AN : Sorry for being late. I was sick and could not really write.

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"You need to make sure that things go fine outside when the meeting is going on." Aahnik nodded positively at the Wing Commander who was instructing him for the evening.

Indian Air Force has recently got equipped with new armaments and they were so important changes to be made at the station. The meeting was all about that and had a huge significance.

"Also Aahnik learn to enjoy your life a little bit. You don't have to be serious all the time but never think that you're bad the way you're. I'm telling you this because my brother life is too short." Abhinav smiled at Aahnik patting on his shoulder and left from there.

Aahnik was still standing on his spot trying to absorb his word.

Was he like this since always?

No.

He did interact with people in the past?

He did. Even though he didn't have many friends but he knew how to live his life.

Life isn't the same always. Things get changed with time and so did he changed.

He turned to leave when his eyes fell on his favorite person standing in front of him at a distance.

The person immediately turned towards him as if instantly feeling his gaze on him.

He smiled at Aahnik and without any delay, Aahnik rushed to him.

"Sir when did you come?" Aahnik embraced the man with a beautiful smile adorning his face.

Anyone on the campus would have fainted on the spot to find Aahnik smiling and being happy.

He wasn't a grumpy man but his smile was too hard to get.

In other words, nobody saw him smiling ever other than those formal ones which he had to give from time to time, and this smile on his face was so real, so beautiful that one will not believe.

"I came today only for the meeting and nobody informed you that I am here for a week?" The man replied breaking the hug and Aahnik frowned to know this.

"No sir, nobody informed me about this," Aahnik replied politely. He was beaming with happiness today.

"Aah, I guess they wanted to keep it a secret because I met Abhinav two days back at the guest house." Aahnik nodded and he wasn't too shocked to know this.

Not always you'll be informed about people and the work going in the defense. Certain things are kept secret until a certain time.

"I understand Sir." The man nodded at Aahnik and was going to ask him about his whereabouts when his eyes on something. Something that has very well seen and knew.

"This piece of cloth. Where did you find this?" He pointed at the scarf which was visible from his pocket as it's one end came out of the pocket.

Aahnik didn't know what to reply.  Was he going to tell him that he found a stranger's scarf and he felt like keeping it for no reason?

That would be so weird and what would his Ayaan Sir think of him?

Ayaan Seikh, the former Air Chief Marshal of Indian Air Force got his retirement three months back. He served the country for twenty-five years but could not continue further due to his elbow injury which turned serious with the course of time.

He was one of the most respected officers of the Indian Air Force. His experience was commendable and he was one of those who always used to command the team staying ahead at the battlefield.

In his life, he has come across many officers and seniors but the young man standing in front of him with the puzzled face was special.

Aahnik reminded him of himself. He was proud of this young man to have achieved so much in such a short time.

It was two years back when he met him during an official function of the Indian Air Force in Kolkata. The boy looked very quiet and shy to him.

He, at first, thought it was the way Aahnik was but later that night when by mistake he found a drunk Aahnik outside in the huge garden weeping his thoughts changed.

Drinking was usual for a defense person but looking at Aahnik's condition that night, he came to knew that Aahnik didn't drink. His friends made him drink forcefully.

The boy poured out his heart in his drunken state and Ayan gave him a fatherly shoulder to weep and sleep.

Since that day they share a beautiful bond like a father and son.

He looked at the boy and his struggle. He knew that the scarf wasn't his and he very well knew whom it belonged to the but he was surprised to find it with Aahnik.

Did she come here or he met her?

He's not someone who'll keep a scarf in his pocket like that so there is something more to all this.

But Khwaab and Aahnik? A combo technically not possible when it comes to society.

Khwaab and Aahnik are different and different at another level.

The way these two think, the way these two feel, the way these two react, their ways to express, every single thing was different from one another.

Yet these two were the sides of the same coin and have heart of gold.

"Aahnik I asked you something." Ayan bugged Aahnik again and tried maintaining a straight face amidst the smile that was so forcefully trying to grace his lips.

"Actually, Sir I have no idea about this scarf. I found it tucked with my watch while I was at the airport today." Aahnik confessed honestly. He knew that was no point in hiding that the scarf belonged to a stranger. It's better he told his dear Sir about it.

