Do read the previous chapters to brush up on the story as it's been months since I updated.

Sakhi

As any sane human who met Amaya would do, I couldn't say no to her even though my mind screamed that I will end up getting hurt. After my agreeing to this marriage, Amaya made up a whole love story for us, so everyone would believe my selfish marriage, she talked to Dr. Arjun's parents, Vasudha Aunty and Harish Uncle, who are the sweetest human beings I've ever met in this world.

His parents flew to India when they knew about me, and after meeting them it's like I got a whole new family. Vasudha Aunty took care of me like I was Amaya, not some random girl who's marrying his son to be alive.

After a month of my recovery, his family went over to my parents and asked them for my hand in marriage. As expected my family was ready to shoo me off, without asking me what I wanted. And that's how I ended up in this room today, at Amaya's cousin, Dr. Divya's house, with an unknown woman putting Mehendi on my hands and feet getting me ready for a sham of a marriage.

The wedding is going to be a private affair with 4 families from his side, my parents, my sister, and me.

Talking about my parents, I met them after 10 years yesterday, my father looked old, he had a few wrinkles on his face and creases near his eyes, my mother looked like she had been working hard and was worn out, and the small 11- year old girl Krishnaa, that I left was no more there, she turned into a woman and I realized that I really didn't know anything about them.

My mother's touch and embrace felt unknown to me, except for a few formal greetings I couldn't talk to them, My own family felt like strangers to me.

After leaving them in a hotel room, I went back to mine with a head full of self-loathing thoughts, I hated how my family's presence was hurting me, seeing them after so many years gave me more pain than happiness.

"Do you really love my Arjun?" Anya, Dr.Divya's 5-year-old daughter asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I looked around and found all the kids sitting around me, everyone looking prettier than ever, with smiles, that god wouldn't even dare to wipe off their faces.

"Why do ask princess?" I asked her back not knowing how to answer that.

She giggled at my question and said

"Amar calls me princess all the time 'cause I look like one, Do you think so too? But papa calls me wildcat. Mama calls me a peanut, honey, and so many names...but I love it when they call me princess."

"That's not the question she asked wildcat! Princess loves Uncle Arjun, she says that she will marry him after she grows up all the time," Ayan, Amaya's son answered my previous question while Anya rolled her eyes at him.

"Let's do something, if you really want to marry your uncle Arjun after...say 15 years, I will gladly give him to you," I answered giving her a smile back, but that smile was immediately replaced with a frown.

"What about you then? You will be alone." She asked me and it bought tears to my eyes, imagining her care for someone who she met for the first time in her life.

"Arrey...Budhu...Why will she be alone? I will marry her." Ayan said like it was an obvious answer and gave me a sloppy kiss on my cheek and all the kids cheered, putting a smile on my face.

All these kids are emoting pure innocence and love which has been missing in my life. No one in this room made me feel like a stranger, commented about my color, how poor I was, or how I don't deserve to live. These are the richest people in the world and no one here acts like that, they seem normal and I am starting to like this normal for me.

"Uncle Arjun, Ayan is kissing your wife.." Amar and Alex started teasing Dr.Arjun, making him look at me and I froze as his eyes met mine.

After that day in the hospital, we never spoke to each other except for him asking about my health and getting me through my recovery. Our eye contact broke when Anya kissed me, followed by Nini who just replicated her brother and sister's actions.

"You look pretty Aunt Sakhi, Can I kiss you too?" Came in the 10-year-old Alex from his place towards me with a smirk pointed at Dr. Arjun.

"You want to kiss my wife you brat, let me see your end." Dr.Arjun lunged at him from the other side of the room.

Alex and Amar sneaked a kiss on my cheek ignoring their Uncle and that's how Arjun started chasing all the kids away from me, and their laughter echoed in the room which felt like soothing music to my ears, and I smiled with everyone in the room.

Soon everyone got the Mehendi done on their hands and were happily chatting away. But my hands and legs started to go cold as I was sitting without any moment for the last few hours.

My stomach yelped in hunger, and I looked around as I smelled food in the room.

Unlike all the movies, it wasn't husbands feeding their wives. It was the sons who are feeding their mothers, and daughters getting fed by their fathers. It was beautiful to watch Vasudha Aunty being force-fed by Dr.Arjun and Dhruv, Amaya had Alex, Danny, and Ayan, and Dr.Divya had Amar. Looking at them made me question what I always thought about love.

Is love real or an illusion?

If you asked me that question a few months ago, I would've definitely said that love is an Illusion, it's a responsibility hiding in a disguise of a fairy tale, that people seem to fantasize about.

But now, after seeing Amaya, Vasudha Aunty, Harish Uncle, and everyone in their family observing them from the last 3 months of my recovery I don't think I can say that.

What I realized is, Love is unique and subjective to your experience, the definition changes for every individual.

But Living with these people makes me wanna feel all that love and emotion, and know what it feels like to lean on someone else to solve the problems in your life, have one to share my pains and deep traumas with, and most of all I want to be a part of their family.

