They continued to walk, for what, it seemed like, forever. Finally, they climbed down the cliff, and congregated on the beach that was at the very tip of the mainland. There were so many monkeys and bears there, that let's just say, if a vulture was there, he would die from happiness. Hanuman continued to walk, but they came to a halt in front of the shores. Ram walked forward, eyes squinting in the sun as he watched the distance.

"I do believe that I can see Lanka." he said calmly. Hanuman and Jambavan exchanged a look. "A golden Lanka, palaces and columns and centers made just from gold. Ravan is truly a grand king, if anything, but grandness does not substitute for unrighteousness." Ram looked around. "Come on. We'll set up camp here if it's no trouble to you, Raja Sugriv. There is some shade here, as well as a place to work, and there also seems to be some food in the forests nearby, right?"

Ram set his bow down and Lakshman brought him a palm leaf to sit upon. Raja Sugriv cleared his throat and began to order his army around. "Alright! We're setting a camp up here for the next few days, you all got that? We'll have a watch guard here for every second that we stay. Ravan is a dangerous demon, and we can not be safe enough." Hanuman and Angad both nodded and got ready setting up the legions of monkeys and bears to camp out.

----O----

Meanwhile, Lakshman helped Angad get "settled." By settling, Angad had meant to carry his bags, which Lakshman had done. "Ugh." he set down the last of the luggage. "When you said settling in, I didn't think you would mean this. I thought you just meant find a cave and get you a palm leaf and then I could go off." Lakshman sighed and sat down, wiping a bead of sweat off of his face. "I sometimes worry for bhaiyya. He seems so lost. And quite alone. I know why, but I don't know how to help. Have you ever felt such a way?"

"Only once." Angad stated. "When Papa died. But never before and never again. I don't really believe there is a way to cure it, other than knowing what happened was for a reason. Until Prabhu Shri Ram thinks that there was a definite good reason that Maa Sita was captured, he won't feel much better." He paused. "But truly, is there a reason to capture a woman from her own cottage? I don't think so." Angad turned towards Lakshman. "You're awfully quiet. Have you ever felt such a way?"

Lakshman shook his head. "Never. But I've always had a purpose in life, something to do desperately and quickly. I've never really had any time to feel something so deep and spiraling as alone, helpless, or particularly lost. I've always known what to do next myself, and that is serving my brother." Lakshman shook his head. "Come on, what has happened to us, talking about feelings!" Both of them snorted in unison.

"Yes, it is very unusual." Angad agreed. "Ah well. I'd better continue ordering the army, and perhaps you should go and help your brother." Lakshman nodded and left the cave.

-----O----

Evening fell and the night took over the day. A small fire was lit, and Ram ate in front of it, but his eyes hooked onto his younger brother's form as he sat hunched over his food. "What's wrong, Lakshman?" he asked confusedly, and Lakshman looked up, opening and closing his mouth like a puffer fish. "Something is troubling you, your food is left untouched. You normally love eating, don't you? Go on, eat something, your food will get cold. And while you're at it, tell me. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing-nothing bhaiyya." Ram raised his eyebrows. "Well alright. Bhaiyya, when you were telling the stories, Hanuman mentioned Urmila. Hanuman asked who she was, with great curiosity too." Ram winced and nodded. So that must be it. After days upon days, his brother must have been reminded of his own wife. "Don't worry, I wasn't hurt or anything. I'm fine but...." Lakshman trailed off. "Could you not mention her to the rest of the vanar sena, bhaiyya, if you do tell your stories again?"

Ram blinked and leaned in. "Why? Is this because of your guilt, Lakshman? Did you think that they would hate you? Well if they do, I shall make sure that all that hate is churned out. Do you not want to be reminded of her? I understand that, Lakshman, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't mention her." Ram sighed. "Is there something else that is bothering you? I can see it on your face, there is, but you're hesitant about telling me. Go ahead, tell me please."

