Update three!

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Three months later...

Nandini put a coin in the military phone-booth and dialled a number she had memorised since childhood. At the second ring came a chirpy voice she missed beyond anything she had ever known to miss.

"Hey Navya," Nandini held the lump in her throat.

"Nandini? It's really you..." She heard the phone shift ears and Nandini imbibed the soothing sensation of talking to someone alike a sister after six whole months. To think that had her Chachi not informed her about Navya's job offer in Mumbai, she would have not rung her best friend broke her own heart.

Navya was unfiltered in her awe. "What a delight it is, to hear your voice! I missed you so much!"

Biting her lip to keep her raw vulnerability at bay, Nandini whimpered, "Me too, you have no idea..." Then incapable of fathoming how strong she had been for what seemed like eons of time, those tears escaped anyways, as Nandini sniffed. "By the way, congratulations on your new job! Chachi ne letter mein bataaya,"

"Thank you Nandu! I heard that you're coming back home day after tomorrow, jaane se pehle milenge na hum tumse? Warna hum nahi jaa rahe Mangalore se!" Drama had no horizons when it came to Navya, and Nandini could picture her friend enacting it to the T despite being so far away.

Nandini giggled, swatting a tear, "Phir toh mujhe waapis aana hi nahi chahiye!"

"Aise nahi bolte, paagal!" Navya hit her mouthpiece in a soft slap to her friend and then sighed as she prayed for her friend's safe journey and forgiveness for her apshagun phrase.

Neither the distance nor the absence of continual connection had not stopped their bond from changing one bit.

Nandini Murthy was her best friend always, nobody could change that! Least of all, not a spineless asshole. Converting her thoughts to something more fruitful and enriching, she quipped from the comforts of her home, "We have so much to catch up on, Soha and I can't wait!"

"Soha? You toh hated her na?" Nandini pressed her laugh, reminiscing the days when Navya would be all smiles and giggles in front of Soha but would make faces as soon as she turned the opposite direction. Ah, those good old days that would never come back again... now that Navya was moving away, forever.

Hesitating about the same thought of an era of friendship changing in real time, Navya started responding, "Haan, lekin... itni bhi buri nahi hai woh!" Remembering some information that left her brain before she could filter it, she added with urgency, "Aur Harshadji bhi waapis aa rahe hai iss mahine!"

Navya bit her tongue sharply after for two reasons. One, she was afraid of being overheard in the living room by her parents and two, because she had promised not to bring Harshad and her blooming relationship in front of her heartbroken best friend.

Nonchalant about the matter, Nandini replied, "That's nice... I hope I can meet him before you leave!"

Unexpectedly warmed by the delightful suggestion, Navya beamed, "Zaroor, hum bula lenge usse when you come to see me." She wanted to tell her how proud of Nandini her family was, how her Chacha and Chachi could stop talking of her praises since the time she left, and most of all how Nandini's little accomplishments felt like her own and Soha's whenever they heard about their friend from her family.

But all that could wait until they met in person.

"We're all so excited to see you again! Everything worked out for you, Matarani ka laakh laakh sukar hai!" Navya simply mentioned, surrendering all the credits to a superior power who listened to her prayers and assisted her friend every step of the way.

Smiling through her flooded eyes by the military phone, she imagined her friend restlessly clasping the locket on her neck, and praying while she hid it in a palm. How genuine was Navya in her love and support for her best friend...

A flicker of an image appeared in Nandini's clouded mind, lingering for a moment as the locket turned over but disappearing when it wobbled back to equilibrium. A familiar image...

Her heart thudded in her chest. Nandini continued blinking rapidly to persist the red blip on a black background for as long as she could. Soon, she lost her hold on the vision, and icy terror settled in the depths of her soul.

In an agitated whisper, Nandini's voice emerged through the handset. "Navya... Navya, tumhara locket... tumhe kahan se mila woh?"

"Matarani ka?" Navya heard a heavy breath on the other end of the line and was confused about whether Nandini was still on the phone or not. Plugging one of her ears to block other disturbances in the vicinity, she hushed into the line, hoping her parents... especially her mother... was out of audible range, "Arrey, woh toh hume Harshadji ne di thi... he got it as a gift to me when we just started dating. He put in two photos of us inside it too. So, it will always be with me, to protect me and protect us..."

Nandini's grip on the phone loosened from the moisture grazing her palms. Could that be... There was only one way to find out. Nandini could not wait a second longer.

In a breathless sigh, she uttered, "Navya, mujhe abhi jaana hoga. I'll see you in two days, okay? Look after yourself, I love you so much." And the receiver snapped shut.

Like an animal fearing a storm and seeking shelter, Nandini galloped towards a rickshaw, paid the fare and impatiently massaged her hands as she sat in the cart, requesting the driver to move faster. Though she was irritably dismissed by the auto wala's snarky remark, her memory drifted off to the locket.

Navya's locket... that was where she had seen the red star.

She palmed her face, composing herself from the revelation and the run that sapped her out of most of her energy.

When the rickshaw finally stopped before her accommodation, she paid a hefty note, did not wait for the change but just ran up the stairs, unlocked her flat and sought some notes.

The folded pages were what Zubin had once stuffed between her black diary when he had selflessly helped her. It had costed him his job and put a black mark on any future jobs he wanted to apply to. As a result of his suspension, she had blatantly shelved those sheets into a side drawer and had given up in her mission.

It was finally time to unveil it.

Laying the pages flat, she scanned through the list of names in the collection of sheets that detailed Operation Rising Phoenix. Narrowing down on one.

Harshad Saxena.

Nandini sank into her chair and clutched her head in her hands, counter-acting the spin she felt internally.

All that time when Nandini had been associating the star with Manik, it had actually pointed to Harshad. Harshad Saxena was Smaran's friend. Harshad was part of the military operation, though formerly a soldier, he had surrendered himself to the enemy boat but was somehow still roaming around unharmed.

Though several things were still unclear to her, one thing surfaced to the limelight. Her best friend Navya was in danger, she didn't know the extent or how much her friend was involved but Nandini...

She had failed to protect her friend once and had nearly jeopardised her friend's safe space — her home. Layers and layers of self-doubt unravelled in the process but all that could be shelved. This was finally an opportunity for her to right her wrongs.

To make up for her mistakes.

In a split-second, she deduced that she would do everything in her power to protect her friend's heart from breaking. Anything.

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Can I get a vote on how many of you saw that coming? :P

I guess many of you suspected the right thing when you thought there was more than what meets the eye, but the link between the red star and associating it with Manik really threw everyone off a bit, hai na? ;)

Maine kaha toh tha this is a suspense story, itni asaani se clues kaise judenge?! ;)

There are still some unresolved questions I know I have to address, but if you have any further confusions that I've not managed to lock airtight, do let me know in the comments below and I will clarify them ASAP :P

Manik ne kuch promise kiya toh tha, ki jaise hi Harshad's matter clears up, something special will happen... So drumroll for Manik and Nandini now! ;)

Vote and comment if possible :") Love your support!