The Inseparable Princes

4. The Prank - 2

"Bhaiya?!"

"Bhaiya...means brother, right?" asked Rama, like he knew nothing at all.

All three of them were basically numb. They didn't have the sense to think how somebody could just lose their memory without any reason or cause.

Shatrughna suddenly walked up to his brother and shook him by the shoulders. "What are you talking about?" he asked loudly.

"Sorry, but you should maintain a distance," said Rama sternly and formally to his baby brother, who was terribly hurt by that gesture.

"Bhaiya, he's our Shatru!" screamed Bharata.

"Enemy, you mean?" asked Rama in confusion.

"Shatrughna is his name, Bhaiya! Our Shatrughna!" he said, as tears flowed from his eyes. "Lakshman, tell him something!"

"Ahh, Lakshman!" said Rama, raising false hopes.

"Bhaiya?" whispered Lakshmana after recovering from the shock.

"Lakshman..." he said affectionately. "...Is a beautiful name,"

"Really? Did you just realise?" asked Shatrughna, rolling his eyes.

"It isn't my fault. I was just introduced to him, by him.... What's your name?" asked Rama, referring to Bharata.

"Bhaiya, my name is Bharat! How could you forget?!"

★★★

Lakshmana stood in the arena, a sword in his hand. Sweat dripping from his face, and slight scratches on his arms, he swung the sword in utter madness. His eyes were red from shedding tears, his sight was blurred due to the tears clouding them, his nose and cheeks crimson and his lips trembling.

"Aaah!" screamed Shatrughna.

"Shatru? You...you're fine?" asked Lakshmana, wiping his tears off, noticing that he had injured his brother.

"Yea...yeah..." said Shatrughna, holding the injured part of his hand tightly.

"Idiot! Didn't you see, I was practicing? Why would you come when I...I'm pract-"

"You weren't practicing, Bhai!" said Shatrughna, cupping one of Lakshmana's cheeks with his little palm.

"I....I w...was..." he stammered.

"You were swinging your sword haywire. That isn't called practice. And, I needed to tell you something about Ram Bhaiya,"

"Yeah....yeah, what?" he asked, wiping his fresh tears.

"How did he randomly ''lose his memory''? I mean, it isn't even possible," said Shatrughna, finally able to think logically.

"Exactly! Why didn't we think of that?" asked Lakshmana.

"Bharat Bhaiya! What do you think?"

"I... I don't know!"

"He's just acting, bhaiya! I saw him reading. How can he read if he forgot us, us whom he has known for longer than ever," questioned Shatrughna.

"Achha! So now let's not even speak to Bhaiya! I am not going to talk to him!" declared Lakshmana furiously. "How could he play such a cruel prank?!"

"Don't be such a hypocrite! You're pranking me like this ALL THE TIME!" complained Bharata.

"But I'm not talking to him and THAT IS FINAL!" announced Lakshmana.

★★★

"Arre! Laksh listen toh!" he pleaded.

"No....why? You don't remember me na... So you go, I'm not speaking to you anyway," announced Lakshmana.

"I...I was ju...just,"

"Just what? At least me and Shatru are a little smart, we can understand. That Bharat Bhaiya is sitting there thinking you actually forgot everything! Why, Bhaiya? What kind of a cruel prank was that?" he screamed.

"Laksh, I'm really really really sorry. Take me to Bharat, I'll apologise. And to Shatru also. Please, but don't say that you won't talk to me. I can't live without you Laksh,"

"Emotional blackmail, huh, bhaiya?" asked Shatrughna. "I know you love Laksh bhaiya a lot, but this prank is almost unforgivable!"

"Almost, right? Not completely..." said Rama hesitantly.

"Of course," replied Shatrughna with a cheeky smile. "We've never pranked you people to this extent, bhaiya! Right now, you've got to apologise to Bharat bhaiya. Right now!"

"Okay, okay....tell me where he is," said Rama.

★★★

"Bhaiya, you're fine!" exclaimed Bharata.

"Arre idiot, nothing happened to me... I was just acting!" explained Rama.

"Bhaiya... Is he fine? I mean, I feel like he's gone mad. We are telling him that this was a prank, and he's still not realised," said Lakshmana, unable to control his laughter any longer.

"Chup! I mean.... Keep quiet, Laksh," said Rama, changing his tone on seeing Lakshmana's reaction. "He hasn't heard us, I guess?"

"I heard you, Bhaiya! I thought you were on my team, but.... But you...." complained Bharata.

"Oh god! Now please don't cry Bhaiya!" said Shatrughna in a 'praying to or worshipping god mode'.

"I'm sorry, Bharat, but you were messing up big time. So I thought I'd make up my own prank, only to be caught by these two devils..."

"Devils?" screamed the twins at the same time.

"No no no.... Sweet little brothers," said Rama with a fake smile.

"Hehe.... That's better Bhaiya, because you know what the deal is, don't you?" said Lakshmana.

"Of course I do," replied Rama with a mental facepalm.

"What's it? what is it?" asked Bharata.

"It's a secret!" said Shatrughna.

"Secret, my foot! They'll tell Pitashree and Maa, that's all!" revealed Rama.

"Oh, so if you think it isn't that big of a deal, we'll tell them, okay na Shatru?" asked Lakshmana with a wink.

"Oh sure! We should do that, shouldn't we, Ram Bhaiya?"

"Boys! Come here, today I am going to teach you people archery," announced Vasishtha before Rama could reply.

"Yay!! Shatru, come on..... let's go!" screamed Lakshmana and pulled his twin along.

★★★★★

A/N : Haash! Finally khatam hua! I'm sorry for this torture, I didn't like it myself. But yeah, hopefully I'll not start off some nonsense like this again. Thanks for reading, I'm quite sorry for you.
Samachar samapt hue, namaskar!