A/N-I felt like I didn't write enough about Ram, who is the main protagonist of the original Ramayan, so here is one for all of those Sita/Ram lovers. No time like the present! Couldn't resist adding the twins though. They're my favorite part, I'm sorry!

"Princesses?" cried Raja Janak, king of Videha. "Could you come here please?" The enchanting jingling of anklets and bells on dupattas began to echo in the halls near him, growing louder and louder till four princesses stood in front of him, smiling, laughing and giggling, staring at him curiously. As he looked at his beloved daughters and nieces, he smiled, and a bout of pride rushing through him.

Sita, the eldest at 12-years, was adopted, but Raja Janak loved her as his own. He had found her buried in the Earth, and kept her as an auspicious child, radiating holiness. Sita always loved frolicking in the gardens, growing plants, and sitting under trees, and loved the world around her. She was calm, kind, and poised, the very picture of a perfect princess. She was beautiful like a freshly bloomed flower, and Janak reluctantly thought of the day when she would have to marry.

Right next to Sita was Urmila, Janak's biological daughter. She was the third eldest, ten-years-old, and loved to paint. Urmila was very talkative, chatty, and loved by everyone, not shy in the least. She was the shortest of the four, but made up for that with her bright, sunshiny, sunny personality. Urmila loved Sita, and didn't care the least about her adoption.

Mandavi was his younger brother, Kushadwaja's eldest daughter, eleven years old. She was spry, sporty, and authoritative, protective of whom she loved, and bold when she needed to be. She was not shy, and took control, but she also was tender, loving her sisters with a fierce energy.

And then there was Shrutakirti. The youngest daughter of Kushadwaja, nine years old, Shrutakirti was kind, shy, and yet the pillar of strength for her sisters. She was doted upon by everyone, but pure like a pearl. Perhaps she was the most generous of all of them, but also firm. Raja Janak wanted to keep her forever in the palace, and felt that the adventures of the outside world would ruin her.

"Sage Vishwamitra specifically asked for ten boxes of sweets from our palace kitchens," he began, and immediately noticed a reverence in the girls' eyes. "Due to my back pain, I cannot deliver them myself. Sunaina is visiting her father's kingdom. Would you-" He was cut off by an exuberant Urmila.

"Yes, that's so exciting!" she squealed. "We're going to Sage Vishwamitra's ashram! I heard that the gods themselves visit there when yagnas happen! Let's get ready!" Urmila dragged Sita, who was shaking her head at the girl's antics, behind her and Mandavi and Shrutakirti followed. Raja Janak laughed, and laughed, and laughed, happiness bubbling inside him. There was surely no man on Earth who deserved any of his princesses.

"Wow, look at the trees!" cried Sita. Urmila gaped at the scenery. So many things to paint. Sita, however, felt a bit queasy, and it wasn't because of the carriage bumping over some stray pebbles in the dirt path leading to the ashram. It was because she felt that something very important was about to happen. Something very fateful. Sita turned to observe her sisters. Urmila, of course, looked jumpy, excited, and was craning her neck. Mandavi was talking with Shrutakirti, who was laughing at everything she said. Sita sighed. Perhaps it was just her.

They arrived at the ashram excitedly, the archway looking welcoming. They found a bustling place, people running about, carrying stacks of wood, sweeping away fallen leaves, and re-thatching roofs with dry grass. Sita inhaled deeply, and felt calmer in this environment. So much nature surrounding her! Urmila nudged her, and she turned around quickly.

"Happy, aren't you?" Urmila began to impersonate Sita. "Oh wow! So many...trees! Such nice grass! Oh look! Is that a sparrow?" Sita smacked her, and turned a light red as all of them laughed. The ashram's attention was drawn to the four decked out girls standing in the entrance, laughing. Each of them held a few boxes.

A lady walked up. "How may we help you, princesses?" Sita cleared her throat and began quickly.

"We'd like to have an appointment with the revered sage Vishwamitra. Father requested that we deliver some sweets from the royal kitchen." The lady nodded, straightening her clothes, and led them to a cabin, bowing before saying,

"The sage will open the door when he is ready to meet you." The girls nodded. Minutes passed, and Mandavi began to fidget, twisting her fingers anxiously, biting her lip.

"When will he see u-" The door opened, and she quickly shut her mouth. Vishwamitra smiled, and welcomed them into the small, humble cottage.

"Oh sage, here the sweets from Videha. Thank you for granting us the honor of serving you." Sita murmured, inclining her head. Vishwamitra smiled.

"Thank you, these will be a huge help in the ashram. Why don't you take a tour around?" Before Sita could politely decline; she didn't want to trouble the man, Urmila cut in quickly, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Yes, please! We'd love to!" she exclaimed, and Vishwamitra shook his head. She reminded him of Shatrughan, very eager, very happy. The eldest, Sita, resembled Ram with calmness and spirit. Mandavi and Shrutakirti each made him recall Lakshman and Bharat respectively.

"Ram, Lakshman, Bharat, Shatrughan! I need you here please!" he called his favorite pupils, and rapid footsteps followed, before 3 boys entered the cabin. Sita felt her heart flutter nervously as she looked at the first one. Dark skinned, wide-eyed. Sita felt her nervousness increase tenfold as he entered the cottage, and insisted upon looking away from his as to not blush or stutter.

Following the first were two boys, one stout and light-skinned, with a chiseled face, and the other with eyes full of mischief and medium brown skin. All of them glanced curiously at the girls before turning their attention to the sage.

