After a week, Swara and Sanskaar are standing in front of the farmhouse of Mr. Jha. But both of them could not deny the uncomfortable and eerie feeling they were getting as soon as they step in the province of the place. Mr. Jha welcomes them and guides them inside when Swara’s eyes land on a mango tree. Unknowingly, on their own accord, her feet start moving towards the tree. Sanskaar turns and finds her missing. After looking for her for a while, he finds her in the garden looking at the tree.

“What are you doing here Swara…??”, asks Sanskaar coming to her along with Mr. Jha.

“Something is here”, says Swara looking near the roots of the tree. Both of them look at Mr. Jha who visibly shakes due to some unknown fear. Rubbing the sweat droplets on his forehead Mr. Jha stutters, “No. Nothing. Nothing is here. Let’s go inside. I’ll show you your rooms and I’ll be staying in my villa in front only. You can call me if you need anything.”

All of them head inside.

------------------.

Sanskaar comes out of the washroom after freshening up. Suddenly he hears some sound. A melodious tune as if someone is playing a flute. Throwing the towel on the bed he runs towards the window but finds no one. Closing his eyes, he feels the cold breeze blowing across his face when he feels someone behind him.

“Arnav”

He opens his eyes and turn around as soon as he feels someone whispering in his ear. Sanskaar tries to search his room but finds no one. But his fastened heart beat made him feel as if he has heard this name before.

------------------.

In the evening, Mr. Jha throws a party in order to celebrate the deal and their partnership. The party is in its full blow when someone comes near Sanskaar. “Mr. Maheshwari, it’s quite famous that you are absolutely mind-blowing in playing mouth-organ. So, can you oblige us by playing it for us”, asks the person. Sanskaar could not deny the request and agrees. He looks at Swara who is smiling at him sitting in one corner. He smiles back at her and starts playing the harmonica (or mouth organ). But the moment the instrument comes in contact with his lips and he closes his eyes, the same tune he heard in the morning starts playing.

Mr. Jha and Swara both look at Sanskaar completely shocked. Whereas he is lost in his own world playing the tune.

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With his closed eyes Sanskaar could see an absolutely beautiful girl running around.

“No Arnav…!!”

“I said I won’t listen to you Mishthi”, saying this he rubs both his hand on her cheeks coloring them pink and blue.

“How many times should I ask you to call me Khushi…??”, she frowns and turns around to leave. But Arnav holds her hand and pulls her towards him. Kissing her forehead he whispers, “I love you Khushi…!!”

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Sanskaar opens his eyes with a jerk, unable to understand what he saw just then. He doesn’t know why but his eyes travel towards Swara but she is not there. She is gone.

On the other side, Swara is breathing heavily. She couldn’t bear the pain she is feeling in her heart on hearing the tune. She runs and keeps running until she reaches the same mango tree in the garden. She falls down on her knees near the tree and cries. With each tear drop falling from her eyes she could see those flashes again. But this time, the flashes are not the same way as she has been seeing them all her life. This time they are not in bits, instead this time she could remember everything. Everything about her past life…

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PAST LIFE

It’s holi. Khushi is sitting in her room in order to save her from the colors. She never liked playing colors in holi, so every year she keeps herself locked in her room for the entire day. But it’s different with this year. This year, he is here. Arnav. The most notorious guy she has ever met. Hardly, one and a half year before he came to Kolkata along with his family. She keeps on thinking about him only when she hears a tune. The tune which Arnav plays on his flute for calling her.

Rolling her eyes, Khushi goes and opens the window of her room. “What do you want Arnav…??”, she shouts. “Come down”, Arnav shouts back in the same tone.

“I said I won’t come out today.”

“Come on Mishthi. It’s holi today.”

“It’s Khushi. And I’m not coming out today.”

“I don’t care. You are My Mishthi. And if you won’t come down by the time I finish my tune, I swear I’ll come up there and drag you out.”

Arnav sits on the nearby boulder starts playing his flute once again closing his eyes. He smiles remembering Khushi’s smiling face. As soon as he finishes the tune, he opens his eyes only to find Khushi standing in front of him.

“See I came. So, stop fussing around my house and go away”, Khushi glares at him. Arnav smirks and says, “Do you really think it’s that easy to escape me…?? After all, it’s our first holi together.”

Saying this he runs after her…

"Stop it Arnav...!! I said no colors on me...!!"

"And as if you'll say something and I'll listen to you...!! Happy Holi Mishthi...!!", says Arnav running after her. He is wearing a blue Kurta and pajama, both his hands holding a fistful of colors.

Khushi turns towards him frowning and says, "It's Khushi...!!"

Arnav shrugs, "Whatever...!! All I know is you are my Misthi...!!"

Running after her, Arnav corners her around the end of the street…

“No Arnav…!!”

“I said I won’t listen to you Mishthi”, saying this he rubs both his hand on her cheeks coloring them pink and blue.

“How many times should I ask you to call me Khushi…??”, she frowns and turns around to leave. But Arnav holds her hand and pulls her towards him. Kissing her forehead he whispers, “I love you Khushi…!!”

