~Third Person's POV

As the bright sunshine danced across her closed eyelids and played hide and seek with her long dreamy eyelashes, she gently rubbed them with the back of her hand and blinked several times in order to recognise her peaceful surroundings.

After two to three minutes of waking up, she realised that one of her hands was locked into someone else's. She slowly turned to her right only to find her own head resting on a familiar shoulder.

Her heart immediately skipped a beat and then started to race faster than usual as she jerked and moved back.
She looked at him with mixed emotions and kept on wondering that how long had she been sleeping on his shoulder and why didn't he move an inch?

He was still fast asleep, sitting by her side on the hospital's bench, looking extremely adorable, melting her heart horribly away.

She didn't want to move, breath or stand up and leave, as she was afraid that he might wake up and she won't be able to stare at him anymore, knowing that he would be watching and smirking at her anytime soon.

She didn't want to let him know that at any cost! There was silence between them, and it was beyond peaceful.

She wanted it to last forever. Till her last breath.

She slowly came closer and raised her trembling hand to remove a thick lock of hair from his forehead and looked at him with pity and pain.

"My heart still bleeds for you!"

She silently whispered to herself while a tiny tear escaped one of her gloomy eyes as she continued to caress his hair peacefully.

"And it hurts alot!"

She murmured as she stroked his soft hair, which were as dark as the depths of the ocean or the horizon at night, with her delicate fingers affectionately.

She kept on staring at him, lost in her own thoughts about a magical world in which they both were meant to share the most beautiful bond ever, until the reality happened.

"You up so early?"

He woke up and looked at her with confusion as she immediately turned her face and wiped her tears.

"Yeah. You didn't go back to home?"

She asked with hesitation.

"I wanted to stay."

He answered spontaneously.

"But I was already staying here to look after Raniya!"

She added.

"And I was staying here to look after you!"

He smiled sweetly.

"You won't give up! Would you?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Never! Never in my life!"

He shook his head like a stubborn child making her chuckle, as she stood up to leave.

"By the way, someone owes me a debt of gratitude."

He smirked satanically.

"For what?"

She feigned innocence.

"For using my shoulder as a comfortable pillow for the whole night!"

He grinned as she blushed with embarrassment.

"I will go and check up on Raniya!"

She immediately walked away from him, trying to hide the hesitation in her eyes.

"I'll join you, my beloved!"

He smirked again only to get an angry stare from her.

x-x-x-x-x

"How's she, Doctor?"

She asked worriedly.

"The operation was successful last night, but she still needs a lot of time to recover. It was merely a miracle which saved her life. Had she been burning there longer than that, she would have died on the spot! But thankfully, Allah has granted her a new life, which is very rare in such cases!"

The doctor smiled while patting her shoulders as she cried with joy.

"Didn't I tell you that she's a warrior, she'll fight it like a soldier?"

Came Shahveer's voice from the back.

"You were right Shahveer. Your prayers are fulfilled now."

She nodded as her eyes twinkled with ecstasy.

"Just one more remains to be fulfilled!"

He stared at her with cunningness as she lowered her gaze with hesitation.

"When will we be allowed to meet her, doctor?"

She asked nervously.

"You can meet her now, but make sure that she doesn't speak much. She's weak right now."

The doctor finally left.

As they both entered the room, a storm of guilt, disappointment and pain started to envelope both of them. Hooriyah's eyes moistened with tears as they laid upon her pale and weak limbs which were badly bruised.

"You suffered a lot, just because of me!"

Hooriyah caressed Raniya's rosy cheeks as she silently watched her teacher and continued to blink adorably.

"Does it hurt, sweetie?"

She kissed her forehead and took her hand and squeezed it gently.

Raniya politely shook her head.

"Which means that our little princess is very very strong. I think that you should join army instead of becoming a mathematician. Besides, mathematics is too boring!"

Shahveer tried his best to make the kid laugh.

"No.... maths..... is fun!"

She replied weakly while smiling innocently.

"Well , then what's twenty plus twenty?"

He asked mischievously.

"Four forty seven."

She mumbled, making both of them burst into laughter.

"Now I see why mathematics is fun!"

Shahveer mocked as Raniya giggled.

"Thank you!" She was barely audible.

"For what, darling?" He questioned.

"For saving my life."

