Jafar’s goon fired through his both pistols towards Harun without aiming properly.

The two bullets hit Rizwan on his waist side and one of the bullets hit Hannan straight on his chest.

The splashes of blood flew over Rahman’s face, who exclaimed,

“Oh, my God! No!”

Rahman saw that his father and uncle were shot. Harun also got horrified and held Rizwan so he wouldn’t fall down.

In that instant, the police officers fired their guns towards that criminal, who got shot on his face and died.

Rahman held his uncle from behind who was about to fall.

“It’s okay,” Hannan said to him.

“No, I’ll take you to the hospital,” Rahman said looking at him and his father.

Several minutes later, the four of them were in the ambulance. Rizwan and Hannan were lying together on a large double stretcher. Rahman and Harun were seated with the doctor. Rahman said to the doctor,

“Can you please ask them to drive faster?”

“No Rahman,” Rizwan said to his son.

Rahman looked back at them. Rizwan then looked at Hannan and said,

“Hannan, before dying I want to apologise for everything.”

“No big brother, you have nothing to be sorry about,” Hannan said hardly.

“Hannan, I’m sorry for exiling you from this family. I’m sorry for not listening to you when you came back to make things right.”

“No Rizwan, please don’t.”

“I’m sorry that you had to stay inside that cell for twenty years, for a crime that you did not commit.”

“Look, I’m sorry that you lost your daughter.”

Rahman began to weep silently realising that his father and uncle were about to die.

“The good news is…” Rizwan said, “That our family’s mischief is over now.”

“Yes,” Hannan agreed.

“And it is over for ever. Now, our family can live with peace.”

“That’s great. And to be very honest, this was my last wish. I wanted to live as long as I could see this day.”

“Yes, I’m also very happy to see this day,” Rizwan said looking at Harun, “and I’m also happy to see this kid be a part of our family.”

“Yes, he is the one who ended this mischief, once and for all.”

Rizwan said looking at Hannan,

“Can you hold my hand? Because I can’t move mine.”

“Sure.”

Hannan held Rizwan’s hand and it was difficult for him to do it.

“I’m glad that I’m dying with you,” Hannan said to his brother.

“Yes, I’m glad that our father’s last wish has come true as well.”

“Yes…This was also my wish. Nobody really wanted to see this war. We all wanted peace and love.”

Rahman cried looking at them and asked the doctor,

“Isn’t there any hope that we can save them?”

“I’m afraid as there doesn’t seem to be any,” the doctor replied giving an expression of sadness.

Rizwan and Hannan held each other’s hands and smiled while looking up. Rizwan said his last words,

“Rahman!”

“Yes dad,” Rahman said leaning forward.

“Please make sure that our graves our next to each other.”

“Sure,” Rahman cried.

Slowly within a minute, the two brothers shut their eyes and both stopped breathing one after another.

“Oh, my God!” Harun uttered looking at them.

Rahman looked at their faces and saw that they both had a smile on their face, which proved that they were satisfied during their last time.

******************

Three Days Later

There was a crowd of fifty thousand people at the funeral of Rizwan and Hannan. This was a sort of combined funeral. This took place at the same graveyard where Tariq Yasar’s grave was.

Rahman and Harun were leading as the hosts of the funeral. Rahman had a huge responsibility and he was being very strong and tried his best to not cry. He was trying to be a nice host for all the people who had come from quite some distant places.

Harun was a new member of this family but he fulfilled his obligations more than what was required from him.

Rahman’s wife and mother were seated at some sitting area where there were other women as well. They all were weeping silently but Alia was proud to see this day as she always knew that her husband was a gem.

Rahman wanted to be alone for a while as a lot of people had expressed their condolences to him. He was getting weak from inside as he had heard quite a lot from his relatives.

As the funeral was over and all the guests had left by the evening time, Rahman said to Harun,

“Alright, I think we should wind up.”

“Yeah, sure!”

Harun asked all the workers to wind up the tents and make it quick.

Rahman looked at his mother and saw that she seemed satisfied even though she was weeping on the outside.

Rahman walked towards his mother and wife, and asked,

“So, everything’s okay with you two?”

“Yes,” his mother answered.

“The van is coming; you two can leave for home.”

“Okay.”

Rahman then walked back but his eyes accidentally saw that how the graves of two brothers were placed together in the same grave yard.

He smiled and felt very happy for them, and especially for his grandfather whose wish had come true.

******************

Next evening, Rahman was at his home with his wife Anum. He was upset but wasn’t crying. Anum said to him,

“I know you had a huge loss, but there’s something that I believe in. And I want to say this with the bottom of my heart…Your father was truly a great man. He was undoubtedly the wisest man I ever knew.”

“Thank you. I know. I know he was. I’m sure, you mean it.”

“His death was so unexpected.”

“Yes, I know. But the good side of the story is that he was satisfied.”

“Yes, I agree. I saw the smile on his face.”

“What about your Uncle Hannan?” Anum asked.

“He was a great man too. He had a big heart. He forgave my father for all the misunderstandings that took place.”

