@Apurva Vaingankar- Some relations whether of blood or not , should always be cherished !!! Thank you for the review.

@Sakshi.B - Hayeeeiinn aapke reviews hi mera dil lejate hai . Bade achche reviews likhte ho. My name is Meenal btw !!

@Ria- " Heart touching" thank you for these two words

@aditi- You know every time I write a chapter , since the beginning I am always waiting ki abhi aditi ka review ayega , abhi ayega aditi ka review !!! Thank you as always.

@Sunshine: Don't worry I will keep your heart safe.

@Anonymus - Thank you !!

@Mystiques- Yeah its a different concept. I wanted some good sister fic but couldn't fine one. So I chose to write one.

@laksara - Thank you for saying that emotions are a great plus point of my story !

@hehee- Happy that you loved my portrayal.

@srikant - Thank you so much srikant !! My story is among someone's favourite. What else I could ask for !

@Pururu Dareya- You know what , My regular reviewers had already reviewed the story so I thought ki hogya abhi review nahi ayega and then comes a mail for your review ! And the last line of your review just made my day ! Thank you so much for writing such beautiful words.

@Lolzz -Emotions ...emotions...emotions...aur bohot sare dikhaungi ! Padhte raho !!

@guest - Yes the portrayal of Daya is quite differet from other fics. Believe me it takes a lot of time to decide ki ab Daya kya karega !!

@Reviewer- Thank you for aprreciating my hard work !!

@Rishu - Thank you for the first review !! Yeah I know people are loving Amairaah a little more than shreya ! And they should cause the story is about her .Abhi filhaal ke liye me aisa likh rahi hu ki Amairaah is overpowering Shreya , But let the time come , Shreya ka character bhi bolega !!

Chapter 14

Amairaah was reading some psychology journal . That branch had never interested her. But anything can be done when you are bored and have no work . She was just turning pages and she came across this thing " Crossword for emotions. Lets give it a try " - Amairaah said . First clue - 4 letters word , the primitive human feeling which is the governing force of the world . Only one thing came to her mind. Fear - A four letter word already . Second clue - Again a four letter word , for something scary . Love - Amairaah thought . Bingo !! Fear and love. She laughed at the two words . These two words would always cause her mind to wander .

Amairaah's mind wandered. At one moment she thought about what happened 4 years ago.At next she thought about what happened 3 months ago and then she thought about what happened 2 days ago at her birthday. But then again at the very next moment she thought about the thing that was supposed to happen after her birthday. Amairaah expected that Daya would call her to talk about things. But he didn't. Of course he called her once a day to check on her but the topic she was dreading about never came up . Her mind was a chaos. Amairaah was really confused because she knew even though Daya would ask her to discuss things she would very roughly reply with a no . Just as she had thrown an angry fit about it on her birthday. Amairaah knew it was wrong Very very wrong .But the main point was when she herself didn't want the discussion with him then why was she wondering about him not asking for it.

So this was it. A battle between choosing one of two things. Either Choose a relationship that means a lot or chose remain fearful and let this person go. A battle between 2 basic motivating forces of life . Fear and love . Should she Open the doors completely for Daya and let the emotions flow or Should she let her mind be overpowered by fear . Just as she had always let it. " What exactly should I do ?" Amairaah asked herself loudly. But as soon as she heard her voice , She looked down in embarrassment. " Great now I am talking to myself !" Amairaah thought. She was pondering over all the thoughts when her phone vibrated. " Free for a movie tonight ?" It was message from Tarika . It was just a simple question with a simple answer yes or no . But even that made Amairaah think . Waha kaun kaun hoga ? Will Daya be there . And if its Tarika there's a chance that even Abhijeet would be present. Aur agar waha dono bhi honge toh mera kya hoga ? These were some of the few questions that came in Amairaah's mind. This habit of overthinking needs to change Amairaah thought . She was still thinking what to answer when another message popped up . " Please free your time. Koi bhi free nahi hai aaj . Na abhijeet Na Daya aur Shreya to hai hi nahi. Tum mana mat karo !" Now how could Amairaah decline that . She typed " Yes "with some smileys and hit the send button. A movie would be good .Also It was long time she had watched any movie so for a time being the change would not harm her . She didn't realise it was almost evening . She went downstairs to make herself some tea. She had spent the whole sunday afternoon lazying around and now she needed some thing to refresh her . After about 20 mins she was done with drinking her tea and had a look at the watch . She decided to start getting ready. Tarika would be here any moment. And she was right . Just after getting ready Tarika was there honking the car from outside . Radhabai and Dattu had gone somewhere so she left a note at the door for them after locking and sat in Tarika's car.

