☀️ A Small Beginning
The next morning, Aarav knocked once before peeking in.
"Toast didn't fight back today. I made peace with it."
Isha was sitting up.
Blanket still wrapped like armor. But she was up.
She nodded toward the desk. "Thanks."
It was the first word she'd spoken to him in nearly a week.
Aarav lit up like a streetlamp in winter.
---
🐣 A Brother Like Him
He didn't ask questions.
He didn't push.
He just… sat nearby.
Played silly mobile games with cartoon sound effects.
Tried to draw her as an anime character and made the eyes weirdly huge.
"I think I broke your face," he giggled, showing her.
Isha gave a half-smile.
It was crooked, tired — but real.
---
⏪ Flashback: The Night of Fireworks
When Aarav was little, he'd gotten scared during Diwali fireworks.
Isha had held his ears and whispered, "Don't look at the sky. Look at me."
"I'm not scared anymore," he had said.
But his grip on her shirt said otherwise.
---
🖤 Back to Now
They watched a show together that evening.
Aarav laughed at the dumbest scenes. Overreacted to dramatic twists. Gasped loudly like a theatre kid.
"Do you have to act surprised every five minutes?" Isha asked dryly.
"It's my thing," he grinned. "It keeps the room alive."
She didn't say it, but in her heart:
> It really does.
---
🌙 Later That Night
Isha stood in front of the mirror again.
She slowly removed the black contact lenses.
Her eyes flickered — violet, edged with deep blue.
Grief. Stillness. Unspoken yearning.
And something else:
A faint gold ring around the iris.
Hope.
---
💼 Meanwhile: The Circle of Ash
Deshmukh reviewed the latest report.
"She's stabilizing emotionally," the biology teacher said. "It's slowing the awakening."
Deshmukh tapped the table. "Then it's time we remind her what she really is."
A man in shadows leaned forward.
"We deploy the Watcher?"
Deshmukh nodded.
"She can have her brother," he said coldly. "But the world won't let her keep him."