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"Oh wow!! Lovelyyy!! Kya stunt karti ho yaar tum paani mein", exclaimed Sidharth sitting on the edge of swimming pool and watching Flora do stunts. The more he praised and appreciated, the more she tried performing different stunts for him. All she wished was too see him smile, laugh and giggle.

"Shehnaazzz!!", Screams Sidharth when he finds her injuring her elbow by hitting it to the pool wall. He jumps into the pool and drags her out of the water.

Flora quivered in pain when he touched the bruised area. He was surprised to find her blood blue instead of red just like octopus or lobsters. He inspected it carefully and sighed in relief for having no broken bones or fracture.

"Tumhari bandage kaise karu? Tum toh pani mein rehti ho? Mujhe tumhe stunt karne se rokhna chahiye tha..", he said in sad and depressed tone felling guilty for her condition.

"Yahi rukho main tumhare liye atleast cream le aata hoon. Apni poonch pani mein rakho aur kamar upar. Thik hai?", He asked.

"Thik hai?", She repeated understanding the last sentence instruction more than the first because she had been able to recognise the name of the body parts.

He went in to get a first aid box, when he approached the door, he heard dogs bark. He ran outside to find Flora inside the water, petrified of the barking dogs while the four street dogs surrounded the pool and kept barking at the strange looking creature which the dogs have never seen.

Sidharth had a hard time shooing the barking dogs away because when he chased one the others would still trouble her. He locked the gate once he had successfully shooed all the dogs.

"Shehnaaz.. Baby bahar aajao. Saare kutte bhaag gaye.", He said.

The scene of the barking canines were so dreadful, that she shivered underwater. Their sharp teeth reminded of the shark which chased her and the way she lost her family while ending up in human world.

Sidharth plunged into the swimming pool and brought her out of the pool. His heart broke when he hugged her to himself and heard her words.

"Ghar chahiye.. maa chahiye..", she expressed in fear.

His grip on her loosened and he held back his emotions by biting his lower lip.

Uske saath rehte rehte main bhool gaya tha ki usko mujhe waapis chhoddna bhi hai. Dil toh laga liya maine par woh yaha nahi belong karti. Na woh paani ke bagair reh sakti hai aur na main paani ke andar. Swaarth mein aakar main har roz, usko uske ghar pahuchaane mein delay kar raha hoon. Mere saath woh kuch pal ke liye khush reh sakti hai par uske saath saath usko bahut saari musibat jhelni padegi, jo main nahi chahta ki woh face kare.

"Haan Shehnaaz, main tumhe tumhare ghar pahuchaunga. Kal hi chalenge hum dono. Bas aaj ek din mere saath reh lo..", he requests.

Her eyes were glued to the floor as she stared at it depressed. Somewhere even she knew she didn't belong to this world. Sidharth was surprised that her bruises were healed so quickly.

He covered his face with a monkey cap to avoid being caught. Leaving her in the room inside the inflatable pool, he went out to arrange for her return to her home.
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When Sidharth returned home, he found Shehnaaz asleep in the pool. He sat beside the pool and kept adoring her sleeping figure by placing his head on his hand which rested on the pool wall.

He was woken by an alarm in the early morning. It was 4am as he had to start early before the sun shone. When he opened his eyes, he saw her beautiful face inches away from him. She had admiring him since long. He flashed his million dollar smile while controlling his agony that he felt within, at the thought of getting seperated from her today. She leaned closer and pecked his lips. Pink blush was evident on her cheeks when she returned to her position.

"Good morning Shehnaaz", he said in a not so excited tone.

"Good morning Kullu", she said in her sweet tone.

"Chalo Shehnaaz tumhe jaldi se taiyyar karte hai.", He said while running to the washroom. Post freshening up, he tied her plait one last time and covered her up in burkha while he himself covered the burnt scars on his face with beard and moustache.

She looked at herself curiously. Over the time she had realised that humans covered their skin with it. By watching television, she had understood quiet a few things about human behaviours.

He made her sit in the car seat by tying a big plastic filled with water around her tail to keep it soaked. The clothes on top made sure she looked like human by covering her tail.

As they drove, their car was stopped at a police check post. Sidharth quickly wore a spectacle over his eyes.

"Shehnaaz chupp rehna bilkul. Samjhi?", He asks.

"Samjhi?", She repeated.

The policeman knocked at the window of his car and Sidharth lowered the glass.

"Kaha jaa rahe ho miyaa?", Asked the inspector pushing his head inside the window and scanning the vehicle.

"Apni begum ko unke ammi abba ke ghar chhoddne jaa raha hoon janaab.", Said Sidharth.

"Itne subah savere? Suraj ko theek se ugne tak toh rukh jaate?", Said the inspector.

"Inke waalid bahut bimaar hai toh subah jaldi mein nikalna pada.", Explained Sidharth.

