Everyone in the hermitage knew that Ram loved his bow almost as much as he loved his brothers. It would shine reflectively in the day as if he polished it every night, and he always looked at it lovingly before releasing an arrow, as if trusting the bow with his life, which, if he was battling a monster, he probably was. So, Ram was hesitant when Lakshman asked to use it in his upcoming class.

"Bhaiyya, Shatrughan lost his, so he took mine, and I need a bow!" he pleaded, and Ram eventually gave in, knowing how often Shatru lost things, once even misplacing a large tree sapling, handing him his precious weapon as if he were handling a delicate baby.

"Keep it safe," he warned, and Lakshman had agreed so adamantly that Ram felt his worries drift away. Of course Lakshman would keep it safe! Ram practically worshipped that bow, and Lakshman practically worshipped Ram. Waving his brother goodbye once they parted ways during the break, each heading to his own class, Ram forgot all about the borrow in the first place.

That afternoon, Ram walked in the weapons hut, ready to check on it, and found it...broken. Pure fear rushed up his spine, before anger filled his stomach. Lakshman had promised, and here it was. Broken. Ram clenched his jaw frustratedly, stalking back to the brothers' shared cabin. Each footstep wafted up large clouds of dust from the ground, and people froze in fear at the anger of the eldest prince. Ram never got angry.

"Lakshman!" he shouted, and all three of them looked at each other, before Lakshman stood up confusedly. "What did you not get about handling it carefully?" Lakshman frowned, before realization took the confusion's place.

"But, bhaiyya, the bow was there..." he began, and Shatrughan nodded to confirm his story. Mere fable, Ram thought, he's good at lying. And of course Shatrughan agrees with him, they're twins!

"It's broken! It's there all right, and it's broken! Why? You knew how much I loved it!" he snarled, stepping towards his brother intimidatingly. Lakshman looked stricken.

"I didn't-" he began, but Ram cut in harshly, not eager to hear more rehearsed stories.

"Well who else would have done it? Did some spirit break it?" he snarled, not caring at how Shatrughan seemed utterly objective, and even Bharat looked about ready to interrupt. Lakshman just swallowed hard as Ram continued relentlessly.

"Oh god, just say it. You did it. Who else would have? Did it just break on its own? Did someone steal it and break it for fun? God's sake Lakshman!" He roared. Ram ignored how Lakshman stumbled back, hurt.

"You did it, I know. Everyone else knows. Admit it, now please do!" Ram cut off Shatrughan before he even began. "Lies. You speak lies. I hate lies." He stepped towards Lakshman, who didn't retreat, and poked a finger accusingly in his chest. "Us Raghuvanshis don't speak mistruths." he roared. Tears welled up in Lakshman's eyes. "You don't deserve being our brother."

A single tear track trailed down his cheek as Ram stalked off, red-faced. Right as he was about to head to meditate for the willow tree, Sage Vishwamitra spoke,

"Ram, would you collect a few pots of water from the river? Only you know the secret path that doesn't go through the brambles." Ram winced at the thought of the needle thin brambles that obstructed the view of the freshwater river, and nodded.

The next thing he saw made him forget all about the sage's request. Right there, in the hut, was Shatrughan's bow, and Lakshman's next to it. Shatrughan hadn't lost his, which meant he hadn't taken Lakshman's, which meant that Lakshman did not need Ram's bow. Which meant, Ram thought, anger flaring up again, that Lakshman did not need to borrow it. His fingers clenched into fists. Of course Lakshman would take advantage of Shatrughan's aptitude for losing things and blame it all on him.

Sitting under the willow tree, Ram's stresses were washed away as he slowly meditated, thinking of god, of peace, and of unbroken bows. That night, as Ram lay down to rest, he heard silent sobs coming from Lakshman's cot, and small, consoling whisperings from both Bharat and Shatrughan.

