"Annapurna!"

If Durgaprasad didn't know that his wife was going to be back, he wouldn't had been this surprised. But still, a part of him was genuinely happy seeing her back.

Annapurna smiled looking at him and both of them shared a side hug with each other.

"Annapurna, you're back?" Durgaprasad asked her in amusement after breaking the hug. "How are you? But... you never informed that you were coming back from London! You could have called me to come to pick you up at the airport, right?"

"I'm fine." Annapurna replied to him smiling. "It's so nice to meet you after all these months. I'm sorry I couldn't call you or inform you that we are coming. Adarsh and Parineeta are also back but they went home because Adarsh had some work to take care of and Parineeta went with him. We had arrived at the airport at morning and the first thing I did was come here to meet you all. I missed everyone here. By the way, how are you?"

"I'm good too." Durgaprasad smiled in acknowledgement. "I missed you guys too. I'm glad my family is finally here."

"Accha, by the way..." Her eyes began searching for someone whom she desired to meet. "Where is he?!"

"Who?" Durgaprasad asked at first but his confusion jumped out of the window when his wife shooted him a glare. "Oh, Laksh? He is at home!"

"Oh, yes." Annapurna felt bad. "I came here to specially meet him but..."

"Annapurna," Durgaprasad chuckled. "Why would he be here? He isn't a doctor."

"Yeah, but he comes here sometimes so I expected him to be here."

"Yes, but now a days the workload is just too much on him." Durgaprasad admitted to Annapurna. "He is too much into his computer science studies these days that he hardly gets time to do anything else other than studying-"

"Woahhh! Not fair, papa! My Maa has come and you're implying that all I'm doing is studying! Are studies more important to me than my Maa? I don't think so."

The familiar voice coming from somewhere behind them was enough to enlighten Annapurna's facial features as she beamed realising that her beloved son was right here. She turned around to see him, and to Durgaprasad's surprise, there stood a young man who looked just about Sanskar's age. Looking at him, anyone could tell that his energy was highly contagious. He smiled widely as he leaped towards his mother for a huge hug.

"Laksh!" Annapurna hugged him back happily. "It's so good to see you beta!" She admitted. "How are you?!"

Laksh broke the hug and gave her a full fledged smile. "Perfect! Come on, Maa. Do you really think I won't know that you are coming? Adarsh bhaiyya had already informed that you guys were coming." He winked.

"Really?" Durgaprasad asked in shock. "So I guess I was the only one who didn't know anything!"

"Haha, sorry papa." Laksh apologised cutely. "But seriously, it's nice to see you surprised, which is a rare sight."

"Are you trying to make fun of me?" Durgaprasad asked him frowning.

"I wouldn't even dare, I swear!" Laksh raised his hands in playful surrender, resulting into the three of them to have a laugh.

"Accha yeh sab baatein chhodo. By the way, ji, where is Sanskar?" She beamed at Durgaprasad making him smile. "Please! I can't see him. I so want to meet him now!"

"Oh, he is here only..." Durgaprasad looked around to look out for Sanskar but couldn't seem to find him anywhere.

"Durgaprasad sir, I'll go and call Dr Sanskar!" A nurse perked up, and Annapurna smiled nodding her head while acknowledging her. "Okay, please call him fast."

And the nurse left on her way, while Annapurna and Durgaprasad talked about random things. Even Laksh looked around the hospital, as he'd come here after a while.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sanskar was sitting in his cabin smiling all to himself while recalling his moments with Swara. The way she freaked out when he scared her telling her there was a cockroach, the way she fell on him, and then her nervousness when he was going closer to her... he just couldn't stop thinking about her. Not even after it had been a while since that incident happened.

But his thoughts were broken when he heard knocking on his door. He composed himself and allowed the intruder in. "Come in!"

"Dr Sanskar!" The nurse called out to him as soon as she'd opened his cabin door. Sanskar nodded in acknowledgement.

"Yes, sister. Tell me."

"Actually, Mrs Maheshwari has come back from London." She informed him. "She wants to meet you and is waiting for you outside."

"Mrs Maheshwa-" Realisation hit Sanskar stunningly. "WHAT?!"

His breath got knocked out of his system as he tried taking in the words that suddenly seemed too heavy for his mind and heart to register. He failed to come up with any word then, so he just got up from his seat hastily.

