The Inseparable Princes

95. Banter, Brothers and Bedtime Stories

Sita heaved a sigh of relief, leaning backwards. Finally, Trijata had given her good news! Finally, her mind was at peace. Now, Sita knew that Ravana was going to be killed for sure. She knew that Rama would never spare the one who harmed two people - Sita and Lakshmana - who meant the most to him in life. It was truly going to be the end of Ravana. His end, and a beginning of a new era in their lives. Hopefully that of happiness, love and togetherness, and nothing but all of that (sorry, guys. I'm not able to convey what I think would be Sita's reaction T_T).

★★★

"Lakshman! Sorry for that, I guess I just spoke about Urmi by mistake, you know. In the flow." said Rama, trying not to laugh looking at the abashed face of his brother.

"You can laugh." said Lakshmana quite normally. But it looked like Rama took it seriously, and he instantly stopped smiling in that teasing way.

"Sorry." he said softly, sitting down on the pine mats that had been laid, one each for the two brothers. Lakshmana turned to him, a brow raised.

"What?" he chuckled. "I told you that you can laugh. Now what are you so upset about?"

"You seem annoyed!" said Rama, pouting. "I didn't want to annoy you." he added innocently.

"No, I'm not annoyed. But how do they know about Urmila? We've never mentioned then before, have we?" said Lakshmana, pretending like he didn't know anything. Rama looked down hesitantly.

"I might've said it." he mumbled, and Lakshmana smiled a little bit. Was his brother not even sure of what he had said? That was not characteristic of Rama, and if he was losing his control, it meant that it affected him deeply.

"You don't know what you said?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, no. I was worried at that time, so I-I'm not sure of what I said, really. Maybe I did mention her by mistake, you know." he said, smiling sheepishly.

"So you've agreed that you weren't unperturbed, as you had earlier claimed, when I was injured, huh?" asked Lakshmana, smirking. Rama furrowed his brows and made a signature long face, one that he didn't use very often in front of others, but did when he was talking to Lakshmana.

"I was obviously worried. And I-I was just so scared! What if something happened? You don't know how scary it was, you've no idea!" he said, his heart beginning to race once again. To him, it was a nightmare that would forever stay in his heart. A wound that probably wouldn't cure as easily as others perhaps would. Although his brother was alive and with him, that 'What if' was always in his head. What if he had died?

Lakshmana smiled at him a little. "Scared? My Ram Bhaiya was scared-"

"This is why! Sometimes it's like it's wrong for me to even feel slightly afraid of anything, anything that relates to my family. I wasn't scared of the enemy, and let me tell you, I never will be. I'll die on the battlefield but enemies will never be the reason for my fear. Any sort of fear. I was scared that something would happen to you. If something had happened, what would I have done, Lakshman?"

"Maybe you should calm down a little bit, Bhaiya. I don't understand why you worry so much about me!" he said, shrugging. Rama narrowed his eyes, annoyed.

"So what do you suppose I should do, or I should've done? Should I have celebrated?" Rama snapped. "Lakshman stop being a fool. I love you more than anything else in the universe. You're a brother I would never find anywhere else. I'd never let anything happen to you!"

"Okay, that's interesting! These should be my lines, because-"

"You're doing this to annoy me, aren't you? You know what you mean to me! Stop being an idiot!" Rama smacked him on the cheek rather lightly.