Long-awaited! I've been travelling and got really sick as well, so I haven't been able to stay consistent. However, things have calmed down now, so I hope to post a few chapters in a row. 

Please share your comments and hit star as it really gives me the motivation to post more quickly. I've already begun writing the next chapter.

Thank you. ❣️

1950

Sometimes, you fall prey to a fate that you expected... yet when it happens, it feels unexpected. 

Bondita expected it. 

She expected that their lives would be in danger. Knew it, in fact. It was the certainty that their lives had come with. When they chose this path of revolution, it only made sense. 

But now that she saw him... her Pati Babu... breathing with difficulty, blood poured on the white kaashful around him... she wasn't ready. 

She wasn't prepared. 

How could she have been?

All she knew how to do was scream. A shrill, high-pitched scream escaped her throat, as she ran to him. 

She touched his back, the blood decorating her hands with a colour deeper than the one of the alta she loved to wear.

"B - Bondita," Anirudh breathed out with difficulty.

Bondita just pressed her body against his, on top of his back, embracing him as he lay face down, not caring if she got drenched in his blood too. 

Her baby bump hardly let her do this properly... but she managed to press her face into his back. 

"Didi," Saiyeesha cried as Bondita just lay against him. "We can't stay here." 

Bondita looked up, not a single tear in her eyes.

"I won't go without him," she said, intensity in her voice - and hoarseness, one of pain.

"B - Bon," Anirudh struggled, but Sachet had already reached for Anirudh. 

"Let's go with him then," Sachet said, and Bondita got off him, taking a look at his wound. She ripped a fragment from the end of her saree and wrapped him with it. 

"This is the best I can do for now," she whispered. 

Sachet managed to help Anirudh up, as he fell against Sachet's shoulder, sweat dripping from his brow, 

"You're drenched in blood Didi," Saiyeesha sobbed, as Bondita wrapped her arm around Anirudh, giving him support from the other side. 

Bondita ignored Saiyeesha, her hand focused on comforting her Pati Babu. 

"Don't sleep... don't say much either," Bondita was saying, as Anirudh tried to form words. 

"G - go..." he was struggling to say. 

They managed to make it to the forest, carrying an Anirudh whose head kept rolling back, sweat dripping down his face. 

"In here," Sachet said, pointing toward a shack in the middle of the forest. 

Saiyeesha ran inside and organized some hay on the ground. There were some dusty sheets in there too that seemed old. 

"It must belong to someone who hasn't been here in a long time," Saiyeesha pointed out as she laid down the sheets on top of the soft hay. 

"I'm going to find a doctor," Sachet said, as he gently laid Anirudh down on the hay.  

"I'll go, you stand guard," Saiyeesha informed. 

"Let's go out and discuss it," Sachet said, as Bondita got on her knees beside Anirudh, wiping the sweat on his forehead with her fingers. 

Saiyeesha and Sachet left, as Bondita looked at Anirudh, her eyes finally getting wet with tears. 

Anirudh slowly opened his eyelids and gave her a half-smile. "Bondita... you're crying..." 

Duh, she wanted to say! But instead, she sobbed harder. 

Anirudh reached for her hand, and Bondita gave it to him. He squeezed it and said, "You should have gone."

"No," she whispered, shaking her head. 

"For our baby," Anirudh murmured, "Remember... for our baby." 

Tears rolled down her cheeks and she whispered, "Do you think if something happens to you, I can survive? Will I survive long enough for our baby to make it in this world?"

Anirudh brought her hand up to his lips, feeling her skin against the softness of his lips. 

"You have less chance of surviving here," he whispered against her hand. 

"I have more! I can help you heal here! I can give you hope!" Bondita sobbed. 

"They'll find us," Anirudh whispered. 

"Pati Babu," Bondita cried, and she just removed her hand from his and fell against his chest, crying desperately. "Stop worrying about me. You're saying us, but you mean me." 

"Alright... stop crying," he murmured, his hand gently wrapping around her. "If you cry... how can I rest?"

"I don't want you to rest," Bondita whispered, pressing her face against his chest, where she could hear his beating heart. "I want your heart to beat restlessly."

Anirudh couldn't help but chuckle softly. 

"Then talk to me," he said to her. 

"Talk?" Bondita asked, her hand massaging his chest, as she laid against him. 

"Talk..." Anirudh murmured. 

"What... what is the favourite memory you have of us?" Bondita asked him. 

