Thanks for all the comments guys, especially your very long one, liquidfantasy!! I hope you feel better soon, Yogini!! Sorry this wasn't up sooner, the internet was down at the place I go to last night!

Chapter 44:


For the third time in his life, Raj experienced the heavenly feeling of waking up with Naina in his arms. He thought that if there was a feeling that he loved the most in the world, it was surely this, her soft body cradled against his, her silky hair brushing against his face. Awake, but not quite ready to get up yet and abandon this feeling, Raj pulled Naina even more closely against him, marveling at the way the curves of her body fit so perfectly against his. Naina made a small noise that sounded like contentment. Raj tried to remember how she'd ended up there in the first place, but he only had a faint memory from the night before of Naina climbing onto the couch, taking his arm and draping it over her while he was still half asleep.

Despite the immense amount of desire he felt for her, he had decided that Neelu's intrusion the night before had been a sign. Despite the length of time he had known Naina and even the amount of time they had officially been in a relationship, they had never really had the chance to date properly. He knew that Naina hadn't had a relationship before this, and he wanted her first, and hopefully only, experience to be memorable. They had a whole lifetime ahead of them, there was no need to rush anything. As hard as it would be to have a proper relationship when he was hundreds of miles away most of the time, he could at least try his best to let her be a normal girl for awhile with a normal boyfriend.

Leaning over, he planted a kiss on her cheek, and then another on her temple close to her eye. Naina grumbled slightly, obviously not wanting to get up anytime soon.

"Come on, Naina, wake up." He whispered in her ear, and Naina slowly opened her eyes, blinking into his face due to the sunlight now streaming through the window.

"Good morning," she whispered sleepily, "When did you wake up?"

"About five minutes ago, sleepy head, when did you join me last night?"

"I'm not sure," Naina admitted, "I woke up in the night and wondered why I was sleeping alone when you were just in the next room."

Raj desperately wants to kiss her after this comment, but he's afraid that it might lead to a repeat of yesterday with one of her friends walking in on them. Instead he sits up, helping Naina to do so as well, although she starts leaning against his shoulder instead.

"I haven't slept properly for days," she explains, "I was so excited about you coming to visit."

Raj strokes her hair as she leans against his shoulder, before placing a kiss on the top of her head. "You really can't imagine how much I miss you when I'm not with you." He tells her.

"If it's anything like how much I miss you, then I think I can." Naina replies.

"So shall we get ready then?" Raj asks her.

"For what?" Naina asks him, suddenly excited at the thought that he has something planned.

"You'll see," Raj promises her.

**

After showering and dressing, they sit down to have their breakfast with Pooja and Neelu have now decided that it's safe to come out of their rooms. As Naina takes the dishes into the kitchen, Raj uses the opportunity to speak to them.

"Uh, I want to ask a favour from both of you, you especially Neelu."

"What is it, Rajveer?" Neelu asks him, instantly curious.

"Well it's about yesterday, and what you saw… could you promise me that under no circumstances will you ever tell Alekh about it?"

Pooja almost burst out laughing as soon as Raj said it. "Really, Sir, you're scared of one of your ex-cadets?"

"Oh believe me, Pooja." Raj told her, "I'm not scared for my sake, I'm scared for his. I don't want Alekh to have to be tried for attacking one of his senior officers."

**

Shortly after this, Raj and Naina left the house, each dressed in casual clothes, Raj in jeans, a button up shirt and jacket, and Naina in simple pants and a top, similar to what she would wear in her academy days.

"So where are we going today?" she asked him, unable to stop herself from smiling when he reached over to hold her hand as they walked towards the jeep.

"Well Naina, today we're going to go on a proper date." He told her, "We've never actually had one of those."

Naina realized that he was right, after everything they'd been through together, and how far their relationship had progressed, they never had actually been out together as a couple. Even at Ali and Pooja's engagement they had been pretending that they hadn't come together in front of Brigadier Chandook. Naina couldn't believe how girly and excited she felt by his announcement, it would be nice to pretend that they were just a normal couple for awhile with no problems other than those that other normal couples had.

Raj couldn't miss the wide grin on Naina's face, and he squeezed her hand before letting go to get in the jeep. "So where to first?" Naina asked him, Raj just smiled.

