Metamorphosis (TS)

Part 2: Prequel to part one

It had been two years since it had all started really. Raavi had decided to fast on karva chauth despite Maami not wanting her to. She had decided she was leaving no stone unturned in praying for a good husband and a good family to go with him.

She had barged into their house long before dawn, failing miserably at being quite despite trying, a surprise in itself, to get her sargi from Dhara di as Maami had refused to make one for her.

Dhara di had made sure she ate before going to sleep after being assured by Raavi that no, she didn't feel sleepy, and yes, she was perfectly fine on the swing so long as she had her phone for company. Except her phone wasn't much company when it was battery dead. In these unforeseen circumstances, she had decided that a nap would be the next best thing to do and gone to sleep with the extra blanket that Dhara di always left out for the boys.

She had woken up to the feel of someone's hand on her forehead, looking up to see Shiva sitting on the floor right beside her, Dev and Krish standing behind him. Noticing her curious look Krish had replied, " Vo kya hain na Raavi, Dhara bhabhi ne bataya ki Tu subah subah chali aayi yahan pe, par aaj to hum mein se kisi ki bhi neend haraam nahi kiya tune, khaas kar ki Shiva ki, to usse laga kahin tume bukhar na chad gaye... " He had finally noticed her glare , and Shiva's, trailing off and making a run for the bathroom, Dev right after him.

Shiva had then gone back to his usual nature, pulling a fight with her before getting ready and leaving for the shop. It was, thankfully, a Sunday, and so Raavi had offered to stay and help Dhara di through the day as Maasi was highly unlikely to do anything except try and break her fast today.

She had felt the concern in his gaze when he'd come home for lunch but had avoided it expertly. They'd gone from being childhood rivals to exclusive frenemies a very long time ago. They had both been extremely protective of each other for as long as they could remember, but it had taken Raavi being called an anaath by her classmates for Shiva to finally express it. Oh, and how he'd expressed it. It was only his top notch grades, and the fact that the school athletic team would cease to exist without him that had saved him from a suspension. After that they had always fought with each other, but it wasn't with the same viciousness as before, and they certainly never let anyone interfere in their matters.

There had even been a phase where they had adhered to social norms, a phase that she hated with a passion. Right after Raavi had gotten her first period and Shiva had brought her to Pandya Niwas, Dhara di had sat the both of them down and given them a lecture on what society expected of them, that not everyone would understand the way the family did, and that they had reputations to take care of now. They had lasted a month of awkward, stilted conversations and general avoidance before Raavi had decided that her reputation could go to hell and poked and prodded him till Shiva had shouted at her, "Ay maami ki behen ki beti, dimaag chammach daal ke kaana bandh karegi ki nahi". To which she had, of course, hastily and definitively expressed her refusal. She had then laughed till her stomach hurt and Shiva had chased her out of his house. She's been so glad she had her sparring partner back, and it was surely a good thing that she'd seen the grin Shiva had tried to hide from her.

Alas, Raavi was tired now. She had finally resorted to sitting on one of the cots in the aangan as the swing was beginning to give her a chakkar. With only a half hour to the time moon was supposed to come out, Dhara di was getting everything ready for her to break her fast. All of the brothers were home and everyone except Shiva had spent time entertaining her so as to keep her mind off of her hunger.

"Raavi, bacha, zara vo dusri channi le aana store room se". "Haan Dhara di, abhi laayi".

She had been looking through the sieve to check if it was clean or not as she walked out and spotted the moon instead, and in her excitement, had promptly gotten dizzy and stumbled.

Shiva had caught her, of course he had, despite having avoided talking to her the whole day, he'd made sure to have an eye on her ever since he'd come home. "Mujhe to tabhi bata ta ki tujhse ye vrat sab nahi hogi. Koshish hi kyun karti hai tu" , and had promptly force fed her some water and then a sweet.

Still in shock, she had begun mumbling rapidly "Shiva... Shiva tune meri vrat tod diya... Aise kaise kar sakte ho tum", " Kyun, nahi tod sakta main teri vrat, behosh padni ki itni hi shauk he kya tujhe". Noticing his anger she had quickly replied "Shiva, baat vo nahi hain, ye karva chauth ka vrat tha, sirf saathi hi tod sakta hain ise". " Haan, to hun na main bhi teri saathi" cue, hold breath in, "ladne jagadne main" exhale. "Ab bas, chup chaap jaake kaana kaa le tu". And that had been that.

The entire family had been in shock, but Dhara di had made sure that she had completed the aarti and then fed her until she had been begging her to stop.

Later that night when he'd dropped her home and she'd turned around to give him his usual goodbye from her doorstep, there had been something more to his gaze. She had always known that Shiva was an intense person, someone with a one track, one focus mind, and she had always been subject to it. But that day, his gaze made her breath catch in her throat and her heart flutter.

That day, she carried her butterfly heart with her and back towards him, that day she put her arms around him in a side hug even as he stayed seated on his bike, and that day Shiva didn't hide his smile from her.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx