Aankhon Ki Baat

"Mujhe aapse kuch baat karni hai," she said, her voice even.

"What happened, Naina?" he asked, concern edging into his tone. "Is everything alright?"

She ignored it.

"Strange," she said, her reply clipped and cool. "Sab kuch bigaadne wala ye pooch raha hai. Anyways."

The words landed like a small blade. A flash of hurt crossed his face, but he folded it away just as quickly.

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Yash looked at his daughter for a long moment. "Beta," he said at last, "main jo bhi kahoon - kya tu maanegi?"

"Beta...hum teri shaadi karaana chahte hain." He paused. "Rajveer bete se."

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"Naina," he said, his gaze still fixed straight ahead, his voice carefully neutral. "Hum aise academy nahi ja sakte. Andar jaao, change kar lo - aur sindoor bhi saaf kar lena."

She turned to look at him sharply, a flash of something - hurt, perhaps, or surprise - crossing her face.