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The Big Day.

"Finallyyy!" Dadi jaan exclaimed, ber excitement evident by the shining of her eyes ," The day is finally here Noori!" She said as she bustled about Noor, trying to fix her long hair into a braid.

Noor placed her hand on her dadi's, "I'll braid my hair dadi, you go to the living room, I hear guests already arriving."

"Good idea." And she walked out of the room instantly.

She started to plait her hair and was almost halfway done when Parveen entered her room, "Noor?" She walked in cautiously and upon seeing Noor, a wide grin spread over her face.

Noor stood up, braid forgotten upon seeing the woman who she knew was perfect for her father. She knew Parveen would make Baba happy, actually, truly happy, Noor smiled, "Yes Aunty?"

"First of all, my darling, stop with this Aunty business, call me Mama okay?" She said and took Noor's hands in hers, "Now come, I want to talk to you." And she sat down on the bed opposite Noor.

Noor nodded and she began, "Jaan I know I can never take the place of your mama, I know I'll never be her and I'll never be able to love you like she would have," Noor noticed something oddly like resentment in her voice, probably just a figment of my imagination, shaking jer head to clear it, she smiled at Parveen, "But darling, I will give you all the love I can, and I just wanted to tell you that."

Noor's heart swelled for her, this amazing woman was so incredible, "I'm glad Baba's marrying you." She hugged Parveen.

"And Noor, I have something for you, a gift, for you to always remember how much I love you." Parveen opened her hand, which Noor hadn't noticed had beem closed into a fist, and held out a necklace. A golden chain, with a simple golden heart serving as the pendant, Noor looked at it excitedly and hugged Parveen again, "This is so beautiful! Thank you so much...Mama."

Parveen grinned at Noor's response and smoothed down her now open hair, she then gestured for Noor to turn around so she could place the necklace around her neck. She turned and the necklace was set into place, "It is so beautiful." Noor touched the pendant on the base of her neck and turned once again, "Thank you so much!" She smiled happily.

"I'm glad you like it," Parveen nodded at her and then turned to leave, "Hurry out now."

Noor went to stand in front of the mirror, ready to admire the beautiful chain around her neck, as she touched it, why does it look so familiar? , she smiled at her reflection, it looked so pretty, she looked almost like Mama from that picture dada jaan had given her, this was all she ever wanted, to be Mama from the pictures, and the stories, to be as beautiful, as kind, as strong as she was.

Noor pulled out the picture from where she kept it pressed between her books with tears in her eyes, she missed Mama a lot, but now she had Parveen, and the thought filled her heart with happiness. Gazing at the radiant looks on her parents faces, Noor couldn't help the pang of sadness that entered her heart. I miss you Mama , and that was that.

She put down the picture and once again smiled at her own reflection, where could Parveen Aunty have ever gotten such a beautiful thing, Noor thought as she fingered the heart that hung near hers.

Her hair had dispersed from the plait and she reached up to fix it when she saw it, in the picture, Mama was wearing a necklace, one that looked exactly like the one around Noor's neck. It couldn't be, it had never been found, Baba said the people who killed Mama must have stolen it.

But then, why did this look exactly like Mama's?

"Inside the heart, jaan,  there were two compartments, one of them held your picture, and the other held mine, so that we'd always be with her, near her heart, even if we weren't with her." Baba's voice rang through and before Noor could think about it, she pulled the necklace off and turned it over in her hand, how could she open it? There was no tiny hook or button anywhere. No opening that she could see.

Noor looked and looked but when she couldn't find anything, she realised she was paranoid and raised the necklace to her neck again, in the process accidentally pressing on where the heart was joined to the chain, and the necklace popped open in her hands.

She stared at the small heart in her hands, she stared at the picture of a baby, and on the other side a man, smiling, a man who looked unnaturally like Baba... It was definitely Baba. She was sure of it.

Noor sat down on the ground, her back against the wall, and continued to stare at the pendant in her hand, she ran her finger over the pictures,  the man in the picture was definitely Baba, but something was amiss, and then it hit her, this is Mama's necklace, it even has the same pictures, but how did Parveen eunty get it, it's the same necklace.

Noor could feel something was off about the whole thing, but she couldn't place her finger on it, she felt something cold and warm running down her cheeks, but she did not know exactly why she was crying.

She stood up, wiping at her cheeks, and tiptoed out of the room, slowly making her way into phupo's room at the back of the house. She needed to be alone right now.

*****

A/N

Hello darlings, BIG things are about to come! Excuse my shitty update schedule please.
Please VOTE and SHARE. Also i LOVE reading comments *hint hint* ;)
xx