The next day, Noor returned to the library, her dupatta trailing behind her as she tiptoed past the rows of dusty shelves.

And there he was again.

The British boy.

Sitting in the same corner, knees pulled to his chest, his nose buried in a book.

Noor narrowed her eyes. Toh yeh wapas aa gaya.

She wasn't sure why that made her so... happy.

With a mischievous grin, she crept closer and—without warning—plopped down beside him, her elbow nudging his arm.

The boy startled, nearly dropping his book. "Tum phir se?"

Noor smirked. "Tum bhi toh phir se yahin ho."

The boy blinked at her, then looked away, pretending to focus on his book. Noor peered over his shoulder, trying to read the title.

"Kya padh rahe ho?"

The boy hesitated before mumbling, "Jungle Book."

Noor scrunched her nose. "Kya hai yeh?"

"Sher, monkey... sabke baare mein hai."

Noor's eyes widened. "Sher?! Mujhe bhi dekhna hai!" She scooted closer, trying to peek at the pages, but the boy quickly pulled the book away.

She gasped. "Mujhse chhupa raha hai?"

"Tum toh Hindi padhti ho," he pointed out.

Toh? Noor crossed her arms. "Mujhe tasveer toh dekhni hai."

The boy sighed but tilted the book just enough for her to see. Noor grinned in victory.

For a while, they sat in comfortable silence. Noor traced the illustrations with her fingers, and the boy turned the pages without rushing.

And then—because Noor's curiosity was endless—she finally asked, "Tum Hindi kaise bol lete ho?"

The boy's grip on the book tightened. His answer was slow, careful. "Meri maid ne sikhaya."

Noor frowned. "Tumhari maa nahi?"

He shook his head. "Nahi. Papa busy hote hain."

Noor didn't like the way he said it. Like it didn't matter.

Like he was used to being alone.

She didn't know what to say to that, so instead, she pointed at him. "Toh tum aadhe Hindustani hue."

The boy's brows furrowed. "Nahi."

"Haan," Noor insisted, grinning. "Tum British ho, par Hindi bolte ho, aur tumhari parvarish ek Hindustani ne ki hai. Matlab tum dono ho!"

The boy looked ready to argue, but Noor had already moved on to something more important.

"Waise bhi," she continued, wrinkling her nose, "tumhara naam bohot ajeeb hai."

The boy blinked. "Kya?"

"Aar-thur... Ar-thur... Aathur..." Noor struggled, then huffed in frustration. "Bohot kathin hai."

The boy just stared at her.

"Toh?" he asked, cautious.

"Toh ab mai tumhe ek naya naam dungi!" Noor declared, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

The boy looked alarmed. "Maine naam badalne ko nahi kaha."

"Par main keh rahi hoon, p-pleej...pleezz...pleejj, are kya bolte ho tum log usse" Noor said smugly. She tapped her chin, deep in thought.

Aruthur smiled and replied "please"

Then, her face lit up.

"Ab se tumhara naam Veer hai!"

Arthur—now Veer—froze. "...Kya?"

"Veer," Noor repeated proudly. "Sundar bhi, asaan bhi, aur bilkul tere jaise."

Veer frowned. "Kaise mere jaisa?"

Noor grinned. "Kyunki tum chup rehte ho, zyada baat nahi karte, par dil ke acche ho. Jaise veer log hote hain!"

Veer looked at her for a long moment, as if trying to decide whether she was serious. But Noor had already made up her mind.

"Toh bas!" she said. "Ab se tum Veer ho!"

Veer shook his head, but there was something soft in his eyes now, something almost like amusement. Noor, satisfied, sat back, dusting off her hands.

"Mai veer toh tum kya?"

Then, she sat up straighter, tilting her chin high.

"Main toh rani hoon," she declared.  "Rani Noor."

Veer frowned. "Rani?"

"Haan," Noor said, smirking. "Kyunki baba kehte hain, rani ke naam se bulane wale hamesha yaad rehte hain."

Veer hesitated, then—quietly, almost testing the weight of it on his tongue—he murmured,

"...Noor Rani."

Then soft giggles escaped her lips as she revealed "mazak kr rhi hu mera naam sirf Noor hai"

And Noor decided then and there—Veer belonged to her world now.

Even if he didn't know it yet.

Noor lay on her cot, staring at the ceiling, her fingers absentmindedly tracing the patterns on her bedsheet.

