The air in Vienna tasted different now.
Noor stood at the edge of the hotel balcony wrapped in a soft shawl, the lights of the city flickering below like stars caught in glass. Behind her, Leonardo moved quietly—no longer a shadow of danger, but a man learning how to exist in peace.
And beside her, on the small table, rested the ring.
Still unworn.
Not because of doubt.
But because they had agreed: Before commitment to each other, commitment to Allah must be complete.
Morning Prayers
Leonardo rose before dawn.
The room was cold, and the carpet beneath him rough, but his heart beat fast as he stood behind Noor, copying each movement in the prayer.
It had been two weeks since he began learning wudu, surahs, and the basic tenets of Islam.
His posture was imperfect.
His recitation halting.
But Noor never corrected him in front of others.
Only whispered afterward, gently: "Bismillah… before every breath."
Today, after Fajr, he sat cross-legged beside her.
"I don't want to just imitate you," he said. "I want to understand."
She smiled, tired but sincere. "Then start with the Qur'an—not just its words, but its rhythm. Its patience."
Letters from Home
A week after Rameen's arrest, Noor received an envelope.
From Karachi.
Inside—two letters.
One from her father:
"You have chosen a path that frightens us. But we see now that love, when placed beside faith, does not burn. It softens."
And from her mother:
"If he truly walks with you toward Allah, then may Allah write your names in His Book—together."
Noor wept.
She pressed the letters to her chest and fell into sajdah, whispering thanks.
The Nikah Plan
They decided it would be private.
No lavish wedding. No headlines.
Just them, a small masjid in Sarajevo, and the Imam who had once given Noor shelter during her exile.
Matteo would be a witness.
So would Noor's father, flying in quietly.
Giovanni Moretti, strangely, had offered protection instead of protest.
"You're not the man I raised," he told Leonardo. "But perhaps… you're the man your mother prayed for."
A Stranger's Arrival
But peace, like all fragile things, never lingers long.
It began with a black car parked outside their safehouse for three nights in a row.
Then, a package arrived at the masjid.
No return address.
Inside—
A single bullet.
And a note:
"The marriage will never happen. You chose prayer. Now die with it."
Leonardo's fists clenched.
But Noor?
She simply whispered: "We begin again with patience."
Surveillance
Matteo increased security.
CCTV, new aliases, triple-encrypted phones.
But it wasn't enough.
The following week, a video surfaced on the dark web.
Grainy, but real.
Footage of Noor and Leonardo leaving the Vienna conference.
Someone had been watching.
Waiting.
And now the world knew Noor was not just an activist.
She was his.
And he, once the lion of the Moretti name, was a Muslim man engaged to a Pakistani girl who had taken down the European mafia.
The vultures circled fast.
A Proposal Tested
Noor sat across from Leonardo in the candlelit prayer hall, her voice quiet.
"If we go forward… there may never be peace."
Leonardo looked at her.
"I don't want peace if it means living without you."
She didn't blink.
"But would you trade your life for mine?"
He didn't hesitate.
"I already did. The first time I let you walk into my war."
The Nikah
The masjid was silent.
Snow fell outside like feathers.
Noor wore white.
Not silk. Not satin.
Just simple cotton.
Her hijab pinned with pearls, her eyes glistening.
Leonardo wore a plain sherwani Matteo had borrowed from an old family friend.
His hands trembled only once—when the Imam asked:
"Do you, Leonardo Moretti, take Noor Fatima…?"
"I do," he said softly.
"Do you accept the Qur'an as your foundation, and Allah as your witness?"
"I do," he said again—his voice breaking.
And Noor?
Her "Qubool hai" echoed like birdsong.
Three times.
And with it, the world shifted.
They were one.
The Attack
That night, as they returned to the safehouse, the first bomb detonated.
Not where they were.
But where they had been.
The masjid.
Gone.
Smoldering.
Ten dead—including the Imam who had just blessed them.
Noor collapsed in the street, screaming.
Leonardo pulled her close, shielding her as Matteo screamed into his headset for backup.
But it was too late.
The world had chosen sides.
The Claim
An anonymous group posted a message within hours.
A digital banner with the image of the Qur'an in flames, and the words:
"No cross-border marriages. No traitors. Death to those who unite east and west."
Leonardo's name.
Noor's name.
And their nikah certificate.
Leaked.
World governments debated whether it was a hate group or something far worse.
But Noor?
She stayed silent.
Until she said, "They tried to scare us out of our deen."
Leonardo looked at her, wide-eyed.
And she continued, "They don't know that the Qur'an was revealed in war… and preserved in love."
The Decision
They couldn't stay in Europe.
They couldn't return to Pakistan—not yet.
But they wouldn't run either.
Instead, they flew to Morocco under full protection.
A retreat near Fes—a place carved out for ex-diplomats and faith leaders in hiding.
There, Leonardo healed.
There, Noor breathed.
And there, they began what they called "the life after the storm."
Final Scene: A Threat Renewed
Noor received a second package.
Inside—
A copy of her nikah nama.
Torn in half.
And below it, a whisper on a torn page:
"What God has joined, man will break."
She handed it to Leonardo.
He burned it.
And then he said:
"We've faced bullets, betrayal, and war. Now… we face God. Together."
And Noor whispered, "Together. Until the last breath."
To be continued in Chapter 19…