( At the theatre)

Amairaah hoped horribly that the movie Tarika had tickets for should not be any family drama or a Romantic cliche. She didn't like those. She loved biographies or movies based on any particular true incident . But as always luck was not her side. It turned out to be a romantic cliche . She even wondered if Abhijeet and Daya were actually busy or they had just decided to ditch out. Amairaah laughed at that thought. " Kya hua ? Hasi kyu aa rahi hai tumhe ?" Tarika asked . That made Amairaah laugh more . How could she controll her laugh with a stupid Romantic movie ticket in her hand and hilarious thought about how the two boys had ditched their friend . Tarika was still not able to understand so instead of further prying she dragged Amairaah to the screening area by the hand . They took their seats and waited for the movie to start.

( During the movie )

Amairaah was actually not paying complete attention to the movie . She was busy looking here and there , Answering texts on her cell phone . She even thought about messaging Daya and asking if he was really busy or he and Abhijeet were watching an action movie at home. She suddenly looked sideways towards Tarika . She was sniffling and trying to wipe the tears on her face . Amairaah was amazed how could a movie make you cry this much . A very emotional scene must be going on she thought. But without even looking at the screen she started hogging on the popcorn .

Amairaah was still continuously hogging without paying attention to the movie untill she heard some thing that made her petrified. It was nothing but a dialogue in the movie . Amairaah's hand had completely stopped dead in the tracks between the popcorn box and her mouth . She wasn't even looking at the screen . The actors didn't matter to her . She only wanted to hear the voice . It said -

" You leave but you don't stay gone . Why do you that . What makes you think you should do that ? Why do you abandon the things you wanna keep ? Why do you linger in the places from where you wanna leave ? You have to make a decision . Either you stay or you leave . And if you plan on leaving , you leave now . You don't start a game and decide in between that you wanna leave. Cause may be its okay for you. But to the people around you its a horrible horrible thing. It horrible to do both . To go and to return and that to all at once ."

Amairaah kept the popcorn back into the container . Suddenly she felt as if the dialogue was just made for her situation . It was perfect for how she was stuck in her own paradoxical feelings. But what made her think more was the last part . Was she doing justice to Daya ? He was going at the end of the worlds to help her and what was she doing ? And how idiotic her behavior was . For one time she cries hopelessly around him and the next when he asks her about the things she literally pushes him away .

