Destiny - مقدر

26 - For Him - اس کے لیے

"Only love and death will change all things." - Khalil Gibran

A DAY LATER

I pulled out the green lehenga that Daniyal had chosen a few days ago, "Thanks for fixing the tears, Sarafina."

Sarafina walked up to the dress, flattening it out on the table we stood in front of. "No problem. It is so beautiful! Surprising they managed to uncover it from the wreckage, too."
I nodded. "Yeah...I wouldn't have worn anything else."
"The exact colour of his eyes, isn't it?" She fiddled with the emerald sequins and flicked dust off of the silk fabric. I smiled, feeling suddenly warm inside, "The exact colour..." My insides lit up thinking off his eyes. They were just so gorgeous and green. Beautiful. I'd've hoped, that if we ever had the chance to have a child, that they'd have green eyes. Daniyal said that there was a fifty percent chance that the baby's eyes would be hazel and that that wouldn't be a problem because I have the most beautiful hazel eyes. The baby never happened though.

"I know this will be hard, but are you ready?" Sarafina asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I've already lost so much, and I'm only twenty-three. How much more do I have to lose?" I exhaled deeply, a frown filling my face. That sudden realisation of what has brought me to this very moment made me more than unhappy. "You know, he made me promise that I'd do this speech. For him." I explained. "And that's why you're here?" Sarafina asked.
"Is that bad?"
Sarafina shook her head, "There is nothing bad about only wanting to fulfil your promise to him. I'm sure he'll be watching you."

Suddenly, all of my old friends leaked through the door like water escaping from a tap and filled the room. They had all come, every single one of them. I was truly grateful to have their company. It can't have been easy for them to be here. Miriam, Aafia, Hina, Iqra, Khadijah, Mahek, Nahid, Sara, Tania, Wajeeha, Zainab, Farhana and even Fazia, all standing in a large crowd in the centre of the room I'd been allocated. "Hi guys."
They smiled, "Hello."
"It's a huge crowd out there, you ready?" Aafia laughed. I smiled, "Barely. I still need to change...and I haven't written my speech yet."
They giggled at my unorganisation and then the laughter slowly died down, realising why I hadn't been able to write it yet. "The dress really is stunning, you know. I'm jealous!" Farhana said. They all agreed, admiring the dress that laid on the table in front of us. "It's absolutely gorgeous." Wajeeha agreed. I smiled, it felt good knowing that at least one part of my life wasn't in complete shambles.

"You okay, Aqsa?" Miriam asked, picking up the dress and placing it on my arm. "Yeah, I just want Daniyal here next to me..." I whispered, forlornly. "I know... we understand."
"Being part of such a catastrophic thing must've been hard for you..." Khadijah lowered her head. I nodded, "I was so scared."
Mahek came forward and held my arm up, pulling my sleeve up. "How's your arm?"
"It hurts immensely, but they said it's not broken. I had lost a large amount of blood so they diffused some from a blood charity and said it would heal, given time."
She peeled back the corner of the thick square plaster stuck firmly on my arm and grimaced as the sticky blood soaked the back of the plaster. "It'll heal. That's a start."
"Will I ever fully recover from this, this crash?"

The girls looked sympathetically at each other, trying to decide whether I meant physically or mentally. I didn't think I'd ever recover as far as either were concerned. "You can never fully recover from something this large-scale...especially 'cause of...you know." Sara bit her lip, but I knew what she meant by 'you know'. I nodded, "I guess so..."
"Is Layla doing okay then?" Fazia asked.
"Her father died...but her mother is alive and...as well as well can be after experiencing a plane crash. She's mentally scarred though, at that young, things like this can really affect you." They nodded understandingly. Adults are sad to hear about, children are even sadder. That was just human psychology.