Unedited so ignore any typos🙏🏻
Enjoy!

~~~•••~~~

Moon.

It was Sivaangi's favourite member of the solar system. Something about the moon always made her feel calm, serene and even content. Millions of stars could be scattered all around but the dark sky will not be complete without the moon.

It almost felt like a promise from the universe that one day she shall find a piece of the moon that would grace her lonely nights.

There she stood in the terrace, late at night, trying to capture a perfect picture of the silver-sea moon that shone brilliantly. There was nothing more satisfying than to post a story of the moon along with a romantic background music just to rile up her friends back in Melbourne who are missing out on something so beautiful.

An evil giggle escaped her lips as she tried different angles. Finally selecting the best shot out of the hundred others she took, she pondered upon which song to go with when she suddenly heard some movements from below.

Wondering where could the sound be coming from at such a late hour, she curiously leaned down by the railings only to gasp out loud at the scene that unfolded way too quickly in front of her eyes.

It took her poor mind several seconds to register that the tall figure that jumped out from the gate and sped off in a motorcycle that was already waiting for him by the road was none other than the military officer that she had limited herself from thinking about.

The logical thing to do would have been to call out for him but it was too late as he along with the other man on the motorcycle were completely out of her sight already, almost making her wonder if all that really did happen or was it her mind coming up with another weird scenario that involved the military man.

She wished she remained in the state of shock because the moment she broke out of it, all she felt was sheer panic and fear.

What on earth are you doing Ashwin?!

Putting an end to her mind's creativity, she ran off all the way to her room. She was about to prey on Shalini's phone for his number when she remembered that she herself had it saved since he had given it to her a few days back when she had insisted on sharing Shalini's pictures to him so he can memorise her face and not mistake someone else for his fiancé.

Shaking off the subtle smile that formed on her face at the memory of their banters and his sulky face, she dialled up his number and sneaked out of the room again.

With every ring, her heartbeat increased and she was sure her poor heart would burst by the time he answered.

The only problem was, he never answered.

"No no no, phone ah yedunga!" Sivaangi quietly yelled as the panic in her had increased multifold.

(Pick up!)

She called again and again without giving up, praying hard that he would answer. Just when she was about to scream out loud in pure exasperation as she tried for the 15th time, instead of hearing a dead beep,  the ringing stopped and she was greeted by a series of quick but loud breaths from the other end.

Relief hit her all at once as she spoke. "Yenga poninga?! You agreed to this marriage, you can't just run away like this! Unga manasula yenna nenachitu irukinga? S-Shalini-"

(Where did you go? What are you even thinking?)

Ashwin cut her off by bluntly saying,"unga akka va kalyanam la panna mudiyathu, yenaku avala pudikala."

(I can't marry your sister, I don't even like her.)

Sivaangi's eyes widened at his statement as if that was a brand new information. The truth was Sivaangi very well knows Ashwin doesn't exactly fancy Shalini but she didn't know he disliked her to the point he decided to vamoose in the middle of the night just 3 days before the wedding.

Shaking her head in horror as if he was there to see her, she yelled softly into the phone. "Yenna vilayadringala?! Appo yaara pudichuruku ungaluku?"

(Are you kidding me? Then who else do you like?)

At that question, a name was all ready by the tip of his tongue to roll of smoothly, which shocked Ashwin himself.

On the other end, Sivaangi's heartbeat raced when he stayed quiet at the question that she had mindlessly asked in vexation.

Don't say it. Please.

She quietly begged and as if he heard the words of her heart, he decided against it. Taking in a shaky breath, he stopped messing with the woman who was already quite terrified.

"Oru half an hour la naa vandhurven, nee thaan door open panni vidanum. Thoongidadha. Naa veetla illanu unna thavira yaarukum theriyakudathu."

(I'll be back in about half an hour. You need to open the door for me. Don't fall asleep. Make sure nobody except you finds out that I'm not home.)