The movie ended and the two girls decided have something at a restaurant . So they went inside one which was the closest to their movie theatre. Both of them ordered and things and were talking about the movie . Amairaah's mind suddenly went back to the only dialogue she had heard and she kept thinking and thinking about that only . Maybe she could ask Tarika some of her doubts . She was a good friend of Daya . Amairaah thought. " Dr. Tarika , woh me puch rahi thi ki Daya sir ne bole the ane wale dino me hum dono kuch jaruri bate discuss krenge. Mujhe laga bday ke baad woh fone krenge lekin abtak aya nahi unka fone ? " Tarika literally had firecrackers in her mind on hearing this questions. She was finally happy that Amairaah was thinking on her point . But Tarika had to keep a straight face , she couldn't let Amairaah read her face . " Tum bhi kaha baat karna chahti ho Amairaah usse . Aur jabtak Baat karne aur sunne me dono ka equal participation nahi rehta na toh woh baat karne ke matlab hi nahi hai . Right ??" Tarika replied. She was not going to let her guard down. Amairaah had a feeling that Daya might be sharing things with Abhijeet and Tarika and that's why she confidently answered her and that too on the point. They continued eating . When the were almost finished Tarika said to Amairaah , " Amairaah, Tumhe pata hai us din shreya se baat karte karte tumhari maa ka naam pata chal mujhe. Dhriti !! Bohot anokha aur khoobsurat naam hai ." Amairaah nodded . She knew it was a unique name but what she didn't knew that why the name was coming up now . " Dhriti ka matlab janti ho tum ?" Amairaah said " Nahi , aur kabhi dhyaan me bhi nahi aya !" .Tarika kept down her spoon and said , " Dhriti ka matlab hai a courageous woman . And I guess it suited her quite well . Haa desh ki suraksha ke liye tumhare papa jakhmi hote the . Lekin Apne sab ichcha akansha chod ke apne hi pati ki zindagi me desh ke baad 2nd number pe rehna it takes courage . And when their time Came , Even your mom whole heartedly gave her life with your father. Tab woh naam padhke aisa laga ki Maybe Shreya aur tumme jo courage hai woh tumhari papa ki wajahse nahi , tumhari maa ki wajahse hai." Amairaah smiled at that. Yes everybody talked about her father but no body talked about the sacrifices her mother had made . Tarika continued further , " Tumhe Shreya ka meaning pata hai ?" Amairaah nodded in a no again. " Shreya ka matlab hai ? The most beautiful girl in the world . The girl who is able to see the beauty in everything and everybody inspite of all their imperfections. And she already had her mother's braveness. A goddess in every sense ." Amairaah appreciated Tarika's knowledge about all the stuff but it looked like Tarika wasn't done talking . " And the last one , Tumhe pata hai Amairaah ka matlab kya hai ?" Amairaah again nodded in a no . She wondered at the irony . She didn't even know what she meant . Tarika continued , " Amairaah means the girl who's beauty is everlasting ." Amairaah was contended upon hearing the meaning. She smiled internally about the choices of the names her parents had made . They both had finished eating and the waiter had took their soiled utensils and returned with the bill . Tarika paid the bill. Amairaah asked if she should pay it. But Tarika denied. Never they had allowed her to pay . Neither Tarika nor Daya. As Amairaah was about to get up. Tarika kept her hand on Amairaah's hand. Amairaah sat on the table again confused as what happened now. Tarika said , " Amairaah- The girl who has everlasting beauty . .Let Daya help you to preserve it. Let us help you keep your soul beautiful as it was 4 years ago. We all have our demons. You have your demons that have built a hell inside your mind. Let him help you to build your paradise back again." Amairaah was stunned . She had never expected this from Tarika . But here she was clearing the confusion in her hear in a most beautiful way . Amairaah nodded her head positively and they both left .

( In Daya's car)

Daya was returning home from office . It was almost 9 PM . Daya usually called Amairaah at this time only to check on her. She used to finish her work, dinner and maximum of the chores at this time. When Daya stopped at the signal, he pulled out the phone from his pocket and dialled Amairaah's number. Amairaah didn't pick up . He tried again but still no response . After trying for about 4th time with no response , Daya called on their home's landline number . " Radhabai , Amairaah kahi gyi hai kya ? Fone nahi uthari hai mera !" Daya asked as Radhabai picked up the phone. " Haa Daya saab , Woh Dr. tarika ayi thi. Woh aur Amairaah bitiyaan movie dekhne gye hai !" Daya heaved a sigh of relief . He remembered that Tarika had asked both of them for the movie but they had declined . So she must have taken Amairaah instead . Daya proceeded on his way home. He was thinking about the day when he went to pick up Amairaah for her bday surprise. He thought that after the whole family thing explanation, Amairaah would confide in him. But she was still not ready. Yes that day he had told that he would discuss her issues someday but he hadn't spoken a word about that later . What to talk when she herself doesn't wanna participate. Maybe Abhiheet was right. Daya thought . Amairaah would never ever self realise the thing that she needs someone. Daya was himself unsure of giving her some more time or forcefully making her talk.

As he was thinking all this he reached home and parked his car. He opened the lock and stepped inside. As soon as he stepped inside he felt as if he stepped onto something. He hit the lights and he saw an envelope with a letter. Who would leave a letter like this , Daya thought. Maybe its his khabri giving him some message. He opened the envelope and found a letter . It read ,

" Hello Daya sir ,

Sorry I didn't have to courage to talk to you personally so I hope this letter would do the talking .

First of all I want to apologise for all the rude behavior and stunts I kept pulling uptill now. I want to apologize for the number of times you had to clear the mess that I had created. I am sorry .

And now the scarier part.

You always asked me to tell my problems , my fears my dreams to you . But here's a thing .

I don't know how to tell you about how broken I am. I don't know how to open up to someone without being judged because in the past years I wasn't used to doing that.

And now the scariest part.