Ayan was utterly shocked to know this. He looked at Aahnik with an amused smile on his face.

He could not believe that Aahnik was keeping something with himself even after knowing that it belonged to someone else.

"Well,  so I guess this must be really special that you have still kept this. Isn't it?" Ayan teased Aahnik which made Aahnik embarrassed and this was the second time in the past 2 years that he saw Aahnik embarrassed.

Last time it was the morning after his encounter with him in a drunken state when he realized that he shared all secrets with his senior. Not only senior but someone that he really admired from far.

"No Sir, I just forgot to throw this way which I'll do later on." Aahnik quickly answered making Ayan frowned.

What would he do with this boy?

For the first time, he listened to his heart to do something, and now again his brain is making him act otherwise.

"You aren't going to throw that away." He ordered in a firm voice and Aahnik was surprised to see Ayan talking to him like this.

He has never talked with him like this. Never actually.

"I'm saying this my boy because this might be someone's yeah? What if that person will try to find this and reach you? How will you give this back to the person?" Ayan tried to explain Aahnik even when he knew that his explanation was pathetic.

He could have come up with a better excuse for God's sake.

A frown appeared on Aahnik's face as he heard Ayan sir's statement. It was rather an order.

He didn't say anything because he knew Ayan Sir will never tell him to do anything which isn't right even if doesn't make sense.

"Okay, Sir I'll keep this with myself." He replied with a faint smile and Ayan immediately left from there after giving him a smile.

It was almost six-thirty in the evening and the meeting was to start at seven so Aahnik went to check up on things.

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The evening in Srinagar is breathtaking. The way the sun starts setting making the orange hue slowly fade into the night sky turning the whole sky in a beautiful shade of reddish-pink made it look so magically beautiful.

Khwaab was having the best time of her life in Srinagar.

She after talking with her father thought to stroll around and witness the nightlife in Srinagar instead of sulking for her lost scarf.

Also, she came outside early so that she can visit the airport which wasn't that far.

Right now she was out on the street wearing waist-length black jeans and a simple short white Kurti and a pair of flat footwear.

Though she was just five feet and two inches but she didn't like wearing heels. It wasn't her type.

She had been a tomboy since her school time and she can't change herself.

Her father never stopped her from staying the way she wanted unlike how other fathers in her race were.

She was blessed indeed.

She reached a food stall where they were serving noodles and she was really hungry so she ordered Hakka noodles and chicken chilly for herself.

Making herself comfortable she sat on the wooden stool placed in front of the food stall.

It was a beautiful evening with a little breeze making her waist-length hairs going all crazy and she was having a hard time keeping them in their place.

She should have tied them instead she thought.

Her order was served and she was all excited to jump on her food when her eyes stopped on a small girl sitting just a few meters away from her.

She was sitting under the shed of the tree with a book in her hand and the light from the surrounding provided her the light to study.

She looked nine or ten and had white complexion. Even though her clothes were decent but they were shabby and very old.

Khwaab felt her heart going out for the girl so without thinking much she took her food and went to the girl.

Reaching on her knees she sat in front of the girl and looked at her.

The girl felt someone's presence and raised her head to see a young girl smiling at her.

"Who are you?" The girl asked to which Khwaab smiled.

"Hello, I'm Khwaab. She replied forwarding her hand ahead for a handshake.

The girl looked at Khwaab suspiciously but Khwaab's breathtaking smile made her think otherwise and she grabbed her hand.

"So you love studying? Which class are you in?" Khwaab asked the girl with a soft voice tucking the falling locks of the girl beside her ear.

"Yes I do love studying but right now I'm in no class." The girl replied sadly and Khwaab felt really bad for her.

"Why so?" She asked the girl.

"Money. My parents don't have enough money to send me to school." The girl replied and Khwaab felt like crying.

How sad it is that money most of the time becomes a barrier between you and your dreams.

There is so much that the lower class of society goes through. They either have to give up their dreams and they end up quitting it.

Someone like Khwaab who got everything on a platter since she was a kid felt really bad.

Though it wasn't her fault she still felt guilty.

She knew what she had to do now.