"Ugh... thanks for informing me, sister." He somehow told the nurse. "I'll be there in a while. I just... have something to deal with as of now."

"Okay Dr Sanskar, no problem."

And with that, the nurse left his cabin, leaving Sanskar to sigh closing his eyes and he plunged down on his chair.

All of a sudden, the thought of Swara jumped entirely out of the window. No matter what he wasn't expecting his Badi Maa to return so soon. The thought itself was enough to ruin his entire mood.

But even that couldn't stop him from leaving his cabin, just to get over all this as soon as possible. Meeting one time wouldn't harm him anyway.

Sanskar never had a stable relationship with Annapurna, and she was to blame here. Even though he called her his 'Badi maa' or even 'Maa' sometimes, they never really got along. It was like both of them had a kind of a wall drawn between them, preventing one from approaching the other.

But to him, this was more awkward than any other thing. Whenever they were in public, Annapurna always showed love and affection towards him and treated him like he was more to her than a son... but at home, the story was totally different. Scratch the love, she never even looked at him once they were confined inside that huge mansion, the mansion that was anything but peaceful for him. He often felt like a burden living in there, with people who never gave him attention like he needed since he didn't have his mother with him. But atleast, his Bade papa did truly love him. But he couldn't say the same for Annapurna and for his own dad.

Oh, how much he missed his mom. SHE was his home. Home is where the heart is. And the day his mother left him forever, he lost love too.

Closing the door of his cabin, he turned around to go towards the main hall of the hospital. When he started going closer, he made out those four familiar faces occupying the central area. His Papa, Bade Papa, Badi Maa, and his brother Laksh.

As they all were talking, Laksh was the first one to turn around and notice Sanskar.

"So Maa, I guess your wait is over! Sanskar bhai is here!" He smiled happily and nudged on his mother's shoulder. Annapurna turned around and a huge smile broke across her face.

"Badi Maa!"

Sanskar addressed his presence, rather in a very uncertain way.

Annapurna smiled and perching towards him, she grabbed Sanskar into a tight hug, but Sanskar didn't hug her back. He couldn't hug her back. He was too much in himself to even respond as he still couldn't believe that she was here. And hugs were something that were given out of love and affection, not just for show or public display. And here, Annapurna was doing exactly that to him. He just knew it.

"Mera bachcha!" She chirped in enthusiasm and his thoughts were brought out of his mind. Annapurna broke the hug and smiled looking at him. "How are you, Sanskar? Is everything good?"

"If this is all still pretense, then I don't need it. Please don't show me your fake love." Sanskar thought.

"Yes, I think." He replied to her coldly. "What about you? And Adarsh bhai and Pari bhabhi?"

"We are good too."

For a moment, his eyes went towards Laksh, and in return, received a comforting nod from his brother, and that calmed his inner turmoil down instantly. Laksh had always been a supportive brother. He had always been there for Sanskar like a support pillar no matter what happened, even when he knew about the strain in the relationship between his mother and his cousin cum brother. No one knew it better than he did, and yet he loved both of them equally as they both were equally dear to him.

The time passed by eventually, with Annapurna talking with Durgaprasad and Ramprasad about how they had been in London, and Sanskar and Laksh both chose to hang out together as by now even Sanskar was free. Leaving the elders alone, they went to the lawn outside the hospital to talk.

"I really didn't think you would come here." Sanskar told Laksh once they were away from all the eyes inside and in the lawn outside.

"Bhai, I'm sorry." Laksh convinced him softly. "I know you are upset because of mom's indifferent behavior but-"

"No Lucky, don't say sorry please." Sanskar said firmly. "I'm fine. I'm... happy that she is back. And I also hope she will stay here with her family for longer."

Laksh knew his brother very well. No matter how hard he pretended that it didn't bother him, he always knew that his mother's behavior bothered him a lot. He felt guilty for not being able to do anything in this case.

"Bhai... just know that I am there with you no matter what." Laksh told him assuringly. "I'll always be there."

"Waise... leave about me. I thought you were preparing for your seventh semester exams or something." Sanskar asked him in an amused smile.