As I looked around for food and a dose of reality hit me like a storm, The scene before my eyes would look beautiful to everyone else in the world, but me.

It was my own father feeding my mother and sister, talking to them, and helping Krishnaa drink water with his hands. I should be happy too, but It was really painful for me to watch them, They look like a happy family, and knowing that I was left out, was the feeling I'd been living with for years. But seeing that in reality, an unsettling feeling probed my chest as I looked at them with jealousy.

My father not caring enough about me hurt me the most, He was someone I admired all my life but looks like the distance broke us apart. While I was living in the past memories and present pain, everyone else around me was living their present, forgetting that I existed.

"Sakhi...Sakhi...."A new voice pulled me out of the painful void that I was shoving myself into.

I quickly wiped out the tears with my shoulders, looked up, and found Amaya looking at me with pain in her eyes.

"I got you some food, I know you are hungry. Everyone is done eating, why didn't you ask anyone for food?.." She rambled all the questions while I looked at her with a clenching pain in my heart thinking about my own parents ignoring me.

"Maya, give her some space to answer you." Amaya's husband Jameson stopped her ramble, wrapping his arms around her, and took the food plate from her hands.

"I know Jamie, but if I didn't come here she would've left the place starving. This girl doesn't know how to take care of herself." Amaya answered, that's true and that's what I would've done.

They say happiness fills your stomach, but no one talks about the sadness which fills your stomach and mind with overwhelming pain, because I didn't feel hungry anymore.

"Is that why you washed that green thing off your hands?" Jameson asked Amaya.

"Yeah, and I don't care what color it comes out to be, because I know you love me more than anything or anyone in this world," Amaya said and pecked her husband and I stared at them in awe.

They look picture-perfect, Amaya in a black laced saree and Jameson in a white Kurta with a black vest matching with her.

She settled and started to feed me food with her own hands, tears filled my eyes looking at the love she is giving me which my parents forgot about.

"Don't be sad Sakhi, be happy that your father is good enough to take care of your sister and mother and you are the reason behind that happening. I know you feel the pain but remember you are not alone anymore, you have me and Arjun. My Arjun will be the shoulder you can lean on."

"And she has me too."Jameson chimed in making me smile and he continued saying.

"Sakhi and I are going to be a team, I have to teach her how to tolerate you and your brother. Let me give you your first marriage advice, don't ever come between Amaya and Arjun because they always choose each other over anyone in the world. Amaya's first priority is Arjun, it's not me or my kids. And don't even get me started on Arjun, that boy turns the world upside down if Amaya cries, he punched me and trashed my office, when he was just 16."

"That's because you hurt me and made me cry. Stop saying that my brother is abusive. And why are you saying my kids, they are my kids first and you are their baby daddy." Amaya jumped in and rescued her brother and started arguing with Jameson.

Looking at them happily arguing over silly things, made all my pain and suffering disappear. I may regret my marriage with Dr.Arjun in the future, but I will never regret meeting Amaya in my life.

After the fun dinner with Amaya and Jameson, we all went into our rooms, Vasudha Aunty applied oil on my hands before I washed the Mehendi off them.

I changed into comfortable pajamas after hours of living in a heavy lehenga, currently lying on the bed staring at the ceiling feeling worried about my new life which will start tomorrow. I will no longer be Lt.Sakhi or Dr. Sakhi, I will have a husband and a family who love me.

I will be Mrs. Arjun, and it scares me. I've been alone all my life and I know that I will fail miserably in this married life, So many what if's popped into my mind and it was giving me a panic attack.

My immediate thought was to give Dr. Arjun the last chance to back out from what he is getting into and that's what I planned to do.

I put on my loafers and scurried toward Dr.Arjun's room and knocked on his door. I could hear the door being unbolted, while I started to fidget my fingers waiting for him in anticipation that this talk could end the celebration of marriage.

As the door screeched open, I looked up and found Dr. Arjun standing before me in his shorts, wiping his head with a towel that covered his face, water dripping down from his hair onto his torso like he just jumped out of the shower, the smell of lemons and mint was oozing from him.

My throat got dry looking at the water droplets sliding across his body, and I felt warm tingles all over. That's when I realized that I was physically attracted to him.

I took a few gulps before the hormonal being took control over me, cleared my throat, and said

"Dr. Arjun can you put some clothes on, I need to talk to you."

He peeled the towel off his face immediately as soon as he heard my voice and looked at me in shock. He scanned his eyes all over me, wrapping his mind to the reality that I was really standing in front of him, as soon as he realized that he nodded and went back in leaving the door open.

I looked around the room and it was like a hurricane threw up in his room, everything scattered all over the place. Being in the army made me meticulous and his room made me feel like there were bugs crawling over my body, there was an itch to clean everything up to breathe happily.

"I'm sorry the room is really messy, all the kids were over here." He mumbled shyly looking at me and I nodded trying to kill the urge to clean his room and set everything in place.

"You wanted to talk?"

"Yeah! Can we go outside?" I asked him not wanting to be in the near vicinity of his room.

