Ishq bhi tu mera pyaar bhi tu
meri baat zaat jazbaat bhi tu
parwaaz bhi tu rooh-e-saaz bhi tu
meri saans nabz aur hayaat bhi tu
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The calm composed environment inside shivay has took turns , the devoted shivay was now feared about her , " her blood touched the ground today " the words were ringing like some temple bells .
he went back to his home , entering he scanned the aura , the lights have came back and the laughter inside was explaining that everything has finally soothed
" bhai... you back " came sharp voice of abeer . he scanned shivay as if he was trying to look deep inside something " sab thik hai na bhai ? " came the genuine question
" i am absolutely fine "
abeer didn't move . he just stared at him - the kind of look a younger brother gives , when he see the lies wrapped in calmness
'' bhai when you are fine - their is spark in your eyes " his hands gently touched his shoulders " and right now they are filled with something i can not recognise "
shivay straightened with a soft sigh as if an athelet is tired after a long marathon " abeer " it continued with a pause " i am absolutly fine " he started walking past abeer
" Its all because of her , right ? "
his feet halted , he turned back a little fear from his eyes was dripping as if a prisoner has been caught running " it has - nothing to do with her "
" bhai .. pleases stop it " a little anger was uplifting abeer on seeing the condition of his brother
" its been 12 years since you are suffering - in the first 4 years all we could see was love blooming , your happiness oozing - but these 8 years of longevity ... they have made you a walking dead "
shivay lifted his eyes , as if he was trying his best to , change the mindest of abeer but his words were convaying something else " abeer - i am trying to forget her but -'
" but what bhai " came sharp and sheer yet laced with concern
" Nothing is like it used to be - this time it feels as if something has changed , as if someone unknown ,yet very known - is calling me "
abeer stepped closer " bhai - maybe you are pressurising yourself a lot . be calm and sort it out , you have stood up all by yourself all these years and now you can't afford to lose yourself " abeer had worry in his voice as if he knew , that he is going to lose a part of himself
" Abhi... all these years I stood up alone - with her name chanting as if it were my breath , and now this trial of forggeting feels like my soul is being taken away " silence wrapped around them .
abeer swallowed " bhai - take rest everything will be fine " he turned around to leave , but paused without looking back
" woh aayegi , zarur "
the words settled into shivay's heart like a reassurance he didn't know he was waiting for .
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Adhira entered her home with a smile on her face , a rose bouqet in her hand , which she bought for herself . Walking towards her room , she twisted the door knob . Her feet calmly displacing , she pulled one rose out but hissed in pain as the throne pierced her pointing finger
" aabb thoo aadat si haii " she sang the lyrics as a joke and placed the rose on the stand where kept the painting
The red stain on the feet which smudged yesterday has now turned a little brown shade - as if the blood has dried " yee..yee brown kaise hua " the words smuggled her mouth
But in order to not make her mind take this creep inside her , and haunt her - she took the matchstick and light the Diye near the painting , as a sign of devotion and prayer , but unknown of the fact that the blood from her finger has - dropped into the diya
She turned back , but the diya flickered and the flame rose high , as if something has awaken . Something deep . Dark . Something we can call destiny or something we can call evil
Back to shivay
The night has covered the sky , but the small little twinkling of the stars - is quite not visible . As the heavy black clouds has taken up their space
Shivay was walking in his room . His one hand placed on his waist and the other was continuously ruffling his hairs . His actions were loudly - screaming restlessness
" whyy .... Why I am not able to control myself " he stormed towards the door , which has been shut from past two days - the door which have never been closed for these much hours was loudly calling him .
It was attracting him , as if something or someone is calling him - he pulled opened the drawer and took out the small broken pieces of red chudiya , he was not new to them , but this time they were not in his hands as an charm or a medicine which heals him
This time they were portraying something very dark . And shivay ? The calm composed personality that he always gets by adoring them - but this hour they made him angry . Agitated . Frustrated
He fisted his palm . The warm red liquid oozed out . Shivay sighed as he the pain has bought relief to him .Shivay stood still. His blood slid down his palm, slow... deliberate... warm. One drop. Then another.
