I'll Be There For You

AYAAN

Year: 2342

Month: September

Date: 25

Destination: Northern part of Eastern Earth - Earth

Their 'distraction' had worked. Apparently, Simon had needed the Powers attention diverted from their shipment ships loaded with the biological potions. They'd marched their jets from Zeroa right behind them and eliminated them.

Simon's group underground would remain safe as long as Zeroa remained safe. It was their home. Once the agents were destroyed, Simon had waved the red flag. Pretty ironic considering it was them who had started this fight in the first place. But the Powers had accepted it. They too had lost irreplaceable members of their league. Ayaan didn't know if Zeroa could ever be his home ever again. He had barely left the floor where he sat next to Isha all day.

The cremations and memorial services were about to start any minute. Ayaan was feeling light. Like half of his weight had been sucked out of him. He felt like if he didn't hold his own against the ground, the wind would whisk him away.

He'd spotted her right away. For a second, he had let his hopes rise. From where he was seeing her, she appeared to be fine. But then he'd gotten closer. He counted the bullets. Five of them in total. The fatal one was in her head. Whoever had killed her hadn't even bothered to close her eyes. He knelt next to her to close her eyes and then picked her up.

They'd laid Roshan's unidentifiable body next to hers. Vani's they could never recover.

In the ways that mattered, they had won this fight. His home was safe. Earth was somewhat stable. With so many of the Powers injured, the Resistance had the best chance to snatch control. Already thousands more had joined in. It was their greatest victory.

But in all the way that were of meaning to him, Ayaan and his friends had lost. Terribly. He looked up to see that they were all sitting near him. Cross legged, remembering lost ones.

There were ten of them. Now, only seven were left.

Someone cleared their throat. It was the General. His hand was on Neha's back.

"We're ready for them." He said, pointing at Isha and Roshan.

Ayaan nodded and got up. He then bent to pick Isha up. Ankit and Sameer did the same for Roshan.

The two of them were getting a special service. Roshan was going to be cremated, paying respect to his culture. And Isha was going to be buried as was done in Zeroa.

It was raining today. But the sun was out. So Ayaan could see a rainbow. He remembered one of his conversations with Isha-

"Ayaan! Look at this!" She was pointing to the laptop screen. It was a picture with a semicircle of multiple colours.

"What is that?" Ayaan had asked, not really caring about it.

Isha was jumping. "It's called a rainbow! Apparently it only occurs on Earth because of the sun. When the rays of the sun refract against the water droplets, it forms the rainbow. Look at it!"

Ayaan laughed and started to walk away. "Alright calm down."

"When we go to earth, the first picture I want is one with a rainbow." She'd announced.

Ayaan had raised his eyebrows. "Whatever you say."

When Ayaan saw the rainbow now something sparked inside of him. He set the gurney on which Isha was lying on the ground and went to the General.

"Can I ask for a favour?" He said.

The general was surprised. These were the first words he'd spoken.

"Sure. What is it?" He said.

"The camera you were using to click pictures of the biological agents? Can you click a picture of me with it?"

The General stared at Ayaan as if he'd lost his mind. He probably had.

"Please." Ayaan added.

The General looked at Ayaan for a while. Trying to see something. He seemed satisfied. "Alright."

Ayaan nodded and pointed towards the rainbow. "I want you to take it so that the rainbow comes in the frame."

The others had realised that Ayaan was not with them. They'd returned.

"What's wrong Ayaan?" Naina asked.

Ayaan shook his head. "Just clicking a picture."

The others gaped at him. "A-A picture?" Sameer stammered out.

He nodded. "I'm ready." He told the General.

The General lifted the camera and held it to his eye.

Ayaan smiled like he'd never before.