Together Forever
PART 1: Rude Awakening
Maanvi stood immobilized, frozen in time. She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe. It was like a hurricane had passed through her body, ripping her insides and destroying every dream, every little fragment of hope she had been holding to for so long. She felt hollow, she felt empty. She looked out and the starless sky seemed to beckon to her. As if death was getting impatient. As if it was begging her to just give up and come to Him.
Flashback: "I should really let Viraat choose the color. After all, blue might not be his favorite. What if he's chosen some other colored sherwani? It wouldn't match my outfit. Now we can't have that, can we, everything needs to be perfect'" thought Maanvi as she raced towards Viraat's room. She stopped short when she heard voices issues from his room. Probably Viren jiju.
"Viraat, are you sure you want to do this?"
"I am sure of this bhai. Nothing is going to stop me this time. Not the family, not destiny, not even Maanvi herself."
"But Viraat, don't you think you should let Maanvi know?"
Know what, she wondered.
"Viraat, you need get out of your dream world. Your fairytale is not going to have a happy-ending. That little ray of optimism we had all been holding on to has vanished, for good. Didn't you hear what the doctor said? There is no hope Viraat, Maanvi is not going to survive'it's a matter of days, at most. Even after knowing this, do you still want to go ahead with the wedding?"
She remembered the difficulty with which she had crawled back to her room. It had been a task to keep on breathing, because the air suddenly seemed to be filled with a strange negativity, a poison determined to suck out her life; it had been hard to stop the tears from flowing out her eyes, the same eyes that had dreamt of a beautiful future with Viraat. So this was it. The final chapter to her life? Was this how it was going to end? The little strings of faith that she had sewn for her future...With Di, Dabbu, Chachu, Chachi, Beeji, BadiBee'with Viraat...All undone?
How long had it been since those dreams had crashed? Weeks? Days? She looked at the bedside clock, which indicated that it had just been a few hours since the time she had been choosing out her outfit for her wedding. A few hours were all that had gone by? Why was time crawling so slowly? If death was determined to get her, why wasn't it coming sooner? The sooner it came, the better it would be for everyone, right? It was a struggle to keep her herself together, to not fall and disintegrate into pieces.
The door creaked and she saw the shadow of her soul walk towards her. He came and stood facing her. She couldn't get herself to look into his eyes, to show him the dreams that had crashed, the despair that lingered on her eyelashes. For a while, she just stood still, and so did he. The heaving of their chests was the only movement; the sound of their breathing was the only sign of life in the room.
He moved closer, and wiped her tears away with his fingers. As she finally plucked up the courage to look at him, she saw his eyes brimming with tears. She wiped them away and for sometimes they just kept wiping each other's non-ending flow of tears until she could look at him no more. He lifted her chin with his finger and said, "Hey, my supply of tears hasn't drained out yet. You've got to keep wiping them away Partner."
"I wish I could Partner. I wish I could stay and wipe your every tear. Make you smile every time you're upset. Hold you tight whenever you're afraid. But I can't'"
"Why not?"
"Viraat'when you know the truth, why pretend? I know I'm about to die, there's no use pretending I'm going to be around you forever."
"Nobody lives forever Maanvi. Nobody. We live within the time allotted to us by God. Some are allotted a shorter span than others, but that doesn't mean they don't have the right to happiness. It doesn't mean they cannot have memories that could last forever. A lifetime is all we have. It may be short, it may be long. What matters is how you choose to live it."
"But Viraat, if you can choose how to live your life, why would you choose to spend your time with someone who's about to leave anyways. When you know for sure that you're going to spend the rest of your life missing me, why come any closer? Why don't you leave, Viraat? Leave me and go life your life."
He said nothing. He took out his phone and selected a song from his media player. A song by his favorite singer, Adam Lambert, she realized'
Cause if I wanted to go I would have gone by now,
But I really need you near me to
Keep my mind off the edge'
If I wanted to leave I would have left by now
But you're the only one that knows me
Better than I know myself'
He put it on pause and said, "Remember the first time we met?"
She nodded and smiled as she remembered those moments.
'Ji, aap dono toh do hain''
'Ji toh aap dono teen hai kya?'
"Maanvi, when you were sitting there with Jeevika bhabi, you two were actually three in number."
She looked at him, confused. Three?
"You stole my heart the moment I saw for the first time. Without my knowledge, you held me captive ever since. You were sitting by yourself, but my heart already belonged to youthen. I am part of you Maanvi. I know it gets hard sometimes, but I could never leave your side because we are one. Always have been, always will. Your destiny is my destiny. Your life is my life. We are going to live it together. Even if it ends tomorrow. We are going to make our own canvas of memories, our moments that will be engraved into our souls. And it doesn't matter whether you are next to me physically, it doesn't matter if I'm still here and you're way up there, because in essence we are one. Wherever you are, there I remain. No matter what."
She was stunned by his words. She knew he loved her, but she had never realized how much.
"I love you Viraat. Forever."
"I love you Maanvi. Forever and whatever comes after that." Saying so, he moved forward and took her in his arms. She smiled as she lost himself in his bear-hug. Yes, what he said was true anyways. They were one entity, Viraat and Maanvi. They couldn't be separated, not by fate, not by death. They would fight against whatever was to come together, and if they lost, it would be their defeat.
As he finally let go of her, he said, "Get that list ready."
"What list?"
"Your wish-list darling. Fill it with every wish that's left unfulfilled. No matter how absurd they are. We're going wish-hunting tomorrow."
PART 2: Chasing Dreams
(PRECAP)
"One more? I thought we were done? Let me see that list...Hmmm, all done here..."
"Viraat, just shut up and listen." "What?"
She went down on her knees, aware of the fact that over 50 people were watching them, she said, "Viraat Vadhera, will you marry me?"
"Maanvi, we were getting married. We're engaged remember?"
"Viraat, marry me now. Right now."
So, what do yo think? Should I continue? Or did you guys already fall asleep?
