Chapter 6: Two Humble Dreams
By 3:00 AM, the computer lab was silent save for the tapping of keys and the whir of the air conditioning unit. Aarav and Ayushi had successfully submitted the "Green Start" pre-application, securing their fast-track status. The core of their Business Plan was solid, built on Ayushi's vision and Aarav's detailed projections. They had done the impossible in a single night.
"I need five minutes or I'm going to pass out right here on this keyboard," Ayushi murmured, rubbing her temples.
Aarav, despite his unnatural stamina, felt the need for a moment of quiet, too. "Agreed. Let's get some fresh air. My brain is starting to calculate the cost-per-minute of this coffee I bought."
They walked out of the lab and into the courtyard, which was cool and peaceful under the weak light of the campus lamps. The deep silence of the pre-dawn campus offered a refuge from the professional intensity of the last few hours. They sat on the edge of a stone fountain, the gentle splash of water the only sound.
"Thank you, Aarav," Ayushi said, resting her head back against the cold stone. "Seriously. You saved the whole project. And the way you shut down Dev… that was impressive."
"He wasn't going to distract us from a winning idea," Aarav replied, his voice soft. He looked at her side profile, still perfect, still the vision he had died for. He had to resist the urge to confess everything.
"You're so focused on the financials and the strategy," Ayushi mused. "You're incredibly smart. I feel like I only see the business side of you. What made you so driven to succeed?"
This was the chance. This was the opening to share the truth of his original character, the truth that connected them in the old timeline.
Aarav took a deep breath. "My background isn't that different from yours, Ayushi. My father's a farmer. I lost my mother when I was six. Everything I have—the scholarships, the seat in the MBA program—I fought for it. There was no safety net."
He turned to face her, letting the vulnerability show in his eyes. "My dream isn't just to make money. It's to build something real, something that lasts. Something that gives my father stability and proves that all his sacrifices for me weren't wasted. That hunger, that need to prove myself, is what drives me."
Ayushi was listening, not with pity, but with profound empathy. "I know that feeling," she said quietly. "My father is a watchman, my mother a tailor. When they hear the word 'MBA,' they just hear 'too expensive.' My idea—the Bio-Waste project—it's not just a business plan. It's my way of showing them that I can build something that serves people like us, while still being successful."
She paused, a genuine, sad smile touching her lips. "I saw the fear in Dev's eyes when he left. It wasn't just about my idea failing; it was the fear of leaving the safety of the normal path. You don't have that fear, do you, Aarav?"
"No," Aarav stated, looking directly into her eyes. He couldn't help the intensity in his voice. "I'm not afraid of anything anymore. Not failure, and not being honest about what I want."
That statement, loaded with the weight of his death and resurrection, was his most honest confession yet, and she heard the genuine conviction in it.
Ayushi simply nodded, accepting his intensity as a marker of their shared ambition. "I feel like we're partners in more than just the competition. We're partners in the hustle."
The moment hung there—a powerful, vulnerable connection forged not in romantic words, but in shared hardship and ambition. Aarav hadn't needed to mention death or fate. He had just needed to be open about the dreams that had bound them all along.
"We are," Aarav agreed, the simple words feeling monumental. "We're partners."
They sat in comfortable silence for another minute, watching the sky begin to lighten, the black turning to a deep, bruised purple. The cosmic reality of his second chance felt far away, replaced by the grounded, hopeful reality of this moment with her.
Suddenly, Ayushi yawned, covering her mouth. "I need to go home, shower, and change before my 9 AM class. But I feel better about this than I have about anything in months."
"Me too," Aarav said. "I'll walk you to the gate."
As they stood up, Aarav felt a sudden, familiar wave of panic. He knew Ayushi's schedule perfectly, including the route she took home. It was the same route that, two years from now, would be the scene of their death. The mission was now real, immediate, and terrifyingly complicated.
It's not enough to be her partner, he thought. I have to be her shield. I need to know where she is at all times.