Chapter Text
*****
They sat in silence on the bus. The only sound was the clatter of the vehicle, rocking back
and forth on the bumpy road. Bheem sat beside Malli on the bench in the back, facing Jangu
and Peddanna, while Lachhu and the chauffeur sat in the front. It's been a few hours since
Ram and Bheem had said their goodbyes. Bheem's heart ached at the thought of leaving
Ram. He clutched his chest, right where the heart sits, hoping it would ease the pain.
"It was a goodbye, but not a farewell," Bheem tried to cheer himself up. A sad smile crosses
his face.
He had kept his promise and brought Ram alive to his fiancée.
It resembled a ceremony as Bheem placed Ram's hand into Sita's. Even though he was
happy for the two of them, the sight of the pair hurt him. Envy overcame him. No, it wasn't
envy, it was something much stronger and deeper than that - it was jealousy. A feeling that
Bheem had never felt before.
Yet at that moment, when Sita looked deeply into her fiancé's eyes, so full of love, and Ram
looking back at her, he was jealous. Still, he managed to not show his emotions. He just
faked a smile. From now on Sita was allowed to enjoy the presence of her fiancé and spend
the rest of her life with him.
The grip on his chest tightened.
With his other arm he held the last gift he had received from Ram tightly to his stomach.
"Parting is such sweet sorrow." Those were Ram's last words when he gave the book
"Romeo and Juliet" to Bheem. Realising that Ram used a quote as a goodbye, tears started
to pool in the corners of Bheem’s eyes and he hugged Ram in one last tight embrace, pouring all of his emotions into it.
He wanted the moment to last forever but he knew that they had to part eventually.
—--
It was a hot evening in Delhi, only the fan cooled down the air a bit. As usual, Bheem was
sitting on the floor in the middle of Ram’s room which was cluttered with stacks of books.
For weeks now he was coming to Ram's house to enjoy his leisure time after work. Yet it
was not only to relax and have a nice chat with the other man but also to learn English.
Ram was sitting on his wooden chair and was reading the english book “Romeo and Juliet”
to him. First he slowly read the english phrase, then he proceeded with translating it to
Bheem -
word for word.
“You want to impress her really badly, huh Akthar?” Ram glanced mischievously at Bheem.
The sound of his pseudonym made Bheem flinch slightly. How often had he felt the need to
tell Ram the truth? It was still not the right time for it.
“Impress? Hm yes, kind of. I really just want to be able to talk to her”. Bheem said it with a
fake innocent smile, trying to keep the image h̶i̶g̶h̶ that he was in love with Jenny.
Even if it was the truth, it felt like a lie. He just wanted to learn the foreign language so he
had the opportunity to get near Malli more often. Sadly, the easiest way to do so was to
charm Jenny.
He had to make sure that Malli, kept as a hostage, was alright. On top of that he was able to
observe how t̶h̶e̶ security was handled in Scotts Mansion.
At some point Ram stopped with the translation and it was Bheem's turn to try and read it
himself. For that, Ram would sit directly next to Bheem on the floor and together they
hunched over the book, reading it together at the same time. At first, he struggled a lot but
Ram had plenty of patience with him. The reason why Bheem had such a difficult time
wasn’t just because he didn’t know the right words but also because Ram's knee slightly
touching his own made the student nervous. While Ram pointed at a word, explaining the
meaning, his face was just a few inches away from Bheem's. The student stared at the soft,
chai colored cheek of his teacher. He had the urge to touch it, to explore every inch of it. He
could smell Ram's usual light scent of bloomy flowers and for a short moment Bheem was
fogged by the fragrance of freesia.
A strand of hair hung in the face of his teacher, who wiped it away with an elegant catlike
movement.
“Did my heart love till now?” Ram said in a honeyed voice.
“Wh- What?” Bheem was taken by surprise, his heart jumped and his face turned red as a
tomato. He felt busted. Did Ram just declare his love to him? He gulped hard.
“The protagonist wonders if he ever loved before” Ram explained to Bheem without taking
his eyes off the letters. He didn't notice the other's reaction. The student suddenly felt a bit
disappointed, yet didn't even know why. It wasn't like he is in love with the other man, was it?
Ram is simply his best friend.
“Uh. Ah! Now I understand it. Thanks. Please keep going.”, Bheem cleared his throat and
tried to calm his rapidly beating heart.
“Everything okay? Do you need a break?” Ram leaned back so he could look Bheem in the
eyes.
"Ehm, yes. Yes! Sorry, I just need some water.” Bheem declared and faked a slight cough.
“The air is dry and so is my throat. Haha. Do you need something too?” He stood up to go to
the kitchen.
“Some water is a good idea! Now that you mentioned it I feel a bit dehydrated” Ram nodded
thoughtfully.
The evening went on without any other embarrassing events for Bheem.
This was what most of their evenings were like, for months. Bheem kept learning English
with the help of “Romeo and Juliet” and his patient teacher Ram.
—---
“What is this?” Malli’s question brought Bheem back to reality.
“A treasure.” He simply answered with an eager smile.
“Doesn’t look like a treasure for my take.” Malli frowned while looking at the
so-called treasure in Bheem’s arm.
“A treasure is not always gold or jewels, Malli. It is something very valuable to you. And this
book is really important to me.” He felt his eyes getting watery. Bheem shook his head and
pushed his feelings aside. His heart seemed as heavy as a rock.
"Ah, I see. So is the bracelet you gave me through Jenny. It is my treasure now.” She said
understandingly and seemed lost in her own thoughts again.
The busride continued for hours. The dusk set slowly in as they arrived in the next bigger city
closest to their village. From here on, they would have to do the remaining journey by foot.
“It is already too dark to start walking now, we should find a place to sleep here in the city”,
Lacchu considered to the other four travellers. “Yes, I agree with you”, Jangu nodded while
looking at the setting sun, “I know a place where we can rest.”
They followed Jangu to a friend's house, who greeted them happily even though it was already late.
The sudden host provided them with food (and water?) while his wife covered the floor with
mats for the travellers to rest on.
However, Malli preferred to share a mat with Bheem since she felt safer lying directly next to
the protector. He put an arm around her, like they had been doing for the past few months,
and tried to catch up on some sleep.
The night was rather short as they wanted to continue their journey at dawn.
After a very nutritious breakfast, they thanked their hosts and set off.
First they had to go back to their bus to get the containers with weapons which were
taken from Scotts barracks. Peddanna spoke to a dealer to rent a mule and a wagon.
Together the four men loaded the wooden containers from the bus onto the wagon while
Malli was off to buy some provisions.
It only took them half an hour to get everything done, the sun was still not fully risen. The
little girl came back with a bag full of naan, fruits and dried meat.
And so the last part of the journey started.