The Princes of Ayodhya-The Ramayan Through Short Stories

Long Time no See Hanuman! How's the wife! By the wife, I mean MY wife.

With that, Hanuman was back. He rushed as fast as he could, flying over the Indian Ocean, staring down into the waters, and smiling at his reflection, before steeling himself. He had to bring this great news to Prabhu Shri Ram as fast as possible, the fact that Maa Sita was doing all right, she was holding on, both onto her love for him and her resistance front against Ravan. And as with all good news, there was bad.

Ravan had not surrendered Maa Sita back to their front. She was still stuck in the now destroyed Ashok Vatika. Speaking of which, Hanuman wasn't sure if he was proud of that or not. On one hand, it gave him a sense of delightful satisfaction seeing Ravan's rage, his face turning as red as a cherry tomato, his hands clenching into tight, white fists, pulling trees out of their places in the Earth, shaking dust and dirt everywhere without a care, and eventually, with barely any repercussions to him!

On the other hand, destruction was no way to start a war. All wars started with peace. And Hanuman hadn't exactly done a good job of representing how peaceful Prabhu Shri Ram was trying to be. Hanuman turned around mid flight and looked back at the burning Lanka while hovering in midair. Yep. Most definitely a terrible job. He had destroyed Ravan's favorite garden, killed his soldiers, killed the Prince of Lanka, and burnt the kingdom to ashes. What were the chances that Ravan was going to surrender now?

Shaking his head, Hanuman turned back to the mainland, and continued to fly, breathing in the chilly air as it passed through his nose. It was a wonderful day nonetheless, and a productive one at that! He had found Maa Sita, reassured her of Prabhu Shri Ram's search for her, destroyed Ravan's favorite garden, killed a large enemy threat in the form of Akshaya Kumara, and made the demon king certain that Prabhu Shri Ram would put up a good fight against him. Yes, all in all, it was a great day indeed.

-----O----

"It has been ages, Jambavan." Angad groaned as he paced back and forth, thumping his mace in his hand, as if eager to fight someone. Angad didn't like fighting per say, but he did not dislike it as some did. Jambavan watched the crown prince's impatient movements, and couldn't help feeling like a small part of Vali had been passed onto him. But instead of using it to throw Sugriv out of the kingdom, Angad used his impatience to fight for a good cause. Here was the Sugriv in the Yuvraj.

Jambavan too stared out into the distance, but before he could blink, he saw something large and dark approaching, larger than any fly or bird, or truly, any other normally flying animal could have been. Just as Angad rolled his shoulders and geared up to destroy any possible flying demon, Jambavan slapped his back lightly, and pointed once more towards the sky, where the approaching figure seemed more familiar by the minute. "Hanuman-" Angad breathed with a sigh of relief and a bit of everlasting wonder.

Hanuman landed on the beach, kicking up the sand, and Angad bound forward, hugging him tightly around the chest. "Hanuman!" he cried. "We were so worried! Not that I was, of course, but you know who really was? Jambavan!" Hanuman raised an eyebrow at the old bear, who grumbled and waved him off. "How was it like-flying? I hope it was fun. Did you find Maa Sita? Was she alright? If Ravan dared touch her-I shall break his head off his bleeding stump of a neck and wring it around Lanka and-"

Hanuman laughed, shaking his head, and ruffling Angad's hair. "Haha. Yes, I found Maa Sita. She looks starved and slightly sunken, but I do believe her hope in Prabhu Shri Ram was rekindled at the sight of me. I gave her the ring that Shri Ram had given me, and she gave me this-" He held up a coral-shaped hair clip made from pearls and shining with an unforgotten luster. "Which she had kept to maintain her status as a married woman. She says that she believes that prabhu Shri Ram will come and save her!"

Angad looked at him with awe. "It must be hard to maintain that much confidence in someone even after months, but Maa Sita does it with ease! I should like to meet her someday. She seems like a wise person, and everyone knows that I've only got enough in my tiny brain to do my daily chores is all." Hanuman laughed. "Look! Nal and Neel are there! I wonder what Nal is doing-he seems quite animated."