*Background Information: Juneja's came back to India after years, rekindling a friendship with the Mann's. As fate would have with, the oldest children, Harman (single father of Arjun [mother died young]) and Ashlesha fell in love, middle children and childhood sweethearts Prem and Heer fell in love and the youngest of both households, Preet and Sukriti fell in love. Oblivious to this fact, the parents announced the marriage of Harman to Heer. This fanfic originally ended happily much to the disappointment of the author, so here she is with an alternate ending!*
Fanfic: http://india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1026237
***
Hum Rahe Ya Na Rahe
Heer sat
in front of the dresser, staring at herself in the mirror. Her sisters
walked into the room and silently helped her up. Dropping her gaze to
the ground, she stood still as Ashlesha adjusted her duppata and as Sukriti silently took her hand in to her own.
~~~
Harman sat at the magnificently decorated mandap
and silently gazed into the fire. Somewhere deep within, regret dug up
at him for being unfaithful to Ashlesha, unfair to Heer and negligent
of his son, Arjun. His eyes slowly raised and he saw his son sitting in
his mother's lap across from him. The young boy smiled slowly at his
father, encouraging him and that smile strengthened Harman like no one
else could.
~~~
Prem, his back to the staircase, fingered the flowers decorating the mandap.
Jasmine. Eyes smarting, he smiled. Heer's favorite. Excited murmurs ran
through the crowd and Prem shut his eyes tight, knowing what was behind
him. He felt a arm close tightly on his shoulder, and he saw Preet.
Looking past Preet, Prem caught sight of Heer being led down by her
sisters, both somber faced.
~~~
Reaching the platform,
Heer had no other choice but the walk past Prem to her spot next to
Harman. Walking past him, she kept her eyes to the ground, burning a
hole in it with her intensity.
~~~
Prem shut his eyes as
she walked by but that didn't block out the scent. Jasmine. In her
hair. Lips quavering, Prem forced them into a smile as he watched Teji
Aunty help Heer up a stair and next to Harman.
~~~
Ashlesha
clamped her lips together, determined nothing would come out. No
protest, no refusal. Harman had made his choice. And she had made hers.
If that's how he wanted it to be, than that's how it was going to be.
~~~
The slow steady hum of the mantras being
repeated by the priest filled Prem's ears as he watched his older
brother and his Heer go through the rituals, stone faces, contrasting
the happiness on the faces of their parents.
~~~
Teji and Gayatri,
smiling broadly helped Heer up, straightening her outfit. Harman
shrugged off the helping hand of Preet and stood up in one fluid
movement, his eyes silent as rocks. Ashlesha gazed into them and they
looked past her and her heart hardened.
~~~
Her eyes lowered, Heer
followed Harman, forcing herself to put foot after foot, all the while
silent tears chasing each other down her cheeks. Impatient, and before
anyone could catch glimpse of them, Heer wiped at them, but not before
one person saw.
~~~
Prem watched Heer follow his brother and didn't,
not for a second, miss the swift hand that came up to her cheek and
wiped at it. His own vision began to blur as a film of tears took over
his eyes.
~~~
Ashlesha watched on as Heer overtook Harman in the pheres and
her insides clenched. A small hand wormed its way into hers. Looking
down, Ashlesha was met with a warm smile from a young boy. Arjun pulled
her hand till she was at his level, and leaning in, kissed her softly
on the cheeks. Past the stage of tears, Ashlesha hugged him, angry at
her kismat for not only taking away Harman, but her son.
~~~
Sukriti
walked over to where Preet was standing and slipped her hand in to his.
Surprised at her, Preet looked down to see her staring straight ahead,
her pale face glistening with tears. His gaze followed hers and he
watched as Harman fastened a mangalsutar at the nape of Heer's neck with trembling arms and felt his own insides shake.
~~~
Heer closed her eyes as she felt Harman's rough but gentle fingers graze her scalp as he filled her part, the bright red sindoor so
bright it could be seen across the hall. Heer's heart shook as she came
to terms with reality. Her reality now bore the name of Mrs.Harman
Juneja.
~~~
Lalit and Balraj ushered everyone into the
grand dinner hall to celebrate the conjunction of their family. The
photographer insisted on a family picture, so with Harman and Heer in
the middle and their parents next to them, the others arranged
themselves in the back, with Arjun in Ashlesha's arms. Not a single
smile was captured with the exception of four.
~~~
The
party lasted well into the night, everyone enjoying and failing to
notice how most of the wedding party was miserable. Lalit, noticing and
thinking it was because the wedding was over, gently hit a spoon
against his glass and immediately silence fell over the great room.
Lalit smiled out at everyone, as Balraj came and stood next to him.
"Aaj mein apne baare bete, Harman ke shaadi Balraj ki beti, Heer se karadi."
Whistles broke out, many guests still in a partying mood. Smiling at them, Lalit held his hands up, asking them to pause.
"Aur ab, mein apni doosre bete, Prem ke shaadi Ashelsha Mann she karaoonga."
Cheers
broke out in the great hall but the expressions of Sukriti, Preet,
Harman, Heer, Ashlesha and Prem did not change. All six of them had
come to the realization that the more they wished for something, the
less chances there were of it coming true.
Due to their parents
beckoning, Prem and Ashlesha stepped out on the stage and were silent
as their fathers placed their hands into each others.
Preet
and Sukriti's eyes spilled over, their tears mistaken for tears of joy
by onlookers, but in reality, both weeping for the sacrifices their
siblings were being forced to make and both, as ashamed as they were of
their thoughts, were wishing nothing would happen to them.
Ashlesha
looked past people, to Harman's face, willing him to look up. As he had
heard her, his eyes lifted underneath his dropping eyelids and both
Ashlesha and Harman, stone faced gazed at each other, not being able to
break away.
Prem slowly raised his gaze to meet the silent one
of Heer's. Looking into her eyes he knew there was no beginning or end
for their love story. Their love had always been and will always be.
Love does not always end with marriage, but that does not mean love
dies without marriage.
***
Recently, I went back and was looking over this fanfic, and I was kinda mortified. It just seemed so juvinile, but than again, it was still my first fanfic, and I had to give it an alternate ending because I so wanted this to end tragically! So I wrote this down, I don't think it's my best, but I don't think it's that bad either. I tried giving background information before so people who didn't read this fanfic will still be able to understand. :)
Hit the "like" button/comment/critisize!
--shabz
Edited by shabo24 - 14 years ago