“Here, keep this with you”, he said, handing a coin to her.
“Whats that? Oh, a 10 rupee coin!! Where did you get one of those?”
“Actually, I got two of those. One for you and one for me.”
“I don’t think I deserve to get anything from you…not anymore!!”
“Why so?”
“…..”
“Just because things have not gone the way we wanted them to go, that doesn’t mean I can’t do anything for you…right?”.
“……” All she could do was hold on to his arm and rest on his shoulder, like a child holding on to a parent.

His fingers intertwined with hers, partly as a matter of habit, mostly as a gesture of assurance. “You don’t have to say anything…not now, not ever.”
“This isn’t fair to you…”
“Sometimes life isn’t fair…not fair at all. I gotta take what comes my way.”

Clasping the coin in her palm, he faintly kissed her fingers and said “Keep this one with you…and I will keep one with me”.
“Is this meant to be a forever-together promise? What happened to that ‘we will always be under the same moon’ dialogue of yours?”
“That was when we believed that we would always be together. Things didn’t quite turn out that way na?”
“…..”
“There will be a time when my being there, if only in your memories, will hurt you. That is something I just can’t allow to happen. If I ask you to look at the moon and remember me, the moon is never going to go away, and neither is the pain. This coin can be used and let go on its way forward.”
“And what about you? Are you gonna let your coin go, too?”
“………”

This was one question he had no answer to. He could only look in her eyes – speaking nothing, saying a lot. “I think I should leave now…“, said she as she held on to his fingers for one last time and stepped back.

Both the coins stayed tightly clasped in their palms, waiting to be let go on their way forward.