Beyond the Fence

Chapter: 19 ~ Sanjay

Sanjay did not like the way Sir Robert had lead the rebellion, he never liked the way he manipulated others, but that didn't mean he hated him. Sanjay had respected the old man enough to mourn his death and Sanjay knew that this rebellion needed him to at least weaken the Potion Master.

Sanjay and Kashvi were left alone as the room retired for the night. Hardik hadn't returned yet and Sanjay wondered if this plan would work. After all the stories he had heard from Agni, he knew that there was no way that Hardik could pull this stunt for so long without the Potion Master finding out. Lavi was right to get mad because these idiots never think. All they want to do is attack blindly and get the lot of them killed. Sanjay was partly glad that Lavi had taken the charge.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kashvi asked. She slid her fingers into his and squeezed it gently.

He smiled at her as he pulled her into a long hug, "I don't know. Now that Sir Robert is gone, your parents will be out of his trance. Everything is falling apart. Hardik might have given everything away. The Potion Master might be planning something big and all this might be for nothing. I don't know what to believe, Kashvi."

"Neither do I. At least we have got each other." She placed a gentle kiss to his cheeks.

Sanjay pulled her closer as Kashvi rested her head on his chest, "I don't know if we are going to make out of this alive but I want you to know that I love you, Kashvi. I have wanted it to be special, I wanted you to jump up and down when I told you this. I wanted this to be as cliche as it can be and I wanted to do this at the right time when everything was perfect. But, I don't know if anything is going to be perfect anymore, so I don't want to wait any longer-" He gently pulled her away to look into her eyes. Tears rolled down Kashvi's cheeks and Sanjay gently wiped it away with the back of his palm.

"Kashvi, I love you. I have never hoped until you arrived until you showed me what hope is. If we make it out alive, the first thing I might probably do is go meet my parents. I just hope they don't kick me out." He chuckled.

"I- I don't want this dream, Sanjay. I want it all to be real and I know it is not going to be. I don't know how I taught you about hope, because right now, I feel empty. There is no hope left. I am sure I am not going to make it out alive and I don't want you to dream all of that and then leave you with nothing."

"I am okay with this dream. At least then I won't regret not telling you how I felt. You are and will always be my beautiful dream. I once promised to keep you alive even if it means forfeiting mine, and I don't mean to break it."

~

Sanjay woke up to Agni shouting at someone. His arms had gone sore as he had held Kashvi all night as they slept as if she would vanish if he let her go. Kashvi groaned in her sleep but didn't seem to wake up. He gently laid her head on a cushion he found beside him. Sanjay's neck hurt too as he had fallen asleep in an awkward position, but he didn't mind.

"What's wrong?" Sanjay asked as he entered the kitchen.

Agni and her son were having a heated argument and Sanjay knew he should probably leave them alone but he needed his coffee. He pulled out a vessel and poured some milk into it. Agni stared at Sanjay as if she was going to kill him but Sanjay only smiled at her as he put the milk to boil.

"can't you see we are in the middle of a conversation?" Agni snapped.

"Sorry, gran, I need my morning coffee," Sanjay said smirking at her. He had loved pulling Agni's leg now and then. She never stopped him but she had always given him a playful glare. But this time Agni looked serious and he knew better than to mess around. Sanjay raised his hand in surrender and walked out.