Title: Loving a Moon God
Rating: M
Characters: Chandra, Shiva, Parvati, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Brahma, Saraswati, Krishna, Kartikeya, Ganesh, Indra, Surya, Agni, Radha, Varuna, Vayu, Kamadeva, Rati, Tamsi (OC), Jayanta, Jayanti, Devasena, Yamuna, Manu, Shani, Tapati, Bhadra, Karna, Sugriv, Hanuman
Main Couple: Chandra/Tamsi (OC)
Other Couples: Shiva/Parvati, Vishnu/Lakshmi, Brahma/Saraswati, Krishna/Radha, Kamadeva/Rati
Summary: What if Chandra really didn't have a wife? What if he was waiting for his destined one to be born? What if she was born in the modern world? HINDU MYTHOLOGY!
PROLOGUE
For as long as she could remember, Tamsi had always been fascinated by the moon. In fact, she was born on a full moon night. As she grew older, she always thought there was a man in charge of the moon. As she studied mythology in high school, she found out about the moon gods and goddesses from different cultures. She always found herself drawn to Chandra, the moon god in the Hindu culture.
Tamsi would often imagine what it would be like if Chandra was real and if she was his wife. She also prays to Chandra. She doesn't know that her world is about to be turned upside down.
CHAPTER ONE
TAMSI'S POV
I've been at college for three months now. I still remember the first day of school and the friend I made.
~FLASHBACK BEGINS~
I was moving my stuff into my dorm when a boy came up to me. He asked, "Do you need any help?"
I smiled and nodded. "I would love to have help."
The boy smiled. "My name is Kartikeya."
My eyes had widened and my grin grew really big. "Really? Like the son of Lord Shiva and Mother Parvati?"
Kartikeya chuckled. "I take it you like the Hindu culture."
I nodded. "I love mythology of any kind, but my favorite is the mythology of the Hindu culture."
"There's something else too. What? You have my curiosity peaked? Not many people would know my name came from the Hindu mythology!"
I blushed a little. "I might have a strong crush on Lord Chandra."
Kartikeya laughs. "I'll have to introduce you to my family some time. I have an uncle named Chandra."
I glared at Kartikeya. "Don't make fun of me. I've just always felt drawn to the moon and Lord Chandra."
We finished moving my stuff in and became friends.
~FLASHBACK ENDS~
I'm so nervous now. Kartikeya told me that he is taking me home with him for Christmas break. According to him, he didn't want me to be alone on Christmas, and he wants me to meet his family. I can't believe I agreed to go with him.
~FLASHBACK BEGINS~
Kartikeya and I were in my dorm room watching a movie. He asked, "What are you going to do for Christmas break?"
"Probably stay in the dorm. I don't have any family anymore, so it doesn't make any sense to go back home."
Kartikeya paused the movie and looked at me. "What do you mean you're staying at the dorm?"
"Well, my mom died last year. I don't have any more family. It just made sense to me."
"Well, no more. You're coming home with me. It'll give you a chance to meet my family."
I couldn't believe what he had just said. "Don't you think you should ask your mom first? She might want to be warned before a stranger shows up at her house."
"I'll call her in the morning, but I know her. She wouldn't want you to be alone for the holidays."
I smiled. "Okay. You convinced me. As long as your mother says it's okay."
Kartikeya nodded.
~FLASHBACK ENDS~
Kartikeya showed up on my lunch hour the next day. Not only did his mother ensist I join them, she said she would come get me if I refused to go. I smile a little when I remember the threat. Kartikeya and I are leaving in the morning. I can't believe he is taking me to India with him. Kartikeya says it should take us two days to get there.
CHAPTER TWO
SKIP AHEAD TWO DAYS
KARTIKEYA'S POV
I can't wait for Tamsi to meet everyone. She has no idea that my family and I are really the gods from Hindu mythology. I still remember when she told me she had a crush on Chandra. He is going to be so happy. I think she might be his destined one.
The plane lands, and we get off. We then our luggage and walk out of the airport. My dad is waiting beside a car. We walk over, and Tamsi bows to touch his feet. She says, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Shiva."
