Loving You Through Lifetimes

Escape Together

Six Hours Later

"What is your name?" 

 It was late evening when we made our escape and now, it is midnight. We are in the heart of the Yaksha forest in a secret hiding spot. 

"Pauruseya" he replied, "Yours?" 

I observed him and thought he was an extremely handsome man with bronze skin, golden eyes and a muscular body. 

"Manovega" I said, "Thanks again for saving me. If I may ask, why did you do it?" 

He shrugged, "I saw an unwilling woman and a rapist, so, I stepped in to help. Don't get me wrong, I myself dislike the Yakshas. I have killed many Yakshas in battle. I strongly feel that rape whether in war or among civilians is cruel and immoral. We fights wars to conquer lands but lands are non-living entities, so, no harm in doing that. What gives anyone the right to invade a woman's body? Unlike lands, a woman is a living person" 

I felt touched by his words, before I met Pauruseya, I thought all Rakshasa were scum. "You showed me that there are good Rakshasa too. Thank you, Pauruseya" I murmured. 

He snorted, "Listen, lady, you must have grown up with stories that show Rakshasas as savages. We grew up being taught that Yakshas, all of whom are moneylenders are as bad as leeches" 

"What!" I said, angrily "You Rakshasas have been a militant organization for aeons! Rakshasas are warmongers! You have always tried to resolve issues with violence. You have trained your children to become killing machines. Your aim is to create a militarist state while Yakshas believe in pacifist state. How can you compare the two of us?" 

"You Yakshas have subjected Rakshasas to economic exploitation for centuries. Yakshas are masters of financial literacy while Rakshasa are bad at it. During Kubera's reign, he imposed many unfair taxes on Rakshasas. Kubera turned a blind eye to tax evasion, bribery and money laundering among the Yakshas" he replied. 

"And what have you Rakshasas done the minute you gained the upper hand? Rape, slavery and intimidation. If you were aiming to create a better kingdom than Kubera did, is this the path you should take? King Ravana even raped Rambha, his own daughter-in-law"

Pauruseya winced, "I am not saying that everything we have done so far is right. We have definitely made some major mistakes. I am just saying that we have a strong reason to resent you Yakshas so much" 

"Same goes for us!" I cried out, "When you felt left out by Kubera, did a single one of you try to protest? Did you make any efforts to spread awareness? Your immediate answer was to resort to violence. Socio-economic issues are multilayered. You can't resolve them with violence alone" 

He nodded slowly in reluctant agreement, "I agree, it is a pity that a majority of the Yakshas and Rakshasa don't sit down and communicate" 

"I know" I sighed, "If only there was a healthy communication, both sides could have worked towards resolving their issues little by little"

"I heard you lost your lover and parents in the war, I am sorry about that" he said, suddenly. 

"Thank you but I now realize that someone dear to you must have suffered too" I said.

"My mother did, after the death of my father. The property division took too long and she did not get her maintenance on time either. We had to live on scraps during those days" he murmured. 

"I am sorry she had to go through that" I said, softly.

"I lost my wife to sickness a year ago" he said, "Even today, I recall her sometimes. All those tender, intimate moments that we shared. I can only imagine your grief at losing someone you love."

"He and I were going to get married. This was supposed to be the happiest day of my life. I would not ever have guessed that today would become a haunting nightmare" 

"It is not easy to forget a loved one. You will think of them" he said, reaching out to reassuringly hold my wrist, "Those special moments when you first said you loved them, when you first made love to them...they are unforgettable" 

"Do you think we will ever heal from this pain?" I asked him.

"Slowly but yes" he nodded, "We will. Time heals everything" 

We slowly drifted asleep, with my head over his shoulder. 

Next Morning

I was shaken awake in the early hours of morning, I woke with a start. 

"What?!" I asked, in rising panic. 

"Nothing, you seemed to be having a nightmare..." he murmured.

When he said that, I vividly recalled the horrible nightmare. I had dreamt of Suketu being beheaded while I was once again powerless to stop them. I bit my lower lip and forced myself to hold back my tears. 

"Don't" he said, softly, "Let them flow...you have every right to mourn your loved ones. Tears are not a weakness. They are proof  that you have not become a monster like your perpetrators!" 

I nodded jerkily in gratitude and bawled like a baby. 

After I calmed down, Pauruseya said, "Manovega, we need to start moving, right now. I know my soldiers too well! They will want us to pay for killing my superior officer. By today noon, the Rakshasa soldiers will mostly comb through this forest."

"Where should we hide, then?" I asked, anxiously. 

"There is nowhere you can hide here on Lankan soil. The entire country is presently under Ravana's rule. Any Rakshasa who is shown consorting with a Yaksha will be executed on the spot. The only option left to us is we should cross the sea and set sail to another country."

"Won't the ports be monitored?" I asked. 

"Yes" he nodded, "However, even in the aftermath of war, human merchants are allowed to leave Lanka. We need to disguise ourselves as humans and mingle among a group of traders" 

I raised an eyebrow skeptically, no one in their right mind would think we are humans. 

He had the stereotypical Rakshasa features such as his tiger canines and golden eyes with vertical pupils.

I had the usual Yaksha features of wolfish canines. My skin was dyed the colour of pastel green as per Yaksha tradition.