The wind brushed gently against their faces.
They stood at the edge of the hill, where the air was still and the world slept below them. Grass bent softly beneath their feet, and the wind carried the chill of early dawn, brushing across their skin like a quiet promise of morning.
Lava pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders, a playful scowl settling on her face.
"I swear, Neel," she muttered, breath curling white in the cold, "what kind of husband wakes his pregnant wife up before sunrise? Are you trying to get cursed?"
Neel chuckled behind her.
"The kind who wants to show her something unforgettable," he said, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around her from behind. His warmth settled against her back, steady and familiar—like a promise that didn't need words. "The kind who can't stop thinking about how beautiful this will look on you."
She rolled her eyes, but leaned into him all the same.
"Flatterer."
"No," he whispered, brushing his lips close to her ear.
"Just honest."
Lava exhaled slowly, her hand drifting instinctively to her stomach. Kaal had begun to move more often now—soft, fluttering motions, like life announcing itself gently.
Neel felt the shift beneath his palm and smiled.
"I've wanted to bring you here for a long time," he said, his voice lower now, as if speaking louder might disturb the moment. "My mother once told me… if a pregnant woman sees the first light of day in peace, with someone she loves beside her… then the child is born with calm in their soul."
Lava tilted her head slightly.
"She said that?"
"She believed it," Neel replied. "She believed the sunrise could leave a blessing behind—if someone like you was there to watch it."
Lava blinked, emotion catching in her throat.
Neel rested his chin gently on her shoulder.
"I want our child to be born strong," he murmured. "To know peace, even if the world forgets how to give it. And I want you to stay safe. With me. Always."
His arms tightened just a little.
"Everything good in me," he whispered, "belongs to both of you now."
The sun broke the horizon.
Soft.
Golden.
Endless.
It spilled over the hills slowly—a warmth that didn't burn, but held the quiet weight of something ending. The sky turned from violet to fire-kissed orange.
And in that golden light, Lava turned her head—just enough to see Neel's face.
He was already looking at her.
And smiling.
Not wide. Not boastful.
But like the silence between heartbeats had finally found its voice.
Her breath hitched.
Not even time would ever love her the way Neel did.
And as Lava ran through the hills, that truth chased her harder than fear.
She could still see him.
Neel's smile—
locked into her eyes. Not rushed. Not afraid. A smile meant only for her.
Her steps faltered.
Tears flooded her eyes without warning, blurring the path ahead. The hills dissolved into colours and shadows, but her mind refused to leave him. Every breath she took felt like it carried his name instead of air.
Neel…
Her chest tightened.
She slowed.
Then—stopped.
The past crashed into her all at once. Too heavy. Memories pressed against her heart like a weight she could no longer carry while standing.
Lava lowered herself to the ground.
Carefully—so carefully—she placed Kaal down beside her. He lay there quiet, unaware of what had been left behind for him to live.
She sat.
For a moment, she only stared at her hands. They were shaking. Her shoulders trembled next. Her breath broke unevenly—caught somewhere deep in her chest where the pain had been waiting.
Then—
She cried.
Not softly.
Not quietly.
But the kind of cry that only love could make.
Her sobs tore out of her—raw and broken—echoing across the empty hills. She bent forward, pressing her forehead to the earth, as if the ground itself could hold her together.
"I saw it," she whispered through her tears. "The sunrise… I saw it with you…"
Her hands clenched in the dirt.
"You said we'd always be together."
Her voice cracked completely.
"I believed you… so why—why…"
She cried harder, her body folding in on itself, grief pouring out like something that had been dammed for too long. Every tear carved his name. Every breath hurt more than the last.
Beside her, Kaal slept. Ahead of her, life waited. Behind her—a man stood, where her world had ended.
And Lava cried not because she was weak, but because loving Neel had been the strongest thing she would ever do.
She sat in silence, forehead against her knees, Kaal resting beside her like a promise too fragile to speak aloud. Her breaths came in shant trembling draws, as if even the air was thick with memory.
Then—
The sky roared.
A sound like the cracking of the world. Lava's head jerked upward.
The clouds were on fire.
The Agni Chakra had fully broken, unleashing its fury into the heavens. Great boils of flame carved across the sky. Fireballs rained from above like divine punishment—screaming toward the earth, one after another, lighting the hills in flashes of gold and crimson.
Her heart skipped. She turned toward Kaal—
But… he was already awake.
He sat still.
Eyes open.
Tears streamed slowly down his cheeks, gliding over his dirt-smudged face.
But his expression—
Was empty.
No voice.
No fear.
No childlike confusion.
Just silence.
And in that silence, something twisted deep in Lava's chest.
"K-Kaal…" she whispered, her voice trembling like a cracked leaf. "We have to go now. My child, we need to—"
He didn't answer.
She reached out, gently, but his small frame stayed still.
"Kaal…?"
But he didn't move.
His tears continued to fall—but his eyes had gone distant, staring somewhere far beyond the hills.
And then, softly, he said,
"Mom… I'm going to Dad."
Lava froze.
"No…" she whispered. "No, you're not."
She moved behind him, wrapping her arms around his small body, holding him tightly, as if even the wind might try to steal him away.
"You're not going, Kaal."
He didn't fight.
But he didn't agree either.
So she held him tighter—tighter than fear itself.
"Your father did that for us," she whispered, voice quivering. "He stood there… so we could escape."
"If we go now…" her breath caught, "Then what he did—what he gave us—it goes to waste."
Her tears touched the back of his neck as she leaned forward, resting her forehead gently against his head—the same way Neel once held her, when words had failed.
"He stayed… so we could live."
And finally—
Kaal moved.
His shoulders began to tremble.
The stillness shattered.
He turned suddenly and threw himself into her arms, pressing his face into her chest as he broke down completely.
"Mama—!" he cried, voice cracking. His small hands clung to her clothes like he'd fall without her.
She held him with everything she had, arms locked tight around him as if they could push back fate.
"I'm here," she whispered. "I'm here…"
Then—
Kaal froze.
His head turned slowly. Eyes wide.
Lava followed his gaze.
Above them, the sky howled. The heavens split with a sound like the bones of the world being torn apart.
A fireball descended.
Trailing a tail of searing flame, it came screaming from the sky like judgment itself. Brighter than the sun. Closer than any of them were ready for.
There was no time left.
No warning.
No sound came from their lips.
Just—
Light.
To be continue…