My dad smiles and says, "Kartikeya did say you loved our namesakes very much."
Tamsi turns and glares at me. "You ruined my fun. Please tell me there is someone you didn't tell."
Before I can answer her, my dad says, "I believe the only people who know are me, my wife and my other son Ganesh."
Tamsi smiles and nods. "Good. I want to see the others' faces when I call them by how the gods were addressed."
I ask, "Are you going to sing and dance tonight?"
Tamsi bit her lip. "Do you think I should? I don't want to offend someone."
"You sing and dance every full moon night though, Tamsi. Besides, you know I love listening to your voice."
We get into the car and start to head to my home.
TAMSI'S POV
I smile at Kartikeya. "I know that, Kartikeya. If you want me to sing and dance, I will."
Kartikeya nods. I look at Kartikeya's dad and ask, "What do I call you, sir?"
Kartikeya's dad smiles. "You can call me Shiva. I'll even let you call me Lord Shiva in front of the others to trick them."
I smile at him and say, "Thank you, Shiva."
He nods, and I look out the window. I see women all wearing colorful saris. I wonder if Kartikeya's mom would allow me to wear one. I look at Kartikeya and see him watching me. I smile at him and say, "The saris all look so beautiful."
He smiles and nods. "They are always colorful."
Before I can ask about one for me, Shiva stops the car and says, "We have arrived."
We get out of the car, and Shiva says, "Go inside. I'll get the bags."
Kartikeya says, "Okay, dad."
Kartikeya and I walk to the door. He opens the door and allows me to go in first. As soon as I step over the threshold, I see a woman standing there. She is holding a tray that has flowers, a candle and some red paint on it. She smiles at me and starts to make a circle with the tray.
She puts the red paint on my forehead and says, "Welcome, my daughter."
I smirk at her and say, "Thank you, Mother Parvati."
She smiles at me and turns to Kartikeya. She did the same thing to him. "Welcome home, my son."
Kartikeya smiles and says, "I'm happy to be home, mom."
Parvati smiles. "Come in. You are just in time for dinner."
We walk into the dinning room and another boy is waiting at the table. I smile at him and say, "You must be Ganesh."
Ganesh nods and says, "I am. I've heard so much about you from brother's letters."
I chuckle. "Hopefully, he said good things."
Ganesh nods. "He's only said good things. I promise. He also mentioned about loving a certain moon god."
I blush and glare at Kartikeya. "You weren't suppose to tell everyone that. I just told you that to show you some of my flaws."
Kartikeya smiles at me. "I know, but I couldn't help revealing it."
I sigh and say, "I know. It's just that it's embarrassing. You don't realize how often I've been bullied because of my love."
I turn away and look out the window. "I continue to love the moon and Chandra, but it is not always easy. You don't know the pain I've gone through in my life because of my weird obsession."
I felt a hand touch my cheek and turn my head. Suddenly, I'm looking into Parvati's eyes. "Tamsi, you are right. Kartikeya doesn't know your pain or what you've gone through in your short life. He does know that you are a good person and should have much joy in your life."
I nod, and she walks me over to the table. We all sit down and wait for Shiva to enter. Once he arrives and sits down, we start to eat. As we eat, Shiva says, "Parvati, Tamsi is going to sing and dance tonight."
Parvati smiles and says, "Wonderful. I'm sure she sings beutifully."
I blush and say, "I don't know about that."
Kartikeya chuckles. "I am. You sing so beautifully and dance wonderfully. Just a warning. I'm going to try to get you to sing and dance in front of the whole family."
I start to get nervous. "I don't know. What if they don't like it? What if I mess up? It's different than me singing and dancing in front of you, Kartikeya. It's even different from singing and dancing for your immediate family."
Before Kartikeya can argue with me, his mom says, "Let's just worry about tonight. You can try to convince her about singing for the extended family later."
Kartikeya nods.
