Hello D3ians,
I used to watch this show when Kriya was still around and just started watching it regularly after Kriya's return. Needless to say, the precap yesterday was amazing. I couldn't stop thinking about it. So as these things usually go, here is an OS/character study I penned down based on the precap - straight from Rey's head. I hope you like it!
Rey Rising
There are three kinds of fires. There is one that smolders, one that scorches and one that devours and turns everything to ash.
She had thrown him in the middle of all three and he was set ablaze.
--
He felt like his skin would peel off, like he could yell until his voice was the only thing that remained. Ever since he had laid eyes on her he felt uneasy in his skin. Like he was trapped inside his own body. Like it had shrunk and could no longer contain him. Tight, claustrophobic, suffocating. He felt raw and strung so tight, he was afraid he would burst out and go spiraling out of control.
He sped up. He needed to get out. Needed to find an outlet. He couldn't be here anymore. Couldn't be around people, couldn't be trapped within walls. He needed to let go. Let loose.
Within a span of a day, she had ripped away everything from him. Dil, dosti, dance - she'd come into his life like a tornado and blown it all away.
Dil. He didn't think he had any of it left. He had given all that he had. When he had first met her, he didn't know he had one. He'd given his passion and intensity to her and when she had left, she'd left with his innocence and naivety. That's when he'd truly realized it's worth - in it's absence. Her betrayal had turned him to stone. A pain so intense it had left him numb. It had taken him a long time to feel human again and ignore the void within, the sheer emptiness.
It was the same pain that he felt searing through his veins now, each nerve ending come alive and and he almost doubled over in pain as he remembered, as he allowed himself to feel. But rather than cower to it, he pushed his body further. Ran faster. Much harder. If he had to feel pain, this time he'd be the one controlling it. He would not give her that power again. Never again.
As he chased his pain, his thoughts continued to hunt him down. He hated the way everyone had tensed up around him, the way people had behaved After. That is how his life had split. Before and After. Her betrayal had sliced him in two. Everyone blamed her, and over time he had learnt to do the same but initially, initially it had been different. He couldn't meet his own eyes. Shuffled through his memories over and over again to figure out where he had gone blind. How he could not see this coming. How stupid could he have been? How very stupid.
He could feel that same self hatred coursing through his body, trailing down with beads of sweat. It had taken him a long time to forgive himself. He had learnt to hate her because she had made him hate himself. And with time the love that had turned to betrayal that had then turned to hate had turned to indifference. And he had found peace.
But she was back and he was affected by it. It shouldn't matter anymore. She shouldn't matter anymore. But it did, she did and because it still did, he hated himself all over again.
Dosti. Swayam. The two were interchangeable for him. He couldn't tell the difference between the two even if he tried. He was his best friend, his confidant, his anchor. And he had been hers all along.
There is a very fine difference between envy and jealousy. In the past, he had been envious of the comfort level she had shared with Swayam. Wishing he was in his place. Today he was envious of her. He felt another bout of venom and stopped to heave. The thoughts too strong for him to keep running. He fell to the ground and let his thoughts take over.
He had given his friendship everything. But it wasn't enough. Never had been. That was why she still won. Why Swayam still chose her over him. Even after she left and disappeared, her friendship was still stronger than the days and nights he spent with Swayam laughing with him, advising him, supporting him. And she had paid back in kind. She had left him but never Swayam. He had always mattered more. The flames crackled and he tasted metal in his mouth. The deeper he bit his lip, the louder the words got, the clearer his thoughts. They chose each other over him. She chose Swayam over him.
With time, he had come to terms with the fact that her feelings had been fake and the relationship, a charade but today he realised that even the friendship, the understanding they had shared had been a ploy. It wasn't just love she had walked out on, it was him, Reyaansh Singhania. He had never matter to her at all, but Swayam did. That is why she had chosen to leave him behind but not Swayam.
He got up to his feet and started to run again. This time he knew where he was going. His thoughts on the other hand, were still all over the place.
Dance. He can feel it in his bones. This is all he knows. All he has wanted to do. All he has ever planned to do. It's his dream, his ambition, his life. And now she controlled it all. Fate had a dark, sordid sense of humour. But it wasn't just about his goals anymore, no. Wasn't just about dance academy either. It was bigger and far more worse.
He didn't consider himself to be a genius but he wasn't slow either. He knew what made him exceptional wasn't just his talent - it was his team. A team he had struggled, toiled and slogged for and with. It had taken them a while to get there but finally they had each found their distinct style and the uniquely perfect way they fit together.
And now she was back and things were changing already. Small cracks that he had been struggling to mend would soon turn to rifts. He could already see it unravel. The personal and professional attitudes they had struggled so hard to maintain and practice - that often threatened to spill over - would soon become one and the same. He knew that this time it wasn't just him that was affected. It was his entire team. A team that stood together sans one. Sans Swayam who was back to teetering the fine line between them.
He stopped and looked around. He was back where he had started. He shook his head and sneered. But then again weren't they all? He picked up the ball and started dribbling. They had always played in teams. Him and her. Sometimes together, sometimes against. Here and in dance. And he knew that that time was back. The only difference was last time he got played but this time he would be the calling all the shots. He would decide the rules, the teams and the ultimate prize.
He would allow her Swayam to begin with, he thought as he lined up his shot. There were misunderstandings brewing between Sharon and him anyway and the space would do them good, it would do the team some good. It would also give her some false sense of comfort and hope - just enough to get her to relax. And then, when her guards were down, he would raise the stakes higher. He watched the ball slide through the hoop. And just like he knew he would watch her plummet to the ground.
After all, she may have set him on fire but she had forgotten he was Reyaansh Singhania. He knew how to rise from the ashes, stronger, better, and like a phoenix anew.
- fin -
I really hope the story goes somewhat in this direction. Thanks for reading!
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