Traitors! How come they supported Lakshman? This was completely unjust. Unlike he normally would have felt, guilt did not bubble up in his throat, he didn't immediately reconsider his reaction, trace his footsteps, try to remember all of the details. He didn't walk over to see what was happening, didn't think how it was completely out-of-character of Lakshman. Ram didn't think of anything except his bow. That night, as Ram slept, his dreams were plagued with a single word: Unjust.

Please, however, was Ram's only thought as he held both pieces of his bow sorrowfully the next morning, and headed towards the sage's cottage hopefully. Vishwamitra welcomed him cheerfully, but his face darkened as Ram narrated the story.

"Oh no," he shook his head. "I can't fix that, it's splintered apart, Ram. Even my powers can only extend so far. You might want to ask Shatrughan or Lakshman though, our resident handymen. As far as I know, Lakshman's speciality is woodwork, is it not?" Ram flinched at Lakshman's name and praise, and clenched his pieces tighter, turning to leave as his last hope was extinguished like a splash of careless water upon a stray lick of flame.

Suddenly, an important memory struck him, slapping him in the face as all important memories do. He dropped the pieces quickly, and whirled right back around.

"Oh sir, sorry I completely forgot! I'll go collect the water right now!" But Sage Vishwamitra stopped him with a small wave and a smile.

"Lakshman already did it at dawn, said that you were busy and had asked him to do it. Actually, I was just about to head out to check on him-" Ram's mind unconsciously blurred the rest out. Instead of gratefulness, however, only newfound irritation was felt by a stubborn Ram as he left the main hut of the rishi. So he was trying to earn back forgiveness?

"Ooof," he huffed, as a boy bumped into him. The boy quickly jumped back to apologize, and Ram quickly recognized him as Karan, Lakshman's classmate.

"Oh hey Ram! Sorry about that. By the way, how's that bow of yours?" he bantered playfully, knowing how Ram loved it, and Ram held up the pieces, eyes narrowed.

"Woah. Who did it?" he asked, eyes wide. Ram hiccuped. He'd just been about to say "Well, you'd know about it already,"; Karan and Lakshman were good acquaintances.

"You mean, you don't know? Lakshman did it. " he asked dumbfounded, and Karan shook his head in frustration.

"Last I saw it was when Lakshman returned it in a single piece into the weapons hut, and left for your guys's shared cottage, where he stayed until you came in a fit of fury." Ram was about to contradict him when he spotted pure truth reflecting shinily in his eyes and stopped himself. If what he was saying was true, then...no.

Ram stopped himself from the disturbing trail of thought before it was too late, and paced off towards the willow tree for an impromptu session of meditating. No, it couldn't be true! But something stopped him in his tracks. Daura and Riku were conversing shadily under the willow tree.

"Huh. They really are stupid, the four boys," Riku began, laughing in his high, nasal voice that was unpleasant to the ears. Ram pressed his ear closer.

"They really believed that Lakshman did it. How would he? We did, haha, broke that prissy prince's bow, now didn't we Riku?" Daura continued in his gravelly, deep voice. Ram choked yet again, stopping himself from revealing himself from the wide length of the willow tree.

"Obviously! It was simple enough, now wasn't it? Steal Shatrughan's bow, make him think he misplaced it, he steals Lakshman's, Lakshman asks for Ram's. Just watch him leave after class, and grab it and break it. The breaking part was hard, but otherwise-" Riku continued, laughing. Ram stepped away from the disturbing conversation.

This time, he was too late to stop himself. Everything added up. If what both of these people were saying was true, and Ram knew that it was, then Shatrughan had lost his bow. He had stolen Lakshman's. Lakshman had asked for his bow in desperation. He had handled it with utmost caution. He had not broken it. Lakshman had not broken it. He had shouted at his most loyal brother for something he did not do. Ram tripped a little. He had blamed him for something he did not do. Ram stumbled, and recalled how Lakshman had done the same. He called him a liar for something he didn't do.

