Raghuveer's sword's tip was at Pratiksha's neck. His sword stopped just before her neck. This surprise was visible on his face. His hand was trembling, telling him that he was killing the wrong person. He had killed many people till date but this was the first time that his sword was not ready to kill someone. If the sword could speak, it would have said, "Raghuveer, I can take anyone's life for you, but not this girl's. Because you yourself are not ready to kill her, so how can I kill her?"
Pratiksha was looking into his eyes. She saw fear, pain, and help in his eyes.
There was no anger there. A fear... like the one in his eyes when he killed his Guru, the pain he still faces. The help... he is seeking.
Pratiksha stood silently. Her eyes were saying, "Why, Raghuveer? Why?"
Raghuveer looks into her eyes. He gets an answer. He remembers a moment with his Guru.
---
"Guruji, what is love?"
Young Raghuveer asked his Guru.
Guruji looked at him.
"Hmm... love... love is a sword that people have no regrets when they wield it." Guruji said.
"Guruji, I didn't understand anything," Raghuveer said.
Guruji smiled.
"You'll definitely find the answer one day," Guruji said.
---
People started gathering around.
Soldiers drew their swords and pointed them at Raghuveer.
"Put the sword down," one soldier said.
Raghuveer couldn't hear anything.
What should I do? Tell me. What should I do? Raghuveer asked himself.
The soldiers were shouting loudly.
"Put the sword down…"
But Raghuveer said nothing.
What did I do… that made Raghuveer raise his sword against me? Pratiksha asked herself.
"Don't follow me. This is the last time I'm saying it," Raghuveer said.
Pratiksha listened quietly.
Her throat was burning.
She wanted to speak, but her voice wouldn't come out.
She didn't speak, but her eyes did:
"Why? Why should I stop following you?"
Her chest was aching.
It was the pain of the fear of losing him.
Raghuveer understood why she was following him.
But because of her, people were looking at him with anger.
He was used to being alone.
He was afraid that if Pratiksha stayed with him, people would keep looking at him with the same hatred.
Raghuveer removed the sword from Pratiksha's nape and placed it back in the sheath on his back.
He walked away.
The soldiers stepped aside.
They gave him space to leave.
A boy came near Pratiksha.
"Are you okay?" the boy asked.
Pratiksha was watching Raghuveer walk away.
Raghuveer was slowly disappearing from her sight.
He didn't look back.
The soldiers sheathed their swords and left.
Slowly, the crowd also dispersed.
Pratiksha kept watching Raghuveer.
She couldn't see him anymore.
He had gone far away.
Tears were flowing from her eyes.
Tears that would never end.
Tears that were witnesses to her pain.
She didn't know what to do.
She wanted to walk behind him like before.
She wanted to talk to him.
Her tears were falling to the ground.
One hand was on her heart — which was beating fast.
Her tears wouldn't stop.
She was now walking.
Where? She didn't know.
Maybe back.
---
Raghuveer was walking.
There was no expression on his face.
His hand was still trembling.
His sword was shifting.
Raghuveer, what will happen to that girl now? Where will she go? Raghuveer asked himself.
He didn't stop.
He kept walking.
This wasn't new for him.
Anyone who came close to Raghuveer — he always pushed them away.
Because he feared they would become his weakness.
He had kept himself alone.
Raghuveer's loneliness was eating him from within.
As he kept walking, evening fell.
The sun was sad today.
It was setting.
It told the moon:
"Free Raghuveer. Find him. He's lost somewhere in this world."
Raghuveer was hungry.
But he didn't stop.
He remembered the moment when Pratiksha had given him an apple.
As he walked, he saw a small boy crying.
The boy's mother was trying to calm him.
"Don't cry, son… come… today I'll make whatever you want to eat," the mother said, wiping his tears.
The boy stopped crying and happily held his mother's hand and went home.
Raghuveer was watching.
He had never received a mother's love.
He was called his mother's killer.
Raghuveer was accused of killing his own mother.
Slowly, evening turned into night.
The moon was visible in the sky.
Dark clouds were pushing the moon away.
Raghuveer kept walking ahead.