Fanaa

1.7 Udaipur

"Hum toh bhai jaise hai, waise rahenge"  Aaira belted out jumping on the bed.
"Ab koi khush ho, ya ho khafa" Kaira joined in with a hairbrush (posed as a microphone of course) in her hand.

"What's going on here?" Akshara asked with her hands on her hips.
Akshara had walked into her room, ready to pack Aaira's things for her school trip, only to stumble upon Aaira and Di jamming out on bollywood songs while the room looked like a tornado,in the form of her little methidana, had passed through it.

"We're packing for the trip!" Aaira exclaimed, "Maasi's coming with me, we are going to go on a Maasi and princess trip." she continued jumping around the bed.

"Princess sambhalke" Kaira rushed to Aaira to steady her and continued looking at Akshara "Woh, I got a call from the Udaipur office, they need me to sort out a few things and I figured I'll make the trip now, before things get too hectic." Akshara knew the intentions behind her unspoken words, Di wanted to make sure Aaira was going to be okay.

Akshara glanced at her sister, the years had only made her sister more beautiful, and standing next to Aaira, the resemblance between them was uncanny.
Her daughter loved her Maasi to bits, and she knew Aaira was Di's whole heart.
Kaira di had been the first person to hold Aaira when she was born, the one to guide her first steps,and she was Aaira's partner in crime.

There wasn't anyone in the world she trusted more than her sister, when it came to Aaira, and knowing that her Di will be there in Udaipur made it easier to breathe.

Aaira and Kaira Di glanced at each other, sharing the same mischievous twinkle in their eyes, before grabbing Akshara to join them and the 3 of them spent the rest of the evening dancing and singing away.

Her soul ached being apart from Abhi, but seeing her sister and baby dance, Akshara knew she would be okay despite her bleeding heart.

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"Choti Dadi, they are going to Udaipur, not off to fight a war" quipped Vatsal seeing the preparations Choti dadi had made to send them off which included warding off their nazar, and doing their aarti.

"Chup kar, badmash" Bhabhi Maa twisted Vatsal's ear, and Vatsal yelped in pain.

Kaira patiently waited for Choti Dadi to finish her aarti and pulled her into a hug whispering "Don't worry, we'll be fine."

She knew the elders in her family were apprehensive, Nanu had outright refused to let them go to Udaipur "Woh shehar hamse sirf cheena hai" and she couldn't blame them. Udaipur reminded them of the loved ones they had lost. But it was going to be okay, she was going to make sure her niece enjoyed her trip and finish off her work while she was at it.

Aaira kissed Akshara's cheeks, hugged all her family members and then they were off to Udaipur not knowing the storm that awaited them.

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Abhimanyu's POV

A hand gently caressed his hair, and Abhimanyu opened his eyes only for his gaze to fall upon the love of his life, his Akshu. She smiled at him, her eyes filled with adoration and Abhimanyu couldn't believe how he had gotten so lucky.
"Uttiye Doctor sahab, its half past 9"
"Chal na Akshu, let's take the day off, spend the day in bed" and with that he pulled her towards his chest, raising his head to kiss her -
Beep! Beep!

Abhimanyu woke up gasping. A dream, he had been dreaming just like he had every morning for the last 6 years.

6 years, 7 months, 54 days since he had last seen his Akshu, held her in his arms, kissed her-
6 years since his mother had lost her son, Ruhi had lost her father.