𝐓𝐔𝐉𝐇𝐌𝐄 𝐑𝐀𝐁 𝐃𝐈𝐊𝐇𝐓𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐈 (𝑫𝒖𝒆𝒕 #1)

The rain had always been an accomplice to their secrets. Ahaan, even at seven, possessed an unnerving precision. His neatly combed hair, his crisp school uniform, the way he meticulously arranged his toy soldiers in perfect platoons - it all spoke of an inherent order. His mind, already a nascent calculator, quietly absorbed the world, categorizing, analyzing, seeking logical patterns. Mahi, two years younger, was his antithesis, a riot of untamed energy and effortless grace. Her hair, perpetually escaping its braids, framed a face that was already breathtakingly beautiful, even in its childish contours. She didn't walk; she flitted, a hummingbird caught in a sunbeam. But even then, a nascent wariness flickered in her dark, polished brown eyes. She was stunning, undeniably, but that profound beauty felt less like a gift and more like a magnet for unwanted attention. They were an improbable pair. Ahaan, the quiet observer, the meticulous strategist of childhood games, and Mahi, the vibrant, impulsive force of nature. Yet, they were inseparable. She would pull him into grand, imaginative adventures where he, with his logical mind, would build the structures and rules, while she, with her boundless spirit, would breathe life into them. Then, the rain stopped being an accomplice and became a shroud. Mahi was in the first standard, Ahaan in the third, when an accident ripped the vibrant tapestry of their childhood. The news arrived like a thunderclap - Mahi's mother, gone. The world, which had always seemed so meticulously ordered to Ahaan, suddenly fractured. He saw Mahi's usually bright eyes cloud over, her laughter replaced by a hollow silence.