تمہیں دلگی بھول جانی پڑے گی۔     
محبت کی راہوں میں آ کر تو د یکھو

//////

•Last Chapter•

Jannat ran inside as soon as the car stopped in the garage, wiping her tears as they clouded her eyes and snatching off her jewellery.

Along with her, a star clashed against another star, fire, blood and smoke drifting in the galaxy above, the dark sky silent, hushed.

The door of their room opened with a loud bang, Ibraheem strode right next to her, his eyes hard, angry.

"Mil gaya sakoon? Jab ki thi bakwaas menay k yey nah pehno tau kiyun tau kyun pehna?"
( Are you happy now? When I said dont wear it then why did you?)

Jannat wanted to yell at him about how it was her choice what she wore, how he isn't her dad or brother to order her like this but in her state of mind, she accepted it. It was her fault, she should've listened to him. But she was angry at the world.

" Jab aisay kapray Zoya pehnti hai tab tau boht pasand aatay hain."
(You like it when Zoya wears such clothes.)

Her words were bitter, so against her nature but Jannat was exactly that in the moment. Against herself.

" How long will it take for you to realise that you wronged me?How long until you finally stop acting like it's my fault, stop acting like I am punishing you? You are the one who hurt me, Ibraheem. First you, then Azlaan and now you again. What's wrong with me? Why can't anyone just like me? And that Zoya, she-"

She continued speaking without thinking for once.

"Azlaan didn't do anything."
His words stopped every movement in her body, eyes flying up to meet his as they widened in disbelief and curiosity.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his pointer finger and his thumb, closing his eyes as if in pain.
"He didn't cheat on you or anything. He was with the boys the whole night, they were having some sort of bachelor party. I wasn't there. But I talked to him after you broke the eng- Why are you looking at me like that?"

For a moment, the fire died down due to the harsh wind but as the wind whispered away, the fire came alive again, with more fervour than ever.

Her mouth was agape as she watched him with disbelief and pain written all over her face. How exactly did he think she will react after hearing him say this? And how could she believe it?

" He did it. He apologised to me."

Ibraheem rubbed his face with his hands,
"He didn't do it. He wanted clear it up with you but then he came to know about...us. He decided he needed to back off and it was better if you do it yourself."

Jannat felt her breathe stopping as tears ran down her face. Nothing was understandable. She heard him with her own ears, saw his guilty eyes. Then why did he apologise? How could she believe it. Even if it was true then, he knew it, he knew it and he let her live in that pit of hell. Didn't he know what being cheated on does to a person? He let her want to kill herself, living while knowing you were not enough or that you were discarded, used. It was worth than death itself. How could he claim to love her? She scoffed, he didn't love her, he did it to her himself.

" I don't believe you. How can you do that? How can he do that? Do you think I am a puppet? That I will believe what you tell me and who are you all to decide what is good for me?
For once, just for once, tell me the reality."

Ibraheem dropped his hands from his face.
"I just wanted to pro..."

"Don't you even dare to tell me you wanted to protect me! I can protect myself!"

Fire against fire, the darkness of space enveloping the fire but the fire tore the darkness apart, breaking it into pieces thread by thread.

She moved forward, pushing him on his chest. Even with the intention of hurting him, she couldn't even make him move. She was breaking down, trying to push him but he didn't even budge, but he placed his hand on hers on his chest.

" You... I hate you. Why did you do this to me? And with Zoya? She is my cousin for God's sake! Couldn't you find someone else?"

He was in front of her and she could only think about one thing.

Ibraheem wanted to tell her everything, make her sit down and explain but her state was so heart-breakingly pathetic, he knew she would never listen.

"If I hear her name one more time from your lips, I will do something you will regret Jannat."

A tear fell from her eyes again.

"I already regret a lot of things."

Ibraheem was at the end of his wit, trying to breathe in as much of air as he could to keep himself calm.

" What do you regret, huh? Marrying me? Trusting me? No, Jannat. Tumhey kabhi mjhe par aitbaar tha hi nahi. (You never trusted me.)"

Jannat immediately looked up at him, the pain in his voice did something inside her.

He kept speaking, his voice was low yet strong, redness in his hand eyes was visible and his words were enveloped with all the melancholy of the world,

" Tumhey kabhi meri mohabbat ki qadar hi nahi hui. Lekin jab hogi, jab hogi tau mey bhi tumharay jaisa bann jaun ga."

( You took my love for granted, Jannat. Never appreciated it, and when you finally realise it, I will become just like you.)

Jannat's heart was heavy, she didn't know why. She never seemed to know anything these days. She felt like she was in an entirely different world than her small, happy universe.

"And today, do you know what that man said, Jannat?"

"It's not my fault.", her voice was meek.

"I know it's not your fault. Unlike you, I trust with every single fiber of my being, Jannat.
Ishq ho aur aitbaar na ho, yey ho sakta hai?
( You love someone but don't trsut them, can it be possible?)

He walked a step closer when she didn't look at him.

"But do you know how I felt when every fuçking man present there was staring at you? Do you, Jannat?"

Her lips wobbled a little but she controlled it.

His hand raised her face by her chin, the glossy lips kissing a few tendrils of hair and those deep wide eyes were filled with water of the entire universe, they looked like glass which would break as soon as he will touch it.

"I wanted to kill every single one of them."

His dark eyes were drinking in her face, taking in every expression that passed through her eyes.