"Every memory." 

"That's cheating!" 

Anirudh smiled and he asked, "Where should I begin Bondita when I have a whole lifetime of beautiful memories with you? Should I begin with the time we got married, in a fit of revolution?" 

"You like that memory?" Bondita asked, a smile growing on her face now. 

"Oh at that time I despised it. But... thanks to those malpractices, I found you. I found you Bondita. In a world, where I may not have ever had you." 

"That's not true," she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks, "Even if you didn't meet me that day, I'm certain we would have met. You would have found me Pati Babu, no matter which corner of the world I was in!" 

"It might have been too late..."

"No such thing! The universe would conspire to bring us together Pati Babu! It has to. If God has three eyes, then you and I are two of them."

"And the third eye?" Anirudh asked softly. 

"Our union," Bondita said with a soft smile. "The union of the left and right side - because we are one. We aren't separate." 

"But look... we may need to part," Anirudh said, his breathing staggering slightly. 

"No..." Bondita cried, her words choking in her throat. "We can't part. Even if... if your body leaves... you still exist. You exist within me. And if my body leaves... I exist within you. When... when A - Anirudh Roy Choudhary gave himself to Bondita, he ceased to exist. He had become B - Bondita Roy Choudhary. And Bondita Roy Choudhary? She had lost herself a long time ago, and had become Anirudh Roy Choudhary. I am you. I am you Pati Babu. So where can you go?"

Tears filled Anirudh's eyes and he whispered, "If... I don't make it Bondita... leave m - me here in this shack, and you go... board the s - ship -"

"Shh, this again?" Bondita sobbed. 

"Listen to me," he ordered, "Listen. Board the ship, raise our child, and come back when it's safe. Ambika, Girish, Bhavani... they also need you. And... if... if you find a - another friend... then s - settle down ag -again." 

"Pati Babu!" Bondita gasped. 

"W - what?" he asked, giving her a meek smile. 

"You're here planning my whole life like it's some kind of story! You did this when I was a child - not anymore!" 

"Bondita," Anirudh groaned. "All I'm saying is don't... hold yourself back for m - me." 

"Bondita isn't afraid!" Bondita said loudly, "She's not afraid to make friends and see the good in people. But she will do it on her own terms. She will do it if she's comfortable - not because someone else wrote her life story for her!" 

Anirudh couldn't help but grin, "Didn't you just say we're one? So how can I be someone else?"

"Not when you say baseless things!" Bondita huffed. 

"Alright," Anirudh chuckled, "Well, I'll enjoy your company for as long as this body exists then." 

"E - even after these bodies go... one day, we will meet again. In another lifetime," Bondita said, knowing the inevitable truth that it was too optimistic to think that they'd live through this. 

"And in our next lifetime, what do you want to be?" Anirudh asked her, in a soft voice.

"Your wife," Bondita sobbed, as she hugged him tightly, her head on his chest.

"Again, Bondita?" Anirudh asked. "You've said you wanted this since you were a child."

"I'm not done!" Bondita cried harder. "I'm not done being your wife! And don't you dare push me away again next lifetime - otherwise, I - I won't talk to you!"

"Hey, I need to have my fun with you too," he teased her, as he rubbed her back. "What's the fun in having a straightforward love story?"

He was met with a smack on his chest, and he laughed. "Oww Bondita, you're hurting your Pati Babu?"

She just hugged him tighter, sobbing against his chest.

"Dusht Babu! I can struggle endlessly if I'm beside you. Be mine, and I accept a whole life full of struggle. Just... stay with me. Next life... stay with me."

Her voice cracked harder.

"Stay with me... until the end Pati Babu."

Anirudh closed his eyes and held her tightly against him. 

After some time, Bondita cried again. 

"Pati Babu, I don't want to leave my kids and go," Bondita sobbed. "Our kids... how? How will they live without their parents?" 

He held her to him and he whispered, his heart aching at the thought of their kids as well, "Durga Maa will take care of them. Definitely, she will."

"They'll still be broken," she whispered. "Bhavani is only two. She's still young, and she won't feel the loss as much as Ambika and Girish. They're eight Pati Babu. How will they handle it?"

"They'll get through it Bondita," Anirudh told her softly, and he smiled, "We've raised strong kids. They're just like their mother."

Bondita lifted her face and looked up at Anirudh intensely and she said, "Pati Babu, in my next life, I want to experience every possible pain that my children would have faced. I can't let them go through it alone. I will go through it with them."