"I know yaar, but frankly speaking even I needed some break from my studies." Laksh said truthfully. "All these mathematics and c++ were going overboard on me, I had to take a step back before I went crazy because of all this!" He laughed. "But Ragini turned out to be my savior. She had called me and she said she wanted to go out with me. Now I obviously didn't refuse, and I did go and we hanged out together in the local park. That kind of energized me."

"Hmm, looks like you and Ragini are officially together now!" Sanskar commented teasing him slightly. "Wow, you know what? I have always shipped you both and I always wanted you both to end up together because I saw that cuteness in between both of you! I am glad my ship sailed!"

"Bhai, come on!" Laksh groaned stopping his walk and he turned towards Sanskar. "I mean, okay, we are together and all that. But honestly, we are still trying to get compatible with each other. I know, we have liked each other since long time, but I still feel we need to spend more time together. That way, both of us will be happy."

"Well, the time is all yours, Lucky! Ever need any suggestion, you can always count on me."

"Well, I can say the same to you." Laksh winked, making Sanskar roll his eyes but his smile didn't leave his face. "Ever need any advice, you can always ask me." He assured him. And the two brothers had a good talk with each other.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Afternoon time...

"Your son's blood test reports suggest that he is alright, but I still recommend that he gets to have proper medication and rest to lower down the fever." Swara went on telling a woman as she was walking and the woman following her. "Take care."

"Thank you so much Dr Swara." The woman thanked her in gratitude.

"Please don't mention, it's my duty afterall!" Swara smiled sweetly. "By the way, I'll see you in a few minutes."

"Sure."

And just when the woman left from there, Swara turned towards her left but to her dismay she felt someone coming right towards her way and...

"Ouch!"

"Uff!"

She bumped with somebody, or say, someone bumped towards her. Swara rubbed her forehead that got hurt in the process.

"Uh, I-I'm sorry, ma'am!" She apologised to the person sincerely who, for her, was revealed to be a lady, who at this moment looked shocked, frown marring her authoritative facial features. Yes, it was Annapurna.

Swara shaked her head apologetically, being genuinely sorry to her, before turning to go towards her way again. Annapurna narrowed her eyes looking at her, and before Swara could leave, she stopped her immediately.

"Rukho!"

Her heart skipped a beat as she heard her statement that seemed... more like a reprimand. She kept her face composed and turned towards the lady.

It was that moment when Annapurna's eyes revolved over Swara, her slightly-taken-aback facial features, and frowned a bit.

"Why do I feel like I have seen this girl somewhere?" She wondered to herself.

A few coherent things hit her mind all of a sudden, with some images of that time making some sense to her when her eyes were revolving on Swara. And then...

"Ma'am, I'm extremely sorry." Swara apologised for one more time. "It was my mistake I didn't look. I... I'm sorry." She said. She closed her eyes sucking in a deep breath. Okay, she wouldn't say that she came in her way but actually it was this lady who actually had come in her way. But she still kept quiet, knowing that wouldn't be a good thing to say at this point.

But Annapurna totally dismissed her apology.

It was official! She disliked this girl.

She toughened her face and glared at Swara.

"Do you really think you can just bump into people like that and just say sorry and go away?" She asked in a stern tone.

"Ji... woh..." She hesitated.

"At least you can be clear with what you want to say!" Annapurna said to her in irritation, not being able to bear her hesitation.

"Ugh..."

"Are you an intern in this hospital?" Annapurna asked her.

"Yes." Swara answered.

"What's your name?"

"Swara."

Annapurna pursed her lips and just stared at her. While on the other hand, Swara didn't understand how to react to this. Why was this lady all of a sudden asking those questions to her? And who was she?

Somehow, it scared her a little. What if she went and complained to Durgaprasad sir about her? That's more likely to happen, considering she just asked her her name.

"Annapurna!"

The voice shooked both of them and Annapurna was the first one to turn around, to find her husband coming towards them.

"How come you are here? I thought you were going to get some water." Durgaprasad asked her. Swara frowned slightly, not understanding anything.

"Oh! Well, nothing much." Annapurna replied in ease. "We were just having some talk, weren't we?" She turned her stern gaze back towards Swara, and Swara couldn't help but feel uncomfortable under her stern gaze.

"Okay, that reminds me," Durgaprasad gave a smile while patting Swara's back towards Annapurna. "Annapurna, meet her. She is Dr Swara Bose. She is an intern here and undoubtedly she's one of the best interns we have on board. And also one of the brightest doctors. She is also good friends with Sanskar."

