Scarred

Chapter 28- Part I

"The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all." 

-Mulan

With a tilt of her neck she looked at the two people waving at her and the one behind them standing with face as emotionless as ever, she raised her own hand as a small smile curved her own lips and waved at both the pair of mother and daughter who were still standing as their car reversed out of the Kirmani mansion and the large gates were closed. Once Mohuiddin Shah got the car back on the road he looked up in the mirror and passed a smile to the piece of his heart he was finally taking back home. Farhana Shah on the other hand was calling the maids to set Daniyah's room again and the cook to prepare the meal for welcoming their daughter, next on her list was Davar, she couldn't imagine how ecstatic he would be to know his sister is back in town.

"How was Lahore, beta?" Mohuiddin Shah started as Farhana Shah finally ended all the calls, his eyes were on the road as the calmness among them shifted and slight tension took its place.

Pushing her falling hair, Daniyah contemplated on the words she has to say without giving space to any misconception or any sort of doubt. Looking in the rear view mirror she smiled, "Umm... it's different from here and it was good Alhamdulillah, though obviously anywhere without family is hard but we have a cook there who is also wife of the caretaker so she was a great help and was very sweet." She looked away as bibi's familiar face came in her mind, the smile on her face turned into nostalgic one and she made a note to call her soon.

"So my daughter was settling—"

"Mohuiddin kuch batay ghur kay liyai chordain?" (Mohuiddin can we leave some discussions for home?) Her mother smiled with her lips pressed and her voice firm as she placed her hand on Mohuiddin Shah's tensed forearm. Without seeing her father's face she knew his expressions, his inner lips being bitten by him trying to control his rising anger, his fingers which would be in a tight fist around steering and his eyes on the road, not even closing for a blink.

Daniyah placed a hand on his shoulder opposite to her mother rubbing it softly, she was used to calm her father whenever he and her mother would have an argument and she felt her father relaxing.

"Now mama and baba you tell me how was the trip?" Daniyah forced a smile after letting few seconds passed. And turning to her with a wide smile her mother started telling her about the story of their trip, from their first destination to New Zealand to going to States where her sister was.

The conversation seized when their car turned towards the lane where her maiden home was, the memory of last time she was in the same place with glass like hopes which shattered in seconds played in front of her eyes and she closed them to stop the tears from skipping.

What if her parents were told of her arrival?

Did the servants kept their promise?

Would it feel home again?

The anxiety she was trying to dust off and bury under the weight of her smile was surfacing and she took a deep breath and focused on the goods which lie ahead. The long iron gates were opened as the guards on the both the side saluted, the BMW she was sitting in halted at the long concrete porch and she saw from the tinted windows all the same army of servants standing with their hands tied and a welcoming smile of their face, their head slightly bowed showing off their respect. The door was opened by one of the men and Daniyah stepped out.

"Oh bibi! Welcome home," a warm smile curved her pink lips as an old and similar face appeared and took her petite hands in their warm but rough ones. Squeezing them lightly Komal bibi met her eyes and Daniyah bit her lips as she she looked in the eyes which were coal black but the gray of her age was lingering in them, but it was the wetness on her bottom lashes that made her heart quiver.