CHAPTER 36: CHAPTER 37: THE STAGE WHERE SHE SHINES

On the Next day...

The cricket ground was quiet that morning.

No bats swung. No calls for singles. No gloves slammed into ball seams.No practices and warmups.

Instead, there were lights being tested above the amphitheater stage, wires snaking along the grass, and speakers pumping soft instrumental music in the background.

Today was the academy’s annual cultural evening , the one day when cricketers, coaches, guests, and partners paused from drills and data to watch art.

The famous participants in events are Dancers,Singers,Drama Skits,Spoken words.And at the center of it all, standing behind the curtain near stage left, was Spandana.

She wore a simple white dress stitched with silver thread ,not shiny, but graceful. Her hair was tied into a high braid, her wrists bare except for a soft blue ribbon on one.In her hand was a folded piece of paper.

On it were words she had written herself:

"Let every step say what I never could."

She didn’t rehearse those words aloud.She just read them once.Folded them again and placed them beneath her ankle strap, like a quiet promise pressed into the floor.

For the past few weeks, Spandana had been watching Raj from a distance.Not because she didn’t want to speak.But because some stories needed to be rebuilt in silence.

She had seen him while:

Stitching a glove under a broken light,

Share the lemon water with a friend after practice,

Walk out of a business meeting with tired but steady hands with confidence.And through it all, he still didn’t know that she remembered everything.

Back in their past life, they never got this close.Back then, he was rising too late.And she was already too far gone.But this time, their paths had bent back towards each other.And today, she would dance with everything she didn’t say.

Inside the crowd, Raj walked into the gathering space slowly.He didn’t sit near the front.He didn’t try to look special.He chose a chair near the middle, away from the coaches, hidden behind a pole that blocked half the view.He wasn’t here for applause.He was here because someone told him to show up.

Priya had whispered in his ear earlier that morning:

"Just watch the third performance. You’ll know why."

That’s the reason he came to watch the show.

The anchor walked up and announced the first act.

A violin solo. Then a comedy sketch. Then the third performance which priya said to watch came.

The anchor called up

"Next, please welcome Spandana Das, performing an original dance piece titled: The Thread Between Us."

Raj froze.The lights dimmed.Music started,a soft blend of classical sitar and ambient strings.Spandana walked to the center of the stage, calm and silent.Then she began her dance performance.Her movements weren’t showy.They weren’t explosive.

But every motion was clear, like words she didn’t need to say.Her arms told a story of loss.Her turns whispered of something almost found, then lost again.Her eyes didn’t search for the audience.

They searched for someone who wouldn’t stand up even if the whole crowd clapped and when she twirled once, near the end of the piece, she looked directly through the lights,Towards the shadowed part of the middle row,where Raj sat frozen, elbows on knees, eyes locked forward.

He didn’t blink.He didn’t move.Because suddenly, he remembered something.Not the music.Not the steps.But a single movement,a spin she once showed him in a deserted rehearsal hall years ago.A move he didn’t understand back then.

Now he started understanding.It wasn’t a dance,it was a message.

"I still remember what you forgot."

After the performance completed,the applause came slowly.Not loud. Not wild.

But honest.

Claps filled the air like quiet rain, not thunderous, but steady. Even the coaches nodded in appreciation.

Spandana bowed gently and walked off the stage with calm, graceful steps.

No smile.

No wave.

Just silence.

The kind that meant something more than a thank you.

In the crowd, Raj didn’t move.He sat exactly as he had when she began hands between his knees, back straight, eyes forward.

But inside,He wasn’t calm.

That wasn’t just a dance.

That was her speaking.

To me.

And the moment she looked directly at him just once, no smile, no signal, he knew.

She remembered.All of it.

[System Alert: Emotional Sync Detected – Dual Perspective Match]

Memory Echo Confirmed on Both Threads.

New Path Unlocked:

Bonded Flame Questline

Description: "Two who lived once and now rise again ,one with fire, one with rhythm."

Unlocks when both take a step forward willingly.

Raj lowered his head.Closed his eyes.And remembered something.A moment from his past life.She had once called him to the rooftop.They weren’t close back then. Just classmates.She said she wanted to show him something.

A spin, one she had been trying to perfect.He didn’t understand the step.But she did it anyway.Then smiled softly and said:

"Someday, you’ll know what it meant."

He never did.Not in that life.Because two weeks later, her family moved.And he never saw her again.

Until now.Until this performance.Until she spun in the exact same way.

He stood up suddenly.Walked toward the side wing behind the stage.Dodged two volunteers, one confused guard.Made his way to the greenroom.It’s empty.

Then he rushed to the hallway.No signs there.He stepped outside the exit gate near the performers’ corridor.Nothing found.

She was gone.

Maybe she knew he’d come.

Maybe that’s why she left early.

Later that night, Raj returned to the stitching room.The glove mold still rested on the table.He wasn’t here to work.He just needed space to breathe.He sat down.

Looked at the needle beside the lamp.Then, without thinking, took a strip of foam and stitched two small letters into it:

"S.D."

Not for branding.Just to hold her name somewhere in the place where he had built his courage.

[System Update: Emotional Core Detected in Workspace]

You’ve tied your work to your heart.

Bonded Flame Questline – Activated

– Level 1 Objective: "Show her your world"

– Reward (Hidden)

Raj didn’t go back to his dorm that night.He stayed in the stitching room long after the lights around the campus had faded.

Outside, the crickets sang softly.Inside, the only sound was the occasional creak of the fan above.He wasn’t stitching.He wasn’t designing,he was writing.But not in his notebook.

He found an old envelope in his bag, a spare one he kept for measurements.And on it, using a regular black pen, he wrote slowly and simply:

You said everything without saying a word.

So here’s mine.

I remember the rooftop.

I remember the spin.

I didn’t know back then.

But now I do.

I’m building something.And I want you to see it.

Whenever you’re ready, walk in.

– No name. No pressure.

He folded it once.Pressed the edges and placed it under a spool of thread on the table.He didn’t know if she would ever see it.

But he knew where she liked to leave her messages where she always placed her quiet notes.This time, he was leaving one of his own.

The next morning, while Raj was out helping Priya carry gear samples to the distribution office, Spandana walked by the stitching room on her way to a yoga class.

She paused.The door was slightly open.

Inside, the usual quiet hum of tools was missing.But the table wasn’t empty.There was a folded envelope.

She walked in, slowly.Picked it up.Read it and didn’t smile.Didn’t cry.She just folded it again, tighter, and held it against her chest.

Then she walked out ,still saying nothing.

But her steps were softer than usual.

[System Response: Emotional Link Status: Stable]

Silent Trust Detected.

Rare Bond Trait Unlocked:

Some connections grow not through words, but through presence.

– Passive Benefit: Emotional Stability +7%

– Reader Impact Tier Increased (Romantic Subplot Activated)

That evening, Raj returned to the room and saw the thread spool had been moved.

The envelope was gone.He didn’t need a note back.He didn’t even need proof.He just needed that one thing the system couldn’t track,

FAITH.

TO BE CONTINUED...