Without waiting for her response, he ended the call leaving her all alone with her muddled up emotions to deal with.

...

Sivaangi sat in the dark living room, nervously waiting while praying that everybody is asleep already so she wouldn't have to deal with any questions.

The sound of the large grandfather clock ticking matched with the pace of her heartbeat as every second went by.

He rode on a motorcycle so why was he panting heavily as if he was being chased? Is he in danger?

More than anything else, she was only worried if he was safe.

Now all she wanted was to see him back in one piece.

Just then she heard a piercing scream, throwing her off guard as she started screaming in return too only to find the noise coming from Sakthi who had just entered the living room.

"DEI Sakthi! Yedhukuda kaththi bayam kaatuna?!" Sivaangi brought her hand to her chest, trying to calm herself down as she glared at her friend.

(HEY Sakthi! Why did you scream and scare me?)

"Nadu raathurila anabelle bomma madhri irutula ukkandhutu iruka Thalaivi! Naa unna bayam katunana?" He looked equally frightened.

(You're sitting here in the middle of the night in darkness like the anabelle doll! I'm the one who scared you?)

She rolled her eyes. "Nee yedhuku inga vandha?"

(Why are you here?)

"Power bank kadan vangitu polamnu thaan."

(Came to borrow your power bank.)

Sivaangi nodded, her eyes still fixed on the main door hoping for the man to make his entry already. But there was no sight of him at all. "Room la iruku, yeduthu tharen wait pannu."

"Aama thalaivi nee love panriya?"

(Are you in love?)

She blinked with her doe eyes wide open. "Huh? Love ah?"

Sakthi nodded as he sank on the couch opposite of her. "Nee konjam seri illaye naa note panna varaikum. Oru kolapathulaye suthitu iruka, idhayathai yedho ondru paatu padura. Ippo yennana mid night la thaniya ukkandhu feel pannitu iruka. Almost all the symptoms are matching."

(You seem a bit off. You always look like you're in some sort of confusion. You're singing one sided love songs and now you're sitting on your own in the middle of the night.)

She vigorously shook her head, not wanting to consider what he said even for a second. "Love lam illa!"

(There's no love!)

"Appo vera yedho iruku?" He raised his eyebrows teasingly.

(Then there is something else?)

Sivaangi sighed. "Just a bit of concern. Konjam affection kuda sollalam. Kandipa love lam kedayathu."

(A little bit of affection. Definitely not love.)

Sakthi chuckled heartily. "Concern plus affection is equal to love. Indha maths kuda theriyama nee yepdi thalaivi medicine padikira?"

(You don't even know this much of maths, how did you end up in medical school?)

"Vaaya moodu da Sakthi! Yedhavudhu olaradha, naaney tension la iruken." She pouted as she silently tired to dial him only for the call to not even go through.

(Shut up Sakthi! Stop talking nonsense, I'm already very stressed.)

"Indha love matter theriyama naa vera namma wedding ah plan pannitu irundhen theriyuma?"Sakthi dramatically clutched his chest as if he was in pain.

(Without knowing about this love, I've been planning our wedding you know?)

Sivaangi stared in boredom. "Dei un annan inga illa, performance ah stop pannu."

(That's enough, your brother isn't even here.)

Sakthi giggled. "Seri unga well wisher ah pathi konjam solradhu."

(Tell me about your well wisher?)

"Well wisher ah?"

Sakthi nodded with grin. "Universal term for people who are too intimate to be friends but too afraid to call it love."

She groaned loudly, both the brothers were torturing her in different ways. "Sakthi naa idha just oru train journey madhri paakuren. He boarded, we had a good time getting to know each other. We had some meaningful conversations. We made some beautiful memories. Oru kutti dream madhri. Avaru station vandha, he needs to get down. And I need to continue the ride to reach my own destination."

(I only look at this as a journey in train. It's like a short dream. When his station arrives he'll get down and I will continue riding the train to reach my destination.)

Sakthi thought for a while before asking. "What if you get down at his station?"

She shook her head. "Not practical."

"Nee maybe bye solla ready ah irupa but yenaku yenamo avaru solla matarunu thonuthu. I think he's gonna forget about his station and continue the train ride with you."

(Maybe you're ready to say goodbye but I don't think he'll leave.)

Her throat tightened at that. Would someone really deem her worthy enough to willingly stay with her?

But she didn't just want someone. What she wished for was a forbidden fruit.

"Ivlo feel panni pesura but love mattum illanu solrathu." Sakthi commented, unamused.