“Yes.”

“My sister died. It wasn’t his crime, but he paid for it.”

“What about Jafar? How did he die?”

“He had a perfect death.”

“Perfect death?” Anum asked. “How come?”

“He had so many hopes from life. But my nephew killed him, and not just killed him, but he gave him a torturous death.”

“Oh!”

“Yes, he made him lose his breath. He got tired with excess exercise on a treadmill. Harun told me the entire incident. It did seem like a painful death.”

“Oh, well, his death means that our family is safe now?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“Thank God. Finally end of an era.”

“Yes, demise of Jafar proves that there won’t be any more troubles. No more mischief, whatsoever.”

“That’s great. What about Harun now?”

“He is a part of this family.

But he needs some financial support.”

“Is there anything we can do for him?”

“Yes, I have done some of it for him.”

“Oh, that’s good!”

There was a silence for a moment, until Anum spoke up,

“Uh…There’s something else that I need to share with you. It is good news.”

Rahman looked at her with hope and delight on his face. Anum spoke up,

“You are going to become a father.”

Rahman got seriously shocked and excited at the same time. He said to her,

“Oh, my God! This is such great news. I’m so happy.”

He was absolutely speechless but he said anyway,

“After so many days of despair, I have seen some happiness.”

Anum smiled on his comments.

******************

Few Days Later

Rahman was at the graveyard sitting next to his father’s grave. He was sitting on the ground and was talking while looking at his father’s grave,

“Dad, I miss you so much. Finally a good time has come in my life and it makes me upset that I can’t share my happiness with you.”

He was trying to control his tears, so he forcefully smiled.

His phone began to ring. He answered the call,

“Hello!”

“It’s me, Harun.”

“Yes, I’m here inside the graveyard.”

“Alright, I’m coming inside.”

“Sure.”

Two minutes later, Harun was seated with Rahman and he was looking at his grandfather’s grave.

“Does it really upset you?” Harun asked him.

“What?”

“That your father is no more.”

“No… I mean, it does. But anyways, it had to happen. He had grown really old. The two of them were very old.”

“But they could have lived a little more.”

“I know, but whatever God wills! I accept it.”

Rahman then, looked at his uncle’s grave. He commented,

“This man was a very big hearted man. He was a bit irrational at times as my father told me, but he changed and he wanted to make things right.”

“I hope so. I don’t know much about him. But my family’s truth, everything about it, it matters to me more than anything.”

“That’s good. You stood by the truth. You sacrificed a life of pleasure just to save your family’s honour.”

The two of them remained seated and looked at Rizwan’s grave until it got darker and then they prepared to leave.

******************

That night, Rahman was sleeping in his house. In his dream he was seeing his father’s face, who was smiling. Rahman woke up and opened his eyes.

Several hours later, during the morning, Rahman was sitting with his wife at the dining table. They were having breakfast when Rahman began the conversation,

“You know what? I saw my father last night, in my dream.”

“Wow, in your dream?” Anum asked showing interest.

“Yes, he seemed very happy and satisfied. He was actually smiling while looking at me.”

“Wow, that’s so good to hear. So, what do you make out

of it?”

“Sorry?”

“I mean, what do you make out of this dream? How do you interpret this dream?”

“Oh, that’s what you’re asking. Well, I’m just coming to this conclusion that my father is really happy and satisfied. He is watching me perhaps, but even if he’s not, he left this world while he was in the state of satisfaction.”

“That’s right, I agree.”

“Yes, I just can’t seem to get over it. I miss him, and I wish he was still here, with his brother.”

“You know Rahman, your father won’t be happy to see you disappointed like this.”

“I know.”

“He would want you to move on with your life.”

“Yes, I’m sure. But it won’t be easy,” Rahman answered.

“You just need some time. Time is a heeler. It will heal your wound, really soon.”

They had a little more conversation and then, left the kitchen once they were done with the breakfast.

******************

For several months, Rahman remained disappointed but he saw his father every night in his dreams. This made him feel that his father was still with him; and slowly with the passage of time Rahman’s broken heart was healed.

Anum gave birth to a baby girl and they named her Sarah. Rahman had so much love for her that he realised his father’s pain, how his father always knew that his daughter Omama would have a life of pain and suffering.

Rahman thanked God every day that their life’s mischief was over forever and he could live peacefully with his family.

Harun was running his own shop that Rahman had financed for. He was living a life with no shade of crime and was hoping to get married sometime soon.

When Rahman’s daughter grew up to be six years old, Rahman took her to the graveyard where his father, his uncle and his grandfather were resting.

Rahman walked with Sarah and entered inside the graveyard. Sarah asked looking up at him,

“Where are we going father?”

“You’ll see.”

Next minute, the two of them were standing by Rizwan and Hannan’s graves. Sarah looked at the graves and read the names written on the tombstones.

“My dear daughter,” Rahman said, “I want you to know who Rizwan Tariq was. He was the wisest and the most generous person of all. He faced many trials in his life. It all began around seventy years ago when Tariq Yasar passed away…”