"You are mad! How could you leave him like that?" Karthik stood up and turned away.

Shakthi maintained silence with her eyes pinned on the ground.

"That isn't true love. I know what is true love. Even I loved her truly. She too loved me truly. But I can't understand how she could go away like that."

Silence.

"There is no past tense in love. Either you've always loved her and you always will. Or you never did and you never will."

"Yea, yea, I always did and she too."

Silence again.

"If you truly loved her, you wouldn't have been able to rest a single night all these years without knowing where she is or how she's doing. If she truly loves you, she will still be thinking of you and waiting for you wherever she is." Shakthi's eyes were still pinned to the ground before her as she spoke.

"Yes, exactly! I haven't rested a single night in peace since then. Either worrying about her or having a nightmare about her, every day has been hell! And I'm sure she can never forget me. She truly loves me!" Karthik turned back to face her.

Shakthi stood up and turned to face him impassively. "Then what are you waiting for? Go and find her."

"But I don't know where she is! I've tried everything. The only person who knows where she lives now is her dad! I asked her dad, kindly and demandingly, I begged him, I lost my temper and almost wanted to hit him just to make him reveal where she is! But he just refused to say."

"Then I will ask him."

Karthik's eyes lit up as he glanced at her agape for a moment. "I never thought of that. It's only I who he dislikes. If you ask him posing as her friend, he will surely tell you! Thank you so much, Shakthi, that's the best idea in the world!"

Shakthi nodded her head once in silence, letting her gaze flutter away to the distance.

"Shakthi, you meet her dad tomorrow evening itself. If you can get her address from her dad tomorrow, then I can go and meet her this weekend. Wherever she is, I'll find her!"

Shakthi turned to face him with a frown. "Even I will come with you to find her."

"What? Why? Why do you need to come? I'm going to meet my love. Why do you want to meet her?" Karthik looked up at her with a puzzled expression.

Her eyes narrowed a little. She stepped one step closer to him and said with a toneless voice. "You challenged my true love, didn't you?"

To be continued...

A/N: Please vote and comment. How is the prologue?