Ram almost collapsed, but managed to feel his way to the cottage, where tiny, pained gasps echoed. He peered in and inhaled sharply. Cuts ran across Lakshman's body and neck, and spots of blood trailed from them slowly. Ram hissed. It was all his fault. He hadn't let any of his brothers know about the secret path. Lakshman had collected the water while trailing through the thick brambles.

Bharat was slowly wrapping a thin layer of gauze around a particularly deep one in his arm as Shatrughan tried to not cry.

"We know you didn't do it, bhaiyya. I saw you treat that bow with the utmost respect. You couldn't have done it." he whispered, and Ram's ears strained to catch each word as Lakshman smiled, forlorn.

"You even missed some bull's eyes in order not to get dust on it. Guru was furious because you didn't get your usual perfect score. Heck, not just us, the entire hermitage Lakshman, we all know you didn't do it!" Bharat tried, not faring much better in the crying area. Tears welled up in his eyes as he shoved him. Shatrughan chose that moment to look up and spotted Ram with narrowed eyes.

"Sorry," Ram choked out, and Lakshman's head flew up at his voice. "Sorry." He climbed onto his cot and Lakshman didn't even manage words as he began to sob, clutching Ram's arm thankfully. Guilt buzzed at his touch, and Ram felt it flood through his body as Shatrughan and Bharat both joined the group hug.

"Sorry," he coughed out, again. If he repeated it over and over, perhaps it would make the burden lighter. Lakshman had not fought back at his accusations. Loyalty, Ram realized, at its most potent.

He had not listened to his brothers, the most important people in his life. Ram chided himself over and over in his mind as he stroked Lakshman's hair. Never would an object, something material, get in his path. Never again would something as stupid as a broken bow cause him to lose his composure, to be seperated from his family, to lose all his senses and to not pay any attention to the protests of those closest to him.

Bonus

"What is it?" Ram laughed as Shatrughan covered his eyes from behind.

"Open!" shrieked Shatrughan, pulling his hands off, and Ram blinked, getting used to the bright sun. Bharat and Lakshman each stood in front of him, holding a long, heavy, grand bow. He gaped, reaching out to touch it. It couldn't be, real.

"Shatru and I did the woodwork, all of it! Bharat located some gold paint and painted it. Do you like it, bhaiyya?" Lakshman asked quietly, eyes shining with a childish hope even though they were all thirteen or fourteen years old. Ram nodded slowly, running his hands over the fresh wood and crisp bowstring.

"I-It's better than the first," he whispered, and Shatrughan did a little happy jig and Bharat looked at the paintjob proudly.

"And even if he didn't like it, Lakshman and I beat up the original breakers." Shatrughan said casually, and Ram looked up so quickly that his neck became strained and achy.

"Good job." he muttered, turning right back to his bow. Shatrughan tripped in surprise, Bharat laughed raucously, and a rare grin that was seen much too less spread across Lakshman's face.

A/N-I've started introducing angst! LOL. I think I really shine with sad stories, don't you?  I loved how Ram forced himself to not pay attention to broken bows. Remember how they will play into the story later? I am trying to include emotions, to signify a slow transition into adulthood. 

I decided that this chapter could be from Ram's point of view. We lacked that, and here we have it! Do you like these types of chapters better, ones with betrayal, angst, raw emotion? Or are the playful ones more your thing? Do not fret if you prefer the latter. Gurukul is the slightly scary part. After that, with all the marriage and romance (rest assured, there will be multiple chaps dedicated to all the relationships, we will have much lightness in this story.

I have included a bonus scene at the crossing of 100! Thanks for 300 views! It's really sweet, and wraps the chapter up! It made me feel really sunny and happy when writing it. 

SHOUTOUT TO: J13S10 Thanks for commenting, following me, and voting on each chapter. You are awesommmmmeee. 

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Yes, I did feel the need to include excessive emojis.