Chapter Seven

By the time Captain Rajveer arrives to the hospital, Naina's drip has been removed and she's pacing her room.

"She really should be here for a few more days," the doctor comments disapprovingly, "But I know what you army types are like. She'll probably recover faster if she has something to keep her busy."

"Thanks Doc, I'll ensure that she doesn't do anything to reopen the wound." Raj promises, "We'll keep her off physical drills for the rest of the week and after that they have their holidays anyway."

The end of a year at the academy, the end of a year in which they've been through so much together and he's not quite sure how he feels about it. With the spy found, Colonel Chandra had suggested that it was time for him to come back to headquarters and maybe that would be for the best.

The fact that he doesn't want to demonstrates all the reasons why he really should.

Raj opens the door to Naina's room and she turns around from the window, a hopeful look on her face.

"You're cleared for discharge," he confirms, placing a bag on the bed. "Get changed into your clothes and I'll take you back."

Naina looks from the bag of clothes on the bed down to her hospital gown, frowning. "I'll need some help."

Raj can feel his cheeks flushing. "Naina I don't think..." at the strange look that she's giving him, he realises he's misunderstood. "I'll just get the nurse."

He waits outside as she changes, turning around only when the nurse exits with a knowing smile to him. "She's ready now."

Naina is dressed in casuals, her arm secured in a sling so that she won't strain her injury.

"Ready, Cadet Naina 'Ah' Singh?" Raj asks, unable to help himself and glad when her lips quirk up in an answering smile.

"Always, Sir." She tells him, and he has to force himself to keep walking forward rather than to turn back towards her. It is getting harder and harder these days to stop himself from saying and doing everything that he shouldn't. Raj doesn't know if it is due to almost losing Naina or her forgiveness, but he's treading dangerous ground.

They settle into the jeep and seeing her struggling with her seatbelt one handed, he pulls it across for her.

"There's only three more days off until your holidays and then you'll have two weeks to recover." Raj comments. "I hope you're ready for your second year at KMA."

"I wonder what this one will be like," Naina muses, "So many things have changed."

"Whatever happens, I know that you'll manage to handle it well. I'm proud of the way you've grown in the past year, Naina. I can already see the officer that you're going to become."

"It's all been because of you, Sir." Naina tells him sincerely. "Everything that I am is because of you."

Raj shakes his head. "Not everything, Naina. You've always had your determination, your bravery, and that fire for justice. I didn't give you those."

"But you taught me how to use them." Naina comments softly. "Or I would never have reached this far."

There is too much truth in her voice for Raj to be comfortable looking at her face so he concentrates on the road instead. "I called your parents once you were out of surgery to let them know, and again once you'd woken up."

"Thank you, with everything that happened I didn't even think..." Naina shakes her head, she knows that she should think more about how her parents will be affected by what she does. "It will be good to have some time with them over the holidays."

"Will you tell them about Naveen's death?" Raj asks and the question is so unexpected that she turns to him, startled.

She never had told them, in that other life. Something had always stopped her, and now she wishes she had so that she would know how they would react.

Naina shakes her head. "I don't think it's the right time. Maybe one day, if we unravel the mystery and know who framed him but now... now it's just one truth among many and not the one they really want to know."

Raj nods. "It's your choice, Naina. I wouldn't stop you from telling anyone that you wish to."

"Alekh knows, but I don't need to tell the others."

He turns to look at her then, slowing the car down as he does so. "You don't need to protect me from people finding out, Naina."

She shakes her head then. "It's a truth that belongs to both of us, and it's one that we should both decide what to do with. Nobody else needs to know."

"And where does that leave us, Naina?" Raj asks her, trying to keep his voice level as his heart beats erratically within his chest. "You wanted time to think, but I want you to know that I'll do whatever you think is best. If you want me gone from the academy now that you know the truth then I'll do that."

Naina reaches out to get his attention, laying her hand on his, and for a moment Raj turns towards her, their eyes locking. "You're still my mentor," she tells him, her voice thick with emotion. "And I'm still your protege."

There are so many other things that Naina has wished they could be, but for now that is enough.

/

There is a party held to celebrate Naina's safe return to the academy, of course there is when it's her friends involved.

"On second thoughts, Naina, don't give me my passport back." Yudi tells her with a grin, "As long as I don't have it, my parents can't threaten to send me anyway."

Naina laughs and pats him on the back. "You can just tell them you never got it back, I'll give it to you tomorrow."

Ali and Pooja are huddled together in a corner, talking quietly, and Naina's heart aches to see them together that way.