Anirudh looked at her with shock, and he said, "Bondita!"

"Pati Babu, Durga Maa will surely listen to me and will arrange things properly, in the correct way. I know that Durga Maa will craft the most beautiful story."

He looked at her with wet eyes as he cupped her face and he whispered, "Then I also don't want to have a smooth life with my family."

"Pati Babu," she whispered, holding his hands on her cheeks. "We are inflicting pain upon ourselves."

"Isn't that how it always is Bondita? The actions of our past, always determine the course of life of our future," he told her softly, "Whether that's in this life, next life, or in many lifetimes from now. We will have to fulfill our karmic obligations."

She smiled and she whispered, "Then I hope it's in my karma to find you again."

"Without a doubt," he told her intensely, "Next time, we will be born just to love each other."

She smiled at him and whispered, "Many people plan their futures, but we are planning our next life."

He smiled back at her, and he said, caressing her cheeks with his thumbs, "We have always been different."

She couldn't help but giggle as she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him and finding solace in his arms again -- who knew how long she had left in his arms?

Anirudh held her close to him, smiling as he enjoyed every moment he had left with his Bondita, despite all the pain he was feeling. 

That was when they heard the commotion outside. 

Footsteps. Lots of them. 

The screams of a man.

"He's not here!" Sachet's voice yelled. "He went that way!" 

Anirudh smiled. In the end, Sachet tried to make amends. 

 But would it work?

Present Day

Honeymoon. 

Oh, Anirudh Roy Choudhary wanted to take her on a honeymoon alright. 

But first, he was tapping his foot against the ground impatiently at the doctor's office. 

The doctor had checked Bondita and assured her that everything was fine and normal. 

"Then why does she faint and get weird dreams?" Anirudh demanded. 

"I'm not a psychologist, but I've heard that this can be due to past events," the doctor informed. "Trauma from the past sometimes seeps into our subconscious minds." 

Bondita nodded. She had also studied psychology. 

"But I don't recall such trauma," Bondita explained. 

"Maybe you were too young to consciously recall it," said the doctor. "But it can also be stress, lack of nutrients, and other issues. For now, I'll prescribe a blood test and we can go from there." 

Bondita nodded, as Anirudh sighed. It felt like a waste of time coming to the doctor's office. 

Regardless, the quicker they got out of there, the sooner they'd get to go on their honeymoon!

After they left, Bondita got in the car with Anirudh. Before they came to the doctor, he had packed clothes for a week, and packed everything he'd bought for Bondita as well. She didn't bring her own belongings to his home after all. 

"We'll go shopping there if you need anything," Anirudh told her as he drove.  

Bondita wondered whether he was even planning to let her go shopping, with the amount of thirst that seemed to be inside of him. 

It seemed like he wouldn't let her leave the hotel room!

"Where are we even going?" Bondita asked. 

"Somewhere remote, but beautiful," Anirudh said. "We can book a flight to a more luxurious destination later... on such short notice, I couldn't get much." 

She didn't need luxurious, but she was really curious about what remote place Anirudh was taking her to. 

"I called my Thakurda," Anirudh explained, referring to Batuk, "He was quite a playboy in his days."

Bondita raised her brow. He had been showing off during their wedding after all. 

"So he told me of a remote place that's beautiful as well - somewhere we could go to on short notice," Anirudh explained. "He used to live there." 

"He used to live there?" Bondita questioned. 

"Yeah, many years ago. A town called Tulsipur," Anirudh told her with a smile. 

"T...Tulsipur?" Bondita asked, eyes widening. 

"Why? Do you know the place?" he questioned. 

"No... it just sounds familiar," Bondita said. 

"Well, I've booked a hotel there for us," he explained. "My Thakurda claims it's a decent place to stay, and there are beautiful views of sunrise and sunset." 

Bondita teased, "Will you wake up for sunrise?" 

"Who said I'm planning on sleeping?" Anirudh retorted back, making Bondita's cheeks turn red. 

What would this trip to Tulsipur entail?

--

1950

"Pati Babu," Bondita gasped, as she heard the commotion outside, too frantic to suspect Sachet and his intentions - she was blissfully oblivious to the fact that Sachet ratted them out.

"Bondita," Anirudh said urgently, "Sneak out." 

"No!" 

"Bondita!" Anirudh ordered. "They've already stabbed me... whether they find me or not doesn't matter. But you, you have to go!" 

