Prologue

"We were always going to end up here, weren't we?"

Alekh looks up at Naina from where he has been checking his weapon. "It could have been elsewhere."

"I suppose there were more than a few times." Naina sighs. "You and me, we've certainly known how to end up in our fair share of trouble over the years."

Alekh shrugs, even as he glances at the other soldiers around them, all making preparations for the final assault they're expecting. "I don't mind dying here today. It's been a better life than I expected to live, a better one than I deserved."

"You deserved much more than this though, Alekh." Naina answers tiredly, even as she checks cartridges. It's a thought that has run through her mind so many times over the years. "Maybe if you hadn't stuck with me over the years you could've avoided this fate, and found some happiness for yourself."

Alekh places a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I've had plenty of happiness, I've got no regrets for myself. You though, I wish you could've been happy."

It's been five years since they've graduated, five years in which they've shared every posting. Alekh has watched as Naina has struggled in that time, watched her forge forward despite it, determined to live her life the best way she can despite her circumstances. Naina's grief has faded over the years, she has lived well and she has lived bravely, but he hasn't truly seen her be happy in all that time.

It is all he ever really wanted from the moment she chose him to confide to at the academy, that one day all that pain could be taken away and she would be happy once more. He would've done anything to achieve it if only there could have been a way to do so.

"I was happy once," Naina tells him, her smile all too wistful. "For a few days at least."

And there it is, the truth he's seen over and over again in the time since Captain Rajveer died. Naina might never have given up, she might never have allowed herself to give anything less than her very best, but she has never been able to let go of that time or those regrets.

Alekh regrets too. He regrets that he didn't do more at the time, he thinks of all the mistakes they all made, including his own, that led to the Captain's death. If he could only be given another chance to go back in time, Alekh swears that he would fix it. He would do whatever was possible to stop the Captain dying, he would ensure that the truest friend he's ever had got her share of happiness too.

"I wish I could change it for you." Alekh says suddenly, reaching out to grasp Naina's hand. She stills as he touches, her, looking up from the weapons. "I wish there was a way to go back and do it all over again."

The smile that Naina gives him is all too heartbreakingly familiar. "There's no second chances in life, Alekh, no matter how much we both wish we could go back. I'd fix it all too if I had the chance, I'd stop it all if I could and I'd grasp happiness with both hands." She sighs then and squeezes his hand, "Maybe in the next life we'll be luckier, and we'll actually get what we deserve."

There is a rumbling from outside the bunker they're in, a shaking of the ground, and they let go of each other's hands, snatching up their weapons.

The light is dim, now flickering, and Alekh wonders if this will be the last moment that he sees her face; so very dear to him, the dearest one that he has known in this life.

"If it ends today, then I'm glad it's with you by my side." Naina tells him.

Alekh nods, never one for many words. He is opening his mouth to try and tell her something, anything that might make her feel better, when there is a deafening sound, the entire structure shaking, and Alekh knows that this is the end, without even the chance to fight it.

If we could go back, he thinks as the world comes crashing down, if we could just go back to before it all went wrong.