"Achcha achcha.. aapka jyada waqt nahi lunga, par miyaa aapne ya mohtarma aapne kahi iss jale muh wale saksh ko kahi dekha hai kya?", The inspector asked flashing Sidharth's photo at his face and then towards Shehnaaz.

"Tauba tauba.. yeh kaisi darawani shakal ko humaari begum ko dikha rahe ho aap janaab? Woh darr jaayengi. Humne inn janaab ko kabhi nahi dekha.", Said Sidharth.

"Theek hai miyaa, aap jaa sakte hai. Bhagwaan aapki begum ke waalid ko jaldi thik kare..", said the inspector.

"Shukriya janaab!", Said Sidharth rolling the glasses back.

They drove towards the sea where he had hired a yacht last night. As they set to sail, the sun rose up fully. Flora was excited to see the sea but the challenge was to find her home in the vast sea. They progressed towards the place where she was found by the fisherman. As they wandered into the sea, Sidharth kept asking her about the home. The moment she recognised the place where she had been with her mermaid friends, she cried "ghar".

Though he knew he was on the mission to drop her to her home, his heart skipped a beat hearing that she has found her home. He nodded his head. As he took off her burkha, tears rolled down his cheeks uncontrollably. Her smile disappeared when she saw his distressed face.

"Kullu..", she said cupping his face.

"Haan Shehnaaz?", he said wiping his tears and looking at her face.

She silently looked at him. He gained enough courage to speak by controlling his agony.

"Tumhara ghar aa gaya Shehnaaz. Tum waapis apni duniya mein chali jaogi. Main khush hoon, kyuki tum khush ho. Par yeh aasu pata nahi kyu nahi rukh rahe.. Mujhe bhool toh nahi jaogi na? Call karo, aisa nahi keh sakta.. tum log kab technology use karoge yaar.. Technology ki bahut zarurat hai tum logon ko.. kuch nahi toh puraane zamane ka phone hi rakh lete.. taaki tumhe phone lagaakar main baat kar sakta.. waise bhi saara baat toh main hi karta hoon hamesha.. tum toh bas kullu kullu karti ho..", He blabbered continuously without any sense.

"Kullu", she said.

"Haan Shehnaaz.", He said in a choking voice and embraced her instantly.

"Main tumhe bahut bahut miss karunga meri jaan. I love you Shehnaaz..", he cried in her embrace.

"I love you too sweetheart..", she said with tear filled eyes. He kissed her lips with all the love in had to pour in this life.

"Jaao Shehnaaz.. bahut mushkil se himmat jutaaya hai tumhe choddne ke liye.. kahi aisa na ho jaaye ki pyaar mein majhboor hoke main selfish ban jaau aur tumhe waapis le jaau.. toh jaao apne ghar..", he said pushing her away. She looked at him helplessly and dived into the water. He looked at her from the yacht as she floated in the water. Forwarding her hand, she held his hand in hers and pulled it gently.

"Kullu.. ghar chalo", she said.

"Kaash mein aa sakta.. par main waha nahi reh sakta. Jaise woh tumhari duniya nahi thi waise hi yeh meri duniya nahi hai Shehnaaz", He said with a helpless smile on his face.

She looked back down at the water and then at his face again. She cupped his face yet again pulling him into a kiss. She then caressed his face with her handgently while his eyes were closed. He opened his eyes and looked at her smiling face.

She drowned herself slowly into the water while Sidharth kept his gaze fixated at the place where she disappeared. He held his breath and stared at the water hoping that probably she would come back to him. As the time passed, he realised that she wasn't coming back to him.

"Shehnaaaaaazzzz.. Shehnaaaazzzz...", He screamed looking at the vast sea but she didn't return. He had lost his love.

Digging his face into his palm he sobbed like a little child for a long time. He had a different kind of feeling touching his face. The right side felt as smooth as the left side of his face. He looked down at the calm sea and saw his reflection. His burnt and distorted face was now flawless. He was once again the same old handsome and desirable man he was 14 years back. But it came with the cost, the cost of losing his love.

Uss haadse ke baad, mujhe mere jale huye chehre se nafrat ho gayi thi.. Main bhi sab insaano jaisa hoon, joh sundarta se pyaar karta hai.. logon ka reaction ko galat sochta tha main, par yeh bhool gaya ki main khudh apna chehra aaine mein dekhna nahi chahta tha.. toh woh log galat kaha the?

Woh mujhe mere jale huye chehre ke saath hi pyaar karti thi.. aaj jab usne mujhe mera purana chehra waapis de diya toh mujhe iss sundar chehre se nafrat ho gayi.. jale huye chehre ke saath jee gaya par uske bina kaise jeeunga?

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To be continued.. ❤️❤️

I made this edit but didn't look satisfactory.. ☹️ Anyways posting it just for the efforts I put..