Hamesha, Yours!

-43-

Aliya goes back but being the mess she is in she tells how Harhsad's death to him and that she also saw Rishabh Murthy's grave there but didn't ask Nandini about it since both of them were already a mess. 

"Bhai's gone."

"Gone?" Mukti questioned, "He has been gone since so long. After that day when Manik shut him up, none of us has seen him on a rehearsal. And we haven't tracked either. How does he come up today?"

Manik heard no more from Aliya. Not a shout. Not a retort. Nothing in her silence echoed but her words in his head,

"Bhai's gone!"

He could hear her. There was a shudder. A quiver. A fragility.

Harshad had been long gone from their lives, Mukti was right in her place. But, she was right to question as well. As much that bastard would barge into their lives, he wouldn't just go in silence.

Harshad's bloodied face clouded Manik's eyes. He  parted from the wall, adjusting his eyes to the light and walking mindlessly, timidly but with an eagerness
, a hope. A hope that reminded him of her, Nandini.

"She said, he was gone." Manik let the last words linger on among the whispers from the trio on the other side of the wall.

"Gone."

He muttered to himself and they didn't know.

--------

Back at the other side of the wall, the trio held on in the silence.

Gone. They all stuck to the word in dear life.

Gone.

"But Aliya..." Dhruv started but fell short of words.

She didn't look up at his pause and he realized he had to be the strong one here. She had nothing more to say. She was confused and he was perplexed at what she told them.

Then gathering himself, Dhruv tried again.

"It could be someone else's too.  There are so may people with so many same names! It's 1.3 billion people, with the same old names and surnames, there is a chance it's someone else. "

"Mere, but what if I say nearby... the.. whole Murthy family lay there.." Aliya chocked at her words. 

"Dhruv!" she wheezed. 

Dhruv's eyes widened, he stared in utter silence at Aliya. He was trying to deny all of this and was utterly and bitterly failing with every passing moment. It all made sense but it didn't as well. Not in his heart.  He knew his rationing wasn't the strongest but whatever it was, it meant to be good.

He looked down silently and made his way to his room.

Aliya saw him and sighed, "I..."

Mukti latched on and pressed her shoulder, "I'll catch up on Cabir and Uncle, and may be... may be Manik. You go." 
-----

Pulling out an old rusty box, Dhruv unfolded a paper- a paper that had showed him the truth months ago, that made his heart melt and brought him out of Nyonika's bewitchments.

His eyes stuck to the last words that were etched in Nandini' s handwriting.

"There is too much at stake, Dhruv. Too much to loose. I'm glad you spoke it all out today. Always speak it out. Manik and Nyonika always screamed it out that's why you all are together. You spoke it out, that why, see you are together and here I am. Be true to yourself. I am proud of you. There are many chances to be silent. It's just that silence must be chosen at the right time."