Rajveer went back to the dining table and picked up the soup once again. He tasted it trying to find what exactly was different. He tasted something. Sonth ? (Dry ginger powder). Of course, thought Rajveer. How could he have forgotten to put that..it would have been good for Naveen's cold.  He definitely had not put it in.  

Rajveer moved carefully around, in the kitchen. He wanted to be sure he wasn't going crazy so, he channeled his intelligence training to see anyone was here in the kitchen. He tried to remember the exact position everything was in when he last used it. If this is new soup, his old soup must have been carried out of here. And it was hot, it wouldn't have been easy to carry. He went outside and looked at the kitchen window from outside. He knelt down and lying on the ground was a drop of the soup.

*******

"Hey Rajveer, did you hear. Apparently there is a whole box of MQ9 drones missing from the inventory. Second time this month. Damm who can break into such a secured room ?"

"Yaa..I heard...usse chodo...Gunny, how much did your Capt Arnav know about your mission ? " asked Rajveer.

"Arnav ? " asked Gunny. "Very little. We din't share much.We just got him as a consultant, to verify the authenticity of our documents and other stuff. Good guy. Was very useful. "

"And you are sure, he was at the base camp when the blast happened. "

"Yes. He was. I still remember that night. We were all tired, so I ran out get some food for Naina, Arnav and me . I had taken like 20 steps and behind me..boom."

The cell phone rang.

"Rajveer..beta.." said Naina's mom in a panicked voice.

"Maa..kya hua ?" asked Rajveer. 

"Beta, mein aur Ananya, Naveen ko doctor ke paas se leke aa rahe the..ki kuch logon ne humpe hamla kiya...au Naveen ko utha kar le ke gaye....Annanya unke peche gayi hai...Rajveer..tum jaldi.."

"Aap wahi rukiye maa, mein aa raha hu.."

Rajveer drove at full speed. No. This couldn't be happening. First, Naina went away from him and now Naveen...No

He reached the market place. 

"Kaha gaye woh log ?"

"Uss taraf..rajveer, humara Naveen."

"Kuch nahi hoga maa usse...mein kuch nahi hone dunga."

He drove off in the direction. He tried searching in all directions, but couldn't find Annanya's jeep. He called her, but the phone just kept ringing.  The army was trying to locate the cell phone. As soon as he got the location, he hurried off.

From a distance, he could see the abandoned house...on fire. As Rajveer ran with full speed, he saw Ananya and Naveen. Both of them seemed ok. 

"Naveen" he yelled, coming to a halt near them and picking his child up " Theek ho na bacha tum ? koi chot to nahi lagi."

Naveen shook his head. 

"Ananya" he called. She had a couple of burns on her hands.

"I m fine Raj...Let's go."

They drove home and after checking on Naveen, Rajveer attended to Ananya's burns. He bandaged her hand carefully.

He looked up to see her staring at him. She got conscious and  took out her hand from his.

"Ananya..hua kya ? kaun the woh log? Tumne chehara dekha ?"

"Rajveer mein unke jeep ka peecha karte karte, uss ghar tak pahunchi. Meine gaadi ko ditch kiya aur dheere dheere, apne gun pakkad ke , bahar ke guard ko mar kar andar gayi. Mujhe laga ki agar ek do hai...toh mein handle kar sakti hu...par jaise hi mein andar gayi...kafi aawazein sunayi de rahi thi...I hid behind a wall....koi aadmi chilla raha tha ki bache ko leke aane ki kya zarurat thi...Mein thoda aage badi aur room mein dekha...mein backup ke liye phone karne hi wali thi ki..kisine mujhe piche se pakkad liya...Mere haath bandh diye ....Meine sirf kuch kuch suna...ghar se niklo...pata nahi ussne kya dekha ...uss waqt tak, I was able to fight back and I ran into the next room and got Naveen. Un logon ne tab tak, ghar ko aag laga diya tha...Meine usse khidki se ghar ke bahar utar diya ar khud bhi bahar nikal gayi."

"Ananya" said Rajveer and held both her hands in his. " Aaj jo tumne mere bache ke liye kiya...Thanks bohot chotta shabd hai uske liye."

Ananya looked into his eyes. "Thanks keh kar mujhe paraya mat karo Raj."

Rajveer stared at her intently.

"Ab haath chodoge mera yaa...pakde rehne ka irada hai ?" asked Annaya, with a small smile.

Rajveer got conscious and left her hand.

******

Rajveer walked around in his room. It was midnight. The pain in his heart was back.  The pain of missing Naina. The pain of realizing that the love of your life wasn't in your life anymore. Rajveer was so sick of this pain for the last 8 months , he was ready to do anything to stop it. 

He heard a noise in the kitchen, so he went downstairs. 

"Ananya..."

"Sorry, tumh utha diya Raj...I was getting some water, par haath se slip ho gaya..."

"Mujhe utha deti." He poured some water in a glass. "Ye lo." 

"Thanks."

As Ananya drank her water, Rajveer looked at her.

"Ananya...I like you too."

Ananya looked up at him, surprised.

"I like you...I don't love you...Are you really ready to wait until this like changes to love ?" asked Rajveer.

"Rajveer, mein koi bachi nahi hu..I ve been in a relationship before. I know what I am getting into...I am also not saying I love you. But I really want to know if there is something here, that can one day turn into love."

Rajveer smiled. " Then, let's find out."

Outside the window,