"Where are your parents?" She asked her and the girl pointed to the food stall.

So the men and women who were cooking there are her parents she concluded.

She turned to the girl and gave her a smile.

"Kid, don't worry you'll go to school soon and I'll make sure." She kissed her forehead and the girl just smiled innocently at her.

After half an hour Khwaab was walking on the empty lanes which lead to the airport.

There wasn't much crowd on the road. She was really shocked to see the roads deserted at just seven in the evening.

She didn't plan on walking since it was five kilometers but the E-rickshaw that she was traveling in stopped in the middle due to some problems so she thought to walk in instead.

She was enjoying the calm, deserted road with the sky full of stars shimmering upon her and the full moon to utmost.

You don't get such peaceful moments in the busy life of metro cities.

Even though she didn't live in one of such cities but she had to spend her freaking ten years in Mumbai for her studies away from her home.

She used to come back on holiday but still, that wasn't enough for her.

She didn't look at the stone ahead and stumbled on it dropping her phone on the road.

Tch Khwaab you're really an Aafaat like Shaheer says." Shaking her head she bents to pick her phone up when a loud sound shook her with a blast just a few meters away throwing her body away at a far distance.

A shooting pain entered her body engulfing her body as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

Lying on the ground on her front body, she feels warm liquid surrounding her body, and her strength to keep her eyes open vanishes within seconds.

She felt it was an end as her eyelids felt very heavy.

Maybe it was the end.

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Aahnik was strolling outside looking at all corners near to the campus with other junior officers standing at their respective positions.

Suddenly an officer from the controlling room comes running to Aahnik.

"Leader, there had been several bomb explosions in the whole city including two near the airport. The army is out on the road but we have been informed to check outside the airport." The officer informed Aahnik taking deep breathes as he came running all the way from the office.

"Boys we need to go. Come quickly and Rohan you please inform Aakash and Karan about this and stay here with everyone. Don't let this news reach inside till the meeting isn't over." Aahnik ordered him and took the other officers with him.

He didn't expect this sudden attack and that too when a very important meeting of Indian Airforce with the high officials and Defense Minister is going on.

Running outside the gate of the station he saw the trees burning and the air smelled of smoke.

"Divide the team into two, you go and check over in two other directions whereas I'll go straight. I've informed all the other officers, they will join you all soon." He informed them and left to check for the damage.

Aahnik didn't know if the blast was pre-planned or the terrorists did it on spot.

He needed to be really careful and that's why he sent the boys in groups.

He came to the lane which connected the market route with the airport one.

The road was empty but he could not take a chance. Every step that he took was really careful with the gun in his hand.

It's no big deal that at the time of emergency our other two armed forces worked the same as the army.

They are well trained to fight on the land and are sharpshooters too.

Aahnik has taken service training in shooting during his vacations when he did not go home and stayed at the station only.

He found nothing and at the end of the road. It was all dark and empty.

He was going to turn in the other direction when his eyes fell on something white or rather a body.

He slowly went to the place where he saw a body and coming closer he panicked to see a lifeless body lying on the side of the road.

The petite frame belonged to a girl with long raven black hairs and he could not see the face as the hair covered it.

The white Kurti had red blood stains and her arms had few bruises here and there.

Sitting on his knees slowly, he took the girl is his arms and placed her in his lap.

He felt a little different and really awkward. It was the first time that he was this close to a girl.

Wait no second time, the first time was today at the airport.

He always studied in a boy's school and even during his college or training days he maintained a healthy distance from the girls around him.

He didn't like the uninvited attention that is used to get so he never talked with any of the girls until it was for work.

He slowly removed her locks falling on the face and as he felt like he touched something softer than silk as his fingers passed through her hairs.

Slowly removing the hair, he looked at the face of the featherweight girl in his arms and his breath got stuck in his throat when he looked at the angelic face in front of his eyes.

There lay a beautiful angel in his arms glowing in the middle of the dark while her face shone with the white light falling directly on her face from the full moon in the sky.

She looked like a magical fairy descended from heaven with her wings broken and her butter-soft skin covered in dust and smoke.

Aahnik could not help but get lost in the beauty of the delicate fragile doll in his arms forgetting the terror around him as she lay in his lap.

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