Love lies

Epilogue

Bombay 1992

The sound of beeping cars and chatter mixed with the carnal sound of rain smashing against the windows.

Anand, wiry and weathered, sat hunched on his seat, a small book opened on the table in front of him.

He removed his glasses with shaky hands, wiping the tears that traced the lines of his cheeks like a memory too heavy to carry.

A man sat opposite him, eyes wide, jaw slightly agape. "That's it-they just died like that?" the man asked shocked. Anand sniffled, letting out a breathless laugh.

"People say you enter the earth with nothing, and you exit with nothing too. But they took everything with them. That day, Rocky and Reena didn't just die, but a part of KGF did too." Anand said, his voice heavy with sadness.

The man shook his head, almost like a mad man, unable to accept the truth. "It cant be, i waited the whole story for their happy ending. They cant just die like that. You have to be missing something" the man said in disbelief.

Anand swallowed hard, silence stretching in the space where words used to be. The only sound now was the low hum of the city beyond the shutters.

"When we got to the mines, the whole place was wrecked like the whole world decided to close in. Massive boulders covered the pathway and rubble and dirt made it almost impossible to see through. We could barely make it through the mess. They would've survived if it wasn't for the bomb blast" Anand said, sighing sadly.

"But even to the end, he never forgot about us. He built a whole new town for us to live in, in case something ever happened. Even till our last days, we will never forget about him. The prime minister can try and silence us, but his story will forever be etched into our hearts. And Reena-" Anand let out a small yet painful chuckle.

The man narrowed his eyes. "Did he really love her that much?" the man asked curiously. Anand turned slightly, his voice quieter now, but steady.

"More than I've ever seen anyone love anyone. You could feel it from miles away. The way he loved her more than any measure possible-like she was the air he breathed" He leaned forward, elbows on knees, his eyes fixed somewhere beyond the night.

"And Reena....she was magic. The way she could turn Rocky into someone people could hardly recognise. Because to the world he was a monster, but to her-"

"He was everything" the man finished, causing Anand to let out a small smile.

"Right before she died, she had no care about her safety. All she thought about was Rocky. And all he thought about was Reena. That's how they were. Rocky and Reena weren't 2 people, they were one" The young man listened, breath held.

Anand's voice lowered, thick with ache. "That's how Rocky loved Reena." Anand finished, leaning over in his seat and gently grabbing the small book. He glanced at the last page, scribbled at the bottom wrote,

'And now, wherever there is love that dares the impossible, wherever two hands hold on in the face of ruin, Rocky and Reena are there - eternal, indivisible, written into the heartbeat of KGF like a promise that even death couldn't silence.'

Anand brushed his thumb over the worn out page, tears drop on the page but he doesn't bother to wipe them.

With one last aching breath, he slams the book shut.

...................................................

1992

A quiet little house tucked in the heart of a vast field of flowers-wild and free, stretching in every direction like a living painting. A place tucked into the earth like a secret.