Epilogue

Huda wins his bet with Yudi, in the end it does take them less than three months to get married.

They are given only seven days off, and of those the first two are taken up by preparations, and the next two by the actual wedding ceremonies. There's not much time for a honeymoon in the end, but neither of them mind.

It's enough that they're together, it's enough that they're happy. They have the rest of their lives to be able to celebrate properly, and neither of them want to push their luck too much when this is their third leave request in the last two months.

Their friends join them in the celebration, travelling from their bases and KMA, and it's wonderful to have them all together once more. Shalini had missed Ali and Pooja's wedding and she takes the opportunity to catch up with all of her old cadets now. Her adopted son is two now, and he is quickly pampered by all of them, though he enjoys the company of his uncle most of all.

Naina resists the urge to tease Yudi, or ask him if he and Shalini have marriage plans of their own. He stood by her at a time when she was almost friendless and she will never forget that. She knows that Yudi will work things out in his own time, as he always has.

She will tease Aalekh and Riddhi. They deserve it after everything she's endured from them, all the jokes and interference, now it's Naina's turn to have her revenge.

"Should I just put you in a room together, or are you going to pretend you're not going to be sneaking out to see each other?" Naina had asked them innocently as she made the guest arrangements. Riddhi had stuttered while Aalekh just gave her a hard look, Naina sticking her tongue out in return.

She is so very glad that she has their friendship, bonds so strong that nothing will ever be able to break them. When the time comes, Naina looks forward to standing beside them both, to seeing Aalekh finally make his own family, one he has craved for.

It will be a relief to be finally married. She and Rajveer have tried to be subtle while they remain only engaged, conscious that they both need to be a good example to the junior officers on base. With the looks that he gives her though, Naina thinks it would be a miracle if they had managed to get to their marriage entirely chaste.

There are moments when they are together when Naina truly understands just what those years of suppressing his love must have done to him when he feels it so strongly. He worships her in every way he knows how and she finds new ways to fall in love with him each and every day. She loves to have him touch her, whether a grasp of her hand or his shoulder warm against her. She loves his habit of kissing her hand when they're in public and nothing more can take place, started so very long ago by her hospital bedside. She loves to watch him sleep, to have his arms wind around her and his face buried in her neck as they fit themselves into his too small bed.

Naina may have discovered her love late, but there is so much within her now that she finds it difficult remembering the time when she wasn't aware of it.

They have made it here, and Naina wonders just how different their lives would have been if Huda hadn't made that fateful phone call.

He congratulates himself on doing so now of course, claiming that it was all due to his interference that they were united. Naina laughs and asks him if he couldn't have found a more efficient way of getting them married considering it still took three years.

If she has occasionally seen a wistful look on his face, if she has sensed some trace of regret in him, then Naina does not acknowledge it. Huda has grown over the years just as they all have, and even if a part of him still loves her, he really is content now to just be her friend.

On this day, her wedding day, Naina has eyes only for one person as they bring her towards the mandap. Rajveer does not disappoint her, his gaze immediately drawn to hers, a fire in his eyes as he spots her. Naina's progress is slow as she is led to him, and he watches her the entire way, right until she has been settled beside him. Reaching out, Rajveer very deliberately takes her hand and brings it to his lips, even as the pandit clears his throat at what he sees to be inappropriate behaviour.

Naina's mother laughs, her eyes sparkling with joy. As circumspect as they've tried to be about their feelings, Naina knows that her parents have now realised that she and Rajveer are far more than just fond of each other. Her father has confessed that it brings them immense joy to know that she is so loved, to know that she has a partner that she loves and respects in return.

Naina's wedding is everything she might have dreamed of as a girl, only Naveen's absence marring the perfection. It is everything she had believed she would never have, the day she was called to Brigadier Chandook's office to finalise her engagement.

"Ready?" Rajveer asks her, a grin on his face as they stand for the pheras. "I won't accept anything less than seven lives after everything we went through to get here."

"Ready." Naina can't help the answering grin that comes to her own lips. Seven might be too little in the end, but Naina will gladly start with all of the happiness this lifetime offers.

She takes his offered hand and grasps it tightly.

A/N: And there we go, the end of the story! It took them awhile to get to their happy ending, but they made it to the end.

I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, I wasn't sure if there would be anyone still reading LRL fic at this stage so many years after it ended, and it really did encourage me to keep going. If you have been reading, please do let me know what you think!

I am working on another multichapter fic but I will wait until it's complete to start posting it, so I'm crossing my fingers that I can get it done as soon as possible.