Swara would had been glad to see the authoritative man introducing her to his wife so proudly, if not for Annapurna's continuous gaze on her.

"She might be the brightest for you, but I know this girl very well." Annapurna grunted to herself. "All I know is she is bad news."

"And looks like someone totally forgot me!" Came a voice from somewhere behind them.

Laksh made his way and even Sanskar was with him. Both of them made their way towards them. In between, Laksh's eyes went on Swara.

"Bhai, is she the girl?" He asked Sanskar in an amused voice.

"Yes, she is." Sanskar told him.

"Oh, by the way..." Laksh turned himself towards Swara and gave her a cheery smile. "Hi! I'm Laksh Maheshwari! Also known as 'Lucky' by my very own brother Sanskar. Nice to meet you pretty-girl." He raised his hand towards her for a shake-hand. Swara first looked at his hand, and then at him, and hesitantly shaked hands with him, still squirming a bit under Annapurna's gaze.

"Hmm." She replied back.

"Anyways, your name?"

"S-Swara. You can call me Swara." She greeted Laksh back trying not to appear afraid because of the woman.

"Indeed a lovely name, just like she is." Laksh commented to himself and he turned to look at her. "I have really heard a lot about you. From-"

"Aaahhhh! Lucky!" Sanskar cut him off immediately. "Yaar kabhi toh apna muh band rakha kar. Kitna bolta rehta hai." He gave him a murderous expression and that immediately shut his mouth for good.

"But seriously bhai, you're lucky that the girl you love also has a name starting from 's', from which your name starts too! It's really cute." Laksh whispered leaning towards Sanskar.

"Haan na, Lucky!" He replied back somehow trying to shut him up.

"O-Okay. Well, anyway... I'll see you guys around!" Laksh glanced at his phone for once and looked at them. "My college professor is calling me."

And taking that as his cue he left the place, leaving all of them to talk among themselves.

Swara's eyes involuntarily went at Annapurna and the fact that she was still looking at her made her feel really uncomfortable. At this time, even Sanskar's presence didn't affect her. Something about Annapurna's gaze on her felt as if she was saying. "Just remember... that my eyes are on you."

"Ji," Annapurna turned towards Durgaprasad breaking her gaze on her finally. "I think I should go home. It's been long and I would really like to have some rest."

"Yeah, of course Annapurna." He smiled in understanding. "You must be tired. I'll tell the driver to drop you home."

Sanskar sighed, and Swara just watched.

"Sanskar!" Annapurna called him sweetly and he turned at her. "I'm going beta. Take care of yourself."

"Yeah, sure." Sanskar somehow managed to greet her back with his smile and this did not escape Swara's eye. Her eyebrows scrunched down as her mind pondered.

Why did it feel like she could just see right through Sanskar? Her heart screamed he wasn't happy at his aunt's arrival. He didn't need to say anything, she could just see it. She could see him faking his smile, which he never did. She would recognise that genuinely beautiful smile of his anywhere in this world, even amongst millions of faces; but this one was nothing like that.

As soon as Annapurna left from there, obviously giving a last look to Swara and Durgaprasad going along with her, Swara closed her eyes and let out a sigh. Pieces were finally falling in places for her.

There was no doubt that the lady she just met was Durgaprasad sir's wife. And that also meant that she was Sanskar's aunt.

"Swara, are you okay? Did she say anything to you?" Sanskar's sudden question broke her out of her reverie.

"What? No." Swara let out an embarrassed laugh and nodded her head. "It's nothing like that. And I think... I should go now."

"Swara! Please don't mind her. She is like that only. I guess her analytical nature comes out very often so..."

Sanskar knew something wrong happened here. He could see right through Swara and definitely something was not right.

"It's okay Sanskar, nothing happened." Swara just shaked her head, lost in her own thoughts.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then no problem." If she didn't want to say it, he wouldn't force her. But at least he could distract her from what was bothering her.

Swara knew she could share anything with Sanskar, that's just what he assured her everytime. But asking him about not being happy at his aunt's arrival wouldn't seem appropriate, right? It was okay if he didn't share that with her because it was his personal matter.

