Aru Shah One-Shots

Heart of gold

He couldn't believe it. He refused to believe it!

She wouldn't-

How could she-

Did she forget-

Is she okay-

Aiden was not even able to think properly. His thoughts were are all jumbled.

Aru was gone, gone, with the Sleeper!

And he couldn't bring himself believe it!! He didn't want to believe that she would just willingly hand herself over like a piece of bread, so vulnerable!! So he didn't believe it!!

Not being able to think was impacting him, very much, as he started walking to the place where the tree was supposed to be, the place where Aru had been before she.........left!

The others called him, and told him not to go there. But he was not able to hear them, the only thing he could hear were the words that were being said as the memories of what had just happened replayed in his head.

He soon found himself standing at the base of an enormous tree. It seemed to disappear into the shimmery mist crawling in from every side. He somehow understood that the tree protected something important, even though he wasn't really paying attention to what was happening around him.

If Aiden were in a different mood, he would have taken at least 20 photos of this place, but alas, right now he was in a different world. A world where he was wondering, What would have happened if Aru had not....gone?

He kept walking further, leaving everything behind him. Soon he reached a golden tree. He knew that Aru had been here, he could almost feel her presence. It was as if she was still with him.

He gently placed his hand on the trunk, not really eager for whatever would happen next, but expecting something - no, needing something - that would make everything clearer.

He mentally braced himself.

But in the next second even that seemed to fail him, as he found himself in a vision. A vision, where Aru was kneeling on the ground before a woman - wait......a goddess!

He knew that this was more of a memory.

Aru was exactly where Aiden was standing right now. He could see that she was unable to pull herself together. She was completely helpless as her emotions got the better of her.

Yet, it was seeing the tears spilling out of Aru's eyes that actually broke him.

Those eyes, the ones that Aiden loved so much, looked like they'd seen something that was beyond this world. They looked broken, shattered!

Those eyes, the ones that always held that gleam in them that made them beautiful - the gleam that never disappeared even when she was in the worst of all moods. But now, the gleam was missing.

Those eyes, that had once housed an undying fire in them. Now, the fire seemed dead.

All that was left was a mirror. A reflection, of her soul as it fractured into a million fragments.

He couldn't bear it. He wanted to run up to her, comfort her, and make sure those lovely eyes never see sorrow again. He wanted to just pull her into his arms and be by her side.

But he was frozen. All he could do was witness as Aru lost control.

She was shaking, and her breathing seemed to be forced.

"I do hate him," she choked out. "I hate him."

Him. Aiden realized that she was referring to the Sleeper. What has he done now? What has she seen that has left her in pieces?

He couldn't let her suffer like this. But he couldn't do anything to prevent it either. It was in the past, it couldn't be changed. And he hated it for that very reason.

The goddess stood tall before her, unfazed by what was happening.

"This is the price of your wish, child," she said, tilting up her chin with two fingers. "Knowledge. Do you understand? This will be your regret, the thing you must always carry should you decide to use Kalpavriksha's power."

She pointed to the necklace. "You are too young to bear such burdens, and I can remove that last vision from your memory. I can take you back to your friends. I can even have the grove swallow up the Sleeper's army, though I cannot stop the war. It's up to you. If you choose to bear this weight, go ahead and speak your wish."

Aiden was bewildered. How could anyone be forced to make such a tough choice? That too under so much pressure?

He prayed that she would choose to forget all this. That she would not have to be burdened by anything. That she would never have to be like this again.

However, one tiny part inside him already knew what Aru was going to wish for.

And he did not take kindly to it.

Aiden read her expressions, although he wasn't in her mind he knew what she was thinking about.

She was thinking about them.

The pandava avengers as she liked to call it.

She would do anything for them. She would fight for them. She would wish for them. No matter what that meant for herself.

Aiden knew that, and he detested how she could be so selfless. She had lost so much, and she still had so much to give. And she also gave it in the subtlest manner possible so that no one recognizes it. If that wasn't a true heart of gold, he didn't know what was!

At that second he had the urge to tell her not to do it. To tell her that everyone would be much much happier just having her back. To tell her that she doesn't have to be burdened by somethings she intensely dislikes.

He knew that saying this would not change the past, so he resisted the impulse and watched as the scene unfurled before his eyes.

Aru wrapped her hand around the little golden tree once again. She looked up at the goddess, her gaze unflinching and her voice steely as she said, "I wish we win."

And the tears that he had tried to push back for so long, glided down his cheeks.

// Ahhhh, this has been in my mind for a long time and I finally tried to write it. This is what I imagine would happen right after TOW. I read a lot of fanfics but I wanted to write one where Aiden is impacted by Aru going, but isn't really in tune with his feelings. In that moment of sorrow he felt something but was too distressed to realise what he felt. And I ship lightning smolder a lot if that isn't obvious already. I hope this is good.....

~ a crazyyyy racoon  //