The scariest part I thought was being alone being lonely . But it isn't . The scariest part is that I have completely lost myself god knows where . I wasn't a girl like this. And i dont wanna be like this more. I hope you understand what I meant. And besides somebody in the past 2 days told me that-"If you are ever lost , Daya's the best person to bring you back :-P" Please don't ask who said that otherwise that person will surely beat me up.

I know I have been annoying , I have been rude and sometines even irritating. I wasn't just a good person. And even in future there's a possibility of me throwing an angry , rude and irritated fit . But Even though I act stupid , I want you to stay behind me always . You are the one that had always got my back . And I sure don't want you leaving now.

All's said .

Your's ,

Amairaah.

Daya was shocked to read the letter . He was checking it checking the envelope if this was for real . He hadn't felt so contended ever. He was continuously staring at the letter . He took a seat on the couch and took deep breathes. Finally he Made Amairaah realise it. He was still silently thinking when he saw two feet behind the entrance door . Somebody was hiding in there . His lips curved into big smile . He knew it was Amairaah. Without making noise he went upto the door and moved it to reveal her . There she was standing with eyes closed and fingers crossed .

She looked beyond innocent in this stage . " Amu ..." Daya slowly called . He had never called her Amu uptill now . But today he did. Amairaah scarily opened her eyes . She saw Daya standing about 5 feet from her . Okay well this was not in her plan. Her plan was to drop the letter secretly and leave for her house as soon as possible. What was the purpose of the letter if she could wait to see the reaction of Daya . But these days things really turned upside down for her. And now , where her only objective was to avoid a person , that person was standing five feet from her . Great Amairaah great , she thought.

Amairaah had a look a Daya. She felt quite embarrassed but still she managed to look up into his eyes . Daya lovingly saw her . He opened his arms wide for her and without taking time her tiny figure collapsed into his large arms .

These were the people that Amairaah was supposed to hold on to . These were the moments that she would keep treasured in her heart forever . This was perfect . This was home . This was family.

And this was LIFE !!!

Daya seperated from her . He had a very contended smile . " Bohot jyada der laga di Amairaah apne ane me !! Hum toh dheere dheere asha hi chod rahe the abhi." Amairaah felt sorry for that and she lowered her face in guilt . Daya noticed this and he tapped her chin upwards and said , " No, none of that now !!" He kept his hands on her head. Daya knew that the environment had become a quite emotional one so to change it he said , " "Khana khaogi ? Bohot bura banata hu me" .Both of them laughed and They proceeded towards kitchen to fix something for their stomachs. Daya again asked , " Salad me kaunse vegetables pasand hai tumhe ?" Amairaah's eyes widened at the thought of eating salad for dinner. Daya understood. " What happened you never had a salad ?" Amairaah gave it a thought and said " I had it ones for dinner . It had tomatoes , olives , bell peppers and a lot of other vegetables on a really really nutritious whole wheat base." Daya raised his one eyebrow at that. Amairaah came to the point , " Fine ..Fine it was pizza . I ate a pizza but it had Vegetables on the top. Doesn't that count?" Daya laughed at that. He said , " Fine lets make your kind of salad." They decided to make some sandwiches. Daya forwarded 2 tomatoes to Amairaah for chopping and he himself started chopping the lettuce .