"Where is Lakshman?" asked Vishwamitra, pacing impatiently. Ram opened his mouth widely, and then closed it. Where was Lakshman? Another boy bound into the hut, breathing heavily. He looked very similar to the third boy, but his jawline was more defined, and he himself was more well-built.

"Forgive-huff-me, carrying-huff-firewood!" he wheezed, leaning on Shatrughan for support. Vishwamitra raised his eyebrows, and asked,

"All of it? You collected all of Rekha didi's firewood for today? That's a few hundred logs, Lakshman!" Lakshman coughed, standing up on his own.

"Yes-wheeze-few-wheeze-hundred. That-wheeze-makes sense now, I thought-wheeze-I was overreacting." He swallowed hard, wiped a bead of sweat out, and sighed heavily as Vishwamitra shook his head.

"Anyways, princes, could you show the princesses around the ashram today?" Lakshman and Shatrughan both jumped, shaking their heads frantically.

"Actually, I think I have a few more logs to go," Shatrughan cried, attempting to run out, but Lakshman caught his arm and whisked him right back into the cottage furiously as Urmila and Shrutakirti giggled.

"I carried the logs, you idiot." he said. "If you lie, at least make it believable." Vishwamitra raised his eyebrows some more as Ram attempted to explain.

"Well, sir, you see," Sita blushed a bit when hearing his voice, only noticed by Urmila, who nudged her a bit more. "They don't have a great experience with being tour guides. Last time, we almost lost a princess to a falling tree branch, and Lakshman almost broke his back by saving her. And Shatrughan, well, he was just there. " Urmila giggled some more as both twins nodded furiously, and Shatrughan even patted Lakshman's back for good measure.

"Well, let's hope that doesn't happen this time," and Vishwamitra, ignoring the twins' silent protests, bid them all a safe journey.

"Um, so that's the willow tree. It's a meditation spot that we sometimes use." Ram started pointing towards the great plant, giving it a wide berth as Shatrughan and Lakshman alike glared at it. Gulping, he gestured towards their cottage.

"That's where we live..." Sita paid close attention to everything he said, smiling at his composed demeanor, startling him as he tried not to look at her. Stop trembling, Ram. he chided himself. Shatrughan will have a field day if he realizes that princess is making you nervous. "That's the flower garden right there." Ram continued, blushing. Sita interrupted.

"There's marigolds and morning glories and lavender! How on Earth do you all maintain these colors?" Ram seemed a bit surprised at her sudden outburst, and inhaled sharply, while Bharat took over.

"Well, I guess a lot of water and plant food, the sage would know. We don't do much of it, but I do love painting them." Mandavi smiled at his shy exterior and continued observing the flowers as Shatrughan slapped Bharat on the back.

The entire tour continued on like this, Sita listening to Ram happily, Ram a bit flustered by Sita. The surroundings blurred around him as Ram focused all his attention on not paying attention to Sita.

"And there's the exit!" Ram cried, pointing to the end archway reluctantly and thankfully. He had a good time showing the princesses around, as they had been quite nice. He felt sort of weird, uneasy, when talking to Sita specifically, but it was probably because she was so nice. Relieved, because he could finally relax and lower his barriers.

Sita herself felt similar, fluttery, on top of the moon. She felt as if she could do anything after just glancing at the eldest one, Ram. And yet she forced herself to maintain composure. It would be no good to start doing a happy little jig while in public. Thank goodness father had offered her a chance to visit, she might have made a new friend. Or, she thought wryly, staring at the rest of the brothers, some new friends.

"Let's go back to Vishwamitra, we are done." Urmila felt sorrow drench her as well. She had gotten quite a laugh when observing the twins. The elder one seemed not so talkative, which made her deeply sad as she thought that he might have some funny things to say if he just tried.

As the group passed the willow, Shatrughan sighed in relief, pointing towards the tree happily.

"The sage was right," he exclaimed. "The branch didn't fall this time." Too soon, as an ominous crack breached the laughter and a heavy branch that had been sagging for days before fell right atop Lakshman. "Or, maybe the firewood is getting revenge," Shatrughan muttered, as Ram approached worriedly and Bharat started chewing on his nails. Lakshman lifted off the branch, wincing. The princesses are gasped at the large gash on his arm.

"If I have my way Shatru," Lakshman hissed, holding his shoulder angrily, eyes flashing that the princesses slowly backed away, and Ram continued fussing over him. "You will die a slow, slow, death and I will be the cause of it." Shatrughan took this as his cue to run, and Lakshman followed him at full speed, Ram shaking his head.

"That will get infected, I tell him all the time. Laksh always gets these injuries." he muttered.

Sita turned abruptly and caught Ram's eyes. Neither of them bothered to break the gaze, and only Sage Vishwamitra's eventual presence caused them to stop staring at each other.

After exchanging their goodbyes, the two groups parted their way, wondering if they were ever going to meet again. Who knew that fate would change everything, and that Sita would stare into those lotus blue eyes for the rest of her life?

A/N-I was having some trouble coming with an idea for a chapter, so I just wrote this in. I haven't been focusing much on Ram, considering this is his story, so I thought I could include some things from his perspective as well as Sita's. There's barely any interaction between the other 3 groups, because this was supposed to be focusing on Ram and Sita! I figured that if I strayed too much, I'd be adding excessive Lakshmila. You will not believe how much of this chapter I had to edit because there was too much Bharat-Mandavi, or Lakshman-Urmila, and Shatrughan-Shrutakirti.

I made Urmila a very bubbly and firm person. I think that if both Lakshman and Urmila are short-tempered, it won't make a healthy relationship. Opposites attract....right?

:)