Ekaksh prohibited anyone from entering his chamber or calling him out unless it was a warlike situation or someone was dying. Only Siddhi could go in and out of his room.

"I bet, sundari didi will be so happy once she sees this," Siddhi said, swinging her legs down Ekaksh's bed, the floor too far from her five-year-old legs.

Ekaksh bit back a smile and focused on his brush strokes on the canvas. "I hope that comes true. She will go away tomorrow, and I want to make it memorable for her."

His skilled fingers glided on the canvas with finesse. His painting comprised red and golden colours to match Smriti's dress from the previous evening to minute detailing about the natya mandapa of the temple and a beautiful replication of a dance pose that Smriti did yesterday at the performance. He wished to paint her a larger painting, but she was travelling with her family, who did not know a thing about them. He thus decided to make a small painting of her that could be hidden amongst her belongings.

Coming back from the temple, Smriti was the only thing going around in his mind. Smriti's phenomenal dancing, her radiant beauty as she enchanted him and the others on stage - he could do anything to see it all over again. He wanted to capture all of it in his painting and gift it to Smriti as a parting gift.

Eyebrows knit in concentration, Ekaksh ran a few strokes of brown, red, and yellow to complete the painting. He barely had half an hour to finish this and go to the banks of Narmada to meet her for the last time. It is for this reason; he had prohibited everyone but Siddhi from being around him since last night.

"Done!" Ekaksh exclaimed as he took a step back to examine the painting. Siddhi saw the slight weariness in Ekaksh's eyes, for he hadn't slept a wink yesterday. His fingers were coated in different colours, his fingertips red and pressed with a little dip. Though Siddhi was a little girl, she understood that a tender flower of love and affection blossomed in her dada's heart. She had felt the same when her mother cooked her favourite meal after a long day at the palace, just to make her little child smile. She was young to know what love is, but she knew what it meant.

Brushing his knuckle against Siddhi's cheek, Ekaksh said, "Now let me open the door for everyone, but first," he covered the canvas with a white cloth, "let's cover this up."

Siddhi ran and opened the door. Ekaksh had even asked the guards stationed outside his room to leave for one day. To both of their surprise, Kumar Rathish entered the room, his fast strides pacing towards his brother. "What were you up to, Ekaksh? You banned the palace from entering your room." His eyes went to the covered canvas. "Oh, a new painting, I see. What is it this time?" Rathish had seen all of his brother's paintings. He possessed no artistic bone but definitely admired them.

"Don't touch it, Rathish!"

"Oops..." Rathish flipped the cloth with a finger, a teasing smile on his lips, "My finger did it by mistake."

Pursing her lips, Siddhi said, "Dada, Rathish dada can see it. Just hide it from ranimaa. Besides, even he was being suspicious about your long outings to the Narmada, so tell him."

Immediately turning around, Rathish's eyes landed on Smriti's beautiful painting. The paint on the canvas was still wet, and his experience of watching his brother paint had taught him not to touch a newly painted artwork.

Her painting dazzled Rathish's eyes, too. He knew that Ekaksh's artistic talent knew no bounds. "Ekaksh, either this girl looks exquisite while dancing or you made her look so enchanting. Who is this princess?"

Before Ekaksh could answer, Siddhi jumped in. "She is no princess. Her name is Smriti. She is from Kashi, but she is visiting her relatives here, and both dada and sundari didi meet near the Narmada every afternoon." She paused to catch a breath. "Yesterday, she was dancing at the Devi temple, and today she is going back to her house, so dada decided to make this painting as a parting gift for her."

Everything made sense now. Chuckling, Rathish said, "Thanks for telling me all the events going behind my back, little one." Giving one last look at the painting, he said, "You have a wonderful choice, my brother."

"Ch- choice?" The older prince stuttered. "What are you talking about? She is a friend. A lovely one, though."

"Sure."

"It's true! You are taking it the wrong way."

Rathish waved his hand in the air. "So has this Smriti completed her schooling?"

"No. This is her final year at Takshashila."

"Does she come here every summer?"

"No."

"That's it. Pack your bags. We need to get you admitted there at her school."

Ekaksh's eyes grew wide as the moon. "Are you crazy? I will be crowned as the yuvraja next year. I don't have time for this."

Folding his arms against his chest, Rathish said, "Brother, you paint a girl after meeting her only for a few days. You do not let go of girls like her. You are a prince, for Shiva's sake. Imagine if some other boy takes her heart away."

"That won't be nice. Hey!" Ekaksh shook his head. "I told you we aren't in love or something similar to that."

Siddhi, the little angel, jumped again. "Rathish dada, Ekaksh dada, the entire night was talking about sundari didi. He is in love just like I am for milk sweets."

"Aren't you a wise kid, Siddhi," laughed Rathish, as he picked her in his arms.

"Don't forget to add the word cute to it," added Siddhi.

"I am doomed."

"Every human in love is, my brother."

****
An hour had passed, but there was no trace of Smriti. The river looked desolate too. Each time he heard a pair of jingling anklets make their way to the river bank, his heart would race, but his heart would fall in despair, for none of them were Smriti.

A young woman filled her pot -- her son was busy throwing pebbles into the river. The birds were silent. The light summer breeze that provided relief to passers-by had stopped too. Everything came to a standstill, and Ekaksh was not liking this a bit.

He looked up at the empty sky. Only the glaring sun remained as Ekaksh's companion. All this while, Smriti always came on time. She was never ever late, then why out of all days, was she late today? Ekaksh was looking forward to today the most because this would be the last moment he would see her, but no, the gods had their own plans.

