Anika was packing her stuff when Parmesh entered the room. "Bhabi, this is for you."

Anika looked pleasantly surprised to notice the anklets in her hand. "Remember, yesterday you were saying that you really liked the anklets I wore. I actually had another similar pair."

"But, I don't usually..." Anika began.

"Please keep it Bhabi! As a token of our friendship." The girl smiled.

Anika hesitantly glanced at Shivaay who was observing them and then back the young girl with whom she had struck a quick and endearing friendship. "Thank you," Anika said taking the packet of anklets in her hand. 

She had particularly liked them because they had tiny crescent moons. It was a black thick thread with three tiny silver moons hanging. The blackness of thread symbolizing a dark night and the moons a token of hope and light.

"Wait!" She said and quickly turned to her bag. She brought out a pair of the bangle bracelet that she had purchased from Jodhpur. It was a very unique pair. She had instantly taken a liking for the handiwork and bought it.

"This is for you," she said placing it in her hand.

"Omg! This is so beautiful. But I can't keep it Bhabi!" The girl showed reluctance, hesitantly glancing at her cousin.

"Keep it, Pari!" Shivaay offered reassurance with a smile. Although he was surprised that out of all the small things Anika had bought, she had offered to give the one she loved the most. He had noticed the twinkle of excitement in her eyes when she had bought that particular pair with no bargaining whatsoever whilst for other things she had a considerable exchange of pricing before buying.

"Yes, for me!" Anika added.

Parmesh threw her arms around Anika. "Thank you so much, Bhabi!"

Anika smiled reciprocating the hug. 

"I must say you have superb choice!" She added further.

"Sometimes, yes!" Shivaay remarked.

Anika glanced at him as did Parmesh. He realized he had actually spoken that out. Off late he had started doing that.

"Just, never mind!" He muttered walking out. What was with his stupid interference? He had never been like this. He was doing what Anika did, simply commenting and passing remarks where he wasn't required to. It was like Anika and him had switched roles. 

He must reverse that. He wanted to be himself and more than that he wanted to find the Anika that he had lost. 

He was leaning on the railing looking down at the courtyard, lost in his thoughts when he heard Parmesh approach him. "Bhaiya, you should have stayed longer."

He smiled. He always had a soft spot for this one particular person, which was, well, weird. "Work." He reasoned.

"Huh, like always. We didn't even get to spend time like old times."

"I know." He said the smile not wavering off. He blinked as a fleeting, unnecessary and odd thought crossed his mind. Shaking his head slightly he smiled again.

He definitely had to set things right with Anika or he wouldn't be able to focus on other things.

"What I know! But I must say you, you chose an awesome Bhabi. She's very nice." She smiled.

Shivaay's smile widened, "she's a gem of a person!"

"Can see that!"

"You should visit Mumbai sometime." 

"I know, I want to. But you know Daadi, she won't send me anywhere. But I will definitely visit Mumbai. Tell Om Bhaiya to get married in Mumbai only. Then I can visit Mumbai!"

"Of course!" Shivaay responded, following that with a soft chuckle.

"But you're happy, right?"

"Yeah, I am." She huffed. "I mean they all can get really annoying but well, at the end of the day they all love me so much!"

"Of course, I know how it is when there's just one daughter and remaining sons. The daughter is no less than a princess!"

"Bingo!" She smiled. "Let the princess get going, otherwise Daadi will start off her lecture on why you should do work on time and all."

With a smile on his face Shivaay entered the room. He looked at Anika who had her one foot on the bed and was tying the anklet around her ankle. He smiled, when he noticed the big grin on her face as she did that. It had been a while he saw that excitement in her eyes and that twinkle in her smile.

"Looks good!" He said, taking as few more steps towards her standing by the footrest of the bed.

"Doesn't it!" She exclaimed looking up with twinkling eyes.

Her grin toned down rapidly, as her brain brought up the defense wall.

"I thought those bangles were the best thing you bought!"

"Overhearing others conversations is not a good thing." She mumbled, realizing he would have heard her say that about the piece of jewelry to Saahil.

Shivaay held back his smile. "I don't have to overhear, you know."

"Still, you can chose to not pay attention!" She pointed out.

"Only you're capable of that - hearing something still not listening to it. Anyways, you could have given something else to her."

"I could have, but then I wouldn't have felt so happy about it." She answered, gazing at the anklet with a smile.

Shivaay blinked, puzzled. Anika was a singular piece of God's craft. God had made her and then stopped producing people with a brain like hers.

"Well, whatever!" He muttered.

"Pari, is very different from others here. Although she has definitely taken after Choti Maami!"

"Hmm," he said picking up the kurta to fold it. Smiling to himself, she definitely seemed to be in a mood to talk her heart out.

"It's pretty remarkable how she puts up with everyone here and keeps everyone happy including herself despite all the rigid rules." She further added.

"That's true. But they love her too much. I mean who will say that she's adopted."

"She's what?" Anika uttered, looking up shocked.

"Umm," Shivaay realized his slip of tongue. Things like these were never really brought up and left unsaid. He looked at Anika who stared at him bewildered. "Actually, she was a very little girl, three or something, when Chote Mama adopted her. I met her in the following summer."

"Oh," Anika mouthed and sat on the bed folding her clothes. Was it just a coincidence that they called her Chutki? Was it just a coincidence that Chutki would also roughly be the same age as Pari? Maybe. How could she be her Chutki?

"You all call her Chutki also?" She said aloud absentmindedly.

"Hmm, yeah. Actually, initially we used to call her that. She was the tiniest here. Then they named her Parmesh and as she grew up she had clear distaste for Chutki and Parmesh both, and even now goes around telling people to call her Pari."

"Oh, what about her family?"

"Uh," Shivaay looked up, "I don't know." He shrugged. 

