Adil's POV
The river was a screaming monster, and the Line of Control had been swallowed by mud. When I saw the woman in the white coat on the opposite bank, my training screamed "Enemy Sector," but my heart screamed "Human."
She was holding a child, her feet slipping on the jagged rocks. I didn't wait for an order. I plunged into the freezing water, the current clawing at my chest.
When I reached out and our fingers brushed while passing the child, a jolt went through me that was stronger than the river's pull. She looked at me with a gratitude so raw it broke my heart. In that moment, the border was just a word. She was just a woman, and I was just a man.
Isha's POV
Rain blinded me, and the roar of the flash flood drowned out my own thoughts. I was losing my grip on the shivering girl in my arms.
Then, through the grey mist, I saw him—a soldier in a green uniform, his eyes fierce and focused. He didn't look like the "aggressor" I had seen in news reports; he looked like a lifeline.
As he leaned over the churning water to take the child, I saw the name tag on his chest. Our eyes locked, and for a heartbeat, the world stopped. I felt a strange, terrifying safety in his presence. He was the enemy, yet he was the only thing keeping us from the abyss.