Abu Ishaaq had left early with the other fathers to wrap up their business works in the city before they headed out for their two-day staycation trip. Sarah and Sana had left already for their morning classes.

Sarah's bird song ringtone interrupted the engaged and attentive class. She cleared her throat and requested Sister Farhana to excuse her for getting the call since her mother was calling.

"Yes, Ummi, what's up?" she answered the call.

"Sarah, where did you keep the charcoal pack?" she asked, with shuffling noises coming from her end.

"Ummi, it should be in the storeroom on the ground floor," she recalled.

"It's not there," her mother replied, sighing. "Come home and find it after class, okay?"

"Yes, Ummi," Sarah nodded. They were headed to the hills for a BBQ and charcoal was essential.

Sister Farhana asked Sarah if it was something serious. Sarah shook her head and mumbled that it was alright and nothing serious.

By this time Sister Farhana had concluded the tafseer of the last few Ayahs of Surah Ra'd and was going to start discussing the next Surah: Surah Ibrahim.

"With the end of Surah Ra'd, Allahumma Barik Lakunn, we start a surah only seven pages long, Surah Ibrahim," Sister Farhana announced. Sarah smiled at the mention of Surah Ibrahim. She remembered memorizing the Surah when she was sixteen, two years ago. And now, she had completed memorizing the Quran. Alhamdulillah.

Sister Farhana discussed the story of Prophet Ibrahim (عليه السلام) and how he submitted himself to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). He was given the title "Khalilullah" meaning the close friend of Allah due to his faith and submission. He was so honored and respected that most of the world knew his name – if not all, Subhan Allah.

Our MMC Ibrahim is honored to be named after such a prominent person. The both of them know Ibrahim's (عليه السلام) story well.

Sister Farhana then discussed his family life. Ibrahim's (عليه السلام) first wife was Sarah. They were both blessed with Ishaaq (عليه السلام) in their old age when both of them were unfit for procreation – as a miracle from Allah (سبحانه وتعالى).

Wait, the names sound familiar.

Nevermind... Sarah dismissed the thought. She had to focus on class right now. Sana was taking notes, and Sarah, seeing her best friend so focused, felt the need to pay attention to Sister Farhana herself. So, she did.

At the end of class, Sarah hugged Sana, and the other girls farewell and then started her walk back home in reflection mode.

Once she entered the familiar frame of her home, she walked over to the sounds of water splashing in the kitchen.

Girls and boys, Ishaaq was doing the dishes!

Sarah was surprised to see her little brother in the kitchen.

"Sarah, settle down then bring the charcoal pack in the living room, okay?" her mother instructed after exchanging Salams with her.

Ishaaq caught a glimpse of Sarah and immediately started calling her out, "Ukhti look, I'm doing all the work at home, you're so useless," he eye-rolled, exaggerating.

Sarah skipped over to her brother to gently slap him on the head. "Me? Useless? Okay, you're drying, folding the clothes, vacuuming, mopping, and baking for the house from now on," Sarah raised a challenging brow.

"Ukthi... I know all that, but what about now, hmm?" Ishaaq raised his brows quizzically. Sarah just sighed and then climbed up the stairs to look for where the charcoal pack was. It was way behind all the clutter in the upper storeroom. Didn't we just buy it? Why was it there anyway? She took it to the living room and placed it on the side near the door.

"You found it?" her mother asked from the kitchen, she was cooking while Ishaaq did the dishes.

"Yes, Ummi! It was in the other storeroom upstairs," Sarah called back and joined her mother in the kitchen to help her with cooking.

Meanwhile, Ibrahim was driving home from his college. On his way back he was recalling his conversation with some of his classmates. They were discussing the hidden gems of Raffi town, like the railing around the high platform over the forest. From that corner of town, you could see the hills and mountains far ahead, shrouded by the clouds in the mornings. At night, the spectacle was the stars and how clear and bright they were under the clean sky.

Ibrahim was going to go look for that place. He loved quiet and serene places since the city was always bustling. But he had grown to love the city. He was torn between his home in the city and his home in town. In the end, home was where his family was – where he could return to a smiling Maryam, a caring Umm, and a proud Abb.

At night, Sarah was done organizing the storeroom. She brought it upon herself to do so since it was so disorganized, and her mother was already tired from cooking. Ishaaq came and helped occasionally, but she knew she made herself responsible for the organization of the storeroom. By the time she was done with it – the storeroom was squeaky clean and easy on the eyes. Shelves were even, boxes were stacked like towers, and essentials were right in front, in the middle of the room for easy access.

To rest, and to get fresh air, she decided to head outside for a stroll. She told her mother she was going outside for fresh air. Her mother immediately encouraged her to go outside and take a breather after seeing her daughter's condition.

On her walk, she thought about her day. Is her life remarkable enough to make her worthy of mention like Ibrahim (عليه السلام) and his wife, Sarah? Or even like Asiya the wife of Pharoah? Or even like Maryam (رضي الله عنها), the mother of 'Isa (عليه السلام)? She sighed. She was just an ordinary girl, with an ordinary life, and ordinary dreams like probably many others.

She stood in front of the shiny silver railing and looked up at the sky, dotted with stars. Subhan Allah.

Of course, she is ordinary. Look at her Creator. He created such extraordinary celestial bodies. And out of all His creations, He created Sarah and sent her to Earth. She should be honored. Alhamdulillah. She felt her eyes well up.

A railing was in front of Ibrahim, like a balcony over the forest. He placed a hand on the railing, feeling the biting cold. The studded gems in the deep night sky glistened like how the gold studs spelling out 'Sarah bint Khalid' was glistening under the moonlight farther to his left. Huh, what was she doing here? It would be best to ignore her...