He went speechless while Hooriyah stared at him with an expression which was hard to interpret.

"Thank you, Shahveer!"

She interrupted.

"Thanks for believing in me, Hoor."

He kissed Raniya's forehead and then left the room as he was unable the face both of them anymore.

The most sinful phases of his life started to revolve around his head as he recalled that how useless was he five years ago. The only purpose of his life was to party hard, get terribly drunk, take heavy dozes of drugs, stay far away from the religion, break hearts of the minor ones, spend nights while enjoying the forbidden acts, indulging himself in physical relationships and doing whatever he could, just to gather up Allah's wrath.

But still Allah chose him, and guided him to the path of righteousness. He was misguided, but then Allah helped him in finding the true meaning of his life. He left his house in search of Hooriyah, instead he found his DEEN. The man who used to be as useless as garbage, was finally chosen by Allah to save lives.

First Allah chose him to save Mehr-un-Nissa's brother's life, and now Raniya. Perhaps, he was forgiven long ago. Perhaps he had gained Allah's love back. Perhaps Allah was extremely happy with him. That's why He had blessed him with so many opportunities along with finding the one who was the reason of his existence, Hooriyah!

"Are you okay?"

Her voice interrupted his deep thoughts.

He immediately wiped his tears which had been continuously flowing from his swollen eyes and nodded.

"I'm fine." He smiled happily and left as she looked at him with perplexity.

x-x-x-x-x

Three weeks later, when Raniya had started to recover miraculously, the doctors allowed her to go back home, spreading a layer of happiness among her friends and teachers upon learning that she was coming back soon. Being the most joyful, favorite and adorable kid in the school, her recovery was celebrated by her friends and her teachers at Ms. Nancy's house. Rest of the children had already recovered and all of them had been successful in forgetting that awful incident in which they lost their school. On the other hand, as he promised, Shahveer started to re-construct the school with the help of some other villagers. Everything was funded by him alone as he believed that there was nothing better than spending money on some orphans. 

It wasn't just Hooriyah's dream now. It became his dream too, which he was determined to fulfill at any cost, as he couldn't see those innocent kids suffer through the loss of studies. 

Simultaneously, the bond between Shahveer and Hooriyah started to strengthen as she started to realize that he wasn't the same person anymore, whom she left five years ago, instead, he was now a noble gentleman, who was close to his religion and had left his sinful past behind. Seeds of love and respect started to grow inside her heart for him once again as she watched him struggle crazily day and night while building the school and arranging the accommodation for the children meanwhile.

The chunks of hatred that she had gathered inside her heart since half a decade, were slowly disappearing and she had started to learn to forgive the one who was so close to her heart. It would have not been so easy if Shahveer had not proven himself worthy enough to be forgiven on the night of the disaster, by saving Raniya's life. It was the major reason why Hooriyah's heart had started to melt for him, once again.

Two months later, on the day of the inauguration of the newly built school, a small function was arranged by Shahveer and Hooriyah for the villagers, so that majority of them start sending their kids to the school, in order to minimize illiteracy. It was an extremely successful event as almost eighty percent of the villagers filled the admission forms for their children, after witnessing the enthusiasm and hard work of Shahveer in building a bigger, safer and more modern-like school than before.

"I had never imagined that this much amount of students would study in my school. This quantity is ten times greater than I had managed to gather within last three years. I don't have enough words to thank you, Shahveer!"

Hooriyah chirped with happiness as they both sat on the wall, behind which, gigantic and monstrous snowy peaks were spreading a layer of magic, everywhere.

"I haven't done anything Hoor. You should thank Allah, because without Him, I wouldn't be able to fulfill your dream!" He smiled while looking at her with affection.

After a huge silence, she finally mustered up some courage to speak,

"You have changed a lot Shahveer!"

He stared at her blankly.

"And I like this change!" She added.

"So, does that mean that I'm forgiven now?" He asked innocently.

There was a brief silence between the, which seemed to be extremely torturous to him right now.

"Yes, you are!" She winked mischievously as his eyes widened with shock.

"Did you forgive me, Hooriyah?" He asked again, not sure if he was listening correctly or not.

"Yes Veer, I had forgiven you very long ago, its just that I did not want to admit that!" 

She lowered her gaze with hesitation.

