F o r t y  E i g h t
This one is for desertrose001
:)

"If you want to sleep peacefully
in the grave, you have to wake up in the dunya."

☆

Mashal

White sheets were spread out, the funeral prayer was performed, gasping cries and choking sobs echoed as the body was taken away to be buried.

Me and Saddia stayed with Zara the whole time. No one else dared to come near the screaming, seemingly mad Zara. They just sat around her with grim faces and teary eyes. No one knew what to say to her, how to soothe her aching heart.

I recited verses of the Quran to her, Saddia informed her about a hadith that her brother was lucky to die in Ramadan and on top of that, die as a shaheed. A martyr.

But Zara's sorrow grew more profound with each passing second, even though the tears dried out.

Isha was prayed late and by the time taraweeh ended, it was time for suhoor and no one slept until after fajr.

Zara wasn't in a state to be left alone so I volunteered to sleep in her room. I didn't see Zeyara since he went for the burial but I was positive that he wasn't going to sleep at all. He was as shaken as Zara, he just wasn't good at expressing it.

Zara on the other hand was really good at expressing it. Nearly everyone could feel the heaviness in her limbs. She stopped talking to anyone. She would not speak at all and if it was really necessary, she would simply nod her head instead of speaking. I stayed beside her in her room even though she wasn't willing. Saddia brought our iftaar and suhoor in the room. She was aware that Zara was too deeply grieved to eat with a crowd of sympathetic people. I didn't want to stop practicing the fighting skills I had learnt so I practiced in the room doing random push-ups and punching the air. Other than that, I never left the room.

On the third day of Zeyara bin Hamid's death, however, everyone including me and Zara gathered in the cavern.
Zara was reluctant to go but the leaders had to make an important announcement and all the members had to be present.

We were all sitting on the carpets, staring at the empty stage, waiting for the leaders to come and make the announcement. Zara had her head on my shoulder and eyes closed, refusing to look at a world without her brother.

A while later, Saddia approached me and kneeled down as she said. "There you are! Miss you are a leader. You have to go up with the other leaders."

I stared at her dumbfounded and then glanced at the sad girl resting on my shoulder expectantly.

"I'm okay. Go." Zara murmured, lifting her head up with difficulty.

"Are you sure?" I asked, giving her hand a light squeeze.
Her pale face nodded a yes, allowing me to go.
Saddia instructed me to go to the back of the stage where the other leaders were waiting. I followed her cue and was greeted by a number of recognisable faces. There was a masked person.....baba, the leaders and Zeyara without the balaclava mask.

But none of that mattered because as soon as I saw Zeyara, I couldn't hold myself. I ran up to him and threw my arms around his shoulders, finally feeling complete.
The feel of him being so close to me soothed me even though he didn't hug back and stood there awkwardly.
I'm positive I would've never let go until Zeyara sheepishly whispered in my ear. "Uh- people are staring zawjati. You can hug me as much as you want when we're alone."

My face flushed instantly when I acknowledged my surroundings. The fact that baba was there made me even more embarrassed and I pulled away, facing the ground shyly.

The masked man took off his mask and rightfully, he really was baba. Out of the few times I had seen him, he looked the most confident today in a stretched and pressed Alnihayya uniform. He undoubtedly had the air of an army general, a kind of harsh authoritative face which held me back from greeting him.

Baba cleared his throat before asserting, "We have lost one leader or may I say, half leader. The other half is still alive." He pointed at Zeyara. "MZS was killed because they somehow realised that he had planned to disguise as the Israeli prime minister's bodyguard and to kill him. Someone leaked that information. Someone from Alnihayya but we don't know who. It could well enough be one of us, someone who would have benefited from the death of MZS."
He landed an accusing glare on Zeyara as he said the last part, causing all the other leaders to stare at Zeyara too.

I cast an unblinking stare at baba. How could he so easily blame Zeyara? He had never really liked Zeyara, it was clear from his attitude.

Zeyara flinched uneasily under their gazes. "Sir are you saying I am a traitor?"

"I never said that." Baba affirmed. "I don't accuse people without getting enough evidence but what I mean is that if I get evidence against anyone and I don't care if he or she has a high rank at Alnihayya, he will be executed without a second thought."

Everyone stood there listening to him, utterly still and absolutely silent but I was disgusted by my own father's comments. There seemed to be no reason for him to hate Zeyara, but he still did.