Amairaah was thinking something . He wanted to ask something to Daya but she was not sure whether she should ask it . She was still musing when she felt somebody take the knife out of her hand. It was Daya . " Are ruko na kaat ke toh de rahi thi." Daya took the tomatoes as well and started chopping himself. " Tamatar kaat rahi ya apne hath. Meri maa agar tumhari behen ne agar tumhe ek kharoch ke sath bhi dekh liya na toh usne mujhe kaat dena hai." Both of them dissolved in laughter . Daya continued making the dinner and Amairaah was stalling here and there. Finally she made up her mind to ask the question to Daya . " Daya sir , aapse ek baat puchu ?" Daya still engrossed in cooking replied with " Hmm" . " You had a lot of reasons to leave but still you chose to stay . What makes you do that ?" Daya was done making the sandwiches and he put two plates on the dining table accompanied with some ketchups. Daya took the first bite and said , " The reason is something even I want you to learn . You don't accept people's part. Either you love them wholly or you dont think about them at all. Shreya came into my life and soon I realised that she was incomplete without you. And when I accpeted you in my life I came to know that come with a package of demons with you. So how I could I say ki You can be with us only when you are happy and just get a room when your are sad. This is what Family is all about . No body gets left behind. You accept their perfections along with imperfections . And when time comes you choose family over everything or anything . You chose famile above yourself, You chose family over good ,evil , angels , devils. You choose family over God ." Amairaah was looking at Daya how thoughtfully he chose his words . They both had finished eating and Amairaah took the plates towards sink. She was washing them when suddenly Daya came to her side . "Chalo idhar aao mere sath ! " Daya said holding her hand and taking Amairaah towards her study . She was seeing his study for the first time . There was large table with documents arranged very neatly on them. A large black leather chair could be seen behind the table. Their were photoes of him with very close people of his on the wall . She saw the photo of Abhijeet , Acp sir . She even wondered if Shreya's photo occupied this wall. Daya took his seat and asked Amairaah to seat on comapritively light chair besides him. Daya looked into her eyes . Amairaah felt as if she was going to drown into the compassion and affection his eyes showed. " I know you are lost right now. You are young and you have no idea what to do . And this part it scares you and terrifies you. It turns you into something hateful . But I want to tell you that , to hate is an easy lasy thing . But to love the people around it takes a lot of courage .And even after everything that has happened , A lot has happened actually I want to tell you that A lot of life still remains . And right now I just want to you to try . Trying is more than enough for me. I am ready to help you through out. But before I sign up for such thing I want a complete confirmation from you that you are willing to fight it out too. I like to know that I am fighting for a warrior and not a deserter !"

Amairaah's pulsations increased . Her heart sank for the words the man sitting in front spoke . She had never realised how frozen she was untill this gaurdian angel came into her life and started melting the ice . Amairaah didn't know how to react. How thankful could she be. She lay their on the chair completely wonder struck . Her heart still beating so loud and so fast . The only thing that she could do was mutter " Thank you !" There were small tears forming in her eyes. She didn't want Daya to look at her like that so she lowered her face to wipe them. But when she was lowering her face it was catched by Daya . He wiped her tears with his thumbs and Amairaah stood their frozen. The silence was broken by Amairaah's fone. It was Radhabai . Daya took a look at the watched . Yeah it was quite late now . She needed to be home . He heard her on the call , " Haa radhabai bas aahi rahi hu ." Daya fetched his car keys to drop Amairaah home . Amairaah got up from the chair . Suddenly she saw something on the wall . It was the photo of Daya and shreya but it was not what surprised her . Besides that foto there was a picture of her and Daya . It was photo of the day when they both had tried cooking for Shreya and had made kitchen into a horrible mess. It was a candid shot. There was flour on their faces and clothes. They looked tired but were having a best time of life . Amairaah couldn't believe her eyes . Did she matter that much to Daya . That much that within a few months this guy had her photo framed in his house . " Its a nice photo right ?" Came Daya's voice from behind . Amairaah nodded with a smile . " Well you gotta accept that your sister has got mad photography skills ! Come on its getting late. Let's go !"

Amairaah was wondering what the car ride would be. What would they talk about ? But she didn't need to fear that . Daya was himself a very composed personality. He knew what to talk when to talk and what not to talk. So she left that part on him .

Both sath on the car . Amairaah placed her head on the window pane and stared at the moving city outside . It was her usual thing to do. " Movie kaise thi ?" Daya broke the silence . " Romantic thi !" Amairaah said with a scrunch . Daya laughed at that . They had a few light talks.

They reached the home . Amairaah stepped out of the car and was about to go towards the door when Daya stopped her . Amairaah thought that he must have stopped her to say goodbye . But instead What Daya said made her respect him even more . " Welcome Home Amairaah . Welcone back !" Saying that Daya left the place .

( In Amairaah's house)

Amairaah returned feeling happy. She had never felt such thing in so many days . She plopped on her bed and found the incomplete crossword on her bed from today's morning . She had answered only two questions. She picked it up and saw those .

1.the primitive human feeling that is a governing force of the world. -fear

2. Something scary - love

Very quitely love and fear exchanged their places .

(Note)

Guys this note is to tell you that I have got Three very important papers lined up for next week . So next update me abhi friday ko kar paungi . Sorry for that .

Till then happy reading . !!