How would he not follow her in the same footsteps? After all, as he saw himself, he saw her. Especially every time she looks back at him hopefully.
"But what are you really waiting for?" Vinayaka asked him. "What I mean to ask is that why are you taking so long to tell her?"
"She doesn't believe it. She thinks that I am playing with her."
"Then why don't you let her know you're serious?"
"Yes, I would, if only she would try and listen."
"No. You aren't coming to the point. You're twisting around the words expecting her to just accept it. You never mistook what intention Jalaja had. She couldn't be clearer that she had given her everything to you. While you, here, don't even tell her in unmistakable terms that you love her. Expression of love doesn't need to be grand."
"You're a child. You do not really know the exact way Sri works. Everything for her is grand. Sri herself is grandeur."
Vinayaka laughed. "Sure, I take the form of a child but wasn't it you from whom I appeared? My maa had asked for a child that was like you. She performed penance for you and then I was born. So, technically, I'm also a part of you."
Narasimha looked at his nephew. Sure, for someone reason the boy chose to look like a forever child but he was just as clever as him.
"Sri herself is grandeur. What grandeur can match her? What grandeur do you have that can surpass her own? Could you bring anything that would be more beautiful to you than her? You could make nature look pretty when you try to tell but the whole nature is her. The whole Earth is her. What can you form that is more beautiful than her?" Vinayaka asked further.
"I'm not sure it will go just as easy."
"Why would a woman let you go this easy? How often does she have a situation where she has you following her? Last time she made completely sure you were aware of the depth of her feelings for you. You were too busy with all the suras bereft of strength and courage to pay a lot more attention to her. You even went as far as almost not participating in her swayamvar. Almost like you weren't a part of it at all. If that isn't cruelty, I don't know what constitutes a lover's cruelty. The first time around, you almost claimed that you wish to remain celibate as yogi forever in the hills of Badrinath. So, don't blame her if she isn't going to make this easy. You didn't particularly leave the easy path for her."
"Whose side are you on, Vinayaka?"
"Since when did you have sides between both of you? Unlike maa and pitashree, two of you aren't divided into two halves of the body but rather offered her a place in your heart. How are your heart on one side and you on the other?"
Narasimha simply shook his head. The boy took after him in witty replies. His ears moved, hearing the faint sound of anklets from far away. The large ears could hear anything from far away. Almost recognizing sounds. The hurrying footsteps had to be the lady of the forest. Vinayaka changed his appearance quickly to resemble a regular young boy.
Soon, Chenchita arrived near the temple and saw Vinayaka. A smile graced her lips. Whether she recognized him or not, he would always be a source of happiness to her.
"How can someone send a little boy into dangerous forests alone? Did you come alone?"
"I have been here before, so I came by myself," Vinayaka answered. Chenchita looked at him, a little worried that a sweet boy like him arrived in the forest alone but he also made her unusually happy.
"Alright. You came by yourself but don't leave alone, alright? The forests aren't safe. I would feel very disturbed if you got attacked by some wild animals."
Vinayaka smiled. Not that any animal could harm him but he nodded away at his beloved aunt's command.
Chenchita set down the bowl of honey. They had just earlier found the hive and brought the honey from it. She barely got saved from the bees biting. The lion-deity was meditating again.
"You too have come for him?" She asked Vinayaka.
"Yes. After all, he is the lord." He answered. Vinayaka then noted that there was some injury on her foot. "Did you get hurt?"
"That's regular. Forest terrains aren't really favorable. Every now and then injuries occur." She answered with a smile. She passed him some honey.
"Sit." Vinayaka insisted. She sat down. He quickly returned with some leaves.
"No, it isn't needed. They heal on their own. Don't worry about it." She chuckled.
He put his fingers under her chin, "Amma, if I was injured would you not worry? So, how can I not be worried when you are injured?"
He crushed the leaves and put them over the injuries. Once he was done, she picked up Vinayaka and made him sit on her lap. Vinayaka smiled and noted the inking on her skin. Small flower patterns. A tiger symbol. A chakra and a trident were inked too. Vinayaka just looked in wonder. Absent was all the typical association of the Goddess. No gold. No jewels. No silks. No precious stone. Not even silver. The only affirmation that she was even the Goddess was the unending compassion and the ability to simply spread the enthusiasm around her. It was impossible to actually be disturbed or sad around her. The positive aura that surrounds her. That is the sign that it was truly her. She resembled the forest girl entirely. Someone who has never really been in the city or society. The forests brought her up, the forests were her temple grounds. The hills are her seat and the trees and sky as her roof.
"Does it hurt?" He asked about the ink.
"It was long ago. It doesn't hurt. Maybe a little when they're inked but two to three days later, the pain is gone." She answered. Making him sit on her lap, she fed him some food. Fruits and honey.
It had begun to get dark. "I think we should take you back to your home. Your mother must be looking for you." She suggested. Vinayaka nodded a yes and jumped off her lap. Taking out the tulsi garland from the neck of the meditating lion-deity, Vinayaka gave it to her.
"No... what are you doing? We cannot do that."
"We can."
"No, we cannot do that."
"We can."
"Listen, you're a boy. You don't know."
"Well, I surely know the rituals. Everyone is given the nirmalya of the deity."
She couldn't really argue. The boy seemed like someone who learn Vedas and that religious education. She didn't know them as such to argue back so she accepted it. Holding his hand, she led him out of the forests where she saw a boy. A boy that looked elder than him. He looked a lot like a prince. A royal prince.
"Kartikeya." Vinayaka smiled at his brother. Kartikeya respectfully greeted Chenchita. She greeted him back.
"I was just about to come to fetch him," Kartikeya explained. "Thank you for bringing him back."
She smiled at him. "He's a sweet boy."
When the two boys were out of sight, Chenchita let herself look at the beautiful Tulsi garland. It smelled of a scent that always made her feel ticklish in her heart. Like butterflies in her stomach. A smile makes its way on her lips at it.
It smelled like the lion-deity. It smelled like that stranger in her dreams. Chenchita walked up to where he was meditating and sat down before him. The odd longing she felt for him. There is a societal line that is drawn between two people. But she wished that it hadn't been there. He was an odd creature. Yet, she couldn't not help but be enchanted by him.
"Who are you? Why do you feel so familiar even when I have not known you before. What relation do you have with that stranger from my dreams?" She asked, almost suffering from that unsettling questions.