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Thanks for completing the target too.

Please ignore the mistakes. Happy reading!😊

Target: 110 votes

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"Dance?", Sonakshi heard a very familiar voice and looked up to find a man standing infront of her and stretching his hand out. His face was covered with a mask, revealing nothing but the same captivating golden orbs, making her heart skip a beat. Words failed to leave her mouth as she kept staring at him, who was still waiting for her answer. There was a small smile lingering on his lips and that was enough to make heart pound aloud in her chest. The hall wasn't that bright that she could hardly see his face clearly. But his visible features made her go crazy. She knew, in one corner of her heart, it was him, only him.

All lost in him, she placed her hand in his hold, making his smile grow wider. With that, he held her other hand, making her stand, careful enough to not let her broken left leg touch the floor and wrapped his hand around her waist, pulling her closer making her eyes widen. He then clicked his fingers and the lights went off, silencing everyone, filling the hall with nothing but darkness. The place was soon surrounded by loud gasps and shocks but within a second, the lights came back, focusing on the stage, revealing a couple.. Sonakshi in the arms of Mask man.

He again clicked his fingers and the music began, as he started swaying his body along with her in his arms, careful enough to not let her one leg touch down.

Look into my eyes
You will see
What you mean to me

He pulled her closer, as if it was even possible, and asided her flicks that was covering her face. His one hand was still wrapped around her waist, holding her in her place and the other held her face as she kept staring into his mysterious eyes.

Search your heart
Search your soul
And when you find me there, you'll search no more

Holding her one hand in his, he twirled her around and as she was about to lose her balance, she shut her eyes in fear but he held her by her waist, preventing her from falling down.

Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
You can't tell me it's not worth dyin' for
You know it's true
Everything I do
I do it for you

Her one hand was around his neck and the other was in his hold. Realising that she didn't fall down, she slowly opened her eyes and met his captivating one, that held so many unsaid words in them.

Look into your heart
You will find
There's nothin' there to hide
Take me as I am
Take my life
I would give it all, I would sacrifice

He made her stand straight and turned her around such that her back hit his front making her gasp. Clutching both her hands in his hold, he pulled her closer and lifted her up in the air.

Don't tell me it's not worth fightin' for
I can't help it, there's nothin' I want more
You know it's true
Everything I do
I do it for you

His hot breath hit her cold skin making her shiver under his hold. Her heart knew it was him, the one who owned it's entire existence.

There's no love
Like your love
And no other
Could give more love
There's nowhere
Unless you're there
All the time
All the way, yeah
Look into your heart, baby
Oh your can't tell me it's not worth tryin' for

He placed her down and turned her around. Her gaze never left his, and so was his. He travelled his fingers along the length of her arms making her shiver and placed his hands over her waist.

I can't help it there's nothin' I want more
Yeah, I would fight for you
I lie for you
Walk the wire for you, yeah, I'd die for you
You know it's true
Everything I do
Oh
I do it for you
Everything I do, darling

Holding her by her waist, he lifted her up in the air and she held his shoulders, still staring deep into his eyes. He placed her down and her hand moved behind his head, trying to unknot the strings of his mask.

And we'll see it through
Oh we'll see it through
Oh yeah
Yeah
Look into your heart
You can't tell me it ain't worth dying for

But before she could do it, he held her hand, stopping her actions. Staring into her eyes, he placed her hand on the left side of his chest, making her feel the unrhythmic beats of his heart, which she found in sync with hers.

Oh yeah
I'll be there, yeah
I'll walk the wire for you
I will die for you

In a swift movement, he scooped her in his arms and walked down the stage, while she was all lost in him. Placing her back on the chair, he tried to move back but she held his hand, not letting him go.

Oh yeah
I would die for you
I'm going all the way, all they way, yeah

He gave her a small smile and unclutched his hand from her hold. He then clicked his fingers again and the lights went off making her startled. The lights soon came back but when she looked up, he was no where infront of her. Shocked by his disappearance, she stood up hastily and was about to slip, but someone held her by her shoulders preventing her from falling down.