Lakshman shook his head. "It's none of that. But when I think of her, I get all sappy and romantic and dreamy. If there is a war, I'll be fighting alongside this same army. I don't want them to think I get bogged down by my stupid emotions, bhaiyya. So please don't mention Urmila, please Ram bhaiya." And Ram agreed, albeit a bit sadly. He would not mention Urmila to the vanar sena. But that was a lie. For eventually, he would.

-----O-----

"Okay, Sugriv, this looks good." Ram agreed as Sugriv assembled the organized legions of the army before him. "I am glad that we were able to organize all these beings, or else imagine! How on Earth would we have gone to Lanka!" Ram paused. "Well, we still don't know how exactly to get there, but we'll figure it out eventually now won't we?" Behind him, he heard a cough. "Alright, good night everyone. We'll assemble again tomorrow and make a plan or two on how we'll cross the vast ocean. Till then, good night."

But Angad didn't like the idea of good night. He stood up and crossed his arms across his chest and held his chin up. "You said that when we reached the shores of the Indian Ocean that you would tell us some more stories! It's been hours since that happened and we've been patiently waiting, but you haven't shown us even one sign of any stories at all! I say that's blasphemy!" He looked around as the monkeys chattered their agreement. "Stories! Stories! Stories! Stories!"

Finally, a grumbling Ram gave in, and they all sat down again. "You all act like little children who want a bedtime story. Here, listen to this. Once upon a time, my younger brother, Bharat, was trying to impress his wife, Mandavi. But Mandavi would not be impressed."

Flashback

Flowers? No. Jewelry? No. New clothes? No no no! None of it was working and a desperate Bharat followed Ram around all day speaking to himself incomprehensibly. "What do I do, bhaiyya?!" Bharat finally cried, catching up to an amused Ram. "I don't know what to give her! I know Mandavi well, but I don't know her enough to actually give her something that she likes! And I've always been the romantic type out of all of us! If i don't know, what's going to happen to all of you?" Bharat finally calmed down, seemingly appeased at the prospect of not suffering alone.

Shatrughan snorted. "As if, bhaiyya. I know Shrutakirti too well! All she would want are some flowers and a nice new sari. That, or some food. I'm set! And Ram bhaiyya? Ram bhaiyya is too! He could just plant a new tree each year and Sita bhabhi would be happy! It's just you that's having trouble! And it's hilarious!" Bharat stared at him plainly, and Shatrughan's smile disappeared as he scratched the back of his neck. "Hilariously terrible, I mean."

Bharat took out a notepad. "You all need to start giving me ideas! Or else I might have to consult Lakshman, and Lakshman's terrible at this sort of thing." The other two murmured their solemn agreement to Bharat's words and they continued walking down the corridor. "What sort of thing do you think Mandavi might like, Shatru? Do you have any ideas?"

Shatrughan's face suddenly lit up. "Oh! I've got a great idea! I'll be right back!" A few minutes later, Shatrughan returned with a large sword. "Mandavi bhabhi always liked swordfighting!"

Not moments later..."SHATRUGHAN, MY ENEMY, WHERE IS MY SWORD?!"

Present

"And that's how Shatrughan stole Lakshman's sword. And the funniest part? Bharat still gave it to Mandavi." Ram shook his head as the rest of everyone laughed. "Alright, I'll tell you a few more. And then we're all going to sleep." Lakshman shifted about.

Flashback

"Bhaiyya! Bhaiyya! It's my birthday! Did you know? Did you know?" Shatrughan flopped back on the bed and stared at the sky with a deep, sighing breath as Bharat chuckled. "I can't believe it's my birthday. It's been so long. Like five years since my last birthday. That disobeys the laws of nature themselves!" he rolled over till he was on his tummy and started to hum the Birthday song (let's pretend that's a thing, guys).

Lakshman barged in and calmly sat down on his bed too. "It's my birthday too." Shatrughan sat up and glared at him, and Lakshman just whistled. "What? It is. Besides,it was my birthday first, but you don't hear me talking about that." Shatrughan groaned, putting his hands on his ears. "You act as if everything is a pain for you to bear, Shatru."

Ram laughed. "You two won't ever agree on anything. I'm telling you, I don't know how you were born twins. Bharat and I are more twins than you ever shall be. You don't even look exactly the same! Shatrughan's a bit taller-you see? And you don't have the same colored eyes, God knows why, because all our mothers have light brown, and our Papa has dark brown."

