Pranbir : Tales Of Unconditional Love

TIED BY THE SACRED BOND - 4 (FINAL PART)

As Ranbir heard the loud noise of the gunshot, he stood there frozen, seeing Prachi standing still in front of him in the same position. His senses seemed to have lost their control as he stood there staring straight at her. His eyes had been clouded with moisture reflecting absolute horror, as Prachi suddenly turned to look at him, her moist eyes expressing the same fear. Ranbir stared into her eyes for what felt like eternity, his movements jammed by an intense fear of losing his love, when Prachi placed her hands on his cheek, almost bewildered.

"Are....are you fine, Ranbir??" She hyperventilated, eyes scanning him from top to bottom. "Why are you so quiet?! Tell me! Are you fine?" Her voice was laced with terror, as her restless eyes continued to stare at him with anticipation.

Ranbir suddenly seemed to come out of his trance, as he held Prachi's arms tightly, now examining her from head to toe. "You...you're...fine...you're fine right, Prachi?!" He asked, bemused.

However, his heart felt as if an enormous weight which had been crushing it only moments ago got lifted from it, as he saw her completely fine, with no traces of any red pigment on her body. Well, fine physically, for she was sailing through the same boat, staring at him with the same fear, and heart flooding with the same intense relief as she too saw him standing there, completely fine. Her lips curved into a smile of relief, as she stared at him, through the tears that finally rolled down her cheeks. Ranbir was just staring at her, the whole world had seemed to fade away for him since the second he felt her presence in front of him, standing as a barrier between death and him, when a yelling voice pulled him back into reality.

He turned towards the source of the bullet, only to find Dushyant standing there staring at Maya with fierce rage in his eyes. Examining the surroundings around them, he saw Dushyant's gun lying on the floor beside him, his open palms outstretched in its direction, as if the gun had jumped from his hands due to some great force, as Maya stood there breathing heavily, staring straight into Dushyant's eyes.
It took another minute for Ranbir to realise all that was going before him. It was Maya who had shoved Dushyant's pistol clutched hand with great force towards the other direction the moment he had almost pressed the trigger, causing the bullet to plunge into a side wall. It was Maya. The girl who had left no stones unturned to turn his life into a living hell was now the person who had saved his life from shattering away for forever.

"Stop it, Bade Papa! Just stop it!" Maya yelled at her uncle. "Till when will you live in your own bubble of having the control of everyone's life in your hands?! When will you understand that people are not toys?! That everyone has their own life, in which you have no say!"

"MAYA!" Yelled Dashrath, hand raised midway in the air to slap her.

However, her words never seemed to falter even a bit.

"Slap. Why did you stop? I'll tell you. Because you know I'm right." She turned to look at Dushyant. "You wanted to kill him? Or her?" Said she, pointing towards Pranbir. "You wanted to kill the person because of whom I'm with my love today? I'm sorry, Bade Papa. I cannot let you do that." Yelled Maya, before coming towards Prachi.

"I'm sorry, Prachi. I'm sorry, Ranbir. I'm sorry for everything that you both had to go through because of me." She said, folding her hands, confusing every soul around her.

"Don't be shocked, Prachi. If it were not for you, I never would've been standing here as Rahul's wife. It was you who made me realise that love matters more than everything else in life. Remember the last time you had come to persuade me to back off from this wedding? I had denied initially. But later, I realised that I cannot just imagine my life without Rahul. I have no doubt that I would've been happy with Ranbir, but the love would've always been missing, for he has already shared it with someone else." Though she didn't directly take Prachi's name, some pairs of eyes lit up a knowing smile.