(You look like you've caught so much of feelings but you claim it's not love.)

"Label pannadha varaikum idhu oru azhagana bond. Idhuku naa peru vecha yenakey asingama irukom."

(As long as I don't label this, it's a beautiful bond. But if I put a name to it, I would feel nothing but shame.)

...

Upon receiving a missed call from the particular number she's been trying to ring up for hours, Sivaangi jumped to her feet and ran for the door.

With much strength, she pulled open the heavy door to find the runaway officer, all drenched up in the heavy rain. Despite not being certain if he was fine, the tiny smile his eyes did upon seeing her gave her a slight assurance that he was still himself.

Just when she was about to yell, she heard heavy movements coming from the stairways. Without a word, she shut the door after pulling him in and dragged him to hide behind the heavy curtains of the casement windows.

"Yenna-"

(What-)

"Sshhh." She brought her tiny finger to his lips. They were pressed tightly against the window while the large curtains shielded them from the eyes of her nosy aunt who had come down for a quick patrol after her spidey senses had tingled.

In pin drop silence, they stared into each other in complete darkness along with the aid of the natural light that illuminated through the window. The sound of their synchronised breaths were like music in the air.

Maybe the moon has a competitor.

She hated how her mind comes up with the worst remarks at the worst timings. She shut her eyes momentarily but his eyes remained to be etched on her.

Sivaangi understood that the extreme lack of distance between them was really not a product of her imaginative mind when droplets of rain water from his hair started dripping slowly to land on her.

She swallowed harshly, trying her best to not lose it when without any warning, he crashed on her.
Factually, Sivaangi would never withstand the weight of a man that's almost twice her size but she used up every ounce of strength in her tiny body to support the unconscious man

She didn't even have the luxury to worry about him passing out because just a couple of seconds later, she noticed something leaking from him and it certainly wasn't rain water. With narrowed eyes, she took hold oh his left arm and noticed a big patch of blood on his sleeve.

Blood to a medical student is like salt to a chef. It's something that they're habituated to.

But that night, she experienced a fear she's never felt before towards the blood that was greedily oozing out of his arm.

After she was sure her aunt had returned back to her room, Sivaangi with much difficulty dragged the man up, all the way to the second floor where his room was situated.

She was never a sporty person but Sivaangi thought she truly had the potential to win a bloody gold in the Olympics when she managed to drop him on the bed with a loud thud.

She panted heavily as her lungs yearned for breath. Her body just wanted to sink down and rest but one look at the motionless man that was hurt gave her a profound energy to run off and get the first aid box.

It's like her body instinctively pushed the limits for the man she just met a week ago.

"Military yen iduppa odachitalla! Nee yendhurchiko, unakku iruku." She angrily murmured while she rummaged through the first aid kit.

(You broke my hipbones! Jus wait till you wake up.)

"S-Sorry." That's when she heard his hoarse voice out of nowhere, she lifted her head to see if he was up already. He still laid on the bed like a pile of broken bones, his eyelids only half open. He was in a semi conscious state.

Grabbing some cotton balls, she neared his weak form. How can she even lash out when he looks like a sad, injured puppy. "Panradhulam pannitu sorry."

(You apologise after doing all these.)

She occupied the small space beside him on the bed and scanned his arm again. There's no way she can treat it with his shirt on.

She took in a deep breath and gave herself a quick pep talk.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with this. I'm only doing my job. He's hurt and he needs to be treated. Professional. Professional. Professional.

Sighing out loud, without giving her mind to form any further thoughts she reached for his shirt and started unbuttoning it one by one.

When she finally managed to get the shirt off, she unintentionally took a few seconds to stare at his bare upper body as he laid there in all his glory.

Shalini you lucky bitch!

Professional or not, Sivaangi was a woman. When you look at a statuesque body with well built muscles and biceps, resembling the Greek God himself, no woman would give a damn about morals or principles. You stare while you still have a chance.