Should she tell Ammi?

No... maybe not.

She had seen the way her mother's face hardened whenever the British were mentioned. The way her voice tightened when she spoke about them, like the words themselves left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"Sabka apna ek jagah hota hai," Ammi always said. "Aur Angrez hamari jagah cheen rahe hain."

Would she be angry if she knew Noor had made a gora friend?

Par Veer alag hai, Noor told herself. Woh dusre Angrezon jaisa nahi hai. Woh toh akela rehta hai... shant hai... aur woh toh Hindi bhi bolta hai!

But no matter how many times she tried to justify it, a nagging doubt lingered in her heart.

Baba hamesha kehte hain ki humari mitti ke log ek doosre ka saath dete hain... toh phir main ek Angrez se dosti kaise kar sakti hoon?

She turned to her side, pressing her face into the pillow, frustration bubbling inside her. She didn't want to think about all this. She just wanted to sit in that library, look at Jungle Book's pictures, and call Arthur by the name she had given him—Veer.

Was that really so wrong?

The thought was still twisting in her mind when she heard the door creak open.

She turned her head just in time to see her father step inside, his shoulders heavy with something unseen, his eyes shadowed.

Parvati, who had been stitching quietly by the lantern's glow, immediately stiffened.

"Kya hua?"

Baba sighed and sat down. "Angrez aaj bazaar mein the."

Noor, momentarily distracted from her own worries, sat up. "Maine bhi dekha tha!" she said. "Ek ne mujhe dekha bhi tha."

Her father's head snapped toward her, his expression sharp. "Kya?"

Parvati's hands went still, her knuckles white as she gripped the fabric of Baba's kurta. "Kisne dekha?"

Noor hesitated. "...Ek afsar tha. Bas dekha. Kuch nahi kiya."

Baba exchanged a glance with Parvati. Noor felt the weight of something unspoken hanging in the air between them.

baba's silence stretched across the room, thick like the summer heat. Noor didn't fully understand why her parents were so tense, but she could feel it—the way her mother's hands clutched at Baba's kurta, the way Baba's jaw tensed as he stared at the floor.

"Baba?" Noor's voice was small. "Kya woh afsar bura aadmi tha?"

Baba blinked, then looked at her, his eyes softening. " Haan noor sab angrez bure hai" he murmured. " Voh hamari zameen ko apna samajhte  hain, aur humse humari mitti cheen rhe hai. unse humein savdhaan rehna chahiye."

Noor didn't know what savdhaan fully meant, but she knew it was important.

"Isliye tumse kaha tha ki bazaar mat jao," Parvati said, her voice a whisper but firm. "Agle baar mat jaana."

Noor lowered her eyes but nodded. She wanted to tell them about Veer. About the library. About the Jungle Book and how she had named him Veer because he didn't seem like the other British boys—because he was different. But something told her now was not the time.

Baba sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Aaj bazaar mein sirf afsar nahi the," he said, his voice grim. "Unke saath sipahi bhi the. Naye kanoon ka elaan ho raha tha."

Parvati's breath caught. "Kya?"

Baba nodded. "Aaj angrezon ne faisla kiya hai ki jo bhi unke khilaf baat karega, usse saja milegi. Jail me daal diya jayega unhe. Jis tarah ball gangadhar tilak ko 2 saal pehle dala gaya tha, ab angrezo ka raaj aur badta jaa raha hai. 

Noor didn't understand all of it, but she recognized one word—jail. She had heard older boys talk about it before, about how the British locked up anyone who spoke against them.

Parvati's hands trembled. "Aur tum Jallianwala jaane ki baat kar rahe ho?"

Baba placed a firm hand over hers. "Wahan sirf baatein hongi, Parvati. Samajhne ki zaroorat hai ki hum akelay nahi hain."

Parvati looked away, her face shadowed in the dim lantern glow. Noor watched them carefully, her small fingers curling around the edge of her cot.

"Baba," she finally said. "Main bhi chalun?"

Both her parents turned to her in surprise.

Baba let out a small chuckle, ruffling her hair. "Ek din, Noor. Jab tum samjhogi."

Noor huffed but smiled anyway.

She didn't know what was coming. She didn't know that in just a few years, Jallianwala Bagh would change forever.

For now, she was just Noor—five years old, with a secret British friend and a heart full of questions.