Ramyana OS

Remnants

"There you go."
Urmila steered Luv and Kush to stand in front of the mirror. All done up, like true Ayodhyan princes, sons of Ram and Sita. They stared at their reflection but none of them cracked a smile or marveled at all the jewels as they once would have. Their eyes held grief, an emotion not wished upon someone so young.

Urmila turned to look at Lakshman who was standing in a corner his expression the same, of grief. She stared at all of their reflections until Kush's voice broke her reverie.

" Urmila maa, is maa really gone? Will she not return, at least for us?"

His words pierced through Lakshman's heart like a freshly sharpened arrow, who squeezed his eyes shut and looked away from the scene leaving Urmila to answer the innocent question.

Urmila, probably Sita's most beloved of the sisters smiled at the question, which confused Ram who was standing in the doors of the chamber, too broken at the moment to face his sons.
With a smile playing on her lips she gently pulled Luv and Kush in an embrace.

" Whoever told you that she's gone huh? She's right here with us."
She spared a glance at Ram who looked to be hanging on her every word.
" She's not someone that can just be gone child, she's maa dharti's daughter, the daughter of mother earth. She's present in every breath you take, an embodiment of the cool breeze that ruffles your hair. She's present in the splash of colours in the sky every sunset and rise. She's in the fragrance you breathe from the flowers, in every tree you pass, in the sunlight that wakes you up every morning. And most importantly-"

Urmila paused to glance again at Ram and gently pointed a finger each at Luv and Kush's hearts.
"-she's in here. She's with you in more ways than she could ever be before." Okay?"

Luv Kush nodded and threw their arms around her.

Lakshman's eyes glistened with unshed tears and pride for his wife and her amazing reply as he took in the scene. He turned to look at his Ram bhaiya, but he was gone.

* * *

Ram dashed through the corridors unable to reign in the storm that was consuming him. Determined to not let anyone know that he was crying about the pressure on his heart that just became a million times more pressing, he burst through the doors of his- his he realized with a jolt. Not theirs.
He fell too his knees in agony, tears flowing freely, heart yearning for the presence of his Sita. What had he done, what had he- he felt a pair of hands on him, ones he could recognize anywhere. Lakshman, holding him by the shoulders, kneeling down beside him, eyes reflecting the emotion in his.

" It's not your fault bhaiya. Don't take the blame for-"

" No Lakshman! It is my fault. I should have stood up for her. I should have put her before rajdharm, I failed to protect her."
Lakshman blanched. He knew his brother. He knew he had made the right decision with respect to rajdharm.  That this was repentance and not regret.

" No bhaiya. We both know you couldn't have, you did right."

"But what about my Sita Lakshman?!
Ram's eyes lost focus as he stared into space.
" What did she do to deserve this- this torment  from the very citizens she loved like her own children. From the husband she loved from the very depth of her being. She must have been in so much pain."

" Not anymore bhaiya, you heard Urmila right? She's with us and she's the safest she could ever be, the world didn't deserve her."
But Ram didn't seem to have heard him.

He gripped Lakshman's shoulders tight facing him.
" She was the purest soul anyone could have ever met, yet was always tested. We were always tested."

" And you emerged victorious every time bhaiya ." Lakshman tried to counter

" At what cost Lakshman,  at what cost." His voice broke. " I lost something and it can never be replaced, I might have prevailed as a king but I failed as a husband. She was the most beautiful thing that ever happened to me, a dream I witnessed with my eyes wide open, a  feeling of ecstasy so overwhelming that it made all melancholy fade, now reduced to a melody that I will never again hear."

Ram broke down, sobbing uncontrollably in Lakshman's arms. Every moment with his Siya flashing before his eyes.

Lakshman clutched his brother for dear life afraid that he would actually fall to pieces. He could feel the grief radiating off of Ram in waves. He held his brother, whispering words of comfort and caressing his head just like Ram would do to him in distressing situations. Oh how the roles had reversed, how the tables turned, leaving the once happy family in clutches of melancholy and longing.

* * *

A/N: Hey people. This was a saaaad chapter. I wanted to write something about Ram- Urmila dynamic coz you know she assumed the role of mother in Luv and Kush's life after Sita.Honestly I wish Ram and Sita to have a happy ending to stay together forever *fate laughing in the corner*. The relationship they had was so unfathomably pure that it couldn't be tolerated by fate in treta yug, then hum toh sakhi kaliyug me rehte hai..soch lo. Anyway, my love life's desolate so who am I to say. Hope I made you cry.
Sincerely,
@artemis_1205