Please ignore the typos and grammatical errors. Let me know how it is. Also if any of you can make a poster or gif for this OS please do. I would love to add a banner for this. Thanks in advance.
~~~The Dove~~~
Her eyes twinkled as she put on her wedding lehenga. It was the day of her dreams. The day she was finally going to marry her prince charming. Her Dev, the man of her dreams. She looked around to take her earring when her eyes fell on a white birdie sitting happily in a small cage. Her mind raced back to the day she brought her home.
"Dev... Dev..."
She ran inside the Pandya house only to see Dhara, Dev and Shiva in a deep conversation. It looked like they were arguing over something. As she turned to leave, Dev called out to her.
"Raavi... Dhara Bhabhi, Raavi will take care of Pari..."
Raavi turned around and saw Dev coming towards her with a small cage.
"Raavi, this is Pari, will you take care of her for us please. She is a bit loud and Maa is getting disturbed by her sounds"
Raavi recieved the cage with a wide smile, she was extremely happy to have got a gift from Dev. With a spring in her steps she took the bird home ignoring the scowling Shiva shouting at Dev for handing over the bird to her.
All through the years she had kept it safe and cherished it as a token of love from Dev. Everytime she saw the bird it reminded her of him and his smile. A small coo brought her back to earth.
"Dear Pari, you have always reminded me of him, from now on you won't have to as he will always be in front of my eyes. Now fly away little bird and may you reach someone who needs you now."
With that she freed the little bird and laughed gaily at the thought of being Dev's wife soon.
***
A week had gone since he had married Raavi and he had made every excuse he could think of to avoid her the past week. To everyone else it was because he hated her but he knew deep inside his heart that was not the reason. He found it difficult to face her tear filled eyes, it was as if someone had ripped her soul out of her. Everytime she looked at him with those accusing beautiful eyes of hers he felt his heart rip apart into a thousand pieces. They were beautiful, he had to acknowledge it, atleast to himself, there was something in it. Everytime he saw those eyes he felt guilty. So, he had taken refuge in the store and buried himself in work, going home only when she was asleep and leaving before she woke up.
The consistent knocking of the window near him got him irritated. He turned around to see a Dove caught in the bushes. Leaving everything he was doing, he rushed to release the bird. His eyes turned moist as he saw one of its wings hurt. As he slowly examined the bird to see it was hurt anywhere else, he realised that it was Pari, the bird he rescued when he was younger.
He had found the bird fallen from its nest and taken it home. At first his family had enjoyed it, then as the days passed they found him totally invested in the bird more than his books and finally Dhara Bhabhi had put her foot down and said that the bird must go. So Dev had handed over the bird to Raavi.
Anger surged through his limbs to see Pari wounded. He was sure Raavi wouldn't have hurt it but he wasn't so sure of Maami or Anita. He slowly nursed the bird as he would nurse a baby and found a cage for it. For the first time, he went home that afternoon. He entered his room thankful she wasn't there and hung the bird on one corner of the room.
"Pari..."
He heard her voice and turned towards her, she was wearing a pale green saree and stood there devoid of makeup or jewelry except for the mangalsutra that now adorned her neck. That piece of jewelry caused a shiver as he remembered the circumstances of the wedding and he shut his eyes as a reflex. He didn't know if anyone in the family would ever be able to repay her for what she had sacrificed and what she had gone through. With a sigh, he replied
"Yes, I found her near the store, her wing is broken. I thought of nursing her till her wing heals."
Raavi stood dumbly and stared at the bird. Her dull face struck him and he remembered with a jolt that the bird might remind her of Dev and it wouldn't be pleasant for her.
"I'll take her back to the store, I think I can take care of her there. Sorry to bother you."
"Leave her here..."
Shiva looked taken aback and looked at her with questioning eyes.
"She knows me well now and will be happier with me than at the store where you can't concentrate on her."
Shiva mutely nodded and turned around to leave when he heard her calling him.
"And Shiva... Pari would need extra care as she has gone through a lot. It would be better if you can come home once in a while... For Pari"
Shiva nodded and left abruptly knowing well who needed extra care the most.
***
Two months...It had been two months since Shiva had brought home a wounded Pari. The broken wings were healing well and along with it Raavi's heart was also healing. She found that she still had reason to live, laugh and pray. And the most important reason of all for her was this little wounded bird. She gave it the utmost care and devotion that it always cooed as soon as it heard her footsteps. Not only her, Shiva was also devoted to the bird. No one in the family would have thought that this dove could have been the one thing that made them spend some time together. At times Dhara would stand silently with wistful eyes watching the couple as they fed it together and nursed it back to health. It was as if they were one soul when they were with Pari. They hardly exchanged any words. Sometimes a "Had food?" from Shiva or "How is the store?" from Raavi and a silent nod would be all that would be exchanged, yet no one could deny the way Raavi's eyes lit up as she saw Shiva coming home early to feed Pari or Shiva's silent smile when he saw her tend to it's broken wings was something special.
