Krishn had always been a quick study with absolutely no amount of patience. That was Parth's virtue.
Aah, Parth his dearest............honestly he wasn't sure what Parth was to him anymore. Him and Parth shared a history together would be a massive understatement. His and Parth's story would be incomplete without the other.
They were like two parts of a whole. Two faces of the same coin. Or as he often like to put it, Parth was the light of sun forever brilliant and bright, lighting up the darkest of times, a ray of hope. And he was the intensity of the sun, he was the protector while his.............soulmate (?) was the guide. It wasn't like his feelings for his soulmate(why did the term feel so ....... Correct) were ever a matter for him to debate upon.
It's just that Kam Dev(uuh! Stupid love god and his meddling) had given him an undue advice when there were only three earthly hours left for him to leave his residence and take birth on the mortal plane of existence.
~16 years ago~
He was perplexed. Oh! Wasn't that an understatement. He was officially royally godly stuck. And he had absolutely no idea what to do. On normal occasions he would just visit his Parth who would often play the role of some sort of an (un)willing listener to his woes. But if his Parth was the cause for his pondering then who was he supposed to go to? It was well known in the Heavenly Realm that him and his Parth had the strongest of bond out of anyone. No one in this universe could even hope to be an one upon infinityth of what his Parth is, was, and always will be to him.
.............................
Which is well awesome but not the point.
Uuh! See that's just what it was, his Parth was tooooooooooooo Parthish. Not his fault, anyone else would do the same.
....................
Which is kinda true but again not the point, what was the point were his feelings for his...............wife. Oh! Heavens above somebody help him. He couldn't even utter that title without cringing. And that in itself the issue. Lord Narayan and Lady Lakshmi the eternal lovers...........had fallen out of love for each other. He knew even without a verbal confirmation from his long time companion(that title fell into non-cringey territory) that she had also lost any and all romantic affections for him, it wasn't that they hated each or had been indifferent to each other, rather he held quite a fondness for his Parth's cousin. And that was where the second problem came from.
If she had been someone else he would just have a talk and they'd part on good terms. But she was his Parth's cousin sister, he had to ensure that nothing he said or did made her feel sad(which in relation ensured that his Parth wasn't sad, he hated it whenever there was anything other than a smile on his Parth's face).
So........here he was currently making his way towards Kam Dev's residence. Hopefully that blabbering good for nothing heavenly equivalent to a bafoon of a match maker had something up his sleeves for him.
Without knocking (what was the need when the whole of heaven is his, with him being the Lord of the Universe) he entered upon the main hall where the Kam Dev resided.
"My Lord, how might I serve you?", questioned the god of love, who was wary, yes, but not surprised. In all honesty, if one were look closer they'd notice he even appeared pleased with the arrival of Lord of the Universe.
"Do not pretend to be oblivious, doesn't befit someone of your stature, Kam Dev."
"Of course not, my lord. I did predict you coming here but isn't it a bit too late, my lord? There are only three earthly hours left for your departure. The Time Lord would follow in three earthly years, while my lady would be departing with you ."questioned the god of love.
"That's precisely why. It would be better for me to get this off my shoulders before departing for the mortal realm. The need to establish Dharm is stronger than ever, how can I focus on the task at hand with my personal affairs are yet to be sorted. And I can't help it when a sudden emotional enlightenment would come upon me." sassed the Lord.
"Begging your pardon, my lord. But if it's about my lady and my lord then shouldn't you just have a talk about it with my lady. What's the need to come to me, for it would seem you've already figured it out."
"Yes. But she isn't only my wife. She's the cousin sister of my Parth. And it isn't like we have a god of friendship, love seemed like the best bet."
"My lord, no offense, but it's been millions of years since you married my lady. Yet, you've lost your feelings for her", the Lord clearly did not like where this was going," then how come, the same isn't true for your friendship with the Lord of Time. It only takes mortal friends some years to split ap"-
"Oh! Are you going to judge us by mortal standards, now Kam Dev?"
"Nothing of that sort, my lord." Kam dev quickly spit out, seeing the tell tale signs of anger on the Lord's face.
"I just mean, that have you ever wondered on the exact nature of your feelings for your friend?" questioned the god of love, putting great emphasis on the term friend. As if disclosing a great secret. But the diety of love was also aware that he was stepping on dangerous territories. Yet he couldn't help it. Oh! In the name of all the lovers in the world, he was exhausted by the Lord's obliviousness and the Time Lord's heartache.
" I wasn't aware my feelings for my Parth were something that could be brought into question." Spoke the Lord. Perplexed but finding the love god's question one worth pondering over. He hadn't ever questioned the nature of his feelings towards his Parth. Since the day they'd both been born they'd both been stuck at the hip. He'd never quite cared for someone as intensely as he did for his Parth.
