"Adi, what are you thinking about?" Hamsa asked when she saw Aditya looking at the soup pot in a daze without actually eating. She noticed that since Aditya came out of the shower, his mind seemed to be preoccupied with something as he did not even dry his wet hair properly. Droplets of water could be seen dripping from the ends of his hair over the neck but he did not seem to pay attention to it.

"It's nothing," Aditya snapped out of his thoughts as he smiled and started eating the bowl of mushroom of soup in front of him. The fact was that he was not able to get Tya's words out of his head.

"Tya, so are you a being formed in this quantum realm?"

"I don't know, I don't remember my origin. I have always existed in this way until I bonded with your 'Soul particle'."

"So, is a 'Soul Particle' just like an electron or a proton?"

"No, it is very different from these sub-atomic particles but I guess you could think of a 'Soul particle' like it is made up of a combination of a few Quark like particles. This is also an oversimplified answer at best."

"So, is there any way that you could increase the input of this 'Dark Energy' into my soul so that I don't have to wait for another week," Aditya asked the most practical question as all the other knowledge, however splendid it was, could not do a thing for him right now except make him spend a few sleepless nights.

"No, Adi, you have to know that I am just a gateway which facilitates the absorption of the energy but it is your Soul particle that is mainly responsible for attracting and assimilating the energy. If I had the capacity to attract as much energy as you are capable of, I would have not being this weak despite living for millions of years in this space, right?" Tya replied with a depressed face.

"Because of your Soul particle's capacity, I could retrieve my lost energy in a matter of days otherwise I would have had to wait for thousands of years without your help."

"What is the nature of this energy that helps me become stronger?"

"I know what that energy is but I am currently unable to express it's true nature in the current vocabulary as there no words to describe it. We could make some but it won't help still, how do you describe 'red' colour to a blind person?" Tya outlined the truth so Aditya gave up on inquiring further. Frankly, he still did not get what a 'Soul particle' was.

"So, we both have a symbiotic type of relationship?" Aditya asked after some time in a calm voice.

"Yup, actually, we are now currently inseparable. So, it's not just a beneficial relationship, it's more than that," Tya replied with a pure smile. He did not look the least bit unhappy with the status quo. Aditya looked at Tya with complex emotions in his eyes as he bid goodbye and came back.

Aditya sat on the parapet wall as he gazed at the night view of the city. He breathed in a large volume of cold air as it chilled his mind and slowed down the barrage of thoughts. Aditya felt that his life was thrown into a whirlpool of life twists as he felt like he was losing his grip on what's real and what's not.

First, his parents were taken by an organization which is gigantic and super powerful. He could not see any reasonable options for saving his parents on the horizon. He was not sure if he could come out of this safe let alone people associated with him.

Last month, he suddenly started dreaming about himself or someone who looked exactly like him but with a different life. That person still had his parents with him, he had gone to Europe with them and continued his studies. He enjoyed his life, had an ambition and was fighting for it.

As if this was not enough, Aditya somehow bonded with Tya and absorbed his energy thus getting some super abilities like terrific memory and calculative skills. After an accident, he was able to come in contact with Tya and came to know of his existence. With Tya's help, the goal of saving his parents didn't seem so remote anymore.

But today's discussion with Tya opened up many questions in Aditya's heart which he had buried deep until now and ignored them. What was the actual reality? What was the dream? Was the world in which he lived a perfectly normal life the actual reality and was he actually dreaming this world which consisted of Tya and his beautiful world, super abilities and abnormally powerful organizations? Would he be able to get back to his normal life if he just killed himself in this 'dream'?

Aditya shook his head resolutely as he pushed this thought aside, he knew that this theory was viable and reasonable but his heart clearly told him that this was the real world. Also, the fact that he could stop dreaming by spending time in Tya's world also strengthened his belief that this was the real world, however odd it was. Aditya closed his eyes as he let go of these tiresome thoughts. He felt mentally exhausted today as his body swayed a little.

Just when he thought of returning to the room to sleep, a pair of soft, boneless hands held him gently and pulled him sideways. His head was placed on a soft and warm 'pillow' as a smile spread across Aditya's face but he did not open his eyes. He did not want to destroy the 'moment' by opening his eyes.

