Song of the Chapter: Rang de Basanti from Rang de Basanti

Even as the sun (finally) entered the sky, and Lakshman had long since left the room, shoulders eased and burdens dropped, Ram sat there, immobile, feeling empty inside. His heartbeat was irregular, occasionally skipping beats, and his fingers fumbled as they curled around each other. His eyes were still trained on the ocean, watching as the waves crashed into each other almost playfully, and winced.

Flashback

"Lakshman." He began, turning around towards his brother, who looked around at the mess with a pale face. "Why did you leave her? Why? Why did you listen to that crazy woman's pleads? Why did you give her up to be eaten up by monsters and vengeful rakshasas? WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING SO RASH?! Why would you leave her here like bait for a monster? She's dead! She's dead! " He stood up, pointing a finger at Lakshman, before pointing all around him, driven by anger and sorrow.

"You did this? Why did you? Do you not trust me enough to know that I would not fail at retrieving a simple deer? I have killed fourteen thousand demons, and you didn't trust me enough to do this?" he tilted his head. "Do you underestimate me so much? That must be why you have come here! Because you thought that I couldn't do anything!" He looked around, moving sluggishly.

"She was a helpless, harmless, pious woman! You left her here, unprotected, left to the laws of a jungle, confined by a mere line! You, who was supposed to be so rational, who came her to help! Well, you did more harm than help, that's for sure! She was killed, Lakshman! SHE WAS KILLED!" He held his head. "Innocent blood was spilled, Lakshman. You should not have left her. Why did you leave her? She can't be. D-Dead, No."

Present

Ram hissed in pain, placing his head in his hands and rubbing his temples. For a person like his brother, the wounds from words like that would be fresh. "He loves me so much," Ram whispered. "He didn't even say anything. I thought that it was out of guilt then. That he felt terrible for leaving Sita and going against my wishes. But it wasn't." His shoulders shook slightly as he combed his hair back with his fingers, trying to swallow down the lump in his throat.

In that moment, a terrible burden developed inside Ram, something he had never felt before. A big mass of guilt clogged his heart. A mass that would never leave, that would remind him whenever he felt happy of how he had wronged his loved ones, how he had wronged the baby brother he had raised, who loved him more than the world itself. And in that moment, the first small tendril of anger Ram had felt extended towards Sita.

"It's my fault that I left that cottage and said such things to my brother, and I admit it," Ram murmured. "But Sita. Sita saying things like that to him. I thought that Lakshman doubted me , but it was Sita who thought that I was truly in trouble. Sita, who said that I was the best warrior on the planet." He cleared his throat, speaking to himself indistinguishably. "It was out of love," he told himself. "Love. That's all it was."

"But then-" he countered. "She told my Lakshman things like that. Why? Hadn't he done all the chores and left his own wife and cared for us and loved us and never complained? Hadn't he only made sure neither of us were ever hurt and helped hunt and gather food, and didn't he built the cottage under which we slept? Did she forget all of that in a second?"

Ram barely slept a minute that morning.

-----O-----

Ravan, King of Lanka, (if you haven't figured it out) thought that he had killed Lakshman for good. He was not that unfounded in his thought process either, because, for what he could see, the monkeys seemed to be huddling in a big mass on their side of the battlefield. Some weird monkey mourning customs, he decided. "Monkeys!" Ravan guffawed. "Such uncivilized creatures!" At this, he tore of a piece of unidentified animal meat, shoving it into his mouth as he played dart practice with a rakshas (not with him, technically on him).

"Now that Lakshman is dead," Meghnad began, lounging comfortably on his golden throne. "The entire army of Ram's will mourn before retreating. Ram and Lakshman were attached at the hip! One dying will lead to the other's death immediately. And if Ram dies, then Sita will surely consent to marriage." Indrajit pondered this for a second. "And even if she doesn't, you can still force her to marry you. Now that her husband is dead, it follows the ideal practices as well."

Because ideal practices were killing husbands and kidnapping women. Indrajit leant back, satisfied with himself. "But what if they don't retreat?" Ravan's advisor wondered. "What if they stay and are even more angered by the fact that you killed one of them?" Ravan's advisor was the replacement for Vibhishan, but even Ravan sometimes missed Vibhishan, because the new guy was a little loose on more than a couple screws. He couldn't read a scene at all!

Meghnad sat up angrily. "That's dumb. Why wouldn't they retreat? That's like asking if Lakshman isn't dead at all! Of course he's dead! I saw it myself!" Then he laughed. "And even if they don't retreat, they'll soon perish on the lands of Lanka, and then we'll have a feast of rotten monkey flesh!"

-----O-----

What Ravan+fam didn't realize was that Lakshman was very much alive, and the monkey army did not want to be eaten by them. The monkey army was busier than ever, even as day broke. Vibhishan woke up early at dawn to advise Ram on the next step. "Ravan bhrata won't wage war today," he said wisely, sounding weary all of a sudden. "He's too happy that Lakshman is dead. Don't let him know any different for today, or else he may charge, and then we won't be able to prepare defenses."