Jannat felt herself falling like a wall of sand, every particle of her being was isolated from her brain when she closed her eyes, pinched her lips as a whimper escaped and she suddenly wrapped her arms around him, her tears wetting his shirt now.

The darkness finally calmed down the fire, the little particles of gold bursting into the space.

He was the one who destroyed her, the one who broke her part piece by piece and yet, he was the one she depended on for support. He was the one who was holding when she felt her soul would leave her body, he was the she would gladly allow to ruin her more.

Black ink mixed into the sky, slowly drifting around them, enveloping the who sky to make a pitch black void. Then stars aligned themselves to fill that void, stardust enveloping every being.

His eyebrows raised but there was a smile in his eyes when he wrapped his arms around her, supporting her. Minutes passed by, with him holding her with his eyes closed, it felt it had been ages since he had felt her warmth.

"Ro kiyun rahi ho? (Why are you crying?) I am failing at it, aren't I? At keeping you happy. I promised Baba to keep you happy."
It was light whisper.

She smiled a little while crying,
"I haven't forgiven you, I hate you."

"There was a little girl once, who always wore pigtail. She would cry a lot, won't even listen to her mother. Then, I used to kiss her chubby little pink cheeks and she would stop crying immediately. Then she'd shyly kiss me back on my cheek. Do you know her?"

A blush enveloped Jannat's face and her already red nose became flaming, remembering she felt when Ibraheem would shower her with attention when they were younger.

If someone even touched her doll with the pink dress, the only that she kept like a baby, she would start crying. She won't talk to anyone for hurting her baby and only Ibraheem was able to quieten her, sometimes with a kiss, sometimes with bubble-gum ice cream.

" Do you think she will forgive me, today? I have to tell her that she is the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I just get jealous of everyone who tries to get close to her, she's mine. I love her."

He wrapped his arms tighter around her as she just cried, burying her head in his chest.

"Shhh, now. Nahi tau Dua ney aakar mjhe maar dena hai."
(Shh now, otherwise Dua will kill me.)

She scoffed while he remembered how Dua had come to him at midnight with a knife, asking him what he had done to Jannat because she had been sad lately,

"Meri behn ko kya kaha hai? Haan? Agar ab wo roi na, tau yey chhuri dekh rahay hain?

He had laughed, assuring her that nothing was wrong but was stopped back by his mother in the lounge, who had asked him to sit with her for some time.

"Mey nahi puchungi k kya hua hai tum dono k darmiyan lekin Ibraheem, beta wo abhi bachi hai. Tum barray bann kar dikhao.
Mohabbat mey anaa naam ki koi cheez nahi hoti, sirf maan hota hai."

(I won't ask what happened between the two of you but Ibraheem, she is very young yet. You have to be the wiser one.
In love, there is nothing called ego, there is only pride for the other."

He had realised that she was so so pure, she couldn't even fathom the lies and the conspiracies this world planned daily. He was the one who had to guide her, forgive her and show her the right way.

Calmness drifted through the space, gold and stardust forming a star, then the other, the darkness of space turned into a silver twilight.

Running a hand through her hair, he pulled her back.

"kuch bhool nahi rahin aap?"
(Aren't you forgetting something?)

Her eyebrows scrunched, trying to remember what she was forgetting but failing, her eyes looking up, still glassy and her tiny nose red due to crying, the diamond in her earring glinting,
"what?"

Ibraheem lowered his hand to her tiny waist, enclasping it between his hands, the narrow strip of her skin visible getting warmed by his hold. Bending down, he whispered in her ear.

"I think you want to tell me something."

Her eyes widened a little in disbelief as she pursed his lips. Looking up at his face as stardust floated around her, she tried to think what he was talking about.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

He bended a little so that he could see right in her eyes.
"Really?"

She swallowed while nodding, trying to moisten her suddenly dry throat. How did he know? Or was he talking about something else?

"Really? So, you mean to say that you were never going to tell me that I am going to be a father?"

Her hands clenched with an unknown feeling in the pit of her stomach as his fingertips traced her abdomen above the silky material of the saree.

Questions roamed in her mind, How did he know? What is he thinking?

She had come to know it a few days ago, she had an inkling but then, it was confirmed by the doctor. It was eating her from the inside, not telling anyone. Strange feelings, fear, unknown emotions. Her mind was jumbled up and she could only wait until the strings unwound themselves, straightening along her life.

"Hey."

He tried to pull her out of her thoughts, fingers still lightly tracing edge of her abdomen where the skin was visible and as soon as his fingers touched her skin, she sucked her stomach in. The touch was different this time, it felt surreal. With a strange feeling making a void inside her, tears started to fill her eyes.

"Hey."
He tilted her face upwards again, lips above hers, eyes reflecting something incomprehensible as they looked deep into hers, that moment was what she could barter her whole life for.

" I love you."

She didn't know whose words they were, his or her's as their lips intertwined together, the crossed threads in her heart loosening like the universes loosened their hold on everything, the stars turning to stardust and then a black hole enveloping everything,

It was pitch black.

                    /////////

So, the story ends here.
I am so thankful for everyone who has supported and liked my work.

This story definitely has some shortcomings but since it was my first ever story, I can give myself some margin.

Did you like the it?

What was your favourite scene?

This is not the end. I'll have a beautiful epilogue waiting for you soon.

Stay blessed and remember me in your prayers.

               //////////////