"By the way, there is something I want to tell you." Sanskar broke the silence and Swara turned her head towards him. "What?"

"I know, I'm very late in informing you about this but," He began. "Every year, our hospital organizes a medical camp in various locations across West Bengal or even out of state, just to make people aware of how we can prevent certain diseases like polio, AIDS, etc and spread awareness about good health care tips. We have this camp once around every month of December, and... every year it's always been Rajat and me but this time, we have few doctors coming with us to volunteer. So, you and Anushka are coming with us! And we have to leave tomorrow. We all four are going by our private bus so there won't be any problem while we are travelling. Which means its just us four."

"Tomorrow?" Swara said in uncertainty. She fell in dilemma. All this all of a sudden, for her. "We are leaving tomorrow? But where are we going for the camp? And for how many days? And how come I didn't know about it before?"

"It's my bad, I forgot to inform. So much happened in between that I didn't get time to inform you. And in case if Anushka also didn't come to know this from Rajat, you can tell her too. So yes, you both need to be ready tomorrow. We are going to Jamshedpur for four to five days or maybe a week."

"Oh, okay." Swara answered casually. Their conversation ended when Sanskar left from there after he got some call and excused himself, leaving her alone to ponder.

Of course, she could feel adrenaline rushing through her veins with the thought that he was going to be around her more often, almost all the time, in these days. And she'd never cursed her weirdo fate more.

Man, this 'camp' was going to be one hell of a time for her! Especially with Sanskar around.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

After long hours of hospital work, Swara was finally back to her home. She was slowly learning to call her hostel room her 'home' now. But the fact still remained -- she missed her Maa and Dida.

How she wished they were with her right now! They could have helped her sort out her inner turmoil. They always knew what was in Swara's heart even when she didn't know it herself. They always knew what to say and they said exactly what her heart wanted to hear.

But knowing this wasn't possible as for now, she knew she had to sort these things out herself. Making her way towards the washroom and splashing some water on her face, she sucked in a deep breath and looked at her own reflection reflecting back in front of her eyes. She could feel uncertainty in her own eyes, a feeling of something being deeply yearned by a part of her, and the erratically beating organ that was her heart wasn't helping either.

After a few seconds, she grabbed a towel and wiped the cold water off her face. She then made her way towards the bedroom and slumped down near the edge of the bed, her own heart taking her exhausted mind over.

'Why in the third planet are you smiling like that?!'

'Wow Swara, not bad. You think so much about me.'

Moments triggered in her mind, pushing her into trying to realise what was going on in her heart. Each and every moment of hers with Sanskar flashed right before her eyes, until her eyes shone with an unknown emotion.

'I have always known ki iss duniya mein har koi kisi na kisi keliye bana hota hi hai. If two people are meant to be with each other, then destiny will do everything in it's power to get them together. And no power in this world can stop them if they are meant to be together.'

"What are you doing to me, Sanskar?" She asked breathlessly closing her eyes tightly, until another thought of him hit her mind. His words.

'The girl I like, Well, I'm very sure, ki jis ladki ke liye mere dil mein ek khaas jagah hai, ab tak meri dil ki awaaz bhi uss tak pohoch gayi hogi. So I don't really need to reveal who that girl is because I am sure, that she knows it herself.'

"Is it wrong that I feel differently about Sanskar?" Swara blurted out hastily. "Is it wrong that a part of me secretly yearns for his attention? Is it wrong that I want him to be with me, or rather say, I want to be with him?"

"No Swara, there is nothing wrong in that!"

A sudden voice across the room shooked Swara and she could see the only source of that voice right before her eyes. Her best friend, her philosopher was standing right infront of her.

"You heard." Swara blurted out in a low tone, averting her gaze.

"Let me tell you," Anushka smiled keeping her hands on either sides of her waist. "I heard you even before you heard yourself. I heard what was in your heart even before you heard it yourself. Don't forget we are best friends, Swara! I know you more than you know yourself."

Swara ran her palms across her face, somehow wiping the non-existent water off her cheeks.

"I don't know, pata nahi mujhe kya ho gaya hai." She admitted. "Day by day it feels like I'm slowly losing myself. It feels like something inside me is breaking. I'm losing my mind. My emotions have slowly begun to overpower me. It feels like I'm confused between my own mind and my heart... with his presence around me."