Instead of falling to the floor — it slipped from his fingers onto the small candle kept near his bedside shrine. The flame trembled. For a second, it almost died.Then—It rose. Not bright Not golden. But deeper. Red. As if the fire had tasted something sacred... or forbidden.
Shivay's breath hitched. The room felt heavier. The air — charged. He didn't understand why his heartbeat had suddenly synchronized with something unseen.
But far away —
In another city —
Adhira's diya flame surged at the exact same moment. Two flames. Two drops of blood. Miles apart. Burning higher. Together.
⸻
At the ghat —
The night wind changed direction. The sacred fire before the Aghori crackled violently. He had been motionless for hours, eyes closed, ash covering his still body. Then— His eyes opened. Slowly. Deliberately. A faint smile curved on his lips.
"Ah..."
He lifted his palm toward the fire as if feeling something invisible pass through it.
"Rakt... mil gaya."
His fingers tightened around his rudraksha beads.
"Twelve years of separation... and still the thread refuses to break, janmo phele ka buja diya aaj phir se khoon ki lapto se jal hi gaya ."
The river beside him, calm moments ago, began forming restless ripples without wind.
He whispered into the darkness—
"Do shariron ka khoon... ek hi agni mein swikaar ho raha hai."
The flames before him turned momentarily crimson. Not normal fire. Not illusion . Recognition. He inhaled deeply.
"She bled in innocence." He tilted his head slightly. "And he bled in unrest."
A pause.
"But agni ne dono ko ek saath sweekar kiya."
The fire roared once — then settled. The Aghori's expression darkened.
"Ab tapasya aur ishq ke beech ka antar mitne wala hai."
He closed his eyes again.
"But destiny does not awaken gently."
⸻
Back in their separate rooms —
Shivay pressed his bleeding palm tighter, unaware that the flame had calmed.
Adhira stared at her diya, confused why it had flickered so violently.
Neither knew. That something ancient had just marked them. Not as lovers. Not as separated souls. But as bound energy.
Somewhere in the dark —
The Aghori murmured one last sentence into the wind:
"Ab unka milan unki marzi se nahi hoga. , ab upar wala rachega unki katha " his both hands wide open , his face tilted up , looking at the sky . As if he is grasping something
The night felt heavier than usual.
Shivay couldn't breathe inside his own walls anymore. The house was asleep. But he wasn't. He walked out. No destination in mind. Yet his feet knew. They always knew.
The ghat stood silent under the dark sky. The river moved slowly, as if carrying secrets it had witnessed for centuries. Shivay stepped down the cold stairs. The same place. The same river. The same ache. He clenched his fists.
"Why..." his voice cracked into the night, "...why am I hurting myself?"
The wind didn't answer.
"Why can't I forget her?" His breathing grew uneven. "Why does every attempt to erase her feel like I am tearing my own soul apart?" His knees weakened.
He sat down on the last step, near the water. "I am tired..." he whispered. "Tired of fighting something that refuses to leave me." His hands moved to his hair, gripping it as if pain outside could silence the one inside.
"Why am I hurting myself?" The river rippled. And from the shadows — A presence shifted.
The Aghori stepped forward slowly, ash-covered, eyes ancient and unsettlingly calm. "You are not hurting yourself."
Shivay looked up, eyes red — not from anger, but from exhaustion. "Then what is this?" he demanded. "What is this punishment?"
The Aghori's gaze was steady.
"Jab ishq tapasya ban jaye... toh laal rang sirf sindoor ka nahi hota." The words settled into the night like truth carved in stone.
Shivay's breath stilled.
The Aghori stepped closer, the sound of his rudraksha beads faint but powerful. "When love becomes penance," he continued softly, "blood is not sacrifice... it is proof."
Shivay's chest tightened. "I never chose this," he whispered.
