SwaSan TS: Vindicatory Turmoil [Completed]

Vindicatory Turmoil

Sanskaar stood by the window of his room looking out at the full moon. It used to be his favourite sight. However today he saw the flaws clearly. The grey patches on the white moon almost looked ugly. He could probably credit that observation to his present state. The next day was his Roka with a some nameless Marwari girl. And two rooms away was the girl whose name was etched on his heart.

It's been two months that Ragini had taken over as the Malkin of the house or rather a devil possessed Ragini. He didn't understand her motive. Honestly he didn't care except the daily tortures she showered over his family members. Lakshya had become completely invisible to him but he had to hand it to his baby brother for not being a complete Joru Ka Ghulam.

He wanted one more person to be invisible to him. Swara. Just Swara, he reminded himself as he couldn't bring himself to call her Swara Bose and calling her Swara Maheshwari would be technically incorrect. He pretended that she was invisible to him yet he knew exactly when she was looking at him, her expectant face as he passed by her and the slight smile when he granted her small mercies like holding the door while she carried large items.

The day she reentered the house to protect Maheshwari family from the tyranny, she had carried her luggage to his room. He had stopped her at the door and asked her to stay in the guest room. The pain in her eyes was too much for him to bear so he closed the door on her face. He had leaned against the door until she walked to the guest room, her footsteps very audible to his ears, and closed the door behind her.

When Ragini tried to dictate his life by bringing up the topic of his second marriage, he shouted at her "No one dictates my life! Get this crap out of your head!" When he turned, he saw Swara standing by the stairs with a bright smile. If only she had trusted him, he would have given Ragini back in a way that neither she nor anyone in the house ever thought of joining someone else's name with his. It could only be Swara with Sanskaar, no one else. It didn't matter that there was no relation between them at that point in time.

Then his Mom had decided to use her patented victimised mother antic by pledging to end her life if he didn't agree. She went to the extent of placing the knife to her throat and Sanskaar had agreed. He gazed up to the stairs right after his forced acceptance to find Swara gone. That night he passed by her room numerous times and heard her sobs every single time. At about 5am, when he heard silence, he panicked and opened the door. He found Swara by the door hugging her knees and buried her face over her knees. He nudged her to find her asleep and her face was red from crying for long hours. He didn't know why he had carried her to the bed and covered her limp form with the thick comforter. Just that it pulled his heart strings to watch her in that state. Yet he felt it was necessary to neutralise the balance of their relationship. He felt disgusted of himself for that thought.

As Swara faced the daily antics of Ragini, he stood on the sidelines and watched. Every time she won he bought a chocolate only to stash it in his side table. There can never be anyone else but Swara claiming his room. He was sure of it. However he wanted Swara to stop this alliance. He wanted her to realise what she would be losing.

---

Swara stood by the window watching the moon. Ragini had ruined her. The small victories where she protected her family from bending before Ragini, felt miniature compared to the pain of watching Sanskaar ignore her.

She had come back for him. To win him back. But the circumstances in the house were such that she couldn't detach herself from the disaster happening. She questioned Ragini and defended her family. However the one person she came back for read her motive incorrectly and believed that she had come for the family and not him.

She went behind him tugging her luggage only to be stopped at the door to their room. "You are a guest, Swara. Go, stay in the guest room." She stood there wondering whether those were the words he had uttered as he shut the door over her face. She had since then stayed in the guestroom reminding herself that she had asked for it. She deserved it for not trusting him.

Ragini had chosen the most hurting way to torture her and Sanskaar, Sanskaar's remarriage. As Sanskaar scolded Ragini for trying to dictate his life, she felt that he still loved her. The proposal of course sounded good to her Sujata Mom and she had blackmailed Sanskaar to accept. The quick acceptance broke her heart as soon as it was slightly mended from his earlier rejection. She had cried herself to sleep only to find herself comfortably in bed the next day. Sanskaar did care for her above his anger, she learnt.

Since that day, she had been thinking long and hard whether he would really proceed with the marriage. She thought about asking him but she was invisible to him. He passed by her like she was a nobody. She on the other hand always searched for his face in the crowd. Though they both were the only ones Ragini's tactics didn't work on, she was still hurting them in the worst possible way of separating them from their love. Each day felt like a punishment to Swara, without her partner and best friend, she was swimming against the currents alone.

---

<O Khuda, Hero>

Sanskaar was getting ready to go to bed when he remembered his vitamin tablets. He searched the wardrobe drawer. "Don't know where my tablets are? Where did you keep them, Swara?"

