Cambridge, England.

When she was a kid, she used to dream of a perfect life. Something straight out a fairytale, sans the evil stepmother and sisters. A cozy house in the woods, along the stream where her morning would start with the melodies sung by the birds, the whirring of insects would fill her day, the tinkling sound of the water as it it glided over the rocks and sneaked between the stones would appease her and she would fall asleep to the notorious chirping of the crickets. A quiet life of serenity.

As she grew up a little, she realised how unfeasible it was. She couldn't live her life in isolation, detached from the world, surviving on whatever the forest roots had to offer. The current version of the world needed people to work, earn for a living and so, to keep up with its demands, she altered her dream. She still wanted a quiet life but maybe somewhere on a mountain, at a hill station where she would have her own humble, little cafe which she would run with the love of her life. They would be enveloped by the peaks and valleys, be warmed by the sunlight filtering through the canopy, caressed by the cool wind that would breeze over their skin and when it would rain, she would watch it with peace painted over her face from behind the windows as her partner would wrap them both in a blanket and she would snuggle against him.

Oh, she was so naive, weaving and harbouring innocent, lucid dreams, wishing to thread a perfect, uncomplicated life, minding her own business and going with the flow.

She was so fucking naive to be completely oblivious to the monstrosity called life that knocked into her a few years later, sucking the dreams out of her and pushing them to some faraway place where she couldn't reach and it made her wonder if they ever even existed to begin with. They were lost and forgotten like ancient civilizations, their remnants buried too deep to be found.

The reality was bleak and harsh.

Out of everything she had envisioned, she could've never imagined to see herself as a single mother of a five year old girl living in a foreign country and everyday finding herself in a position to make some hard choices. But that was the truth, her truth and she wasn't the one to run or hide away from it.

She also never thought she would be arguing with someone to not bet with her even though she was pretty sure she would win. Life was wild.

"I still stand on what I said and yet I'm not going to make a bet with you." She said determinedly, removing the cookie tray from the oven.

"Come-on, make a bet!" Maya urged. "100 sterling. It's not even much for you— "

"Excuse me?"

But Maya ignored. "If you so believe that I won't be able to handle the bakery after you're gone then make a bet." She was behaving like a petulant child.

"Mumma," Khushi called her mother from behind only to not be paid heed to.

"Betting is illegal."

At this, Maya scoffed in disbelief. "It's a harmless bet. Shove your morals up your— " she stopped abruptly when her eyes fell on the kid behind.

"The bakery will shut down," she said solemnly.

"Mumma!" Khushi tried again, this time more agitatedly.

"I'll be gone and so will the brains of this place. You anyways show as much interest in this bakery as a four year old will show towards an astrophysics class— "

"That's because I have you!" Maya interrupted.

"See, you take everything for granted. That's not how things are supposed to work— "

"AKIRA SHAH!"

Akira and Maya both freeze, their heads snapping towards the source of the voice and Khushi immediately cowers under her mother's stern gaze.

"What did you just call me?" Akira narrows her eyes, taking a slow step towards her daughter who stood at the doorstep and had now taken a step back so she was peeking inside.

"I'm sorry," Khushi said weakly. "You weren't listening to me."

"I was in a conversation with your so called best friend."

"You were arguing." She points out and immediately regrets when Akira's glare intensifies.

"Stop scaring the little kid." Maya comes to the rescue and picks Khushi up in her arms. "And you, where are your manners?" She feigns seriousness as she scolds Khushi. "Don't you know you shouldn't call elders by their name?"

"Oh, please," Akira let's out a sarcastic chuckle. "You should be the last person to say that because she has taken up this obnoxious habit from you. Literally the sole reason my child is being spoilt."

Maya spares a sheepish smile as she starts to walk away. "Don't forget to bring the cookies, young lady. We've customers to serve." She says sweetly before disappearing from Akira's sight.

She rolls her eyes but follows them out with the tray. Maya props Khushi on the chair beside her counter and attends the customer who was paying the bill. Meanwhile, Akira sets the cookies in the showcase.

"Do come again!" Khushi chirps, going on her toes and stretching herself up on the chair to the customer who just paid the bill.

He smiles warmly. "Sure, you little dork!"

"After we leave, there will be no one to ask your customers to visit again." Akira comments after the store is empty of customers while closing the showcase, feigning pity.

"You know, you're very mean." Maya retorts.

"You're used to it." She says as a matter of fact.

