The continuation...

The Promise

Rajveer said bye and last minute instructions to cadet Ghai who was the last to leave. All had crept out silently, before the sun became strong. 

"Sir" said Alekh. " Apun jaake saaman le aata hai. Naina ne apun ko list diya hai. Agar yaha kuch din yaha rehna hai toh basic cheeze toh lagenge hi na."

He left to get food and other essentials. Rajveer looked at his retreating figure well aware that he and Naina were all alone in the house.

"Sir".

Rajveer closed his eyes. If he knew his Naina, a fresh batch of questions were coming his way. She would never leave until all all her doubts are cleared. Even after the mentorship situation, however many times he yelled at her, she always came back to talk to him, to clear any misunderstanding.She believed in talking it out than keeping it festering, making people distant. While this was a great quality to have in relationships, it was definitely bad in this situation.

"Mein aapki paati badal dun ?"

Rajveer turned and looked at her. She was holding the first aid box. He came slowly and sat down on the sofa. Naina came and sat beside him. She cleaned the wound and put on new dressing.

Rajveer looked at her lovingly.  After she was done, she looked up at him. 

"Aapko bhuk to nahi lag rahi na. Aapne kal raat ko bhi kuch nahi khaya. Meine Alekh ko bheja hai. Woh khana lata hi hoga." said Naina quietly.

Rajveer smiled at her concern.

"I ll be fine, Naina. I am a soldier. I have faced worse."

Naina continued to look at him. Her hand was still on his bandage. Sitting so close to her, he was dangerously close to going weak again.

 "Umm...yeh farm house sach much kamal ka hai. Nothing nearby. No one from outside can say if anyone was living here or not. It is perfect. Thanks for letting me use it."

"Thanks ?" she asked pained. "Humare rishte mein ab thanks bhi aagaya ?"

Rajveer closed his eyes. Humara rishta ? There was no relationship here.

"Naina, meine tumhe kal samjhaya na..."

"Aap ko pata bhi hai..." said Naina standing up, a little loudly "Ki mere upar last kuch dinon se kya beeth rahi thi ? Phir se aapke saath wahi sab hote dekh kar jo bhayya ke saath hua tha. Aur iss bar yaha hokar bhi mein kuch nahi kar paayi. I was feeling so helpless. Kitna guilty lag raha tha yeh soch ke ki aap uss red box ke peeche iss liye gaye the kyunki meine aap ko majboor kiya tha. Agar mein aapki zindagi mein nahi hoti toh shayad aap abhi bhi usi vardi mein hote jo aap apna hissa mante hai. I dint know if you hated me for that. Aapko pata hai, aapka ek ek medal jab cheena jaa raha tha, toh mere dil sau tokde ho raha tha. Aur jab aap ka woh jeep.."

Naina was crying and shaking. Rajveer was standing and staring at her, not knowing what to do. His eyes had welled up as well. 

"Jab mujhe laga, meine aapko humesha ke liye kho diya...mein ...mein mar jana chahti thi...." Naina's legs gave in. She sat down on the floor, clutching her head. She was sobbing continuously.

Tears flowed out Rajveer's eyes as well. He had no one in this world. He had no one who would want to die for him. He had never expected Naina to be so affected by this, he would have never done it otherwise. Her love touched him for the first time. He understood it for the first time.

He sat down next to her. Naina was still clutching the sofa, crying her heart out. He held her lightly by the shoulder.

"I am sorry Naina...I am really very sorry. I should have told you I was going to escape, but there wasn't enough time. And believe me Naina, when I say this, I never hated you. I never blamed you for anything that happened to me. I mis calculated on how risky the operation is. I should have been more careful. I was a fool to get trapped into it. Nothing was your fault."

Naina looked at him with teary eyes. "Aap mujhse naraz nahi hai ?"

Rajveer held her tightly and looked into her eyes with a smile."Bilkul bhi nahi."

"Aur aap naraz nahi hai, ki uss mission pe meine aapko goli maara tha."

"Yeh kab hua ?" Rajveer asked with mischief. "Mujhe jitna yaad hai, Dr Ritu ne mujhpe goli chalaya tha."

Naina smiled. He was not angry with her. Then why was he not accepting their love ?

She wiped her tears and hugged him. Rajveer hugged her back consoling her.

"I love you." said Naina, clutching him.

Rajveer 's eyes popped open. He broke the hug.

"Naina...NO".

"Par aapne abhi kaha ki aap naraz nahi ho mujhse."

It took all of Rajveer's strength not to smack his hand on his head. 

"Naina...uska matlab yeh nahi tha."

Naina wiped her tears and sat up. She was really getting angry with him. 

"Toh kya matlab hai ? kya aap mujhse pyaar nahi karte ? Aur agar karte hai, toh chupa kyun rahe ho ?  Aur kya galat hai iss mein ?"

Rajveer sighed. In the world according to Naina, everything should yell out anything they felt. But she din't understand how the real world worked yet. The age gap between them really struck him.

"Cadet Singh. Aap meri thodi bhi izzat karte hai, toh aap meri yeh ek baat manenge. Hum iss baare mein baat nahi karne wale."

"Kab tak ?" she asked, sternly.

"Jab tak..jab tak...humara yeh mission successfully complete nahi ho jaata."

"Aur uske baad ?"

"Agar hum apne mission mein kamyab hote hai, aur zinda bach paate hai, toh hum iss ..iss baare mein baat karenge. I promise. But now...let's...let's focus."

Saying this he got up, hoping Naina understood. He walked out of the room.