Tere bin...

He realised what he had just uttered and looked around the empty room. Though it was 2 months since Swara left his life, he couldn't shake away his habits. Such was his love.

Swara sat by the bed in her room thinking of what she could do that Sanskaar would believe her. What can she do that she gets her friend back? What can she do that he learns of her love for him?

O khuda...

She looked at the sindoor box and the sacred moment when he first claimed her to be his wife before the whole family. She thought of his drunken confession after burning the tent. She wondered when she would be blessed the moment to confess her love for him.

Sanskaar closed the wardrobe and ran his fingers by the laminate. He had once pushed Swara against it and warned her not to insult his love. He had lost his temper when she suggested that he wanted to marry her without caring whether she wanted that relation.

Pyaar ki inn raahon...

He had cared for her that day. Cared for her today as well. Unfortunately she had not just insulted his love but also tainted their friendship with her suspicion.

Iss dil...

Her relationship with Sanskaar had always been on the rocky road. Ragini forcing them to marry. Lakshya pressurising her to return in his life. The divorce talks going around. Amidst the multitude problems, she had found her true love who stood by her at all her testing times until two months ago.

O khuda..

Sanskaar's love and faith in her had always watched over her and healed her with time. It was now her turn to love him such that she could once again build that tremendous trust she had broken with a careless push.

Sanskaar opened his wallet to find the wedding picture of him and Swara. He slowly removed the picture from the flap. That day he was ready to sacrifice everything to not see her shivering under Ragini's threat.

Aaj apne...

He was reminded of their first Diwali together. He had filled her parting with the holy Sindoor and adorned her with the mangalsutra. He remembered the sight of her beautiful face to such details that it hurt him. She had truly seemed Swara Sanskaar Maheshwari.

Duniya jeet...

As Swara and Sanskaar wiped the involuntary tears flowing down their faces, they looked at their reflections in the mirror. He could still see Swara in his eyes. She could still see Sanskaar in her eyes. Their love story however fell prey to the world and they lost the most precious relationship of their lives.

O khuda...

Destiny had planned a cruel game for them and if they wanted to spend rest of their lives together, they had to fight destiny among other things. Sanskaar had completed his fight when she accused him. It was now up to Swara to fight and win her love. Their love was strong enough to challenge fate and she had to prove it now.

Part 2 of 2

Sanskaar woke up to see his Mom meddling with his clothes. He sat up with a jolt. "Mom! How did you come in?"

"Sanskaar, now your Mom also can't come into your room? I am trying to help you choose an outfit for the Roka."

"I will find something to wear. You don't have meddle with my clothes." He closed the wardrobe and practically shooed her out of his room. He had been worried that she might find something of Swara and start off the cursing session spoiling rest of his day.

It was his Roka; it couldn't be any good. However he wanted to stay away from the emotional trauma his family was forcing on him to the best of his ability.

---

Swara rummaged her clothes to find the particular outfit that would leverage her fight the most. She was preparing to fight for her love. She thought of it the whole night and concluded that she wouldn't do anything to stop the ceremony. If Sanskaar really loved her, he would be able to understand her pain. He would never impose such a cruel punishment over her, she decided.

It was either today or never. Sanskaar had ignored her, said some spiteful words, and asked her to get out of his life. It all had to end today. Her eyes fell on the golden lehenga he had gifted her. He had told her that he would always remember his gifts for her. There couldn't be a better option than his gifted outfit, she decided.

As she adorned herself with the Sindoor and Mangalsutra, they had given her the courage to claim what's rightfully hers. She stepped out of her room and found Sujata and Annapurna fussing over Sanskaar. He looked perturbed at their numerous instructions.

Sujata saw her and came to her. "Swara, do us all a favour and don't come downstairs. My son is starting his new life and I don't want even your shadow on his happiness."

It was a demand that would be very difficult for her to satisfy yet fight for her love. "Okay Mom." Swara agreed not taking her eyes away from Sanskaar.

---

Sanskaar was agitated with the whole charade that his Mom was adamant on. As if she's not enough, Badi Ma was reminding him that it was his decision. To cement that statement, Swara stepped out of her room and he felt himself hold his breath. A moment later, he saw her in the golden lehenga that held a very sweet memory in his heart. His heart skipped a beat watching her once again in the beautiful outfit. However, he had not missed the accessories that marked her his.

