She never thought that the day would come when she was extra excited for mornings. The early morning schedule has always been on her nerves. Getting up so early after less than six hours sleep could not have been worse. But...somehow somewhere nights has changed. She has no idea when but suddenly she gets up early. To go to slassembly...to follow the routine and along with it there is something that soothes her. That assuring smile Rajveer sir gives him when he spots her...that smile has started to take her tiredness away.

She is about to fetch her brush when pooja sleepily cries..

"Naina. Apna radio band kar yar. Ek to Itni subah subah is academy ka ringtone baj jata he. Upar se tere bhi sms aane shuru ho gaye. Sone de yaar. Khatpat mat kar."

She sheepishly smiles and goes back to washroom with hushed steps. Her brush slowly moving in rythm and a constant smile on her lips. The ectasy...god knows why is so visible.

When cadets fall in line during assembly her eyes are roaming. Wandering from one teacher to another. Suddenly the empriness starts filling her. His absence from the assembly spot just makes her heart sink. Her brain giving her excuses on his behalf...he might have gotten late or he might be coming or he might be in corridor...or he would appear just in a second. But those excuses doesn't calm her instead it just makes her desperate. Every passing second seems like a century. And heart again sinks more.

"Aisi surat banayegi to pure academy ko pata chal jana he ki Rajveer sir late he."

She turns her face at Alekh' remark...and...

There....he is. Rushing while adjusting his collars. Her eyes have stuck. Nothing in world can beat this. This feeling...this sight...this morning...

Their eyes lock and naina exchanges her complaints. A reassuring smile and a small nod compensate for the heart wretching wait. Soon the ectasy is back in full bloom. Looks like The spring has arrived and her heart has blossomed.

---------

An urgent knock at his door and he rushed to open it
She was standing all hyper and in rush...with a dairy in her hand
He recognised it was Naveen 's dairy .
She was holding it tight .... And looking all alarmed....

"Naina kya bat hai....
Something wrong
U wana come in"
He asked

She noded and he took her in
The moment he closed the door and turned to her ..

"It was there all along
I have read this dairy so many times
I don't understand how I Missed it "
She said as she sat down on floor with dairy on table
He went to her and sat down too besides her
Sitting on floor kind of make things informal automatically
It seems more domestic

"What is it"
He asked again

Not before he took a mental note that she look so good with her hairs down
Not that he mind the braid
Still ......

He shook off the thought of her hairstyle and  tried to focus on the dairy again

"Ye dekhiye
Bhaiyya ne likha hai

Do not trust him 

And doodle of a moustache

"Do not trust him "
He repeats and look at the doodle

Naina was looking at him waiting for him to catch up.

"Does it mean major Nair"???
He asked a rhetorical question

"Apko bhi laga na"
She got restless

"I mean why not
Don't you think something is off about him
I mean we should look at his direction once atleast"
She is on edge ... With all her anxiety about this idea
"Aur date bhi dekhiye
Bhaiyya ke arrest ke ek mahine pehle ki hai

"But what are we supposed to look...."
He added his part ...
Giving his agreement on her theory but adding his confusion as well

"He always goes by the book"
He said trying to sink in this new insight

"Exactly
Koi bhi itna obsessed nahi hota to look right all the time....
I can smell something
And we are nowhere with the red box
Aur koi lead bhi nahi hai
I think we should shuffle this a little "

He agreed with a nod and felt so proud on his choice
She is sharp indeed
One day she will be a great soldier.... Better than him and Naveen he thought
he can never love anyone else....other than her...

"Let me call abhi.... Shaayd wo bhi ispe apni koi expert Rai de paye

And he almost got up to reach out for his phone
When she reached out for his hand to stop him
It was more of a reflex....
Sending a shiver down his spine

"He is not in the academy
Maine orderly ko kehte suna tha"

And he sat down again

She left his hand

"Can I take it to read "
He asked giving a signal towards the dairy

"If we can get something else"
She gave him the dairy

And they sat together
Reading stuff , discussing it further....
About how can they move ahead with this idea
What are their options

He even made coffee and gave her coffe in his favourite mug which he never share with anyone

He feel content
An hour well spent beside her
Having good meaningful conversations
And some silly jokes in between..
It's not just about how beautiful she is
He is not so shallow
He admire her intelligence, her fearlessness,her sense of humour, her dedication
He like her sense of purpose in life ....

It's a treat to watch her smile....
It's a comfort to witness respect and kinship in her eyes for him once again.

Her trust in him fills him with confidence.

The only thing which was bothering him was his urge now and then to brush back the hair strand that kept falling on her face irritating her again and again

"U want a hair clip "
He asked and was amazed by his audacity himself.

She raised her head from the dairy
"What"
She asked not sure if she heard it right

"Hair clip for your hairs"
He added pointing at the hair lock on her face

And saw Naina suppressing her amusement and mocking smile

"You keep a hair clip with you"?
She asked trying hard not to laugh

And he obviously saw that
Smiling himself on the sillyness of the situation

"Hahaha
It's not mine
Dr. Shalini was here the other night for some business
And she left it here
Phir main Dena bhul gaya
U can use it and then later you can return it to her"

He said and now she is grinning freely
As he went to fetch it from one of his drawer

"I thought
Apki koi gf ka hoga"
She teased him

And he played along

"You mean to say my invisible gf"

They share a good laugh as she tied her hairs and he admired it.... And covering up perfectly at same time.

It's still some time left for light's out.....
And they kept digging excuses to prolong this meeting
She didn't wanted to leave
He didn't wanted her to leave.....

As they wrapped up for the day they wished secretly to have some more times like this in future.

And later that night laying on their respective beds....
Naina wondered why she stopped him from calling abhimanyu sir ...
So that they can spend some quality time together????
As she had absolutely no idea about abhimanyu's whereabouts
And that orderly stuff was plain lie

And he kept grinning wondering why she stopped him from calling abhi.....
And not just that, but why he didn't told her that abhi is in his dorm.... As they had just talk on phone 5 minutes before she came....

Guess he didn't wanted to share this time with naina with anyone else ...

----------

First half written by Mona
riemannianmanifold
A big thanks to Mona for helping me with this fiction
It's so much fun to write with her ....