For the rest of the day they were literally inseparable, never letting go of each others' hands except when absolutely necessary. Even when Raj let go of her hand it was usually to put his arm around her shoulders or waist instead. They strolled around Connaught Place, Naina having to refuse every time Raj spotted something that he would like to buy her, but still by lunch time they both had a collection of bags which were mainly presents for each other. Naina had insisted on buying Raj a new watch and having it engraved with a message from her. He was pleased by the gift, knowing that this way he would be reminded of her every single time he checked the time. She had also bought him various shirts, while he had bought her a variety of outfits, and some sets of earrings as well as some bangles. That was the best part of the shopping experience, being able to slip bangles onto Naina's wrist in order to see if they fit and how they looked.

Finally when their shopping was done, they stopped for lunch, sitting together in a booth at the back of a quiet restaurant, where they could happily romance with nobody to disturb them, offering each other bites of the food and nudging each others' feet.

It was in the afternoon that they went to see some of Delhi's tourist attractions. It didn't matter that Raj had already seen them before, as had Naina, with the other by their side, both of them saw the scenes through new eyes. It was then that Raj got the idea of where to take Naina the next day, pleased with himself for thinking of it.   

They watched the sunset together at Jantar Mantar, Naina's head leaning on his shoulder, holding hands. They didn't need to speak at that moment, they just enjoyed each others' company. Afterwards, they headed home quickly to change as Raj had told Naina that they would both need to be in formal wear for the dinner that night.

As soon as they got home she began to worry what to wear, throwing outfit after outfit on the bed before she finally chose a long blue dress with straps and a full skirt. She came out to find Raj looking even more dashing, having changed his pants and shirt to look more formal, along with one of his best jackets.

"Shall we go?" he asked her with a smile, offering her his arm, as behind his back Neelu and Pooja both made thumbs up signs to Naina.

The rest of the evening passed like a dream, as he took her for dinner at one of the most expensive restaurants in the city before they danced to the live jazz band. Leaning her head on his shoulder as she swayed in his arms, Naina couldn't help thinking how perfect this day had been.

It had been worth waiting more than a year to finally be able to spend time with Raj properly.

He dropped her back to her apartment quite late at about 11pm, and was about to go when Naina stopped him.

"You know you don't have to go." She told him hopefully, "I'm sure the girls wouldn't mind if you stayed over again."

"I think that twice in two days is probably pushing our luck," he told her, "I really don't want to get you into trouble with your neighbours and Mr and Mrs Sahni."

"You're Pooja's brother, remember?" she told him, "And it's not as if Yudi, Alekh and even Ali won't be staying here when they come to visit."

Cursing himself for being so easily convinced, Raj allowed her to lead him inside, where Neelu and Pooja were still awake and watching television.

"Hey you two are back earlier than we expected," Pooja told them, "We thought that you would be gone another couple of hours at least."

"Or not be back at all…" Neelu whispered so that only Pooja could hear it, earning herself an elbow in the ribs.

"Well we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow, so I didn't want to get Naina home too late." Raj told them, looking as if he wanted to say something else but wasn't sure how.

"Are you staying here tonight, Sir?" Pooja asked him innocently, "You know I really think you should, after all, why go home to an empty apartment when you can stay here with us?"

"Uh thanks, Pooja." He told her, "I was just…"

"Going to accept our offer and stay the night!" Neelu cut in quickly before he could say anything else, "But on one condition! Rather than sleeping on the couch, you'll go and stay in Naina's room."

Both Raj and Naina suddenly turned red, remembering exactly what Neelu had walked in on in the morning.

Neelu just rolled her eyes, "There's no need to be so embarrassed about it," she told them, "And if Alekh has any objections then he's a hypocrite."

At the continued look of embarrassment and discomfort on their faces, Neelu thought that she'd better explain herself further. "I'm not telling you two to go and do anything together!" she burst out, leading to relieved sighs from both Raj and Naina, "Just go and sleep in the same room. At least that way you won't both wake up all cramped from trying to fit on the couch."

"Neelu, just shut up now and let's go to bed." Pooja told her, practically dragging Neelu away before she managed to say anything to embarrass them even further. "Good night, Naina! Good night, Sir!"