CHAPTER THREE
SKIP TO THAT NIGHT
KARTIKEYA'S POV
After dinner, we all went to freshen up. We then meet in the gardens as the moon rises into the sky. Tamsi has changed into her 'moon dancing' dress as she calls it. She starts to sing and dance. "Come and dance with me,
moonbeams.
It's a full moon night,
and we need to celebrate.
We'll put on a show
for all the gods to admire.
We'll celebrate Lord Shiva.
We'll celebrate Lord Chandra.
Let us dance and enjoy
the starry night.
We'll dance for hours."
Once she finishes, she turns to us and blushes. "I hope it as okay."
I go over to her and hug her. Before I can say anything, a voice says, "That was wonderful singing, my dear."
We turn the voice, and I smirk as I recognize Lord Indra. He comes to stand beside my mom and dad. I turn back to Tamsi and say, "Tamsi, this is my Uncle Indra."
Tamsi smirks and walks over to Indra. She kneels down and touches his feet. "Greetings, Lord Indra."
I laugh at Indra's face. Tamsi looks up and laughs at Indra's face too. "Kartikeya, I really surprised your uncle. If everyone is going to react like this, it will be worth it."
Indra looks at each of us. "What just happened?"
Tamsi took pity on Indra and explained. "Forgive me, Indra. Kartikeya knows my obsession with the Hindu culture and their mythology. He convinced me to play a little joke on his whole family. He wants me to call everyone by their namesake."
When Indra finally understood, he laughs. "That sounds like something Kartikeya would do."
Tamsi yawns. "I'm sorry to say, but I'm tired. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go to bed."
Mother smiles and says, "Of course, dear. I hope you have a wonderful sleep."
Tamsi smiles and goes to her room. After she leaves, Indra turns to me and asks, "Are you sure it's a good idea to bring a mortal to this gathering, Prince Kartikeya?"
I smile and nod. "I'm sure. I think she might be Chandra's destined one."
Indra raises an eyebrow. "Why do you say that?"
"Her name literally means 'moon light', and she is obsessed with anything to do with the moon. She also has expressed that she imagines what being Chandra's wofe would be like even though she doesn't know he really exists."
Indra seems to ponder this. After a few minutes, he sighs and nods. "I hope your right. It would be very bad if she isn't."
I nod, and Indra left. I turn to my parents and ask, "Do you think I did the right thing?"
My mom hugs me, and my dad says, "This was destined to happen, son."
I nod. "I know. It's just that I'll feel so bad about doing this to her if she isn't Chandra's destined one."
CHAPTER FOUR
SKIP TO MORNING
AUTHOR'S POV
The next morning, Tamsi helped Parvati get ready for the extended family to come to the reunion. She was excited to meet all of Kartikeya's family. After they were done decorating the backyard, Tamsi helped Parvati prepare all the food. About five hours later, the extended family started to arrive for the event. Once everyone had arrived, Kartikeya started to introduce Tamsi to his family.
All of them were surprised when she started to greet them like the gods and goddesses of the Hindu mythology. Kartikeya saved Chandra as the last person to meet Tamsi. Tamsi was very surprised when she felt an instant pull towards Chandra. After she met Chandra, Tamsi went to see if Parvati or Shiva needed her help with anything for the reunion. After Tamsi left to find Parvati or Shiva, Kartikeya talked to Chandra about Tamsi.
He explained her obsession with the moon and how she loved the Hindu mythology. He, however, didn't tell Chandra about her obsession with him or her imagining herself as Chandra's wife. As Tamsi was looking for Shiva or Parvati, she came across a group of people she recognized from her old middle school. The group included Jayanta, Jayanti, Devasena, Yamuna, Manu, Shani, Tapati, Bhadra, Karna, Sugriv and Hanuman. The only one out of the group who never did anything to Tamsi was Hanuman.
Tamsi walked closer to the group to make sure it was really them. As she got closer, she could hear them talking about her. Jayanti asked, "Do you remember that one girl in sixth grade that would always talk about Lord Chandra?"
Everyone except Hanuman laughed. Manu said, "Of course we do. We use to tease her so bad about that."
