It has always been you!

Chapter 26

Third person pov:
Continued...

FLASHBACK:

"Phuppo? Can I come in?" Knocking on the door twice, he asked.

"Wali? What are you doing here? Come in quickly," Saba sprang up from her bed and moved towards the bedroom door, opening it wider to let Wali in.

"I know, Phuppo, I shouldn't be here at this time but I was not able to sleep whole night. I just wanted to meet you first thing in the morning. I was just waiting for phuppa jan to leave for the office. He has left, right?"

Saba nodded at him, walking back towards her place.

"And..." his words were stuck in his throat, hesitation clearly visible on his face. He felt as if he has no right to ask about her anymore, feeling the irony of the situation very well.

"Aleyha? She is sleeping after crying all night," Saba replied to his unasked question, her back was still facing Wali so he could not see her face and the expressions on it. Though her voice was monotonous, it still held that softness and warmness which had always been there for Wali. Wali didn't felt it; he was so guilt-ridden that he thought his Phuppo was upset with him and he misunderstood her behavior as in cold towards him.

"Phuppo," he whispered her name, swallowing the lump in his throat. He couldn't handle his Phuppo being cold towards him. He could never stand even the thought of her getting hurt and upset because of him. Stepping forward, he came closer and turned her around so that he could see her face properly but her eyes were place firmly on the floor.

"I am sorry, phuppo. I am so, so sorry," his voice was soft, almost fragile as if it would break any moment taking this huge size of a man down on his knees with it.

"Phuppo, I don't know how to-" he breaks off and closed his eyes to absorb away the moisture in them, desperately trying to compose himself. He felt he and his voice were giving away much.

Saba sighed out, she couldn't bear it. She could never see his nephew in such pain.

"Wali," Saba looked up at her nephew and cupped his face in her hands. "Breathe, meri jaan."

Wali calmed himself down and stared in his phuppo's misty eyes.

"I am not angry at you. You know I can never be angry at you," she paused as her gaze lingered all over Wali's face. "You know, Wali, I always wanted a son but after Aleyha I was not able to become a mother again. Then...you came in my life and everything changed for me. I and Irfan have always considered you as our own son. In my whole life not for even a second, I had thought otherwise. So, always remember that I can never stay angry at you," she sighed, giving Wali a comforting smile as a tear slipped from her eye. Wali quickly wiped away that tear as he further found solace in his phuppo's hands which were still embracing his face.

"Then, what is it, phuppo?" he asked.

"It's just that I have been thinking about all this. I, too, couldn't sleep a wink whole night, Wali. All of this whatever had happened it had taken me years back. Bhabhi is also very worried about it. I am not at all angry at you, meri jaan. I am just angry at myself...at all of us." Saba's face was morphed into a mixture of guilt, worry, and concern for her nephew.

"What are you saying, Phuppo?" Wali took a step back looking at his Phuppo as his face pulled up in a deep frown. His mind couldn't get whatever she was trying to say.

"I know why you'd said all of those things. We never realized," Saba shook her head, as once again her mind drifted back to all the past scenarios. "We never realized, Wali that you've never moved on. It's all our fault. All our fault!" And this guilt was eating Saba from inside. She hated herself for never realising and connecting the dots.