"I hope we're all clear about that?" Baba asked, receiving more silence as a reply. "Perfect. Now do what you're supposed to do."

The leaders, including Zeyara, all turned around obediently and walked through the grey curtains to the front of the stage where the entire cavern could see them.

I didn't go though, I wasn't going to be an obedient little mouse. I knew he was my father and the leader of Alnihayya but it didn't give him the right to falsely accuse Zeyara.
"Baba." I said to gain his attention, once the rest were gone.

"Mashal my dear. I hope you're enjoying being a leader." He beamed at me and I couldn't tell if the smile was genuine or sarcastic.

"Baba its not funny. Your attitude is sick." I blurted out the truth. By this time, the leaders had started addressing the crowd and I could hear Miz'an's voice as he greeted everyone. "What do you have against Zeyara?"

He chuckled huskily. "He's a smart guy you know and smart guys are always a threat." Putting on his mask again, he turned around to walk away. "I would advise you to stay away from him or better, return to Manchester."

He started walking away but I followed him hurriedly. "What do you mean he's smart? Baba for once, tell me the truth. Don't keep me in the shadow. I'm your daughter!"

He kept walking, ignoring my question until we came to the back end of the cavern. He tapped on the rocky wall and it parted like an invisible door as I stared ahead with my mouth agape.

"Ah my daughter. Why do I keep on forgetting? I've heard you're now a trained fighter. I'm proud. Hmmm what can I do now.......yeah I know. A wedding. Your walima. People are depressed. They need a bit of celebration to cheer them up before the war. Prepare for your walima. We will have it on eid."

He stepped inside the opened wall. "Assalam o alaikum. Oh and don't tell anyone about this door." He smiled. "It's invisible to casual inspection."

My eyes widened as the wall fixed back in place, as if there was never a door there. I stood there appalled for a few seconds before forcing my limbs to drag me away. I really didn't know my father and that scared me.

Instead of going to the stage with the other leaders, I went back to the audience and instead of sitting on the carpets with the others, I stood at the end of the cavern.
Miz'an had finished speaking and now Zeyara was addressing the audience. He was in the middle of his speech when I came and was wearing the balaclava mask.

"I know it's strange for you guys even though you are Alnihayya members and strangeness is the norm for you. But that is the truth. You can even tell that from my voice. MZS was not one, it was two people. Don't cry sister!"
I could tell he was addressing Zara. She was the only one who would be crying by the mere mention of her brother's name. "Your brother had a huge generous heart. He essentially had the heart of a...... dinosaur."

People cackled slightly at the attempted light hearted joke, which caused Zara to smile as well.

"I could never be like him in any aspect. He was amazing Mashallah. May Allah grant him jannatul firdous."
There was a wave of Ameen before Zeyara continued speaking. "The leaders have decided however, that we can't wait anymore. We can't wait to get more people killed. We need to attack now and we will do that right after the three days of eid. You all need to be prepared. The ones who are going to fly the fighter jets, the ones who are going to fight, the one who are going to drive and the women who are going to safeguard the civilians. Keep this in mind, 'freedom is more precious than blood.' It's do or die this time."

The crowd clapped and cheered by the new found motivation and encouragement. Zeyara's speeches always left this effect on them. The way he expressed the words with emotion, it gave them a life of their own.
His words talked for him.

After Zeyara ended his speech, Omar Yasin, the leader from America began addressing the crowd. He was telling them about the plan but I was still too stunned by the fact that the war was now just two weeks away. This could be the last eid for many Alnihayya members.

I saw Zeyara stepping off the stage. His eyes met mine and he walked up to me slowly careful not to disturb the oblivious crowd.
Zeyara clasped my hand as soon as he reached me as if I was falling off a cliff and only his hold would save me.
His hand was stony hard like sandpaper against my soft creamy one. It made me feel guilty for the difficult life he had endured that ended in such rough hands and also content that being with him would save me from all that difficulty. But I didn't say anything, neither did he. We just stood there at the back of the cavern with our mingled hands staring at the stage where the leaders gave their speeches turn but turn.

♡

Zara was feeling better and was able to communicate with others. She had accepted the decree of Allah and was well enough to sleep alone.
This was good for me too, since I could be with Zeyara. I had loads to talk to him about. The first being baba's words.

