The mountains surrounding the green patches of grass stood just as tall as they always would. The fog that had formed during the early hours of the morning had started lifting now and the tall trees could now be seen in all their glory. With everything attuned to the same routine, Neelum Valley was exuding the same coldness some of its residents possessed in their hearts. But the almost their rays of sun taking over the fog ensured that warmness was still there.

Looking at the sky and taking a long breath, Safa Hayat cinched her cashmere to ward off the cold, and fixed the dupatta neatly on her head. She had been informed that the school construction had been concluded and now here she was, standing in front of it, both grateful and amazed

The newly constructed building boasted off the beginning of a new journey for the many kids who weren't lucky enough to get their basic right before. Her eyes held admiration and a smile found its ways on her plump lips, which soon stretched into a full-fledged grin. It was after months that she had smiled to this extent. A genuine and heart full one.

Saying a silent prayer of thankfulness, she stepped inside the premises, the vastness of which gave her another satisfaction. She touched the walls and then moved towards the stairs that led to the first floor. Turning her face, she looked around in awe. That's when she felt it.

Someone's footsteps.

But instead of getting alarmed, she closed her eyes and reveled in the feel of it.

Of him.

He was standing right behind her now. And she knew. How could she not?

"It's done."

His deep voice hit her ears and that's when her eyes fluttered open. Steadily, she turned around and her gaze settled on him whose whole focus was only her with his hands akimbo.

"It is." She threw her gaze around. "Beautiful, isn't it?" She looked at him. "Starting of a new journey."

And them being here. At the starting point of a new journey. Together.

"It is." His lips curled up. That was the most smile you can get out of Azlan Shehryar. And that smile was only reserved for the people he held close to his heart.

And when the person is inscribed in every nook of your heart, it becomes all the more genuine and real.

"I'm just glad these kids are finally going to get their basic right now. Something that should be provided to every person without them even asking." Her mind ventured back to Mansha and how getting education had been reduced to just a dream for her. A forlorn expression settled on her face and he knew what she was thinking about. That much he could read her.

"Hey..." He took a step towards her but maintained a decent distance between. "It's alright. Mansha is doing fine now. I just talked to her the other day."

She looked at him instantly. How did he know she was thinking about Mansha?

This man was surprising her with every encounter. But she didn't ask. Something told her to leave it as it was. An unsaid connection between them. Voicing it out didn't feel right so she let it be their thing, hiding behind the curtains of whatever they possessed for each other.

A beacon of that possession.

"I did some calculation last night. Counting the rooms and the amount of chairs and tables that can fit in, all the kids in the village can join the school, and still it would leave us with tons of space left for the future kids." She looked extremely ecstatic about the entire arrangement and that made him smile again. He was doing that a lot lately. Even if it would be a mere thought about her, Azlan Shehryar would smile.

"Also, we can segregate both the genders like majority of the parents want and still it wouldn't cause any issue of space." She paused for a second, and then continued. The excitement that was there before wasn't in her tone anymore. "It's just sad how living in the 21st century people still have the mindset of 18th century, but as long as the main purpose of giving education is being fulfilled, obliging to their reservations won't be that bad I guess."

"You're right." He added, shoving his hands in the pockets of his pants. With his turtle neck perfectly fitting the crevices of his body, he was surely a vision right now. "These people might be living in the 21st century but their lives have been restricted to the rural part of the world only. It's not their fault if they think like this because this is what they've learned from their ancestors and seen all their life. You only start seeing things from different perspective when the changes are exposed to you and that's exactly what we are doing, trying to show it to them through a different lens."

Both had walked through the pace of the building together and were now at the entrance, completely engrossed in the conversation. Crossing the threshold together, they started off their journey having no idea about it as their minds were occupied in the topic at hand. She was listening keenly to him as her whole concentration was at the points he had just mentioned which appeared very much valid to her.

"It's difficult for them to forget their roots because at the age they are it's not easy to let go of what you've believed in and followed all your life. It becomes an immutable truth for you. But they'll come along eventually because roots that are not planted rightly, their fate of getting plucked is inevitable, and we'll make sure of that. Sooner or later, they'll understand both the genders studying and working together isn't a bad idea if the decency is kept, but separating them can invite a lot of trouble because eventually both will be hurled into a situation where they'll have to live together and not knowing how to act around each other will only bring distress. Some are already coming alone with the shifts, the rest will, too. Even if they don't, we'll figure a way out."

Their track had led them to a small Dhaba. Halting at the entrance, Azlan stepped aside to give her a way in. Nodding in his direction, she strode inside and ambled towards the only vacant table in the corner. Needless to say the Dhaba was packed at this hour of the day with laborers, merchants, students, and all sorts of people enjoying their morning tea before heading towards their work.

After placing the order of coffee for Safa and tea for himself, he focused his attention back towards her who was biting her lower lip. An indication she was deep in thought.

"You're right, sir..." She continued but a sudden abrupt look from Azlan had her confused. She scrunched her eyes. "What?"

"You just called me sir." He shook his head with a slight chuckle. "You know you don't have to now."

