Adiva woke up to her blaring alarm once again and sighed in irritation as she switched it off. Today was a precious day and she didn't want to waste it. She sighed happily when she remembered what she had done yesterday and smirked.

"Remind me to never piss you off. That smirk is very scary." Yamin stood at the doorway of her room, courtesy of her alarm clock once again. He was frowning at her.

"Nothing you say today can spoil my mood. I am going to witness my victory with my own eyes today. Ahhh! Sweet victory!" Adiva said as she rubbed her hands in anticipation and a mischievous smile playing on her lips. Yamin grinned as he imagined the scene they were about to witness.

"No arguements there." He contended.

She laughed and stood up with an expert speed as she flung her covers off her and started a tornado in her room. Yamin watched as his spitfire of a cousin went about her daily morning routine. She rushed inside the bathroom and then inside the closet, then inside the bathroom again. When she emerged from the bathroom in eight minutes and seventeen seconds, she was impeccably perfect. He stared in armiration and then dragged himself off to his own room. He hated school with a passion and no amounts of pranks could change that. He was brilliant, but lazy.

Adiva watched him go, before she bent down to wear her sneakers and hopped around as she wore the other. She straightened up to recheck herself in the mirror for one last time before she blew herself a kiss and rushed out of the room, picking up her bag on the way. She closed the door with a 'thud'.

The closet door opened a few seconds later and Riesha crawled out of the the closet in a disheveled state. She huffed as she straightened up and heard her bones popping in place. Her whole body was aching. She had spent the night crouching in her sister's closet. It was hot and it was dark. She hated the experience. She sighed and stared at the shoppers she was still clutching in her hands. It was worth the trouble though, she shrugged. Still! She hated what she had to do for them. She hated her sister for having everything she needed. She hated her sister, period!

She looked around and sighed. It was time to get out of here. She couldn't be caught. She ran out of the room after she checked to see if the coast was clear. She sighed when she entered her own room and watched with starry eyes the shoppers she clutched in her hands. After the night she had had, there was no way she was going to school. She was going to file away the stuff and then she was going to rest her aching back. The school and studies would have to wait. She nodded to herself and went on ahead to carry on with her plans.

•••

Adiva entered the high school and went straight to her group of friends, who were talking about various topics amongst themselves. She rolled her eyes at their rapid topic changes and hoped that soon that would change to just one topic for the day. She was waiting for the guys to enter.

The final bell rang and they all proceeded to their respective classes. She was bouncing on her feet, with the pent up excitement, getting weird looks from her peers. She ignored them though and searched again for the targets. Today would be an easy spotting day for the guys.

Then the school doors opened and a group of boys stood at the doors, in a straight line, watching everyone like they owned the school. Arrogance dripped off them in plenty and they were smirking at everyone. This group of boys was known as the 'Fodres' in the school and they were feared by almost everyone. They were the ones who bullied the students. They played pranks and taunted others to such an extent that the students nowadays tried to shrink themselves while they passed by these boys, to avoid attracting attention to themselves. They left Adiva and the other Rasans alone because Rasans weren't supposed to be messed with and everyone knew that, unless you were a Furaat.

The Fodres usually attracted too much attention due to their bullying ways and attractive looks, but today they were attracting attention for a completely different reasons. Students all around the corridors stood to gawk at them. They smirked. Then someone giggled at the far end of the corridor and soon there arose different set of giggles and snorts, along with coughs to hide the giggles. The fodres frowned. And then everyone started laughing merrily, while pointing at them. They looked at the students and then frowned some more before turning towards each other. Their eyes widened as they watched each other in astonishment, while the laughter rang in the hallways.

Their usually perfect hair was colored in neon colors and rose up on their heads at weird angles. They gave a simultaneous reaction by trying to hide their hair and backing out of the school in a hurry while the students whipped out their cellphones and began to click pictures and record the whole incident, which would surely make it's way to the Naian Youth Channel, the NYC for short, online.