Hamsa looked at the tired face of Aditya with a small smile on his lips, who was in her lap as she stroked his hair tenderly. A contented smile could be seen on her face as she braved the cold wind and stayed as motionless as possible lest she disturbed Aditya. She still remembered how she was afraid of Aditya when he approached her on that tragic night. Her heart had been broken into pieces that day when she saw her own foster parents betray her in the name of care and affection.

She still could not imagine what would have been her position and circumstances if she was not rescued by Aditya that night. If that favour had made her feel indebted her to Aditya and had sprouted a favourable opinion on him, then what followed had created an indelible impression of this lean youth in her heart.

He provided shelter to her along with care and treatment expecting nothing from her. Many times she felt that Aditya might turn out the same as Reyansh and take advantage of her when she was in her most vulnerable state. But the fact turned out that it was she who had taken full advantage of this hot-blooded youth by demanding very high levels of self-control on his part.

Hamsa might have looked like she was not knowledgeable about her attraction or the test that Aditya was subjected to every morning. But, even if she did not have the required emotional intelligence to notice it, her medical knowledge prevented her from ignoring this. A silent giggle escaped Hamsa lips as she remembered all the instances which made Aditya awkward and rush into the bathroom for a cold shower.

Hamsa not only found shelter & protection here but also treatment, the best teacher and care. To top it all, her trauma had not only been cured but to some unknown reason, her intelligence had increased and her heart became more stable as well as firm. This was also the reason that she was able to decisively break her ties with her foster parents and also remain unaffected when she saw Aditya's violent outburst.

Hamsa knew that all these were bestowed by her association with Aditya. She still remembered that Aditya previously had the problem of Hypersomnia which was not anything like the textbook knowledge but she did not even think of prying Aditya's secrets. She only maintained gratitude in her heart at Aditya's help.

But everything changed last week when Kumari and Kranthi came to visit her. Kranthi had known long ago that there was a beautiful elder sister residing in Aditya's house but he never visited her out of respect. But it was different when Kumari came to know about this. She literally barged into Aditya's house to find Hamsa out of curiosity.

But what Kumari did not expect was that her appearance not only did not disturb Hamsa but was highly welcomed. Kumari was Hamsa's only chance at knowing about Aditya's past and Hamsa wanted to know everything there was to know about him.

So, after having a lengthy talk about Aditya's past caused Hamsa to start looking Aditya in a new perspective. Before, Aditya was the benefactor of her to whom she was highly appreciative of. But after knowing Aditya's past life, his friends, experiences and mainly his flaws, Hamsa started to truly fall for him.

After that, she had opened up about her experiences to Aditya on her own initiative to see if he would have any obstruction to her but Aditya not only did not display any aversion but comforted her instead. Afterward, he also opened up about why he had ended up in this garage and what had happened to his parents. Hamsa was shocked at what had happened to Aditya's parents. She could understand Aditya's actions and his current situation.

Hamsa remembered how Aditya would drag his tired body home with a swollen and bloody face but would not stop going out the next day. She knew that Aditya was not a person who acted recklessly and knew that he had a plan so she chose to keep silent while taking care of those wounds every night before they slept.

At some unknown point in time, Hamsa had started imagining her future life along with this person. She would be taking care of him while he would work hard in the morning and evening as he would come exhausted every day just like these days. She would be there for him, to accompany him, to share his sorrows, to assuage his worries even if she could not do anything substantial. Not only did this idea get squished but it strengthened with time and the final touch was today when she saw him dealing with Reyansh.

Hamsa's face glowed when she saw the resting figure of Aditya as she approached his face slowly while bending slowly. After a few seconds, Hamsa's heart started beating frantically as she saw that there not much distance between her lips and Aditya's. She looked at his thin, handsome face as her eyes became firm and she made a move. Before she could kiss, Aditya's lips curved as he spoke with his eyes closed in a low but clear voice, "Are you sure about this? You may regret this later, you know that I am not perfect, right?"

Hamsa was stunned a little when she saw that Aditya was awake but Aditya neither made any movement nor spoke as he became silent while breathing peacefully. Hamsa's lips revealed a small smile when she heard his words. She bent down and pressed her lips against Aditya's as she tried clumsily to suck on Aditya's lips.

Aditya had not expected that Hamsa was capable of such a bold move but he welcomed it nonetheless. On the parapet wall of the balcony above the garage, two people kissed each other passionately covered by the darkness, unaffected by the coldness of the winter.