"Pati Babu, I won't go anywhere leaving you!" 

Sachet's footsteps could be heard on the way inside, "Dada, Didi, I warded them off for now, but I'm worried that they may get suspicious." 

"Take Bondita," Anirudh ordered, struggling as he tried to sit up, but Bondita was clutching him too tightly, that it became impossible to move. "Make sure that no matter what happens, she gets on the ship that's supposed to leave tonight." 

"Saiyeesha is coming with the doctor," Sachet informed Bondita. "You go Didi. When the doctor comes, Dada will be alright too." 

"I won't!" Bondita hissed, and she sat up this time, glaring at Anirudh. 

Anirudh sat up with difficulty, but he took both of Bondita's hands in his. 

"Bondita, do you know that when you were little, I made a vow to protect you no matter what?" Anirudh asked her. 

"I know that you're my Rakshak Babu," she sobbed. "I k - know that you're my protector. But, Pati Babu, I also vowed to protect you... with everything I have. Even my life." 

He touched her cheek and whispered, "The fact that I've survived this long is already your miracle Bondita. I... I should have died out there. But you gave me life. You succeeded. Now it's time for you to let me go." 

"I won't! Never!" Bondita sobbed.

"You've surrendered to me long ago," Anirudh whispered to her, tears rolling down his own cheeks. "You've given me all the love that you could have possibly given me. You've put me and my needs before your own."

He continued, his voice cracking, "You've woken up early mornings to make sure our bathroom is available for me. You've made breakfast, lunch, and dinner for me, despite your working schedule. I've had so many tantrums since the time you were a child, and you patiently handled them all. You took care of our kids relentlessly, tiring yourself out. There were times that I'd be out all day, but you exhausted yourself chasing after them, disciplining them, feeding them. You took care of my whole family Bondita. You did everything you can, by sacrificing your own needs. Not only our family, but you took care of our students with just as much love. How... how selfless can you be Bondita?" 

"P - Pati Babu," Bondita sobbed uncontrollably. "You also did so much -" 

"Shh, today we'll talk about you," Anirudh told her softly. "Many people see Anirudh Roy Choudhary's sacrifice for Bondita. Many see how Anirudh left everything to raise Bondita, to make sure she could fulfill her dreams. After all this time, many have seen how I could die for my Bondita. But Bondita? She is no less. In fact... Anirudh was selfish. Selfish because serving his Bondita made him happy. I only sought happiness Bondita. My happiness." 

Bondita cupped his cheeks, shaking her head. 

"But Bondita, you? You'll go the next mile for us. You'll go the next mile and you'll leave me behind. Because... you're not fulfilling your happiness like I was. You're doing what is right."

"You also do what is right!" Bondita cried. "That's why you're sending me away from you! W - when you need me by your side!" 

"I love you," he murmured to her. "Endlessly. More intensely than anything in the universe. And that love will reunite us. If not now, then at some point. Right now, it's your job to leave me behind and go. Connect with me inside you. Because there, I exist." 

"N - no," she sobbed. 

Anirudh took her hand and kissed it. Sachet left the shack to give them some space. 

"I asked you for Gurudakshina when we separated once before. But Bondita, your Guru is asking you again... for Dakshina," he whispered to her. 

"Pati Babu!" 

Anirudh shook his head, "Not as your husband. I'm your Guru today. And today this Guru asks you to go." 

He brought his hand to her belly. 

"Go and do your best to survive. Do your best to bring this little one into the world," he told her intensely. 

All Bondita could do was sob. 

"When you've done that... we'll meet again," he said so intensely, that his words were sealed into the ether. 

"If... if I f - fail?" Bondita cried. 

"All I ask is that you do your best," Anirudh whispered hoarsely. 

"After... after I give birth, I can m - meet you again?" she sobbed. 

Anirudh nodded. 

"I'll find you at that point," he told her softly. "But you must... do your duty as a mother. You must bring this life into the world... to the best of your ability."

"It's so h - hard to leave you behind," Bondita cried. 

"It was never supposed to be easy Bondita," Anirudh told her, his voice heavy. "It was only supposed to be right." 

He leaned towards her and said, "When the right time comes, the universe will unite us. Until then, it is not the right time. There is no reason to take anything in your own hands."

"I - I won't hurt... myself," Bondita cried. 

"Good," he murmured. 

