Morning of october 3, 1928 

Rani (noor) along with Aabha, Sikhar and Rafiq boarded the train to Lahore at 4.00 am in the morning. They reached Lahore in broad daylight and waited at the Lahore station.

"Lahore chhod kar chali toh gayi thi par in galiyon me jo mera beeta hua bachpan hai mai usse kabhi nahi bhul sakti, voh bachpan jo mujhse in Angrezon me cheen liya. Voh pal jo maine apne baba ke saath bitaye the... voh pal to maine vee-, ma ke saath bitaye the, mujhse sab cheen liya inhone Aabha." Rani expressed as she walked with Aabha.

[ I may have left Lahore long back but, these streets where I had spent my entire childhood are the ones that I can never forget., that childhood which the british stole from me. Those moments I had spent with baba, the ones with vee- ma, they snatched away everything Aabha"] 

"Tum teena ko punjab public library ke piche pohochna hai, udhar humara basement hai,  aaj se hum apni saari yojnao ko vahi se anjam denge.. Sab log alag alag raaste to udhar tak pochange"  Rafiq announced in secret to all three.

[You three have to reach behind the Punjab public library. There we have our basement from where we will be conducting all the operations starting today. Everyone must reach there by taking different routes] 

 "Noor, tumhe British empire me jake  udhar ke guards ko tumhe Colonel Arthur Brown se milane ke liye convince karna hai, unhe aisa lagna chahiye jaise tum unki taraf ho aur unke fayde ke liye vaha ho"

[Noor you have to step into the British empire and convince the gaurds there to help you meet Colonel Arthur Brown, you have to make them believe that you are on there side and will be of great benefit to them] 

"tayyar?"

"tayyar" they all said in uninson.

Arthur 

"Afternoon sir,  these are the important documents that by no means must be disclosed to the indians. Your father has asked us to give these to you so that you can keep them safe in the hidden library"

"okay, you can go now" Arthur stared down as he stared at the documents trying to process what his father was up to. 

Slowly walking towards his office and opening the secret library he locked those documents in securing them with a small key that he kept in his pocket. He sat down at his desk, lost in thought, fidgeting with the key absent-mindedly. 

"You look so boring man, I don't even wanna protect you anymore. I might as well hand you to the Indians myself." he whispered to they key hoping they'd hear him.

"But ofcourse, my father will kill me if I ever did something that that. So plan cancel." as these words left his mouth he opened his drawer fishing out a small box from the corner of that dark drawer. 

The box was precious — special, really special to him. It held the memory of his friend, the one he never wanted to let go of, the one fate snatched away from him. The one he can never forget, the one he hopes is safe. And well a part of him hopes that she remembers him, like he remembers her, that she misses him... just like he misses her or maybe less because... when he misses her too much it hurts, and he would never want his memories to bring tears in those beautiful amber eyes. He opened the box to reveal ghungroos, the ones from her payal. 

"Well I guess this is where I put these to use now, my kind of childish rebellion." he murmured while tying those ghungroos to the key as a key chain — symbol of what this war cost him.

Outside the British empire

"Hey you Indian please step outside you are not allowed inside" the guard snapped the moment they saw Rani entering the British empire. 

"Good afternoon sir, I'm here to meet Colonial Arthur brown. I mean important business, I could be very helpful to him. please just let me meet him." Rani said without a blink. That little girl who once struggled to speak English was now fluent— one of the best in her group.

 "Get out before we fire, Indians are not allowed they are mere dogs" one guard shouted pointing his gun at her. 

Rani's blood boiled hearing those words for her people, her family, for the citizens of her country yet she had to keep her calm. 

"Sir please just 2 minutes, i'm really trying to help here" 

"You brown dog GET OUT of here" 

"You see i'm trying to be polite here but you—" Rani started but was cut off by a calm, warm voice in the middle of inhumane insults. But she kept her eyes down, the no 1 rule of talking to a Britisher.

"Hey what's happening here? why are you shouting" Arthur, who stepped out after hearing loud voices, asked.

"Sorry for the disturbance sir, this Filthy dog was trying to enter the British empire and refused to leave until she met you." The guards explained. 

Arthur stared at the girl, amber eyes sharp vision and confident posture. She reminded him of someone. "come on Arthur not every Indian young women is her" he thought to himself.

"I'll handle this you go to the back gates" He ordered

"Sir thank you I'm here—" Rani started but was cut off again.

"Uh uh what is your name young lady"

"Rani"

"Rani Shakti" she said with pride yet her voice had a nervous undertone.

"Rani Shakti"  He repeated in a British accent.

"You my dear you look like someone who has forgotten where they belong, This is not your place" He said almost like he was pitying her. 

This made something snap within Rani and she looked up, staring dead into his eyes she said
"I belong wherever I choose to stand, the real question is — Do you belong?"

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