Chapter 27

MuguetDScorpion

@MuguetDScorpion

[NOCOPY]Hey Ghumians from Ghumland,

We are in the second thread of the story. That's a lot of writing from me since six months. 
So here I am with the 27th chapter.

I am sorry the chapter is shorter than usual but I had a very hard time writing this part.
I wanted to write the « Rescue Mission » in details but I just couldn't.
I deleted whatever I had written and cut it short instead.

The chapter is focused on LunRat and Jeeva Shiva not much on SaiRat. Hope you will still like it.

Thank you for showering so much love on this story.

Pakhi didn't know if she was happy or felt humiliated. On one hand she was happy that Samrat canceled their outing. On the other hand it was pissing her off that she was always the second option in both Virat and Samrat's lives. Virat had his wife who was the most important person in his life, sometimes even more than his mother. And Samrat had his best friend with whom he had a weird type of relationship. She stared at Samrat who looked devastated by the news. She shook her head, unable to emphasize due to the humiliation she was facing.

Virat picked up Sai from her college and both entered home together. They felt the weird atmosphere of silence in the house which was a sign of bad news. Ashwini quickly explained the whole situation. Both looked at a stressed and nervous Samrat who was checking his phone every five seconds. Sai immediately walked towards him, sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder in support.

Samrat has spent the next following hours between phone calls and pacing up and down. He packed his bag and came out of his room, determined to find her back. He passed by Virat and Sai's room and stopped after hearing his brother talking to his team about Luna. Knowing that his brother was also trying made him emotional. He dropped his bag on the floor and entered his room. He looked at his brother with love while Virat looked at him confused. Samrat engaged in a brotherly embrace surprising Virat. He was happy too but stayed still. He didn't want to expect anything and then get disappointed again. Samrat felt that he was being distant.

« Thank you for doing so much for my Moon even though things are ugly between us. », Samrat said.
« You have forgotten that I am still the same nice Virat not the bad guy you have created in your mind to punish me and yourself. », Virat replied coldly.

Samrat understood at that exact moment that there was a time when he was angry with his brother and he wanted the things to be back to normal and now he was the one who wanted to start afresh but his brother had already given up on them. He walked towards the door then turned around and came back and hugged him again.

« We have a lot to say. When I will return, I will make things OK again. », Samrat said and left, confusing Virat.


The next following days, Samrat fought with the entire world. Lieutenant General Marcello D'Costa knew Samrat would do anything to find his daughter back and that was a relief for him. Contrary to what Luna thought her entire life, he always loved his daughter.
Samrat took the lead and reached the place where she was held captive with one of her colleagues. Apart from them the place was empty. It was a trap and they were surrounded by terrorists. The place turned into a battleground. A backup team came to the rescue which helped them to get out from there with the hostages.


Samrat returned home two days later with head and arm injuries. Luna also returned home, weak and tortured. A few days later, Marcello D'Costa threw a party in honor of his daughter who came back alive from the hands of terrorists and in honor of Samrat and the team who saved two hostages and killed a few terrorists. He also invited the entire Chavan family. As soon as they arrived, Ninad and Marcello shared a drink with some other army men.
Samrat was introducing his family members to his comrades when Luna walked down the stairs decked up in a modern designer saree. He couldn't take his eyes off her. This was the second time in ten years that he saw her in an Indian attire and each time he found her extremely beautiful. It didn't go unnoticed by his family nor his comrades but they believed in their friendship. Luna approached them and greeted everyone with a « Namaste » and thanked for joining the party.

« You are looking gorgeous in saree. », Samrat complimented her.
« Thank you and you are looking like a gadha. », she said while he rolled his eyes, « A handsome gadha though. », she added with a wink.

She excused herself and left to greet the rest of the guests while his comrades and some of the Chavans chuckled.

« I am envious of your friendship. Here she goes missing and you fight with the entire country to find her and there you go missing and she makes her father's life hell. », one of his comrades said.
« Nothing new. She always needs an excuse to fight with him. », Samrat laughed.
« No dude, she kind of left her job and fought with him for months so that he finds you anyhow. She even went alone searching for you. We got the order to follow her and few days later we found you. », another of his comrade narrated what happened during his absence.
« And she stayed with you during the entire time you were getting treated by the doctors. Once you opened your eyes she left. I am also envious. I wish I had a friend like her. », a third comrade explained.

Samrat looked at her from far. The Chavans were stunned and their respect for her increased.

Samrat introduced his brothers and uncle to Marcello D'Costa and they shared a drink all together. Virat was the only one who refused to drink which made Marcello take particular interest in him. He was impressed that the Chavans were serving the country.

« Why did you choose to become an actor ? », he asked curiously after getting to know that Mohit chose a different path.
« Because every individual has their own dreams. Your dream is to save the country, his dream is to entertain people and my dream is to save people's lives. Even army men like you need an actor to spend quality time with their spouses and children, isn't it uncle ? », Sai intervened.
« Younger version of Luna. Who are you my child ? », Marcello asked impressed.
Virat looked at her then at Marcello with a proud smile, « My wife, Sai. »
« Interesting. Saving lives. A doctor perhaps ? », he asked.
« A medical student. », Sai replied.
« Don't waste your time here or else he will ask you to join as the armed forces doctor. », Luna joined in to warn her mockingly.
« Thank you dear daughter for giving me such a brilliant idea. », Marcello replied with the same sarcasm.
« Chal kahin aur chale. », Luna said to Sai.
« Nice to meet you Mrs. Sai Chavan. », Marcello said before they could leave.
« Joshi. Sai Joshi. I like to carry my father's name. », Sai replied before leaving.
« Sai Joshi Chavan. », Virat corrected making her stare at him with a confused look.

