Abhira : Short Stories

Part 3 - Her Saviour

Note÷ I have not seen yrkkh much when Aarohi and Akshara were kids so the information could be a little wrong.

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"Abhi, Thanks for trusting me. I...I thought you were angry with me that's why you didn't come." Akshara looked at Abhimanyu taking his hands in her hands.

" I trust you, Akshu. I know you can't do anything like that." He said cupping her cheeks while removing a stray hair from her eyes.

"Abhi, Why did we come outside?" Akshara looked at Abhimanyu frowning her eyebrows.

"Akshu, you know I'm not angry with you because I think you would do something like that but I might be after I know that you hid this with me," Abhimanyu uttered softly.

He wished she didn't hide it from him.

"Abhi, I didn't know about it. I never thought it would be like this. I swear if I knew I would have told you anyhow just like I told you about our accident." Akshara said softly making Abhimanyu sigh in relief.

He was happy that Akshu, His Akshu didn't hide something from him.

"Abhi, I know I do everything to protect Aaru. Sometimes, I don't even think about what is right and wrong but this time it was about our Ma. I know how it feels when we lose a mother. I would never do this with you. I would never hide something from you." Akshara said wiping a lone tear from her eyes.

It still hurts her to think that the sister she loved the most could do something like this with her. But she's glad she could finally see that she was in a relationship in which the efforts were from her side only. Aarohi could never love her as she does even if she does everything in her power for her.

She's happy that she has her Abhi who loves her as much as she does, even more than that and this time she wouldn't let him go even for her sister.

He's her blessing which she was giving to another person who does not deserve him.
How could she be so selfish for her sister's love that she was ready to let him go? Was she that selfish?

"Akshu, what are you thinking?" Abhimanyu asked pulling her a little close to him and bringing Akshara to come out of her thoughts.

"Abhi, I may not have told you. I may have never made you feel like that but I'm grateful that you are with me. You are a blessing which is only for me but I took a lot of time to realise that." Akshara confessed cupping Abhimanyu's cheeks in her small hands.

Abhimanyu smiled widely.

"I fear losing you as much as I felt for Aaru but now I realised that whatever I would do Aaru would never understand me. I am sorry for hurting you every time intended or unintended." Akshara let out everything that was in her heart.

"You don't need to say it. Everything is okay." Abhimanyu said trying to make her feel better.

She smiled at the gesture. She felt her love growing more after this. Whereas Aarohi makes her feel that she has done wrong to her even if she didn't, her Abhi is thinking about her and trying to make her feel better even if she did so wrong to him. She was showering her love to the wrong person who doesn't even care for her.

"Everything is okay for you but I know somewhere you felt bad when I did wrong with you because of Aarohi. You don't need to have a constant fear of losing me, Abhi cause I'm yours. You don't need to feel that you would never be my first priority cause you are." Akshara said trying to make her Abhi understand how much she loves him.

"I still love Aarohi but I swear not more than you. I still feel hurt because of her but I am glad you are with me. I still feel I might forgive her for Sirat Ma's sake, but I know I would never be able to forget what she did." Akshara felt a little better letting out everything in front of the person who would understand her even more than her.

"Akshara, I'm not saying to stay away from Aarohi but yeah don't be so blind in her love, don't trust her more than yourself." Abhimanyu said making Akshara realise that she let herself be overpowered by Aarohi.

She has always kept Aarohi above her. She believed all the things that Aarohi said. She never asked her or doubt her because she trusted her sister's words may be more than she would trust herself. Is it wrong to trust someone so much?

"No, it's not wrong to trust someone but it's wrong to trust someone more than yourself." Abhimanyu said knowing what Akshara was thinking.

They sat on a nearby bench and Akshara put her head on his shoulder.

"Abhi, since my childhood I have been told that Aarohi is my little sister and I have to take care of her. I did, I have always taken care of her. I still do. I have taken care of her as a mother does to her child." Akshara said remembering those moments when Aarohi and she would be together.

"And Aaru she loved me too, she still does but she has hidden that love deep inside her heart. One day I got to know that I am not the real daughter of Sirat Ma. I was heartbroken that day then Ma told me about Naira Mumma. Since then there was a difference in our bond. Sirat Ma took a promise from me to take care of Aarohi as she's my little sister." Akshara said smiling a little at the memories.

"One day while trying to reach me, Sirat Ma's foot slipped from the stairs of the temple and she fell from the stairs. Aarohi thinks because of me her mother died and she blames me for it till now maybe." Akshara said shuddering at the memory that still haunts her.

"Everyone decided to send me away from the home till then Aarohi forgives me. I was just a 10-year kid who lost her mother, father, sister, brother and family altogether. I had no one there. I was alone and those moments, those alone moments still haunt me. They are the reason for my panic attacks." Akshara is still scared to think about those horrible moments.

"I have never blamed anyone and I don't even want to. But what was my fault? Even I lost my Ma, Papa but why was I sent away? Was it my fault that I grew up earlier? I still was a kid who needed their family's love, care, attention but I got nothing." Akshara's sobbed hiding her face in her Abhi's chest.

Abhimanyu was shocked to hear about Akshara's painful past. Abhimanyu couldn't see her crying like that but he knew Akshara needed this. She needs to let out everything that is in her heart.

"It was not your fault Akshu. You did nothing. Just like Ma's accident, it was Sirat Ma's accident." Abhimanyu caressed her hair softly.

"Then why does Aarohi blames me for it?" Akshara said looking at Abhimanyu with tears in her eyes.

"I said, Akshu. It was an accident. Dr Aarohi's words don't matter. You trust me, right?" Abhimanyu asked cupping Akshara's cheek. Akshara nodded.

"It was an accident," Abhimanyu repeated the same line pulling Akshara in his arms again.

Akshara felt relief wash over her. No one told her this except her Abhi. He's her comfort. He's her saviour. He was the one she needed all her life. She will be forever grateful to God for sending this angel to her. She would be forever grateful to Abhi for not leaving her even if she did.

This was the last thought in Akshara's mind before she was into a deep slumber in his arms.

After a few minutes when Abhimanyu felt her not moving even a little he looked at her. She was in deep sleep. He smiled a little looking at her.

"This is the last day, you cried. After this, I would never let you cry. I will always protect you and will be there for you whenever you need me. But I don't think you need me to protect you always as you are strong yourself and this is what I like about you most." Saying this, he kissed her forehead softly while Akshara smiled in her sleep.

This is what he always needed his Akshu in his arms or near him. Always.

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