Chaotic Love

Right Light

I am still mortified after I left the chakora forest. Sometimes I envy Aru's sneakiness, her ability to focus on the smallest loopholes and get around the situation. A secret. Not your secret. Still, my choice was way better, than let's say...Rudy's. I chuckle at the memory.

After the 'how-you-were-named' discussion, Bee and Mini passed out, and Rudy had his cheek against my shoulder, insisting on sleeping next to me in spite of there being many empty chairs.

My cousin has a weird persona.

Aru was saying something about the Sleeper as I glanced through a few pictures I recently clicked on Shadowfax. Most of them were of the four of us, with Rudy being in a couple. I save all those in a folder titled 'Potatoes'

The last of them is a photo of Aru in the outfit Nikita sent her, smiling. I stare at it longer than necessary, my eyes trailing over her form and her eyes shining with happiness. Her hair is tied in a braid, with a few strands falling over her face. I gotta admit, I really like that hairstyle. As if on cue, I look up to see her, finding her staring at me intently.

"Something on my face, Shah?" I ask her, recovering.

Aru goes a bit pink. Sitting under the moonlight, her brown skin glows. She looks tired; averting her eyes, she says "No. I just thought you'd try to fall asleep too."

"I'm Pandava adjacent, remember? I can't follow you guys into your astral meeting with the twins. Might as well stay awake and grab some shots. I wasn't able to get that many in the chakora forest." I shrug, refusing to acknowledge I was sorting her photos.

At the mention of the chakora forest, she grumbles. "I don't miss that place. If I'd stayed any longer, Sohail might have passed out from having to endure the sight of me."

I laugh internally at how quick she is to mind a chakora bird's opinion on her looks. If Sohail hadn't been an idiot for falling in love with a lightning bolt in a matter of seconds, he was an idiot for suggesting that Aru was remotely hideous.

Sometimes, I wish I could tell Aru the way I see her. Or maybe show her some of her pictures and let her figure it out. Because to me, she is a girl who is fearless, who is ready to sacrifice herself for her friends, who bears the weight of being the Sleeper's daughter, and still manages to make herself and others around her smile. She is the girl who makes Lord of the Rings references, who makes 'leave' puns, and would be a Hufflepuff just to stay closer to the Hogwarts kitchens.

All this time of knowing her, I have never once seen Aru bragging about being the reincarnation of the most famous Pandava or being daughter of Indra. In spite of all she is, she manages to remain humble and herself. She doesn't change herself for others. And I love that about her.

What I don't like is the fact that she brushes aside her talents and qualities so quickly, as if they don't matter at all.

Now, when I see her lying peacefully on the ground, there is only one word that comes to my mind: Beautiful. Not just on the outside, but also on the inside. Beautiful in all the ways that matter.

Even if I don't say any of that to her, I want her to know that it's not her that isn't beautiful. It's Sohail who hasn't seen her. Like really seen her.

"Maybe he didn't see you in the right light, Shah." I say softly, hoping she might hear my words amidst her sleep.