Her breath hitches the moment his words of confession get registered in her brain. She looks at him with wide eyes. Arnav chuckles, “What…!! Don’t look at me like that as if you didn’t know…!!”

Khushi smiles slightly and turns away but Arnav instantly wraps his arms around her waist from back, “Say it Khushi…!!”

“What…?!!”, her voice is merely a whisper as their intimacy is leaving her breathless.

“Say that you love me too”, Arnav whispers in her ear. Khushi opens her mouth to say something but closes it instantly as she sees Shyaam coming from opposite side. Pushing away Arnav she looks at Shyaam. “Arnav, what are you doing here…?? Uncle is calling you.” He informs Arnav.

Arnav smiles looking at Khushi and she smiles back signaling him to go. Arnav runs to his father when Khushi calls him. He turns and she kisses him on his cheek. “Tonight”, she whispers in his ear. “Tonight..??”, he looks at her confused. “I’ll say it tonight”, she smiles to him. Arnav does a happy dance before running to his father. Khushi shakes her head at his childishness and turns to leave when Shyaam holds her wrist, “Why are you doing this…??”

She looks at him confused, “What am I doing…??”

He narrows his eyes, “I know you don’t love him. You know how much I love you. You can always give me a chance.”

Khushi takes a deep breath before glaring at him, “And why should I give you a chance when I love him. Yes, I love Arnav. I seriously don’t believe this. You call yourself his friend but you are trying to snatch his love at his back.”

Shyaam shouts at her, “I’m not snatching anything from anyone. You are mine. You belong to me.”

Saying this he turns around angrily and leaves.

----------------------------.

It’s almost late evening. Khushi is very excited to confess her love to Arnav. She is going towards his house down a deserted road holding a box of his favorite sweet dish. She smiles thinking about something but all of a sudden someone comes from behind her and hits her head with something hard. “You are mine”, are the last words she hears before everything turns dark.

Khushi opens her eyes and finds herself lying on a bed. She turns her head but feels an extremely throbbing pain at the back of her head. “Arnav”, she utters his name and tries to get up to go to him when Shyaam comes to her and holds her shoulders tightly, “Where do you think you are going…??”

“To the place where I belong”, she spats back at him. “No Darling. You belong here”, he shouts at her in a voice filled of venom. She jerks his hand and gets up from the bed, “No I need to go.” She tries to go away when Shyaam holds her cheeks tightly. "You are mine. You got that...?!!", saying this he slaps her hard throwing her down to the floor. And the next thing she knows that her clothes are ripped off her body and she loses herself bit by bit to the merciless demon.

Even then her strength didn’t deceive her. Khushi tries to get up and go to Arnav but Shyaam picks up a bottle lying nearby and hits on her head. She screams due to the pain, “Don’t think this is the end. This is definitely not the end. I’ll RETURN. But neither for you nor for the revenge. I’ll come back for my Arnav. For our Unending Love. And then, you’ll not be able to do anything.”

Shyaam could not bear this and he hits her head once again. Khushi falls down on the floor in a half-conscious state. “You don’t have to worry about him, Khushi. Once I’m done with you, I’ll send him also to you only. At least I owe you this much.”

Khushi could feel him dragging her by her legs. Shyaam drags her to the garden area of his house near a mango tree and digs a hole near its root. He buries Khushi alive while she keeps on thinking in her semi-conscious state, "I need to go. He must be waiting for me. I need to tell him how much I love him. This can't be the end to our story. I can't die like this. My Arnav, he must be waiting for me.  Arnav. Arnav... "

------------ ɷ ɷ ɷ ɷ ------------

“ARNAV”

Swara shouts his name again before falling unconscious near the tree.

Sanskaar on the other side is searching for her frantically everywhere when he suddenly remembers about the tree. He comes running outside and finds Swara lying unconscious. He tries to wake her up, “Swara…!! What happened…?? Open your eyes. Swara…!!”

Swara opens her eyes slowly and finds herself in Sanskaar’s embrace. Touching his cheeks with her shaky hands she whispers, “Arnav”, and with that she falls unconscious once again.

Sanskaar gets shocked on hearing this name. He takes Swara to her room and makes her lie there. After that he leaves. He goes out and stands near the tree.

“Arnav”, he hears the name again but this time he could see the girl from his flashes standing there and smiling to him. Suddenly the image disappears and turns into a bright light guiding him towards some unknown place. Sanskaar follows the light and keeps on walking until he reaches to a familiar place. When he stops and looks around the place he could feel the familiarity. He could see Arnav standing there hugging Khushi from back asking her to say something. Then he sees Shyaam arriving there. He could feel how uncomfortable Khushi becomes on seeing him. He could see Khushi kissing Arnav’s cheek promising to say what he wants to hear.

Bit-by-bit, going around the place, Sanskaar remembers everything. Whole night he keeps roaming around the place. And then it hits him. He is Arnav. “Then Khushi… Who is Khushi…??”, he thinks holding his head in both his hand. Then he remembers how Swara calls him Arnav. “Swara…??”

