#we are the ones returning to ayodhya and we are living happily ever after

[takeutothemoon]

seventeen garba circle and we kiss in the middle

so true

[avani008]

Sita gives birth to twin girls.

Doing this more in the style of five separate AUs, like the Urmila goes to the forest one, rather than one long AU:

1. The forest is no place for a princess, Sita’s father-in-law had said, and in deference to what he must feel, looking upon the state of his grandchildren, Sita sends her daughters back to the palace as soon as they are weaned. They are accepted without question, of course; daughters are not the threat to the throne’s stability that sons might be.

Kushmanda and Lavanya grow to womanhood, petted and pampered by an army of aunts and uncles, cherished by a trio of indulgent grandmothers, adored by a kind but quiet father, and burdened with nothing but emptiness where their mother ought to be. No one speaks of her; no one reveals so much as her name. 

When the Ashwameda Yagna begins, Ayodha is besieged by singers, each wanting to chant rhymes of Rama’s life in order to attempt royal favor. The twin princesses are allowed into the streets to listen, but instead find their footsteps leading them to a man with silver hair, familiar but not, who clutches a humble lute and smiles at them. 

“I’ve come,” says Valmiki, “to tell you the story of your mother.”

2. Sita might have stayed near Ayodhya for the sake of a son’s birthright, but too well she knows Mithila is a better place for girls to grow. She swallows her pride and returns to her father’s home, safe amidst the farmlands.

Her daughters grow straight and tall and wise, inherit their grandfather’s throne, and are known only by their mother’s name and dynasty. 

3. “Aunt Tara is the most wonderful woman in the world,” Lavanya exclaims happily, turning on her side to look at her sister, sprawled on the bed opposite.

Kushmanda’s eyes are closed but still she snorts in disgust. “You can’t mean that. Not while Aunt Ruma lives.”

Lavanya resists the urge to make a face, but just barely. “Aunt Tara’s cleverer,” she points out. “All the world knows that.”

“Aunt Ruma is stronger.”

This argument is hardly a new one, and all too well Lavanya knows there will be no end to it; instead she offers compromise. “They’re both of them less ridiculous than Uncle Sugriva.”

Kushmanda’s lips tilt upwards. “As to that, there is no question.”

4. Mother teaches them to sow seeds in spring, whispering the right amount of encourage to will the flowers the bloom; and shows them how to call the birds and animals of the wild to their hand with the utmost ease. 

The forest itself is open to them; the earth indulgent of their requests; what else could they possibly want? This is why they laugh when Mother reveals the secret of their birth, and urges them to seek their father and their family in the city of Ayodhya.

“We have the world in our hand here,” they say, “and you. What more could we ask for?”

They spend their days alongside their mother in a humble cottage, richer and happier by far than any prince or princess could ever be. 

5. Girls are not taught customarily to fight, and Vasistha, if he had the rearing of the twins, would certainly not approve. But Valmiki is quite different, and knows besides that the blood of the Raghuvanshis flows bright in his foster-children. He will not dim that being so much a fool as burdening them with society’s laws--he teaches them to wind flower garlands in their hair and bowstrings about their weapons with equal ease. 

Mother teaches them to use their weapons with caution, and only when there is a need for it. They learn as much from her pursed lips and pained expression when any animal is cut down as from her lectures on the subject; they swear of their own volition to use their skills only to protect.

So it is fortunate after all, that when the sacrificial horse comes upon their hermitage, the girls can argue that they act only in its defense. When it returns to Ayodhya, it will be sacrificed--and how can Sita’s daughters allow such an injustice to occur?

Kushmanda half-smiles at her sister. “There’ll be armies, you know. The Ikshavaku won’t break their word, or alter their threats, even if we are only girls.”

“And so do we hope!” Lavanya laughs and holds the bridle closer. “Let them come.”