"Ms. Bose, be careful", Adithya said trying to make her stand but she looked everywhere nervously. "Here we all are worried that you can't even walk properly but you are dancing on the stage! Great!", he said surprised. "He.. He..Where did he go?", she stammered looking behind him making him confused. "Who? Whom are you talking about?", he asked her confusedly. "He.. He was with me all the while", she stuttered helplessly. "Who Ms. Bose? Any problem? Did someone trouble you?", he asked her shocked. "No! Mr. Sharma the one who was dancing with me. Where did he go?", she asked him again and he thought for a while.

"I don't know Ms. Bose. I thought he was someone you know. I didn't even see his face. How can I! He was wearing a mask", he said making her disappointed. "But how could he be here if you have not invited him? Aren't people with invitation only allowed inside the party?", she asked him and he nodded at her. Suddenly something striked her mind and her eyes gleamed with hope. "Mr. Sharma can you give me the list of guests..", before she could complete, someone interrupted."Sona, what happened?", Elena came barging in, along with Rohan. "Elena, he came..", Sonakshi was about to say something but elena continued. "Mr. Sharma if you don't mind, can you excuse us please?", she asked and he nodded at her doubtedly.

"What do you think you are doing sona?", Elena asked tiredly as Sonakshi explained her everything that had happened. Rohan was standing silently at one corner of the room listening to both. He didn't even know why he was standing there. Neither he had the courage to explain things to his boss nor he had the courage to go out against elena's words. Poor him! "Can't you understand elena? Dev came here. He came to see me again. He should be somewhere around here only", Sonakshi said but she rolled her eyes off her. "Enough Sona! Its been months since he has gone. And he never came back. That's the truth", Elena said trying to not loss her calm. Here she was trying to put some senses into her friend's brain but she seemed to have lost everything completely.

"No elena. He is very much around us. He knows where I go and what I do everyday. And I am sure that it was him today. Didn't you see us dancing on the stage together?", Sonakshi asked. "Oh stop it sona! You were thinking so much about Dev that whomever you see you are relating them to him. Like seriously? Firstly you said that it was Dev whom you saw at the time of your accident and now you are saying that he came here. And to top everything you were like, you both had a previous birth relationship. Uff! Enough of all this!", Elena spatted at her making Sonakshi stunned.

"So all this time you didn't believe me, did you?", Sonakshi finally managed to ask and it was then elena realized what she blurted out while Rohan facepalmed. She remembered how Dr. Johan asked them to not disagree to whatever sonakshi says and mentally scolded herself. "No sona I believe you the most. I know whatever you said was true. I...", before she could continue sonakshi gestured her to stop. "Neither I have anything to prove you nor do I think that I have the need to do so. Even those pictures and letters I got from Golu's grandfather went missing after the accident. But I think it's okay. Even if I had shown you that, you would've definitely said that it was fakely created by me", she said trying to suppress her anger while Rohan shook his head in a no silently standing at one corner.

"Sona please", Elena tried to convince her but in vain. "Let me speak elena. Now that I got to know what you both thought about me, I don't think I can make you understand even if I have any proof. So I give up", she paused. "I know how to find things. I know how to find Dev. I know how to solve the mystery by my own. If you both want to help me please stay away. Let me deal with it in my own way", she said and stood up. Elena was about to support her but she gestured her to stop and walked out of the room angrily with the help of her walking stick. "We invited the trouble", Rohan muttered under his breath gulping down while elena huffed in dismay.

***

"What? How can that be possible?", Sonakshi gasped in shock talking through the phone. "Fine. But don't stop here. I want everything to be clear", she added and disconnected the call. Huffing tiredly, she leaned back on the chair, shutting her eyes. Every passing day went tiring to her, not about the physical exertion but the mental one. Though her nightmares have stopped for a while, nowadays often she could feel something strange around her. And every now and then she could feel Dev's presence around. If she said so, she knew no one will believe her.