Leaving the rest of the open hours to the staff present, they head towards Akira's house. It was her last day in Cambridge. She was supposed to catch a flight the next evening to return to her home country, India. She had planned on this a year before but she was subjected to document issues and some other minor inconveniences that needed a little time to get resolved and she ended up deciding to delay her plan for a year for she wanted Khushi to have a proper academic year that started from the month of June in India. What was life if not making hard choices everyday?

Akira Shah was a data scientist, a good one at that. She also worked part-time for a media agency where she took audio podcasts of notable people, most of them men, who were misogynistic, self-centred and whose narrowed view of the world never failed to get on her nerves. But she was getting paid well and so she hung onto it. Oh, she was no better than them she supposed and she was definitely a hypocrite but again, she couldn't bring herself to care much about it. Not only that, she majorly contributed to Maya's bakery and cafe considering it was her idea to set it up in the first place.

She was reheating the food for dinner when Maya appears besides her.

"Any help needed?" She asks, inhaling the aroma.

"No, it's almost done." Akira answers, stirring the curry.

They stand in awkward silence for a moment or two before Akira gives in.

"I'll miss you too."

"Excuse me?" Maya splutters out in shock. "What did you just say?"

Her jaw ticks as she clenches them, starting at her front at nothing in particular. "Yesterday, you told me that you'll miss me. I'll miss you too." She states like it was some piece of mundane information.

"You're saying this because I said to you?" Maya asks dumbly.

Akira clenches and unclenches her fist. "Are you genuinely this dumb or do you just love frustrating me?"

She takes a moment before answering. "Both?"

"I— ," she pauses and then, exhales, her shoulders falling. "You were the first person in Cambridge on whom I could rely on a bit, I could trust. You were there for me always, for Khushi and that means a lot. Truly. And yes, I'll miss you. Khushi will too."

Maya wraps her arms around Akira's shoulders from behind and she tenses at the contact before relaxing. "You're awful at expressing your emotions but you're lucky that you've such an understanding friend," she murmurs softly. To get Akira to even say those few lines, although they sounded as if recited from a textbook without any emotions, Maya knew how much weight they carried. "I'll miss you a lot by the way," she adds, her voice growing vulnerable as she completely leans on Akira. "I'll miss your inputs for our business even more and I'll miss the delicious food you make even even more. I'll also unfortunately miss your company and the way you keep me in line and god knows, how am I going to live without seeing Khushi daily."

She was bad at comforting but she tried nonetheless when she put an hesitant hand over Maya's interlocked ones. "It's unhealthy to get attached to people. They aren't permanent— "

"Oh, fuck you!" Maya scoffs, detaching herself and Akira turns to meet her disappointed gaze. "We're humans, not robots and we're meant to have emotions and feel deeply."

"Yeah, I get you but people come and people go and life simply moves on. You'll be fine, trust me." She says in an even tone.

"I know I'll be fine." Maya deadpans. "Because what other option I'll have? But just because 'people come and people go" she air quotes, "it doesn't mean we stop living and loving and restrain ourselves instead of giving our whole to anything, be it relationships or tasks."

Akira looked unfazed, unimpressed. "Y'all love to romanticize everything, even pain. Live however you want to, just don't tell me how I need to."

"You're such a cynic," she mutters under her breath, shaking her head, resigning. "But one day, you'll definitely find someone regarding whom you can't help but wish for him to be a permanent part of your life. It will be worth to get attached to and feel for someone so deeply." The corner of her lips tug up, her eyes gleaming.

"I already have Khushi." She retorts and the smile falls off Maya's face as soon as it had appeared.

"You're hopeless." She sneers. "But mark my words. We all deserve to feel that intense connection."

At that statement, Akira's face scrunch up as if even the thought of such a thing was horror. She definitely didn't need anything close to that, she was sure.

"Mumma," Khushi peeks through the door, her eyes looking at her mother cautiously.

Her brows furrow and she raises them in question.

"You didn't forget to pack my badminton, did you?" She pouts.

The passive face of Akira was enough to let Khushi know she shouldn't have asked such a question. "Ofcourse, I've. You don't have to remind me of everything related to your sport everytime. I do remember all of it."

Khushi's face falls and she glares at her mother, hurt evident in her doe shaped eyes before stomping away.

"I fucked up again, didn't I?" She murmurs, staring at the threshold.

"She's just a kid who's excited. You don't have to be so harsh." Maya admonishes her.

"She's obsessed."

"It's better to be obsessed with a sport than be glued to a mobile phone."