The Aghori's eyes gleamed faintly. "Some threads are chosen before you are born."
The river wind rose slightly.
"You are not suffering because you love," the Aghori said. "You are suffering because you are resisting destiny."
Silence swallowed the space between them.
Shivay's voice trembled — not loud, but breaking "I just want peace."
The Aghori's expression softened — but only slightly. "Peace does not come to those who run from their destiny , and specially when their destiny have been intwined , the threads have been entangled ." His eyes shear , staring deep - he continued with
" ishq ka laal rang , tumara rakt hoga "
And then—He was still. Too still.
As if he had always been part of the night.
⸻
At that exact moment — Miles away —
Adhira stirred in her sleep. Her breathing changed. The room around her blurred. And suddenly —She was standing on the ghat. The same steps. The same river. The same dark sky. But she was alone. Or so she thought.
The wind brushed past her ears — Carrying a whisper. Low. Close. Ancient.
"Ishq ka laal rang tumhara rakt hoga."
Her heart pounded violently.
She turned— No one. But the river had turned restless. And on the last step near the water — She saw a faint drop of red dissolve into the river. Her breath hitched.
"Kaun hai?" she whispered. The voice came again — softer, but closer.
"Tum dono ek hi agni mein jal rahe ho. The more you run the more destiny pulls and the more - you bleed "
The sky thundered faintly. She gasped — And woke up abruptly. Her palm was clenched tight.
And when she opened it— There was a faint red mark where her nail had pressed into her skin.
Outside her window — The wind had started moving.
And the only word that came slow , deep from her was
" shivay... "
——————-
The ghat had grown quieter. Even the river seemed to lower its voice. Shivay stood still, staring at the dark water, the Aghori's words still echoing inside him.
"Peace does not come to those who run from their destiny ."
His chest felt tight. Too tight. He turned to leave. One step. Two steps. And then—
"Shivay..."
The whisper was faint. But clear. His body froze. He turned sharply.
"Kaun?"
The wind brushed past him again. Soft.
But this time — closer.
"Shivay..."
His heartbeat quickened. It wasn't loud. It wasn't threatening. It felt familiar. Painfully familiar. He swallowed.
"...Adhira?"
The name slipped out before he could stop it. The river rippled violently for a second. He scanned the ghat. Empty. Yet the air felt crowded. He took a step forward. "Who's there?"
From the shadows behind him — A slow chuckle. Low. Calm. Knowing. The Aghori stepped into the dim moonlight.
"You heard it."
It wasn't a question. Shivay's jaw tightened. "Someone called my name." The Aghori's eyes gleamed like embers.
"Bulava aa raha hai." The words were not loud. But they struck deep.
Shivay felt it in his spine. "Bulava?" he repeated, almost defensively. "From whom?"
The Aghori tilted his head slightly. "From the thread you keep trying to cut." The wind grew stronger.
"You think you are walking here by choice?" the Aghori continued. "You think the fire, the blood, the unrest — are coincidences?"
Shivay's breathing became uneven.
"I don't want this."
The Aghori stepped closer. "No one ever wants destiny when it begins to move."
A pause.
"Bulava tab aata hai... jab samay poora ho."
Shivay's eyes flickered — fear mixing with something else. Hope.
"What if I ignore it?" he asked quietly. The Aghori's expression darkened.
"You ignored it for eight years." The river suddenly splashed against the stone steps.
"But when ishq turns into tapasya... the universe does not stay silent forever."
Shivay closed his eyes. And again .Faint. Soft.
"Shivay..." This time it sounded closer. Almost inside him. He opened his eyes sharply.
The Aghori was watching him like a sage watching a prophecy unfold.
"Bulava aa raha hai," he repeated softly.
"And this time... you will not be able to resist."
The wind stilled. The river calmed. But Shivay's heart did not. Somewhere far away —
Adhira shifted in her sleep again. And unknowingly — Whispered his name
" shivay .."
—-///——
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