On one hand where Aman and Poornima's wedding preparations started in full swing, on the other hand, Khushi's restlessness was increasing. Ever since her confrontation with Arnav that evening, which was a week ago, Khushi was unable to stop thinking about what he had asked her. He had asked her if she believed Saahas was alive, and will be back, what had she done for it to happen? Arnav was right. Just thinking about it won't make it happen, she has to do something...
She closed her eyes thinking of Saahas and the words involuntarily left her mouth, "Come back to me, please..."
She still remembered their pre-wedding courtship, their wedding, and the days that followed clearly as if it happened yesterday. Saahas and his family had welcomed her with so much love that she almost forgot her own family. She had one elder sister who was married and settled abroad and her parents and buaji who were waiting for khushi's marriage so they too could go and spend a few months with Khushi's elder sister as she was expecting a baby. So, it worked perfectly that Khushi was happily settled in her new house and thus, they left for her sister's place within a few weeks.
The tragedy stuck them, however, when Saahas who was a part of a mountaineering group decided to go for a summit in Manali, Himachal Pradesh. That had been a reason for their first ever fight. Khushi had been upset he was leaving her for a week that too so soon after marriage. But he convinced her saying he had been preparing for this summit for years and really wanted to go. So, she reluctantly said yes.
And then, one snowstorm is all it took for her happiness to be snatched. Many mountaineers lost their lives in it, given the difficult terrain and dangerous heights the rescuers also couldn't do much. Some mountaineers were declared dead when they couldn't be found even after days of search. Even if they had been stuck somewhere it was impossible to survive in that weather, so, the rescue teams and the families had rationally concluded they were no more.
Khushi however, still believed Saahas would be alive. He was a very skilled climber, there was no way he wouldn't survive, she was sure.
Revisiting those memories made her restless and vulnerable.
"Come back, Saahas, please." she said in earnest, eyes still closed...
And then she heard his voice, very much like a low whisper but she heard him, "I cannot, Khushi."
She didn't dare to open her eyes, wanting to savor that moment, although her brain already registered it was her wishful thinking, but she wanted to hear his voice. However, even then he was repeating what everyone else was telling her, so she asked, in a furious voice, "Why not? You have to. You promised me"
There was a brief silence. And she heard him again,
"Take care, Khushi. I love you." she heard him say say and felt as if he pecked her cheek.
Main tenu samjhawan ki, Na tere bina lagda jee
Tu ki jaane pyar mera, Main karoon intezar tera
Tu dil tu yun jaan meri
(How should I explain this to you, Without you my heart is nowhere
What do you know about my love, I'm waiting for you
You're my heart and my soul)
At that moment she opened her eyes, and started to looked around her, albeit knowing it was going to be a heartbreak. Saahas could not be here.
She felt a cold breeze enter the room and play with her dupatta, and then her hair which had fallen over her cheek, the place where she had felt him kiss a moment ago...how she wished he was indeed here, she wouldn't let him go this time.