"You know what is breaking inside you? These walls... that you have built around your heart." Anushka told her firmly. This was exactly what her best friend needed to hear, and that's why she was finally saying it. "Trust me Swara, this is all for good. Even you won't deny that Sanskar is slowly building his special place in your heart, right? Your heart has already let him in."

"But I don't want to jump into any conclusions just yet. I'm still not sure if it is even right for me to have..." She left her sentence incomplete and sucked in a deep breath. "Moreover, this isn't what I am supposed to do after coming here. Anushka, mai iss hospital mein ek maqsat se aayi hoon. I'm here so that I can have an identity of myself. I'm here so that I can build my path to a better future for myself and for my family and now this... "

"Okay, okay! Now hold on, let me give my statements as an answer to yours. So one, Swara as you just put it, as far as I know having feelings for someone can never be wrong. Feelings are natural and they can never and also shouldn't be controlled. Now two, for what you said about your aim, there is no doubt, you are doing that. You are rebuilding your life and working so hard for your future and for your family. But trust me, no one told you that you shouldn't have anyone by your side. Sanskar tumhare saath hai. He has always been by your side no matter what and I have a feeling he always will be. You know why? Because he might be 'the one' for you. I know Swara. You are too much into your ambitions and dreams that you practically can't think about anything else. Yes, that is okay, but don't neglect what is there around you other than that. Swara, tell me one thing, what goes wrong if I say that Sanskar is the one for you?"

"Because he isn't..." Swara blurted out hastily. "Yet. Whatever! Mujhe nahi pata."

She was in a position that she didn't want to deny what Anushka said, but she couldn't accept it either.

"No one can tell you better than that part of yourself that is responsible for all these emotions and turmoil, Swara." Anushka told her smiling. "And yes, no one can tell you what's right or wrong better than your own heart can. If your heart leaps on what you say, then that means your heart knows that its right. And if your heart contradicts to what you say, then that means your heart doesn't agree with that."

"Now how am I supposed to do that now?" Swara asked her solemnly.

"Ask your own heart about it!"

And it was Swara's turn to get shocked. Was she hearing it right?

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Laksh was in Sanskar's room all this while, listening to everything carefully that Sanskar was telling him. By this point, he came to know everything about Swara through his brother, and that Sanskar loved her.

Sanskar sucked in a deep breath as he stopped pacing up and down in his room, turning to look down at Laksh who was sitting on his bed, listening to him and analyzing everything until he realised pieces fell on place for him.

"She has seriously been through a lot, bhai." Laksh mumbled.

"That's true, Laksh." Sanskar told him folding his arms. "And no matter what, I am always going to be there for her. It's true, that I want to be the one for her. But I think love is something that you don't push and that is why I haven't confessed my feelings to her yet and I'm not even planning to do it anytime soon. I mean... I think that she might be feeling the same for me. At least that's what Rajat and Anushka told me but- "

"And bhai," Laksh got up from the bed and walked infront of him. "I'm telling you the same thing. Even I have seen the way Swara looks at you and trust me, even I have a feeling that she too likes you. Maybe it's just that she isn't aware of it herself yet."

"And that's totally okay Laksh." Sanskar told him. "I can wait. I can wait... until the day she finally tells me that she wants me to be the one for her. Even I know by now, that Swara has begun developing feelings for me. And I'm waiting for that day when she confesses her feelings to me. Aur uske baad..."

Sanskar smiled.

"Uske baad?" Laksh asked curiously.

"Mai saari duniya uske kadmon par laake rakh dunga." He said in determination as he walked away from Laksh, and towards the moon in the sky that he could see through the window. "Usse har woh khushi dunga jis par uska pura haq hai. Fir tab se woh koi bhi ladayi akele nahi ladegi, mai har pal uske saath rahunga. Hamesha. And no one in this world can rip us apart then."

Laksh smiled widely listening to his brother. And Sanskar was hopeful... that everything would be fine.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

"What?!" Swara said in shock. "W-What do you mean?!"

"Okay, now just do as I say. Keep your hand over your chest, or rather say your heart. Now, close your eyes." Anushka placed her palm on Swara's eyes urging her to shut them.

"Anushka, what are you trying to do?" Swara asked uncertainly.

"Tch! Just do it!"