She got what he was hinting at and shifted in her seat. Giving a cursory glance to the waiter placing their order on the table, she turned back towards Azlan.

"I'm just trying to be professional here." She reasoned but she knew he didn't buy it, if his raised eyebrow and the question he threw her way were any indication.

"Outside of the school premises?"

She groaned.

"Alright, you caught me." She threw her hands in surrender. "It's just weird, you know? Suddenly shifting from sir to your name. That night I was just caught up in the moment, so your name slipped off my tongue. Otherwise, it just doesn't feel right."

"Oh, yes, I forgot you were used to calling me with your sweet endearments instead of sir. What were those, hun?" He tried remembering as his mind ventured back and she swiveled in her seat.

"Alright, you don't have to recall now." She snuggled in her shawl in embarrassment. As if that could hide her. He chuckled at her theatric.

"No, let me reminisce."

Reminisce, yeah! She could tell he was enjoying this.

"Satan, was it?"

She looked sideways and enveloping the cup in her both hands, took a sip. "Don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh wait. Excrement of cockroach, right?"

Washroom cockroach. She wanted to say, but then decided he could live without that information.

He gave her a toothy grin. He really was a Satan for doing this, she wanted to say.

"Alright, stop." She put the cup back.

"Hulk?"

"Now, that's wrong. I never called you Hulk. He's too cute." She piqued and he feigned to be offended.

"And I'm not?"

"No. You're more like Thanos."

Now, he wasn't even pretending. He was visibly offended.

"What?" She shrugged her shoulders as she leaned back. "He was a good person. He wanted the good for humanity by wiping off half of the population. Don't you want that, too?"

"Want what?" He raised his perfectly arched eyebrows. The tea had gone cold now, completely forgotten. Because with Safa Hayat sitting in front of him, how could his focus be anywhere else?

"The good for humanity." She gave him a duh look and his eyes stretched into a smile at the way she had played with him.

He was amused.

There weren't many instances in Azlan Shehryar's life where he felt genuinely happy and light at heart. But, right now, sitting here in the far corner of this small Dhaba with two cups placed on the table and Safa Hayat sitting right in front of him, he knew he had everything he could ever wish for

But would this everything ever turn into a forever? Or would it become just another faded memory for him? Something he could remember and cherish whenever he'd want, but that'd be it. Nothing less, nothing more. Just beautiful yet aching memory. Another addition to the ashes his life was.

The mere thought scared him and his eyes just bored into her who was now enjoying her coffee and looking out the window. And that was when he knew he couldn't let it turn into a memory. No. He had to do something to ensure both her presence in his life and her happiness.

But one thing he was sure of. When it'd come down to him choosing between her presence in his life and her happiness, he'd always, without any doubt, choose her happiness. Even if her being driven away from him ached him beyond lengths. He could live that, knowing she's at least happy and content.

He just prayed to be never put in such a dilemma. But this was life. And when both Safa and Azlan are brought into the whole setting, life becomes a twisted labyrinth.

Because twisted was their fate, and agony their lifetime companion.

******

With one hand resting on the window, and the other one wrapped immaculately around the steering wheel, Arham's entire focus was on the road ahead. The dewed road wasn't helping in keeping the car much in control but years of experience had taught him how to tackle the situation. The fresh air of the valley was brandishing on his face and was somehow soothing the storm brewing inside him.

As he moved forward, a broken car standing by the mountain came into his vision and not a minute later, a woman standing adjacent to it as well. With a scowl that found its way on his forehead, and curiosity that took over him, he killed the engine and hopped off his car.

"AsSalamuAlaikum, Maaji. Is everything alright?" He took his shades off.

"WalaikumAsSalam!" The woman greeted back as she analyzed him from head to toe without any subtlety, whatsoever. But he was unfazed. Her offensive gaze wasn't his concern right now. His concern was to help out the woman stranded in the middle of a secluded place, right now.

"My car broke down. The driver went to see if there's any mechanic in sight. It's been half an hour and he still hasn't returned. I was getting bored in the car so came out to get some fresh air." She fixed the beige Chaddar on her head. With her head held high and shoulders erect, the woman exuded class and perfection. And the car that boasted off generational wealth told him she belonged to the elite circle of the country.

"You shouldn't have come out of the car, Maaji. It's not safe and you are already wearing gold."

Her face contorted into a frown.

"Like, I said, I was getting bored." She stressed on the last word.

Arham chuckled, shaking his head.

"Okay. How about you call your driver?"

His statement had her stared at him as if she doubted his sanity.

"You look like an intelligent young lad. I didn't expect such a dumb question from you. Evidently gave you more credit than you deserve." Her reaction took him off guards but the amusement that occupied his face indicated he wasn't offended in the slightest. "My phone is dead." She flashed it in front of him.

"Do you want to use mine?"

"I don't remember his number." She reasoned.

He went into thinking mode. He couldn't just leave the woman alone here. It wasn't safe. There was only one solution he could come to.

"Would it be alright if I dropped you wherever you're heading to?"

