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It was raining so heavily that Preetika couldn't see the faces of the officers who were standing around her. She had taken special permission with much difficulty to come to Mumbai for a day. M.S brought her with him, by flight as he was coming too. She remembered when they were in Mussoorie, Kartik had sung a song with their group on Independence Day. She could remember his voice and how his actions matched with the song so well.
"Mera dharma tu, mera karma tu, tera sab kuch main, mera sab kuch tu. Har karam apna karenge, aye watan tere liye,"she hummed in her mind as it was his favourite song, while M.S said,"kuch hi mahino mein teen links pakad liya tha Kartik ne. He would have done it. His death is a huge loss for us."
Kartik's body was kept at the centre while everyone surrounded him. His family members were crying while Shrutika stood like a frozen stone, and the twins cried standing on her side. Rishabh had brought them here and Shubman accompanied them as well, as Shreyas couldn't come because he had went outside Mumbai for urgent meeting, and Kartik was their family friend. Hence, courtesy was needed."
Preetika stood beside M.S, holding her head high, along with her rifle, while her tears got mixed with the rainwater. Rishabh held Shrutika and said,"apne aap ko samhalon, Di. Please. Say something."
Everyone went up to the body and paid homage one by one, Rishabh took Shrutika with him, after Kartik's family members offered flowers to the body. Shrutika sat near the corpse of the person with whom she was about to begin her new life.
Finally tears fell down her eyes and she cried while saying in a low tone,"mujhe chhorkar chaley gaye aap? Aajka pura din toh aap mujhe dene waley theh na? Puri life mere saath rehenewaley theh na aap? Saarey waadey todh diye?"
She held his feet after offering flowers and cried, before the twins held her and they offered their homage to him, followed by Preetika, who did a salute of honour to him and offered flowers while thinking,"kya socha tha aur kya huya, Sir. You will remain my most favourite senior ever. Aapke saath kaam karne ka khawaish iss janam mein adhura rehe gaya. Aur Di ki toh kismat hi kharab hain."
She came back to her former position and they did gun salutes as a gesture of honour for their beloved and brave high ranked officer.
"Di!"Preetika said while coming to Shrutika, after the ceremony was over, and she cried holding her. Preetika hugged her back and said with a sigh while Radhika said,"humare saath hi aisa kiyu hota hain Veere?"
"I don't know,"Preetika said and then held Shrutika and added,"Di! Rona nahi hain. Humlog, yeh police force, air force, military, navy, hum sab sainik hain iss desh ke. Sabka raksha karna humara dharm hain. Sir ne apna dharm nibhaya hain, Di. Be proud. Aur ashirwaad dijiye ki main bhi aise hi apna duty nibha saku."
"Preet!"
"Nahi Di. Ek officer ki companion aur dusre officer ki behen ho tum. Be strong. Beeji aur Papaji chaley gaye, Sir ko bhi jaana tha. Jisey jaana hoga jayenge hi, hum rok nahi payenge kisi ko bhi. Par roh kar dukhi hokar unhey jaatey wakt dukhi nahi karna hain, Di. He wanted you to live happily always. Aur meri Di bohot strong hain. Voh phirse khadi ho jayegi. Hain na?"Preetika said cupping Shrutika's face and she gave a nod before they hugged again while crying.
