49. Marriage.

                                    

                                          
~ HASI ~ 
Sari duniya kehti mujhe,
Ek tarfa ashiq tera.
Chahu tujhe dur se, 
Itna to haq hai mera.
Arjun looked up in the sky. It was dark. There was no moon, nor there were any stars. As if the nature was mirroring his condition. 
Arjun glanced at Krishna. Both of them camouflaged in the huge trees. Arjun then averted his eyes from Krishna to the mandap set in the forest. The empty sky glared down at everyone. 
It was the new moon night, as if the sky had cloaked itself with a blanket of darkness. No stars scattered across the milky way, nor the shifting dark clouds of the month of Aashad. 
It was just... blank. An empty space. 
Restless defined Arjun at that moment. He once again looked at Krishna, who sat calm as ever, leaning his head against the bark of the tree, a serene look on his face; and then back at the mandap. 
Takshak, for some reason, had left no stone unturned to arrange a grand wedding for his sister. He, Vasuki, and the Naga Priest took the seats in the front row. Along with them, they had a troop of hundred soldiers. 
It was a child's play for Arjun to finish them. But the problem was the Southern entrance. 
Arjun, as he received the news from his trusted spies, was made aware of the ocean of army Vasuki had kept prepared at the Southern gate of the forest. The East and North-West gated were blocked by Bheem and the Ashwinkumars respectively, why Yudhishthir was back at the palace to guard it. 
"Speak up, Parth," Krishna said, snapping Arjun out of his thoughts. Arjun gazed at Krishna with a puzzled air. Krishna blew out a rugged breath as he opened his eyes and moved away from the bark of the tree, "It's either now or never. Ask me the questions that linger in your mind, Panduputra."
Arjun stared at Krishna's face too long. His amber eyes glistening with an emotion he would never be able to express. As if reading his mind, Krishna spoke again, this time with an edge to his voice, a warning that time was limited, "Those emotions never die, they resurface again periodically, and each time with a much uglier form." 
Arjun's throat closed up, as he struggled to form any words. There was so much to ask, but the only thing which left those glued lips was one word, "Why?" 
Krishna smiled. He had been wondering the same thing ever since. Even the Almighty could not answer that question, only Niyati could. "Life is never fair." 
Arjun's lips tipped upwards, "Now that wasn't the eloquent answer I expected from someone like you, Madhav." 
"Time is running out."
Arjun's grin fell, and all the grave seriousness returned as he heard the drums beating, announcing the arrival of the groom, "Why Duryodhan?" 
"O' Parth," The Almighty smiled and shook his head, "How would you know?" 
Arjun frowned at his friend, "What do you mean?"
Krishna leaned forward and placed his hand on Arjun's shoulder, "Are you aware that Draupadi killed ninety-nine of his brothers." Arjun nodded, and he could not more proud of his wife. Krishna let out a sigh, "And that the treacherous subconscious of a person, whose heart is tender at places, can manipulate him into believing oneself to be the cause of the problem." Arjun once again nodded. "Parth, Duryodhan is cruel, but not a monster. The cries of his parents and sister were enough to break the cold shell of a man as he finally accepted the blow of fate."
Arjun scoffed, "I refuse to believe you."
"You must," Krishna said, beneath the surface of his deep oceanic eyes, lingered the weight of pain, unseen but felt, "Guilt is stronger than gratitude, this is the reason dead people receive more flowers." 
Arjun's wide eyes met his. The collision of the molten gold and deepest ocean, of the friends whose story of love was somehow left incomplete. Singing tales of lovestruck people, whose ink of love somehow faded into the pages of life, leaving the rest of the story deserted and nugatory. 
The change in the beats of the drums brought Arjun back to world. 
Both warriors alert and ready, as their eyes now solely focused on the grooms entry. Duryodhan entered the field, furnished with the best clothes of Indraprastha and the intricately designed jewelry. His face was covered with a veil of flowers. His head adorned with a crown similar to that of Arjun's. His wrist held Arjun's signature golden bracelet and he was dressed in the white attire which Arjun preferred. If not the bulk of muscles covered the Gadadhari's body, he was sure to pass the test for Arjun's identical twin. 
He proceeded to the Mandap and sat there. 
Soon enough, the bride entered too. Arjun pitied Duryodhan for a split second, no matter how bitter his feelings were towards him, he would never wish for Duryodhan such a bride. 
Vishakha had a huge-ass grin on her face. Her emerald lehenga trailed behind her for several feet. Her body decked with so many jewelries that it might weigh more than she herself did. Her face was coated with layers and layers of makeup, sooo many layers that Arjun wondered how did her skin even breathe. 
Twisting his lips, he could not help but think how gorgeous his Krishnaa looked on their wedding day. But then again, he dare not compare a snake of a person with someone as pure as his Krishnaa. 
He winced at the memory, the wound of his was still very much fresh and he was damn sure that it would just get worse. He wished he could see her once again. If not to be greedy, then just to say a proper goodbye for one last time. To hear her voice for one last time. To feel her wipe away his tears and fare him well. 
Bitter tears he had shed over her, for the things he wanted to do for her, yet left undone; and of the many things he wanted to tell her, yet were left unsaid. He could not help but once again fall back to her memories, his sunshine, his star, the one that had flared up from the millions present, only to fade into the night forever...- 
He sucked in a deep breathe. The thing he could do and he did was to pray to the Almighty to give him strength to somehow get through. 
"When do we strike?" He whispered to Krishna, both pair of eyes were intently fixed on the scene before them. His hands itched to hold the weapon and plunge them right through their heart and feel their warm blood tickle down his skin in slow motion, staining its way and soothing the fire burning on his soul; and to watch the light from their eyes being snatched away as they stared at him with dead, frozen and fearful voice as if he was their death, and Oh! That he was. 
Krishna did not reply. He kept gazing at the Mandap. The rituals had now started. 
And just when the midnight struck and the couple got up for the seven pheras, Krishna shot an arrow and covered the entire field in smog and in the dark night he whispered, 
"Now!" 
***
I LOVE THE ACTION IN THE STORIES!!!  *dhishum dhishum* 
I hope you liked the chapter! Sorry for the inconvenient update timing, but I updated as soon as I returned from my practice. :') 
These are the last few chapters so I hope you all won't be kanjus in voting and COMMENTING. ;)
What do you think about the upcoming battle? 
What would be Arjun's fate? 

Toodles!
~ Ariana <3