अर्जुनप्रिया - Arjuna's beloved.
They had dreamt of a life with each other, for each other, and in each other, but the said life made them face the reality that they had to stay apart from each other for twelve long years. Those young hearts who cou...
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Silence was the only word that could describe Krishnaa's chamber when Arjuna entered. There was no sound, not even the wind was daring to make any noise and in that eerie silence, the sound of her sobs reached his ears. He closed the doors quickly and rushed towards the bedside where Krishnaa was sitting on the floor. He kneeled down beside her as she slowly raised her gaze, meeting his teary one.
"I had forgotten how they..." Krishnaa paused, shutting her eyes tightly. "How they tried to create differences between the six of us when we were living in Hastinapura. No matter how conscious and strong we were, they managed to create hurt in our hearts. Especially you five, given that our marriage was not conventional. But you all won over Prince Duryodhana's cheap tricks. If I was even slightly affected, you had pacified me. But when he targeted you, I didn't realize..."
"None realized, Krishnaa, none could. Madhava himself didn't know that Kritavarma had contacts with the Dhartarashtras." Arjuna cupped her cheeks, gently wiping her tears away with his thumb. "You consoled me when I was hurt. You understood me before I could understand myself. Krishnaa, I don't have extravagant demands, all that I needed was your support and I had received it from you abundantly. We both stood with each other throughout the ordeal and that's what matters! But this phase has been the hardest one for us and though we'll retain the lessons we've learned, let's forget all the pain and stress. We will never remember this matter ever again. It's time to leave all that and focus on our present and future, because the days of separation have passed and all we have ahead is our beautiful life with each other."
Krishnaa placed her head on his chest and hugged him tightly as if her life rested in him. He beamed as he pressed his lips on her forehead and put his arms around her figure to pull her closer to himself. At that moment, both of their hearts were yearning to erase every inch of distance between them, never to feel distanced again. All the dreams, hopes and desires that they had experienced in those twelve years of separation began to swirl in their minds, and there was nothing like hesitation, reluctance or second thought remaining in their conscience to deter them from belonging to each other, forgetting all the distinction.
"I wish there was never a moment in my life without you," she whispered, slowly turning her head upwards.
"If it's about those twelve years, there was never a moment in my life without you," he responded softly. "I wanted each and every moment to be with you. Though you weren't physically present, all that I could think about was you. Think about it, Krishnaa, you too will conclude that you had never excluded me from your joys and sorrows."
"I too have a request for you," she said, her eyes not wavering from him even momentarily. He stared at his beloved wife curiously, unable to guess what request she was going to make.
"Would you unlock your chamber?" She raised her eyebrows, a demure smile playing upon her lips. He looked down for a moment and looked up at her again, nodding his head sheepishly.
________
The Hastinapura guests departed from Indraprastha after a couple of days. Arjuna and Krishnaa had stayed busy and had no time to spare for each other but once the Kurus left, they decided to open Arjuna's chamber which was a pending task from months, that he had intentionally avoided doing as he wanted his Krishnaa to be with him when he reentered his chamber again. They didn't bring any servants along to help them in cleaning the chamber as they wanted to recollect their memories without any interference.
Arjuna cleared the dust off the lock with his hands before placing the key in Krishnaa's hands. She glanced at the key for a while and took a deep breath. before stepping forward and removing the lock. Once she pulled the lock out of the bolt and undid the bolt as well, Arjuna pushed open the doors. They held their breaths as they walked inside, their palms sliding into each other's hold unconsciously.
As they placed their feet together in the chamber after years like they had done for the first time, the memories of the past flowed into their minds, making them feel experience their sweetness in its whole, devoid of the bitter influence of anything else. They roamed their eyes all around the chamber, visualizing the past in front of their eyes, of how they used to spend time with each other exploring each other's worlds, that their worlds had merged into one.
"It doesn't seem like it has been closed for twelve years," Arjuna remarked.
"We used to clean it periodically as we never liked not feeling your presence," Krishnaa answered. "The key was with me until your return. When the news of your return arrived, I handed it over to Mata so that she could give it to you."
"But I returned it to you again. As I had told you before, this is our chamber. It's not solely mine. If this chamber is ever locked, the key will be with you. Just like you are the key to my heart," his tone turned slightly mischievous at the last sentence and he had thought that she would probably blush. But her reaction had him astonished as she began to chortle. He raised an eyebrow at her as she covered her mouth.
"This line was better than the bow and bowstring analogy you had used once but still..." she turned to the other side, trying to suppress her laughter.
"What?" He blinked his eyes. "There was nothing wrong with that and there is nothing wrong with this."
"When did I say there's anything wrong?" She questioned back though she was still turned to the other side.
"Then why are you laughing?" He turned her towards himself with a deep frown but the lines faded away instantly when he noticed her crimson cheeks behind her amusement.
He shook his head at her trick to divert his attention and put his arms around her waist, bending towards her ear. "These aren't mere analogies and none knows that better than you!"
