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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Note: There's mature content in this chapter. Skip it if not comfortable.
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Arjuna and Krishnaa set up the former's chamber together, the same way they had done it for the first time years ago, except that Arjuna was more actively involved in comparison to the previous time where he had allowed Krishnaa to do most of the work. Not because he didn't want to help but as he wasn't very confident about his own talent in arranging the chamber and he didn't want to disrupt her work for that reason. This time, he was confident enough as he remembered every single detail of how she had decorated his chamber before. Once they were done with the arrangement, When they were about to go out, Arjuna suddenly realized something and stopped midway. Finding him not coming along, Krishnaa turned back and glanced at her husband who was staring blankly.
"What happened?" She questioned, her eyes narrowing concernedly.
"Would... would everything be the same again, Krishnaa? Is it possible for us to be as good as how we were?"
She stood silently for sometime and then she walked towards him, a smile spreading on her face. "We have gone through trials and tribulations, and though we weren't physically together, we have been each other's motivation through them. We have passed the tests that time threw at us and came out of them stronger. Failure too couldn't deter us from getting back to each other and each other's love. If we were good back then, we are better now after realizing each other's value intensely."
He nodded his head in agreement but she could sense his trepidation. She closed her eyes gently and the scene that flashed in her mind was the last kiss they had shared in the same chamber. It was his confession of how painful his exile would be for him, his loving farewell to his beloved, an assurance he took from her and also gave back to her for the days of separation, a beautiful reminder of their love. She knew that he was thinking about the same. Breaking that last trace of distance wasn't easy. But unless it happened, the worry wouldn't die. It would keep haunting them both.
"Krishnaa..." His deep voice made her open her eyes. "My fear about the exile wasn't unfounded. The separation was unbearable... If I have to tell you about how I spent each day, then this lifetime won't be enough for me to narrate my feelings for you in those days of Viraha. I yearned to be with you each and every moment. Initially I was so harsh on myself as I was afraid I would give up on exile and come back to you. But it was of no use. I couldn't stay for one moment without your thought.... Even if I think about those moments, my heart is exploding with agony..."
Krishnaa held back her tears as she didn't want to increase his pain. She stepped forward, caught his arm and made him sit on the bed beside. He blinked in surprise as he couldn't figure out what she was going to do. But the moment she settled on his left thigh, he knew that his heart had stopped. She wrapped her arms around him and leaving her full weight over him, she lifted her head and brushed her lips against his, feeling his grip on her back tightening at her gesture. She clung to him closer, her tears slipping out of her eyes as she placed another soft kiss on his lips but before she could move back, his hand moved to her head. She felt him kiss her lips deeply as his fingers began to free her curls from the braid that they were set into, and the jasmine flowers tucked into her hair began to fall on the floor unintentionally.
He broke the kiss when her hair was fully free as they gasped for breath, her eyes shut while he adored her with his gaze. He caressed her soft curls with his palm and slightly moved the ornament that adorned her hair parting, he pressing his lips there. Then his eyes fell on the flowers that were spread from her lap to the floor. He carefully made her sit on the bed which made her look up at him astonishedly as he picked up every single flower that had slid down from her braid and touched the floor.
"What are you doing?" She asked, her tone conveying her perplexion with his action. After taking all the flowers into his palms, he smiled and glanced at her who was looking at him quizzically.
"These flowers that have adorned your hair, do not deserve to be on the floor neglected." He put the flowers on the bed and sat beside her whose eyes were as wide as fully-bloomed lotuses. The dazzled expression on her face was increasing his urge to go more and more closer to her. He removed her nose ring, kundalas and the maangtika, and kept them aside. Holding her waist from the other side, he hid his face in her dense curls, the alluring blend of the fragrances of blue lotus and jasmine exhilarating him.
"Won't you say anything?" He asked, his tone tender and ardent as he moved back slowly. She lay her head on his shoulder quickly, her warm breath falling on his neck as her soft palms stroked his chest longingly. The force with which she had hugged him had made her long hair sprawl all over his shoulder and back, erupting a contented smile on his lips.
"You knew that I could have never imagined the prospect of separation from you. No matter what all has happened in these twelve years, no matter how much we have suffered without each other, no matter how much our love has been sanctified due to that suffering, I still cannot tolerate ant separation. I can never get used to the distance no matter how long the period of separation is. I want you to be with me always!" She murmured with her lips attached to his shoulder and in spite of that, he could hear and understand every word clearly.
"When I can find no light without you, how can there be any other place for me other than the one with you?"
"Does the light really matter to the Gudakesha who had won over the darkness?" She questioned, making him laugh a little at her extremely childish expression that he hadn't seen in years.
"I couldn't have won over the darkness if I hadn't discovered the light that was hidden within the darkness. Darkness can be vast and intimidating but it has to bow down to a single ray of light because its power becomes nothing before the power of light. Light exists and that's why darkness has meaning. Darkness exists and that's why light has honor. Darkness is Purusha and light is Prakriti. That's why I say that you are my light and you will always be my light as you have always been!" He lifted her chin upwards as she looked into his eyes softly, her eyes glowing with love and longing that made his heart thud wildly against his chest. "You knew that I would say this, didn't you, Priyaa?"
"You know that I know everything about you, don't you, Priyathama?"
Hearing that familiar endearment from her voice, Arjuna immediately bent forward and pressed his lips with hers, pulling her into the world of their love, togetherness and sweetness. They lost themselves to each other and in each other, experiencing their love from the past, present and future, of eternity and beyond, of their inseparable hearts and souls, melding into each other's arms.