Who to blame, when she herself got to know that even her bestfriend who knew her inside out, was thinking her as an insane person for all these days. And to add on that, she lost everything that she got from golu's grandfather. From letters to pictures everything went missing after her accident and the worst thing was she couldn't find them even till date. And the only thing she had was the details she got from Dr. Charles but now even it doesn't seem to be of any use. She just got to know that the school from which Dev was said to be graduated doesn't exist at all!

Huffing in dismay, she looked up at the sky. It was clear, dark with nothing but the shining full moon, enlightening the lonely garden with its brightness, making her mind travel back to the past.

**Flashback**

Sonakshi was sitting alone in the lawn, all immersed in her laptop. Dev who passed by that side, stopped in his traces seeing her all lost in her work. "Hello Ms. Chashmish!", he jumped to the seat beside her, making her startled. "Uff! Mr. Dixit you scared me!", she said trying to calm her raging heartbeat. "Really? That's why you shouldn't sit alone here outside the house at this time of the night. You see, this is the time when ghosts go for a walk", he said trying to frighten her. "Oh! so that's why you came for a walk now!", she said smiling teasingly and he gave her a staunch look. Looking at his annoyed face, she shook her head smilingly and returned back to her work.

"Ms. Bose! Enough!", Dev said taking the laptop from her hand while she gave him a bemused look. "Why do you always have to look at that stupid laptop of yours? Is it more handsome than me?", he asked while she chuckled. "Any doubt?", she asked without averting her gaze from the screen. "So mean!", he huffed grumpily. "It's okay. What if you don't? I will look at you", he said facing her and supporting his chin on his palms. "Why are you looking at me like that?", she asked as she found him staring at her without a blink or a shrink. "You can't ask me that Ms. Bose. I can look at anything or anyone. This little plant, that tall tree, those huge mountains, the wide sky or this flawless moon", he said looking at her intently and unknown to herself, her cheeks heated up.

"Ugh.. Mr. Dixit, you have to do something meaningful other than staring at the plants, sky and the moon", she stuttered trying to cover up. "I don't think there is anything more meaningful than staring at my moon", he smiled stressing the later and she blinked her eyes twice to process her words. With each passing day, this crazy man infront of her is becoming even more crazier and making her crazier too, even without her knowledge. She wondered how well he was flirting with her, as if he was born for that only! "Umm.. What's so special in that moon? Let me look at it", she tried to divert his talks and looked at the full moon in the sky.

"It has uneven patches all over.. Umm.. It looks flawed. And it's not even that bright" she pointed out one by one. "Flawed? Yeah but beautifully flawed. What matters is, inspite of it's flaws it still manages to enlighten the world, by destroying the darkness from all over. Though it's not the brightest, it is which makes the once gloomy world brighter", he said staring at the moon. "But what's the use? Even this moon is gonna disappear one day, pushing the world into darkness yet again. And sometimes I feel bad for it.. it shines brightly now, unaware of the fact that it's gonna diminish a little by each coming day and going to vanish, at the end", she said but he smiled. "That can't be the end Ms. Bose. Today, behind this brightness, there was a step by step unstoppable growth of this moon and even if it disappears one day, it will grow from where it left. And that's what it all matters!", he said smiling.

"Wow Mr. Dixit! You seem to have done great research on moon", she smiled. "My moon!", he corrected, with a smile, looking at her intently while she looked everywhere but him. "You know what Ms. Bose", he continued. "If we look at the moon and wish for something, our wish will come true", he said but she chuckled. "Really Mr. Dixit? Do you believe in all this?", she asked giggling. "Why not? It's a truth. You can try if you want", he said confidently. "Fine. Now if I look at the moon and ask for the whole universe to get into my hand, will it happen?", she asked teasingly.

"Go ahead", he said smiling at her. She immediately stood up, looking at the moon and opened her palm. "Hey moon! I want the whole universe in my hand", she said looking at the moon and then at her palm. Seeing nothing happening, she looked at him raising her brows. "Close your eyes too. Even little kids know that you should close your eyes while making a wish", he said and she gave him a grumpy look. Giving up, she closed her eyes while he smiled at her. "Ms. Bose, open your eyes now", he said and she opened her eyes slowly. He then gestured her to look into her palms but when she did what she saw then, made her stunned.