His Mom told her something and she agreed. He wondered if she even heard what his Mom had said. Her eyes didn't leave him and despite his best efforts, he couldn't take his eyes off her. His Badi Ma urged him to start moving. His feet felt heavy and seemed to be walking against their wish. He saw the gathering of the two families downstairs. Yet the image of Swara complete with Sindoor of his name weighed on his heart. He reminded himself of her accusation, her lack of trust in him to tell himself that he was probably better off without her. There was a strange sensation of a burning liquid crawling up the back of his throat. What are you doing, Sanskaar? Can you forgive her and give her a second chance? He asked himself.

The answer he found was that he needed a reason to forgive which she had not given him yet. So he waited. He saw her standing against the balustrade upstairs and he waited. He sat next to the supposed to be bride and he waited. The rituals were being done and he waited. He dared a glance towards Swara who was shedding tears and he waited. The ceremony was declared complete. But Swara had not uttered a single word. Swara, are you really going to just stand there and see me getting married to someone else? Don't I mean anything to you? His vision started to blur. He was saved from breaking down right there by the one voice he desperately wanted to hear. "Sanskaar Maheshwari."

---

All eyes of the Maheshwari family gazed at her. Sujata came up to her. "Swara, what are you doing here? Go inside." She instructed with a firm grasp on her arm.

Swara removed her arm from Sujata's grasp and said "The ceremony is over. So now I want to say something."

She glared at Sanskaar remembering each of their moments right from the day he had saved her from Mohini, the witch. He had been the only one who had come in search for her when Ragini pushed her to death. He had redeemed himself for all his crimes by taking stand for her. He said he loved her but didn't want to exercise that right on her. When accusations flew, he blew them all away with his unwavering confidence in her.

Swara stood before Sanskaar and before anyone else could comprehend, her palm connected with his cheek at a force that her palm tinged with pain. "How dare you!" She shouted.

"Swara? What was that for?" Sanskaar asked still holding his cheek.

"It's for betraying me, Sanskaar!"

"I betrayed you? Have you forgotten what you did?"

"I made a mistake. I accept! I MADE A MISTAKE OF DOUBTING YOU."

"Thanks for doing me that favour. At least you accept it's your mistake."

"Don't patronise me, Sanskaar. I made a mistake, one, Sanskaar, just one. That too because I didn't want you to be involved in it. I had proofs against you and I wanted to clear your name. Just like you wanted to keep me away from those problems. Sanskaar, today you proved that you are no different from Lakshya. Can't you hear me out before reaching your own conclusions? Can't you let me complete my own sentence? I was a fool to not have seen that and fell head over heels in love with you. Yes, Sanskaar Maheshwari, you heard it right. I love you."

"Too late, Swara."

That hurt her bad. Worse than anything else she had heard from him.

"You can't compare me with Lakshya. My trust in you never wavered. Unlike yours. You broke our relation. So don't twist the logic."

"That day at Baadi, I had just realised that I had feelings for you. I wanted to tell you. But you handed me the divorce papers. I came back to confess my love. Just because I met the family before you, you misunderstood my motive to return. You have not given me a proper opportunity to explain. Isn't that how Lakshya treated me as well? Still I tolerated all the hurt and pain you inflicted on me. However what you did today is just not acceptable. You are punishing me Sanskaar!"

"Look Swara..."

"Shut up, Sanskaar! Just shut up." She held his arms. "Sanskaar, remember you said that when I lose my battle due to the wrong path, you would always be there to help me back on my feet. Today I lost my everything. My strongest support, my friend and my love. I lost my everything and here you just completed your Roka for your second marriage. What do you take me for?" She pushed him away.

"Swara, enough of your drama. Why can't you let my son have some peace in his life?" Sujata questioned.

"Then why are you destroying his life?" Swara threw back. "I have not signed the divorce papers yet. Let me tell this, one final time. I am never going to sign the divorce papers. Since you had never forced your love on me, I had stayed quiet as well all these days. Now when you are not keeping your promises to me, and punishing me cruelly over one mistake, I will not heed your whims."

Swara walked up the stairs but stopped

at the third step and turned back. "This wedding will never happen as long as I am alive." She cleared to the prospective bride's family. And to Sanskaar and the rest, she said "This is my house, that's my husband. I am shifting back to my room and if you don't want to share the room with me, you are free to choose your pick out of the guest rooms." With that, Swara ran up the stairs wiping her tears.

---

Sanskaar stood rooted to his place. His cheek still tinged with pain. Swara had slapped him. Within the five minutes that she was before him, she spoke with such hatred that he was left questioning, was he really that harsh to her? She felt betrayed. She confessed her love for him. She denied to sign the divorce papers. Amidst all, her comparing him with Lucky felt more vicious than poison.

