The Rising Phoenix // Vani Fanfiction

#68. The Cheel Instinct

"Wait a minute, tumhe kaise pata ki main bachpan mein kaisa dikhta tha or what I wore on my coronation?" Veer asked surprised while they were talking about their childhood.

"Daddyji ne mujhe tumhare bachpan ke photos dikhaye the. I swear, tum humesha se hi sabko pareshaan karte the." Bani laughed.

"Kabh?"

"When I thought you were dead. Khana nahi khaaya jaa raha tha toh daddyji aaye the. Unhone mujhe khana khilate waqt tumhari photos dikhayi thi. You hated your school uniform, nahi?"

"Wait a minute!! Dad ne, you mean mere dad?"

"Haan."

"Damn. Ballu ke tevar badal gaye. Tumhe khana khilane aaye?"

"Haan. Jab maine kaha ki mann nahi hai toh thoda sa khud bhi khilaya. I was crying toh unhe samajh nahi aaya ki kya kare. Unhe laga ki shayad tumhari bachpan ki photos dekhungi toh I'll stop crying."

"The point remains that out of everyone in this world dad tumhare paas aaye tumhe comfort karne. That's the last thing I'd imagine happening. Tumhe pata nahi hai ki unhe tumse kitni nafrat hai. Correction. Thi. Nafrat thi. Seems like Ballu bhi pighal raha hai."

"We both have one thing in common. We both love you. Shayad saare drame ke baath unhe ehsaas hua ki I'm not a threat to you anymore and tried to make truce. Jab yeh lagne laga ki abh main unke bete ke jaan ke peeche nahi hun, he started accepting me."

"But photo album mein mere coronation ke photos nahi hai. He has a whole different photo album for that."

"I saw a portrait of you from your coronation at the island's library. It surprised me. I wasn't expecting a 15-year-old to have facial hair growing."

"Hota hai. Cheel side ke wajah se hormones jaldi click on hote hai."

"Haan aur shayad tumhe pehle zyaada colours pehnte the."

"Red shirt..." Veer remembered that and laughed.

"Teer bhai ne mere liye select kiya tha. He insisted that I wear that red shirt. Bas unke Khushi ke liye pehen li."

"Teer is really good at painting."

"Haan. I wish I could have had that skill. Mom was an artist. Unke death ke baad dad caught on the habit of buying paintings as a memory. Teer bhai ke painting exhibitions lagte the. He never attended them but they were all taken to the exhibition. Teer bhai mujhse bohot pyaar karte the. We have several memories. You remember maine tumhe bataya tha ki maine ek bacchi ki jaan bachayi thi? Use dhundhne mein Teer bhai ne meri help ki thi. We looked through the newspapers for any information. Usmein likha tha that there was only two survivors but uske baad kya hua kuch pata nahi chala. Teer bhai ne koshish ki use dhundhne ke liye because I wanted to meet her."

"Tumhara Knight In Eagle Wings syndrome."

"What?"

"Haan. For someone reason, it's a coincidence ki jabhi mujhe kuch hota hai, tum humesha aa jaate ho waha."

"That is a different issue. I choose to come for you. This just happened to be something like being at the right place at the right time."

"Na... At this point it might not have been a coincidence. Generally, you have a certain time till which you practiced your flying there but uss din tum wahan zyaada der ruke the."

"Coincidence, Bani."

"Coincidence nahi hai. Shayad you were always meant to be someone who'll always protect me."