Akira couldn't deny it. She did have a point. "I know that," she sighs. "It's just... It's annoying alright? She still asks me about that badminton player she once saw on television when she was with Inaaya and Ayansh and I wasn't present. All she wanted was to see that player again. She was being so stubborn and frustrating the next day sitting in front of that idiotic box the whole time in the hope of seeing him again. I legit had to buy her the sports equipments to coax her a bit."

"And you played with her too." Maya says, her tone laced with mischief, enjoying Akira's misery.

She glares. "I did play; got her enrolled in a club and play with her on weekends."

"Maybe you should've tried to find that player. You know, go through pictures of badminton players from different countries and stuff?"

Akira pins Maya with her stare, the one that clearly showed her disdain with human species and their ludicrous suggestions. "Khushi saw him for a few moments and I'm still bearing the burn of it. Imagine if she saw him again? He wasn't going to magically vanish from her memory." She scoffed and grabbed their plates for dinner.

"You seem to hate him." Maya remarks, amused.

"Seem?" She arches a brow in incredulity. "I do hate him," she asserts each and every word, "I haven't seem him but I'm sure he's a witch who has done some voodoo to trap my girl." She added and for a second, Maya was convinced she actually believed them too. "Now, help me serve the dinner and take them to the living room."

"You're unbelievable," she muttered under the breath. "But wait, we won't have dinner on the dining table?"

"It's time for Khushi's favourite cartoon and she won't move an inch from the couch while watching it."

Akira keeps hers and Khushi's plate on the table and takes a seat beside her daughter who royally ignores her existence. Maya sits on the other side.

"You mad at me?" Akira pokes at Khushi's shoulders.

Khushi shifts slightly towards Maya, her face sullen.

She resists rolling her eyes. "Okay, I'm sorry. I overreacted."

At that, the kid's face mars with confusion. She turns to her mother to question but realises she isn't talking to her and quickly turns to Maya. "What's overreacted?"

"What your mother does always." The reply was instant and so was the cushion thrown by Akira. "Ouch," she winces. "See, your mother always overreacts." She tells Khushi determinedly.

"Overreaction is what you're doing at the moment by not talking to me!" Akira counters, making Khushi face her.

She grimaces and puts both her hands over her forehead. "My head hurts." She drags dramatically and softly taps her forehead.

Akira spares her a bored glance and Maya laughs.

"Now, you're clearly overreacting." Maya says, removing her hands from her head. "Overreaction is when you do extra than needed or required. You act as if it's a big deal or it's very serious when it's really not." She tries to explain in simple language.

Khushi, although still a tad bit confused nods her head at the answer. "Okay, now let me watch my show." She dismisses the discussion as she suddenly remembers the cartoon she was watching.

"You know, I've thought something," Akira starts, gauging Khushi's reaction and when she sees her sneakily glancing at her from the corner of her eyes, she knew she had her daughter's attention so she continued. "In India, badminton is quite famous. You have academies, where people train under coaches so... I was thinking to get you into one. You'll find many kids of your age too who train there daily. And the facilities are better, the training requires a little bit of discipline and dedication but if you don't mind it, I can... "

"I don't!" Khushi interrupted, too excited, her mood already changed. "I want to go there."

Akira smiled at Khushi and Maya looked at the exchange with fascination and intrigue. She had known Akira enough to know this wasn't some excuse or a last minute compensation to make up for hurting her daughter. Akira had already been thinking and planning on this and it surprised her how despite not being so fond of the whole idea of badminton, Akira made the best choice for Khushi. And once again, she was reminded how selfless parents are actually.

Maya fed Khushi with the help of spoon as she resumed watching her show. They would have their moments here and there when the elder would pass a comment over the scenes and they would giggle. Akira adored them without making herself a part of it.

"Mumma, I want to see a falling star." Khushi makes a demand, pushing at her mother's knee. "And I want to make a wish," she adds when she notices the characters making a wish over a star.

"Okay, you'll see a shooting star one day." Akira says in agreement.

"But when?" She whines. "You told me the same the last time. When will the day come?"

Akira pulls Khushi on her lap and wraps her arms around her tiny frame. "It will come soon, just have some patience."

"I want to make a wish too." Khushi whispers.

"Khush," she calls her softly, extending her hand and caressing her cheek. "You don't need a falling star to make a wish. You can make a wish on anything, anywhere. You can wish upon a star that shines too. All you need to do is have faith in your wish for it to come true."

The girl gazes up at her mother in thought. "And that wish will come true?"

She nods. "All you've to do is believe in your wish."