Swara's eyes were closed and Anushka distanced herself from her, sitting in front of her so that she could talk to her face-to-face. While Swara still looked confused about what her best friend was doing, Anushka just smiled.

"Now... all you have to do is just feel it's heartbeat." She instructed her slowly and Swara did. "Remember Sanskar in your mind. Now, you tell yourself. Do you feel like your heart is leaping just at the mere mention of Sanskar's name? Do you feel it thumping crazily against your chest when you feel like, or whenever he indeed is, around you? And be honest with yourself Swara. Do you think, that he could be the one for you?"

'Honest' that was what Swara was being to herself right now.

With moments passing, she was going into her own depth. She remembered how Sanskar aided her when she got injured in the surgery room. She remembered how he held her when she cried her heart out. She'd never cried like that infront of anyone and when she did, he was right besides her, holding her warmly in his embrace, always being there with her. She remembered him helping her mother while she was in the hospital. She remembered him singing that song in the party yesterday tonight, and with the first word hitting her ears, she felt like those words reached her heart just like he'd implied at the end of his song. The way he looked at her, every moment flashed across her eyes...

'It's true, that just the mere mention of his name affects me like nothing has ever affected me before. And it's also true that whenever he is near me, or with me, or talking to me, or doing things for me, or just staring at me through those beautiful sea of brown orbs of his, my heart does these crazy somersaults that no matter what I feel so impossible to control. Just a single look from him at me and my heart flutters traitorously and I feel like I'm drowning in his sea of intensity. This is a feeling I have never had before. It feels like I have nothing to be afraid for. With him by my side, I feel like I can fight against anything the world throws at me. And now that I think about it, he really could be the 'one' for me, but that is only if I give him a chance.'

All the way, she felt her heart thumping crazily as she was beginning to feel what her heart was feeling when she thought about him. And no sooner, a smile made it's way to her lips.

"YOU ARE SMILING!" Anushka jumped up happily and that instantly broke Swara's inner reverie. Her smile vanished and she looked up at her with widened eyes.

"What?!"

"Did you even notice you were smiling, Swara!"

"Really? I was?"

"YES!" Anushka chirped up.

And Swara took some time for herself to calm down.

"Anushka... will you judge me if I'll ask you something?" Swara asked Anushka after few minutes, in a low voice.

"Never, Swara." Anushka told her firmly. "Never."

"Do you think it is right?" Swara asked her uncertainly. "I mean... whatever is happening? Do you think I should let things go wherever they are going?"

"Hundred and ten percent, Swara."

"Are you sure?"

"More than ever." Anushka smiled in determination. "See, what I'm advising you to do is just try to accept the present. Don't let your past come in between the most significant phase of your life. A phase where you are finding yourself. A phase where you are rising from your ashes. It's a new beginning in your life and you should welcome it with open arms. Aur agar kismat ne tumhare liye Sanskar ko bheja hai toh usse apna lo Swara. Ek mauka do usse."

Swara gazed at a spot on the floor for log as she drowned in her own sea of thoughts. Anushka snapped her fingers infront of her loudly to break her daze.

"And let me tell you Swara darling!" Anushka chirped. "Tomorrow we all four are going to Jamshedpur for the medical camp. And that also means that you have ample amount of time to think about your feelings and give it some time. Also, you have a chance to spend more time with Sanskar. Ultimately this will give you more time to sort out your feelings and go with your heart."

And this was the time... Swara decided to give a chance on what mattered other than her own aim.

She decided to give herself a chance. Her heart a chance.

Not because Anushka told her to but because she wanted to.

And she was hopeful... that maybe things would get better if she decided to go with her heart. If he could be the one for her.

But for now, she was just looking after what this medical camp was going to bring up for her!

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Precap :- I promise, next chapter is the CAAAMPPPP 😣😁😁 no more dragging now.

A/N : Many of you wanted Annapurna to be positive and some of you even thought that she may be positive. Haha, I'm sorry for doing this. But I guess there is no love story without any hurdles or problems, right? Her character here in grey-shaded. At few places she is likeable but at some places she isn't. Especially where our SwaSan are involved.

So, what do you think, what will this medical camp bring up for our SwaSan? By the way, twists are coming up!

PS :- Chapter title. Hannah Montana reference anyone?