Devi Lakshmi: The Legacy of Wealth

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖞 𝕱𝖎𝖛𝖊

When Lakshmi awoke, she found Ganesh curled up against her side, eyebrows furrowed as he reached for something. Finally, grabbing Vishnu's arm, he pulled it over him, yawning as he got up. His stomach growled loudly.

"Maa," he said, shaking Lakshmi. "I'm hungry."

"Ask Vishnu." she murmured drowsily.

"Pitashree!" she cried, bouncing up and down on Vishnu. "Breakfast!"

Vishnu awoke with a start, groaning in pain.

"Ganesh, that's enough. Get off of me."

"But Pitashree, I'm starving."

A smile streched across Vishnu's face as he heard the young boy call him father. Pulling him off of him, he got up and stretched as Ksheera cooed upon seeing the happy family. Lakshmi hurried over to her sisters and hugged her tightly.

"I haven't see you in a while!" she said.

"I know." Ksheera replied, melting in her arms. "Anyways, Sachi called us over to help with Devayanai's wedding arrangements, so I thought I'd inform you."

"I want to go with Maa!" Ganesh pouted, crossing his arms and sticking out his bottom lip.

"I don't know Ganesh, this is more of a girl's thing..." Lakshmi said hesitantly. "Why don't you spend time with your father?"

"Pitashree boring! I want Maa!"

"Hey!" Vishnu cried in defense. "I'm much more fun than your boring old mother."

"Who are you calling old?" Lakshmi snapped while Ganesh giggled.

"I-I... Um..." Vishnu panicked as the gears in his mind spun to find a solution. "I-I was just joking, Lakshmi, you know I love you."

Lakshmi tried to contain a laugh at Vishnu's bewildered expression, before turning to Ksheera and walking out, still pretending to be upset.

"You boys have fun!" she cried.

---

"How about this one?" Varuni asked, holding up a flowing purple lehenga lined with amythests.

"No." Devayanai said, growing teary eyed.

Sachi was by her side in an instant, running her hand through her hair.

"Oh no, what's wrong? Did something happen? Did Indra yell at you? Did you get into a fight with Muruga?"

"No, it's just that... I'm never going to find the perfect dress!" she wailed.

"That doesn't matter." Dhumorna said, slipping into a motherly voice. "Muruga's going to love you even if you showed up to the wedding wearing nothing but fire."

"If I remember correctly, you did that." Svasti said, frowning as Saranyu nodded.

"That's right! Yama nearly burned himself while trying to tie the mangalsutra around you neck. That might have been the single most stupic decision you've ever made."

She chose to ignore the three goddesses and continued to encourage her.

"I promise, as long as you feel confident in what you wear, you'll look like the most beautiful being in the world to him."

She sniffled and wiped at her tears.

"You really think so Auntie?".

Dhumorna nodded just as Lakshmi heard a muffled sound behind the large potted plant.

"Did you hear that?" Parvati asked, her trident materializing in her hand.

Lakshmi quietly approached it, summoning the chakra in case of a demon. Behind the plant, she found Ganesh staring sheepishly up at her and Parvati, waving shyly.

"Ganesh?"

"Hi Mata. Hi Amma." he said nervously as he former placed her hands on her hips.

"You were supposed to stay home with Vishnu!" she said, only mildly angry. "Do you know how worried he must be."

"I told him I was going to see Muruga, so he's not too worried." he said, shrugging.

Parvati laughed and picked up her son who promptly began to play with her hair.

"You know, I'm actually kind of glad I have to share him with Lakshmi," she said, tickling his stomach. "That means I don't have to put up with him alone!"

There was a knock at the door and Muruga poked his head in, causing Devayanai to shriek and run over to him.

"Stop! You can't see what I'm wearing!"

"Relax, there must be over a thousand dresses in here, I don't know which one you're going to wear."

"But you still know I'm going to be wearing one of them!" she cried, attempting to push him out of the door.

"Devayanai," he said, using a soft tone that made Lakshmi scared as to what he was going to say. "Devayanai, stop. Devayanai!"

She flinched at his tone as Sachi waved her hand, causing all the dresses to go lock themselves back up in the closets. Muruga led his future wife to the couch and sat her down. Holding her hands, he stared into her eyes, regretting what he was going to say.

"I-I know the wedding is soon, but I have something I need to take care of on earth first."

"Is a demon?" she asked terrified. "Now? But-But, what if you don't come back and-"

"It's not a demon." he said, cutting her off. "I-I..."

He took a deep breath, seemingly preparing himself in case she slapped him. Lakshmi was curious as to what had him so scared.

"Please don't hate me." he pleaded. "I love you, it's just that... There's this girl - Valli - and I need... No, that's not the right word. I want to marry her too."

He closed his eyes and braced himself for a tryrant of words, but was surprised to find that none came. He felt cold air hit his hands as she slipped her own out of his. Opening his eyes to look at her, he saw her looking dazed and hurt, her chest heaving up and down.

"Valli? Marry? You want to marry her? Don't you want to marry me? Or did you just do it because my father - your king - said so?" she asked, looking absolutely heartbroken.

Varuni, slightly tipsy from drinking too much, didn't seem to realize that this was a private moment. Dhumorna sighed and grabbed her arm dragging her off.

"That's not it!" Muruga hurried to correct. "Of course I want to marry you. More than anything! It's just that I want to marry her too..."

"I don't get it." she said. "Pitashree says you're only supposed to fall in love with one person. He says if you marry twice, then the first was a mistake... Unless they're the same person like with Devi Saranyu and Devi Chaaya."

Muruga said nothing. He knew she wasn't ready for the truth yet, but he didn't know any other way to convince her.

"I really do love you." he promised, hoping with all his heart that she would believe him. "I'd do anything for you. Name it, and it's done. I'll leave my post, I'll give up my immortality, anything!"

It was becoming evidently clear how desperate he was.

"Then don't marry Valli."

He looked down regretfully, hating the position she had put him in.

"Anything but that." he said softly. "I'm sorry De-"

She pushed past him before he could finish, tears splashing onto the floor as she ran away from him.

"Fine! Then you can forget about having me as your wife!"

A/N Oh no, our poor Devayanai! Don't get me wrong, I love Valli, but I think I wouldn't have reacted that well either. Just saying.

That's it for today! I will post three more chapters at 8 pm EST time, which is 5:30 am IST time. Hope you liked it!

I'm adoring Ganesh and Lakshmi's moments right now.