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34. TO BE WITHOUT

And yes, I might have lied to you
No, you wouldn't benefit from knowing of the truth
I was frightened but I, I held fast
I need you now, and long last

Sucking in a sharp breath, the lady of sweet words turned behind from where the voice, his voice called out to her. And when she finally, finally looked at the real him after ages of having reminisced, her eyes were fixated.

He looked different, yet the same.
His brown eyes, the ones she remembered to be gleaming were still full of that spark. But now they held an unknown depth to them, something he'd gotten over the time.

His charcoal curls were still light in their spring, but they seemed a bit hazy in their fall, owing to the forest stay perhaps.

The man did not have his usual lean torso, he had gotten wide and his musculature stood prominent. A thin furrow ran down his bare chest, where the bowstring of the Gandiva rested.

"Subhadra."called out his raspy voice, bringing himself and her out of their reverie. The moment he stepped into the golden island of the Yadavas, his heart ached in unrest. He couldn't wait to see her anymore, fourteen years were enough of separation, too much at that. After having dressed himself up, rather hurriedly he followed Madhav to the royal courtroom, his steps brisk and light.

She'd always do that to him. Bring in the feathery flair to his heavy demeanor. A perfect contrast, a heavy need.

"Would you calm down a bit? I know you're pretty eager to see my sister but that doesn't mean you make me sprint!  I've got way too many kids for that."teased the lord of Dwarika. Arjun brushed his best friend's remark away and left the latter to catch up to him.

Finally he stepped in, to see a woman embracing Panchali as the latter whispered something in her ears. Subhadra.

That was just how he'd seen her the first time, her star dust tinted arms wrapped around Mother Kunti in a hug. Funny how things had not changed and well, had changed. Dejá vu much?

She turned over to him and he forgot all existence. He did not remember calling her name out. He did not remember when Madhav and Panchali left them to themselves. He did not remember anything after.

She looked like art, not meant to be understood, not meant to be critiqued, just meant to be observed, observed and appreciated. There was an increased feminism to her; the curves and the edges. Her aura of mysticism has somehow gone multifold. She looked not like a princess, but like a queen she was, a woman who had it under control. A woman of character, of perseverance, of love.

The pit that had been in him since morning deepened all the more. What if they weren't the people they had once fallen for? What if they had been twisted far beyond repair? What if ?

A warm tear cascaded down his cheek, things wouldn't surely be normal that easily. You can't expect to skip fourteen years and return back to what you were. Time doesn't work like that. Love doesn't work like that.

"Arjun." she held his hand, rough and hard by years of strenuous work, the simple touch was igniting something in them that was waiting to be ignited. A deep want, a passionate passion. Out of reflex her pulled her into him, his hands wrapping her torso completely. His skin burned to hers, the tides rising to greet the moon.

They did not have a care of the world, they did not know that they were surrounded by others, they did not know anything other than the person they were holding. She let go of him and wiped his tears with a big smile on her face. Non moody optimistic Subhadra? Boy, he had missed the biggest transition of the era.