Dhruv Tara: An End To a Long Wait

Chapter 17 - Fragments of a Broken Heart

A light breeze filling the atmosphere, carrying with it the familiar scent of damp earth and night jasmine, crickets chirping in a harmony at a distance, the night was calm and serene, a stark contrast to Dhruv's own heart, which had a storm brewing inside. As he sat near the window, hoping for the calmness of the night to reflect on his mind and heart, too, which just could not find any peace. He could feel Tara's presence, her eyes on him, waiting. Tara, his anchor and affliction. He could feel her restlessness, as she stood there, but out of words. That made two of them.

He knew she was here to celebrate. Celebrate their win. To share the joy that was meant to belong to both of them. He knew what she was expecting from him, to be happy, excited about their win, like she was, he supposed. But for the first time, he just could not find it in him to give her that. How could he, when his heart was so, so far from happy. He could feel her disappointment, but this time, he could not bring himself to comfort her.

There was a distance between them, a fog filling the air between them, that none could see but they both felt. They both sat there, looking at the night, feeling none of the calmness outside. The silence weighing heavy on his heart. There was a time when they could sit for hours and hours together, besides each other, without saying a word. Just feeling each other's presence, and the warmth and peace it brought to them. It used to make him feel complete. Now though, it only brought discomfort and a chill that felt almost too much to bear. Her familiar scent, which always brought comfort to his heart, was only causing havoc now. Her presence felt alien to him now. He wasn't angry with her, no. That wasn't it. He had been angry when she had hidden about his father from him, when she had hidden about his son from him. But now, this wasn't it. He just felt... empty now. Exhausted. Beyond exhausted. Tara, who had been his world, his happiness, his everything, now filled him with a feeling he himself couldn't understand fully. An emptiness, a sorrow he couldn't process. For quite a while, he had tried to power through all his feelings. Be strong. Not feel hurt by what had happened. But he couldn't anymore. Years of waiting followed by months and months of all the hurt, pain, neglect had kept on mounting on his heart, and he could no longer bear it.

They had won, finally, hadn't they? That's what everyone said. That's what she said, that they had won. After months and months of fighting, here they were. Here he was. At the end of this situation. Having come out of it victorious. But had he? So, why did it feel so empty. Why did this victory not give him the happiness he should have felt. The victory that should have lifted the weight off his shoulders, had rather weighed him down further. The weight of their relationship. He wondered. What fight was it? Was that really his fight? The one they were fighting, the one they had won that day. Has his fight really ended? It felt like his own war had just begun.

He had spent years, looking for his Tara. Day and night. And he had found her. Years and years of his search, and it had led him here. But what did it lead him to? This? Had he really found her? He never really felt like he had at all. It all seemed so pointless now. So fruitless. Everything about it felt like a big question mark to him, here, now. Dhruv had anticipated this moment, too. Had been imagining it for so long, for years. The moment he'd find her, when he'd meet her. The moment when they'd be together, just them, Dhruv Tara. He had anticipated it so much. But this wasn't how he had imagined it to be. This was nothing like it.

How had they come to this? How had his Tara gone so far away from him? His Tara... could he even say that anymore? That thought pierced his heart, but that was the reality, wasn't it. He didn't know anything anymore. What had gone wrong? Where had he failed? His mind swirled with the questions.

Tara stood up, after a while. It could have been minutes or hours, he couldn't tell anymore. He could still feel the hesitance in her actions.

"Hum... Hum Shaurya ko dekh ke aate hai. Kahi jaag na gaye ho." He hadn't, they both knew it. It was her attempt to fill the silence.