I was waiting for Zeyara in his room after iftar and Maghrib. I didn't know why but he was taking a long time. Maghrib turned into isha and he still didn't come so I went to the masjid to pray without him.
It was after taraweeh that he finally came back to the room. By that time I was too tired so I had fallen asleep on the bed.

"Make space for me zawjati or else I'll just throw you off!" His annoying demand was what woke me up.

Instead of shifting in the bed to give him space, I spread myself even more to tease him and pretended I was still asleep.

"Okay Mashal you called for it. One, two,..........two and a half........."

"You're so mean Zeyara. When I found you sleeping that day, I preferred to sleep on the floor rather than disturbing you and you are doing this to me?" I grumbled with my eyes still closed.

"Ahh you're awake! Liar. I knew it."

"I wasn't lying. I was just testing your love for me and you failed."

"And I was testing if you can lie to me and you failed too."
I chuckled and moved to make space for him. He plopped down next to me and then we lay on our backs staring at the ceiling.

"You are a failure, I'm a failure. Made for each other." I said as I inter winded my fingers with his while we still stared at the ceiling.

"Except that I bribed the examiner and he gave me a passing grade so I'm not a failure. I am a-"

"I'm a sinner and I'm going to hell." I completed his sentence for him.

"Why?"

"Because you bribed and bribing is a sin."

"Great."

"Yeah."

Soothing silence filled the air, the only sound being the beating of our hearts as they did zikr of Allah. Zeyara kept on rubbing circles into my hand with his thumb and I stared into his deep eyes, my cheeks reddening. That silence was ours, it was intimate.

"Mashal I know this sounds cheesy but honestly when I'm with you, even this blank ceiling seems more interesting than an action movie." Zeyara mumbled as we both diverted our eyes to the cieling.

I laughed and moved closer to him, placing my head on his arm I dejected, "It's not cheesy, it's poetic."

His eyes smiled at me as he realised I had used his own words.

We stayed there, enjoying each other's presence for a while before Zeyara interrupted the peace.
"I don't feel like sleeping. It's almost suhoor now." He complained.

"It's your fault. Where were you for so long?"

"I went to call abbi. He started to cry while talking, Marwa ended up crying too but I can't go see them now Mashal even if I want to. Abbi would die if he sees my disgusted face"

I knew he purposely skipped the part that he cried too, because his crying would be a crying without tears.

I stayed silent and irresponsive to his words. I didn't know what to say and silence is always the best option.

To erase the tension in the air, I tried to change the topic. "Sheikh I talked to baba. He said we should have our walima on eid so that people can cheer up after Zeyara bin Hamid's death."

Zeyara shook his head. "I don't want to have the walima without abbi and Marwa but I have a better idea."

"What?" I asked without the slightest hint of his idea.

"Ibrahim's wedding."

"Oh my God yes!" I chirped. "This is the best idea. Let's work on plan 009 Ibrahim's wedding. We can both convince him and then he can talk to minahil's father."

"Yeah but I have a better name for the plan. Plan 009 Ibby's zubiha day. Slaughtering day."

We both laughed at that thought.
"You are lucky I don't call you Zeyari or Zooora or Zeera." I added once we recovered from our laughter.

"Ha ha ha" he laughed sarcastically. "If you did that, I would have also called you Mishi or fishy or.....Masahallah."

"Mashallah?" My brows rose in confusion.

He shrugged as if it made perfect sense. "Yeah Mashal, Masahallah. It rhymes."

"Hmm but then if a na mehram sees me, he would also say Mashallah! how are you?"

"Yeah that's a bad idea. I mean just imagine then if any guy near me says Mashallah, I would start punching him and say, 'how dare you take my wife's name?' "

I gave a short laugh before silence fell on us again. It seemed so natural to talk to Zeyara now. As if I had known him my whole life. There wasn't any uneasiness or shyness left between us. There was just acceptance and love. I could easily call him my best friend.

"I take my words back. This cieling doesn't look interesting anymore. It's boring." Zeyara whined. "Wait...... I have an idea. Boom boom dhush dhinkchika."

"What language was that?" I asked, freaked out by his random blurting.

He sighed and started speaking in a serious grim tone. "I think it's about time I told you. I'm secretly a wizard Mashal and that was a spell I learnt at Hogwarts."

"What?" I stared at him dumbfounded.

"Thanks for using the correct password to call me. What can I do for you sir?" Human spoke up, refuting Zeyara's theory of being a wizard.

"Zeyara!"