He rushed up the stairs forgetting everything around him. He needed to talk to Swara. When he reached his room, Swara had already brought her bag into his room. He walked in and closed the door behind him.

Swara glanced at him over her shoulder. No words.

"What was that, Swara?"

Swara didn't respond and her silence was killing him. He yanked her arm and made her face him. "I am asking you something, Swara! In one breath, you said you love me and in the other, you put me on par with Lakshya. Yes I am angry. I am upset that one person I trusted the most has accused me. Don't I have the right to be upset when such accusations hurt me?"

"Do you still love me, Sanskaar?" she asked with such calm composure that he wondered if the downstairs scene was his dream.

He looked down and turned away. Of course he still loved her and could never stop loving her even with his bleeding heart.

Swara came to stand before him. "There was a time between us when we could look into the other's eyes and understand. Today you couldn't understand my pain. I was right there, Sanskaar. Do you know how difficult it was for me to stand aside and watch?"

He stayed silent. Earlier, he had decided that he needed a reason to forgive her. She said she loved him. No other reason was required above that. However, was it enough to heal the hurt she had caused?

"Sanskaar, I know you still love me. You agreed for this because you were forced. I thought you are not so ruthless to accept someone else before me. You just proved me wrong. I can also say you have lost my trust in you today, but I will not. For me, above all is my love for you. And I can build back our relationship from there."

That was exactly what he had been thinking. They still had it in them to understand each other's unsaid words.

"Swara..." He started.

---

Sanskaar was about to say something before he was rudely disturbed by the knock on the door. It was not just a knock, someone was banging the door.

"Swara, open the door now! I want to talk to you." Ragini's voice came.

Swara moved towards the door but Sanskaar stopped her. "Let her bang all she want. I don't want to talk to her. I want to talk to you. Listen, Swara..."

A moment later, they heard the key plugged in and the handle turned. Ragini flew the doors open. "Swara, you are forgetting time and again that I am the owner of this house and I decide who stays in. After what you did today, I have decided that you will no longer have to bear this pain. Go back to Baadi, Swara."

"Ragini, you can't decide for me. So cut this out." Swara answered back.

"Then you are forcing me to throw you out." Ragini held Swara by her arm and dragged Swara.

"Ragini!?" Swara was too shocked at Ragini's actions to formulate her question.

"Ragini!" Sanskaar shouted in anger. He crossed the short distance in a flash and separated Swara from Ragini's grasp. "Don't you dare! You still haven't seen the worst of me. I am keeping low because Bade Papa gave you his word. Don't push me so hard that I dig out your history. If you have forgotten, let me remind you, I still have that CD. It will take me just a phone call to throw you out of the house and behind the bars. Also, give me back that key. If I see you around here when we are not around, no one can stop me from handing you over."

That shut Ragini up. Sanskaar snatched the key from Ragini's hand. "Who's invitation are you waiting for? Get out!" Sanskaar's voice was so chilled that made Swara jump too.

"Just because Swara said she loves you, you are standing up for her. Tomorrow she would again leave you. And it's nothing new." Ragini spat the venomous words.

"Out." Sanskaar walked her back two steps and once she was outside the threshold, shut the door on her face.

"Sanskaar... I really wanted to tell you on that day at the Baadi. I am really sorry that I suspected you. I was scared, Sanskaar. I am ready to say a million apologies. But don't ignore me. I realise my mistake and I promise to never ever break that trust. Please Sanskaar."

---

Sanskaar leaned back and heard Swara. They both had erred on different occasions. Though he wanted to hold on to his anger, he desired for Swara's love. When the question came to anger and love, it was clearly love for him. So he decided that he would give her one more chance.

"Sanskaar, say something."

"You said I don't let you complete your sentences." Sanskaar smirked.

"Sanskaar, now you are asking for it." Swara muttered as she hit him on his arm.

Sanskaar laughed and pulled her in for a hug. Her arms encircled his waist and she stepped closer to him. Sanskaar slightly pulled out and said "I missed you, Swara."

"I missed you, Sanskaar."

"I love you, Swara."

"I love you too, Sanskaar."

Both Swara & Sanskaar's pain nicely depicted.

Please do continue, I'd love to see how Swara fights for her love now. 😳

You must continue. 😊 Please give this a nice closure, with Swara's declaration and affirmation of love to Sanskaar. Waiting for part 2.