Ishqbaaz FF: Consequences. Chapter 15 on Page 39 (02/08/17) - Page 25

Not much registered in Omkara's mind when he first set foot in the Oberoi Mansion. He vaguely noted that his mother and Dadi hugged him and cried. He was somewhat aware that Pinky had thrown her arms around Anika as soon as she had seen her and was sobbing hysterically into her shoulder. He thought he remembered Shakti approaching and putting a hand on his wife's shoulder to transfer her from Anika's to his own.

But none of it really felt real because none of it was what mattered. None of it would until he did what had to be done. Until he followed his heart to where it was telling him he needed to be.

He was exactly where Omkara had known he would be.

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The man in the chair did not look away from the still water of the pool, did not turn to face him. But Omkara knew that he knew he was there. Knew Shivaay's heart felt him as his own felt Shivaay's. Omkara walked towards him, his throat closing up, his heart racing, his legs ready to give way without warning and send him crumpling to the floor.

They held up until he was in front of him. He half-sat, half-collapsed by the edge of the pool and looked up at his brother.

Shivaay's eyes seemed to look straight through him. As though Omkara were a mirage he didn't believe was truly there. As if he were an illusion he had seen and lost too many times before.

Omkara reached out a hand and placed it on his brother's arm.

Neither man knew what to say. What was there to say? What words could possibly convey what needed to be conveyed? What language could possibly express what needed to be expressed?

Shivaay had always been a man of action where Omkara had been one of thought. Shivaay's world had always been grounded in the harshest of realities so that Omkara's own could fly as freely as his soul needed.

Shivaay's life had always been filled with fighting and shielding and sacrificing so that Omkara would never have to. So that Omkara would never even realise that there were enemies to be fought.

He, the Artist who thought himself so observant, so remarkably astute... he had not seen it. Had not realised it. Had seen only the devastation and the charred remains of the battles Shivaay had been fighting without his knowledge. Had only blamed Shivaay for fighting them in the first place. Had not so much as considered the wounds Shivaay bore and concealed so that not only would Omkara never have to bear them himself, but so that he would never even realise the viciousness of the demons which had caused them. Would never know how much worse it could have been had Shivaay not attacked so ferociously first.

Omkara had left because of fury. He had not returned because of shame.

In the years since he had left his home and abandoned his family, Omkara had come to realise these truths he had always been too protected to see. Shivaay's decision to marry Tia had not been because of pride, as Omkara had believed at the time. It had not been ego. It had not been, in any sense, the selfish choice. It shamed him to remember how these were the exact accusations he had hurled at Shivaay the last time he had seen him.

Shivaay had married Tia for one reason and one reason only.

Family.

How far would the Oberoi name have fallen if their scion married a woman with such a mysterious past? How much scorn would he have brought upon their family had he surrendered to something as undignified as desire and married a woman who had nothing to her name. Who did not even have a name? How much mockery and infamy would he have subjected the most vulnerable members of their family- Priyanka- to if he had followed his heart and married the woman Omkara now loved with every beat of his own heart?

He had married Tia because it allowed him to continue to assay his role as Protector. Defender. Destroyer. To the outside world, to anyone who might even consider attempting to hurt those who were his own, marrying Tia had rendered Shivaay an even more impregnable and savage barrier than he had been before.

Had he married Anika, it would have exposed a weakness that anyone ruthless enough to exploit could have used to get through to cause potentially irreparable harm.

To Shivaay Singh Oberoi, that possibility was not one he could ever allow.

And so he had not.

"I'm sorry." How insufficient the words felt. How completely and utterly inadequate. "Shivaay I- I'm so sorry."

An almost imperceptible shake of his head, but Omkara would not be stopped. He had to try. Had to...

"What I did. What I have done. I can't begin to- I don't- I shouldn't- I didn't- Shivaay I-"

Nothing. Nothing was enough. Nothing would ever be enough.

"You always- I never- What could- Why did you- Why did I-?" He was crying. Of course he was crying. His heart had been crying for Shivaay since the day he had left him. Shivaay was shaking his head more clearly now. Trying to silence him. Trying to protect him from the truth even now.

"I was wrong, Shivaay. I was wrong. Everything I did was wrong. Blaming you was wrong. Leaving you was wrong. Staying away from you was wrong. Not being here for you when you needed me most was wrong."

Shivaay too was crying. His hand closed on top of Omkara's. His head still shaking in silent reproach.

"How do I make things right, Shivaay? I couldn't come back to you until I figured out how to make things right. I don't know what to do. What should I do? How do I begin- where do I begin to try and make amends. What can I do to even earn the right to ask you for forgiveness."

"Stop." The single word from a voice so broken Omkara did not even recognise it. The audible reflection of a heart Omkara knew was so shattered it might never be pieced back together. "Just. Stop. Don't say anything. Don't do anything. There's nothing- nothing to forgive."

"No. You don't get to do that. You don't get to say that. You do not get to erase my mistakes or act as though I didn't make them. Shivaay, please. Let me fight for you as you have fought for me, for all of us, your entire life."

"I haven't done any-"

"You've done everything. Everything." Omkara looked away, humiliation and regret and pure agony flooding him all at once. "Everything." A hoarse whisper. "And you have never let any of us do anything in return. Never even let us thank you. Didn't even let us know you were doing anything we should thank you for."

"No thanks. No. I don't want-" And then he had rose so suddenly from his seat that it startled Omkara into letting go of his arm and losing his balance.

The water was so cold that for a moment, as his body was completely submerged in its icy depths, Omkara thought he felt everything stop. His brain stopped thinking, his heart stopped beating, his tears stopped flowing, his breath stopped coming.

And then, just as suddenly, it was back.

It was as he was struggling to the surface, to emerge from the freezing claws that threatened to pull him under that he heard the sound of a loud splash.

To his amazement, Shivaay had jumped into the pool with him. No hesitation. No questions asked. Just as they had always, always done in childhood.

One for all. All for one.

Teeth chattering and bodies trembling with cold, Omkara grabbed the hand his brother reached out and allowed him to pull him up... and straight into his arms.

As they hugged, they wept. And as they wept, both brothers, in broken and incomplete words, were able to voice the pain they had both been in. Able to declare that theirs was bond which could never be broken. Able to convince each other that they would never allow such excruciating distance to come between them and separate them again. It was an understanding and it was a promise.

"DIL BOLE OBEROI!!!"

The loud cry followed by an immediate splash alarmed them into separating, only to be almost instantly pulled into an even firmer hug. The third person unyielding in his grip against the two men who meant more to him than any other.

And so the three brothers held each other, soaking wet and freezing cold on the outside but their hearts filling with a warmth none had known for over two long years.

Some part of them knew that this was not the end. This was not the solution. There was so much left to resolve. So much hurt yet to come.

But that moment.

That one moment.

It was perfect. It was beautiful. And it was theirs.

[Chapter Fifteen- Shivaay & Anika]

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So... the first of the reunions we've all been waiting for probably since Chapter 1 😆 It's a start. I hope you enjoyed it. Do let me know what you thought, and thank you all for reading and sticking with the story for this long. Will try to update as soon as possible!