"Hmm," Anika responded lost in her thoughts. Could there be chance that Pari was her sister? She did have similar cheekbone structure like her. 

"You two seem to have hit it off." He commented. He was happy that Anika was finally talking openly.

"Yeah!"

"So, you're a selenophile," he remarked.

"What's that?" She looked up at him trying to distract herself talking to him. She was just simply overthinking. This wasn't some movie where she would meet her lost sister. A sister she only had brief memories of. Memories that surfaced at random times and in random ways. 

"Someone who loves the moon!"

Anika smiled. The moon had always been the symbol of hope in her life. Her smile wavered as she remembered how she and her little sister would sing lullabies and poems based on the bright moon in the dark night sky. She glanced at her anklet. The black thread with the tiny silver moon shaped hanging.

Did her sister have memories of her? Was Pari her long lost sister? Was that the reason why they got along so well in just short conversations.

"Anika?"

"Anika?"

Anika was startled when she felt the tap in her shoulder. 

"You okay?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah!" She muttered.

"Okay, let's wrap up. We leave in an hour." Saying that he walked out of the room. 

Anika didn't know what to do. She quickly packed her bag, zipped it and went down. She entered the kitchen to find Pari and Choti Maami engaged in a conversation.

"It wasn't my fault, Maa. That guy is very annoying. Keeps asking for notes or something or the other. I am also a Sodhi. I gave him an earful about how if I request my brothers they'll change the features of his face if he annoys me again. Poor guy, disappeared that very instant."

"Rabba! What am I going to do of you? I told you to stop picking fights and get into trouble. If this falls in Daadi's ears, she's going to be mad. Don't come crying to me later."

"Who's going to tell her? Maa, you take unnecessary tension. Chill! Anyway, you know Sunny Bhai is always there around in college. So no one really dares to mess with me. And, everyone knows Sodhi men are not to be messed with."

Anika smiled heartily. How she wished she had a mother so that even she could talk her heart out. "Can I help?" She asked walking in further.

"There you are!" Choti Maami greeted. "Everything is taken care of. Once Maaji comes we will all sit to eat. And, Pari was telling me about your gift."

"Oh, I wore it also!" Pari said showing her wrists.

"Me too!" Anika replied with the same twinkle in her eyes.

"Madam, go call Preeta or else you'll blame me later." Choti Maami said looking at Pari.

"Oh, yes project work!" Parmesh said with a sily smile. "See you in a while Bhabi!" Saying that she shot out of  the kitchen.

"She's crazy!" Choti Maami muttered with a smile.

Anika smiled glancing at her. 

Everything else aside, Pari was lucky. Lucky to have such a loving family. Anika didn't know why but she had a strong hunch that Pari was her sister. Not just based on the name. But their was a strong stirring of heart to that effect. 

But, it didn't change anything. If she was, then Anika was happy that she was happy. If not, she was still happy for this young woman she had established an instant connection of hearts with. 

* * * 

"Anika, is everything okay?" Shivaay asked as they settled in the car. 

Anika nodded and then glanced out of the window. 

Shivaay also tilted his head and looked out, waving to the Sodhi family members who had all walked them to the car. Anika seemed pretty zoned out through the entire lunch time. Had she become so attached to this family in so little time?

Anika smiled and her eyes moistened. The family had been very welcoming and kind. Their thinking, beliefs and customs may be a little outdated but they were good people. Her gaze fixated on Pari who was smiling and waving. A grin broke out on Anika's face as she noticed Pari turn to Sunny and the two were joking and hitting each other playfully on the arm.

She turned ahead and stared into space remembering those few minutes after lunch.

"You must have been a very cute kid!" Anika had commented as they entered the kitchen with the used dishes after lunch. 

"Oh, I was!" Pari had answered proudly while the other ladies in the kitchen had laughed. "Wait, I even have a photo to prove it." She had added, grabbing her phone from the kitchen shelf.

And once Anika's gaze had captured that image of little Pari, her eyes had welled up with tears and she had to blink furiously to avoid being questioned. 

Tears came rushing back to her eyes as she stared at the driver's seat in front of her eyes. She had met her sister, her Chutki. The world was indeed a small place after all. 

There were times when she questioned the reality of the flashbacks from her early childhood that came in the form of her nightmares. But today, she knew. She knew that those nightmares, those random flashbacks, weren't meaningless. Her beliefs and memories were proved correct. She had a sister. A sister who now had a family of her own, and not just that, but she wore the crown of the princess of that family. 

More tears rolled down her cheeks. She felt bittersweet. But she was really happy. Happy that her sister had a better fate than her. 

"Anika, are you okay?" Shivaay asked looking at her panic struck as he saw her in tears. Her sudden display of sorrow was strange. 

"Did anyone say anything to you?" He asked worried, his hand gently reaching out to hers.

Anika used her free hand to wipe her tears and looked away.

"Anika," he said turning in his seat, his hand reaching to cup her face. 

"I am okay!" Anika said with a renewed conviction looking up at him fiercely. Her hand gently tugging at his wrist, to pull it down.

Shivaay looked into her eyes. His thumb gently moving across her cheek, to wipe away the trail of her tears. "You don't look okay," he said softly.

Her eyelids flickered under his careful gaze. She looked away scared that his gaze would reach her soul. Her fingers were still wrapped around his wrist. What he did next made her close her eyes and exhale through her parted lips. He placed a kiss on her cheek, before scooting close to her. Their shoulders touching. His hand holding onto hers. 

Anika looked out from the window. What was he up to? This wasn't the man she knew. His small actions were moving the ice wall around her heart. It scared her. Fresh tears blurred her vision. She wasn't going to melt. She would not let him make a place in her heart again. 

Surprise! An early update!

Would love to know your thoughts on this chapter!

-Anami!♡