The Inseparable Princes

32. All Over Again

"Maa," said Lakshmana, trying to mask his sorrow - although mixed with satisfaction - as he walked into his mother's chamber.

"All your excitement has died down, huh?" she asked, smiling warmly, before looking up at him and instantly, she could read his emotions, crystal clear.

"Maa, I need to tell you this," he said, sitting devotedly at her feet, as he rested his head on her lap for just a moment, before he continued. "Ram Bhaiya has been banished to Dandaka for the next fourteen years,"

Sumitra looked at him, her mouth open, as her eyes filled with tears. 'Why Ram?' she thought. She didn't say anything for quite sometime.

"Maa, Maa relax. It's okay. It's alright," he said, as he sat up next to her, his arms wrapped around her, consoling her.

"Wh-why should Ram-no why should he go-" she tried to speak. She wasn't quite able to place her thoughts, and so Lakshmana decided to answer the question she meant to ask.

"Maa, Bharat Bhaiya's mother said-"

"What? Kaikeyi, you mean?" asked Sumitra.

"Yes. Maa Kaikeyi," he started, as he clenched his fists tightly enough for them to become an ugly white. "She asked Maharaj for two boons. First, that Bharat will rule instead of Ram Bhaiya. And second, that Ram Bhaiya will be banished to Dandaka for the next fourteen years," he completed without stuttering or stammering, however, trying in vain to curb the flow of tears. Sumitra looked up at him in horror, before standing up, not knowing how else to react. Tears flowed from her eyes unendingly, as Lakshmana held her trembling hands securely in his, in a bid to help her recover from the shock.

★★★

"Is Lakshman not coming along with us?" asked Sita.

"Us? Oh Sita, please, don't start me off again," said Rama exasperatedly.

"Start you off? Look, there's no way I'm going to stay here, when you are in the woods, and I don't even know if you're fine or not! Is it not my responsibility to be with you at all times, troubles and celebrations alike?" she reasoned.

"But is it not my responsibility to keep you safe, secure, protected? I cannot risk your life by taking you into Dandaka, where you can see demons all the time!" he countered.

"I know that you can keep me protected from every demon that we'll have to see. I'm sure you will. I've told you enough times that you will never lose, and if you still won't agree, then perhaps I'll have to have you demonstrating it to yourself!"

"For this petty thing you're coming to the jungle?"

"I'm coming to the jungle with you, Ram, because I cannot live away from you. I'd rather die, than live for fourteen years without my husband,"

★★★

"Fourteen years without her husband?" asked Sumitra confusedly. "What for, Lakshman?"

"I'm going with Ram Bhaiya too," he said, before Sumitra stumbled and plopped down on the nearest chair unintentionally.

"Lakshman?" she whispered, disbelief and belief, both contrarily visible in her voice. "You too?"

"Maa, I can't possibly live a life without Bhaiya, and you perhaps know it better than I. I've been teased so many times that I act like his little child and all that, but you know what, that is the truth. He, to me, I'm sorry, is more important than anybody else in this world. Even m-my p-parents," he cried, tears trickling down his cheeks, as he looked at his mother apologetically, for being what he thought of as ungrateful. "I am perhaps the worst son that you could've ever asked for. Shatru is a million times better than me. I won't be here for you, when you perhaps need it the most. I'll be with him, my Bhaiya. But I certainly can't live without him, Maa, I simply can't," he completed, before breaking down into sobs, sobs that could let anybody know how guilty, how tortured, yet how strong he was, to have admitted something that others would've wanted to hide forever.