"What? Don't tell me you believed that."

"Ugh."

"So Humna I'm getting bored of this pale cieling. Can you do anything about it?" Zeyara asked the piece of artificial intelligence.

"Yes sir. I have a lot of things I can do to the cieling. This was developed to give punishments for missing prayers but according to my calculations, you can also use it for entertainment. I have five options. Choose any number from one to five."

He glanced at me smiling playfully. "You first zawjati."

"Okay......" I thought for a second before saying, "Number 1."

As soon as I said that, the cieling inverted and was replaced by high intensity flood lights, the ones used in football stadiums at night.

The light was strong enough to burn our eyes, to leave us blind forever. We both screamed and laughed at the same time, covering our eyes to shield them from damage.

"Okay okay Humna that's enough!" Zeyara yelled, "Number 3."

First we got to experience the blazing sun and now number three was cold water.
Rain. Shower. The same punishment that Minahil once got. The water soaked us chill to the skin but we still couldn't stop laughing.
In those few minutes, I think I started loving him more than I already did.

"Can we stay like this forever?" I whispered without even knowing. The shower was still on and due to the noise of the dripping water, I was unsure if Zeyara heard it or not.

Zeyara pressed me closer to him, his wet curls sprinkling water droplets on my face. His burnt skin masked away his facial expressions but his eyes held a great fear. He looked worried, more worried than I had ever seen him. "Mashal promise me you will never forget this poem that I am going to teach you." He said in my ear, to let me hear him over the tapping water. "When you feel unsure about me, find me in it."

I gave him a confused nod and he began speaking.

"Roses that I bought for her
Roses that her father killed
She said bye Zeyara and
Said she wants to
Find me, kill me
Before that I'll run,
She would never find me
Neither in Palestine, nor in Syria."

"Zeyara what does that even mean?" I asked with a disturbing curiosity. I thought he was going to tell me a romantic poem but this wasn't romantic at all. It was kind of stupid and most words didn't make sense.

"Just learn this Mashal. And remember I love the last two numbers."

"What on earth are you saying Zeyara?"

His worried eyes immediately turned into normal, happy ones as the shower stopped. "Learn it Mashal. It's quite romantic."

"Uh- okay." I answered, trying to figure out what was romantic in it.

♡

For the implementation of our plan 009, Zeyara took me to Ibrahim's room after Zuhr the next day.

"Assalam o alaikum." Me and Zeyara chimed together as soon as Ibrahim opened the door.

"Walaikum Salam wa rahmatullahi Wa barakatuhu. Alhamdulillahi alas salaama." We stared at him incredulously but Ibrahim kept on prolonging the answer to the Salam. "Qad Allah yahfazak. Azhak Allah sinnaka....... I'm just kidding. How are you both?"

Zeyara glanced at me and we both burst out laughing. "We're perfect now that you've stopped."

Once inside his room we all sat down and Zeyara was the one who started speaking. "Bro you know it's sunnah to get married."

Ibrahim sighed and shook his head. "What an amazing way to start."

"I know I'm impressive." Zeyara shrugged. "So now that you have already figured out what we're here for. What's your answer?"

"What answer? I already told Mashal. What is written will happen in sha Allah."

"Yeah but would you ask Minahil's father for her hand?" I pushed.

"He would never agree. He hated me when I took Mashal away from that hospital."

"I've already talked to him. All you have to do is ask formally that's it! Pleaseeeee big brother?" I prolonged my please to melt his heart. I'm such a pro.

"But--"

"Pleaseeee?" I pleaded with my puppy face.

"Fine." He said defeatedly.

"Yessss!" I squealed in excitement. "Now we can plan a huge wedding celebration."

"No. Don't even think of that Mashal. You know how Minahil dresses. I'm not putting her on the stage for everyone to see once she's my wife!"

"That's not a problem. We can always separate the men and the women!" I said excitedly.

"Hey! How will I see you then?" Zeyara complained. "It's not everyday that you get dressed and wear make up!"

☆

It's going to get interesting now!!

And I'm sorry for not updating last week but it was important for my college. I just hope I am able to end this before Ramadan (which seems impossible) because if I don't end till Ramadan then I won't be able to update during that month because my exams are also going to be in Ramadan.

I'll have to balance my studies and ibadah during that month.

And guys if you see me not replying to your comments that's also because of me being so busy. I'm sorry!

-Muskaan.