INT. COTTAGE – EARLY MORNING
The alarm rings.
Sunlight spills through the curtains.
But the bed beside Mahi is empty.
She sits up, blinking.
Then smells something warm. Toasted. Sweet.
She walks out to the kitchen —
And finds Saif, hair messy, still in a half-buttoned shirt, wearing oven mitts like boxing gloves.
He looks up — startled.
SAIF (guilty):
"You weren't supposed to wake up yet."
MAHI (smiling):
"You were baking at 6am?"
SAIF:
"I googled 'how to bake joy.' This was step one."
On the counter:
A slightly-burnt chocolate cake.
Her favorite.
She walks up to it — breaks a piece — tastes it.
MAHI (mock serious):
"Tastes like burnt joy."
He laughs, genuinely.
She looks at him — really looks.
And something inside her stirs.
EXT. OLD DARGAH – NOON
The sun is warm, and the path to the small hillside dargah (shrine) is lined with rose petals. Soft qawwalis hum in the background. Children play near the fountains. The air feels peaceful, sacred.
Mahi and Saif sit at a quiet corner under a neem tree, surrounded by marble and silence.
She ties a small thread to the lattice window — a wish.
SAIF (softly teasing):
"Wished for better coffee?"
MAHI (smiles):
"Nope. Wished for… this to never end."
She doesn't look at him when she says it.
But he looks at her — and something in his heart breaks and heals at the same time.
They wash their hands near the fountain.
A little girl nearby says to her mother, whispering,
"Woh dono husband-wife kitne cute hain, na Ammi"
(The married couple looks so cute , mama)
Mahi blushes.
Saif just lowers his eyes with a soft smile.
---
INT. COTTAGE – NIGHT
Saif is asleep on the sofa after a long day.
Mahi watches him.
Soft snores, peaceful face.
She leans in and gently tucks the blanket around him.
Her hand lingers on his — but she pulls away quickly.
She closes her eyes, sits beside him on the floor, and whispers to herself:
MAHI:
"I don't know my past…
But maybe… I'm finding my future."
She closes her eyes.
MAHI (whispers softly):
"Ya Allah…
I don't know what I've forgotten.
But whatever I've lost…
Why does this man feel like a shelter I never knew I needed?"
She leans her head on the side of the couch, beside Saif's chest.
His heartbeat — steady. Reassuring.
Her fingers accidentally touch his.
A tiny spark.
Saif stirs.
SAIF (half-awake, groggy):
"Mahi…?"
MAHI (softly):
"Hmm?"
SAIF:
"You okay?"
MAHI (a beat, then whisper):
"Yes.
Because you're here."
She doesn't move away.
He doesn't say anything.
But he's fully awake now.
Eyes wide open, heart thundering in his chest — as she quietly falls asleep next to him.
He watches her. Every breath. Every flicker in her lashes.
He could kiss her.
He could hold her.
But he doesn't.
Instead, he just murmurs into the darkness:
SAIF:
"I prayed for you…
Not to love me.
Just to stay."
---
INT. COTTAGE – EARLY MORNING
Fajr echoes across the valley.
Mahi wakes slowly, eyes fluttering open.
She's still resting beside him.
Saif is praying in a quiet corner of the room — in sajdah, whispering something she can't hear.
She watches him… silently.
His devotion.
His patience.
His stillness.
MAHI (to herself):
"Maybe home isn't a place.
Maybe it's a person."
She doesn't remember her past…
But today, she remembers how safe she feels — in his presence, in his silence, in his love.