Hanuman shook his head at the others. "It wasn't right about what you did to her."
Tapati said, "We didn't really do anything bad to her. She left of her own accord."
As Tamsi heard this, she was getting madder and madder. She was close to her boiling point. Her anger went over the boiling point when she heard Jayanta say something. "Yeah. We only told everyone in the school that she imagined that she was in love with Lord Chandra and imagined that she was his wife."
Suddenly there was wind swirling around Tamsi, and her hair was flying everywhere. You could feel the power radiating off of her. She had so much power that all the gods stopped what they were doing and look towards her. Tamsi glared at the group, then she softly looked at Hanuman. "I have no problem with you. You can go."
Hanuman went to stand by his father, and Tamsi glared at the group again. She had her power swirling around her. Shiva and Parvati arrived just in time to witness Tamsi speak. Tamsi growled lowly. "You think you didn't do anything bad. You told everyone at school how my obsession was and what my dreams were about. Do you know how many times I was physically hurt? Do you know how many times I had to be picked up from school because of what you did? I didn't choose to leave. You guys made me leave. Not personally. No, you had the entire school do that for you. Did you know they put me in a mental hospital after I left that school?"
Everyone gasped. Tamsi continued to vent. "I was in that damn hospital for two years. No visitors. No TV. No pencils or paper. Nothing to entertain myself with. They had me so drugged that some days I couldn't even move. There is no Lord Chandra, they said. There is no god of the moon, they said. They told me I needed to pick a different religion or a different god from the Hindu religion. It was either I start to worship another god, or I would be stuck in the hospital forever."
As she said the last part, she took little steps towards the group. They would take two steps back for everyone one step she took forward. Tamsi's power grew as she shouted, "THEY MADE ME INTO A PIN CUSHION! BUT THAT'S NOT THE WORST PART! NO! THE WORST PART WAS THAT THEY MADE ME GIVE UP LORD CHANDRA! I COULDN'T EVEN PRAY TO HIM ANYMORE! I HAD TO START PRAYING TO LORD SHIVA!DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE TWO NAMES GOING ON IN YOUR BODY? MY MIND AND BODY WAS CHANTING TO LORD SHIVA, BUT MY HEART WAS CHANTING TO LORD CHANDRA."
Her hands started to glow a purplish color. "DO YOU KNOW THE PAIN I WENT THROUGH BECAUSE OF YOU GUYS?"
Her eyes started to glow, and everyone gasped in surprise. "I HAD TO LEARN MAGIC AND MEDITATION IN ORDER TO HEAL THE DAMAGE THEY DID TO MY MIND AND SOUL! I WAS LITERALLY BEING RIPED INTO TWO!"
Kartikeya frowned and looked at the group. "Did you guys really do this?"
Before they could say anything, Tamsi said, "They did. They made sure that even the teachers thought I was a nutcase."
Sugriv finally found his voice. "You were a nutcase! Who in their right mind would be obsessed with the moon and being Lord Chandra's wife?"
Tamsi threw a glowing purple ball towards Sugriv, and he jumped out of the way. When the ball hit a bush, it completely disintegrated it. Sugriv gulped and looked back towards Tamsi. She had another ball ready. "You're right that it isn't normal, but neither am I. I was born on a full moon night on Lord Chandra's day. Do you know who the first person I saw was? it wasn't my parents, the doctor or the nurses. It was Lord Chandra's image in my mind! He who should not show before me was the first thing I remember seeing."
Tamsi starts to look at everyone present. When her eyes find Parvati, she smiles. "Don't get me wrong, Parvati. I still loved Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma as I grew. In fact, Lord Shiva and Mother Parvati's story was my favorite one. Their story plus the one of Lord Ram and Goddess Sita were a great help to me there."
Parvati nodded to Tamsi. Chandra was shocked to hear all this. He turned to Lord Shiva and said, "I think we need to reveal the truth to the child."
Lord Shiva nodded along with Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma. Lord Shiva said, "We will reveal our true selves to young Tamsi."
