The house was too quiet again.
After Naira's arrest, Rehan had left for an emergency contact in the city. The security team tripled. Every door had a guard. Every window, sensors.
But it wasn't the traitor Mira feared anymore.
It was the silence between what had been and what might come.
Aarav found her on the balcony, curled beneath a shawl, hair dancing in the wind.
"I thought you might be asleep," he said gently.
She smiled without turning. "How could I sleep, knowing I almost never woke up?"
He sat beside her. Close. Protective.
"I should've noticed sooner," he whispered. "I should've—"
"Stop," she said quietly. "You loved me the best way you knew how."
A pause. Then—
"But maybe it was never meant to last, Aarav."
He froze.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean…" she took a breath, voice trembling, "…I can feel it. This war, this enemy — it's not over. And when it reaches us again… something will be taken."
Aarav turned to her, his hand covering hers. "Then let it take me. But not you."
Her lips trembled into a smile. "That's not love. That's sacrifice. And I don't want to be your sacrifice."
The stars blinked overhead. The wind carried the scent of ash and roses — remnants of fire and memories.
Mira leaned into him. "When I first met you, I was blind and broken. You didn't fix me. You saw me."
"And I still do," he whispered.
"I know."
A single tear slid down her cheek. "But loving you… it's starting to hurt more than it heals."
Aarav's voice cracked. "Then don't stop."
"I don't want to."
They kissed then. Slow. Intimate. A moment untouched by war or betrayal. A desperate grasp for what was still theirs.
But Mira pulled away first.
"I want to live, Aarav. I want to be strong… even if it means walking away one day to protect you."
His grip tightened. "Then I'll chase you across every battlefield."
She laughed softly, tearfully. "You always were dramatic."
"And you always made it worth it."
As they stood together, watching the stars fade into early light, neither spoke the words heavy in both their hearts:
We may not get forever.
But maybe…
We still have now.