Later at the party the music played on and Mr. D'Costa invited his wife for a dance. Samrat also asked Pakhi for a dance but she declined the offer. Rejected in front of everyone, he walked towards Luna and Sai who were having a sisterly conversation.

« May I have this dance... pretty... Moon. », he asked to Luna.
« Tu nahin sudhrega. I almost died and you still can't call me Luna. », she said.
« Listen don't talk about death and all otherwise I will cut the N from your name and call you Moo like a cow. », he said angrily.
« Are you calling me a cow ? How dare you ? », she punched his shoulder.
« Ouchhhh !!! See I almost died saving you and you are punching that arm I almost lost because of you. », he replied dramatically.
« Oh sorry sorry sorry ! », she apologized worriedly. « Wait, now who is talking about death ? », she went back to her serious mode.
« May I have this dance today or do I have to wait for another life ? », he asked extending his hand.

Sai laughed out loud. Luna smiled, held his hand and left with him. Virat joined Sai and asked for a dance. Sai's smile disappeared. The thought of dancing still brought bad memories. He reassured her with his eyes that everything will be fine. She smiled and followed him. Karishma whispered to Mohit that his brothers were true gentlemen and romantic unlike him.

« Queen Karishma, may I have this dance with you ? », he asked sarcastically.
« Aise toh bilkul bhi nahin. », she replied moving out from there.
« Ok sorry baby, will you dance with me ? », he asked sweetly.

Karishma smiled and agreed to join him for the dance.

« Why didn't you tell me that you were one of those who rescued me and that you stayed with me the entire time I was unconscious ? », Samrat asked to Luna while they were still dancing.
« Did we get the time to discuss freely ? », she asked.
« Why were you so desperate to find me ? », he asked staring at her.
« Why were you so desperate to save me ? », she asked back, not shying away from his intent stare.
« For God's sake Moon, answer me. », he said stopping the dance and shaking her by the shoulder.
« You answer me first. », she said giving him a challenging look.

Pakhi looked at both the brothers from far and fumed.


After they came back home from the party and freshening up, Virat went to the balcony to take some fresh air. He was waiting for his wife to come with her usual green tea, a ritual they awlays followed whenever they had heavy food at night. Before she could join him, Samrat came to the balcony for the same reason as his brother. Uncomfortable being around him, Virat was about to leave but Samrat stopped him.

« Virat please forgive me. I was blinded by my hatred. I became selfish in my pain that I couldn't see we all were suffering. », Samrat started. « Please mere bhai, mujhe maaf kar de. », he gave him a brotherly hug.
« It's OK. », Virat replied barely hugging him back.
« I have so many questions. I want to know why you didn't tell me about your past ? Why you didn't tell me about Pa... », Samrat asked.
« We will talk about it some other day. It's pretty late. », Virat interrupted him seeing Sai coming.

He didn't want his wife to know the real reason why their marriage was a deal marriage. He didn't want her to hate Pakhi nor question their friendship. She already expressed how much she disliked their friendship. He didn't want the things to worsen. Samrat saw Sai and understood the situation. He remembered Sai telling him once that Virat didn't know she was aware of his past. He wished both a goodnight and left the love birds alone.

« Are things better between you two ? », she asked giving him his green tea.
« Yeah ! », he replied taking the cup.
« Then why do you look so unhappy ? », she asked.
« He wants things to get better between us because he thinks he owes me a favor. His apologies are just to thank me for Luna. He is not genuinely ready for things to get better. », he said.
« The Virat Sir I know never questions the intentions of someone's apologies. », Sai reminded him.

Virat didn't reply. She was right. He was the kind of person who would forgive anyone easily then why was it so different now ? Deep down he could feel that Samrat's words weren't sincere. He didn't want his apologies as a favor.

Samrat was lying on the couch and couldn't stop thinking about Luna. How beautiful she looked in her saree and then the unfinished conversation they had. He picked his phone from the coffee table and texted her.

**Moo, we need to talk.**, he said.
**What the hell... you have already started calling me Moo.**, she replied immediately.
**Sorry sorry sorry sorry... it was just a typo.**, he replied cursing himself.
**My foot. Go to hell.**, she said angrily.
**See what's in our mind always comes out in one way or another.**, he joked.
**You are making it worse. You know what I am going to leave soon for my next story without meeting you.**, she threatened him.
**Achcha sun na.**, he said.
**Goodnight you rat.**, she replied.
**Haan pura zoo hi bana de mujhe.**, he said with sarcasm.
**Miss Luna D'Costa has fallen asleep. Please, try to contact her in year 2050.**, she replied.
**Pagal**, he ended the conversation with a smile and soon after fell asleep.