"Even broken hearts will roam free someday."

The shots and screams echoed in the air but all Omisha could think was pain and pain. The piercing boiling hot pain that ran through her being and the memories that flashed through her eyes.

She has heard before death all your life moments flashes in front of your eyes but all she could think about was a kiss. A kiss bestowed upon on her in the flow of the moment. A kiss that shouldn't have ignited a wildfire inside her but it did. All she could see was today flashing in front of her as the force guided her on a crash course of collision with the floor.

And all she could think about was Swaddhin Raizada and the sweet, craving pain he made her feel. She knew they weren't supposed to kiss. She knew her heart wasn't supposed to betray her by running on a speed of 120 beats per second, as Savvy trapped her between himself and the wall. She knew her eyes held fear, she wasn't faking that the fear, the terror was a part of her but his gentle touch wasn't. The way he held both her wrists above her head, holding them captive in his large palm. His eyes on fire as he leaned on her, her chest touching his, her legs captured between his. He looked like a beautiful predator, a vampire seducing its prey. His lips touching her nape as he whispered against her skin "let's begin, sweetheart" sending shivers down her spine.

She didn't know her own heart at that moment. Her mind was terrified, her heart anticipating and her body totally betraying her. She wasn't supposed to lean his touch, she wasn't supposed to want him to want her, she wasn't supposed to do anything but act as his prey, act as his prisoner but his gentle touch. The way no one before him touched her gave rise to feelings, feelings she shouldn't feel, feelings not meant for her. But her heart betrayed her when the guy she gave all the rights to hurt her didn't hurt her even when he had the chance. His grip on her was feather-light, never using his force on her as his words played the situation, the situation they needed to convince a certain group about. A situation which needed Swaddhin Raizada forcing himself on Omisha to save Viaan from Omisha. Swaddhin's verbal play was amazing, the right words, the right tone to make everyone believe Savvy threatened Omisha to be with him but she wasn't supposed to get lost in his eyes. She wasn't supposed to tune out his words and he wasn't supposed to seal the deal with a kiss and even if he did kiss her, she wasn't supposed to return the kiss. She wasn't supposed to lean in his touch and deepen the kiss and Jhanvi Singh Oberoi wasn't supposed to find them kissing. She wasn't supposed to drag Omisha away from Savvy and Omisha wasn't supposed to feel so broken and hollow thinking it was just the flow of the moment. Savvy won't ever love or even like someone like her. Someone who hurt Anya in the past and the pain of knowing Savvy won't be hers wasn't supposed to be so intense that it drowns even the pain of death and crash.

Her name echoed in the whole hall and all she could think was he isn't here. She was in pain and most certainly not dying, but it felt like she'll due to the pain. Soft hands-on her grounded her again, she was dazed and totally unaware of the reality or her position on the ground. When the hands put her head gently on something, something hard and soft at the same time. Fingers moved through her hairs, gently massaging her scalp and maybe calling her name though she wasn't sure as her ears were still ringing very badly with the gunshots.

Everything seemed blurry and it was a difficult task to focus, focus on a single voice calling for her, focus on the face above her. A face full of worry staring down at her as the ballad of revenge played in the background. But she achieved it somehow, achieved to focus on Anya's worried and afraid face peering at her. She looked extremely worried and her usual blank cold eyes were lit with emotions, emotions that showed she has a heart. A heart that still possesses care and love for her and this family, after everything she faced.

"You alright, Isha??" Anya asked Omisha gently wiping away the tears flowing down her eyes. The World around wasn't her concern presently, the show-off can go on. So, lost in her panic and care for her Omisha that she even missed the war of words between Svetlana and Jhanvi and the way Jhanvi shot Tej. Jhanvi Singh Oberoi who stayed in a broken marriage for so long, holding on shot her husband at the end. Shot, him through his heart and her hands didn't shake not even for once.

But Anya's concentration was broken when a shadow loomed over her and Omisha. Omisha's eyes were glassy and unseeing, the curve of her lips curling in painful whimpers and all Anya could think about was medication and the urgency with which Omisha needed it. Her hands were shaking and sweaty and her heart was surrounded by fear. Fear of how this will end?? She didn't want to see the sufferings again, the blood staining her hand and dress as she begged Shivika to not close her eyes, the panic that gripped every cell of her being watching the glass pieces pierce Shivika's skin. She couldn't differentiate between an unconscious Shivika and a conscious whimpering Omisha right now. Neither could she make the flames and pain dancing in her mind disappear.

She couldn't differentiate between the darkness that surrounded her trapped in a field of fire and the darkness that loomed around her as she watched Shivika lose her consciousness. The darkness that seeped and moved with each clue she found and the darkness that consumes her in absence of familiar faces. No, she couldn't differentiate between the forms of darkness she has seen and experienced. The darkness she could distinguish but now all of them seemed the same. Same black, gloomy, dark envelope engulfing her and the people around her.

The soft calloused hands gently grasping her cheeks, pulled her out of the darkness engulfing her mind. She stared at the bright orbs she was familiar with but the emotions in the orbs were there for the first time.

