Ambar unlocked the door of her house to find everything serene and perfectly in it's place. She had given a set of keys to Rachana who was willing to keep the house clean in her absence.
It was difficult for her to leave behind her home once again.
Though this time, it was different.
Now she wasn't the small girl anymore who didn't know why she was leaving her house or where did her parents go.
She was a grown up adult who had taken this decision on her own will.
Her house was nothing compared to the place she was going to live but it was her home. This place was more special and she loved so much. It was the only thing which her parents had managed to leave behind and it was a priceless jewel.

She wondered for a brief moment about her Uncle and Aunt.
More than that, she wanted to know how her Dida is.
Where the hell did she go?
But she had nothing in her hand as she had no clue and not even a slightest idea about it.
She was totally helpless.

The only thing she could do was to pray for her Dida.
She just prayed to God to keep her safe wherever she was living.

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"You are back, Amy." Aakash grinned like a Cheshire cat.

"Yes I am." She grinned too.

"Yay, Now we can play hide and clap." Aakash removed a satin ribbon from the drawer and handed it to her.

"Wow, aren't you tired, kiddo!" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Nope." He answered popping the letter p.

"Okay one game would do no harm but only one." She wore the ribbon on her eyes, ready to play with him.

"No cheating!" Aakash warned.

"Fine." She gritted her teeth while she heard him chuckling.

"Count till ten and meantime, I'm going to hide. I'll just clap thrice whenever you ask and that's the only clue and you can't take the blindfold off, If you do then you lose." Aakash instructed the rules to her. Ambar just nodded with the blind fold blocking the vision.

"Count." Aakash yelled.

"One.. Two... Three.... Four
..... Five...... Six....... Seven........ Eight......... Nine......... Ten.
Okay! here I come." She announced, stretching her hands out.

"First Clap." He clapped and giggled at the same time when she called out.

"I hear something." She mocked and walked towards the left of the hallway.

"Second clap." She asked for another one and heard the same thing again. She kept on walking with her hands little below the normal length to catch him.

"Lastly, Third clap." She demanded and heard footsteps rather than the clapping sound instead.

As she bended more, she suddenly collided with the hard chest as she was gripping his waist by now.

"Caught..." he stopped when she realised that she wasn't holding Aakash.
Her breathing got hitched when he took off her blindfold.

"What are you doing?" He murmured while she was still clutching unto him. Her hands around his torso.

"I... Aakash....." She stammered again.

"Yes...." He was waiting to hear a proper explanation but Aakash interrupted them again.

"Amy, You lose and I won...." He stated.

"But..." She tried to speak.

"No, you took off your blindfold." His hands were on his hips and he narrowed his eyes.

"No... I didn't... He did." She pointed out to Nakul who was glaring at her, making her gulp.

"Small shot, it's past your bed time. Did you brush your teeth?" He queried and Aakash shook his head in a no.

"Be quick and go to bed." He commanded while Aakash ran up to his room.

"But dinner?" She asked him.

"We had pizza as there was no food while you were gone." He told her.

And here she was busy entertaining the boy instead of having food.
She shouldn't have refused Rachana who had offered to pack some dinner.
By now, she was regretting it.

"What took you so long?" He asked her another question.

"I... that..." Words failed to come out.

"What was your Uncle and Aunt's reaction?
Did they permit you to work for me as well as for you to stay here." He enquired leaving her tongue tied. She just nodded her head and started snooping away with her stomach growling till she heard him say.

"Did you have food? Because we left few slices for you to eat."

She turned to face him with a slight smile.

"Thank you."

"It's on the dinner table." He said and asked her to follow him. She walked beside him.

He opened the take out box for her once they were in the dining area.

"Wash your hands before you start eating." He scolded her like her school teacher.
She quickly washed her hands and sat on one of the chairs at the dinner table opposite him, whereas he was sitting with his laptop on.

"Oh. I love chicken pizza. Thank you." She thanked him in blithe and served herself.

"Don't thank me. Aakash likes it which is why I ordered this. From tomorrow onwards our house chef will be back from her holiday trip so you need not have to cook." He said, still not looking at her.

"Okay!" She said and took a big bite of the pizza slice.

"Yummm. Delicious." She moaned.

"Will you stop that?" He snapped, irritated with the sound she was making.

"I'm sorry but I can't help it when I eat such a scrummy yummy food." She babbled without realising what she was saying. His eyes widened hearing those same words which he couldn't ever forget.

"Can I sit here?" He looked up from his tiffin box to see a little girl standing near him. She had a red hair band with white polka dots on it which was complementing the red frock, she was wearing.

She looked really cute when she repeated the same words again.

"Please may I sit here?"

"Why don't you sit somewhere else? I'm sure you are also here to make fun of me." He tried to be rude so that she could leave him alone.

"Why would I do that?" The girl looked confused.

"Because you are no different from others who are always here, bullying me." He replied and continued eating his tiffin box knowing that his mother would be upset if he doesn't finish it.

"Why are you eating so... so fast? Mom always tells me to eat my food slowly." She said before sitting beside him.

He groaned.

"Why don't you go away? Aren't you afraid of this ugly scar on my face?" He couldn't control his temperament.

She studied his face once again.

"No.. I don't think it's ugly." She murmured truthfully.

"Really?" He gawped at her in an astonishing way.

"Yes.... it's different but not at all ugly." She expressed.

"Why?"

"It's a part of you and that doesn't make you any bad in my eyes so I don't think it's ugly." She added, tapping her legs.
He couldn't help but smile at her.

"Would you like to help me finish this?" He asked her, offering his tiffin.

Her eyes widened.

"Noodles.... I love noodles." She sounded elated.

She picked up the fork and twirled some noodles around the tines of it before devouring it.

He chuckled when she made a weird sound.
"I'm sorry but I can't help when your food is so scrummy yummy." She replied in a cute voice, making him chuckle.

He came out to the present verity where Ambar was still rattling on.

"We always loved eating like this... Dida, Vash..." She stopped when she realised that she had rambled a lot more than required.

"I'm sorry." She quickly apologised.

"It's late. Your room is beside Aakash so you can keep a check on him." Nakul stood up to leave.

"Good night." He wished her, lastly before plodding away.

"Good night." She replied a bit late before he could have heard her.

Why were his memories still stuck on him?
Why couldn't he get rid of it?

He pushed all those thoughts before switching off the lights and letting the sleep consume him.

It was past midnight, when he woke up due to another horrible nightmare.

Losing a dear one was one of his greatest fears.

He wiped the sweats from his forehead and ducked out of bed to check on Aakash.

He entered his room, only to find him missing.

When he rushed to Ambar's room, she wasn't there too which just started worrying him even more.
He was terrified and panic-strickened as he couldn't control himself anymore.

'Where are they? Where the hell did they go?'

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Hello everyone,

I updated this chapter immediately after I finished writing.

So, Where are Aakash and Ambar?

What will Nakul do?

Leave your comments and do vote for the chapter.

I want to thank each one of you who voted and commented for all my chapters.

I really can't explain how grateful I am.

Thank you and until next time.

♥♡♥