There was a picture in her hand, in which she was seen together with her parents. It looked like she was almost 2-3 years old and the smile on her parent's faces proved that it was taken once when everything was peaceful and happy between them. Tears welled up in Sonakshi's eyes as she kept staring at the picture in her hand, for she don't know how long. This picture was something which even she hadn't seen before. How will she, if she had asked her grandfather to throw away all the pictures of her parents from their home. At one corner of her heart, she knew that she never hated them, she never will be able to even if she wants to. But it was her anger on her parents that made her do certain things which she wasn't supposed to and throwing their pictures away was one among them.

"See, I told you", Dev said smiling at her who was still staring at the picture. "How.. How did you get this picture?", she finally managed to ask. "Me? I didn't do anything. It is..", he pointed up at the sky. "The moon that granted your wish", he added smilingly. "And I should admit it, tiny sonakshi looks so sweet unlike now!", he smiled teasingly but all she did was to stare at him even without a blink. "Can I hug you?", she asked more of a whisper while he blinked his eyes twice unable to believe if he heard her right. "Can I hug you Mr. Dixit?", she repeated her words again, seeing him literally gawking at her. Hearing her, he felt a gush of warmth spread through his heart and he opened his arms to fit her inside. And before he could understand anything, she threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly.

Smiling a little, he too wrapped his arms around her tiny frame protectively, both holding the other, sinking in each other's warmth. But soon realizing their position, Sonakshi pulled away from him making him frown. She wiped the corner of her eyes, looking everywhere but him awkwardly. Sensing her getting embarrassed, he decided to clear up the air. "From just 'Good mornings' we finally reached to 'Hugs'! Umm.. Not bad haan.. I hope you confess soon", he murmured smiling teasingly audible enough to her while she gawked at him open mouthedly. "Oh hello Mr! Hold on. It was just a friendly hug. I got a little emotional", she sounded casual.

"Really? Then what's that red colour on your cheeks, tomato ketchup, haan?", he asked smirking while she gulped down. "Oh shut up! Stop living in your fantasy world Mr. Dixit", she shouted sounding angry but her growing blush told him a different story. Smirking, he walked towards her and stopped at just a few inches away, making her heart pound aloud in her chest. "How can I.. If you are my fantasy?", he asked staring at her intently and her heart skipped a beat, hearing him. Such a effortless flirt! Her mind mocked. "Ugh.. Did you say something?", she tried to sound as if she didn't hear him while he moved back, smirking at her. "I don't like to repeat my words Ms. Bose", he said and she sighed in relief. "I guess whatever you got to hear is enough", he added smiling one sidedly and walked in, leaving her stunned.

**End of flashback**

Sonakshi kept staring at the moon as his words repeated in her ears.

"If we look at the moon and wish for something, our wish will come true"

Closing her eyes, she opened her palms. "Come back Dev. I know you are here. Somewhere around me. Stop your hide and seek and come back. I need you more than anything", she said as her voice choked in. "I promise, If you come now, I will never let you go.. never!", she said more of a whisper. She opened her eyes slowly and looked ta her palm, which was still empty. Tears blurred her vision as realization hit her. She was making a fool out of herself by believing in such things! She don't know what happened to her on all these days. This wasn't the usual Sonakshi Bose everyone knew. The girl who always kept her emotions on check, couldn't even control her tears now. Whatever happened everything exerted her emotionally. And at the end all her heart longed for was only one person.. Dev!

She didn't know if even this was because of his magic. But whatever it might be, the truth is she lost herself completely. Sonakshi Bose in true senses would never do it. He was someone who fooled her by hiding his identity to her, he came in disguise for she don't know why and went back leaving her all alone when she needed him the most. She knew he was mysterious, with lots of secrets hidden in him. But still her heart longed for only him, especially after the revelation of past! She didn't even know how she believed in all these things. Sonakshi in her senses would've definitely laughed it off hearing such a story. But now more than getting to see those pictures and letters, after living every moment of Devrath and Shona through Devrath's diary, she somewhere felt everything she heard was the truth only. May be eyes can lie, but a heart can't!