Tamsi was confused when everyone present closed their eyes and looked like they were silently praying. Suddenly, everyone appeared dressed as the gods from Hindu mythology. Ganesh even had an elephant head. Tamsi's mouth hung open, and she stammered. "Your-r-r-r really the go-god-gods, aren't y-y-you.?"
Parvati nodded.
TAMSI'S POV
I look at Kartikeya. "What was the point of this, Prince Kartikeya?"
Kartikeya frowns when I call him that. I don't care though. I feel used, and I can feel my eyes start to well up. "You didn't have to play with my emotions, Prince Kartikeya. You could have ignored me just like all the other gods do."
I turn to look at the group I had intimidated and bow. "Forgive me ignorance, children of the gods."
Their mouths hang open as if they can't believe the 180 flip in my personality. I look toward Chandra and see him standing with the Trinity. I look away when I see the Trinity smile at me. I make my way to the stairs. Just as I'm about to climb them, I hear someone call my name. I turn around and see Hanuman standing just a few feet away. I noticed he has the monkey face now. I smile a little and ask, "What did you need, Hanuman?"
He looks sadly at me. "I'm sorry for what you've been through."
I wave it off. "Don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault."
I turn back to the stairs and walk to the room I was given by Mother Parvati. Once I close the door, my legs give out on me. I put my head in my hands and cry. I can start to feel myself pass out.
KARTIKEYA'S POV
I watch as Tamsi walks the rest of the way upstairs. I can feel her emotions trying to come out. I turn to the group that was still surrounded by all the gods. I glare at them, and they gulp. "You knew that Chandra was waiting for his destined one. Didn't you think their might be a chance she could be it? I bet you that mental hospital really did a number on her."
I hear a voice behind me. "She went to the one for demons."
I gasp and turn around. Noticing that it was Hanuman who said it. I ask, "How do you know?"
He blushes and says, "I would check on her from time to time. I tried to tell, but you all told me to leave the mortal alone. I could only watch as they treated her like an adult demon. She wasn't even treated like a child."
We all jump when we hear a scream from upstairs. Without thinking, I run up the stairs and go towards Tamsi's room. I open her door and don't see her in the room. I can hear the others right behind me. Suddenly, I hear whimpers coming from under the bed.
I bend down and look under the bed. I see her cowering against the wall at the head of the bed. She keeps mumbling something. I move closer so I can hear her. My heart breaks when I hear what she is saying.
"Please, no more needles. Please, no more. I promise I didn't mean to talk about him. I promise I don't pray to him anymore."
I gently touch her arm and pull her out. "It's okay, Tamsi. I'm hear for you. You won't ever have to go back to that place."
She whimpers slightly and curls into a ball in my lap. I look towards the door and see everyone gathered there. I whisper quietly, "Let's go to the living room. It will fit all of us."
They all nod, and we all go to the living room. Once we all get to the living room, we all sit down. I sigh and glare at the group from earlier. "I hope your happy with yourselves. This could have been avoided."
They all look down in shame. Tamsi starts to whimper, and I gently rock her. I look at my mom and say, "I truly believe she is destined for Chandra."
Indra asks, "What makes you think that except her obsession with the moon and him?"
I smirk. "She has birth marks in the shape of the moon."
Someone says, "So what! It doesn't make any difference how many circles are on her."
"She has every shape of the moon on her."
Everyone gasps. I gently lift Tamsi's right arm and show them her wrist that has the half moon shape. "The full moon shape is by her heart."
I don't tell them about the tattoo that Tamsi has on her lower back of Chandra and her. I still remember when she told me about it.
~FLASHBACK BEGINS~
Tamsi and I were in her dorm rooom watching a movie. I couldn't help thinking about her obsession with the moon or Chandra. "Did you ever do something stupid to show you are Chandra's wife?"
Tamsi freezed and blushed. "I have a tattoo of Chandra and me on my lower back."
I starred at her. "Are you serious?"
Tamsi nodded.
~FLASHBACK ENDS~
I choose not to tell anyone about this. I believe only Chandra should know unless Tamsi tells anyone else.