"But I wanna!" Nal whined angrily, throwing his fireworks exploder down with a huff. He stomped on it a few times without flinching as it sparked. "I even prepared a cake and a whole explosion ceremony and choreographed bharatanatyam dancers!" He turned around and waved the group away. "No, we don't need your services anymore." Then he whirled around. "It would be so fun to see the smirk withering away from his face as he sees Lakshman bhaiyya alive!"

"Some things have to be sacrificed for strategizing," Angad declared nobly, before breaking down into whines himself. "But why so many? I mean, we're in a war! I'm guaranteed some quality bharatanatyam concert dancers!" He held up a signed contract. "See? It says here? Daily entertainment promised, including but not limited to: breakdancing, stories, and bharatanatyam! Sign here to participate in war!"

They all collectively looked at Sugriv, who whistled and glanced the other way. "Hey, is that-the sky?" he wondered, before dashing off, followed by thousands of angry vanars waving around similar contracts. Ram watched them go with a chuckle, while Lakshman displayed his poker face with expertise. "Wait, but I signed a contract like that too," he sighed, pulling it out of his dhoti pockets. "No breakdancing?"

------O------

Contracts aside, the planning was going heavily on the side of the vanar sena. Lakshman shuffled about in his feet, standing behind a hunched down Ram, who examined the charts of the maps of Lanka. "Okay, so tomorrow," he began. "When Laksh enters the battlefield again, do you think that Meghnad will be fighting immediately too, or will he be in the palace until he's informed."

"He doesn't have any reason to be out," Vibhishan reasoned. "The remaining monkeys, he thinks, will be trampled down by the rakshas sena in seconds, aided by the loss of morale and a mourning leader. Why would he waste his time when he's basking in his glory in the palace? Meghnad is not one to stoop to levels below his own. If he doesn't think he's needed, he won't come to fight. The only reason he'd enter the battle is if Prabhu Shri Ram started to fight and Ravan didn't want to finish you off himself."

"Bhaiyya," Lakshman began, voice sounding angry. 'I very much want to be the one to kill Indrajit, slice his head off and put an end to his illusions, but do you feel as if I can? I've already lost to him twice before. He's used the shakti astra already, what else does he have in his arsenal? I can't use the Brahmastra, and I can't wield illusions. In all terms, he seems to be a better warrior than me. And the best man always wins."

Ram laughed. And laughed and laughed and laughed. "Lakshman," he said between chuckles. "How can he be a better warrior if he's the one using illusions? And not only because of dharma," he cut off Lakshman's statement with a soft glance. "But also because the only way he can win battles is with shakti astras and illusions. Meghnad has never had an enemy survive the shakti astra. He has not planned out the next step! The only reason he's ever been able to beat anyone is mastery of illusions. That does not make him a better warrior, only an uncivilized one. If you already almost beat him twice without even using the Brahmastra or illusion, isn't that a testament to how sorely you'll kill him now?"

"And besides," Neel cut in, wiping sweat off his forehead. "Meghnad makes the longest speeches. You kill quickly. I'd rather not have to sit through a long rendition of all the enemies he's killed before. He's all bark, no bite. All delusion, no illusion. All kuda, no falooda. All asura, no pakoda. All demon, no steaming! That type of thing. He thinks he's so great, and I can't stand it."

"Okay, okay, we get it!" Jal intervened before Neel could start getting really poetic. "Now would you help me set up the cot you just broke down from getting too excited?"

-----O-----

Vibhishan took a deep long sip of Green tea, and blanched, because who likes green tea? Nonetheless, he took another, long sip to keep up the Englishman facade as he watched the scene unfold in front of him. Sugriv was swinging his mace, smashing it into a large boulder before wrapping his arms around the handle, making sure that the iron wasn't dented. Vibhishan wasn't too sure; it would probably shatter soon.

Nal and Neel was practicing-he didn't quite know actually what they were practicing. It was some kind of wrestling, because they were in wrestling positions, but they kept on jumping at and dodging each other, so they just looked like two courting frogs. Angad was mediating the two amphibians with a big bell, ringing it by the second to remind them that time was running out, and occasionally stepping in when he judged that the frogs were starting to disturb him.

Hanuman was writing something on a piece of paper, by the light of the setting sun. It was a short scroll, but he kept on reading and rereading it. Finally, Vibhishan watched with his tired eyes as Hanuman threw it off into the distance, the scroll soaring away. Vibhishan blinked rapidly, before glancing away once more.

Lakshman was hammering a target post into the ground, holding it steady as Ram rapid fired arrows into the center of the bullet. Vibhishan liked watching the two brothers do things; it reminded him of his relationship with Kumbhakaran and Ravan when they were younger. He often pretended to see himself in one of the two, but in the end, they were men, and he was a traitorous demon.

A/N-First things first: how is my PFP? Isn't Shahrukh Khan sipping blue soda all you wanted to see today? ALSO:

DID YOU READ MY ANNOUNCEMENT?! 

If you haven't, let me sum it up for you. Shahid Kapoor from Chup Chup ke is what I envision Shatrughan to look like if he was recasted. And I know, there's no red hair or anything like that, but I can overlook it! 

Also, I have some GIFS to share with you.

Lakshman listening to Shatrughan being a drama queen.

Lakshman and Urmila's first meet be like.

I don't even know why I see Shatrughan in him. I just do. It might just be a me thing tho.