Suddenly, she felt someone's hand over her shoulder and looked back only to find elena standing with a look of guilt. "Sona, I am sorry", she murmured as sonakshi looked everywhere but her. As long as she knew they both have never faced such an awkward situation. All these years, everything between them was out in open. And she knew elena was someone who could never judge her. But now, even she didn't seem to believe her. "Sona please", Elena sat beside her making sonakshi face her. "You think that I am mad right? That I am blabbering everything because of my accident, isn't it?", Sonakshi asked disappointedly while elena shook her head in a no.

"I am sorry for hurting you sona. But trust me, I won't do anything further", she replied apoligitically. "What's there to do further? You didn't believe me all the while, did you?", Sonakshi asked in disbelief. "I didn't but now I do", Elena said honestly. "You don't have to force yourself upon anything elena", Sonakshi sounded angry. "Not at all. It was so stupid of me that I have acted hearing others words. He truly was a Joker as Rohan said", Elena said the later part more of a whisper. "Who?", Sonakshi asked again. "That's some useless joker. Leave it. And now stop keeping your face like that. What do you want now? Dev, right? I will bring him here, for you, even if he is in the other part of the world. Now smile", she said stretching her lips up into a smile.

Though elena was skeptical about whatever sonakshi said regarding Dev and her as their previous birth, she couldn't see her friend crying all the while. She don't know if it was all true or not, but all that mattered to her now was to make sonakshi smile, to bring the old strong Sonakshi back. And she was ready to do anything for that. "But he is here only", Sonakshi said confidently while elena scrunched her eyes in confusion. "Here means?", she asked looking at her quizzically. "He is here, somewhere around us, around me", Sonakshi said while elena looked at her puzzled.

And all of a sudden, they heard a loud music of piano from inside the hall, gaining their attention. They looked at each other, as they could hear sudden hoots and huffs from inside increasing their confusion all the more. Giving up, they decided to check what it was and walked inside. But when they reached in, what they saw then made them stunned. There was a huge piano placed at one corner of the stage, which was ofcourse the source of music but what shocked them was there was no one beside it, though the pressing of piano keys according to the music, could be visibly seen making everyone gasp in shock. "Is this some kind of magic or what?", Elena asked wide eyed. "Magic?", Sonakshi said more of a whisper as she could sense something unusual around.

Suddenly, a person jumped on the centre of the stage from above making everyone startled and the music went off. Everything around was dark for people to hardly see who he was. He was dressed in a pitch black tuxedo with his back facing towards the crowd. But when he turned around everyone silenced and Sonakshi's breath hitched seeing his face covered with a very familiar mask, the one she saw a while ago on her mask man. She clutched elena's hand tightly and she looked up at Sonakshi to find her staring at him in more of a shock. And before she could ask her anything, she saw the man walking down the stage. Sonakshi couldn't miss the smirk on his lips as she saw him walking towards them, towards her, removing the mask that was covering his face. And when he did, her heart stop for a while seeing the person infront of her, the one who she was dying to see all these days... Dev!

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Finally, Dev is back! But..

Precap : No precap 😛

And finally.. Introducing Rohan!

Can anyone recognize who he is? 🙆

And kudos to MsSweet18 for identifying him just from a blurred picture! How are you so smart girl? 🤷

My other works,

# Falling for you.. [COMPLETED]

# A Journey towards her.. [COMPLETED]

# My Little Paradise - A sequel to AJTH [COMPLETED]

# All Credits To Love - A Sharica OS

# Mine - A Devakshi OS

# Happy Ending - A Sharica OS

For more updates and spoilers follow my instagram account 'mishti7593'

Next update will be on next weekend 😊

~See you soon ❤️