"Ipdilam pakadha." He managed to mumble out even though his eyes were barely open. That snapped her out the daze.

(Don't look at me like that.)

"I was just observing your wound." She weakly reasoned as she slowly started to dab his injured arm with the cotton ball, cleaning the blood off.

He chuckled loudly at her poor excuse, not buying it at all. Furious, she purposely applied pressure on his open arm causing a pained scream to escape his lips as he desperately called for his mother. "Aaaahhhhh amma amma!"

"Valikatha seyyum, vaaya moodunga." She casually said and kept her focus on the wound.

(It is gonna hurt. Shut up.)

"Rakshasi." Sivaangi controlled her smile when she heard him lowly mumble.

(Devil.)

Silence filled in the room as he started slipping into a state of unconsciousness again. Sivaangi skilfully cleared the wound and thankfully the bleeding had stopped since it wasn't a very deep cut. Sivaangi figured out that it was a cut produced by a knife. What is this man even up to?

She dressed the injured area as gently as possible, not wanting to wake him up again to feel the pain. Once done, she pulled the warm blanket over his bare body and was about to get up when he grabbed her hand causing her eyes to widen in shock.

"Poriya?"

(You're going?)

What sounded like a question didn't feel like one. Instead what Sivaangi heard was a silent pleading for her to not leave him alone.

Biting her lips, she stared at his fragile form. After being wounded, it's common for people to be afraid to be on their own. There's nothing wrong in staying by his side the whole night. That's professional.

Right?

She softly answered. "I'm just gonna throw these, yengayum pogala. Inga thaan irupen."

(I'm not gonna go anywhere, I'll stay.)

"Yeppothum irupiya?"

(Will you always stay?)

She sucked in a shaky breath at that, unable to formulate a proper response for that question of his. Sivaangi knows it's his sub conscious state that's making him feel vulnerable and say all these things. He might not even remember half of these in the morning. So it's really not that big of a deal.

But Sivaangi also knows the sub conscious mind never lies.

Sighing quietly, she sunk back in the small space of the bed. "Thoongunga."

(Sleep.)

His hand was still holding hers tightly almost as if he was afraid that she would disappear if he let go of it.

The idea of snatching back her hand didn't even occur to Sivaangi. She was just offering moral support to someone who's hurt. That's professional.

Right?

Minutes passed and there were no more noises or even whines from him. Sivaangi was convinced that he was finally asleep.

She found herself gazing at him, he looked so innocent and pure while tucked under the blanket. Almost angelic.

But her heart slightly pained when she remembered the multiple scars and wounds on his body that she noticed earlier. It told her that this wasn't the first time he got hurt. In fact getting hurt is an inevitable part of his job.

Sivaangi is not naive. She knows the world is anything but safe. No job can be deemed hundred percent safe. One can get hurt, abused, exploited or misused in the workplace regardless of whatever kind of job they chose. The key is to avoid any sorts of danger and be guarded at all times.

But Ashwin here is different. He doesn't avoid danger. He deliberately takes risks and puts himself in precarious positions because that's what he is expected to do. He is expected to get hurt, just not bad enough to lose his life.

Why did you have to choose this out of everything in the world?

His bravery became her fear.

So lost in thoughts, she didn't notice that he was awake yet again until he voiced out. "Thanks." Ashwin breathily said, his bloodshot eyes completely open this time.

Sivaangi silently stared before the question just slipped out of her tongue. "Konjam kuda bayam illaya?"

(Do you not have fear for anything?)

He weakly smiled before pointing towards her eyes. "Indha ulagathula yedha paathum varadha bayam, idha paatha varudhu."

(Nothing in this world has made me feel fear except this.)

~~~•••~~~

How was it?

The last dialogue was inspired by Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad: "My heart scares you but a gun doesn't?"

Sorry sorry sorry for making you guys wait for long. Hope the chapter was worth the wait!

If you feel that things are getting draggy, don't worry. The moment you're all waiting for is not very far🤫

And I have to say, updates are gonna be slow like this for now because university is really draining the hell out of me💀

Thank you for reading! 💜💜💜

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