The area was silent because only two souls were present, minding their own business. Well, partially.

In the silence, he could hear muffled sniffling. Sniffling?

Under the touch of moonlight, her eyes shimmered with tears. Who or what had hurt her? He wanted to expel those tears from the usually cheerful Niqabi elder sister of Ishaaq. He turned his head ahead, looking at the vastness of the forest before him.

Sarah noticed a presence – a familiar presence on her far right and for the second long glance she stared at that direction, she saw Ibrahim with crystal eyes – or maybe it was like crystal because of the moonlight. Why was he out here on his own? That shouldn't matter... they're just, strangers. She thought to herself.

Huh, why are tears falling from her eyes? She wiped the tears. Oh, maybe it's because she was suppressing her sneezes. After all, the reason she came outside was to take a breath of fresh air.

The storeroom was pretty dusty, and she was dust allergic... so her sneeze fiesta at home, swollen eyes, and even more sneezing prompted her mother to encourage her to go outside and inhale fresh, non-dusty air.

She breathed out a relaxed sigh when the sneezes stopped battling to leave her nose and/or mouth. And then she turned back, after staring at the stars one last time – and maybe glancing to her right to see if Ibrahim was still there which he was, walking her way home.

On her way back, she replayed the few-second-long scene her eyes captured. Of Ibrahim's unreadable expression. She couldn't help but be curious about him, and why he was there at the place she frequented when she needed a breath of air.

Ibrahim himself walked home a few minutes later. This place was beautiful. He had heard that there were more tranquil and ethereal landmarks in Raffi that are not frequented and mostly out of sight. He looked forward to discovering more quiet places like this where he could reflect and ponder on the beautiful creations of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) [that includes Sarah bint Khalid]

As the both of them returned to their own homes, they couldn't help but continue thinking about each other. The images of their sparkling eyes refused to leave their memory system. But again, why should they care? They weren't close. Nor were they supposed to be. They both get on their phones and go through the Islamic reminders on their Instagram.

Odd for both of them, they had notifications. Well, of course, Sarah gets likes on her aesthetic nature posts, and Ibrahim gets likes on his stories from his old friends – but at this time of the night? A notification?

Ibrahim opens it to see a peculiar notification.

"050 *** 8484 is on Instagram as _bintkhalid, see more" the notification read. He blinked four times. That was Sarah's WhatsDat number. And that was also her last name. He switched his phone off.

That's enough Instagram for today.

Sarah's notification was a like from a scammer account, which she immediately blocked. Then she received four texts from Sana – which was weird, Sana doesn't really text much.

"What's up, Sana?" Sarah asked, concerned.

"Ummi asked you to bring the kettle too, one kettle won't be enough. Oh, and bring your thermos jug or whatever it's called," Sana replied, conveying her message.

"Oh, okay, yeah, I'll keep that in mind," Sarah noted down the things she had to do in her book, or else best believe she will forget about it in the next few minutes. "Anything else?"

"Hasa- nothing, nothing else," Sana was saying, but stopped herself.

"Hasan what?" Sarah pressed her friend on call. She understood when she needed space but she had to know what was up before she tried to console her friend.

"Sarah, tell me honestly," Sana started, sucking in a distressing breath. "Is it reasonable for me to resent him?"

Sarah thought deeply for a moment. No. It is not reasonable for her to resent him. Sure, he may have been cold and closed off once they hit puberty. But that was for the best, wasn't it? To prevent both of them from doing anything Haram? Preventing them from getting any closer?

"Honestly, I don't think there is any valid reason for you to resent him – I mean he was wrong in his actions in the past, but you both have grown up... and wasn't it for the better of both of you, anyway?" Sarah spilled her thoughts. When she was met with silence from Sana's end, she continued, "Unless there is another reason, another important thing related to this that you're dismissing, or ignoring,"

Sana stayed silent. Perhaps contemplating her best friend's words. Why does she resent Hasan? Does she resent him at all? She recalled their energetic childhood, then their cold pre-teenage years, and now their distance is evident in their late teens. She thought of his cries, then his laughs, and then his smile from last chapter. Does she resent him at all? Or is this clutching feeling in her heart something else? Something she doesn't want to acknowledge?

"Jazakillahu Khairan Katheeran, Sarah, I love you," Sana muttered from her side. It was loud enough for Sarah to hear. All she wanted at that moment was to run over to Sana's house and strangle her in a tight hug.

"Wa Iyyaki, Sana, I love you too, for the sake of Allah," Sarah replied, her words enough of an embrace for Sana.

"I'll think on it and let you know, and remember, you tell me when something happens too, okay?" Sana reminded her best friend that she'd be there for her always too.

"I'll tell you tomorrow, it's way past my bedtime now," Sarah yawned. Sana and Sarah then exchange Salams and fall asleep. Sana felt lighter having cleared some clouds of doubt, but some confusion lingered. Sarah slept after the image of Ibrahim's glistening eyes flashed before her.

Sweet dreams my lovely daughters.

I've been to BBQ trips enough to know what's needed for one heh. so this is all nostalgic for me. hmm, what else... tbh the Sana's confusion about Hasan part was something that just wrote itself. I felt like I had to include them in this chapter because their story is pretty deep. 

did u know Ibrahim cried in this chapter? i scrapped that scene, it's too soon, don't you think?

are u guys suspecting if I've gone through something like Sana...? if you are then I'll give you an answer 👀.

*cough* other than that, the insta snippet here is of course from me and my alt account. 

that's all for now. is there any unanswered question among the chapters that you're curious of?