Adiva laughed happily and openly at her classmates as they made a hasty exit and ran out along with the others to follow their retreat. The neon colors shone in the sunlight and dazzled. The laughter around them increased. She looked around to search for Yamin, who was in charge of the next step. She spotted him and he winked at her. She smiled in response.

The Fodres retreated to the grounds, which was a shortcut to the parking lot. They were running at full speed towards their car, when the sprinklers came to life and sprayed them with water. The effect was immediate as they stopped suddenly and began to wriggle uncomfortably. Then they began to scratch themselves and fell down to the ground. The students caught upto them and continued recording them with laughter.

The solar dazzling dye took affect once it came in contact with sunlight. The guys hadn't realised anything till they saw each other because everything was normal when they had gotten out of the car. It was only when they had spent some minutes in the sun that the dye took affect. The itching powder would only work when wettened and that's why the sprinklers had to be switched on. All in all it was a very fulfilling sight to see the bullies go down. Adiva smirked. This would teach them to tone their mischiefs and heartless words down. She looked towards her friend, to watch her laughing happily and smiled.

•••

The large mansion shone under the moonlight. The lights were switched on. Adiva hummed to herself as she walked in the garden. The wooden swing in the garden beckoned her to itself and she sighed in contentment as she swayed on it after settling down. Soon the cool evening breeze had put her to sleep on the very comfy swing. That's how her parents found her.

"Diva?" Her mother called out to her softly. She hummed in her sleep but didn't wake up.

"Let her sleep Zeira. We will carry her inside." Aun reprimanded his wife. She nodded lightly as she softly ran her hand in her hair.

"She looks so peaceful."

"Everyone does when they sleep."

"I wonder how she will react when she would come to know that it was her name that was chosen for the Peace Treaty. She has two months remaining for the completion of her senior year. And her name would be announced on the same day! Then she would go on a war path." Zeira softly said. Aun nodded. The rules were already bent for his daughter. Usually the names would be announced six months before the wedding but for Adiva to not have any time for scheming, they decided to conduct the wedding right after the senior year, a month after the announcement of the names. He sighed. There was going to be a war from their princess.

"I just hope she doesn't do something harmful to herself."

"I hope she doesn't harm others." Aun smirked.

They continued to stroll for a while longer near the swing, keeping her in sight and then watched as a figure ran from the mansion towards the swing. They realised that it was Yamin. He shook her twice but then lifted her in his arms when she didn't wake up and walked back towards the mansion. Aun and Zeira smiled at their nephew and continued their nightly stroll.

•••

Tehlez Furaat watched the gathering around him with bored eyes and then sighed a long, suffering sigh. He would rather be at some place else. Amongst all his grandsons he could count the number of them on his hand, who would accept this decision obediently, others would definitely rebel. He hoped he didn't have to deal with a rebellion.

He was in his late sixties and quite fit. He was widower and had been one for two decades now, but had refused to remarry. The whole Naia knew that the Furaat men loved only once in their lives but to their utmost capacity. They married once and they cherished the memories if death tore them part, because there wasn't any other type of separation possible for the couples in their family.

His wife had been a beautiful and fiery woman. She didn't take anything lying down and knew how to keep him on his toes. She had given him a beautiful family and then bid him adieu in her late fifties. She was ten years his senior and was a widower when she remarried. She was an awesome spouse and a loving mother. He hadn't seen her qualities reflected in any of his daughters, daughters in law or granddaughters. She had remained a unique woman to grace the family of Furaat.

His sight landed on Ehlam Rasan who was looking tired as he surveyed this gathering. It was a shock to see him present in this ceremony. Usually the heads of the family refused to attend this ceremony and opted to send someone else in their place. He had sent some one else too. But Ehlam had broken that tradition and chosen to attend himself. He still didn't know the reason of it.

The central bowl was shaken and the plaques thoroughly mixed before, Tehlez had picked one from the bowl and handed it over to his eldest son, Kizyan Furaat, who slid the plaque open and widened his eyes.

Mirsab...