"Good night, Pooja." Raj called out as she continued to go down the hallway quickly, taking Neelu to her room. Naina struggled not to laugh, no matter how embarrassing her friends could be at times, there was never a dull moment while they were around. Looking at Raj shyly, she had a slight motion with her head. "I'll just go and change." She told him, disappearing into the bedroom and shutting the door while she changed into her nightware. Raj also went into the bathroom in order to put his pajamas on.

When he came back he stared at Naina mixture of emotions in his eyes, her hair was now undone and resting on her back, the pajama top that she was wearing had only thin straps, exposing her shoulders.

"I, uh, think I should go back to the lounge room to sleep." Raj told her honestly.

"I trust you," Naina told him, taking his hand and leading him to the bed.

"That's what I'm worried about." Raj told her, "Maybe you shouldn't trust me so much."

Naina just smiled and lay down beside him, pulling his arms around her waist. Raj happily nuzzled her neck and shoulders gently, placing soft kisses there. Without waiting for permission he placed one hand under her top so that in lay on the soft skin of her stomach and then tried to control his breathing, knowing that his heart was beating way too fast.   

Slowly they both drifted off to sleep, feeling safe, loved and warm in each others' arms.

**
The fourth time in his life of waking up with Naina and it was still the best feeling that he'd ever experienced, well that is, except for kissing Naina, hugging Naina, Naina's smile… Raj decided to stop making the list before it got way out of hand.

Instead of waking her up, he watched her as she slept, propping himself up on one arm for a better view. She opened her eyes not long after that, obviously having realized that he was looking at her. Smiling happily, Naina pulled him down for a good morning kiss, ruffling his hair with her fingers.

"So what are we doing today?" she asked him sleepily.

"Well I thought that in the morning we might go see a movie," he told her, "And then after lunch it's a surprise."

"I like surprises." Naina told him, "Especially if they're your surprises."

And so that morning they went to see a movie just like a normal couple. Raj was happy when Naina chose to go and see a comedy rather than soppy romantic film. He bought them popcorn and a drink to share, and didn't take his arm from around her shoulders for the whole movie. He still had his arm around her shoulders when they walked towards the jeep.

"So where are we going now?" Naina asked, as they ate their lunch. Raj just smiled mysteriously.

"You'll find out soon enough," he told her, "Just be patient."

Naina made a face at this, obviously not liking the idea of having to be patient for anything. Laughing, Raj paid the bill and led her out of the restaurant, still holding her hand.

It was only when they had turned onto the highway leading out of Delhi, that Naina began to get an idea of where he was taking her.

"Are we going where I think we're going?" she asked him.

"I've heard that it looks the most beautiful at sunset." Raj told her, "Let's see if it's true."

Leaning over from her seat, Naina planted a kiss on his cheek. "This is the best surprise ever." She told him, "I've never been to the Taj Mahal before."

"I went a long time ago." Raj tells her, trying to keep his concentration on the road.

"Not with a girl?" Naina asks him, a little jealously.

Raj just laughs, "No, not with a girl, actually it was with my parents when they were still alive."

Naina just nods, she already knows about the accident that killed his parents when he was a teenager.

"But I've heard that it looks even more beautiful when you see it with somebody you love." He continued, looking across at her with a very affectionate smile.

"Then it should be the most beautiful sight I've ever seen." Naina replied.

They arrived in Agra about one and a half hours before sunset but it took them a long time to negotiate their way around the city and then find parking since it was the high tourist season. So by the time they actually entered the complex of the Taj Mahal, there was only about an hour left until the sun was about to set.

Naina stared at it in amazement, holding on to Raj's arm tightly. She had never seen anything so beautiful in her life. They strolled around the complex taking in the various sights, before heading over to the actual Taj Mahal for a closer look. Naina was glad that she had chosen to dress traditionally that morning in a beautifully embroidered white churidar kameez.

She smiled with such an innocence that Raj felt he could just gaze at her and keep gazing, without ever getting tired of it. Tugging on his hand, she dragged him around to see various things, exclaiming over everything she discovered. Near the entrance they had their photo taken by one of the men offering to do so, wanting to have something to remember this day by.

Sitting at a distance on the grass with their arms around each other, they watched the sunset as it glinted off the white marble and the inlaid gemstones.

Raj could have said any number of clichd things at that moment, about how he wished he could build a memorial to their love, or how people would remember them in the future, but there was no need to. Instead they sat there in silence, enjoying the moment.

Their love needed no words or promises, it was perfect already.