Rewrite the Stars

20 | t w e n t y

(We've hit 20 chapters!! TYSM for all the support<3)

Sahasra’s Kashmir mission came a month later. It was her first and most toughest mission. Moreover, there were only three female officers among 50 male pilots.

According to the plan, she would be flying the border, getting the location of the infiltrated terrorist bunks. She revised the plan of action several times — it was her first mission, and she didn't want to make a single mistake.

On D-Day, she felt nervous to execute her plan. Nevertheless, she gathered up courage and ascended into the fighter plane.

Sahasra flew over the regions as planned and successfully located four terrorist bunks at different risk points. She stored their latitude-longitude data and sent the information to her captain.

After she returned, the captain patted her shoulder, “Good job, Sahasra.”

“Thank you sir,” she saluted and went inside her camp. Jumping in joy, she called her husband. "Nikhil!! I successfully completed my first mission!"

"ALREADY?? WOW!! Excellent Sahasra!"

"I'll soon be ahead of you in ranks," she challenged him.

"I'll be more than happy," he chuckled. "And, I'm coming to see you in two weeks."

"Really?? That's the best news," she jumped in joy. "Can't wait to see you."
Then, she hung up the phone.

After two weeks, Sahasra went to the airport to receive Nikhil. When she saw him coming, she ran towards him and hugged him tight.

He reciprocated and kissed her thrice on the lips.

The couple decided to visit a small park — it would be the perfect destination to have a chat. "How's Delhi? Any new missions?" Sahasra asked. "I want to eat chana chaat."

"Tum na, bas khati raho hippo," Nikhil chuckled and led her to the chaat stall. "Some tension is there on the border. The higher commands are talking about strikes, but it's very vague, so I don't know much. Whatever it is, it's not good."

"Hmm, even I feel so. We should go meet Maa and Dadi soon together," she suggested.

"Yes I want it too hippo but...I don't want to go — not until the tension dies."

"Mhmm," Sahasra put her head on his shoulder. "I miss you all the time."

"I miss you more," Nikhil pecked her lips again. "And I also stay worried about you."

"Why? You know I'm good at what I do. We're both fighting for our country. And I know you don't talking about it, but since you mentioned the tensions in the border, a thought entered my mind," Sahasra turned serious.

"What thought?"

"Me or you, if an unwanted situation arises, the other will not cry but be proud."

"Agar tu royegi hippo, toh puri dharti hil jayegi," Nikhil joked.
(transl. if you cry, the whole world will shake because you're a hippo)

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes. "Waise bhi tujhe kuch ho nahi sakta. I'm confident about that. People talk about you all the time — that you're a vulture and have a remarkable eye for details. I'm proud of you, Nikhil."
(transl. nothing's gonna happen to you anyway)

"Thank you ma'am, and I'm proud of you as well," Nikhil smiled. "And I don't want to talk about death anymore."

"Fine," Sahasra replied. "Let's go do some fun like we did on our honeymoon."