"So are we on good terms now?" He asked happily, as she nodded.

"Truly, your heart is as pure as a crystal, and as soft as silk!" He laughed innocently, still not able to believe what he had heard right now.

"Friends?" He asked while forwarding his hand.

"Friends!" She shook his hand and smiled gratefully.

"Let's be more than friends then!" He smirked devilishly while not leaving her hand so soon.

She started panicking as his piercing gaze wavered through her face.

"Leave my hand, Shahveer!" She commanded angrily.

"Okay, but first answer my question!" He feigned innocence.

"Be quick!" She glared him with annoyance.

"Can I follow you home?" He asked satanically.

"But why?" She asked with confusion dancing in her eyes.

" 'Cause my parents told me to always follow my dreams!" 

He burst into laughter when she tried to release her hand with annoyance and further tightened his grip as she started to blush.

"You are flirting again?" She complained.

"Nah! Just telling you that how beautiful my dreams can be!" He winked.

"Stop day dreaming Mr. Shahveer, you would end up making a fool of yourself!" 

She chuckled sweetly and finally managed to release her hand from his grip, and jumped down from the wall to leave.

"Sure Miss Hooriyah, just brace yourself and get ready to watch my dreams turning into the reality!" He jumped down too and whispered in her ears making her feel numb to the core.

"We will see!" She smirked and turned to leave.

"Goodnight, my beloved!" He shouted from a distance.

"Goodnight, looser!" 

She smiled and as soon as she left, Shahveer started to gather her students near his house, to discuss a secret plan with them.

"So dear kids, as we all know that its your favorite teacher's birthday tomorrow and all of us are gathering at the spot which we have discussed already, which is behind the waterfalls of this valley, Right?" He rubbed his hands playfully.

"Yes, Shahveer Uncle, you have already discussed the plan thousand of times, now I have even memorized it just like my poems. How many times will you remind us?" 

One of the kids interrupted.

"Sorry dear, I just want to make it the best day of her life! But I want you all to do me a great favor. I have planned something really special for her, but I want you all to convince your teacher first, to wear this beautiful gown before joining us at the event, Will you all help me?"

The kids chirped with happiness, as he took out a beautifully wrapped dress from his car and handed it over to Raniya, the only one who could perfectly convince Hooriyah.

"I will make sure that she wears this tomorrow dear uncle!"

Little Raniya chirped with joy as he kissed her rosy cheeks.

"That's like my good girl! Thank you so much all of you, and make sure that no one discloses this little secret in front of her, Okay?" 

Everyone nodded in agreement and finally left, except for Raniya. As he turned to leave for his home, she tugged his leather jacket to stop him.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked innocently.

"Ofcourse, angel!" He knelt down to her level.

"Do you love Miss Hooriyah?"

She asked mischievously.

"Raniya, what sort of question is this?"

Ms. Nancy scolded her, who was silently watching both of them.

He went speechless as she giggled while watching his expressions. He squeezed her shoulders politely and smiled, ready to answer the most important question of his life,

"Yes little princess, I love her more than anyone in this world. She is the star to my galaxy, sunshine to my thunderstorm and relief to my pain. She is the eighth color of my rainbow, because of which all the other seven colors hesitate to come out. She is the biggest fragment of my broken soul and the only reason why I am alive today!" 

He smiled and kissed her forehead. Ms. Nancy wiped a lonely tear from the corner of her eyes as she smiled while listening to the most beautiful confession.

"Then hurry up, and marry her already! I don't like that over smart Doctor Hammad! He is very clumsy, but you are very very very handsome, stylish, cool, superhero and intelligent. Plus I think that my teacher loves you too. So quickly marry her before that clumsy doctor snatches this wonderful chance from you! "

She whispered in his ears, earning a glare from Ms. Nancy as he giggled innocently.

"Don't worry angel, your teacher is soon going to be mine! It's a promise from your Uncle!" 

After listening to this, little Raniya clapped with happiness and jumped joyfully, and finally hugged him tightly as he grinned while adoring her happiness.

"May God re-unite you both, quickly."

Murmured Ms.Nancy, while holding the beautiful dress given by Shahveer for Hooriyah, as she looked at him with teary eyes.

"Ameen!" He whispered as he looked back at her gratefully, while his arms were still tightened around his new little friend.