"I know that... I will naturally cease to exist once you go. Because... Bondita can only flourish on her canvas that is Anirudh. Without the canvas, can a painting shine?"

"Life goes on, even if death comes and goes," Anirudh murmured. "You are life Bondita, and I - I was always death. You were the one who sparked me to life."

He continued, "My name is a name of Shiva Bondita. Shiva without the 'ee' is Shava. It means corpse. The bijam of Devi is 'Ee'... so it is Shakti that gives Shiva life. Without her, he would be a corpse."

Anirudh smiled, "Now, you know that for me to exist, you must be there. So Bondita, go... go and do your duty. It's time for you to leave." 

"Pati Babu, promise me," Bondita begged, "Promise me that we will meet again."

He took her hand in his tightly and he told her, "I promise. If this is the end, then we will definitely come back to love each other."

Tears were in their eyes.

"I'm not done living with you. I'm not done loving you," she sobbed.

He reached to wipe her tears as he leaned closer to her to kiss her. Bondita closed her eyes, as she felt the brush of his cold lips, as if the blood was already starting to drain out of him. She held on to him for dear life, as she kissed him back, the warmth of her mouth rejuvenating him. 

"Enough," he murmured against her mouth.

She silently kissed him harder. "I love you," she sobbed. 

"I love you too," he murmured softly against her lips, his arms wrapping around her and pulling her close to his weakening body. 

They embraced tightly for a few moments just like this until he finally broke the kiss. 

A smile now reached his lips. But he looked tired, very tired. 

"God is so compassionate," he told her softly. "God let us stay together, just like this. God let us bid goodbye to each other. God gave me this beautiful sight - my beautiful Bondita, even as I fall weak." 

Tears just poured down her cheeks, and she began to choke. 

"There is beautiful kaashful outside Bondita. The sun will set in a few hours, and the temperature is just perfect. I've been given all the comfort," Anirudh told her with a smile. 

"You're seeing this so p - positively," Bondita sobbed. 

"Anirudh has become Bondita... how can I not see things positively like my Bondita?" he asked, smiling. "We have to be grateful for what we've been given, instead of resentful for what we don't have." 

"I've been given a beautiful life Bondita," Anirudh continued. "A beautiful life. I couldn't have asked for anything more. Many would ask for more years, a longer life... but you know what - it could have been less. I am grateful for what I got... and I feel so good right now. Very good Bondita." 

"Aren't you scared?" she cried. 

"A little bit..." he admitted, "But that's just my mind... if I think of you, then that fear goes away on its own." 

"Dada!" Sachet suddenly screamed from outside, "I hear them again. Didi should go!" 

Anirudh's face turned serious, and he managed to grip Bondita's arm as he ordered, "Get up Bondita." 

She got up, and he somehow managed to stand too, while holding her arm. 

"Pati Babu, you'll fall!" Bondita gasped. 

"That's the point," he said, with a grin, and then he let go of her arm for support, falling to her feet on the floor. 

Bondita's eyes widened as he adjusted his body in a full namaskaram position, his hands touching her feet, body spread out as he lay forehead against the floor. 

"Thank you Bondita," Anirudh said. "Thank you for the life you've given me." 

Bondita bent to pick him up, and she blessed, "M - may the transition be easy for you. May you get a long and healthy life... if God wills it, next time." 

Anirudh managed to stand, his knees wobbling slightly, as he fell against her. Embracing her one final time, he murmured in her ear, "May you also live a long and healthy life with me next time." 

He kissed her ear. 

They broke the embrace slowly, and Bondita gently backed away, her heart aching with pain and fear, but trying to be strong for him. 

Anirudh managed to stay balanced, as he followed her to the opening of the shack. He leaned against it, as Sachet pointed the way to Bondita. 

"Shall I go with you?" he asked her. 

She shook her head, "Stay with Pati Babu, until the doctor comes." She knew it was futile... in the deepest of hearts, she knew the outcome. However, she couldn't help but try. 

Bondita took a final look at her Pati Babu, who was smiling at her. 

Holding back a sob, she smiled at him too. She brought her hand to her heart, thanking him for the beautiful life he had given her, and then started to depart into the trees. 

--

Please leave your thoughts and don't forget to hit the star. 

I got so emotional writing this chapter. 

I'm writing the next one now, and hope to post it later today, or tomorrow. 

By the way, what will happen in Tulsipur in the present? 

Any other guesses? 

Love you all! 💞