There we find Aisha running away from a British soldier. Finally winning him over, she turns and plunges a square dagger into his chest (So Aunt Ruby was right, she did kill a man once). Aisha arrives at a village center to find a man outside explaining to his neighbors that this is their home and if they have to fight for it, they will fight for it. His speech is interrupted by a bunch of soldiers who disperse the crowd and send everyone home. Aisha wanders away and eventually finds a field of roses to sleep in. She is awakened by the same man from the village who politely asks her to stop sleeping on his roses. He asks if he can help her with anything, but Aisha is short with him, refusing any help. However, he still offers her food and a place to sleep in, inviting her to his home. Aisha hesitates, but that night takes him up on his offer. The man asks if Aisha has a name or if he should just call her “hungry”. When Aisha doesn’t answer, she presses harder, remarking that she knows she’s not British and she’s not from this village, so what’s she doing here? When Aisha says she likes his roses, he begins his favorite poem: “When the soul lies on this grass, the world is too full to speak. What you seek seeks you…” Something in Aisha changes, and she cuts him off and tells him her name, and finally tells her his: Hassan. Some time passes and Aisha and Hasan live together as a happy little family – with a baby on the way. When their child, Sana, is born, Aisha spends her time caring for the little one, and Hassan notes that their newborn looks at Aisha as if she were “magical”. Time continues to pass and Sana begins to grow up, but considering all the changes happening around them in India, Hassan is nervous about the future of the family as Partition approaches. When one of their neighbors stops them, Hassan’s emotions run high as he shouts that their village has been divided and no one will buy roses from him or sell Aisha milk anymore. As the neighbor leaves and Aisha closes the door, she spots a shadowy figure outside and knows exactly who it is: Najma.