Today, Raavi stood in front of the bird and a wide smile filled her face as she saw the bird trying to use her wings to fly. It flew a little distance and came down landing safely on it's feet. Raavi felt overjoyed and let out a shout of joy on an impulse. Dhara and Rishita came running hearing the sound.
"What happened?"
"Pari landed on her feet, Dhara Di..."
"Ooh... The bird Dev gave you..."
Raavi flinched a little.
"No, Rishita, the bird Shiva brought for me..."
She turned her attention to the bird oblivious to the fact that Shiva had just returned from the store and had listened to what she just said. Taken aback by a wave of emotion and not willing to spoil the moment, Shiva returned back to the store without hinting his presence. That day he decided to be like Pari and try to work on their relationship. Maybe just maybe if they became friends, life would be pleasant.
***
They were just friends who talked about each others day, teased and had some fun banters... or so he thought until today. That morning, he had come back home to take a file from his room. He was looking for it when suddenly the bathroom door opened and out came Raavi fresh out of her shower. Her hair was still wet and water droplets were dripping one her face. She was wearing a simple see through saree that was not yet draped fully barely covering her. Not noticing him, she walked to the mirror and proceeded to dry her hair humming 'Ajeeb Daastan'. Shiva stood at his spot frozen looking at her reflection in the mirror as she proceeded to adjust her saree and secure it tightly with a pin. His hands shivered as she took the mangalsutra and positioned it on her neck. Just then Raavi spotted him. The look in his face made her drop the mangalsutra. As a moth attracted to fire, he moved towards her. With hands that moved out of its own accord, he took the mangalsutra from the floor and placed it securely on her neck. He took the sindoor placed in front of her and applied it on her forehead. Raavi closed her eyes as she felt his touch. He stroked her pale cheeks gently and saw it turn a shade of red he had never seen on her face before. Drawn to her, his lips moved towards hers.
'Coo...'
Pari flapped her wings. The magic was broken. Confused at what had just happened, Shiva all but ran away from her. Sitting in the store now trying to collect his thoughts, he realised that he no longer saw Raavi as his friend. He wanted more and he knew he could never ask that from her. It would be selfish.
***
Shiva had been running away from her, she knew it. The day after it had happened, he had gone away on 'business' and hadn't returned for three days. Gaumbi had told that the business would take a day at max. Frustrated by his behaviour, yet determined to make him talk, she waited. As she heard the sound of his bike, she decided she couldn't wait anymore. So, as soon as he got down from the bike, she went and stood in front of him. Looking around and seeing no one was there, she dragged him to their room and shut the door.
"What's going on?"
"What? Aren't you the one who pulled me inside?"
"Oh, don't act so dumb... Tell me the truth"
"What truth?"
"What took you so long?"
"I went on a business trip, Raavi."
"Three days?"
Shiva looked away from her.
"Uh... Yes... I had work..."
"See... You can't even lie properly... The truth..."
"That's the truth, I had work..."
"Come on Shiva I am not going to leave you until I get a truthful answer... I don't care if I have to beat it out of you... Tell me the TRUTH"
Shiva looked defeated.
"Fine... I couldn't face you after what happened that day."
"Why?"
"You know why..."
Raavi looked at his face searching for answers.
"I... I did what I shouldn't have done..."
"Why?"
"Because..."
He turned his face.
"Because? Answer me... Too afraid? What happened to the I don't care, I am not afraid of anyone Shiva? Afraid to accept what happened"
Shiva looked frustrated.
"It's not like that..."
"Then what? Tell me... I need to understand"
"Can we just forget what happened and move on? I can promise you it will never happen again"
"Why?"
"What"
"Why do you need to promise?"
"Because I know HOW we married. I know how much you had to sacrifice to be in this relationship. I know how many dreams that you had were shattered. I know that you are with me only because you can't bear to hurt anyone in my family or yours. I know you are compromising all your dreams to be with me. I promised you we will be friends. I will keep my promise. I am sorry I crossed the line that day. I won't again."
"Why?"
"Raavi, I just..."
"Talked a lot of nonsense."
"You don't have to..."
"Shiva... Pari is not in a cage anymore..."
Shiva looked confused at the irrelevant topic.
"Yes, of course, her wings healed so I let her out last week."
"But she still sleeps at our window sill"
"Yes... So..."
"She wants to be with us..."
"Uh..."
"My heart has completely healed, Shiva, all because of you. This marriage is not some sort of cage and I am not a prisoner. Yes, initially it did feel like that to me but now I am with you because I want to..."
She moved closer to him and his eyes darkened.
"Because I want to come close to you..."
She put her arms around his neck and pulled him close so that he could breathe her in.
"Because I want you this close to me..."
She traced his lower lip with her thumb and he closed his eyes.
"Because I want to kiss you senseless and feel you lose yourself in me..."
Pulling herself up she whispered in his ears.
"Because I want to belong to you fully... As your wife..."
She pulled back suddenly from him. He opened his eyes at the sudden loss of contact. She looked at his eyes still dark with passionate love and whispered softly.
"Will you have me?"
Without a thought, Shiva pulled her into a passionate kiss. Outside, Pari flapped her wings and cooed joyfully.
***
~la fin~
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