Suffered in silence ~~ Legend of Sumitranandans

Just showcasing my inability to write non angsty chapters

Okay guys, just because I am not replying to the comments doesn't mean I am not reading them. I enjoy each one of them, but just not finding the time to reply. I am sorry, but there is no other way out either. I will try to reply, though. But please don't stop giving your opinions, they mean a lot to me.

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That night, Rama couldn't sleep. Well, it wasn't like he slept properly every night, which he didn't, but he would usually catch as much sleep as was required to keep him going.

But that night, he couldn't even do that. Which was strange, because he had found some hope to locate his wife now that he had befriended Sugriva.

However, it wasn't the devastation of Sita's abduction that kept him awake that night. Actually, it wasn't anything in particular. It was just the feeling of emptiness, of a sort of void that had only grown bigger and bigger over the years

He was constantly being thrown into the past, and every painful detail of it was playing in his mind, making him sick to his stomach.

After almost a decade and a half of his exile, he still missed his family. Even if he never expressed it, he still very much did

His family was suffering, and he knew it very well. Each and every member of his family was leading a life that none of them quite deserved. And Rama felt like drowning himself when he realised that it was majorly his decision that had effected their lives like no other

He remincsed of the happy times, back when they were children, with nothing more than the twins' pranks to worry about

(Flashback in italics. The normal font is the present)

The princes were all new residents of the gurukula of Sage Vashishtha. They shared a small cottage, which was almost always bustling with some sort of noise. It was rarely ever quite.

Well, at that point it WAS quiet. And the major reason for that was that it was midnight and all three of Rama's brothers were fast asleep. Rama smiled to himself, cherishing the silence for a while. Rama was usually the first to fall asleep, but not that night.

Ironical it was, Rama now thought bitterly. God knew he would give up his life itself if it meant that he could hear that noise again. He was fed up with the prevailing silence

The reason was that the next dawn would bring with itself the birthday of Kaushalya Putra. It was the first birthday without his parents being around, and he felt oddly saddened at the thought

But though he missed his parents a lot, his excitement for his birthday did not diminish one bit. The reason was the presence of the three boys who slept peacefully on the cots beside his own. He spent each one of his birthdays until then in the same manner, more or less, with royal dishes, anything he wished for, his pampering parents and a lot of love. But now, he was excited to see what it would be like to spend a birthday here, amidst nature, with his three brothers

And with those thoughts in his mind, the eldest of the Raghu princes closed his eyes, ready for the upcoming day

On occasions more than one, his brothers had been a source of happiness and comfort for him. And while he expressed it very less, his brothers meant more than the world to him. Rama wondered if they knew how much he loved them. He hoped they did, because otherwise, he would be absolutely shattered.

By the time Rama woke up the next morning, the usual bustle around their little cottage had already begun. The twins were, as usual, fighting with each other over virtually ANYTHING that existed, all while Bharata combed his hair, whistling calmly, as though Lakshmana and Shatrughana weren't almost taking down the whole cottage with their screams