He runs back to her. He goes to her room and finds Swara standing near the window. “Why did you call me that…??”, he asks her. “What…?!!”, Swara turns towards him.

“You called me Arnav. Why…??”
“If I’ll tell you, will you believe me…?!!”

She turns back to look outside the window. “Khushi…!!”, Sanskaar calls her. Swara turns around shocked, “You remember…??”

Sanskaar looks at her, “You are Khushi right…?!!” Swara gets overwhelmed that Sanskaar remembers everything. She goes to hug him when Sanskaar stops her, “Why did you do that…?? You betrayed me…!! You promised…!! I was waiting for you for the whole night but you never came…!! Shyaam came the next morning and told me that you left, forever. He also said that you never loved me. I could not believe this. So, I came out to search for you but just then a truck came from opposite side and before I could do anything it hit me. Everything ended, even our love.”

Swara says loudly, “I betrayed you…?!! I betrayed you…?!?! No, I didn’t…!! I was coming to you...!! To be yours forever…!! To tell you how much I loved you…!! But it was your friend who betrayed you. Shyaam betrayed you.” She tells him everything that happened. “No matter how much I tried I could never reach you. Khushi is still lying there, under that mango tree. Our love can never end and the proof is that we are standing in front of each other now. If not as Arnav and Khushi then we are here as Sanskaar and Swara. If we were not able to become ArShi, we are here as SwaSan…!!”

Sanskaar runs out of the room. Swara follows him. He comes to a halt near the tree and sits there with a thump. “Khushi”, he speaks slowly touching the ground. Tears overflow his eyes, Swara comes and sits near him, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not being there when you needed me the most. I never deserved to be loved by you. I’m sorry. Khushi...!!”

He shouts her name and cries bitterly. Swara hugs him, “Shh…!! It’s okay…!! We are okay…!!” Sanskaar hugs her tightly, “I’m sorry.”

Swara kisses his forehead, “It’s okay. Life has given us another chance. We have returned just for each other. Let’s go away. Let’s go away from this place.”

Sanskaar hugs her again, “We will. But before that someone needs to pay for his deeds.”


----------------------------.

At night, Shyaam comes to his farmhouse to meet Sanskaar. He sits in the living room when he finds a chit lying on the table:

“YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY THAT EASILY.”

He gets sweaty. He tries to pick up the glass to drink water when he finds another chit sticking to its base:

“EVERY ONE HAS TO PAY FOR HIS DEEDS. I SAID I’LL RETURN.”

Shyaam whispers, “Khushi…?!! But this is not possible…!!” As soon as he says this all the lights go off and he could see a shadow near the door. “Why…?? Why is it not possible…?? I told you I’ll return.”, says the person. Shyaam lets out a small laugh, “No…!! You can’t be Khushi…!! She cannot come back. I know you are some prankster.”

“Really…!! You think I’m a prankster…!! ‘Don’t think this is the end. This is definitely not the end. I’ll RETURN. But neither for you nor for the revenge. I’ll come back for my Arnav. For our Unending Love. And then you’ll not be able to do anything.’ Wasn’t this exactly what I said when you were killing me.”

Shyaam fumbles and falls on the floor. He stutters, “But this is impossible. How can you come back…?? I killed you with my own hands. I buried you there under that tree. How can you come back…??”

As soon as he says this all the lights get on again. Sanskaar comes storming towards him landing several punches on him…

“This is for hurting my Khushi”

Another punch.

“This is for betraying me and disrespecting my friendship.”

Another punch.

“This is for killing my love.”

Swara comes and holds Sanskaar whereas Shyaam keeps on looking at him in disbelief. Sanskaar shouts, “Inspector. Take this man away. You have his self-confession too.”

The inspector takes him away. Later the police digs the place near the tree and finds the remains of Khushi’s body.

Swara and Sanskaar are now standing near the tree in the dark under thousands and millions of stars shining above. It’s time for them to leave for Mumbai. Swara holds Sanskaar’s hand. He turns towards her. She looks at him with tear-filled eyes and says, “Is it too late now to say that I LOVE YOU…!! I know I couldn’t fulfill my promise back then. I know you were waiting for me and you might have felt betrayed but…”.

But she is instantly stopped as Sanskaar captures her lips in his in a light kiss. Breaking the kiss, he kisses her forehead, “I love you too…!! I loved you then. I love you now and I’ll love you forever and ever, not only in this life but for several lives to come. I promise to love you as long as I’ll exist in this world.”

The moment he says these words they see two stars breaking up from the sky and passing right above their heads as if God too has blessed their Unending and Eternal Love...!!

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When I'm with you,
Eternity is a step away,
My love continues to grow,
With each passing day.

This treasure of love,
I cherish within my soul,
How much I love you...
You'll never really know.

You bring a joy to my heart,
I've never felt before,
With each touch of your hand,
I love you more and more.

Whenever we say goodbye,
Whenever we part,
Know I hold you dearly,
Deep inside my heart.

So these seven words,
I pray you hold true,
"Forever And Always,
I Will Love You."

- Chris Engle -

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