The girls chat away on the terrace until Maryam realizes something. "Ukthi Sarah, you were here with Akhi?" she inquired, connecting the dots in her head.

"You were, yeah..." Sana realized too. They were both staring at her with raised eyebrows, prodding her to go on and explain the situation.

"You see... we both ended up on the same elevator heading to the same place..." she explained.

"What a coincidence," Maryam chuckled.

Sana narrowed her eyes skeptically. "If you say so,"

Ibrahim had retreated to the opposite side of the terrace. According to some people beside him, the mountains on this side were the mountains Raffi shared with the border of Saudi Arabia. This fact created a kind of vibe—a mysterious aura emitted from the initially normal mountains, but now they have a fact behind it. Some distance behind this mountain range would be Saudi Arabia. He kept staring ahead, amazed.

But today was their last night here to enjoy the views and to enjoy the luxuries of the hotel. They would leave after breakfast.

After a round of chaotic packing and ransacking the hotel rooms for any personal belongings left behind, the four families were ready to head back home. Each family went back in their own car and reunited after two days of staycation with their friends.

The car ride back home was quite adventurous for Sana's family since Ayyub revealed to Sana what Hania and Ismail had planned the other day. She smacked herself in the forehead for believing that it was Hasan who had sent her the flower. Nevertheless, she chose to keep it with her anyway. "For the aesthetics," she explained.

Ayyub just gave her an eye roll. "Everything is about the aesthetics for you and Ukhti Sarah,"

Sana nodded. "I got it from her so blame her,"

Ayyub just sighed. Then glared at Ismail. "Don't go around lying like that again, okay?"

"But it's okay to say white lies!" Ismail retorted. Where did he get that word?

"No. Lying is lying, and lying is Haram," Sana added. "Remember the hadith?"

'Abdullah reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "You must be truthful. Truthfulness leads to dutifulness and piety leads to the Garden. A man continues to tell the truth until he is written as a Siddiq (Truthful person) with Allah. Beware of lying. Lying leads to evil and evil leads to the Fire. A man continues to lie until he is written as a liar with Allah."

Meanwhile, the parents are quite secretly intrigued by the conversation happening back there. Especially Umm Ayyub. She feels like making wedding biryani for some inexplicable reason.

The reason:

When they got back home, they all rested for a while. When it was nighttime and the little ones were asleep, this elder brother woke up in the dead of night and pulled out his prayer mat, made wudhu, and started praying... istikhara (asking Allah to help one make a choice).

O Allah! I ask guidance from Your knowledge, And Power from Your Might and I ask for Your great blessings. You are capable and I am not. You know and I do not and You know the unseen. O Allah! If You know that this is good for my religion and my subsistence and in my Hereafter--(or said: If it is better for my present and later needs)--Then You ordain it for me and make it easy for me to get, And then bless me in it, and if You know that this is harmful to me In my religion and subsistence and in the Hereafter--(or said: If it is worse for my present and later needs)--Then keep it away from me and let me be away from it. And ordain for me whatever is good for me, And make me satisfied with it.

He was now certain. But in the end, it all depended on whether she would accept his proposal or not. He made dua to his Creator. To guide them both to the right and best decision.

No wonder Umm Ayyub felt like making Biryani. She even dreamt of her cooking biryani as she slept. (joke purposes 🤡😂)

Just then, Hussein woke up from his room and entered his brother's room. The bathroom was making weird noises, so his sleep was disturbed and he came to inquire about it. That's when he stopped rubbing his eyes and was surprised by the sight before him. He checked the time on his wristwatch, and it was way before Fajr.

Hussein sat on his elder brother's bed, waiting for him to finish. Once he was sure his brother was done with Salah, he went up to him.

"Akhi, the bathroom is making weird noises," he went up to him and said.

"The bathroom? You mean there is a water leakage?" Hasan asked, rubbing his eyes.

Hussein nodded sleepily. "Yeah, can you come check with me?"

"Sure," Hasan wasn't as sleepy as Hussein, since he had woken up earlier than him. They both then walked to the bathroom in the upstairs lobby, which was making such weird noises. After Hasan inspected the situation, he found out the odd problem.

"We'll need to call the plumber, I think the water heater broke," Hasan explained. Hussein nodded sleepily.

"So, we'll have to wait till the morning," Hussein concluded. Hasan nodded in affirmation. "By the way, Akhi, what were you praying?"