"Whatever they tell you about me is true. I'm a murderer, I'm a gangsta, I'm the Queen of the underworld, I destroyed them, I killed many, I lie, I play with feelings and use everything for my benefit. I wasn't born like this but they made me this, made me this monster with blood-stained hands and non-existent honour. I'm all lies, everything about me is a lie." She continued staring in Svetlana's eyes blankly not understanding what to make of this confession, everything was a lie. She knew that, didn't she?? Everyone manipulated them, innocent beings the easiest to manipulate and control but why did it hurt to hear those words so much?? Why does the things you know hurts when someone confirms them to be true?? Didn't we know it already then why does hope still lingers?? Her eyes glanced for a moment behind Svetlana, looking at Anika Oberoi, "Ma" her heart supplied struggling against the gunmen to reach her, to reach them and the next second her eyes were back on Svetlana gazing emptily at the pools of emotions brimming for the first time in Svetlana's eyes.

"But there is also a single truth about my life. A truth, my truth and that's you, Anya. The world can call me whatever they want but they can't call my love for you a lie. I love you, I always did and that's the only truth of my life. No one and nothing can change that, I'll be there always for you." She promised and something shifted in Anya's eyes. A light sparkled in her orbs momentarily before again emptiness pooled in her eyes.

"So, for you, I'll let them go. For you, I'll forgive the sons and not punish them for their father sins, for you I'll let it all end. End with the building that symbolizes my destroyed family, the building which stands on the base of death will end with my revenge today. Throw them away." She commanded to the confused looking goons of her gang, the members who didn't expect there will be a show of mercy tonight were flabbergasted to see the mercy of their merciless boss but one glare from her was enough to make them act on her command.

"Ask Pardon and begin again" Anya whispered to Svetlana tugging a little at her slipping hand, like the toddler Anya again grasping Svetlana's too large fingers begging for another story from Aunt Lana.

"You know once you enter the murky water of underworld, you can't leave it. No, you can't ever leave it behind and start new alive. Too many enemies and mistakes run after you and I've made a family there too. It's where I belong." Svetlana was stuck in that world now and Anya knew it, knew it like the triumph smile on Jasmine's face knowing Svetlana will run away with them, knowing she'll choose them over her. She knew it like she knew Svetlana will disappear like a ghost after setting the Oberoi Mansion on fire, after setting  the Oberoi Mansion on fire with Tej and Shakti's body inside.

The flames had engulfed the Mansion like a blanket wrapped around a body during winters. It was everywhere bright and displaying a ballet of colours from sickly green to royal Violet, from entrapping orange to enchanting red and she stood there, stood there unmoving staring at the burning building with a cacophony going behind her. She stood there not diverting her eyes from the burning building of memories after Omisha was taken away from her by medics. She was on her knees as the dance of flames and soot happened in front of her, she didn't react when Jhanvi was arrested, arrested by Pavit.

"You've her eyes" spoken in a broken tone by a Jhanvi in police custody seemed like the sounds of wind chimes to her and her body denied reacting on anything. It denied showing any action or obeying her orders. It denied even answering to Viaan's calls as he tried to make her stand.

She felt like a puppet, a puppet with Viaan as both her string and the master playing her when Viaan hauled her up and carried her to his car. The whole journey home a big blur to her. She didn't know what was happening their anymore. She didn't know where they'll go and who'll handle everything there and she couldn't even make herself speak the questions. Her body was in a kind of vegetative state, not reacting and acting all numb.

The familiar walls of Viaan's bedroom seemed to draw her out. The feeling of home banishing away the suffocating memories. The blanket of safety driving away the blanket of fire and numbness, eyes staring around and searching the one who settled her on the bed. Her eyes fixed on him the moment he entered back the room as the question rolled out her lips "Omisha??"

"In hospital, Ansh and Panchi are there" Viaan knew what to say and how to pass the information to her, which expression to use and how to make her relax.

"Ira" the second question was full of panic as her wide eyes met his and he motioned towards the baby monitor, displaying a peacefully sleeping baby.

"I was scared, I thought....." she didn't complete her statement as she looked away lamenting in her heart as he took his place on the bed, gently grasping her chin with his fingers. He made her look at him, he gazed in her eyes and spoke firmly with emotions pooled in the window of his soul "I love you. I fell in love with you. I dont know how. I don't know why but I know there isn't any another this heart will beat for. I Love you, Anya. I just love you and I can't live without you. I can't live, I'll breath but I'll be a body whose soul has been sucked away, cause you're my soul. You're more than my soulmate."

He looked at her with raw fear in his eyes, fear of losing her, fear of living without her, fear of what would have happened and love, unconditional love as he leaned in and captured her lips in his. Pulling her in an occean of love and drowning her, drowning her in love.

He tasted like peace on her tongue, like freedom on her lips. He tasted like happiness and solace. He felt like home. She was the south pole and he north at that moment. The two opposite poles of a magnet and the pull was undeniable, the intensity with which they attracted each other, no barriers in between to separate them. No, barrier stopping them from uniting as the forces of love, weaved a field line of love around them.

All night, she felt his touch, his hot breath on her skin, his lips on her exploring her, his fingers playing on her gilding down her, drawing on her, his eyes worshiping her. She was his canvas, a canvas he painted in the colors of his love. All night, she felt love and only love as she chanted his name like a holy prayer.

~to be continued~