Nature in Hiding

30- We aren't alone

"Do you think the bad person would leave my parents and other researchers alone if he/she thinks we are dead?" Avan asked innocently.

Gyaan noticed Ahana was too shocked by the question, so he answered instead, "Of course. And for that we need to be really cautious. The truth about us shouldn't come out, no matter what happens."

Avan understood the seriousness and promised to be careful, before running back to his Sameera aunty.

"Ahana wait," Gyaan called out, when he saw her standing up to leave.

Ahana stopped, but didn't turn her face.

"Why are you avoiding me?" He asked.

"I am not," Ahana answered in a plain tone, before going to move away.

"Seriously? You think I wouldn't notice you flinching away when I knelt beside you to speak with Avan. Or the times where you helped me with the explanations without looking at my face for even once."

"You are just imagining things," she muttered, before trying to walk away again, only to be pulled back.

"Face me, Dammit!" Gyaan said, pulling her with such a force that her body turned and her hands landed on his chest.

Ahana moved back instantly. Gyaan was expecting a glare from her, but all he got was a silent girl staring at the ground.

"I am sorry, okay. I shouldn't have spoken like that about Neer, that too at the time when he was unconscious, and you were scared out of your mind for him."

"Why are you sorry? Why apologize when you were right all along?" Ahana muttered, still looking at the ground, kicking the soil with her foot.

"I wasn't. Well I was...but only for the first half. While you were right for the second half. So we should just tie it off, right? It was half-half."

"Half-half?" Ahana questioned with a frown on her face, making Gyaan sigh in relief. Not for the frown, but for finally looking at him.

"Well?" Ahana asked, waving her palm in front of his face, to bring him out of his thoughts.

"Where was I?" Gyaan asked in confusion, but spoke up soon, before Ahana could kill him with her looks, "You see I was right about the fact that the video wasn't tampered. While you were correct that Neer wouldn't harm somebody no matter the circumstances."

"Oh that way," Ahana muttered, finally understanding his weird terminology.

"Yes, that way. So now if everything is clear, can we just let this go and talk normally?" Gyaan asked in a hopeful tone.

Ahana snorted, before asking, "When have we ever talked normally?"

Gyaan laughed, "Thinking about it now, that's true."

Setting off the issue with Gyaan, Ahana bid him bye and they both went different ways. Gyaan went to Sameera who was speaking with Avan, to try and think of a solution for the future, while Ahana walked towards her twin, who was sitting alone, staring quietly at the stars.

She sat down beside him, and her head on his shoulder, before watching the sky as well.

Neer spoke after a few minutes of star gazing. His quiet and sad voice covered the silence of the night.

"Why did we agree to help the researchers two years ago? Neither we would have joined them, nor would I have met Maanvi along the way.

"The trust, the love, the bond, the friendship; they all gave us so much in these two years only to snatch it back so ruthlessly.

"We were alone before, and we are alone now. Then why does it feel lonelier than before?

"We had somehow patched the wounds our parents had given us. But now it feels that the heart is broken beyond repair. The heart has now turned into multiple broken pieces that can't be glued together. We were already broken, but now it feels that we are Shattered!"

A few tears fell from Ahana's eyes. She had been trying to stay strong for so long, but Neer's words brought up everything she was trying to hide.

"We should have never joined the team. Life was best when it was just us two against the world. We were better off on our own," Neer said, plucking out the grass blades.

"Don't say that. Our heart must have broken down, but we can still live with those shattered pieces. Anyways whatever we have lost now was never ours two years ago," Ahana said, making Neer look at her.

Both of their eyes were filled with tears, but somehow Ahana's eyes still had the sparkle.

"What are you saying?" Neer asked, desperately wanting to know what was the thing that was making the always pessimistic Ahana still feel positive about life.

"Think about it Neer, these friendships, love, a family like bond; did we have all these two years ago? Nope. So if we compare it to our life before, we haven't really lost anything," Ahana said, saying the same words Neer had uttered, but with a completely different meaning.

"No, let's consider those two years as a no profit no loss kind of thing. But..."

"But?" Neer asked when he saw Ahana suddenly looking at him softly.

"But we received some beautiful gems along that journey," she said, looking at Gyaan, Sameera and Avan who were patiently waiting for the twins to join them.

"We aren't alone, Neer. This time we have a whole family with us. A family of people who are just like us."