While he had hardly ever spoken of her after Pooja's departure, Naina knows that Ali never gave up hope of bringing her back.

"She needs time, Naina, she's been hurt as badly as any of us. When they took her back home, her parents worked on her until she promised them that she wouldn't return. Maybe Pooja won't join the army now, but there'll be a day when she's ready to come back to us and when she is, I'll be ready to welcome her."

Naina knows that he had been saving up, wanting to wait until he had something to offer before he could approach Pooja's parents to ask to marry her. An army captain's pay didn't go that far though when there were five sisters with educations to pay for.

This time, Pooja's will won't be broken. This time, Ali and Pooja won't have to part.

Huda sidles up to Naina then, a drink in hand, and she has to stop herself from sighing. Here is one part that she had not missed of that old life. They could have been friends if only he'd been able to let go of his obsession with her. They almost had been friends for a time, but he had never been able to give up that last hope.

Naina will make sure that this time he has the answers he needs to move on properly but not now, not at her welcome back party.

"You shouldn't have been so eager to catch up with me, Phoolan. I liked being the only one of us with a gunshot wound."

Naina laughs, "And mine turned out to be even more impressive than yours. Don't be in a hurry to outdo me though, Huda. It would be nice if we could get through the rest of our training without anyone else getting shot."

"Three more days and it will be the end of our first year here." Huda comments, his tone still light. "I've come a long way in winning my mummy's bet but I still haven't managed to win you over."

"Is that all this still is for you, Huda?" Naina asks him seriously. "A bet, and the chance to win a girl over? I thought that the army meant more to you by now."

"Of course it does," Huda answers defensively. "I always wanted to be the jawan as well as the kissan. That doesn't mean I'm ready to give up on the other reasons though."

"And if those other reasons aren't there?" Naina asks, unable to let it go when he's brought it up. Huda's primary reason for being here has never been because he's wanted to be a soldier, and she's worried that this time too he'll lose his will to follow it through. "You need to be here for the right reasons, Huda. You saw what happened on that mission, that's the life of a soldier. Either you're completely dedicated to it or it's the wrong life for you."

"Why are you being like this, Naina?" Huda asks her, suddenly serious.

"Because I don't want to lose you when we need you the most just because things didn't turn out the way you always dreamed of." Naina states. "You can't be here because of your mother, or me, or even your loyalty to Captain Rajveer. It has to be for you, Huda."

She had gone to try and convince him to return when he had disappeared from the academy midway through their final year. Naina had thought that it would be easy to change his mind, as it always had been before that. What she had not been prepared for was a Huda who had lost his belief, who no longer saw the point to fighting.

"Would you love me if I were to come back?" Huda had asked, his tone biting. "Would it be enough to convince you that I'm as good a man as he was, to make you see me as something more than a friend?"

Naina had seen that he's regretted the words almost as soon as he'd said them, even as her own expression turned to stone. "That wasn't why I came here today, Huda."

He had shaken his head sadly. "Then don't ask this of me, Naina. I can't come back and watch you go through life like it's a tragedy, unable to move on. I know..." Huda had taken in a shuddering great breath and Naina knew that he grieved still. "I know he was the best man that I'll ever meet. I know he was the best army officer that there ever was. And what happened to him? What was his fate? If they can do that to him then what hope do the rest of us have?"

"But we can make a difference by following his example, Huda, we can carry his legacy on..."

"It won't bring him back though, will it?" Huda had looked back at her, sadder and wiser than he'd ever been. "It won't change what happened. You'll carry his ghost with you all your life, Naina, but I don't want to live like that. So don't ask me again because I'm not coming back."

His words had haunted her for years afterwards, even as Naina had struggled to move on with her own life. She might have carried a ghost with her but at least she'd kept moving, at least she'd stayed true to who she was rather than giving up to try and live another life.

This time Huda will stay true too, Naina will make sure of it.

/

"Do you want to come home with me for the holidays?"

They've been given an easy schedule for the last few days now that all of the exams and major drills are over. Naina has told the others that she's tutoring Alekh in English so that there's no repeat of his disastrous results next time around. It gives them an opportunity to plan in private, as well as hopefully making his newfound skills not as unbelievable.

"I can't, Neelu will need me to be here."

Naina sighs, scrubbing her uninjured hand down her face. "I'm sorry, Alekh, with everything that happened I forgot about Neelu. What are you going to do, will you try and marry her this time too?"

Alekh shakes his head. "It wasn't the right choice last time either, just the best option I could think of. I've told her to tell Yudi the truth, and I'll stand by her while she does so... but me and Neelu, that wasn't meant to be."

