THE BEAUTIFUL valley of Abbottabad brings back all those memories they left a decade ago. Those carefree childhoods still flow amongst soft chilly winds, that laughter still echoing along. A smile lingers upon Zaheer's lips as he recalls those days, the golden day.

As Aarzu looks ahead, for once she wants to step off the car and feel the winds playing here, for once to live her life as she lived back in London, but she knows the limit. Coming back to this land means knotting back to the norms.

The Shah family had ruled the estate for decades now, Nawab Shah, the name is enough to bring chills down the spine.

As the car takes the next turn, Aarzu holds her breath, she didn't want to take the turn, she wants to go ahead to the red-bricked wall, the iron gate, the place she once called home. She gulps, as Zaheen squeezes her hands.

"Kasaf chacha, apne woh rasta kyu nahi liya?" Zaheer asked the driver.

"Chote Nawab woh Bade Nawab Shah ka hukum hai, Mallick haweli ka rasta nahi lete ab hum sb." Even the drivers' voice held the pain as she shuts her eyes.

The rules of the family and the orders of their Bade Nawab had ruined her life, what's new in it. Even if she wants to go back to Mallick Haweli, she knows she can't, she had made her choices and there's no way back.

"Aur apke Bade Nawab Shah ney hume aane ka izzazat kaisey de diya?" She laughed at her joke, and Zaheer frowned in defeat.

This girl will never forget her pain, it's just about time she plays her move and then hell will break down, a hell that even Nawab Shah will be forced to bow in front of her. And she had the spark in her, she had everything in her to rule.

"Woh toh yaha hai hi nahi"

"Wah, matlab hum aye bhi nahi aur woh darr key pehle hi bhag gye. Bade hi buzdil hai yaar."

"Aarzu" Zaheer whispered.

"Kya kuch galat bole hum? I don't think so."

Zaheer stayed shut, he knows not to fight with her now, it's a dead end.

The known road of the Shah Haweli comes in view, making them smile, lost in the past. A decade away from home, away from family. A gulp formed in the throat as they recall all those days, the last time this Haweli witnessed happy moments, that was a decade back.

dhol

ehre pe rahe"

The horn brings her back as the familiar brown gates open. Her heartbeat rises as she knows no matter what they said, The Nawab will come back to the Haweli.

Kyuki unhe Aarzu ke Haweli mein hone ki khabar thi.

The familiar gates open and for a moment Aarzu let her mind travel back to the days she used to play on the large lawn. Her trail of thoughts ended when two arms engulfed her in a hug.

A hug she craved for a decade. Tears brim as the familiar scent welcomes her to her home. A home that crumbled into pieces when she was made to leave it. A clog forms in her throat as she gulps it, let the past be a past.

"Aarzu" That familiar voice sounds so old now.

A realization hit her, she had lost ten long years of their life, of her life all because of what? She doesn't know. For all she knows is the Nawab Shah have to pay for her loss, someday, somehow, for all the losses, for all the pain.

"Amma" And she smiled. Aneesha Begum smiled after a decade, for her favourite daughter has come back home.

"Aarzu Aapi" Abeera screamed, that little girl of fifteen she had left behind has turned into a pious twenty five year lady. And she missed that too.

She hugs her tight, as Abeera stands there clad in her yellow lehenga, she is sitting for her mayum today. She is ready to be a wife.

A wife. Aarzu never got the chance to be that. A trace of bitterness filled her mouth as she gulps the raw pain laced with astringent truth.

Uski mohabbat muqammal na thi.

Kyuki uss kambhakt ko Aarzu ki mohabbat qubool na thi

"Aarzu bacche." Amma's sweet voice brings her back, as she turns a little towards the woman whose eyes hold all the emotions at bay for her.

She smiled softly, as the silence prevailing wage and she motions her to enter the Haweli. The breezes halted as her steps, she gulps.

A decade of pain. A decade of abondance.

"Kisi se kisi ka haq cheen lene sey woh haq chut nahi jata Aarzu. Iss Haweli mein tumahara bhi utna hi haq hai jitna kisi aur ka, shayad inn sab se thoda zyada."

For Aneesha Begum have uttered the truth. And she steps in, the breezes dances as the trees swayed along, happiness is finding its way back to the Haweli.

"Aarzu, tu kya aise hi rahegi yaha" Zaheer whispered seeing her lost self.

An array of silence followed and then suddenly a smirk lingers on her lips. A smirk Zaheer Shah is so afraid of.

"Iss baar Haweli mein woh haar cheez hongi joh hume karni hai."

"You sure because.."

"I am sure Zaheer because I know it might be my last time here." He gulped her last time here.

•°•°•°•

Flowers adorned the beauty of the bride as she sits on the swing, gleaming with happiness. Loud music plays in the background and lights covered the huge premises of Shah Haweli, for tonight there's a dual celebration.

The youngest of the generation is getting married, Abeera Shah will soon be married to Hadeed Raaza, a well-known businessman. And their beloved Aarzu has come back after years.

Happiness is subterranean in the air tonight.

"Zaheer bhai nahi please..." Abeera screamed but he pays no heed to that, covers her whole face with ubtan paste.

"Aree yeh toh rasam hoti hai pagli, kyu Aarzu?" She smiled shaking her head. Her mind trails to the past.

"

She gulps as she comes out of her daze.

He was there that day, he shouldn't be.

She gulps as her eyes search for a known figure amongst the hundreds present there, he is not here, he should be but.

"Aarzu." Zaheer calls her and she shakes her head.

"I dare you Zaheer not today." He gives her his infamous smirk, for Zaheer Shah her threats mean nothing.

He steps towards her and she ran taking a hold of her heavy multicoloured lehenga.

"Aree kaha tak bhagogi" He runs behind her.

Her long dupatta trailing behind as her crazy waves dances with the slow breezes. On her way, she takes some ubtan on her hands too, just in case, she needs to be prepared to attack.

"Bhag le aaj, dekhta hu kaha tak bhagti hai."

She laughed, her laughter fills the corridors again, making them alive. As she runs through them, someone switches the lights on, making the light of happiness engulf the dead lanes again. Her anklets making the soothing sounds again as the halls feel alive all of a sudden as if they had waited for them for years.

Uske payalon se aaj bhi Haweli mein ronaq tha

Then suddenly she collides with a hard chest. Her ubtan covered hands make an imprint on his white kurta, as he holds her by the waist before she could fall.

The breezes halted, the realities come to pause. She gulps, years of pain coming to the surface but she refused to address them now.

Aarzu Shah knows she has to attack now, for this can be her last time here.

And she did it, without thinking twice, she slapped him with her ubtan covered hands. For others seeing the scene she just put some ubtan on his face. But the string on his left cheek and the anger in her eyes, he knows the truth.

His eyes turn red in anger, for he hasn't been slapped ever in his twenty-nine years of existence.

Aarzu Shah has slapped Nawab Zamaan Shah.

"Yeh kya behudgi hai?" He asked for he doesn't appreciate women of his family running around like this in a house full of hundreds.

"Behudgi kya hoti hai ab apse behtar kon hi jane Nawab Sahab." She turns around and walked away.

Anger fills in veins, she is not supposed to come here but she is, and he knows that will ruin everything he built for a decade.

For Nawab Zamaan Shah knows, what he did to his family was wrong.

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