"I've another question."

"Ofcourse, you do." She mutters under her breath, audible to none. "Ask."

"You told me that wishes don't come true if you tell them to anyone."

Akira nods, confirming the statement.

"Then why are they letting me know their wish? Do they not want their wishes to come true?" She points at the two characters who made a wish few moments ago.

She blinks and her eyes go upto Maya who herself looked taken aback by that question.

"They're characters, baby," Maya cajoles her. "They aren't real."

"So wishes only come true if you're real?" She stares innocently.

Akira felt confounded. There should be a guide on how to tackle children's questions because they always seemed so curious about everything and the worst part was they made absolute sense. "If they didn't tell their wish to you then how would you know when their wishes came true?" She tried but Khushi's brows pinched together and she looked more clueless than ever. "I mean, if their wishes came true how would you know that they wished for it if they didn't tell you?" She raises her brows. "And moreover, they don't know that they told you."

She wonders for a moment. "So they think their secret is safe between them and the lost star?"

"Exactly!" Akira snaps her fingers, relief coursing through her to be able to handle the query to an extent. "Also, there's no harm by sharing your wish to atleast one person." She adds mercifully.

Khushi nods distractedly and to get her mind off, Maya starts talking about random things and they resume having dinner.

Later, Khushi was watching videos with Maya when Akira comes to them after finishing her chores.

"When I'll become big, I'll earn money and take you with me." Khushi says to Maya.

"Take where?" Akira inquires sitting on the edge of the bed and grabbing a pillow.

"Best F says," she takes Maya's hand in hers whom she considered as her best friend, "you don't have money so that's why you can't take her with us."

Her gaze slowly drifts at the mentioned woman. "Is that so?"

"I'm anyways broke." She shrugs in defence and when Akira raises a challenging brow, she quickly adds in defense, "that's my Dad's money."

"Right." Maya doesn't miss the sarcasm in her tone. "And I obviously don't have money to provide for you in India. Don't worry, Khushi will do it in future."

Maya smiles brightly. "Just make sure to facetime me daily so that I can see my little baby," she squishes Khushi's cheeks who cries out in annoyance and swats her hands away.

Akira arranges the bed for the three of them as Maya was going to stay over. The three of them lie on bed with Khushi in the middle. When Akira is about to switch off the lamp, Khushi nudges at her stomach demanding her attention.

She frowns, looking down at her and waggles her brows.

"Will I see him again?"

"See who?"

"Prince." She says in the softest murmur, referring to the badminton player she once saw on television and whom she had been calling as 'Prince' since.

Akira didn't feel annoyance. It felt as if her heart stumbled upon something, perhaps dread, perhaps uncertainty because the way Khushi looked at her with so much hope gleaming in her eyes, it was impossible to not feel hurt. She would never understand why her daughter felt so attached to a man who had no relation to her, who appeared in front of her for a fleeting moment and that too, behind a screen. It all screamed how unattainable he was, how futile her hopes were. She just wished to never come across the player ever in her life. Khushi was a kid, a naive, innocent kid who would grow up and eventually, grow out of this obsession. So what if it's been more than a year since she first saw him? Atleast the frequency of questions regarding him since that time had lessened. That's an improvement.

And yet, when it came to replying her daughter's question, she couldn't bring herself to crush her hopes. The world was already too cruel for that, the least she could do was not be that to her. So, she answered. "Maybe, who knows."

Khushi smiled in content.

When the room was enveloped in darkness, Akira asked a question to her daughter. "Is that what you want to wish for? To see him?"

"No," Khushi denied and she was telling the truth. "I won't tell you my wish."

She scoffs. "Anyways, if you ever want to share your wish, I'm all ears."

"I'm all ears too." Maya whispers in Khushi's ear, her breath tickling her skin and she giggles softly as her body moves away. And when Maya starts tickling her belly, she falls into hysterical fits of laughter while trying to stop her best friend simultaneously.

"Okay, enough." Akira finally meddles in as she pulls Khushi to her. "It's getting late, we all should sleep."

"Okay, Mom." Khushi and Maya both respond in unison in a rhetorical tone.

"Good night." Akira breathes out, cuddling with her daughter and let's her eyes fall close.

'The world isn't a wish granting factory,' Akira had heard but she was sure she would leave no stone unturned to turn it into one if that's what her daughter wanted. She would make sure to fulfil all her wishes.

I'm aware Prologue aren't supposed to be this long but bear with it because I didn't have the heart to cut it short.

Have a good day!