You Are Here In My Heart

Crowd. Applauds. Euphoria. 

The group of people circling the young couple hooted hysterically as one went down on her knees. A half-choked ‘Je t’aime’ was all she could manage. And then silence. Dead silence. Innumerable eyes looked at them , shimmering and glistening with eagerness. What if it was a blatant ‘No’, she thought.With her heart doing pirouettes in her chest, she weighed one possibility against another. But there, on the other end of eternity, was the answer. The answer she was yearning for ---- “I love you too, Valerie.” The air resonated with ‘Congratulations’ and ‘Felicitations’ as the two pairs of lips touched, savouring the elixir of tears from the other’s eyes. The sun too, chose the moment to kiss the horizon and slipped under the blanket of night. With the orange and purple hues blending in the evening sky, the two silhouettes merged into one…. The gentle breeze caressing their hair coupled with the euphony of the flowing Seine wove an ethereal tale on Pont D’art. And the City of Love realised that it was witnessing a story of passion like none before. 

Graveyard. Flowers. Rain. 

"You are my Eternity in this ephemeral life" , she whispered. Tears trickled down Valerie’s cheeks as she laid the bouquet on her lover’s grave. The cynosure of her eyes…Dead! Had she not foreseen this? Searching the dark chasm of memories, could she not claim this to be deja vu? The very thought pierced her heart and chills of guilt went down her spines. Biting her lips in pain,she frantically tried to dismiss those thoughts but alas! In vain… for the more she tried to forget, the more she remembered …..

Barricades. Teargas. Water cannons. 

“Hello Valerie? We lost it! They were closing in on us and Gab was....” not a word more could she hear… She knew who ‘they’ were ---- the Force. One moment her world was wheeling, her ground was trembling under her feet while in the next she was there, floating in the ocean of no motion and no sound…. She stood chained to the ground ---- the events of morning bustling in her mind ….. 

            “ Do you really need to go there? We have a happy home already, don’t we? , argued a frustrated Valerie. 

             “Ah! Ma Chérie … There are hundreds of Valeries and Gabrielles out there, who see in each other, a companion for life. Do you not wish to fight for them, for US? Is it not time that we stop seeing love through the prism of genders?” 

     A momentary weakness passed over Valerie. Recovering quickly she said, “ Life is ephemeral Gab and I don’t want to risk US…” She broke off … Gabrielle drew her closer and wiping off those tears, she whispered, “ but eternity can often dwell in the house of the ephemeral ----- only if you invite her! Now let me go for the march, love --- please…” 

Blood. Pain. Tears. 

By the time Valerie reached the Eiffel Tower, the fight was over. Gabrielle was no more screaming in debilitating pain. The protesters were not voicing any more slogans. Heads bowed in mourning, silent sobs and … A crestfallen Valerie couldn’t believe her eyes. Lying in front of her, drenched in blood and dirt was her love , still and motionless. 

“She was trying to save us all and they … they ruthlessly..” , one of them burst into tears. An envelope of untimely clouds cascaded the sky. Melancholy of severed bonds, broken hearts and an incomplete story filled the City of Love. And there in the rain she sat by her lover at the base of the Tower, trying to nurse her wounds and soothe her pain, knowing only too well that it mattered the least now…. 

The Cosmos. Stars. Reunion. 

They were holding tight into each other as they sauntered aimlessly on the floor of heaven. The ocean of the galaxies lay ahead and in its infinite darkness, stars were embroidered like sequins. The waves of stars rose and fell, often dashing against their naked feet. And there, on the seashore of eternity , lightyears away from a shallow world of monochromatic intimacy, the two lovers united …. Laughing and crying and painting their own mosaic of love… 

“Valerie!” , a sharp call woke her up from her dreams. “St Augustin Rue, moral policing, victims : Anne and Elle ''. The short voice note on her phone was enough to get her going. Whispering a word of farewell, she left the graveyard at once for St Augustin Rue. Over the years hadn't she thought of realizing the dream she saw moments ago ? She had … but the stories of millions of Annes and Elles, Jessicas and Maries had kept her glued to this mortal world. Gab had given it her all then how could SHE give up, when it only meant Gab's defeat! 

        The drizzle had stopped. The sun was peeping shyly from behind a curtain of clouds. Through her car window, Valerie could see an arc of colors bridging horizons….. Smiling at that arch in the sky, she softly whispered, "I love you too Gabrielle."