Shatrughan snorted. "Yeah, and you have blue, bhaiyya. How did you get blue? Only God knows. Besides, we agree on many things right bhaiyya? Such as the fact that cake made out of carrots tastes horrible (let's pretend that carrot cake is a thing guys)."

Lakshman sat up. "Really? I thought you liked carrot cake! That's why they're making it in the kitchen. The only reason I didn't twist the chef's ear is because I thought you liked it."

Ram looked exasperated. "You shouldn't twist the chef's ear upon any account, Lakshman! He's older than you! You should treat your elders with respect!"

Lakshman just jutted his chin out as Shatrughan gagged. "Well not if the elders don't treat me with respect!" Shatrughan cried. "And carrot cake is a terrible way of showing respect to me-the second greatest prince there ever was!"

Bharat raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah, and who's the first? Who could possibly match up to the great and powerful Shatrughan?"

Shatrughan simply blinked. "Ram bhaiyya."

The twins sat up in unison and walked out the door, towards the kitchen, somehow outpacing the running Ram and Bharat. "Wait wait wait-what are you doing?" wheezed Bharat once they finally stopped in front of the kitchen.

"We're twisting the chef's ear!" cried Shatrughan the same time as Lakshman said "We're blowing up the place." Then they looked at each other and grinned.

"Wait-you're actually agreeing on something?" Bharat asked, bewildered. "And it's something as terrible as this?"
Shatrughan wrapped an arm around Bharat. "What could you possibly be talking about, bhaiyya? We've always agreed on absolutely everything!"
Lakshman wrapped another arm around Bharat. "What blasphemy this is to accuse us of such a heinous and obviously quite an inaccurate crime. We agree on every possible statement there ever was and ever will be." Bharat spluttered at lakshman's sudden eloquence.

Ram sneezed. "You've literally never agreed on anything in your lifetimes."

Present

Ram had a good laugh at Lakshman 's expense, then stood up, much to the groaning and moaning of the army. "I'm really sleepy now, and you all are so much that you might not even be able to wake up tomorrow if I continue my little storytelling. Besides-" Ram slapped an arm on Lakshman's shoulder. "I think we've had enough humanizing of my brother, right? Now we can all be his friend!"

Lakshman looked up in horror as Ram started to run. "YOU GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!" he shouted, himself getting up and giving chase. "I'm not being anyone's friend!"

A/N-So this wasn't exactly what you'd call a long chapter (I actually thought this would be longer than the previous, but apparently not) However, it was still somehow over 2000 words, so that's great! I mean-right? (this is where you say right). I was wondering what to include in the next chapter, and I hit my head against the wall multiple times, and then I got this. Basically a sequel to the next chapter.

Now I'm wondering what I should write next. I'll bang my head against the wall a couple more times. I'll come up with something that isn't this. I'll be fiiiine guys. Have any of you listened to KPop? I have, multiple times. Blackpink.

I feel like I shouldn't write these Author's Notes. I read a book full of annoying things authors do, and apparently mentioning random things in A/Ns is one of them. Am I annoying you? Ah well. Too late for the previous hundred or so chapters. Okay, whatever, might as well get a headstart on the next chapter. Hit my head a couple more times. I should be good!

Apukar brought up a great point yesterday. I've already written 2 chapters about war. BUT STILL! Reread those. Half of what I read was "he rained down arrows" That's not much better than "he let go of an arrow". What do I do guys? I'd rather die than write Yudh Kand.

By the way, does anyone else have a common name? I do, I have a VERY common name and it's not fair because I like being unique-hence the 100+ chapters. What? Did you think I LIKED writing this?

P.S.

I've finally figured out how to do manips! I've recently been judging a ton of Mahabharat, and apparently people like Meenakshi Mundli or something as Subhadra instead of Veebha Anand. As a #VeebhaisSubhadra person, I do not support this casting. I preferred Ramayan 2008 and Mahabharat 2014 casting. But I figured-why not? And here's the result!