A year before....

"Riyuu are you safe there?" my brother asked in a worried tone

"Anandi..chill..I am fine..." Atleast for now- I thought to myself. I looked out the window. Luckily for us, the water still hadn't risen up to the second floor.

The torrential downpour over the past seven days had completely lain our phone connection to waste.. It was a miracle that he had got a connection today.

"Hello? Riyuuu? You there?" he asked.

I guess I had gone off into my own dreamworld again.

"Yeah, I am here, don't worry."

"How do you expect me not to worry when almost three-fourths of Chennai is flooded? Cars are submerged, some smaller houses are destroyed and people don't even have proper food, water, shelter or means of transport from one place to another!"

"I know," I replied, full of sadness.

When one read the news, they never got to know the kind of suffering people had to go through and face. But I did since I was here, and I knew their pain.

After a long pause, I broke the news to him. I wasn't sure if he'd be scared for me or proud of me...But there was only one way to find out.

"Anandi... I am a volunteer. A group of our students have arranged a few boats- and we're going to help out the less fortunate.."

There was a pause.. "I am so proud of you sis.." That reply made me heave a sigh of relief. He wasn't mad. "But please take care. Don't go into deep waters, and ALWAYS stay with your group, okay?"

"Yeah yeah okay dad," I replied, causing him to chuckle.

"I am serious Riyuu, call me once you get back so you can update me about the situation."

"Sure, you take care of mom and dad. Bye!"

*

"Riya! Pass me a few biscuits!"

"Coming" I shouted, carrying a small bag of biscuits and giving it to Meera- who was taking care of an elderly woman. The elderly woman- who had just been rescued from her roof and was draped in a towel- took a biscuit and ate it hungily.

Who knew how long these people had been stranded in the rain and the cold?

Luckily, for us, one of our teachers, who had an avid interest in baking, had helped us prepare biscuits to distribute to the people we rescued.. Obviously not enough to feed them, but enough to provide them some relief from their days of starvation.

"Riya we need some help here," Desh called out, from a distance- shouting over the sound of the rain.

I jumped off the boat that I was on and into the shallow water. As I waded through the water, I saw him with an elderly lady.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Riyaaa..This paati( granny) here is really panicking ...do something..."

I understood why he called me...Out of our entire group, I was the calmest and the easiest to relate with.

I put on a calm face and started to try and comfort her.

"Please calm down..we are all here with you, Kavala padaadhinga ( don't worry)"

She gripped my hand tightly and didn't let go. I knew then how much these people had been through.. Not physically but emotionally as well. The fact that she could grip a stranger's hand so tightly- as if they were an old friend- said it all.

I led her to the boat allocated for the elderly. As I provided her with the necessities, she just sat there- not saying a word. I didn't need her to thank me...From the way she had held my hand itself, I could understand the amount of hope I had given her and the gratitude she felt for me.

Feeling a small sense of pride, I turned around to look for more things to help out with.

Just then, I saw a small girl, around six years of age- struggling to hold onto a wooden pole- just to prevent being carried away by the water current.

I quickly waded towards her, but just before I could help her, someone else managed to do it. It was a young man- around my age.

His strong arms wrapped around her small waist and he cradled her towards his chest. He adjusted her in his wonderful arms. Did I seriously just say that?
He swept a lock of his silky black hair aside from his forehead as he lifted his head to look at me. I stood there completely still as I watched him. His eyes reminded me of the dark brown texture of chocolate, and his lashes rested perfectly on his cheekbones. When he shot me a smile, his eyelashes crinkled slightly. I could almost feel my heart in my mouth as my breathing sped up and several areas of my brain switched off. Pink dusted my cheeks as I looked up at him- at his sweet smile, his hair, and into those big brown eyes. Those, big, beautiful friendly eyes which defied the surroundings- bringing warmth to my heart.

When I snapped out of daydream mode, I dropped my gaze awkwardly. I knew I had been staring at him for far longer than I should have been. As I raised my gaze again, I realized that he didn't have a smirk on. It was almost as if he was so pure of heart that he didn't even notice the effect he had on me...He just stood there, with the child in his arms, looking back at me.

"Hey!" he said- again giving me a glimpse of his smile. A smile that could light up the darkest cave...
"That was pretty brave of you, you know."

"What was?" I asked- completely confused. "I wasn't even the one who pulled her out."

"Attempting to save her," he replied grinning.

His smile was so damn infectious that I couldn't help but grin back shyly.

"I AM volunteering too you know," I said. "I was supposed to help."

"Haha," he said. "I suppose that's fair."

An awkward silence followed. With a shock, I realized how I must have looked. I was half-wet and my hair was clinging to my face....Why oh why did I have to meet such a hot guy when I looked like this?

Both of us swam over to the relatively shallower parts after that. He handed over the child to her mother, who thanked him profusely.

Then, he swept his dark hair up and away from his forehead, turning to look at me. I suddenly felt very self conscious of my clothes- which were clinging to my body. Now that we were out of the deep waters, he could see me clearly.

"Ummm," he said breaking the silence. "May I ask what your name is?"

I looked at him properly once again. He seemed to be a few years older to me.

Suddenly I realized that he was soaked through and that the shirt which was clinging to his body had become translucent. In the water, I hadn't really realized, but now that I noticed, it had just got a lot harder to think straight...

Averting my eyes from his rippling muscles, I moved my gaze back up to look at him.

I silently prayed to God- hoping that he hadn't noticed that. And to my luck, he hadn't.

"Riya," I replied with a smile. It was funny how polite he was."And you?"

"Arya," he said, making me giggle involuntarily.

He raised his right eyebrow at me.

"Like the Tamil actor?" I couldn't help but make fun of the coincidence. "I love him," I continued.

"Let's hope you will like me too," he said with a wink.

"Aryaaa come over here," I heard his friend calling. " It's getting dark..we should leave."

"Coming Manan," he shouted back.

He looked back at me. "Alright, I guess this is goodbye. See you around Riya."

"Yeah sure, Bye Arya, " I replied, feeling a bit disappointed that he had to go so soon.

As he left, I replayed the scene in my mind, how hot he looked, how innocent he was and finally back to those eyes...and him saying " See you around Riya."

And I wished with every fibre of my being that I would.

--------------------------------x---------------------------------

Hey peeps,

So guys did you expect that? What did you think of Arya?

Any Desh and Riya fans upset?

It's life you know. They weren't meant to be.But don't worry there will be a lot of Riya Desh scenes in the future..and who knows what might happen ;)

Adios Amigos,

:) harshini :)
Don't forget to read, vote and comment! :D

The beautiful cover above is by xhuzaifaahmad