The woman didn't say anything for a moment, then, looked at him with scrutiny. He looked like a decent man. Her suspicious gaze then swiveled towards his car. She could jump off the car in case he tried pulling off something funny, she supposed. Besides it had already been 40 minutes since she had been standing here waiting for the driver to return. And having no way to contact anyone, trusting the kind stranger was the safest bet.

She nodded and on getting the cue, he immediately opened the car door. Once she was comfortably settled inside, he closed the door and rounding the car, took his place in the driver's seat. He could see from his peripheral vision that the woman had unlocked her door, and he didn't attempt to lock it. If that's what made her feel safe, then so be it.

Igniting the engine back to life, he gave her a cursory look. "Where do you have to go?" He focused his attention back on the road and the car started moving ahead.

"Um...How do I tell you?" The woman put her finger on the chin, trying to figure out how to make Arham understand the location. "Do you know Azlan Shehryar?" She was sure he'd know him. Everyone in the village did. He was a very well known figure here because of obvious reasons.

"Yes, I do."

"Okay, so, he owns this annex." She rotated her head toward him. "Do you know where it is?"

As if on cue, his foot suddenly hit the break and the car came to an abrupt halt. He craned his neck towards the woman who looked visibly baffled.

"What happened?" Her hand flew towards the door handle and her eyebrows scrunched.

"You want to go to the annex?"

"Why do you look so shocked? Is there a problem with that? Did something happen?" Horror overtook her, if the sudden alarm in her stance was any indication.

He knew Safa had no relative here and the one she did, he already knew her and had actually developed a good rapport with her during his stay in the hospital. So the only person that was left in the annex the woman could be related to was Asmara, and that's what had him surprised.

"No, no, nothing's wrong. It's just that I'm friends with the residents of that house so I was a bit surprised."

"What, you are surprised that you friend has a mother and didn't just fall from the sky?"

Typical reply Asmara would have given him. The resemblance between the mother daughter was uncanny. How did he not guess before?

He chuckled, convulsing his head, and then turned the engine on.

******

Asmara was busy compiling th­e document on her laptop when exactly fifteen minutes later, the door bell rang. Sighing, she put the laptop on the coffee table, and walked towards the main door. She was in no mood of hosting a guest and that had already made her cranky. But the crankiness morphed into utter surprise and then sheer excitement when the person standing behind the door came into view.

"Ammi, you here?" She shrieked in exuberance.

A smile graced Kashana Zanjani as she enveloped her daughter in her embrace. "Why? Do you not like it?"

"Like? I LOVE it?" She gave her a toothy grin and that's when the man standing behind them with Kashana's bag in his hand caught her attention. Arham's eyes were boring into her and she froze for a moment.

Their eyes locked just for a few seconds but in those few seconds many colors had left and settled on Asmara's face. It was Arham who broke the heavy contact. Just like she had broken his heart.

"AsSalamuAlaikum! Where should I put this?" He raised the bag in her direction. There was no bite in his tone. There was nothing in his tone for that matter. And somehow, that hurt.

"WalakumAsSalam!" She stepped aside, giving him space and gestured in the direction of the living room. "You can put it there on the side." She said before closing the door and wrapping her arm around her mother, ambled inside.

"Such a nice lad he is." Kashana pointed towards Arham who was placing the bag where Asmara had told him. "I was stranded on the road since the car broke down and he helped me when he didn't even know me. Your friend is a very nice person, Asmara."

She didn't say anything. Just gave a slight nod.

"You guys sit. I'll be back with tea in just a few minutes." She announced taking the shawl off Kashana and folding it.

"No, I think I'll just take a leave."

He didn't want to linger around. It was a dangerous territory, and lingering around the territory where the love of your life is just one step close yet so far away is a dangerous move.

Asmara didn't prod him further and obliged politely. He strolled towards the main door and she faltered before following suit to see him off.

But the visible tension that had permeated in the air and had gradually started infusing since the moment the two people had looked at each other wasn't hidden from the scrutinizing eyes of Kashana Zanjani.

******

Since the moment things had settled between the two, Azlan had been trying to give Safa her space and he was succeeding at it, too. He didn't want her to feel that with everything sorted out, he was trying to intrude her personal space.

Because people might forgive, but they never forget. Even if they think and say they have that doesn't change the fact that it's still etched in the back of their mind. It only takes one fleeting moment to bring it all back to the surface.

And he surely didn't want that. Not because it would upset his position in her life, but because it would upset the waves of her life which had gotten into a smooth flow now. And Safa being hauled back to the same haywire web of memories which brought her nothing but misery was something that Azlan would never want and wouldn't let happen either.

But yesterday morning, sitting with her in that Dhaba and seeing her all smiles he knew she was the only missing piece in the puzzle of his life. With her in the picture, everything would fall back into place and it would be complete.

And he was scared to lose that piece that fit so perfectly together.

He was scared to lose her again. But he was terrified of her losing a somewhat normal life she had finally attained after years and years of struggle.

He huffed as he bent down on his bed and pulled the drawer out of side table. A small black box came into view and he picked it up. Sameena had gotten it from her mother in law and her from hers. It was an ancestral heirloom being passed on to the daughter in laws of the family since ages. And now she wanted him to give it to Safa.