Satataharitam - Short Stories On Narayana

The Smile I Longed To See (Short)

I barged into his room once again, after fourteen years, like it was a right I'd never forgotten. He turned around to look at me as he draped his angavastra over his shoulder.

We didn't talk. He looked at me with an unusually haughty expression asking me what I was there for. I shrugged. I didn't know. Perhaps to escort my elder brother to the court on the first official day of the proceedings in the brand new regime.

He chuckled at my cluelessness but walked forward, towards me, and tilted his head, seemingly requesting for permission to get out of the room through the door I was blocking as I stood there.

I moved away just slightly, only enough for him to squeeze through, and felt a hard smack on the back of my head as soon as he was behind me. With a dramatic grimace, I turned around and scowled at him before deciding to put on my new crown.

He looked at me as I put it on, his eyes brimming with pride I'd never seen in his eyes. I crossed my arms and raised my brows, wondering what it was, but his response was just a tiny smile and a shake of the head.

I shook my head too. Our brother's coronation had made him lose his mind.

My brother and I glanced at each other for a moment after we heard the loud bell that had been rung to indicate that the court proceedings would start soon. Instantly, we both sped past everything. Our strides were confident and happy. My brother was nearly frolicking like a child and his excitement to get into the court and see Bhaiya grace the throne was unparalleled.

Soon, we entered the court and stood in front of our seats, when Bhaiya walked in, regal as ever.

As he walked past us too, my brother and I bowed our heads with our hands folded in such coordination that I'd have never imagined to have, especially with him. We both didn't often do such things very well together. I could feel Bhaiya's warm smile on me and him, and as soon as he walked past, we both looked up at the same time, unwilling to miss the moment he'd sit on his throne on his first official day.

Bhaiya placed his foot on the footrest and sat on the throne, and for some reason, the only place I could look after that moment was straight from my seat, at my other elder brother.

He was smiling too, as he turned to look at me. I'd never seen him that happy. I'd yearned for fourteen years to see my otherwise ever-smiling brother get the true happiness he wanted and smile the real way I wanted him to. I'd never thought that the day I got to see him that way, I'd be close to tears of joy.

He raised his brows when I stared at him, smiling pretty widely, something that I was not reputed for.

I was so grateful for that illuminating smile on his face. But that was something I couldn't explain to him. For only I knew how much I'd longed and waited to see him so happy.

×××××

A/N: 500 words. And I love it.

In case anyone didn't figure out who's who, because everyone's a "he" and barely any names are mentioned,
"I" is Lakshmana.
"He"/"Him"/"My Brother" is Bharata.
"Bhaiya" is Rama.

This was an impromptu chapter, really, because a random idea suddenly popped in my mind and I just wanted to write it. And surprisingly, it wasn't angst.

It seems like a pretty random short, but I think it was very important for Lakshmana to see Bharata happy, especially because his character is one that gets very guilty very easily and his near "murder attempt" thing, even if it was fourteen long years back, would've had him thinking about how much he hurt him. He would've been thinking about it throughout the fourteen years. Everytime he missed him, he would've thought about how he'd hurt him too. It's just human tendency to do so. Especially ifthey hadn't sorted things out, or hadn't had the time to do so, before Lakshmana continued with the exile and Bharata returned home.

That's allll. Thanks for reading! Byeeeebdjshanskdihs! 💖😁