"Oh, God, Smriti, come soon, please," he muttered, while kicking a stone.

No answer. No jingling anklets and no angry swearing at the sun or summer. The yellow sun had turned into golden red, and the surrounding clouds too changed their colours. The prince deduced that another thirty minutes had passed.

At this point, he was desperate. He frantically looked around. Surely, she won't bail on me today, right? His steps turned restless when a thought entered his mind. It's possible that she won't come today. Goodbyes are a little sad after all.

Deciding to wait a little more, Ekaksh traced patterns on the dry soil with his toe. Bored out of his doodles, he began counting stones around him. Somewhere, after counting one hundred and fifty stones, he lost count as he remembered a joke that Smriti had said a few days back. Laughing heartily, he looked up at the sky again, and a sad smile laced his features. It was sunset.

She won't come anymore...

He peeled the red cloth from his painting. A small smile made its way to his lips, as he fondly remembered his first meeting with her. He felt a burning sensation in his left eye until his vision got a little blurry. Snorting, he said to himself, "Oh god, am I crying for her now? I am definitely doomed."

Putting the cover back, he turned back to go back to the palace. Sure that she would no longer come today, he clasped the painting to his chest and walked a step ahead as a lone tear slipped from his cheek.

"Ekaksh!"

He heard Smriti's voice calling out to him. Blinking his tears away, he looked up and grinned. There she was! Dressed in a pretty saree, her hair open and slightly tousled as if she had just stopped running. Her eyes may have had a faint reddish hue, glistening with tears of happiness and relief.

She ran towards him while wiping a tear that fell down her cheek. Ekaksh felt something wet on his cheek too, but he did not care about it at all. He had Smriti in front of him. She did come back. He saw her come closer towards him. Her eyes sparkled partly due to tears and partly due to joy. Some strange thing happened to him after that. Without caring for decorum or any rules of proper conduct, he opened his arms and welcomed her into his embrace.

Smriti, on the other hand, went in straight for the hug. It did not feel strange with him at all. She wanted to come to the riverbank as early as she could, but today only, her mother wanted to teach her how to make kheer. Like the great cook, she was, she somehow managed to make a decent kheer, and ran away all the way from the house to the Narmada."I am sorry. I am so sorry. I wanted to come soon, but my mother did not let me. I was scared that you would go away, and I could not say goodbye, which would make me regret and-"

Ekaksh patted her back and whispered, "It's okay, Smriti. I understand it and the most important thing is you are here. We can say our goodbyes finally."

Stepping outside his embrace, she sniffled, "But what if I don't? When I realized that I could not meet you anymore if I missed today, I felt terrified. It... it felt as if I was going to lose something." Chuckling tiredly, she added, "This is so weird. I am crying, oh God." Wiping her tears off her cheek, she looked up at Ekaksh, the boy in which she found a good friend. His deep eyes were reddish, too, and his cheek had wet lines of dried tears.

"Were you crying too?" Smriti asked.

Smiling, Ekaksh wiped his eyes and replied, "I wish I could say no, but yes, I was crying too." Taking a step towards her, he held her hand, and continued, "When I realized that there was a high chance of not seeing you for the last time, desperation filled my heart. I have been seeing you here every day, and to make amends for your absence after today without even seeing your smile or hearing your very bad jokes for the last time broke me. I don't know what to call this feeling, but deep inside, I don't want you to go anywhere.

"I want to hear more stories about your childhood. I want to hear you swear at this sweltering summer. I want to see you dance again. I want..." He paused and closed his eyes. "Well, we don't get everything we want, but whatever time we spent together, I will always cherish it. You were the best summer experience for me."

He placed the painting in her hand. "It's highly unlikely that we will cross paths again, but at this junction, I want to leave you a parting gift. This is less of a gift and more of a token of gratitude towards you for filling me with happiness and joy. You are a wonderful person, and I mean it, Smriti."

Smriti removed the cloth from the painting. Her eyes filled with wonder gazed at the painting lovingly. Ekaksh had painted her, that too from her yesterday's performance. He had perfectly captured the hand gestures, her leg positions, and even the fluttering saree as she danced. She felt seen. Seen as a dancer, as an artist. Back at school, many fawned over her, but Ekaksh's vision of her made her fall in love with herself.

"Your eyes are a mirror, and seeing myself in them in your vision made me feel special. Thank you so much, Ekaksh. I mean it. This present is thoughtful and beautiful. I will never forget this, nor you," Smriti said, as she gazed at the painting once again.

The koyal sang its song once again, making both of them smile. The cool summer breeze blew across the river once again as both of their hearts grew heavy with the thought of departure. "I haven't given you a parting gift, Ekaksh."

Shaking his head, he said, "You don't need to. Getting to know you and spending time with you is my gift."

Smriti stepped forward towards Ekaksh and breathed heavily. Bringing her palm towards his face, she covered his eyes gently. Ekaksh felt her breath against his cheek. "Goodbye, Ekaksh." She laid a sweet kiss on his cheek.

Removing her palm from his eyes, she smiled at him. For Ekaksh, it felt as if the world around him had suddenly turned brighter and more colourful. "Thank you, Smriti."

The koyal cooed for the last time.

"Will see you soon, Smriti..."

***

Wrote this chapter in a day. Started out from 8pm and now it is 10.20pm. Hope you all enjoy it and do leave your comments for this chapter because i was crying a little while writing about them though i know what happens next but yeah.

DID I MAKE YOU CRY? XD