Reasons Revealed

                                    

                                          

Days passed in a blur. Manik and Nandini never met after their chance encounter at the hospital. Manik was getting restless day by day. His heart couldn't tolerate that fact that she was so close to him and yet so far. Nandini's condition wasn't any different. It was now a routine for her to cry herself to sleep. Navya and Arohi were trying their level best to cheer her up. Navya had come to meet Nandini  as soon as she heard about her return. After giving Nandini an earful she had finally given in to her best friend's puppy dog eyes.  Navya filled her on everything she had missed in the past few years - Dhruv& Aliya, Alya's pregnancy, herself and Cabir, her son Ayush, Mukthi and her NGO works...she purposefuly left Manik out of it.
                          
It was four days since Nandini's return. At night Arohi yet again heard her muffled sobs. All these days she had pretended not to hear it giving her some privacy but she couldn't take it anymore.
                          
"Di?" she asked in a soft voice.
                          
Nandini quickly wiped her tears and replied in a distraught voice. "Hmmm?"
                          
"Aap teeek ho?"(Are you alright?) 
                          
" Haan haan main teek hoon. Bas kisi ki yaad aa rahi thi"(Yeah.. I'm fine.  I was just thinking about someone) Nandini said not meeting her eyes.
                          
"Di, Maa kehthi hain ki dukh baantne se kam ho jaata hain.  Aap meri behen ho na. Behenein toh aapne saari dukh dard aur secrets ek dusre se share karthe hain. Aap bhi apni problems mere saath share kar sakthi hain. Agar aap mujhe apni behen maanthi ho toh." (Sis, Mom says sorrow can be lessened if you share them. You are my sister right?  Sisters share everything with each other. You can share your feelings with me too. If you consider me your sister that is. ) Arohi said knowing very well that she had hit a soft spot.
                          
Nandini felt guilty. She didn't want to hurt her. In the past few she had come to mean a lot to her. " kaisi baatein kar rahi hain tu. Of course you are my sister."(What are you talking about. Of course you are my sister) 
                          
" toh phir bataayiye na"(Then just say na) 
                          
Nandini felt herself getting emotionally blackmailed into saying things that she had kept bottled up inside her. She gave a deep sigh. Arohi's determined eyes told her that there was no way of this. So, woh bataane lagi, her love story of how the firefly fell in love with the star. Arohi already knew most of it from her diary. She made a mental note of everything she had missed.
                          
Nandini felt herself in a trance. She was reliving her past, all her inhibitions flew out of the window when all the emotions began clouding her brain. 
                          
"Phir woh din aaya..."(Then that day came...) she stopped abruptly. Arohi was all ears, she gently nudged her to continue.
                          
Nandini closed her eyes. All the events of that dreadful day began flashing through her mind.
                          
5 years back
                          
12th November
                          
Mumbai
                          
Aiyappa! This guy will be the death of me. Arae maafi maagne ka yeh bhi koi thareeka hain?(Is this the way to ask for forgiveness?)He actually kidnapped me for crying out loud. Isse toh main aaj chodungi nahin.'(I'm not going to spare him this time.) Nandini thought puffing up her face and glaring at Manik. Not that she wasn't finding his antics cute, but she'd rather die than accept it.