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Rithik stood before her motionless, feeling the imaginary paralysis completely engulf his senses and prevent him from acting in any coherent manner. How could he after the fairy tales, or rather nightmares that he had tried to shoo away as being fairy tales, were standing before him in the flesh? The shape-shifting creature that had been haunting him in his dreams since he was a child was standing right there before him, waiting for the opportune time to attack. But then there was her, another shape-shifter, but different from the association that he placed upon the first.
The first shape-shifter fit the stereotypical prescription of what constitutes of being an ichadaari naagin perfectly well. She is vengeance personified and is willing to do whatever it takes to exact her revenge. The harsh austerities that she had to undergo just to be able to act in a murderous manner today is merely a testament to her dedication, her determination and her patience. The fact that she has waited for a 100+ years to be able to act independently is immensely powerful and Rithik can't help himself but be awed by her. The type of resilience that she has shown and tactics that she has employed to kill him should be horrifying, and indeed they are, but underneath it all is a deep respect that has been developed for her. He knows he should not be feeling such emotions for a woman, nay, a creature whose sole existence has become to murder him in the most inhumane way possible; but he simply cannot help himself. He feels pity for the woman and the suffering that she has to undergo. Although he may never be able to grasp the whole essence of that feeling, he can still appreciate the sentiment.
But why is he thinking of his potential murderer at a time like this?
Oh right.
Because he doesn't want to dwell on the other major fact of his life.
The woman that he has come to love is no woman at all. Rather she too belongs to the same blood and kin as the ichadaari naagin. She too is a shape-shifter and there is a possibility that she could have been involved in the various ploys to either kill him or harm his family members. But Rithik dismissed that idea as soon as it came to mind. There is no way that she would do anything to hurt him. She's his Shivaniya after all. What form she comes in is no matter to him.
It's ironic how one form could evoke two such drastically juxtaposed emotions from him. On one side is his attempted murderer who has frightened him since he was a child. A murderer who makes him fear life itself. Who makes him feel like he should live in a constant state of paranoia and look over his shoulder every other second to make sure that she's not standing over him like the Grim Reaper.
On the other hand, there's Shivaniya. The woman with whom he developed a different sense of comfort from his fiancee. A type of peace that he had been oblivious to for so long. A desire to help her out even when she didn't seek it. He feels... safe with her. He feels like everything is right. He wonders if that's the supernatural aspect of her that makes her so alluring but then how can he feel safe with one while be frightened from the other?
Both the naagins had immense power to their name, he knew that now. But one is out for his blood while the other is ready to bleed out for him. Rithik is reminded of that fateful night when he had been deceitfully led off the cliff. If Shivaniya was truly in cahoots with the "evil" naagin, then why did she come to save him? The revenge could have been completed and the world would have still been spinning.
But she didn't let him go that night.
Like the way she is right now.
"Rithik! Tum sun re ho ke mein kya keh ri hoon?" Shivaniya shook Rithik to break him out of Sesha's spell.
Rithik shook his head and found Shivaniya's frantic visage registering into his mind. She was frightened.
But why was she frightened?
A tinge of anger began bubbling inside him as the prospect of her life being in danger was brought up.
No, he refused to have Shivaniya face the ichadaari naagin and have her risk her life. There was no need for her to do so when she was not even directly involved in the revenge. Or wasn't she? Her continuously saving him.. isn't that her way of directly inserting herself into his life and becoming a literal shield at the cosmic level? Everything that she has done so far, she didn't have to.
But yet she did.
"Why?" Rithik asked.
Shivaniya removed her hands from his shoulders, in shock.
Before Rithik was able to elaborate upon his question, Shivaniya stepped back.
Never removing her eye contact with him, she gave him a simple command.
"Go away."
Now it was Rithik's turn to step back, in shock. He shook his head and reached out his hand out towards her but she raised hers in response, stopping him.
Still maintaining that eye contact, she spoke.
"You need to leave now. I can't keep up this spell for much longer." It was now that Rithik took a moment to notice that time had literally stopped around them with the only two acting agents being him and Shivaniya.
"Shivaniya.."
"Rithik," Shivaniya gulped, trying to maintain her composure. "Out of all the humans that I have encountered in my existence, you are one of the few that truly have been created for life. You are one of those rare specimens that bring about joy and light and make others realize what the true meaning of life really is." She folded her hands in front of her in a pleading gesture, as tears flowed down her cheeks. "I wholeheartedly implore you to please leave."
"But.." Rithik became momentarily distracted by the minute movements that began to catch up with time.
A small gust of wind, the scent of the wet dirt, the shifting of the ichadaari naagin...
Shivaniya noticed the same for she darted forward and pushed him towards the car that she had arranged for him. Before her hand could leave his chest, Rithik caught her arm and pulled her towards him.
Gripping Shivaniya by both shoulders, Rithik questioned her once more, "Why?"
He is uncertain of what Shivaniya had interpreted his question to be, but her answer remained the same.
"Because I love you."
She had breathed out the words as if the full weight of the letters were too much for her to carry.
In stunned silence, Rithik had loosened his grip on her which Shivaniya had utilized to get herself out of his hold.
"Kya?" Rithik was able to spurt out in a dumbfounded fashion.
The impact of everything that he had learnt tonight was too much for him to process. He was falling in a whirlpool of confusion while he was desperately flailing about trying to find something to grip onto as his anchor.
A flash of anger flashed upon Shivaniya's face which he knew meant that he would he have no say in what was about to happen next.
"Bola na I love you. Ab jao!"
Shivaniya gave him one last thrust which pushed him out of the invisible boundary that she had created to entrap the three. With him out, Shivaniya gave a small smile of relief as no harm will come upon him. How Rithik was certain of this, he will never be able to describe.
He couldn't describe the helpless feeling either of when he was being dragged away by some men to safety. He couldn't simply leave Shivaniya there alone to face the unknown darkness. He had to help her in some way even if he couldn't full apprehend the situation at hand. Rithik was able to feel the literal tear in every fiber of his being as Shivaniya became a fading image.
The last that he was able to remember of Shivaniya was her wiping away her tears and with vengeance filled eyes, turning around to face the evil that was meant for him.
There was a blood curdling scream that had followed him as the car drove off. But his mind transformed this nightmare into a fairy tale as well.
Instead of the blood curdling scream, all he heard was, "Bolo na I love you!"
He didn't remark on the deliberate omission of the last two words.
Anupamaa
