The Inseparable Princes

17. Only Mine

"Lakshman, I want you to come along to the temple there. Please," he said.

"Umm.... Sorry, bhaiya, but that doesn't seem to be possible today. Sometime later, perhaps," replied Lakshmana, formality evident in his tone.

"What's with you?" asked Rama, followed by a giggle.

"Me? Oh nothing. I'm just not feeling very well," he said.

"What! What happened to you? You have a fever? Or did you just break one of your limbs as always?" asked Rama anxiously, as he checked Lakshmana's temperature with his hand on his forehead.

"Oh leave it bhaiya!" said Lakshmana, sounding harsh, as he pulled down his brother's hand and stormed off into his personal room.

"Laksh?" said Rama softly, hurt at his brother's piercing behaviour, something that he'd never had to experience earlier.

"What happened, bhaiya?" asked Bharata, the eternal peacemaker.

"Get lost!" scowled Rama, and stormed off in the other direction.

"What?" said a confused Bharata to himself, before shrugging cluelessly and hopping off into the palace gardens cheerfully.

★★★

"Ram?" said Sita, looking at Rama's anxious expression and his usually bright eyes looking lost and clouded with worry.

"Yeah," he responded blindly, not turning his eyes, or his attention towards her.

"What happened? Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah," he responded again in the same way.

"Really?"

"Yeah," he said again.

"What's your name?" she asked, a question to which 'yeah' can't be the answer. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," he said, and as soon as he realised, he stuttered and turned around. "No, my name- Oh you know my name!"

"Yes, I do. I know your name, but not only your name," she said, taking his hands in hers. "Tell me what's troubling you. I want to know, and I believe I deserve to know,"

"Sita," he said hesitantly, his eyes wandering off and not making contact with those of Sita's. "I-I, Lakshman... I d-don't," he tried to speak, and when he couldn't convey his feelings, he stopped with a sigh, displaying disappointment in himself.

"What about Lakshman?" she asked, since that was the only proper word he said.

"He is, I don't know, angry with me, or something," said Rama, himself unsure of what he was saying.

"Lakshman, and upset with you? Don't joke!" said Sita, as she tried to suppress her giggles.

"No, Sita! Actually. Today, I asked him to come to the temple along with me, but he refused. Like actually refused!" narrated Rama, eyes widely opened while explaining, as he looked like a toddler.

"He did?" she asked disbelievingly. "Okay, now you should cheer up!"

"But-"

"I'll speak to Laksh, okay?"

★★★

"But what is the issue?" she asked