"Istikhara," Hasan revealed. Hussein then had a hunch.

"So, you figured it out?" Hussein's sleep had pretty much vanished by now.

Hasan smiled and gave him a nod. "Yeah, Alhamdulillah," he put his hand on his little brother's shoulder. "And as promised, you were the first to know."

"I really can't wait to have Ummi's wedding biryani, you gotta hurry up," Hussein chuckled, happy for his brother.

Hasan laughed with him. "You're forgetting we still need to ask Sana if she's willing," he stopped laughing and had a small smile on his face instead.

"Khayr (Good), In Sha Allah," Hussein then embraced his elder brother, who returned the gesture.

"By the way, Hania told Ismail to give you the marigold saying it's from Sana, Ayyub told me," Hussein broke the news.

"I know, she'd never do such a thing," Hasan gave Hussein a knowing smile.

Sarah decided to sleep over at Sana's because of the exchange that took place with her earlier. She HAD to talk to someone about it and it couldn't be kept for later. So, she walked back to Sana's house to a very awake Sana and her house where everyone else was sleeping.

"Why are you up so late?" Sarah asked as she entered her house.

"I should be asking you that," Sana returned. She had brought a shawl along with her to open the door in case it would be a random delivery guy but seemed like it was just Sarah. Actually, though. Sarah never stays up until 11 PM. And you won't see her outside unless her family dragged her out that late. So, of course, Sana would wonder what she was doing outside at this late hour.

"I went for a walk..." Sarah explained. "And I have tea from that walk, I'll tell you in your room,"

Sana raised an eyebrow. Now, this tea could be anything from seeing a blue beetle to spilling tea on a handsome stranger. "Okay, come on then,"

When they were in her room, Sana sat down cross-legged on the mattress and Sarah did the same. Sana leaned forward, eager to hear Sarah's tea. Sarah cleared her throat, ridding her cheeks of the splash of soft pink that dusted over them.

Sarah told Sana how she went for a walk to her frequently visited spot in Raffi, especially in winter. There was a hidden pond view and at night it looked like a forest out of a fairy tale. She explained that she went there for fresh air and to admire the patterns of the diamond stars on the murky water as it mirrored the night sky. Sana listened intently.

She came to the part where she realized she wasn't alone. Knowing this pond was a hidden gem, she knew there would be no people, or a handful of people there. But it was after Isha, and no one would come out this late. So, she felt a bit apprehensive... until she realized she was walking the same path as Ibrahim. She had left her house, and soon after, Ibrahim had left his house as well. He was walking behind her and headed in the same direction.

Sana raised a brow at the mention of Ibrahim, her lips almost curving up into a teasing smirk, but she decided to let her friend continue with her storytelling.

Once they reached the scenic pond, Ibrahim decided to break the silence and clarify that he was 'headed in the same direction' and even showed the location open on his map app so that Sarah didn't think he was following her or making her uncomfortable. Sarah nodded, understandingly and continued to admire the scene before her. She said something like, 'There are many hidden gems in Raffi, and it's good more people are discovering them' which made Ibrahim wonder how much more of these beautiful places existed in Raffi.

So, he asked her to send him some of the other locations of the hidden gems, and she agreed to send them to him. But the problem was... where?

And for some reason, Sarah suggested Instagram so she could share the reel details of the scenic gems that she had saved. He agreed. Now they follow each other on Instagram.

"You did what, now?" Sana asked incredulously.

Sarah showed their conversation, "I kind of became his tour guide..."

Sana facepalmed. "Well, as long as you know what you're doing." Sana took a deep breath, weighing the pros and cons. "You should add Ishaaq to the group,"

Sarah's eyes lit up as if Sana had brought up a groundbreaking solution to the world's problems. "You're right!" Immediately, she brings out her phone and adds Ishaaq to their dm chat, and instantly, Ishaaq is already getting friendly with Ibrahim and sharing funny reels.

"That wasn't a good idea," Sana facepalms at Sarah's constantly beeping phone. "Mute the chat or something,"

Sarah laughed at Sana's reaction and muted the group. "They seem to get along very well," she smiled at her phone.

Sana snatched her phone and kept it on her table. "Now focus on me,"

"Fine, fine," Sarah pouted and finally started to speak like a woman her age as she reflected on the ayahs they learned in class before the staycation trip. Sana listened intently and added her own reflections too.