Naina nods. She would've supported his decision regardless of what he chose, but she's relieved that Alekh won't be getting involved this time around. She still remembers the way that Yudi had treated him when he believed that Alekh was the father of the child. She still remembers the way that Neelu had given up on him when they were going through the worst of times.

"Try to call me if you can to let me know what happens, I'll give you my home number."

"And what are you going to do, have you decided?"

"Well I'll go home and..." at Alekh's sharp look, Naina stops. "That wasn't what you meant, was it?"

Alekh raises his eyebrows at her. "What are you going to do about you and Sir? I always thought if you had a second chance you wouldn't waste it."

"I always thought that too, Alekh, that if somehow I could get him back I'd tell him everything, I'd make sure we had our chance, but I..." A shudder runs through Naina and she bites her lip in the effort to suppress it. "I'm terrified, Alekh. What if I make the wrong choices again, what if he dies anyway?"

Alekh reaches out, placing his hand on hers. "We need a plan, we need to decide what to do first. Do we prove your brother innocent and let the rest work out from there?"

Naina shakes her head vigorously, feeling like a traitor all the while. "It was the red box that caused all the trouble last time. Whatever happens, we need to keep Rajveer Sir away from it. I want to prove Bhaiyya innocent but it can't be at the cost of his life. Last time, he was single minded, he was prepared to do anything to find it and..."

"And you think it was because of you." Alekh finishes.

"It was because of me." Naina counters, tears coming to her eyes, her throat tightening with a pain she's never managed to overcome. "I will never forget what was said at the trial, Alekh. He did everything to prove his innocence to me, because he loved me. He risked everything because of that love, he died because of that love."

"He died because of Gehlot." Alekh counters, "It wasn't your fault, Naina. Things will be different this time, he knows you don't hate him. He won't act so rashly."

Naina shakes her head even as her hands tremble. "Until we manage to bring Gehlot down I can't let him love me."

Alekh laughs, before he manages to stop himself, seeing Naina's state. "I think it's a bit too late for that Naina, we would've needed to get back much earlier than this to stop him from falling in love with you."

"Then we'll convince him to stop." Naina continues stubbornly. "I'll have to drive him away somehow."

"Naina, last time you shot him and then were horrible to him for months and it still didn't make him stop loving you. What do you think you could do this time?"

"Something!" Naina throws up her hands. "He just needs to not love me, then he'll survive."

"I think you're underestimating Rajveer Sir's ability to get into trouble all on his own." Alekh's mouth quirks, and Naina wishes there was something nearby she could throw at him for finding this so amusing when she's almost having a break down. "You're not going to stop him from loving you, so what's our next option?"

Naina takes a deep breath in, trying to think logically past the emotions that threaten to overwhelm her. "We need to stop him from investigating. If he never hears about the red box or manages to track it down then we can avoid what happened."

"So how do we do that?"

"Maybe we already have." Naina muses. "Last time Dr Mishra told us about Captain Abhimanyu, and he told us about the red box. There's no way for Captain Rajveer to hear about it this time, not if Captain Abhimanyu doesn't come to the academy."

"Are you sure Sir can't find out some other way?" Alekh asks, "What if he starts investigating on his own?"

"You're right, Alekh." Naina looks away towards the academy; at a distance she can see him now, discussing something with Dr Shalini. God, what a relief it is to just be able to see him, to know that he's alive. She swears she doesn't need anything else from him, she doesn't. "Maybe we should try and get him out of the academy so that he's nowhere near it. How do we do that though?"

Alekh's lips quirk again, watching Naina watching the Captain. "Maybe you should seduce him so that he's thrown out."

"Alekh!" This time, Naina does throw something, the English book they'd brought down as an excuse.

Catching it easily, Alekh shrugs. "At the most he would get a reprimand. He probably wouldn't even mind if you..."

Naina starts to stand up and Alekh laughs. "I'm joking, Naina. We'll both think over the holidays, when we get back we'll be prepared to put a plan into action."

"We'd better be, Alekh. Now in case anyone asks you, what did you learn from the lesson today?"

Alekh looks back at her deadpan. "The fat cat sat on the mat."

Naina shrugs, "Good enough, I suppose."

They make their way back up to the academy and all the way, Naina keeps her eyes on his distant figure.

She will save him, no matter what. Even if she has to give up on justice for her brother. Even if she has to give up on love for herself.

A/N: A big thank you to everyone who reviewed, including Neha and the guest who I can't respond to through messages!

Neha I'll make sure each of the cadets gets their bit of time here!

guest thank you for your kind words! I am hoping to write at least one more Consign oneshot, maybe after this one is finished.