No, not even his love(?) for his wife could amount to even one millionth of what his love for his Parth was. And why not? He'd never met someone like his Parth. Someone so good, so brilliant, so smart, so Parth-like. All the words in the whole universe weren't enough for him describe his Parth, neither were they worthy. Not even his love for his wife...............wait! Backtrack! Since when has he started comparing his clearly (even if in the past) romantic love for his wife to the all encompassing love he had for his Parth. Could it be..................
Seeing, finally(finally! Oh someone call the other gods! It would seem Mahadev won the bet. Which wasn't anything new. But the oblivious Lord finally gained an enlightenment), the sign of realisation flitter across the Lord's face. The love god quickly grabbed it before the Lord of obliviousness dismissed it yet again.
"My lord,( I'd say I'm no expert but that'd be a lie, since I quite clearly am) love, true love, is the one constant in your life. Humans blabber about love being a selfless emotion. But nothing's more farther than the truth, love is the most selfish emotion of all. It makes even gods commit sins. Love isn't something that happens at once. It's a steady process happening over the years. It's like the beams of sunlight that slither in from the smallest of crooks without our knowing. We only realize what has happened when the light becomes too intense to ignore."
Well didn't that correctly sum up all the love he felt for his Parth. His Parth had always been the one constant for him. Never had he ever felt even a sliver of resentment, or envy towards his Parth. He really had fallen for his Parth (literally and figuratively). Uh! But there was no time. No worries he'd charm his Parth in the mortal realm. It wasn't hard to do. His Parth had always cared for him. But first he needed to talk with his soon to ex-wife and co-conspirator.
"I shall take my leave now." With this the Lord dissolved into mere winds even those stopped after a few moments. What remained was the smell of parijath that the Lord always emitted. With a sigh, the love god, who had exhausted all of his matchmaking powers today, went to call his co-matchmakers(a.k.a. co-conspirators/other gods) to inform them of the first development in the love life (only his own heart could attest to how much he'd suffered to utter these words) of the Lord and Shri Phalgun.
~16 years later~
And here he was. Wondering and worrying about his Parth. This life wasn't going to be easy on his Parth but he had sworn to himself as soon they met again he'd ensure his Parth was alright. He didn't care if it was Time Lord or the third Pandu Putra all that mattered was that he was his Parth.
"Krishn, come! Lalla!"
Yep he'd save the world, establish Dharm, confess to his Parth and they'd have their happy ever after. But first he needed some makhan and his maiyaa.
~in Hastinapur~
Arjun was worried. Suffice to say that all of his brothers were as well. The thirteen year old teen was busy pondering (yet again) about the poisoning incidence involving second eldest brother Duryodhan and Bhrata Bheem. It was ...........a worrying matter. He had never had a negative image of his cousins.
On the contrary, he didn't quite believe they were bad. No one was born evil. It wasn't an inherent quality. On the other hand, he hadn't seemed one so determined and brave like his second eldest brother Duryodhan. Once he decided something it might as well be law. He didn't blame either of his brothers or cousins for the incidence.
It was bound to happen. With all the clear bias most showered upon the Pandavas and Maharaj continuously spouting of all the injustice he had suffered (honestly, get over it, he seemed like a toddler throwing a fit) along with his own uncle supporting the claim of his father, brother Duryodhan was bound to be lead astray sooner rather than later.
"Arjun, pay attention." Jyesht whisper shouted at him. Oh! Right he had forgotten he was supposed to be paying attention to whatever idiotic battle his cousin and Bhrata Bheem were up to. Honestly it was beyond annoying watching kids fight. He had seen much better. This was only yawn worthy.
What however was not yawn worthy was the dog that ran past him with an arrow in his mouth. Arjun made haste to get to the dog. Eager to get the dog to a medic. The castle wasn't much farther from here.
Quickly taking the dog Arjun calmly subdued the weakened creature and handed him to the sarthi that stood by the carriages at the guru kul, giving strict instructions to have the dog be examined by the best animal healer. Waiting till the time the chariot set of, Arjun made his way to his guru Dron and brothers.
Upon arriving at the scene however what he saw was much more heart breaking than anything else he'd ever seen.
His friend Eklavya (or Bhrata Ekam as he'd taken to calling him) cutting of his own thumb as his brother (siblings and cousins) and teacher watched.
A sob resounding in the air. Who so ever was screaming he wished they wouldn't. His heart was breaking. Oh! With the look his jyesht gave him, it would seem it was him that was screaming. And with that Arjun's world went black.