He nodded and followed me as I got out towards the lawn and sat by the pool, dipping my feet in the water. As I settled down, I felt the cold breeze of air and the smell of freshly cut grass, I looked up and found the moon shining bright in a dark sky, all the elements in here are soothing my broken heart. This felt more comfortable than my mother's hug.

I took a few gulps and gathered the courage to talk to Dr. Arjun and make him back out of this marriage before I get habituated to the love all these people are showing.

"Dr. Arjun, Don't marry me because you are sister is asking you to do so, I am not worth it, no one is worth it. You should marry the one you love and that's not me. I don't deserve love, I'm not marriageable wife material. Adding me to your life will give you more problems, My life is in danger and it is selfish of me to drag every one of you to save myself. " I said looking into his eyes while he gazed at me softly without any emotion visible on his beautifully chiseled face.

I couldn't take the blank face anymore so I turned towards the water and said

"You might've heard my story from the General, but it's not as heroic as he portrays it to be. I am a coward, I am in the hiding for the last 3 years, I am deaf in my left ear without the implant, and I was a drug addict once, The implants in my brain will mess up my thinking some days, and I did things that a doctor would ever do. I am not qualified to be amongst you guys, So please go find some other girl to be with a family like yours. I don't deserve this. Just say no to the wedding to me, I promise I will run away and no one will blame you." I ended as a tear slipped out of my eye.

Facing him after telling the truth is hard, I couldn't look at him knowing that I hid all these things from him. It was deafening silence between us, my heart kept pounding in the anticipation of his answer.

After what felt like an eternity he asked

"Can I hold your hand?" His question shocked me.

Here I was pouring my heart out to get him out of this marriage and he wants to hold my hand, but unknowingly I nodded and slipped my hand into his. His hand felt smooth against mine, it was warm and the way held it was assuring and calming.

"Look at me Sakhi!" He said in his soothing tone and I turned my face towards him. His captivating brown eyes locked with mine and I couldn't turn away from them like I did the last few months.

"Sakhi, I know I haven't been the best of myself with you lately and I am sorry about my behavior. You are right Amaya asked me to marry you, but saying yes to her was my own decision. I will be honest, I did fight with Amaya for asking me, but later I did realize that my sister loves me too much and would never ask me if you are not the right person for me. "

The sincerity and that he was saying truth was visible in his voice, and I could feel his pulse in my hand at a steady pace.

"I want to marry you Sakhi, and none of the reasons you said previously are good enough for me to say no." He continued and I stopped him.

"Why? Why are they not enough Arjun? I am not someone who can be loved, if you see closely my own parents don't, no one does. Your sister is kind-hearted and wants to give me life but at what cost? I don't want you and your family to suffer, what if my enemies come after you? I can't live with the thought of making you guys suffer when you have been nothing but good. So please, think it over and end this before something bad happens." I said to him with pain in my heart and tears in my eyes that I couldn't stop.

I cried my heart out, all the new emotions after seeing my parents, feeling the love from his family, and the wedding was overwhelming for me. I couldn't hold them in and act normal, it was too much.

"Love is not the only thing needed for a relationship. I respect you Sakhi, I admire the way you dealt with the cards life threw at you, and in this process, you might've lost the essence of yourself, but embrace who you are, be comfortable in your own skin, and be proud of yourself. At the age of 27, you saved countless lives from drugs, organ trafficking, and whatnot and the implants that came along with that process are your trophies, they are not your weakness."

For a second, I felt proud of myself. I did really do all that, the scars on my body are my trophies for all the lives I saved.

"People are not easy to be with Sakhi, we all suffer from something. You've been alone and lonely for the last few years, Marry me and I promise you won't have to be. We will deal with it together, I can be your friend and someone you can lean on when you find things hard. We can take care of the threat and protect our family if that's bothering you. If you are willing to give this marriage a 100%, I will be with you all along." He said holding my hands in his and the moment I looked into his eyes, I was a goner.

I agreed with him, I want someone to be with me all along because I am tired of fighting alone and I hope I chose the right person.

His phone buzzed and I could see that it was Dhruv calling him, He asked me with his eyes if he could take the call and I agreed. All the while he was talking to his brother, my mind was in his and his fingers were making circles on my knuckles comforting me and assuring me.

"They are looking for me, We should leave before they catch us." He said and helped me up.

We walked to my room together and paused as I got to the door

"Stop worrying and have a good night's sleep, I will be with you from tomorrow as your husband." He said placing a soft kiss on my knuckles and he left me with a blush on my cheeks and no worries in my mind.

Like every human after a good cry, I slept peacefully with excitement for tomorrow.

God, that was a long break for me! And Arjun and Sakhi are getting married!!!!!!!!!

Sorry for the delayed updates, it's just that life has been really hard, and couldn't write a word.

I am excited about Arjun and Sakhi's married life, it's going to be one heck of a ride. I promise it won't be a cliche story.

Do let me know your thoughts about the story so far.

Don't forget to vote and comment.

Love,

Sneha