how does it matter?" He asked, calmly. He wanted to be with her not to claim his old relationship but to extend his support to her. There have been times he thought of checking on her yet refrained himself for she would never liked it. Everything should have fallen in place for her had her father not returned with more trouble than ever.

"No." She let out a dry laugh. "I don't have anyone to share my problems yet alone with a partner."

He saw a flicker of yearningness behind her glazy eyes and it stayed until she averted her gaze.

Sighed as he rose from the bench, he straightened his crinkled pants. "You know what you need right now? A change of place. Come with me." He extended his hand for her to take.

"But where?" The puzzled look returned as they did when he started the conversation, what differed was the now creeping glow on her face. A little smile lingered on her lips.

"Away from this jungle. You have been here for long enough and it's time you let some light in your life," he said and took her hand.

The feel of her hand in his sent a rush of electric current into his body, some sort of energy travelling from the top of his head to the tip of his toes bringing him alive. They need not speak another word as they fall into each other's arms, returning the lost sparkle of life. He felt his lips stretch wider than they used to five years ago. Sure enough, she was smiling just as wide as him as her arms tightened around him.

Certainly, something called fate exists, imagine it carrying what was once yours back to you if you truly deserve it. Or if they truly deserve you.